Weekend language courses by SUNY – New Paltz in Manhattan or Hudson River Valley in 20 languages.

http://www.newpaltz.edu/lii/

I can’t believe I didn’t know about this.

My idea is to fly into Paris and rent a car to get to Brest, stopping along the way to eat crepes and drink cider.  A Citroen C3 (or similar) is $368 (US) for 8 days including taxes, insurance, and unlimited mileage from https://www.argusrentals.com. I’ve read that the Citroen C3 gets something like 68 miles per gallon, (!!!) so gas should end up being fine. The only thing is that I’ve never driven a manual transmission before, (I drove my dad’s logging truck about 3/4 mile down our dirt road once, trying to learn, but I can’t count that as practical experience), so I’d have to learn within the next 8 months or so.

It’s not that far from Paris to Brest, but if we want to stop on the way, I want to see the Brocéliande Forest, near Rennees, which is big in Arthurian legends and contains Merlin’s tomb and the Fountain of Youth. I was considering going there before but bad public transportation + Yves’ warning of it being a cheesy tourist attraction stopped me. But please. It’s a magical forest. I am a tourist. It’s like hand in glove or soup and salad. Perfect match.

Something awesome about France is the GÎTE system. Here is an eco-gîte near Brocéliande. If you click the link you can see pictures of an old-style stone house with solar panels on the roof. Superb.

lots of interesting links about sustainable food systems and other good things here: http://www.michaelpollan.com/link.htm

Tell me if you want to go.  I’m making reservations for August 20.

Back 40  Traditional Crab Boil

Every Wednesday through the end of August

(July 23 & 30, August 6, 13, 20 & 27)

Never smacked a crab with a mallet? Here is your chance. Spiced Blue Crabs, Corn on the Cob, Old Bay Spiced Potatoes, sides of slaw and dessert to finish.  We’ll also provide the newspaper covered table, mallets and plenty of towels for clean-up.

$35

(exclusive of beverage, tax, grat)

$15 special on pitchers of local beer

reservations accepted one week in advance

212 388 1990

After nursing a beer for 45 minutes, with the Pope’s words about consumerism in the very back of my mind, I just have to go ahead and say it.

1. I love blue jeans

2. I think mid-calf socks are going to be huge this year.

Map of Dreamland, Michigan.  Under the bubble is a town called Gay. In Hubbell, across the lake, there is an ice cream parlor for sale.

TOFU AROUND THE WORLD COOK-OFF AT THE ASTOR CENTER

Vegetarians rejoice! Top New York chefs, Erik Battes (Perry St.), Wylie Dufresne (WD 50), Edward Higgins (Insieme) and Akinobu Suzuki (Sakagura) take on the wonderful soy product that is tofu at the “Tofu Around the World Cook-Off.” The chefs will create tofu-based dishes that will then be judged by Michael Romano (Union Square Café), Peter Berley (a health food writer) and Andrea Strong (food blogger). Astor Center, 399 Lafayette St., (212) 674-7501. 3-5 p.m. Free.

(tips for today told me)

Hottest day of the year (? probably not, actually.)  Great time to bake cookies, steam clean the carpets, document my sweater wish list.

There’s a lot to like about Velorbis bikes–big wicker baskets, leather handgrips, saddle and strap-on toolkit, plus things like their partnership with Ikea (you can rent bikes with trailers at Danish stores), and making special post-box red bikes above) for employees at the Hillerød County Council in Denmark.

Velorbis bikes are available in the US from dutchbikes.us, a website that describes in frustrating detail the handcrafted pine boxes the bikes are shipped in, yet does not list prices.  The Victoria Classic (my #1 best favorite) retails for £495 in the UK, a price that, unfortunately, does not phase me from wanting one.

Inspired by the sailing canoes of the 1800s, caillou takes its design cues from both classic and modern day boat building. Created with an ease of use in mind- never a hassle or a struggle- caillou gets you to your destination no matter what the conditions.

Dang.  I guess I need some scratch-off lotto tickets and sailing lessons.

[via frolic]