New Year Aspirations

As we enter 2010, I'm not so much making resolutions as setting aspirations for myself. Rather than setting concrete goals, thinking about where I'd like to be headed seems much more achievable. Just as I found it took time to unwind from decades of a fast-paced life when I reached France in August 2008, now back in the States, I am taking time to plan for the next phase of my life.

I've been talking to my life coach, Cynthia (highly recommend this, a life coach, by the way), and she suggested I think about what it is I want to be doing 10 years from now. Now, that's certainly a different way to think, but I get why she is pointing me in that direction. Only by doing things now to prepare for what it is or who I want to be in 10 years will I get there. I used to be a five year plan person, but the 10 year plan makes sense to me now.

In 10 years, do I want to be back on the beaches of Nice? Do I want to be coaching high school cross-country runners? Do I want to be sitting on several philanthropic boards? Do I want to be counseling women on financial matters? All these are things I have thought about doing in my future. But maybe I work first on where - then what.

In the interim, I'm quite focused on some things that matter to me right now. My aspirations for 2010 are to excel in my job, get to know more people in my company, and build networks there. I want to keep writing in my field, and I'd like to begin speaking too, if my company agrees. I will continue to build on my support of Barnard, through the Athena Leadership Center, and of women's athletics at Columbia, through the Women's Leadership Council. This is the year that I look forward to reconnecting with my Wharton classmates at our 15th Reunion, and with my ARHS classmates at our 30th! I plan to visit family in Norfolk, friends in Sarasota, Eugene, Fillmore, and Oakland (so far). I plan to make my parent's 50th Anniversary as memorable as possible. And plan to help my Dad enter his 80's as effortlessly as possible.

That's quite a list. Plenty for the first year of this decade. As to what I'll be doing at the end of it, more to come.

Remembering 2009

2009 began for me on the side of Okemo Mountain in Vermont, with my family, and will end in Washington, DC, with my friend Becky and her family. In between, are many memories of a fabulous year with family and friends. Reconnecting and sharing were the themes for the year. My readers know my chronicling tendencies - herewith, a shortened chronicle (details are in earlier posts!) of the year that ended the Aughts.

January:

• Driving through the Swiss Alps on my way to Zurich from Nice, a good 9 hour drive.
• Visiting my birthplace, Heidelberg, in the cold rain, and going for a run through the city to warm up!
• Visiting my friend Uli shortly before the death of his 43 year old cousin from breast cancer.
• Making the drive back to Nice just in time to watch President Obama recite the oath of office on French TV.

February

• A short visit to London during which I reconnected with former Glee Clubber and Barnard alum Clare Delmar.
• Two weeks with my folks as they came to visit me in Nice. It was a visit I was a little anxious about, but we had a great time, and explored lots of new places in Nice and Provence.

March

• A visit to the States which included stops in DC and NYC, and catching up with my brother in law and nephew, my niece and friend Vi, and tax planning with friend/accountant Andre.
• A whirlwind visit from my friend Bill, who flew down to Nice from Paris on Saturday morning, saw me perform with my chorus in an afternoon concert, had dinner on the Promenade and then departed the next morning at 6 a.m. But he had a beautiful day in Nice!
• Three days in Copenhagen, my first time back since 1972, and a chance to make some new business contacts in the financial services world abroad.

April

• A last minute appearance as conductor for my Gospel Choir's Palm Sunday performance at my church in Nice, and the unexpected presence of my friend Priscilla to hear the group during the service.
• A two day visit from German friend Uli and his girlfriend Jutta, allowing me to reciprocate all of his wonderful hospitality. We did Monaco in a few hours, and spent as much time as we could on the beach. Wunderbar!
• My third and last visit to Paris hosted by Olivier and Jean-Yves. This visit included a reunion with my former track teammate Ginny, and a chance to meet her Barnard-bound daughter.

May
A month in which I was on perpetual jet lag, as I went back and forth to the States three times.

• The excitement of being honored by the Barnard-Columbia Athletic Consortium for my contributions to the program as an alumna, and my parents and friends being there to help me celebrate.
• A wonderful gathering of New Amsterdam Singer friends on the Upper West Side who joined me for a festive birthday celebration.
• The honor of sitting on the dais for Barnard's Commencement ceremony with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who impressed me with her speech and appeal to the young women graduating.
• The thrill of sitting on the dais of Columbia's Commencement, this time as an honoree of the Columbia Medal by the Columbia Alumni Association.
• Nearly two weeks of entertaining friends in Nice; first with my friend Jeff and then with Janie and Chuck. I was getting pretty good at this tour guide thing by now.

