A Hard-knock life

I gotta say, it's so tough being an artist in Southern France. Today was a busy day in the neighborhood.

We started off the morning in Mouans-Sartoux for the Fete du Miel (Honey Festival). Between buying assorted flavors of local honey (including chocolate) we got to see lots of bees, that stayed away from my scalp, got to see a honey extraction demonstration and watch an actual beekeeper. So much sugarrrr.

Side note, currently eating fresh fraises (strawberries) with miel du lavande (lavander honey). om nom nom.

Next stop found us in Mougins for the Marche Italien. We tried tons of cheese, meat, sauces, wine etc and of course pizza and cappuccino for lunch. Bought some cheese, sausage, and chewy cookie thingys. Successful trip.

From Mougins, we hopped the train over to Cannes as step one in the getting back to Vallauris process, but decided to stay a bit. More crepes on the beach as well as basking in the sun (I got a bit pink). We tried to grab a bus back to Vallauris, but didnt want to wait 45 minutes so we starting walking. Played with death a bit on those skinny roads, but we survived and a superbly nice bus driver stopped about 3/4 of the way through our trek.



Just a typical Sunday around here.
P.s. Reevaluating that plane ticket home....

Etc. Etc. Etc

So I did it! I went swimming in the Mediterranean Sea this morning. It was rather short-lived once I lost some feeling in certain crucial body parts and decided it was best to get out and enjoy the beach instead. It was beautiful water though! There will be more swimming (hopefully the water will warm a bit between now and then though).

On another note, I have finished 9 drawings as of today and they are gore-geous dahling! The gallery opens two weeks from today, but no pressure or anything... There will be 1 or 2 more drawings created before I call it quits and start framing. I decided to venture (with full encouragement from all the ceramic people I live with) into playing around with a bit of pottery and decorating techniques for the last week or so, so we'll see how that one goes.

Food Porn Gone Wild

Time to Salivate!

Nutella and Banana Crepes in Antibes the other day!

There is this little fancy (and delicious) cafe right next door to us and we indulged for dinner last night.

This was called pisaladiere, but I definitely spelled it wrong. (There is anchovies in it, however the bread and onion amazingness allowed me to ignore that part.

Some kind of Spinach and Salmon tart (more yummy)

I ATE DUCK! That's what that pinkish meat is! It was covered in a miel (honey) and raspberry vinaigrette sauce. om nom nom. Wiped my plate clean.

Tart du orange chocolat! There was also mousse du chocolat and a brandied pear sundae, but those photos didnt make the cut. Dessert involved a lot of plate sharing though.


Don't judge my french spelling and just enjoy the wonderful food porn please. Thanks!

Food porn: Crepes in Cannes

So it finally happened, after four years of loyalty, my mac charger had finally frayed to the point of no longer operating, which = trip to Cannes in hopes of finding a replacement. We took the bus into town from Vallauris, but alas it was still siesta, so we had time to kill. And how did we fill that time you might ask?

CREPES on the BEACH!

And not just any crepes, NUTELLA CREPES!

Just so we weren't total slackers, we walked back along the coast to Golfe-Juan from Cannes (where we caved and hopped on a bus for the last leg of the journey).

Do a Little Dance

It's official, I'm going to Paris via train from 4-6 May! Lalalalalalalala. This is all made possible by a very nice Schneider Electric connection who will be letting me crash on their couch while I am there. WOO WOO!

Bee Rumble

This could only happen to me and forgot to inform all of you earlier, but my head is still a bit itchy. I got in an intense fight with a very determined bee....I think the bee won....So story time! Helen and I went for walk to the pretty "Notre Dame" Chapel with a view of the town and sea. We were walking back and all of a sudden all I could here was this loud buzzing noise. So I asked helen if she heard it and she said no. And so I start waving my arms figuring a bug is stalking me, but I dont see anything. And Helen doesnt either, but I still hear the buzzing so I start thinking its in my ear, but it wasnt. So I start shaking my head and hair, but still hearing it, so then I feel something in my hair, but cant get to it. This is all of the side of a road by the way. So finally Helen starts piecing through my hair and finds....dun dun dun.... a BEE! who was stubbornly making a home in my scalp. So were trying to get him to leave and the little EFFer STINGS ME on my SCALP! but we got him and the stinger out of my head and now I'm fine, but that was my excitement for the day on Sunday. TA-DAH.

Italia

We took a day trip over to San Remo in Italy yesterday. Yup, be jealous. Authentic Italian pizza, bakery items, architecture galore, GELATO, etc.

----Vespa Land

----Secret Tunnels through Old Town

----The View

----I forgot to take pictures of all of my amazing italian food before it found its way into my belly so all you get is the almost empty gelato cup. Thats a giant hunk of chocolate in the bottom, dont worry i didnt waste it.

----Russian Orthodox Church (effing sweet architecture)

Staying safe

There is one of these outside every single Pharmacie (which is on every block almost) and some random street corners. You know, just in case the opportunity presents itself.

