In the past two weeks I've been peeking in at every bakery/pastry shop I walk by to see their Christmas Logs or Bûches de Noël. It is the signature Christmas...

The sustainable Christmas market features fair trade vendors from Africa, Palestine, India, and other countries, as well as local environmentally-conscious v...

The Christmas markets or marchés de Noël are in full swing in Grenoble. With Christmas music and lots of lights, the mood is festive. The little cabins featu...

It was a grey Saturday afternoon and I was very ready for another pastry class. With three other people, we made three different desserts: Vendôme, Truffe, a...

Millefeuille--a messy but amazing pastry: crispy layers of puff pastry alternating with rum-flavored pastry cream, along with a sweet glaze to finish the top...

There are so many bakeries to choose from and so many bread options. After trying several bakeries in the neighborhood, I generally go back to the same small...

Like bakeries, there are so many cafés to choose from. I have not become a regular at any one café in town, probably because our apartment has a very good co...

The making of a modern day cobble stone street. Art work and precision! Doors of Lyon "Do not go on the grass"—in a park Self-serve bike pump in Lyon Doggy-d...

More accurately, these are the doors to apartments on one street in Grenoble—the street Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The street is named after the Swiss philosophe...

I saw these in a window in Paris and can't remember what they are. From looking at the garnishes, they must be a chocolate hazelnut confection. Don't they lo...

This second pastry class was a group class with three other women. We just fit into the kitchen. The plan for the afternoon was to make a Tarte Tropézienne (...

When you look at beautiful pastries displayed in a pastry shop I wonder what kind of space they were made in and of course, the a-z of making them. So when I...

There are lots of options to choose from in a pastry shop. I have been opting for individual dessert which allows for more sampling possibilities. The round ...

Chamechaude is the highest summit in the Chartreuse Massif and the fourth most prominent mountain in France. This one is practically in our backyard as the t...

Grenoble is surrounded by three mountain ranges: the Vercors, the Chartreuse Mountains, and the Belledonne. Grenoble and its environs has an amazing array of...

"Viennoiseries" refers to breakfast pastries or snacks that are sort of like a bridge between pastries and bread. They are often made from puff pastry or a r...

For an apartment dweller, a park is a beautiful thing! It becomes your back yard where you read your book, talk on your phone, meet up with friends, eat your...

The Halles Sainte-Claire market in our neighborhood is open every day except Mondays. Part of it is in a building, where you can buy fish, meat, cheese, brea...

These pictures are courtesy Otto Selles who captured a wide view of the city when we arrived. The city of Grenoble is very flat but surrounded by three mount...

Our day started early to catch an 8:30 bus to a mountain range--the Chartreuse mountains, about 25k from Grenoble. In a short time we were slowly winding our...