One simple phrase...

The power of food

The desire for food from home can go deeper than just craving certain tastes. Food is an important piece how we define culture, and therefore a piece of how we see ourselves as people. There is a profound link between food and identity.

When you're at home in your own culture, that culture may not feel like an incredibly important piece of your identity, because it's shared with everyone around you. Away from home, however, the things that still make you unique, like nationality or religion, can take on an importance in your self-definition that they never had before.

As culture takes a greater role in how you see yourself, the foods and food rituals that define it come along for the ride. You may cling to food as an anchor for who you are and where you’re from.

So, when I feel homesick, I seek comfort through familiar foods that recall happy memories from childhood. That’s why they’re called "comfort foods" – they’re quite literally associated in our brain with happy and comforting emotions...

One last tip, before your kids go off to college, teach them how to cook their favorite homemade dish. They'll be cooking more often than they think!

Sunntigs-Zopf mit Honig

Potato soup with Garlic bread

Nothing beats a true Swiss salad with homemade bread

Cheese Fondue... as Swiss as it gets!

Silserli mit Nüsslisalat

Chässchnitte

Carac filled with chocolate

Fasnachtschüechli

Heissi Schoggi

Vermicelles

Rivella und Ovi Stengel

Ramseier Öpfelsaft

Spot the Aromat!

Demanding Action On Climate Change

When my 15 year old daughter comes to me asking for permission to join the student protest for climate change my first reaction is NO! Not only because I believe she is too young to demonstrate but also for the obvious reason of security. Safety has become the worry of every parent when there is talk about a crowd gathering in Paris. You just never know how it will end.

Another reason against protesting is the timing. The "Gilets Jaunes" isn't the only movement going on. Last weekend alone we had three major protests in Paris, one of which ended in violence. In my eyes, now just isn’t a good time to raise awareness for anything through demonstrations. The city is tired of manifestations and their disruptiveness.

My daughter doesn’t see it that way. She is determined to join her group of fellow students in voicing her concern about the climate change. She tells me it is not about Paris but being part of something bigger, notably saving our planet and calling for action to curb climate change. It is not about walking out of school but rather bringing attention to what her generation see as an existential threat!

Expat girl is a firm believer in saving the environment and has proven her point by taking action in various petitions and initiatives in past years. My husband and I are raising her to be caring, independent and dedicated to excellence. She has done an extraordinary job for her young age. How can we deny her desire to take action when it is this spirit in her that her family and her education have encouraged from the word go. So, you go girl, go! #Fridays for future!

Dark clouds in paradise

Could it possibly be the end of a love story? Is it the seven year curse? Is it just a phase or have I definatly fallen out of love? I am craving for a new challenge, dying to move on and my feet have been tapping the ground for a while now.

It has been sliding into my mind slowly but steadily, the feeling of frustration. It seems I have lost the excitement of living in Paris… and I'm starting to wonder, "What on earth am I doing here?"

This gloomy mood at the early stages of living abroad has a name: It is called the expat blues! But what do you call the yearning to move on to your next destination? When you cannot wait to learn a new language, discover a new culture, battle yet another foreign bureaucracy, make a bunch of new friends, start a new cycle and yes... feel you are starting all over again?

Of course, Paris is beautiful. The Eiffel Tower puts a smile on my face every time I walk passed it... still, everyday, after over seven years! The opportunities in this city are vast but so are the daily hurdles. None of it is exciting anymore! I am feeling much too grounded.

Might I be seeking cross-cultural stress or just a foreign infrastructure to tackle. I find myself remembering what inspires me in life, what thrives me and what fulfills me. It is travelling out of my comfort zone and creating a new safe space for my family.

No matter how mindful I might be, life without inspiration is like a black and white photograph of a rainbow. So, I am hoping the dark clouds will pass at least until Expat Girl has finished her high school. In the meantime I will have come up with a plan...

Definitely back in Paris

The good things about Paris... les chocolatiers!

Catching the few rays of sunshine

The most efficient part of Paris by far 

Everything pretty... 

Debussy springs to mind!

Just your regular scene on a Saturday afternoon in Paris

She's a beauty any time of day or night!

Gilets Jaunes: the party is over!

It has been 18 weeks... 18! Seriously "gilets jaunes"... get over it and get on with it! I am in no way a political person but a simple Parisian resident and it seems to me that we are now overkilling it!

Since France’s "Yellow Vest" protests started in October of last year, each Saturday we need to check on the local TV station BFMTV or Twitter before heading out to run the usual weekend errands. It is depressing and unsettling. Hopefully any "action" taking place around town is far from our path and we won't find metro or bus stations closed or need to evacuate from the department store in a hurry!

By now, nobody really cares about your protests. Of course, the claims to a dignified life in one of the world's most powerful nations is a just cause, HOWEVER...

a) the media all over the globe is taking advantage of you
b) there have been more people posting, publishing or airing about the protesters than there are protesters.
c) local and foreign platforms are playing a critical role in diffusing propaganda and misleading information
c) the hooligans are having a field day
d) the government cannot negotiate with you because they don't know who to contact
e) family businesses are going bankrupt due to loss of turnover
f) tourism is suffering and down 10%
g) people are loosing their jobs due to forced unemployment
h) million of Euros worth of damages have been reported
... and last but not least people are getting injured!!!

We are tired of this charade! Cinderella left the ball at the height of her admiration for a reason. If you stay until the very end of the party no one will even care when you leave!

