Exploring life through food and travel
As a pastry chef, fruit desserts were my specialty as well as my favorite pastries to create. If fruit was in season, it showed up in abundance in my pastry case from Strawberry Napoleons to a Blueberry Bourbon Cream Cake, a tall tower of thin cakes spread and layered with a light bourbon cream and…
I first learned of Cathars from my friend Jacques, who wrote to me that his hiking group was planning a tour of these great monuments. Curious, I looked up what a Cathar was and where they were located. As it turns out, they are scattered throughout the Languedoc region very near to Carcassonne. A web…
Bonjour! Did you know that the Languedoc is France’s largest grape-producing region and it has been since Roman times? In fact, the vineyards flooded the landscape on just about every drive we took. According to Angela Murrills, author of Hot Sun Cool Shadow in which she writes about the region, it is the world’s most…
There is so much to drink in here in the land of all things that heighten the senses. Look up, and history is staring at you in the face. A distant castle, a gargoyle, an ancient door. Look across the countryside; all is bright green and lush, dotted with poppies. A waft of jasmine fills…