One Day in Aix-en-Provence

One Day in Aix-en-Provence

After spending a morning in Grasse, Ryan and I then drove on to Aix-en-Provence. We took the narrow, winding back roads of Provence, past national parks and remote houses, preferring a scenic route over the toll highway. I was driving a good 20 km/h below the 50-70 km/h speed limit, as there were blind corners, […]

One Morning in Grasse

One Morning in Grasse

On Friday in Nice, Ryan and I ate the hostel breakfast supplemented with our truffle brie, foie gras pâté, ripe tomatoes, peaches, and cep sausage. We checked out and went to pick up our rental car from the train station. At the station, we saw more armed soldiers and security patrolling the station, as well […]

Exploring Nice in Two Days

Exploring Nice in Two Days

After a day of travel (flying from Manchester to Nice via Dublin…with several delays) we got into Nice at 10pm. Day Zero in Nice Ryan and I took a bus from the airport into the city. Our hostel have us directions and told us which bus to take, but that bus stopped running at 9pm. After missing […]

Spinach Quiche

Spinach Quiche

It’s officially spring in Toronto, but it’s been unseasonably cold and we’ve had a second coming of winter with 5-cm dumps of snow in April! Mixing up a filling and savoury spinach quiche with springlike ingredients helps me wait for the snow to melt and the fragrant hyacinths to bloom. At work, I teach people how […]

The Year in Books: February with Confessions of a French Baker by Peter Mayle

Confessions of a French Baker by Peter Mayle

I’ve finished all of Peter Mayle’s novels and non-fiction books, and have turned to Confessions of a French Baker, a little tome on French baking. Co-authored by famous Provençal baker Gerard Auzet, this book is divided into two parts. The first half of the book discusses Mayle’s relationship with the French baker and his observations of the […]