Week 4: Still alive and kickin'

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Cassis
We went to this great seaside village last Sat (9/27) and we shall return! It was so very pretty. We wanted to take the town's tour train but ran out to time. The train takes you out to the calanques (limestone-like fiords), one of the many reasons we want to go back. There are also boat trips to that area, plus several walking tours out of town, winery tours, and a nice town square. Garry will include pictures, but really, you can't see the charm. The town’s name is Cassis and it’s just how you would picture a French coastal village. We even walked by a couple vineyards on the way into and out of town. We did walk a lot, maybe 2 mi just from the train station into town and 2 mi back but it was perfect for one of our day-trips. We even had a good, but inexpensive, meal down at the harbor.

We are walking lots here. I'm glad I had the foot surgery. Here, you either walk, rent a car, go by bus/metro or train, or don't see as much.

Life with the Duncans in Franceland-cooking.
This is the story of Kathy's homemade peanut butter, picture attached. Arriving in France with a few favorite recipes that I was sure I could get the ingredients for, I found that I can't get many of them. One dish we like is Moroccan Chicken, and I can find of the ingredients except for 2 Tbs of peanut butter. We finely found a small jar but it was $9.00 US (6.00 euros) for 8 oz. So, I bought a bag of peanuts, Spanish ones, removed the film from each nut, looked up a recipe for homemade peanut butter on the Internet, put the peanuts in the food processor but could not get it to work. Found the instructions for the food processor, translated the sections (word by word), figured out how to secure the lid and then the basket, and finally, after 2.5 hrs, I have 6 oz of peanut butter. I made Garry take a picture as I'm very proud!

Thankfully the former renters left 3 Martha Steward mags from 2007. I was never a fan of hers but her recipes use lots of fresh things and no processed items, so many things I can find here. This week, I made a fish dish, lemon & thyme potatoes, and a fresh nectarine cake. If you visit us now, I can fix you 1 meal! Then, its out to eat because I have no intention of converting to a Martha. It may be "a good thing" but takes way too much time.

Marseille: We also continued to roam around Marseille. Near the entrance to Vieux Port is a 5th century abbey that looks more like a fort than an abbey. Near the abbey is Fort Saint-Nicolas, built in the 15th century, which, along with its sister fort across the harbor, Fort Saint-Jean, guarded the entrance to the harbor.

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Photos

Cassis harbor
Cassis is a beautiful little seaside village, but we could not afford to live here.

Kathy's peanut butter
We can hardly wait to devour this fantastic homemade peanut butter, made by the Queen of the Kitchen in just under 2 hours.

Southwest Marseille
We couldn't afford to live in this part of Marseille, but it is free to visit.

Abbaye St. Victor
St. Victor Abbey, built in the 5th century, is located near the entrance to Vieux Port, the old port of Marseille.

Abbaye St. Victor inside
The pipe organ and inside of St. Victor Abbey.

Fort St. Nick
Fort St. Nick, along with the fort across the harbor, guarded the entrance to Vieux Port. Part of Marseille is seen in the background.