June 2023 Newsletter

Life in France

Linda and I have once again traded Manzanillo for a visit to France! We are in Antibes, staying in the seaside community of Juan le Pins. It’s great to be back; rather than doing my usual Life in Mexico, for the next few months I’ll be highlighting some of the lovely food, experiences and activities of Provence.

You immediately notice how fresh all of the meat and vegetables are in the grocery stores. But the biggest bonus is the quality of the wines and the fact that they are much cheaper than Canada or Mexico. People say France is expensive, but we’re saving thousands and thousands on the wine alone!

This is a typical Tuesday night meal; duck breast a la orange with white asparagus. I roasted both sides of the duck breast in its own fat until the center was pink, then fried slices of peach in butter and reduced a 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier to make the sauce. The white asparagus is in season this week, so all the shops are stacked with spears. Divine!

We arrived during the Cannes Film Festival, which is just a few kilometers down the coast from Juan les Pins. The marinas are full of mega-yachts, including Jeff Bezos Koru. This behemoth is over 400-ft long and cost half a billion to build. It sets the owner of Amazon back $25 million a year just to maintain it; I assume that’s a good reason to use the sails to cut down on the gas bill.

They love posters here. This one is for a hotel overlooking the Juan les Pins marina. It’s right next to the park where they hold a jazz festival every year; we’re looking forward to seeing some of the acts in July.

Most posters are for luxury goods. As you can see, Freya bathing suits are pitching to a certain body type. Makes me wonder what Trojan goes for.

A lot of theaters also advertise upcoming performances. Not sure who’s behind this one.

All of my books are now available to subscribers at Kindle Unlimited!

You can also purchase eBooks and paperbacks on Amazon!

TV Review

Unstable

Streaming on Netflix

This is an engaging comedy series created by John Owen Lowe, son of Rob Lowe. Rob plays Ellis Dragon, an eccentric genius running an innovative biotech firm. His erratic emotional state is putting his company in jeopardy, however; his son Jackson Dragon (played by John), is called in to help save the day.

The father/son duo is supported by a brilliant cast. Anna, the CFO of the firm, is played by British actor and producer Sian Clifford (Fleabag), while Ellis’s aide Malcom is portrayed by Second City Chicago standup alumni Aaron Branch.

Each episode is only half an hour long, but the dialogue is so witty and the pacing so impeccably timed that it feels like a full-hour. I highly recommend you watch Unstable!

Recipe: Duck Breast

This is a classic French dish that is easy to make and tastes delicious! Cook’s tip: make sure you have a spatter screen on hand to keep fat under control.

Ingredients

1 duck breast

½ cup Grand Marnier

1 peach, pitted and sliced

1 Tsp of butter

Directions

Score the fat on the duck breast and cook at medium heat for 7 minutes. Flip the breast and cook for another 7 minutes. Take off heat and let rest.

Melt the butter and fry the peach slices for a minute. Add the Grand Marnier and reduce.

Cut the breast width-wise into ½ slices (it should be pink and juicy on the inside). Serve with sauce on the side.

Enjoy!