olive observer: french

I'm clearly a bit behind keeping you up to date on how I spent 2013. It was a great year, so as we head into a new one, let's recap over the next few days.

In May we took another trip to Europe, this time stopping in Paris, Prague and Berlin. Despite a very wet couple of weeks, we had a fantastic time.

Paris

We made sure to stop at Fargo Records in the Marais.

Place des Vosges

And, of course, Paris included lots of dessert.

Prague

The mister grew a mustache. Here it is on about Day 5

The Vltava flooded the city just two days after this photo.

Eurostache Day 7.

Very Kafka.

One of Europe's oldest vineyards.

All of the dessert in Paris, was replace by beer in Prague.

Berlin

Juxtaposition of Berlin's dark past with its developing future.

A raindrop looks like a tear at this Jewish memorial.

Scars of the past.

We met my dear friend Kathryn and her husband Matthias.

Mimosas with my Kathryn.

We're so lucky they could join us from Switzerland.

Lots of beers were consumed.

I've always – especially since returning from a trip to Paris last summer – loved French baked goods. I mean, who doesn't right. The french seem to understand that life without carbs simply isn't the way to eat, and I can appreciate that. The hard part about French baking in small-city North Dakota is finding the quality of ingredients on which a pâtissier would never skimp.

As the weather slowly starts to turn colder, I'm going to return to the kitchen and try my hand at croissants, baguettes and brioche. So please share some tips and recipes, as well as ideas for getting my pantry up to snuff.

Meanwhile, feast your eyes upon these French delights: