Catching up ... again

Wednesday evening my friend Gundi invited me over for a lovely dinner. Did I mention in addition to being a fabulous designer, decorator and gardener, to say the least, she is also a fantastic 'chef de cuisine'. She's a great cook and the petit pois soup was indescribably delicious !!

After the petit pois soup, we enjoyed this lovely creation ...

Ahhh sweet .... shrimp tempura with potatoes in a heart presentation. We had such a nice time ... it's always luxury - and fun - at Gundi's house ...

Thursday ...

Julia and Valentin visiting me ... on the day before my Antibes departure ...

A beautiful Rose and Daisies from my little guy Valentin ...

Little Valentin is 1 and 3/4 years old. He's sooo smart and funny and loves the 'auto' ... 'auto, auto, auto' ... and that's what he says the most. ... and, at first when we met, he called me Aaaeeesss ... hmmm ... it sounded very similar to the word ... well, you know which word I mean ... But then one happy day for me, Valentin said 'Aaaaayyyyynnnnn' .... and I was, in a sense, no longer an Aaaeeesss ... arguably speaking that is ... ha !

Maultaschen

On my last evening in Schwaebisch Gmuend before leaving for Antibes, Julia cooked one of my favorite Swabian dinners - 'Maultaschen'. Maultaschen are a Swabian specialty from southwestern Germany. The word means "mouth pockets," and they are akin to Italian ravioli made with ground pork and spinach. It's 'Yummy' !!! We also shared an excellent bottle of wine ... and after, Julia, Michael and I played two rounds of Skip-Bo - my Parents' favorite card game. We had fun, Fun, FUN !! ... even Valentin came running down the hallway and jumped into my arms. Now THAT's a wonderful 'send-off' for sure !!

Vielen Dank my cherished friends in Schwaebisch Gmuend. I will see you in two weeks :-))