Flashes of red appear in the distance as M.Otxoa leads our small group out of town and into the green fields. We make our way down the narrow grassy path as the spicy aroma of dried peppers intensifies. M. Otxoa points out the drying house on our left. Don't worry, he tells us, we'll come back after we've visited my pepper plots.

This might seem like a weird subject, but many of my students seem baffled by the European style bathtub: a regular bathtub, with a hand shower at the end of a cord, and very often no shower curtain or glass separator. "How the heck am I supposed to wash my hair??" they often ask...

Today, I'll unravel the mystery ;-)

Sare est une des destinations habituelles pour les excursions d'après-midi en hiver.

En revanche, dès l'apparition des beaux jours, j'associe la visite du village à l'escalade de la Rhune, montagne le surplombant et culminant à 905m.

It's never fun to become ill when you are traveling, but should you become sick in France, here are a couple of tips about French doctors, medicine, hosptials and pharmacies that should help you out.

Today, we'll take a look at a very traditional French recipe: l'agneau Pascal.  In case you were wondering, let's be clear: "Agneau Pascal" does NOT mean "Some guy named Pascal's recipe for lamb!" but rather the lamb that is traditional for Easter (called "Pâques") holiday.  You'll find several variations of this dish in countries around the mediterranean (my favourite being the lemon based Greek one, but I'm biased with my ancestry).

The good news is that as far as holiday meals are concerned, this is probably one of the simplest and fastest to make.  The whole recipe requires just 5 ingredients and less than 15 minutes of preparation!

"Pâques" is an important holiday in France: a religious one of course, but also a traditional gathering for families, religious or not. Kids go egg hunting (you can see our daughter Leyla in action), but our egg providers are a bit different: magic bells!! And we traditionally cook a large meal with a leg of lamb, and set a lively table to honor the coming of Spring time. 

Today, it's my pleasure to share with you my daughter Leyla's (8 years old on this video) rendition of "le Corbeau et le Renard" by Jean de la Fontaine. This poem is extrememly famous, and you can be sure that every French kid has had memorized it for school... and this for generations.  

It is doubly appropriate that we end our e-tour of Paris's monuments with a monument of monuments—one that is literally the end of the line for many!

Crêpes (sort of French thin pancake) are a very common food in France and are not only easy to make but can be served any way you want. This allows the whole family to eat exactly the crêpes that they want…

La Chandeleur (on Feb 2nd), is a French tradition where most French households will eat crepes at dinner time. This tradition finds its origins in an old Roman ritual of harvest & fertility. The crêpe is round and golden, reminding us of the sun to come, whose warmth will make the harvest possible…

"A truly tragic street lamp"

"Belfry skeleton"

"Mast of iron gymnasium apparatus, incomplete, confused and deformed"

"A carcass waiting to be fleshed out with freestone or brick, a funnel-shaped grill, a hole-riddled suppository"