JUIN 2018

Evening sunset at photo club picnic _Keith in the middle with the hat

JUIN 2018

A month has passed and so has the solstice. Here in Gevrey it stay light well past 10pm.

Summer arrived with a bang. Suddenly the temperatures were over 80 degrees and we have had strong winds for days. Today the 30th, calm again and we can put the awning (store en français) down.
The back of the house faces west, and without the awning down, the patio is hot.
And the cat is not happy either. He likes the awning down so he can have his afternoon nap on the bench! It is a little strange when a cat sits there on the patio and meows for the awning to be down. When we can comply (non windy days), he jumps on the bench for his nap! Spoiled?

This month I met my niece Karen (Vicki's daughter ) in Paris. We had a wonderful couple of days talking, sight seeing , and eating /drinking food and wine (but of course). It was a cloudy and very cool in Paris, especially for June, but that is weather. Unfortunately, I was a little leery of asking strangers to take photos (and camera disappearing), so I do not have any of us together...OK there is one, but in my opinion one of us (the old aunt) did not take a good photo. But there are Paris photos, the beautiful city.

A ramp near the d'Orsay has been painted

We added a padlock here to commemorate our few days
And why not 

Arc de Triumph

Eiffel Tower   Did you know: G Eiffel-
Born: December 15, 1832, Dijon

Rodin museum

Notre Dame

Self portrait---me with the camera

Les Deux Margots
Diner one night 

Les Deux Margots once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of the city. Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage  of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. Other patrons included Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce,  Bertolt Brecht, Julia Child, and the American writers James Baldwin, Alison Machin, Chester Himes,  Charles Sutherland, and Richard Wright. What an interesting history.

When looking at ceramic tiles for the kitchen or bath, ever wonder why those white ones are called metro tiles? The underground transport in France is called the Metro.

Note the white rectangular tiles on the walls and ceiling of this Metro stop

Speaking (or writing ) about the Metro, some stops in Paris still have the art nouveau style.

I always love these.

I have been in the woods a couple of times. One flower I posted on Facebook, but will post it here too.

The seeds of the Solomon's seal flower

orchis pyramidal (anacamptis pyramidalis)

Ophyrs abeille (Ophrys apifera)

I do not know- (like a large dandelion)

Phalangère à fleurs de Lis (Anthericum liliago)

Lis martagon (Lilium martagon)

Limodore à feuilles avortées (Limodorum abortivum)
Flowers not open and a little past its time

And here and there some butterflies (papillons).

Gazé

Tabac d'espagne

Le petit Sylvain

I have also been taking photos of villages and things associated with these villages. This month I have a photo of plaque that is part of a ruins in the woods of Ternant. It was a small chapel to Saint Hubert. He is the patron saint of hunters. This plaque is still in the ruins.

Another is a borne ( a road marker or property marker, old ones made of stone) found in the woods of the village Semezanges.

Horse upper right, a man kneeling, probably two dogs center bottom
Saint Hubert is often represented with a deer. Rays  from a cloud
center top. Rest unknown.
Saint Hubert is often represented with the illustration below

Photo of Ternant from above-

Old borne with the Fleur de Lys
What is it doing here deep in the woods?

This week also was out 48th wedding anniversary. Amazing huh! We went to a starred restaurant in Dijon, Chapeau Rouge. Lunch was very nice. I took a photo of the main plate ( called plat principal, not entree, here the entree is the starter..).

The sauce!! The waiter brought me more sauce!

It was divine

As indicated by the opening photo, my photo club had its' annual picnic, and this year it did not rain.

this was the 29th, last night.

Many still eating...this at Chamboeuf

Cows and people having a good time

He did not drink all of that wine alone! Keith actually
drinking some water.

And that closes the month of June. Now for the World CUP.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

PAVLOVA ( named after the russian dancer who lived in France)

This is a recipe from Marcotte. She helps host the TV show Meilleur Patissier, much like the American Bake off, but centered around pastry, not baking breads. Marcotte is a food writer and has been co-hosting the show with chef Cyril Lignac.
This is really an easy summer recipe that works with most fruits. Start with a meringue, add sweetened whipped cream and top with fresh fruit.
I have left it in french with some translation. You can easily look up recipes too. 
And why not buy the meringue and go from there. It does not have to be a pretty bowl as in the photo, just crumble in individual glasses, top with the whipped cream and then the fruit. What a show stopper.

Photo from internet site Mercotte
mercotte.fr

MERINGE : 3 egg whites, 55 grams of  powdered sugar + 55 g of sugar, 1 tsp vanilla sugar

La meringue : 3 blancs d’oeufs, 55g de sucre glace + 55g de sucre semoule, 1cs de sucre vanillé.

Cook 1 hour at 110 celsius ( I have since found that it is best then to turn off oven and let it sit for 2 hours to further dry out. I still get slightly browned meringue, and still working on it. Mercotte says to open oven door and leave in the oven.

Cuire 1h 10 à 110° à moduler en fonction du four. Laissez éventuellement dessécher porte fermée une fois la cuisson terminée.

Here mix the fruit of choice with some sugar. Framboises below are raspberries

Le coulis : 250gr. de framboises, 40gr. de sucre en poudre, 1/4 de jus de citron.

Mixez framboises + sucre + jus de citron + 2cl. d’eau. Passez au chinois fin pour éliminer les grains.

Put the whipped cream at the bottom of the meringue bowl. Add the fruit of the season on top. Serve with any leftover fruit mixture.

La finition : Répartissez un peu de chantilly pour les gourmands au fond de la meringue et ajoutez les fruits selon le marché du jour.  Servez accompagné du coulis en saucière.

VOILA