the taste of summer

While Britta and I were in France this summer, many things were offered to us flavored with sirop.

Water.

Beer.

Panaché (beer mixed with lemonade).

Pretty much anything liquid. Doesn't matter.

Lots of flavors, too. I liked blood orange the best. Strawberry was also good.

I came home and started wondering why we don't do that. After all, the water tastes much better after you drag it around for a few hours in the heat than it might without the sirop.

So, now I make ginger syrup. It's not the same, but it tastes fabulous in milk and is a great cocktail mixer. I got the recipe from an Asian food cookbook and it's super easy and keeps forever. It's just simple syrup with a kick, really.


1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup roughly chopped, unpeeled fresh ginger

Put it all in a pot, stir, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes or until slightly thickened.


I keep mine in a glass bottle in the fridge. It's delicious. I think I'm going to go have some right now.

Obviously France is full of deliciousness.

Please note that the escargot are wearing tiny hats.

Travelers aren't always sweaty

Just for giggles, here's a picture of my typical day in France.


Bonus points if you can name the city.

Thanks for the pic, B!

City of Light

Sometimes I get lonely for places I've been. Tonight, I miss Paris.


I miss eating crêpes on Montmartre and watching dusk fall over the city.

(click)

I miss the casual warm evenings spent people-watching on the Seine.


I miss how the city and the water light up at night.


I miss gargoyles.

I love gargoyles.

Two months ago, I was in Paris. Two months seems like forever.

La Futbolista

It's that time again.

You should recognize the signs. I get really intense. Maybe a little crazy. Very competitive. Passionate.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING!

Today my USMNT Yanks beat El Salvador to stay on top of CONCACAF. This makes me very happy indeed. Better yet, my boy Clint Dempsey scored the first goal. :)

In honor of my good mood, our win, and the world's game, here's a pic from when I played soccer with French boys.

The bride's brother bringing a new meaning to "step-over"

They told me I was very good... "for a girl." Haha. In France, soccer is a boy's game, so that means a lot.

Things that make you question your own sanity

You know how some people are very particular about the over/under placement of the free end of the toilet roll? Take Mel, for example. I'm not very territorial about the powder room, myself, but my vote is with the over group. Not that it matters.

Now in France, they dispense with all debate and provide a very specific picture tutorial on the toilet roll holder. If the picture isn't clear enough, all you silly Americans who spool it backwards at home, it says "yes" under the proper way and "no" under the wrong way.

TP tutorial in the can in Cannes

To be fair, I found this in Cannes, where they obviously experience high volumes of Hollywood traffic every year and some of those people clearly aren't to be trusted with simple verbal instructions.

In Paris, we saw this crustacean street tile art. What, pray tell, is the meaning of "I crab Paris"?

Oh yeah? Well, I <3 crab cakes!

The world may never know.

Les Chats de France

Cats live the good life in France... or at least, they do in Angers. In America, cats are mostly indoor pets, but their very nature makes them so much more entertaining in public than dogs.

This cat was scoping out the street foot traffic from perch on a second-floor balcony. I imagine he waited for an unassuming prospect aimlessly wandering down the sidewalk, then pounced like a furry ninja from on high. Fight to the death and all. Either that or he dropped his lunch.

High dive kitty contemplates the plunge

We also saw more than one person walking around town with their kitty on a leash, or perched on their shoulder like a pirate with an alibi for their secret catnip habit.

Fur epaulet

If taking your cat out on walks and letting them people-watch isn't enough, by all means, buy them some kitty-drugs. My cat's personal highly annoying habit is eating vegetation... potted plants, bouquets in vases, dried flowers and grass. When she sees this picture she'll probably kill me in my sleep for not hooking her up with a pot.

I think the hostile cartoon kitty on the pot inserts adds a special touch.

I think our strangest animal encounter goes to the camels in the château moat, however.