Tickets and Teeth

I got another speeding ticket in France, it turns out. This one came in the mail, after we returned, unlike the one I received on the road, four years ago. Someone in Los Angeles with whom I share a first name received the same, from the same town in France, just one day before I received mine, although he recalled seeing a traffic camera go off.

I didn’t mention before, but on this trip my travel companion lost a tooth, a front tooth, while eating a croissant one morning in Alsace. A day or so later, someone here in Los Angeles with whom he shares a first name also lost a front tooth, while lunching in a deli. What’s up, with all that?

You’d think when something official is sent from one country to another, the sending entity would write it in the language of its destination, particularly when money’s demanded, with threats for late payment. But it was in French. A google search, however, indicated the person with whom I share a first name and I are not alone – a link in English is out there that says, in essence, if-you-received-one-of-these-here’s-where-to-pay-it.

Oye.

- PJ

Red bell peppers

I often return home from France and Italy with new food ideas. Trying an idea or making something learned from a prior trip, combined with jet lag, help extend the feeling of a trip.

Tonight, it’s a red bell pepper tart I learned on a 2006 visit to France. (Thank you, Sophie!) Place a rolled out puff pastry in a quiche dish, spread it with Dijon mustard, fill with sliced red bell peppers and bake about an hour at 350, or until the crust is done. Oh, how I love three-ingredient dishes. Here it is, ready for the oven. 

With a roast chicken (hot from the grocery store, picked up on my way home) and lettuce leaves tossed in olive oil and vinegar, this makes an easy and nice dinner. Red wine, anyone?

 - PJ

Taxis - yikes

Arrived home, yesterday. Last Saturday, two miles in a Paris taxi cost twenty-five euros, about thirty-two US dollars for a half-hour drive.

Monday night, two speedy miles (about ten minutes) in a London taxi cost twenty-five pounds, over forty US dollars.

Yesterday, during a 2 ½ hour taxi home from Los Angeles International Airport (eighteen miles, normally a half-hour drive) I was thankful for jet lag, which kept me fading out. Our driver said two accidents on Interstate 405 were the cause. The damage: $116.85, even detouring on Sepulveda Blvd.

Home and broke, but still soaring from the joys of France.

- PJ

Alsace!

The internet here has been iffy, at best. Time along the wine route, La route des vins d'Alsace, is time well spent if you love beautiful scenery and Villages Fleruis, charming villages with lots of flowers.

Not a problem that much of the weather has been gray with intermittent rain; these are cold-weather villages, the kind that seem warm
no matter what. I imagine sitting by a fire in one of the stone houses, cozy, happy, and looking out the window.

I loved Choucroute Garnie before this trip. 

 

  Now I also love Baeckeoffe.

 We’re renting the second story of a home in one of the towns along the wine route. Here's the back.

The owner leaves us fresh grapes, on our steps.

 

 Each morning I walk a few doors down to the boulangerie for fresh bread. Twice I’ve had a Linzer Tourte. Our kitchen is well stocked, from the local stores.

Here's the beginnings of dinner, a few nights ago, turkey cutlets with mushrooms fried in butter and brandy.

 Back to Paris, tomorrow. 

- PJ

France 2012

Anyone who read my April 12^th post saw what’s necessary to do in our new condo, each time it rains. The leak is now worse, so here’s Tuesday, before leaving for France. Rain controls our lives, and until that roof has been replaced we take no chances when we’re not home.

Arrived in Paris yesterday morning. The skies are nice, the air cool. Here’s yesterday afternoon, in Place Saint-Sulpice.

- PJ

Winding down

A friend says my posts have become less frequent. Yes. I've placed enough writing samples here for agents needing more than provided in my queries. The agent game is over. Now's the final phase, simply trying to get a few pieces published, in newspapers,  pieces to provide enough credibility to get Half Italian's manuscript read. Four UK newspaper submissions remain.

Allow four weeks for email submissions to be read, then two weeks for follow-up to those submissions. That means I send follow-ups next Monday. Off to France on Tuesday. Once home, two weeks later, I make my final submissions.

- PJ

Quiet

Well, there’s not much to report.

No responses, yet, from my submissions to UK newspapers, although I’ll make three more before calling it quits on that avenue. I reached out to a cousin, living in London, for her thoughts.

Work goes quite well, actually, although a permanent note remains, and will, from last December’s sting.

Off to France on the 18^th; Paris, and then Alsace. If I haven’t heard from my cousin in London before departure, both my final submissions and I’ll take direction: my submissions to UK travel editors and me to France.

Hopefully, both won’t fly into oblivion.

- PJ

Auto-response and France

One auto-email response received; they’ll contact me if they want to publish my submission. If my US options deplete, there’s always UK newspapers and magazines. With France so close, the UK may present greater interest in articles on France.

Speaking of France, opportunity presented itself, in the form of airline seats, using miles, and this morning we booked. Alsace, here we come, in September. This trip will make obsolete the statement I make in Half Italian that I’ve not yet been to Northeast France.

No Amalfi Coast, this year. Flights to Italy seem harder to come by than Paris. No complaints here. 

- PJ