Get ready to be hungry

I ate caviar!! and can officially say I've tried rabbit....tasted like chicken, but poor bunny.

Wrong turn

Yesterday was gorgeous out, so we headed out for a walk to Golfe-Juan, tried a new route, almost ended up in Cannes, definitely made it into Super Cannes though, but what a view! Eventually, we circled back down the mountain/hill thing and made it out to ocean. No regrets, what a great place to get lost.

No seriously, the water from the fountain is not portable, just in case you were wondering.

Summer, Schummer

Remembered my camera for this trip to Golfe-Juan yesterday, got my legs in the Mediterranean Sea, but didnt go for fully emerged. Next time though, much warmer than I expected. Kendra wasn't holding back and jumped right in.

Macaron overload

Kat, this is just for you. Found another pattisserie with six flavors of macarons. Forgot to take the picture before we ate the first one (it was green for pistachio). These are truly amazing. I'll see what I can do about shipping.

For those that were wondering

Yes I am doing art, amongst all my other adventures, I been squeezing in multiple studio hours a day. I had finished the first drawing and was cranking out the next one when all of sudden, it all went to hell. An hour later it was cut to pieces, salvaging my favorite part ever and contemplating the next step. After staring longingly at the first drawing and pieces of the second, I realized I needed a new take on things and have decided to follow a slightly different road from here on out. Maybe I'll be nice and post some sneak peeks later on this week.

Dessert food porn!

Kat, I know you in particular have been waiting for this and that you are all shocked that it took this long to get to the desserts, but have no fair there has been consumption, without record, of chocolate croissants, chocolate, wonderful fruit with fresh cream and other deliciousness, but here it is, MACARONS! I have to say that the frozen replicas are no competition to what I ate today, real live French thing. I think I might start a Macaron competition from patisserie to pattisserie. This one particular place had GIANT ones too, but I stuck to the classic size. Yup, be jealous.

If I dont come home, this is probably why

The title explains it all. Antibes, I'm in love.

Food Porn: the Sequel

Second trip to Antibes, we stopped a marina-side cafe for lunch, ordered a salmon caesar salad. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped when it came to table. YUM! Salmon, pancetta, greens, ahhhhhhhhhhh so freaking good. I almost forgot to take the photo so just think that it actually looked even better than this before my fork got to it.

Not quite THE Notre Dame, but still cool.

Another walk and a few hills later, I managed to actually find my way without getting lost to the Notre Dame des Graces. Pretty small compared to what Notre Dame springs to mind in my head, but it was still pretty fantastic. And the view just cant even be replicated. The photo doesnt even begin to do it justice. I just sat and stared.

Food Porn Time

Now, what you all have been waiting for and requesting. I know that you've been expecting it and I have been eating nothing but delicious food here (and drinking lots of wine), but been so absorbed in consumption and amazingness that I havent really thought to photograph, but here you go. I'll try to get better at photographing before consumption, it's tough though.

These are all my peeps, by the way.

This was dinner last night after we went over to local gallery opening. One of the artists', Helen, her mother is visiting for the week and is a fantastic chef and has even cooked alongside Julia Child. She made up an amazing dinner of brazed chicken soaked in caramelized onions, carrots, artichokes (yes I ate artichokes) and herbs with roasted potatoes, fresh bread and lots of wine were involved as well.

Through the rabbit hole

Last one for today --- This is the door to one of the two studios, makes me feel like Alice in Wonderland, I have to bend quite a bit not to come out with a concussion, but I still love it.

Boots are Made for Walking

Big day today, and I gotta say, the French really do know how to eat right. Bought wonderful fresh food at the markets all by myself, even with my minimal French speaking abilities! A little walk for lunch and a studio break turned into an adventure down to Golfe-Juan and another beach, which was just as nice as Antibes, but lacking in a camera (wasnt prepared for the trip). We ate some delicious quiche in a cute little park about halfway down the giant hills. Followed it all up with a trip to Cannes, which reminded me a lot of NYC in certain areas, but almost anywhere we go, I'm pretty sure I walk around with my mouth gaping. I even squeezed in about 5-6 hours of studio time today. GO ME!

French guy motto

"You meet a girl, you fall in love, you get bored, you break up, you find someone new."
-courtesy of the guys at the table next to us in Antibes yesterday, gotta love it.

no sign of Debbie

The ABC's

This public sculpture was actually pretty cool, especially once you went in and laid down and just got immersed in it. At the very top and middle of the head, you see an X (like X marks the spot). Thought that was interesting. Done by Jaume Plensa. It was cozy.

Antibes

Spent most of the day today in Antibes with two of the other residents. It was beautiful and perfect weather. The Meditteranean was unbelievable. I wanted to just jump right in, but I kept my composure. The Picasso Museum (in his old studio) was crazy. So much Picasso art that has not even made it into photos inside books. The view from his studio was entirely waterfront and if you look carefully you can even see the French Alps in the distance. Sigh....I already dont want to leave....