June

• Celebrating my nephew's high school graduation and then flying up to join my classmates at our 25th reunion at Barnard.
• Returning to Nice (minus my luggage) for a wonderful weekend in St. Tropez with Jean-Yves and Olivier. Sitting on the beach at their beach club was never so good. The jellyfish bite I could have done without.
• My one golf round in France, made possible by Priscilla and orchestrated by Phillippe. I played like a pro for four holes, and then wished it hadn't been 9 months since my last golf game...

July

• Entertaining my cousin Matt and his friend and watching Wimbledon at a British pub down in the Old Town of Nice.
• Welcoming my brother in law to Nice, and ogling the preparations for the Tour de France first day in Monaco, then meeting my sister and her son for their stay with me.
• Five days in Bordeaux with my sister and her family - visiting two families that went out of their way to make our visit to their homes extraordinary.
• A final visit to London (and a scare at Customs at the Stansted airport) that included a reunion with my former colleague, Dean, and some lovely meals at restaurants of his suggestion!
• Final dinners with friends in Nice, and the much appreciated help from my mom, who came for a week to coordinate my packing as I was reaching the end of my time on the Cote d'Azur.

August

• A final day in Antibes with Christiane, beach time and museum time - Picasso - perfect.
• My homecoming in Massachusetts, with my brother and his family and my parents. It was nice to be home.
• Nearly two weeks in Easthampton, the guest of my friend Jeff in his summer house. Swimming, biking, kayaking, running, much meal preparation and sharing of meals with our neighbors. It was perfect.
• More beaching with my aunt and uncle at Bethany Beach, then a few days later in Norfolk, with Becky, Gabriel and Reuben. Chris and Kenny made the visit fun too.

September

• The graciousness of my hosts John and Gail, as I went through interviews and wondering if I woud get that job at Barclays.
• The sadness of two deaths - the mother of my friend Jennifer and the husband of my cousin Susan.
• My first day at Barclays - September 28th - a job that was only idea six weeks earlier.

October

• A 20th reunion with law school classmates at GWU. And a long walk on a beautiful fall afternoon along the Mall and the Potomac with Jeff.
• A weekend in Boylston with Eric, Jan and Ned. Jethro Tull - Ian Anderson - reminded me that the 70's was a long time ago...
• Moving my things from Washington to NYC in a UHaul truck. Bill was a completely enthusiastic coordinator and motivator for the truck packing; Jorge was my rock for the rainy ride north up the New Jersey Turnpike.

November

• My family and friends joining me for the Gala Dinner given by the Columbia Alumni Association for the Columbia Medal recipients. Barnard staff that had helped make my contributions possible over the past 10 years were also part of my table. Having my niece and nephew to bridge the generations was lovely.
• Welcoming friend Priscilla to my NYC apartment for a few days and having her hear me sing with the New Amsterdam Singers and meet my friends before she headed south for the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Celebrating Thanksgiving with family (after a year's absence) at Bethany Beach - and having everyone come to the 5K race that Saturday afterward - if not running or walking - then there, cheering all of us on.

December

• Catching up with former consulting colleagues at a midtown bar, and then enjoying Korean Barbecue in Koreatown, continuing the reconnecting I have been doing in Manhattan since I returned in September.
• A weekend of NAS concerts, attended by many friends and family - including Eric, Ned, David, Cathy and Roland, Alex and Chrissy, Caroline and Pat, Mom and Dad, Chelsea, Jeff, and Arthur.
• A meaningful memorial service for Jennifer's mom in Amherst, and special time with Jen, Barry, Teddy and Nicole.
• Christmas in Amherst and Boylston - celebrating the holiday with those that I love.

A New Adventure

So, it's been a long time, faithful followers of Ari's Adventure, but I am checking back in. Thank you for sharing my adventure in France. It was amazing, as you have read, or seen, in my pictures. I still think often about my life in Nice, and how different it was from the life I am living now. No longer do I go to the beach and lie on the pebbles and listen to the waves (or my iPod) for an indeterminate amount of time, my only reason to leave being that I am hungry. The time for pondering life's bigger questions is amazingly short - and not a priority - at the moment.

