Hiking Bessilles - Plans A B C...

Even though nearly every stage went contrary to Plan, we did have a lovely hike and "BBQ" today!

We were to meet in Sète, carpool to the Parc de Bessilles, and hike Les Coteaux de Bessilles forest trail. It would be a short 6 kilometers, over in plenty of time to barbeque for lunch, visit, and catch up!

Well, we're nothing if not adaptable, and today gave us ample practice! Our parking lot was closed due to The International Pétanque Tournament, but we all eventually got to the parc. A quick check of the picnic grounds told us that barbeques today were prohibited - further investigation said that the entire department had this in place, due to the dry conditions and the wind. "K" saved the day by having us to her house, where we used her stove and had our end-of-hike party :-).

Our hike started out as a fairly easy trail,

past wild rosemary,

through forest,

with plenty of flowers

(and more almond trees!)

to an overlook to Sète, across the Étang de Thau.

Then, things... changed... Our very easy trail suddenly leapt up this cliff-side - it did not seem prudent for our recovering commander to go further on this route.

We split our group; several returned on the trail taken so far, and the rest of us continued. We had a few steep up-and-downs (we were glad of the decision to split our group), and of course,
more flowers,

more rocks,

and more forest!

At one point, we crossed over from one trail onto another, and ended up going a few extra kilometers - I'm calling it the scenic route...

Scenic route: green, but then turn left onto the red trail

After our hike, we all convoyed to K's place and had our fabulous indoor barbeque - our commander declared it a new tradition!

Water and Fish

We had a problem with our water heater late last  night, and so our neighbor turned off our water (all this stuff is in the apartment building hallway). This morning, he explained how it had been leaking - as soon as we understood, we called our chauffagiste (the expert in these matters). He made a temporary fix, and will come back next week for the rest.

While he was here, he mentioned that he had been fishing earlier, and... Did we want some? Fresh fish! Sure!

Look at these beauties!

Then I realized that it's been a looooong time since I've cleaned a fish...

YouTube to the rescue!

~~~
https://youtu.be/apjhIAKDuX0

More Almond Blossoms

I couldn't resist taking more pictures - just look how thick these trees are with blossoms!

Pollen Season

It's pollen season here in France...

And that's us, right there, in the red zone.
https://www.pollens.fr

Almond Blossoms

Almond blossoms always remind me of Dad - it's a birthday tradition for him to go out hunting for the first blooms :-)

We get them a couple of weeks later here in Sète, but they are still wonderful!

Almond Blossoms and Visitor

A Winter Week in Sète

Although this week is still Winter, it definitely feels like Spring here in Sète! Our days have been sunny, with highs approaching 70°F, little wind, and (best of all), *still* not a single day so far with freezing temperatures! Compare that to last year's very unusual snow...

I'm coming out of hibernation:
- Sunday, I went to a get-together of my sailing club - over 4 hours of good people drinking hot chocolate (à la Pascale), snackng on apple pie (Américain) and tartes mirabelles, and speaking a whole lotta French!
- Monday, I had my now-regular English/French conversation-and-correction coffee klatch with friends.
- Wednesday was supposed to be a monthly potluck lunch. As it was cancelled, I had lunch with a new friend - we shared tips on what's "normal." I watched as she showed me how to eat a radish appetizer - sprinkle salt on a plate, rub the radish in it, eat it with a piece of buttered bread, repeat :-). I introduced her to gallo pinto (French style), and how to mix in crème fraîche.
- Friday, I met a few people to see a movie at the cinema! I watched my first film in France (and the first in a very long time even before moving). It was Green Book, so an American film, but it had been dubbed into French. There were enough points of reference that I could follow it, and I still had a ton of French slowly seeping into my head.

The rest of my week was full of regular chores, a lot of reading, more sunset photos, and (finally!) some painting :-)

Easel In Action

This afternoon, my new-to-me easel saw some action!

Next hurdle - paint...

One Guess!

You get one guess! What is about to happen here? Hint: it's February 2nd, and there's a coin standing by...

Giving it away...

Crêpes

125 g flour (3/4 cup)
2 medium eggs
250-300 ml milk
pinch of salt
25 g melted butter (2TB)

Mix everything except the butter, then mix in the butter. make sure to beat all the lumps out. Pour mixture into a beaker, and let it rest 1 hour.

Heat a non-stick skillet on High-Medium (5 of 7 on my stove). When hot, stir the batter, and pour about 1/3 cup into the pan. Swirl the pan to spread the batter. (All the videos show the batter poured into a tilted pan, but it works better for me to simply pour it in the center, then swirl).
When the batter is no longer glistening, and the edges of the crêpe are browned, swirl the pan to make sure the crêpe is loose. Then flip it (you can toss it or use a spatula; the crêpe will taste just as good).
For the first crêpe, you're supposed to hold a coin in one hand while you flip the crêpe with the other. If you succeed, you will have a good year, financially speaking :-) )
When the other side is done, slide the crêpe onto a plate. Continue until the batter is gone.
Fill the crêpes with savory ingredients (fruits de mer in béchamel sauce, or chicken curry) for dinner, or sweet things (nutella, jam, or orange sauce) for dessert.