Rives de Clausen

We had a very nice experience yesterday. A friend from Cyprus called and said he was in Luxembourg for a day. Of course we had to meet him (and his colleague) and to show them part of a summer warm town before we ended up in Clausen where we watched the football match. It was a superb atmosphere and evening.....

The Swedish west coast

I am not done with Sweden yet, just want to show you how nice the coast of Bohuslän is...

The island Stenungsön

Picnic at the island Åstol

Vår lilla stuga (our little cottage)...

...or more correctly my grandfathers cottage is located north of Gothenburg in the forrest in Stenungsund. This is the place were I spent all my summers as a child, and of course have a whole lot of good memories. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to spend a few days there this summer. The hut is not big, but it has what we need in simple summer days. And I can´t still believe how my grandmother could cook for 15 and place us all around the table in the living room....

Midsummer

From the public celebration in Ödsmål

We have just arrived from a few days in Sweden. This year we decided to celebrate the Swedish Midtsommar (which is always the last Friday in June) with part of my Swedish family. The whole family was involved with making the traditional Maypole and picking flowers, and as it should be in the Swedish way we serve herring, newly picked potatoes, sour cream and of course snaps. Had a few wonderful days and already wants to go back....

Scandinavian girls with their midsummer wreaths

our little maypole

Fête Nationale

23 of June is the National Day in Luxembourg, and the biggest party of the year. But it is today, at the 22nd, that "everyone" goes to town and celebrate. You can find live music and diverse activities, and the evening will be rounded of by a huge firework at Ponte Adolphe.
We will have a nice bbq at our friends house, and perhaps go to town a bit later and see the fireworks.
Wish you a nice celebration whatever you decide to do.... and a nice St.Hans- (Norway) and Midtsommar- (Sweden) -celebration for you in the North.

Royal Brunch

Had a fantastic and amusing day yesterday. Was invited to a Royal brunch at my friend´s place, where we were 8 well dressed girls all with hats and tiara. The food was a royal worthy and so were the beverages. We all found it amusing to watch the Swedish Princess getting married but also had to share a tear or two. We also did a great job judging the royal guests dresses and jewels.....

The girls and the lovely Siri who (the biggest royalist of us all, I think) organized this nice event.

The hats....

and the tables...

Bouquet de fleurs

Wish you all a nice weekend and give each of you a 

bouquet from Monets garden.

Mmmmmm

Another cooking class is finished. Had a bit easier menu this time, but the dessert was a grande finale. I just need to share this with you....

• Warm chocolate soup with vanilla sirup and pineapple juice
• tempura fried julienne cut pineapple 
• ice cream with truffles 

This is how we made it last night, but we were all agree that we could have orange juice instead of pineapple juice, tempura fried bananas and vanilla ice cream etc, feel free to experiment....

Monets Garden

This morning, when I was out on a bicycle ride, I passed by fields of blooming poppies. That reminded me of Claude Monet and his paintings. A few years ago we ended up in his fantastic garden in Giverny where I took this pictures.

Monet moved into this pink house in 1883 and started the work on this magical garden. After his death in 1926 the garden was neglected in 50 years, until a reconstruction, and opened in 1980 as a museum. Worth a visit if you are on the road between Paris and Rouen.

The Place to Be

An old friend from Norway came down to Luxembourg this weekend. We had a lovely lunch at the newly redecorated hotel Le Place D'Armes located of course at Place D'Armes. Perhaps it was a bit overpriced, but absolutely worth a visit.

Where to go??....

....that's the question I ask myself these days.

This is how our table looks like at the moment. It is so typical us to be late with our holiday planning. We know now that we are going to Norway for a couple of weeks. That is of course a must (see family, friends, do some fishing etc). But for me who hungers for sun (we could not rely on the sun in Norway that's for sure) needs to know I can have that in the end of summer. I still have our last year summer holiday in Croatia freshly in memory, and would love to go back, but it is a far long way to drive though. So my thought is France (again, yes, but why not?). Provence is an area that is close to my heart, in a fair distance, and not over explored for our point of view. So now I search for a nice house, with pool, in the countryside, not far from the beach, and with atmosphere..... is that possible to find??. Do you know about a hidden gem like this please feel free to send me comment, and I will continue my search.... Merci 

Portes Ouvertes

Today the Luxembourg Accueil had their doors open for everyone. This is an expo where you can see what the women (and few men) have been working with over the past year. You could find hats, paintings, pictures, knittings, embroideries and even the choir and theatre group had a performance, while some ladies where serving coffee and croissantes..... 

Church Fair

For over 30 years the Anglican Church has hold their annual Fair. This has become for us a tradition as well, something that we can not miss! Strolling around in this huge old garden, sipping champagne under fruit trees, playing games and tombola, makes us feel that time has been set back for a century. The fair has truly a romantic atmosphere, especially when we have the weather on our side.
Looking forward to next years fair already...

Summer lunch

Just came back from a lunch with the girls from my french course. We were only 8 but had food for a whole army! The nice thing with events like this, when each bring a dish, is the variety. Today we had asian, south african, dutch, english, italian, greek and scandianvian dishes represented. Nice lunches like this could happens more often I think...

SATC 2

I admit it, I am a fan of the 4 girls in Sex and the City. Therefor I had a great girls evening with movie and drinks last night. To much of the good things could never be wrong, or...?

have a nice day

Alsace

I am back from a nice weekend in France. Took my mother and children for a little  trip to one of the nicest places in France (believe me there are many of them!), Alsace. I love the small medieval villages, the wine cellars, markets and atmosphere. I post some pictures for you so you can decide for yourself....