So, what am I up to, you ask? A lot of you already know - I am in New York City. I presaged this landing in some ways, but in other ways, the whole process of getting here and staying here seems serendipitous in hindsight. When I left Nice in August, I was pretty sure I was going back to work at Fannie Mae. A colleague had contacted me in France, asked if I would come in to interview for a job when I got back to the States. And that's exactly what I did. One of my interviewers, a man I had worked with during our Restatement days at Fannie, wanted to know, why, exactly, did I want to come back to Fannie? There were some good reasons, but I also admitted to him I had wanted to find a job in New York City.

The day that I was offered and accepted a job at Fannie Mae, I was in Easthampton, Long Island, vacationing at the beach with my friend Jeff. (Can it be called vacationing if you don't really have a job you are taking a vacation from? I guess I was "at the beach.") I wasn't too pleased with the compensation they were offering that day, but Fannie Mae was a different place from the corporation I had left. It was now overseen by the government, with different restrictions in place, and different guidelines for everything. (One of the roles I would have played at Fannie Mae was a compliance function, making sure that all the employees on a particular project were following government restrictions.) I accepted the job, thinking that I was lucky to have a job in the financial industry that had taken such a hit since the crisis that had erupted just after I left the country last August.

That night, Jeff and I hosted Jeff's sister in law to a birthday dinner in Southampton, since her husband (Jeff's twin brother), was out of town. Jeff had wanted me to meet Cathy, thinking that she would be a good contact in the financial services industry for me - he had been hopeful that I would find a job in Manhattan - since we had reconnected last December, we found we were very much enjoying our friendship, which he hoped to continue a little more close at hand.

It was a nice dinner in the warm breezes of late August at a sidewalk French cafe. Very nice. We had a good conversation during dinner, and Cathy and I talked a little shop during the dinner. As we were winding down the evening, Cathy said to me, Why don't you come work for me? Later, Jeff admitted, he was shocked by her offer. He had no idea she might say something like that. I said, Why didn't you ask me that yesterday, before I had accepted a job at Fannie Mae? She said, Come in and talk to my team. See if you like them.

So I did. Later that week I went into Manhattan for a few days and met a few members of Cathy's Operational Risk Management Team. I liked them. The job was new to me - I told Cathy, I had never done this before - she said, not a problem. I called my new boss at Fannie, and told him, in all honesty, that I was exploring another job option. I asked for a week to finalize my paperwork with Fannie. HR was fine with that. And by the deadline for sending in the paperwork, I had decided I really wanted to work in Manhattan. The job at Barclays would not be offered for another three weeks, but I had made up my mind. My adventure would continue not in Washington, DC, but in the Big Apple. I was going to start anew.

And here I am. In the Big Apple. I left NYC in 1986, when I moved to DC to attend GW Law School. Being here now, it doesn't feel like I was ever really gone from New York, and given that I have kept up with friends, my brother - who lived here from 1986 to 20002, and worked here on and off for the better part of six years while I was a consultant, as a matter fact, I really wasn't ever very far in spirit.

I am working at Barclays Capital Markets, the investment bank of the British Bank, which seems fitting after my year abroad. I am looking forward to some trips across the Pond in my future, as I regularly work closely with my colleagues in London. I am learning quite a bit about operational risk, but find that much of my research work over the last year around systemic risk and other areas of the financial collapse are directly relevant to the work I am doing now.

And I am living in Manhattan. In an absolutely gorgeous luxury apartment building in downtown Manhattan, around the corner from Ground Zero and Century 21 - there's a Starbucks across the street, the Post Office down the street, and Whole Foods several blocks away. A great bagelry in walking distance, and the Hudson bike/running path nearby. I am on the 41st floor, looking northward to midtown, and I get a great view of the Empire State Building every night (when the clouds don't obscure it!). The building has a gym and a pool - I am in heaven. Life doesn't get much better than this.

The adventure continues.

The Answer is Yes

So the answer is yes, I miss Nice.

I’m back in the States, and my troisième étage apartment on avenue Auber seems very far away. The butch-blond florist running the shop downstairs, and her constant cigarettes, and the Arab woman and her husband who run the Italian café on my block, who would smile and say Bonjour or Bon Soir to me as I headed in and out of my building, are fading in memory.

