Sunday, June 30, 2013

June 2013

The month of June has come and gone! It actually felt like summer for a few days. We have had temperatures in the high 50's to 60's, then it was 90°. I think it missed a step. I love those days of about 75°. Oh well...

This month again is going to be full of photos. The 1st of June, the Flora and Fauna group of the Assoc went up to the source of the Coquille (called the Cirque de la Coquille). The source has eroded the hillside into a half circle. So you walk (up a steep path) to the top where the view is splendid, and search for wild orchids. Then we came down the other side and had a wonderful picnic. After a nice lunch, we decided to stop at Moloy to see if the Sabot de Venus were in bloom. This is a protected flower, very rare, and here in Burgundy it grows only in the woods near Moloy. We were not disappointed.
Cirque de la Coquille

The source

Climbing...the source is down below

View of the village Etalante from the top

L'ascalaphe (owlfliy in english)

Flambé (Scarce Swallowtail in English)

 L'ancolie

Ahh---Sabot de Vénus (Cypripedium calceolus)
This time of year (or usually late May) is the time everything blooms. I enjoy going for walks to see the flowers and take photos.
Silène enflé

Raiponce en épi (Phyteuma spicatum)

Gevrey from above

Euphorbe

Raiponce (purple)

Phalangère à fleurs de lis

Negre Hongrie (butterfly)

Wind asparagus picked and ready for dinner

Also taking some photos about the Tacot. What is the Tacot? It was a train line that ran from Dijon to Beaune and connected some of the villages of the Haute-Côte. It was 1893 when the decision was made to build the railway. The tunnel (photo below) was complete 1913 and the first train was 1921. It ran until 1936, but the line Dijon to Gevrey continued until 1956. The Assoc is having an Expo in November, so I will probably have more at that time.
Tunnel at the Combe Gisard just above the vines at  Gevrey
And now for the grand finish of the month, our trip to Iceland. I did not know what to expect really, I had looked at the brochures trying to decide what tours to take. Keith was going to do a bike tour. We arrived on the longest day of the year, Friday the 21st. We were up early to catch our flight to Iceland, and arrived at 9:30am (2 hours difference from here). It was a brautiful sunny day. We toured around Reykjavik for a while, and stopped at the Tourist Office to book a couple of tours for me; a whale tour on Sunday and Golden Circle on Monday. We were tired and just could not stay up for the sunset at midnight. However, there were many out celebrating, and I woke up frequently. So I know that even though the sun sets, it does not get dark.
On Saturday, Keith needed to pick up a few supplies for his trip. After that we walked all over Reykjavik (it is not a huge city). Spent time down at the water front sitting in the sun. It was a beautiful day. I have added a few photos here, but there are lots of photos here: Iceland (if you click on the individual photos, there are descriptions lower left corner.

New church (not the catherdral)

Leif Ericksson -was he the first European to reach North America? 

Graphic art - I liked him

Shopping area
On Sunday Keith took off on his rental bike ready to explore the wilds of Iceland.
Ready for an adventure
Unfortunately he returned Wed morning with a broken tent pole. A storm hit and the wind changed, and oops! It is a high end tent for places like Iceland, so imagine the power of the wind. He was back on the road however a couple days later after repairs.

Meanwhile, I did my whale tour Sunday afternoon. Saw lots of Minke whales, they roll in the water. No humbacks though! Also some dolphins. It was cold and windy, but I love being out ont he water, and the sun came out on the return trip.

On Monday I did the Golden Circle tour and Tuesday the southern tour. A few photos (again more at the link above). Iceland has a stark beauty. Not many trees. Birch is the native tree, but the island had been deforested in the past. The rumors of the high cost of Iceland are true... and dealing in Króna is mind blowing. It is about 6€ to a 1,000 Króna, so a small sandwich is 1,400 K, so the cost of everything is always in the thousands.  I was totally enchanted and maybe someday I will return to see more (better start saving now). It was a country with a very hard life, but now, it appears to be a prosperous country. Only 319,000 inhabitants, on a island of 40,000 sq mi. Hey it is warmer than Minnesota in the winter!
Volcano crater

Waterfall with salmon ladder at the left

Geyser

Glacier

Black beach


 That is all and probably enough.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH
This is a recipe that I have copied- it is from Annabel Langbien! But it is good.

Salmon with Pesto

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 portions of salmon without skin (filets) 
  • about 12 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 TBS capers
  • olive oil
  • 2 TBS Pesto
  • Lemon zest
  • salt and pepper


PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 220 C (428 F)
  2. Check salmon for bones and put in baking dish- single layer
  3. Cover with pesto
  4. Sprinkle capers on top
  5. place cherry tomatoes around the dish
  6. Add zest of 1/2 of a lemon
  7. drizzle with olive oil
  8. Salt and pepper to taste
  9. bake about 8 minutes (until done)
Very easy and very good. Thanks Annabel.