E & me {toaster}

Remember last week's E & me? 

We were in the kitchen comparing le lait. 

Well, this week, toast's on!

Erin's toaster is impressive with its four slots 

{very necessary to make breakfast for all those boys of hers!},

whereas ours is smaller, rouge 

& en service most mornings toasting baguette.

Miam miam!

I love toast.  Toi aussi ?

Les Scènes du Week-End {24}

My parents have been here in France for a few days now.

Hooray!

We spent the weekend in Pommiers, 

the beautiful village in the Beaujolais region of France

{not far from Lyon}

where my husband grew up

& where his parents still live.

We admired the lovely scenery,

ate lots of yummy stuff,

drank lots of festive things

& celebrated {a teeny bit belatedly} 

my birthday with family lunch on Sunday.

It was a fantastic weekend.

Here are the photos!

Moi avec mes parents near the community centre in Pommiers.

My father-in-law was up in that hot-air balloon on Saturday morning!!!

The view from our bedroom window of Merlin chilling down on the pool deck.

Sunday afternoon with la famille.

Juliette avec the bilingual book my parents gave her as a present.

Hooray for birthday cake! And for not putting the first digit of my age on this one!

My mom la touriste in FQ's hometown.

.

Just one of the lovely houses & beautiful vineyards in my in-law's village.

FQ feeding goats along our walk on Sunday afternoon.

My lovely niece in my parents-in-law's piscine.

E & me {milk}

In just a few days, fall will officially be here.

I don't know how the weather is where you live,

but in les Alpes, it's starting to be quite chilly in the morning.

That's not a problem for me.

I love autumn.

And you know what else I love?

Hot beverages.

That's why this week's E & me is all about milk.

Café au lait?
Strong tea with milk & sugar?

Steaming hot chocolate?

Home-made London Fog?

Yes please!

I imagine this post is making you wish for

one of the tasty warm beverages I mentioned above.

Before you go into the kitchen or hit your local coffee shop,

please let me know...

Is milk chez toi like the big jug taking up space in Erin's fridge?

Or is it more like the Lactel lait in my cupboard?

Yep, most milk in France is UHT.

That means it's sterilized at super-high temperatures

& doesn't need to be put into the fridge until it's opened.

{That kind-of weirded me out at first,

but I'm used to it now.}

Three years ago today...

... we said "I do".

in a field near Gap, France, 20 September 2008

{Well, actually, we said "oui"!}

Les Scènes du Week-end {23}

This weekend was all about musical friends with similar names,

pretty mountain views,

housework, hot beverages & rain.

Friday night, my dear friend Anna,

who I met when I was an English teacher in Poland, 

was playing a concert in a little village about an hour from Annecy.

Anna is an amazing pianist.  

You can read more about her here.

I invited my new friend Ana 

{spelled with only one "n", but still pretty cool...}

to go with me to the concert

because I know she is very musical herself

& that she'd love listening to Bach & the rest of the programme.

Old friends & new friends 

& beautiful music 

& tasty Polish-style food after the concert?

It was a great night, 

not to mention the perfect way to start the weekend.

Anna at the end of her lovely concert.

We decided that we look as young as the last time we saw each other, 8 years ago.

After the concert, I slept over at my friend Ana's house 

in the middle of the French Alps countryside.

She & her husband made a yummy brunch on Saturday morning

& the rain stopped long enough 

so that we could have a little walk around their property.

So charming!

Country road outside my friend Ana's house in a local village.

The last blooms of the season & the beautiful view from Ana & Nico's house.

Walnuts from a tree near Ana's place.

Sunday morning it was pouring rain.

But I wanted a break from the housework 

& to take advantage of some local events

set up for the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine.

I decided to put on my gumboots,

grab my umbrella

& participate in a guided tour 

of some 1930s mansions in my neighbourhood.

Other brave/nerdy folks came out for the walking tour.

Many of the local 1930s mansions have art-deco entryway posts like this one.

I love my gumboots.

Sunday-afternoon coffee {& Tim Tams from my brother.}

The sun finally came out while I was mid-chores on Sunday afternoon, so I cleaned the kitchen window.  Whee!