My stomach muscles are losing their tightness; the Abdos Fessiers (abs and gluts) and Stretching classes I took at FitnessLand from the high energy young man and the slight, but equally energetic, woman in her thirties seem long, long ago.

I am still swimming, most recently at the Lexington Square pool in Arlington and Puffer’s Pond in Amherst, but the ease of swimming and the beauty of being able to float endlessly in the salty Mediterranean are now memories to be brought up from the recesses of my mind.

I am looking for Provençal rosé wine and white Burgundies, but the prices in the local wine store here are shocking. I miss the wonderful 3 and 4 euro bottles I could find so easily at Cocci Market around the corner in the Quartier Musicien.

But oh, I love having my big Maine blueberries again. I missed them.

Posts from that Last Week

Many of my friends have been following my adventures in France via Facebook over the past several months. Unlike my blog, which requires my readers to think about me, and wonder what I'm up to, and then go to my website page and read my most recent posting (or write me and ask me why I haven't updated my blog in so long!), folks who regularly go to Facebook can see my updates on their Homepage whenever I add something to my status. And this week I managed to make several updates to my Facebook page (and not my blog!), so I thought I'd share here the "What's on your mind?" comments I made on my FB page during my last week in Nice. (I leave out the comments many of my friends made to my posts - all supportive and congratulatory!)

July 25
Mom arrived this morning, so she can pack my apartment while I spend my last days on the beach before I leave Nice for good on Sunday. Nah, just kidding. ;-) But we did go to the beach this afternoon. And I am pleased to have her here to help me pack.

July 29
Four more days in France. Four more days to enjoy good food, good wine, good friends. And a lifetime ahead to remember it all.

July 31
Mom's on her way back to the States after a great visit with her. Took her to the Nice airport this morning, and got that funny feeling in my stomach...I'll be back to leave myself in two days. This will be harder than I thought.

August 1
Last day in Nice was perfect: an early morning run along the Promenade, followed by dip in the sea, followed by a beach day in Antibes, and then some culture at the Picasso Museum in the old city of Antibes. Am ending my adventure with my friend Christiane, who was one of those who welcomed me to Nice last August. Memories? Priceless.

My Last Week in France

It's early in the morning; I'm up at my computer because my brain is racing and there's no point to trying to sleep anymore. My state of mind is reminiscent of my last month in the States just a year ago. It was just about this time that I had finally told my boss at Fannie Mae that I was quitting my job and moving to France. At this point I had found tenants for my apartment, set up a time to move all my things into storage, and begun a round of good bye lunches and dinners with friends, which would go on until the evening I left Dulles Airport, on August 25th.

Over the past several weeks I have been going through many of the same motions here in Nice. A few weeks ago, the pastor in my church called me forward during the announcements in the service, to thank me for my contributions to the choir at the church and to wish me well (it was lovely to have my sister with me that morning). My mom arrived on Saturday to help me pack and clean my apartment; I have scheduled the walkthrough with the real estate agent for Friday morning - my move-out day. I have had a few good bye dinners with my friends here, including Priscilla (who ironically is in the States during my last week in France!), my choir friends, and some other friends I made during my time here. When I left Washington last year, I was stepping away from over 20 years of living in various communities; I have only been in Nice eleven months, but I have created a community here too, which I will be sad to leave.

But it's time to move on to the next chapter in my life.

My Shopping Cart In France

Herewith, a sampling of my supermarket purchases and eating habits in France, as they evolved during my stay, with commentary. (Purchases made variously in Carrefour, Casino, Monoprix, and Cocci Market supermarkets.)

September

Tapenade
Chocolate bar
Mini Caprice (cheese)
Skim Milk (Lait Ecreme)
Nonfat Yogurt (Yaourt Nature)
Roquefort (cheese)
Spinach
Bananas
Beer
Egglant Caviar (caviar aubergine)
Wasa crackers
Hummus
Granny Smith Apples
Carrots

My first month in France, I spent a week camping in Corsica with Priscilla and then spent four days in Paris and Belgium with my friend Joanne. I was just getting used to reading labels in French supermarkets, and was busy also buying items I needed for my apartment, like a pillow, towels, sheets and a comforter.