So please, please can we bring this to an end? We are at week 18 and this needs to be the Ultimatum and then maybe we can start focussing on Brexit!!!

Gilets Jaunes near the Champs Elysées

The media is all over it

The day after: city cleaners wearing their standard uniform of yellow vests!

Grazie Amore, Merci Mia!

It's time to say goodbye or better "Au Revoir". Heavy-heartedly I am sitting in the chalet on my last day looking out into the rain which is sweeping away the snow in the lower valley. Expat girl went off skiing with our friends to make the most of her last day skiing this season. She just sent me a selfie... it is snowing on the top of the mountain and looks awfully cold on that ski lift.

It has been a holiday to remember, not only because I have been looking forward to spending time in the mountains (away from Paris' gilets jaunes atmosphere) for months but also it was an exceptionally long one; nearly three weeks!

Due to family planning with hubby travelling, Expat Girl skiing with her friends the other end of Switzerland for a week and Expat Boy starting Uni a week before the school hols began I just added one onto the other... as one does, right.. et voilà! This gave me time with my bestie, time with my son, time with my daughter and time by myself. Only sore point: I miss my hubby!

Skiing is not his passion and therefore business travel is the perfect excuse although I know he would have loved a little break in the mountains with a stroll through Gstaad.

So, thank you Amore, for making this holiday possible. You know how I cherish my ski break and even more when it coincides with my childhood friend. So many memories have been made up in this little village, and she is part of all of mine as I am part of hers.

I grew up in Zürich and life has moved on. Our family base is in a different country now, but this chalet is the closest thing to home from my childhood. I consider myself very lucky to be coming back year and year again since 1970! Merci to Mia and all her wonderful, colourful, entertaining family! C'était une vacance de rêve.

Decoupage: a little known Swiss tradition

Decoupage (paper cutting) has been part of the local traditions for centuries in this part of Switzerland. It is an art that is instantly recognisable and can be adapted to many canvases.

Over the decades, we have travelled the world which included moving containers full of "menage". One part of our household is my Swiss guest room filled with decoupage from curtains to sheets to lampshades to candles. It is an eccentricity my family has let me indulge in just like my pink furniture ... but that is another story.

One of the few rainy days during these ski holidays Expat Girl and I took ourselves off to Chateaux d'Oex to discover the local museum. Founded in 1922, the Musée du Vieux Pays d'Enhaut has become one of the principal folk-art museums in Switzerland showcasing collections which have been gathered together over the years by people who were passionate about the history of this region and its traditions.

Early on, two local artists chose paper and scissors to express their talent and their emotional impressions. Whether through examples of finely cut book marks, larger symmetrical monochrome compositions or later, collages of many colours, they left a beautifully balanced treasure of traditional art called "decoupage".

The atmosphere of homes from bygone days 

of a kitchen in which you can imagine people still living.

This museum provides the "memory", the record of a mountain region which for many years was quite cut-off. 

Its people created a craft industry of an exceptional quality and their beautiful chalets housed treasures of a living art.

Amongst these treasures you can admire a huge forge

A room devoted to the early days of tourism

My personal favourite this painted cupboard

Everyday objects abound: kitchen-ware, work-tools, cow-bells, toys, pottery, lace-work and objects made from straw.

Paper cutting has become a tradition of the Pays-d’Enhaut. More than 60 paper cuts from past centuries are presented at the Musée du Vieux Pays-d’Enhaut.

Louis Saugy (1871 – 1953), a man of a jovial and playful character, let his imagination run riot in the creation of scenes of village life, country and mountain views remembered from long rambles around Rougement.

A family crest carved into a window frame

Stained glass, spinning wheels and traditional costumes

A bedroom with the bed still made

An old fashioned loom, a device used to weave cloth and tapestry

A well deserved hot chocolate while writing a "decoupage" postcard

Lucky Swiss girl

Lucky, lucky me... I am STILL skiing and the sun is STILL shining! My friends are starting to wonder if I will ever return to Paris. Let's just say I feel blessed and spoilt for having had such a wonderful and long ski holiday with family and friends. I feel at home and it feels good!

The only one missing was my hubby but I have a strong suspicion he planned his business trip in order to avoid the slopes?!?

Hashtag: I love skiing in the sunshine

Early risers get the best slopes

When the gondola is too steep to look down....

Nature in all its force

Feeling on top of the world

No words, no filters, no noise... simply perfect!

... until you get stuck on the chair lift...

All I need is... chocolate!

Chocolate is my passion. It is my addiction, always has been, always will be. During my visits to Switzerland I do not miss an occasion to indulge in my passion, especially during the ski hols. Chocolate tastes the best on a slope. Overindulging in chocolate... NEVER! Chocolate is happiness! Yes, I admit, I am a chocoholic!

A hot chocolate before hitting the slopes

Ovomaltine Müesli for breakfast

When - after lunch - the waitress brings you chocolate with your coffee ... without even asking

A quick snack on the ski lift

A Swiss speciality called Carac... filled with chocolate ganache

Hot chocolate and a Carac while writing postcards

Heissi Ovi with a plum crumble on the top of the mountain

Teatime at the chalet: another Carac

Hot chocolate and a blackberry tart

Tea with an Ovomaltine biscuit

My favourite chocolate bar "Chokito" with another heissi Schoggi

Mövenpick has come out with a new Chocolate flavoured ice cream... how can I resist?!?