Easter is amsoabout baking, as my grand mother has been doing for decades for our big family. I added chocolate tasting to create and maintain our own tradition. Thanks to chocolate makers of Lindt, Sprungli, Laderach and Martel.
for a sunny day and filterless pics
for my comfy stay at Villa La Florangerie
days of productive meetings with my superb colleagues, new and renewed work connections;
for my superb reunions with my favourite patisserie and chocolaterie owner @patisserie_francois (their vienoiseries are the best, I dare keep saying it)
And the skillful hands of my wonderful reflexologist Joëlle Michelon at http://www.reflexologie-strasbourg.com/
Thanks to all gardeners who keep Orangerie impecable and lovely to enjoy.
Thank you to all who cooked our meals @acantinacompoircorse, @arnauld and @lafignette. And, naturally, for the best to my taste chocolate @maisoncaffet.
The ristretto @cdgairport was a good final note on this trip, served with the sound of a hearty laughter of the barrista.
Merci beaucoup et a la prochaine!
I clearly distinguish now by voice the neighbours’ kids: baby, toddler 1, toddler 2, just kid, teenager 1, teenager 2.
My average weekly walking distance is a joke. I turned off the counting. Walking with the phone in the pocket does not help.
I am glad I can cook and bake. These skills are priceless. Thank you, grandmother. I know you are smiling with satisfaction now.
I am disappointed that there was no funny incident during my kid’s virtual classes this week. You know, like the ones facebook is flooded with. With the exception of a background noise of some plates reaching the floor and the teacher’s voice: “ Attention, la vaisselle!” I hope it was not too expensive.
I immersed myself in hand washing, stream-washing style. Excellent for shoulders. Some of my wash-by-hand cloths are having a pool party. At least someone does.
And, my succulent is a text book example of resilience: and it shall bloom no matter what.
for Billund.
Thank you, Billund, for Lego. Or is it the other way around? Billund is considered a company town. It was established and developed around Lego.
Construction site of the new Lego House, Billund, Denmark.
Thank you, Legoland, for transforming me into a ninja, indian canoe rider, Indiana Jones and Egyptian temple discoverer, pirate water canon shooter, dragon rider, firefighter, Atlantis discoverer & gold miner, all in one day. It was soooooo much fun! If you are looking for this kind of fun, Legoland in Billund is a destination to consider. By the way, there seemed to be more adults than kids there. I wonder why ? 🙂
Thank you, Denmark, for reminding us that nature is the best playground.
And that the best setting for sculptures is the nature. Green makes a perfect moving frame. Ants and butterflies also want to admire art.
Balancing Act, by Jens Galschiot, Sculptures Park, Billund, Denmark.
So far, Denmark is my nr 1 child friendly destination: kids authoring sculptures, kids menus for half the price, child friendly hotel facilities, taxi drivers opening the door to kids first, and many many more only as first impressions. If interested, there are 100 destinations for vacations with children (not that i would imagine it any other way).
We admired Billund’s community center open for all big and small, locals and tourists.
Denmark also gets my nr. 1 for universally polite service. And the place where you can have Napoleon’s Hat with your coffee, without offending anyone’s feelings ( 😉 to my French friends). 
It was also in Denmark that i learned that microns do not belong to cosmic science. They also tell you important things about chocolate. This brief visit made us want to be returning for more sweet memories to collect.
I should be working on an assignment on inter-institutional coordination in complex emergencies. My mind took a break. A coffee and chocolate break. And not even feelling guilty about it. Love my mind!
I have two addictions – dark chocolate and wise people. Love them combined.
Every Friday morning it’s my beauty hour. Friday is the “day of Frige”, an Old English goddess, cousin with Roman Venus, goddess of beauty. It is kind of an explanation I give myself for indulging all kind of beauty treatments on Friday. It’s also a nice prelude to week-end days.
So every Friday morning I go to a beauty salon to my beloved cosmetologist whose hands are beautifying my face for the last decade or so. She just turned 70. Before her divine massage she orders coffee. We chat about everything and nothing. This is The best coffee I ever had and hope to continue having for the next decade or so. It smells and tastes like no coffee on earth.
The feeling is similar to having a bottle of wine with a great person and still feeling alcohol-free as opposed to getting drunk from a sip of wine in an inappropriate company.
To make it even more magical I bring her chocolate desserts I bake, for us to celebrate these special moments. The way she tastes my desserts and appreciates the flavours stays with me for another week. Untill next Friday morning.
So why is this coffee so different? ….It’s the wisdom and gestures of this lady. The way she graciously puts the coffee on table, takes a first sip, ponders to feel it’s warmth and asks about how I have been. Her eyes are always illuminated by a magic internal light. She is always genuinely interested in conversation and in spite of her enormous life experience she is never in a hurry to give advice.
Such an organic and holistic approach – body & soul & mind – wrapped in an aroma of coffee & chocolate, with the fragrance of a facial masque, enriched with seven decades of life wisdom and served in a nonchalant and elegant way.
From the love of beauty and with the beauty of love.
Love von Beauty von Love 
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