La Fete Nationale!

 We started off la 14 juillet/Bastille Day/la fete nationale with an incredible brunch (thank you Jodi!) and some beautiful sunshine!

Bastille Day Brunch: eggs benedict with a roasted pepper + goat cheese sauce, asparagus and avocado. This was served with apricot rum mojitos! (We even made the rum - local apricot peel soaking in some ridiculously strong rum for a week = perfect brunch fare!)

 We headed to Lac Montriond for an outdoor 5 a 7. I rode Math's motorcycle for the first time (terrifying), and then shared some local beer to help calm the nerves! 

Math took us to Evian to watch the fireworks. They took place in the middle of Lac Leman, so the setting was stunning - the city of Evian turned off their lights, so it was even more dramatic. THe lights on the far shore are Switzerland! 

The day before, we went for a hike up one of the ski hills - luckily for me, you're able to drive quite a ways up, so the hike 'only' lasted an hour! The view at the end was worth it, though. The photo above is Jodi at the peak.

Another shot of the spectacular view, and all the lovely wildflowers. 

 After such a physically exhausting day, we definitley deserved a very cheesy meal - please welcome the tartiflette, a local delicacy. It's basically a bed of potatoes, onions, cream and rosemary, and then an entire wheel of Reblochon cheese on top - I don't think I need to tell you how absolutely delicious it was! Anything covered in melted cheese gets my vote!

The main meal was followed by another local speciality: chartreuse, a liqueur made monks! It's extremely strong (55%), but it's surprisingly tasty. 

 We tried a recipe from one of Jodi's fave cookbooks: it's a goat cheese + pesto + sundried tomato tapenade terrine, with a drizzle of balsamic vinagrette reduction. Served with some rosemary olive crostinis, it's heaven on earth. TRY THIS AT HOME!

The delicious terrine was followed by a salade nicoise, with ingredients from the Morzine market! (Abd obviously served with a delicious glass of rose)

Sadly, this will be the last blog coming to you form Morzine...we're off to ITALIA tomorrow! More posts to come from the land of gelato, grappa and pesto....!