Our tour of southern France along the Cote D’Azur and through Provence was one of our more enjoyable holidays and much too short. We flew to Nice for the first weekend. A beautiful city. We enjoyed hiking along beautiful beaches and drinking ice cold beers in the hot sunshine. We thought all our Christmases had come when we discovered that they had a exhibition of Rodin Sculptures in the Matisse Museum. A combo made in heaven for lovers of sculpture. Their modern art museum MAMAC was equally impressive with a wonderful exhibition by artist Robert Longo, called, Retrospection.
After the weekend, we locked up one of our backpacks at Nice station and headed to Cannes by train. In Cannes, we hired a 400cc scooter, a Piaggio MP3 from a place called Elite Bike Rentals. It was a brand new machine and a pleasure to ride. It has enough space underneath the saddle to pack a smallish backpack, or 2 helmets plus jackets and two small shoulder bags.
Our tour started by heading north through Grasse, the Perfume capital. Then we had the pleasure of winding mountain roads and bends riding through the 25 km long Gorges Du Verdon that ends at the lake Lac de Sainte-Croix.
Overnight in the town by the hot springs Digne Les Bains and then across the lavender fields and olive groves to Provence. On the way we fell in love with a beautiful small town on the river Sorgue. We spent the day there and stayed overnight. L’Isle sur la Sorgue is also famous for its antique shops and markets and we spent an unusual lunchtime there in the park by their large waterwheels while listening to the chestnut trees cracking the caps of the nuts and dropping them around us.
Next stop was Avignon, surely the most beautiful city in France and home to the Pont made famous in the song. If I had to choose a home in France, it would be in this city or region. While exploring the town we had some fun at an exhibition called ‘Games with Mirrors’. From there we visited the Roman aqueduct at Pont Du Gard and the Roman amphitheatre in Nimes. Next stop was the ancient city of Arles that was founded in the 6th Century BC. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its Roman and Romanesque monuments but I am familiar with it as the city of Van Gogh.
Unfortunately, our trip through the Camargue was cut short by the wind. It was blowing so fiercely that we thought we would get blown sideways, right across the Camargue. So we escaped and headed out towards Marseille and the coast back in the direction of Cannes where we had to drop the bike on Saturday morning. On the way we discovered some delightful facts about France, such as how popular Elvis is and the wonderful bakeries on every corner.
It was not easy saying goodbye to the Moto, but we picked up a car and drove along the Mediterranean coast through Monte Carlo to Menton, the last beach before reaching the Italian border. There we turned north and drove through the Maritime Alps to Lyon feeling envious of all the young men on their motorbikes enjoying their weekend cruising in the Alps. I must also admit that we admired but did not feel too envious of all the cyclists riding up those mountains. On the way we did go up mountains such as the Col du Galibier, tracing the footsteps of the Tour de France. On to Paris, where we encountered few tourists, good warm weather and enjoyed the views from the Eiffel Tower as well as the top of Notre Dame. After spending a morning with the sculptures in the Louvre, an exhibition of Dutch art at the Pinacothèque and and an afternoon in the exquisite Museum of Hunting and Nature, we spent a day at Versailles before returning to Helsinki. Sigh!
Back in Helsinki the weather it is much colder, the leaves are mostly on the ground now and the days getting shorter. First I had to get ready for visitors. For 2 fun-filled weeks we had visitors from West Australia and England visiting us. So much fun that the blog was somewhat neglected. But as the last few people left on the 30th, thoughts turned to baking for All Saints Day or Halloween.
I was inspired by the squashes and gourds on sale in L’Isle sur la Sorgue and I thought hard of something a bit different in terms of pumpkin.
I remembered a recipe downloaded some years ago from the ecobites website. After my disastrous hard drive crash in April, it had been lost. I went back to the site to look for it. Originally called Organic Pumpkin Bread, I found it much too light and fragile to make a loaf. So I turned it into a baked dish and served it with yogurt for brekky or cream and maple syrup for morning tea. I have made some adjustments to the ingredients to compensate for items that was unavailable and increased the spices to suit my own taste.
Pumpkin Coconut Bake
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas) + 2 Tablespoons
2 cups coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder (aluminium free)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups cooked pumpkin or, if unavailable, sweet potato works well
½ cup organic honey
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 large organic eggs
¾ cup plain organic yoghurt
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
- Toast pepitas in a baking tray in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
- Chop the pepitas to a course consistency.
- Mix dry ingredients together including the pepitas. - Puree pumpkin and stir sugar, honey and pumpkin together.
- Warm the coconut oil for a few seconds in the microwave till liquid.
- Beat the oil and eggs together.
- Add dry ingredients, then pumpkin and blend.
- Add the yoghurt.
- Oil and line a small baking dish (1 litre) with baking paper.
- Sprinkle the extra pepitas over the dish before baking.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until well browned.
- It freezes very well and can be reheated in the oven for brekky. Serves 8.
Finally, while searching for interesting props for my baking venture I found this nose. The description had me somewhat tongue-tied.
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