Spring has sprung

It has been a hard winter here, and everyone is glad that the spring has arrived. We had temperatures down to 12F, with highs no greater than about 20F, for 2 weeks. And so, the 5 inches of snow that fell at the beginning of this cold period stayed in place and made life absolutely miserable. People don't know how to drive in snow here, and many are (justifiably) afraid to drive, so there were a lot of "shut-ins" around for a while. With our experience driving on snow in the NE of the US, we didn't have any problems, other than the terror of coming face-to-face with a large SUV on a one-lane French road in the snow. Who would go over on to the verge? Of course, US!

Otherwise, it was a typical winter. We went up to Paris for 6 weeks, got a bunch of boat stuff done, ate too much patisserie and chocolate, gained weight (one of us), and walked everywhere. The late winter trip to Florida also went well, except for the cold we both brought back with us.

Oh, and we did 4 ducks again this year, with no help from Isabelle(we are getting good at this stuff). We froze all of the foie gras this time, because we have discovered that we really like it on pasta, much more than on toast.

Kitties have spring fever, and are really looking forward to getting out on the boat (yeah, sure) again.

More to come...

Shifting Over to Petillant

Tomorrow RXC and I head to the boat for a shakedown cruise to Ile de Re. Before we leave port there is work to be done: wash parts of the exterior, put up the canvas, install a new chart plotter, and upgrade to a quiet fresh water head. Once finished we will cruise north for a few days. We need to be back at the house for a day or 2 before the middle of May, so for this first trip out the cats will stay at home. They feel deprived!

This is my final posting on Ste. Foy Bordeaux for a few months. Jump to http://www.petillant-at-sea.blogspot.com to follow our summer cruising of the Atlantic coast of France and then on to England, Scotland for the Matlcruise, and Ireland. We are hoping that it will be easier to find hotspots in the UK than it was in Spain last year meaning that we will be able to post our stories and lots of photos on Flickr.

Ste. Foy Bordeaux should resume in at the end of August or in early September. Have a great summer!

We Are In!

We have just entered the Malts Cruise of Scotland. As we plan to be sailing around the UK this summer, why not taste whiskey along the way? Fifty boats participate in this event from many countries. So far Petillant is the only American boat. Calypso is ready!

http://www.worldcruising.com/maltscruise/itinerary.aspx

AHHH SPRING

Finally, it is that time when the white asparagus is everywhere in the market, the strawberries are red, fragrant, and delicious and we are on the boat. About 10 days ago we looked in on the boat and found more moisture in the interior that we had experienced in years past. We decided to take the cushions home and wash the covers. Wow they sparkle now. So on Saturday after the market we brought them back to the boat. Our lunch was a feast. We cleaned up the boat, brought the provisions for the next cruise, and washed the exterior. We spent the night on board and the next morning RXC was at the airport for a 6:55 am flight to Pittsburgh. Next trip to the boat will be at the end of April with the cats for our 4 month cruise.

Done Ducking

Our annual duck event followed immediately upon our arrival back from Florida. Still jet lagged , the next day found us carving up 4 fatted ducks making everything from confit, rillettes, conserved foie gras, and we froze all manner of parts including the foie, wings, and magrets. The fat we also put up and we will use it all year long in our cooking.

RXC has become very accomplished at carving up the ducks and in another year or two he will rival the master our neighbor Isabelle. Maybe there will be a duck carving contest in our future!

Omlettes Dans un Sac

Either we are too busy or time is just passing by too quickly. Before I had a chance to post more of our Paris adventure we were off to Florida. We had a fabulous 10 days in warm and sunny Stuart and Jacksonville. We visited with family and friends and of course we ate very well. Our favorite meal of the vacation was part participatory and part performance art.

Omelttes in a bag are being prepared by Chef Dorothy. Ever want to serve omlettes to a crowd? Here is the solution. Eggs, fillings (cut mushrooms seen in the photo), herbs, whatever you wish are placed uncooked in a Ziplok bag, set into a pot of simmering water, cooked for 13 minutes, slice the bag open and VOILA! a perfectly cooked delicious omlette. What a great morning on S/V Illusion. Many thanks.

Our Paris Eats-Ethnic

One of the best parts of a Paris stay is to go to ethnic restaurants. Our first evening in Paris was spent searching for sushi which turned out to be extremely easy. Sushi restaurants are everywhere in our neighborhood! Next on the list was falafel. L'as du Falafel is the go to place in the Marias. Vietnamese will be next, we have a lead on a great but yet unknown place near Madaleine. We have had many good classically French meals as well which I will post later.