JULY
2014
Time flies, end of July. This
summer is going way too fast....I wish I could command it to "Slow
down", "Whoa".
Of course there
was the Tour de France. This year had some interesting twists to it. For those
that did not follow, an Italian Nabali won the yellow jersey. Go figure, the
first three days in "sunny" England, then pouring rain here in France
for the next four days.
We went to Messanges on the 12th to
celebrate the 14th (Fête National in France). Now there is a good explanation.
First, the 12th was a Saturday night. Most fireworks are done on the 13th of
July. However the evening of the 13th was the final for the World Cup (football
here- soccer in the USA). If France had advanced to the final, everyone would
have been in front of their TV's the evening of the 13th. So the fireworks were
moved to the 12th (unfortunately France was not in the final).
After an
evening of chatting and eating and drinking, we walked down the road where we
could overlook the field and have an unobstructed view of the fireworks. I had
never taken photos of fireworks before, so I had my camera and tripod and was
ready to give it a try! I mounted the camera and then we waited. Do you know
how many explode not in the frame of the camera? The camera is stable and the
fireworks are not! Many photos of tops, or bottoms or sides...but it was fun
and I actually captured a couple of photos. It was a fun night. I am usually in
bed by the time the fireworks are done here in Gevrey. I think I have seen them
about 4 times!!
I did watch the
National parade on the 14th. The parade is on the Champ Elysee and is a review
of the military. This year the theme was the 100 years since WWI. The parade
started with all countries in WWI (friend and foes of 1914), each having 3 soldiers
in uniform. I was very taken with the Greeks in full dress, so I took a photo
of the TV screen..not the best photo, they were marching.
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| Greek military in full dress and the special Greek march |
To commemorate WWI, there were french soldiers in old uniforms of WWI.
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| WWI uniforms of the french military |
The one last photo of the parade, the regular military part of the parade always includes the Foreign Legion. I love their uniforms.
 |  |
| Foreign Legion with leather aprons, beards and they carry an ax! This is parade dress. |
|
The Fête National is a big holiday
(much like the 4th of July in the U.S.). The highways going south are always
jammed with traffic; shops and businesses start to close, and summer vacation
is here. Of course August is the height of French vacation or rather it is more
of European vacation time. Here in Gevrey, the village is not a big tourist
attraction. There are always a few passing through looking to buy that special
bottle of wine, but it never gets over crowded. It is a quiet town.
Our English friend arrived the 3rd
week and as always came prepared to buy wine. The first few days it rained, so we made the rounds for wine. Then on a sunny day, MT had proposed a visit to the
Jura. We went up, up to the top of the Col (summit of the montagne). From 28
degrees C to 14 degrees Celsius!! It gets chilly at the top. It was a little
foggy too, but still beautiful. We all took photos of mountain flowers.
It was a long, but breathe taking
outing. The photos do not do it justice!
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Church of Chapelle des Bois..the bell tower with the rounded
top is typical of this region |
We did get in a short walk one day
between the rain showers and I took a few more photos. We went to the parc in
Fixin ( fee san soft
"x"). General Noisot was under Napoleon. He built the parc and
had a statue made of Napoleon.
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| "Waking of Napoleon" |
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| just an old buidling |
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| even older |
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| View looking over Fixin...and the old church |
I took a couple of
other photos while we were out walking.
On Sunday, the
last day of the Tour, the ride into Paris was slightly boring. Keith and I went
out, to waste a couple hours, in search of the elusive mushroom. It was dry in
the woods, in spite of rain we have had.
Went out today to
take a few more photos of the memorial monuments; I need some photos of the
details While at it, I took a couple of photos of the villages where I was
stopping
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Lavoir of Chevannes_ Lavoir had a water source and
it was used to wash clothes |
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| church tower of Chevannes _ colored tiles of Burgundy |
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| a chateau of Collonges with colored tiles |
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| Fountain in Ternant |
Pottery is closed
for the summer also. Here are a few photos of my last pieces before the summer
break.
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| Was going to be a small waste basket, but not now. |
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| a vase and a paper weight - raku pottery |
Then there is Keith, he took off on this bike with his tent strapped on back rack. He called tonight from Normandy. He will be home when he comes home.
That sums up our month.
Recipe of the Month
A great way to use the zucchinis in my garden and have a refreshing soup on a hot day.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small garlic chopped fine
- 2-3 medium zucchinis (courgettes), roughly chopped
- 1 cup chicken broth ( or vegetable broth)
- 3 Tablespoons of fresh mint leaves chopped (reserve a small leaf for each serving)
- 4 Tablespoons of crème fraiche ( or cream)
- Salt and pepper(preferably white pepper) to taste
- Zest of one lemon
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
PREPARATION
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Add onion, garlic.
- Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent, about 2 minutes.
- Add zucchini; cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
- Add stock and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low.
- Simmer, partially covered, until zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool.
- Add the mint, lemon zest and the lemon juice
- Puree zucchini mixture in a food processor
- Add the crème fraiche
- Add salt and pepper
- Blend well
- Refrigerate for about 1 hour before serving
- Dish into a bowl and add a small mint leaf to decorate
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