Besides the obvious skill, balance and sheer stones required to do this stuff, I’m also astonished at his creativity. Awesome.

Strong words, I know. And I’m not really against having lawns per se. Lawns are kinda nice. You may ask yourself then, “why would he have such a hate on for an innocent little grass variety?”. Well, most of our yards are covered with Kentucky Bluegrass,the most common lawn grass on the continent, mostly because it grows well here (though it’s not a native species) and withstands the winters. As a result, many of us feel compelled to care for this yard covering by watering, fertilizing and mowing it. These are three things I also kinda hate. We use WAY too much water to maintain our “Pleasantville” lawns, add chemical feritilizers that come with a whole host of collateral damage (in their production, run-off, packaging and shipping etc.) and are for our troubles are simply left with a faster growing, albiet greener, lusher field that needs to be mowed more often with a (commonly) gas lawn mower, one of the worst polluters out there.

So since buying our house, we’ve gotten rid of our gas mower, opting instead for a push style reel mower, and removed a fair amount of sod (replacing it with gardens - with veggies as well as drought tolerant plants). And while I have aerated the lawn, never has chemical fertilizer touched it. And it is looking WAY better than when we bought the place.

Anyhow, yesterday we began the next step; removal of all the current lawn. No, we didn’t dig it all out. But we did overseed with a fescue blend that promises to be much better. It requires little or no water (though in this climate I suppose I will have to water a bit even after it is established), no fertilizer, and little or no mowing all summer, and has a natural weed resistance. Not bad. There are a few blends available out there if you care to look, but the one I finally found available in our town is Eco-Lawn.

Now because we are not actually removing the old lawn, opting for the overseeding method, this will be a 3-5 year transition with overseeding being repeated each year. So it is not an instant lawn (you know, those rolls of sod that are likely bluegrass), but I’m a patient guy and am willing to wait and see how this all plays out.

Oh, and maybe I’ll take the opportunity to mention the new look. I think this might be my favorite banner picture so far. Well today it is anyway.

This shot was taken this summer at the top of Puig Carlit, part of our hike in the French Pyrenees. I’ve always wanted a shot like this; with Mich on the top of a rock that we’ve just climbed, the valley through which we hiked to get there off in the distance. I love the colors, the panorama feel and actually, the clouds in the background, nestled into the “little” divots between peaks. Anyway, details about this hike will be in a future post, one that I’m hoping Mich will be a guest writer on.

Well, would you look at that! I almost wrote a new post! I might be back in the saddle after all…

Now whenever we discuss our recent trip with someone, they often say something like “Oooo, you must have loved the food in France.” And indeed we did. But not in the way we may have expected. We found a fair amount of restaurants were quite overpriced (keeping in mind that this is Europe) for rather mediocre fare. So really, we didn’t eat out all that much. That said, there were a few things I wanted to be sure graced my plate on this trip.

Paella:
Yes, I know, this isn’t French food. But hey, we were in Catalonia, in the south of France where the Spanish influence is heavy. So when we walked past this little restaurant on a tiny back street in Perpignan and saw the sign “Paella 9.90€” I became hopeful. When I stuck my head in and saw this…

I don’t think I could fit this Paella Pan in my kitchen!

… I was in! We were told that Paella would be ready in 25 minutes, so we sat down for a glass of rose while we waited. The waiter frequently came out into the street to address the patrons with updates. “Paella in 17 minutes!” “Paella in 8 minutes!” When it did come, it was delicious and well worth the “wait”.

Jacqui and Glenn enjoying the ambiance. Methinks Jacqui has spied the garbage truck!

A funny thing happened during that meal. Although it was about 8pm on a Thursday evening (the night that Perpignan has a LOT of live music in the old city), the garbage truck came along to do its rounds. This was funny because as I said earlier, this was a rather small street. I suppose they must do this business in the evening simply to avoid the daytime traffic on the crowded, narrow French streets. Anyway, check out the video below of our fabulous Paella dinner interrupted briefly by the Perpignan Municipal Sanitation Crew hard at work. I THINK it is safe to say that it will be a once in a lifetime dinner experience, but then again, who knows…? Fine dining experience indeed!

Tapas (or Pintxos):
I know, this is supposed to be about French food. Well, being so close to the Spanish border, and due to the fact that we flew into and out of Barcelona, we did spend some time in Spain. Our last night in Europe was spent in Girona, a really delightful city, full of history and incredible cobblestone streets. It’s a future post in its own right. Anyway, seeing as we were there for a night, I felt we had to get some good Tapas. Glenn ran into a North American bloke on the street (quite literally - he said “excuse me” and we recognized his “accent” to be NA) and we had a quick chat. He was kind of a local in that he had lived there for 12 years. I pumped him for info on a good Tapas place and he did not steer us wrong. It was just the kinda place I was hoping for; no menu, rather they put the tapas out on a long counter and you just go up and pick up what appeals to you. Each one has a toothpick in it. They count up the toothpicks you have at the end of your meal and bill you accordingly. Awesome.

And no drool guard!