My food purchases in September reflected my effort to find the foods that I needed in my diet, as well as an effort to try new things I found in the supermarkets here. The small jars of tapenade and caviar aubergine represented my forays into French foods. Skim milk, plain nonfat yogurt, hummus and Granny Smith apples were staples of my refrigerator in the States. I spent quite a bit of time looking for crackers that first month, specifically something like the Stoned Wheat Thins that were another staple of my kitchen cabinet in Arlington. Nothing exists like this in France! I ended up defaulting to Wasa Fiber crackers, which I would never have bought in the States, but now buy regularly.

October

Jameson Whiskey
Bordeaux Red wine
Cote du Rhone red wine
Tabouli
Mustard
Chocolate bars
Butter cookies (Petit Tendre)
Tomatoes
Granny Smith Apples
Carrots
Special Muesli cereal
Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
Yaourt Nature
Café Moulu (decaffeinated coffee)
Comte (cheese)
Dried Apricots (abricots entiers)
Jacobs Cream Crackers (from England)
Lemon Curd
Camembert President (cheese)
Orange Marmelade
Pecorino Romano (cheese)
Coucous
Pate de Foie (goose liver pate)
Tahini (purée de sesame blanc)
Moutarde bio à ancienne (organic mustard)

It wasn’t until October that I really settled down in my apartment and in Nice. After travelling to Corsica and Paris in September, and then spending the first week of October in NYC and Amherst, I returned to Nice, not to leave on any extended travel until November. My food purchases that month represented me starting to fill up my larder (jellies and jams), and establishing some food habits that I would continue through the year ahead. I began experimenting with various wines and cheeses. I also finally found some British crackers to satisfy my hunger. I found the supermarket version of foie gras (but bought the expensive versions for gifts), and found some wonderful mustards to enjoy with it. Priscilla brought me to an organic market (products known as "bio" or "biologique" here in France), where I found tahini, which would be used to make my own hummus in the months ahead. Priscilla also introduced me to the granola (muesli) that I would eat regularly for my breakfasts (with plain nonfat yogurt). And, of course, Lindt chocolate bars would be a regular purchase as well.

December

Tomato soup
Nonfat Yogurt
Mouchoirs (facial tissues)
Pretzels
Speculoos (ginger cookies)
Mousse Canard (duck pate)
Cream Crackers
Dried Apricots

December was a short month in Nice, with travel to Paris for several days and then to the States for the holidays. But you can see there was a bit of colder weather in Nice; I only buy soups when the temperature drops! Buying tissues was also a nod to the weather change. I had had Speculoos cookies at my friend’s home in Paris, so found them in the supermarket here – an excellent cookie! I tried duck pate, and found it good, and continued my love affair with plain, nonfat yogurt (which Priscilla thinks is a travesty, given that the French have an enormous selection of different flavors and versions of yogurt-type milk products.

January

Cassoulet (goose)
Chick peas (pois chiche)
V8 juice (4 x 20 cl cans)
Wasa crackers
Chocolate
Apple juice boxes (6 x 20 cl)
Camembert President
Special Muesli
Crème Taillefine (nonfat vanilla pudding cups x 4)
Yaourt Nature
Tomme noire pyrenées (cheese)
Bananas
Granny Smith Apples (pomme granny)

January was definitely colder, and I was drawn to buy a tin of goose meat cassoulet in the Carrefour where I shop. I didn’t actually prepare it until my parents came to visit in February, but it was excellent. I also was getting more familiar with my supermarket, and finding things that I hadn’t seen before, including V8 juice cans, and apple juice boxes, items that I liked because of their small size and transportability. (I rented a car and did a road trip to Switzerland and Germany in the middle of the month, and needed portable snacks!) I spent a little more time in the dairy aisle, and found a nonfat vanilla pudding, another favorite snack. And I continued to eat granny smith apples and experiment with cheeses.

March (in the US – brought back to France)

Ak-mak Crackers
Almonds (1/2 salt)
Turkish Apricots
Clif Bars (for Priscilla)
Chocolate bars 72% Belgian (mini – pack of three bars)

Trader Joes is my favorite specialty supermarket in the States. Every time I travelled back to the US, I made sure to shop at TJs, to bring back some items that I really wanted to have with me in France. This list from March is representative. Almonds have been a staple in my diet for almost a decade as a mid-day and travelling snack; and apricots serve a similar role. France doesn’t really have a good equivalent of Clif bars, and given that Priscilla was low on her supply, I brought back a bunch for her to have for her hikes. And TJs usually has a pretty good supply of dark chocolate…

March

Nutella pot 400g (glass jar of the chocolate spread)
Gouda (cheese)
Tomato Red Grappe
Clementines
Dried Figs (figue seche)
Dried Apricots
Pomme granny
Barres cereal canneberry (cranberry cereal bars)
Vanilla pudding cups
Wasa crackers
Toilet paper
Cantal Entre Deux (cheese)
Chocolate bars (70%, 85%, Menthe)
Cote de Luberon (red wine from the Luberon Valley which I visited in February)
Gnocchi 380 g
Epinard (spinach)
Tomates

After being in the US the first week in March, I returned to Nice, again, to settle down for an extended period of not travelling (although I couldn’t sit still for too long, and made excursions to Copenhagen and Paris in March and April, respectively). I continued my experimentation with cheeses and wines, but stuck to my yogurt and granola mornings. During my visit to my friend Becky’s home in DC in March, she had told me how much her kids liked Nutella. I knew about it, but hadn’t really eaten it before. I bought some here, and became hooked. (Also added to the drinking glass collection in my apartment, as the container was designed to be reused.)

I had experimented with granola bars here in France; they call them barres céréal. They were nothing like the Nature Valley Granola bars that were also a habit of mine in the States. These were very sweet, sticky, and made with rice more than oats, it seemed. But in March I saw some Cranberry bars, and gave them a try. They were still sweet and sticky, but they were good. I still brought back NV granola bars every time I was in the States, but I had found an acceptable corollary here.

My diet basically focuses on nonfat milk products, high fat cheese (for protein), non-yeast cereal products (granola, crackers), fruits and vegetables, and other grains like couscous. I have stopped buying pasta and bread for my kitchen – a habit I had started five years ago, and was not really prepared to change when I moved to France. That being said, I love bread, and in Nice, there are six boulangeries (bread shops) in a four block radius of my apartment. I eat bread regularly in France, (and bought croissants and baguettes for my guests!) I just don’t buy it to have in my kitchen. The fact that I don’t buy pasta is a habit that many find strange for me as a vegetarian eater, but I think this has kept my weight down! Gnocchi is my indulgence, and here in France, my favorite meal has been gnocchi with pesto sauce, augmented with black Niçoise olives, fresh tomatoes, and shredded Pecorino Romano cheese. Yum.

April

Skim milk
Stella Artois (cans of beer)
Tomme Blanche (cheese)
Speculoos cookies
Bergerac (red wine)
Burgogne Aligote (white wine from Burgundy)
Café Moulu dark (coffee)
Clementines
Pomme granny
Carrottes

The other staple in my kitchen is decaffeinated coffee. I tried several different types of coffee, but now buy the L’Or Maison du Café 100% Arabica coffee for my Italian coffee steamer. When I was visiting my friend Don in Tuscany over Thanksgiving, he recommended this coffee to me. Don drinks coffee all day, and had tried several different coffees in Italy, but it was at our Thanksgiving dinner at his friends’ home in Saertano that he was struck by the “good” cup of coffee. He called the host (an American) the next day to find out what brand it was – L’Or Maison du Café. I’ve been drinking it (or its caffeinated version, Intense, depending on my guests’ preference) ever since.

Starting in December, and through March and April, clementines were in season. And the specialty here in Nice is the Corsican Clementine, of which I was already familiar, because of the jar of Corsican Clementine jam that had been in my refrigerator when I moved into my apartment. The fresh clementines, tiny and easy to peel, were delicious, and a joy to eat – and they could be found everywhere during the season.

With the coming of the spring weather, I started buying more white wines, and found the white burgundy, which had been suggested to me, a lovely accompaniment to my lunch of foie gras and mustard and clementines. After a visit in May to Provence and a local vineyard, I became hooked on Provençal rosé wine, and continued to drink it through my travels to St. Tropez in June and Angoulême in July.

I haven’t really changed my eating habits here in France, but I have certainly enjoyed expanding my horizons gastronomically. Champagne and foie gras before dinner, and a platter of cheese after the main course, are my favorite traditions in France; my favorite sandwich is a baguette filled with camembert, sundried tomatoes soaked in olive oil, and pesto spread. My favorite dessert is anything chocolate, but the chocolate moelleux is amazing (soft chocolate center in the middle of a chocolate cake). I’m a fan of French wines generally, but the rosés of Provence are a highlight.

But they wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if I hadn’t been eating and sharing these meals with people I know and liked – in France.