Du Mont d'Or. (From the Golden Peak).

This last Saturday, we went for a short hike looking for Sam's cousins. They took a longer hike than us and Marie-Pierre snapped these beautiful shots. We were at the top of the Jura mountains admiring the Alpes and La Vallee de Joux right below. It's official, the snow is here! soon we'll be skiing...

More on Christophe Perillat... and the cows of the elementary school

I posted a message on Nordic Skiing not long ago. Sam interviewed that day the winner of the 50 mile ski race (Transjurassienne): Christophe Perillat. Here are more pics that Sam took right after the interview.

The winner finishes with a bell around his nake: that's the tradition.

The press room was in the elemetary school of the village close to the finish line. (Alex Rousselet is on the pic above).

I really like the cows on the wall behind the athletes! They were drawn by the children after a cow competition that took place in the area. The drawings are also inspired by a drawing from a (famous for his cows) local artist: Marcel Mille (see below).

Ice Skating anyone?

I like Fridays... everyone at work talk about theirs plans for the week end. Here is an email that we all got at work today coming from one of our coworkers. He had included the picture above.

"Dear all,
If you don’t know what to do during your weekend and want to leave the city, you can enjoy the Lac de Joux on the ice. From this week we are allowed to access the lake, but please follow the flag on the lake to be on safe place.
Enjoy your weekend AA."

What a great idea! The lake he's referring to is close by. I want to skate on a lake... I've never done it. We just might have found a great outing for the week end.

Whatever you do, have a good weekend everyone!

Where was I this summer?

At the beginning of June, I started a new job. During 8 months without work, it was easy to update this blog with fun stuff. This summer became a little tougher since I landed in a small village by a lake along the french/swiss border with no connection to the world wide web. My job is in Lausanne and I rode to work 2 hours a day for three months, crossing the border twice a day (commuting is not for me yet thousands of french people do it the entire career)... I got really familiar with all the radio stations from the area. But that's about it! Here are a few pics from the area of Malbuisson, where I lived for 3 months. Soon I'll be posting some pics from Lausanne, where I finally found an appartment. Sam has left Marseille and we will soon be able to explore Switzerland together. I'm a happy girl!

Litterature and Gastronomy in le Jura. July 09

This last weekend we were in the Jura. Spent some time with the family and went to a festival of Contemporary litterature, wine and gastronomy in Arbois and Montigny. 

Perfect combination with an interesting performance saturday night done by Barbara Carlotti. Her show combined songs and readings on dandyism... all that performed in a castle where we had a lovely buffet with some local wine afterwards. (Pictures stolen from the web).

Wedding in l'Etoile. Jura. Mai 09

4 week ends ago already! Time flies by...

It was Pascal – my little brother –  and Elodie’s wedding. The perfect traditional rural wedding in the village where we grew up. L’Etoile.

 

l'Etoile's Church by Sam.

The day went this way:

9.30 am: pictures in the park- The civil ceremony at 10.30am

The religious ceremony at 11.30am. Followed by a first réception  until 2pm.

The formal diner from 3pm until 7pm.  And a big party  all night long with a buffet just in case!

A great time to visit with people I hadn’t seen in the last 15 years… A week end that just went way too fast.

Louis Pasteur's house. Arbois. Jura.

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole, Jura. He then grew up in Arbois and ended up living in this littl town part of his adulthood. 

Sam and I went to visit his house transformed now in a museum. I couldn't take pictures inside but I really liked the tulips that day in Arbois. Arbois is just 35 minutes away from where our parents live in le Jura. 

"...Pasteur is best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. His experiments supported the germ theory of disease, also reducing mortality from puerperal fever (childbed), and he created the first vaccine for rabies. He was best known to the general public for inventing a method to stop milk and wine from causing sickness - this process came to be called Paseurization. He is buried beneath the Institute Pasteur, a rare honor in France, where being buried in a cemetery is mandatory save for the fewer than 300 "Great Men" who are entombed in the Panthéon in Paris..."

Car shopping. Lons-le-Saunier. Jura

 

L'Etoile. Jura.

A picture taken last week of the little place where I grew up. It's all about making wine around here. I can't wait to take the same picture in May. My brother will be getting married in this church the last week end of May. 

Le lac de Malbuisson. Doubs.

I posted Sam's grandparents cabin last week. The cabin is right along this lake. The picture was taken by Sam's dad this weekend. We were there Dec 31 but the lake was not frozen. This weekend,  people were skating on it. Hopefully, we'll go back this winter when it's frozen. I've never skated on a lake. If you click on the picture, you can see people skating.

Christmas time...

Christmas is best with kids around. This year was a good one!

La Simplette. Doubs.

We finished the year in le Jura. Away from the world wide web but close to our families. Last week, we stopped by Sam's grandparents vacation home close to the Swiss border in le Doubs and I took this picture. Can't wait to go back this summer! This cabin was built during the war in 1870 by some canadian soldiers in a close by forest. It was then displaced later on by Sam's great grand father to put it right by a lake. You can find more pics of this little house here.

Vitrail. Pannessières. Jura

I was walking by the church in Pannessières.

Baumes les Messieurs. Jura

Last Saturday, Sam and I went for a hike around Baumes les Messieurs. 

We parked by the church and started to hike up to get away from the fog.

As we left the trail, we met a special guide who actually seemed kind of lost. We were trying to find a cave called the Swedish cave. Many moons ago the Swedish had invaded this area. 

Once we found a way to climb the cliff and got to the top, we had a great view of the valley. 

We were hoping for a locally made organic beer or apple juice in this little shop but they were closed.

Back down, we walked through l'Abbaye. Sam knows this place really well. He used to come and visit with a painter, Josette Coras, who lived in a portion of the Abbaye. I added a picture below stolen from the web to give a better idea.

Château du Pin. Jura.

Last Tuesday, mum and I walked from L'Etoile, our village, to Pannessières, Sam's village. The hike took us through Le Pin and I couldn't help taking some shots of this middle age castle. The owners have restored it well enough so that they can host people with horses as there are miles of horse trails around.

Same castle the next afternoon! I was driving by that day.

Pannessières. Jura

We just spent a week in le Jura where our parents live. Sam bought an old house last year in Pannessières where he grew up and it needs a lot of work before he can rent it. We helped his dad this week. It's not easy to renovate old farms but they are so charming, it's worth all the trouble.

Le Barbillon. Jura.

That's my uncle farm. Dairy farmer. That's where my father, his two sisters and two brothers grew up. Every week end when I was little, we'd come and visit the whole family. Grandma would prepare dinner on Sundays for everyone. Lots of my childhood memories come frome here. I spent some wonderful summer vacations here with my grandparents and my cousins. Remote, far from everything, this place was paradise for me. Still is.

Mum's birthday.

For Mum's birthday, we went to a lovely small restaurant in Pupillin. Jura. I didn't take a lot of pictures but my brother took a couple nice shots from the area. Lots of vineyards here, which means of course, really good wine. 

 

Dessert was amazing. Warm dark chocolate nems to dip in sesame caramelized sauce, with a touch of curry oil. And a litchee sorbet.  Yum! 

In french, Joyeux Anniversaire means Happy Birthday as well as Happy Anniversary. Works for both.

Why is everyone hiding from me?! 

Mum and Noé.