Another cup...?

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It's a bright but chilly day today & I'm glad I have a hot cup of coffee to warm me up.

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The many French start the morning warming their hands around a café au lait bowl.

Children often have hot chocolate in theirs,
just like the famous Delespaul-Havez chocolate publicity.
I just love the expressions on the children's faces...

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We have some lovely café au lait bowls in the shop...

We're love these, they look so pretty sitting next to each other on the shelf...

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So you're out & about, you stop at a café, what should you order?

un café
a small espresso
♥
un grand café
a double espresso
♥
un café crème
a white coffee made with frothy hot milk
sometimes called un café au lait but crème seems to be more commonly used
♥
un grand crème
a large white coffee
♥
un allongé
an espresso with the same amount of water
♥
une noisette
an espresso with a dash of cream
♥

Remember these so next time you visit a café here in France,
you can order your coffee like a true monsieur or mademoiselle!

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We also have a perfect set of coffee cups in the shop for your for café, café crème or noisette.
These are rather special as they are decorated with the logo of the Wagon-Lits company.

Wagon-Lits is a French travel company,
famous for running great train routes like Le Train Bleu or Le Nord Express..

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...but the most famous was, of course, Orient Express...

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...such luxury...

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..sip your café crème from these cups
& imagine being transported back to the golden age of luxury travel...

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A misty view this morning from the Petit Pica atelier...

A taste of Malta...part 2

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Here we are again - another little piece of Malta...

The Maltese adore bright colours, like the luzzus, & there are such wonderful colours to be seen all around you...

like streets decorated for a festa...

or the turquoise sea of the Blue Lagoon, on the tiny island of Comino, (off the northern shore of Malta)...

or light bouncing off the buildings as the sun goes down...

or the sun setting over Valletta...

colour everywhere you look...

Two things come to mind when thinking of Malta - history & lace...

like the ancient city walls of Valletta...with a restaurant nestling in between...

the covered walkways and steep streets leading down to the port...

the covered balconies which feature on so many of the older buildings

 & the small shops sitting side by side with the modern multi-national chains...

Top left: wonderful traditional store complete with chandeliers

Top right: traditional drapers - packed floor to ceiling with fabrics
Bottom left: men's shirt shop - every colour under the sun
Bottom right: one of my favourite haberdashery shops packed to the rafters with goodies

including a traditional Maltese pie shop, tucked down one of the side streets...this became a favourite as they also did take-aways - yummy!...

& old walls and doors weathered by salt and wind...

Malta has a long tradition of lace making & produces some beautiful pieces. Sadly, it's a dying art, due partly to cheaper mass-produced machine lace...

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Gozo (another island off the northern coast) used to be known as the "capital of lace-making of Malta"  & the lace is referred to as bizzilla. Maltese lace has it's own characteristics which makes it different from other lace, notably the use of the Maltese cross in the design.

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In the past, it was not unusual to see women sitting on their doorsteps making lace. Unfortunately, this is a very rare sight today as only a few still make lace on the island.

This gardenia flower had the most heavenly scent. Each morning I would pick a sprig from the bushes by the pool & keep it in the pocket of my beach bag to enjoy the perfume while I sunbathed...big sigh...seems such a long time ago now...

A Taste of Malta...part 1

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 I'm back from my holiday, totally relaxed & ready for anything, well almost anything!

Something I love when flying is the amazing shapes of the clouds...

...& then the rush of excitement as land comes into view...

I thought you might like a little taste of Malta because, for such a small island, there is much to see...

 If you wander down the quayside in Marsaxlokk on a Sunday morning your senses will come alive. The smell of the sea, the hustle & bustle of the fish market...

& the vibrant colours of the traditional fishing boats called luzzus. Painted in shades of yellow, red, green & blue, & on their bows, the eyes of Orisis to ward off evil spirts...

As you can imagine, there are lots of fish restaurants along the quayside. We chose to eat in a traditional one called Il-Bukkett, (the bouquet - after the original owner because he was very handsome!).  Now run by his son, a lovely man called Mario Grech, who took time to talk to us about the fish & Malta. If you are ever in Malta, do try his restaurant, the fish was amazing.

I've been to Malta several times, (husband S used to live here), & something I loved were the old brightly coloured buses. Unfortunately, they have now been replaced by new modern buses. They may not have been very emission-friendly but they were such an icon of the island. The few that remain are now used as tourist attractions or mobile shops.

The island played a big part in WWII as a base for the allied forces in the Mediterranean. It suffered terribly from constant bombing & many historic buildings were destroyed, as well as countless homes. There was a huge loss of life but the Maltese were so brave & refused to surrender. The island was awarded the George Cross in recognition of their bravery. During this time, food was really in short supply and Victory Kitchen's were set up where inhabitants pooled their meager food rations so meals could be produced to feed everyone. I love the design of the signs they used...

As my son J is a budding pilot, we had to visit the aircraft museum. While he enthused over the planes, I had a coffee in the tea shop set up in one of the wartime huts, complete with lace curtains at the windows. Well, I suppose this is the home of the famous Maltese lace...

As we were leaving we decided to pay our respects at the war cemetery just up the road. Such a lovely peaceful place, with beautiful bougainvillea hedges adding colour & a view over to the local town of Rabat...

Muuuummmm!!! No more photos!!!