Fois Gras:
Here’s one I had some trouble with. I KNOW that I shouldn’t eat fois gras. I know it. I do. I know that it is cruel. I know that the geese have a really, really sucky life. But I also know the unbelievable culinary experience it is to dine on fois gras. People really, there really isn’t anything like it. So, this is one of those “when in France” moments. For the second time in my life (and perhaps the last), I ordered it. And I savored it. And I loved it. Like, I really loved it. I shared a bit with my table-mates, but really, I kept the lion’s share to myself. And it was good people, really, really good. Shame on me.

Fois Gras. Yes it looks like I’m sharing, but really, I’m not. Oh no, I’m not.

Cheese, Olives and Saucisson:
I can’t say enough about the cheese, olives, saucisson and, mentioned in a previous post, bread. The variety of cheese was staggering. Each village or region has their own specialty cheese, be it from cow, goat or sheep. It was fun choosing what to try and how much to spend! The same was true for saucisson (sausage). Probably the one we liked the most was this amazing little number that Mich got; it had pistachios in it! It was really expensive, but the saucisson man assured Mich that it would keep, unrefrigerated, in the cupboard for months! You’ve gotta pay for that kinda feature in your sausage! Plus, at the same market, Jacqui got some amazing cheese that was even more expensive. It had similar features though. It all came in handy when Mich and I did our multi-day hike. Nice to have cheese and saucisson for lunch on day three and not even have to be carrying a cooler with us!

Getting olives at the market. What a selection!

Cheese and Saucisson. Look ma, no refrigeration!

Cafés:
Of course we did spend some quality time enjoying coffee and baked goods out on the street. Mostly the little cafés or Boulangerie would have some seating out on the sidewalk, or more likely a little walking square. Many were very old businesses, handed down from generation to generation within one family. Pictured below are Jacqui and I enjoying morning treats from a Pâtisserie that was founded in 1775.

A Coffee Challenge:
And so it was that I decided that Glenn, a tea drinker, should become a coffee lover! See me in the above pic? That’s me absolutely LOVING a shot of espresso. Mmmmmmm. I wanted to see if we could show Glenn the way. I wanted to see him make that very coffee loving face!

We did finally convince him to have a cup. I asked him to express the love in his face so I could capture it with the camera. Below are the results.

The first try. I think he’s just warming up and only smelling it. Not quite ready I suppose.

Second try. What do you think Glenn? Hmmmm. He’s trying at least to look like he’s enjoying it.

Third try. Really? I’m supposed to like this stuff?

I don’t think he’s had another cup since. Back to Earl Grey for him.

In the end we did a lot of this; bread, tomatoes, cheese and olives. Accompanied by rose of course. And it was awesome.

You know, despite this bill’s potential hit to the Canadian economy (and perhaps identity), I have basically been on board with it. I mean, as a country, we can’t expect the French to get behind something that they deem to be “inhumane” right? None of us would. So good on ‘em…. right?

Well I thought so until recently, while in France,…

I saw THIS!

WTF? Seriously?

So clubbing seals is “inherently inhumane”, but clubbing orientals is openly advocated on the French streets? As a Chinese Canadian I have to say that I’m deeply troubled by the promotion of this kind of activity. I mean up until this moment, I felt pretty safe in France. Really, we saw none of the strife and violence that has plagued the country in recent memory. So I was literally walking the streets openly; sipping tasty french coffee at the cafés without a care in the world. Little did I know the peril I was putting myself into. Needless to say, I was WAY more cautious after viewing that poster. I even considered fleeing the country before things went from sweet to sour for me, and I wokked into some trouble.

In the end, I got outta there without incident. But not without being severely troubled by the whole situation. I can’t believe this has been allowed to go on unnoticed by activists ’round the world.

So I would like to use this forum to call for the immediate ban on certain French products, starting with French Fries. That should hit them where it hurts eh? Especially when you think about how many French Fries are consumed in Canada each day. Perhaps then they will start to think twice about this activity. Are you with me people? No more French Fries! And if that doesn’t work (though how could it not!?), I say we ban berets next. That should cripple their economy, leaving them little choice but to come to us begging for our mercy! Ha, they’d probably start asking us to ramp up the seal hunt and send extra seal pelts to them so they can create seal skin berets! I seriously don’t think they know who they are dealing with here.

** UPDATED**

Um… OK, perhaps I got this a little wrong. Thanks to all of you who have written me to let me know that this “Oriental Clubbing” thing is just some kinda craze or something at the Discotheques. Wow, um, who knew?

And yes, I also NOW know that French Fries are a bit of misnomer and that they were invented by the fine folks over at McCain Foods. Well, at least the beret is a French invention!

**UPDATED AGAIN**

Thanks to all of you who emailed me to let me know that in fact the beret really has Basque origins. I mean, come on, a good part of Basque territory is in modern day France! Give me a break here people!

Oh the sacrifices made for travel. It would seem that I am still suffering the aftereffects of allergic reactions to one very cute, but dander filled french feline.

Though Leelu’s range was severely restricted during my stay in her house (basically she was only allowed in the kitchen and outside), and I treated my body to a barrage of various anti-cat elixirs, she did get to me in the end.

Now we’ve been back a week and my nose still hasn’t quite recovered. Oh well, it will eventually. In the meantime, Otrivin is my best friend. Happily, my lungs fared a bit better and have suffered few negative efffects.

Sniff.

Les Paul died today.