Four More Sleeps

I have been a very lazy blogger lately.  Look, I can say it is because I have had the flu and have not been feeling up to doing much lately. Or I can say we have been lying low and thus not much to report.  Alternatively I can blame my poor internet connection for not posting regularly, or the heat wave. Or, or... hmmm, can't really think of anything else. 

 

All very true, but not real reasons why I haven't been blogging.  I guess it comes down to... well... sheer laziness.  There.  I've said it.  I have been extremely lazy the past couple of weeks.  Laziness and the fact that I really have not been doing much at all since our return from Lebanon.  Other than going to my aqua aerobics classes, I've been watching television and napping as if prepping for Olympic events. 

 

Ok, ok, I also managed to cook and cleaned up afterwards on most days, did the laundry, experimented with a couple of recipes and even managed to read a chapter of a book I have been meaning to get to for a while now.

 

So, as you can see, thing have been extremely slow and relaxed in the le Roux household the last couple of weeks.  Ramadan left everyone tired and a bit emotional, Eid-al-Fitr went by all too quickly, although we spent most of it in our pyjamas (other than a trip to Haret Jdoudna, of course) and now we are counting down the days until we depart on our much anticipated European vacation (four more sleeps).

 

We leave for Europe on Friday morning and both André and I are very excited about the trip. First stop:  Switzerland.  We have tickets to see the Leonard Cohen concert on Saturday evening in Zürich and we can hardly wait!  Catching a Leonard Cohen concert appears on both our individual "wishful thinking lists".

 

 

On my (actual) list, attending the concert is item number twenty.  Of course, on André's (pie-in-the-sky-I-don't-do-make-believe-but-if-it-will-stop-you-nagging-me) list it would be way down towards the bottom of the list, after things like BASE jumping off Angel Falls, living a life as a professional skydiver in a (mostly) vegetable-free world where everyone lived on steak-eggs-and-chips, biltong* and beer!

 

After Switzerland, we are off to the South of France where I fully plan on crossing off item twenty five of the abovementioned list, namely eating cassoulet**, cheese and crusty bread and drinking red wine in the South of France, in summer.  We are also meeting up with friends (Cameron, Claudia and a bunch of their friends and family) to celebrate Cameron's fiftieth birthday at Chateauneuf du Pape.  Cannot wait.

 

After touring the South of France for a couple of days, all roads will lead to Rome and Toscana and dealing with items twelve (revisit the Trevi fountain) and twenty six (drinking white wine and eating cheese, crusty bread, Parma ham and fresh fruit under the Tuscan sun) of the list. Geez, if things carry on like this, I will run out of items to cross of my wishful thinking list soon! Not sure how I feel about that?

 

So, I will not be blogging for the next couple of weeks, but at least this time I have an actual excuse.  Bear with me, please?

 

Now, if I can only figure out a way to tell Mila that she's not coming with us...

 

A very accurate description of how I felt the last couple of weeks 

 

*  Cured spiced meat. Think beef jerky, but waaay better

** A bean, confit duck and pork dish specific to the region