All posts filed under: Life in France

studying wine in France

Market Day in Jura

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I’ve tried to write as many posts as I could while on holiday in Jura, but I am once again being swamped with so many photos that have been added to my already-overloaded hard drive. One has to have strong willpower to stay sober and focused when good food and wines are always around. That’s what I think whenever I’m in France. I’ve collected so many cheeses and discovered some great local sparkling wine Crémant du Jura and the best Comte shop, which I will share with you in another post. The Jura wine tasting happened to start at a local market. Jura wines aren’t cheap so I didn’t want to buy whole bottles to try at the risk of disappointment, especially when I’m not a white wine drinker. Luckily, the golden opportunity to taste and learn about Jura wines came and I went to the market. This farmer’s market rotates around Jura and it was in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine two weeks ago, which you can catch only once a year. I was worried that the market …

Confit de Carnard / Quick Easy Fondant au Chocolat

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The days of blue sky, as in the photo, seem to have ended in this part. The trees have lost their charming colours and now have more naked colours of brown. As I’m having my last week in Jura, I’m already being nostalgic, looking at all the photos from my crazy 3 week-long adventure of the Jura mountains and Jura wines. I have the last mission to complish, which is to visit the froggy lakes that were featured in Triplets of Belleville and eat frog legs, which will be the last supper to celebrate the end of my gastronomic holiday.

Rhône-Alpes – Chassenay d’Arce and Domain de l”Oiselet Vacqueyras

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Let’s change the sights for today. I’m heading towards Mont Blanc. As we drove towards the far eastern end near the Switzerland border, the landscape changed dramatically. It was an interesting comparison, geographically speaking. The Mont Blanc was approaching closer and closer, making me want to climb up there one day. Barren and rocky mountain peaks started to appear and the houses looked different and the temperature was higher as well. If you continue through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, you’ll arrive in Turin. We arrived in our destination, very close to the Mont Blanc Tunnel, and the reason we were there was to pick up a new fancy van for Cyrille. The car dealer had an amazing house with a living room that has this incredible view like a wide panorama TV screen. On the way back home, we stopped by at a gourmet grocer to stock up some vegetables and things. I liked the shop very much because all the produce was fresh, local and good quality. But well, dead rabbits and ducks, with fur unplucked …

Being a Gourmande – Full Course: Escargot to Best Pear Tart / Saint-Joseph Rhone Wine

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I’ve been cooking everyday and indulging in eating so much that I hardly have time to sit in front of the computer. In a way, I’ve been deliberately trying to stay away from the computer as being in France is a holiday and a treatment for the pains in my back and shoulders that I’ve had for quite a while. Blogging means a lot of sitting, whether it is for writing or working on photos. But once committed to blogging, one feels anxious when I don’t post anything for more than 5 days. I wish I could post everyday – I probably could if it was just about writing – but a big part of my blog is the photos as you can see. I love taking photos of food. My photos aren’t so professional like the ones you see on blogs of professional food photographers, with beautiful lighting and props, etc.

Being real French – Mushroom Picking and Jura Wine

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Can you imagine how lucky I am waking up every morning to this panoramic landscape? I must have done something right in the past or past life to have this kind of luck. Or my passion for food, wine and cheese has led me to this. Whatever the reason is it’s a bliss. Although it’s not sunny every day this time of the year, it has its own charm. When the rays of afternoon sun shine the plateau of Mt Jura, it feels like a paradise. Even the French say I’m more French than the French because I know more about cheese and wine than the ordinary French; they like drinking and eating them than knowing them. Also, my appetite for food is bigger than the French. I must look strange to the French, knowing so much about French food. Well, I’ve been in France on and off for the last 5 years, 1-3 months each time. I’ve tried most of the food and cheese. One of the great pleasures of French life is eating …

Boulangerie and Fromagerie in Bordeaux

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Let’s cram! Because I know I won’t have much time to blog once I get back to Istanbul, I’m busily going over my Bordeaux albums to select photos to write about, and I’ve decided that I can’t leave Bordeaux without mentioning my favourite spots for food shopping. We tent to take for granted the things that are around us all the time, bread for example. I buy it everyday, twice a day. Now that I know the best bakeries to buy bread, I can go straight to each one for morning bread and baguette for lunch and dinner. I feel so good when I taste good bread.