Loyal readers of this lofty blog might no doubt lay awake nights wondering which blogs out there are the ones that I subscribe to? And then again, maybe you don't -- who can say? After all, God knows I don't let anyone comment on my blog, do I??

But here is one of the blogs I subscribe to: Salut! It's maintained by a British journalist who splits his time between Abu Dhabi and the South of France. Today, he's in the South of France at a famous restaurant, l'Oustau de Baumanière.

Here's another fave of mine: Chocolate & Zucchini, maintained by a French/English food-o-phile and cookbook author. I try to read only the version she writes in French. It is never easy, but it's a great way to get the brain cranking. She also has a weekly section that looks at French idiomatic expressions that center on food and she describes what they mean, how to use them, and how they seem to have come into existence. For instance, the current one posted there:

"Retomber comme un soufflé."  Literally translated as, "Falling back like a soufflé," it is a colloquial expression that means running out of steam in a quick and sudden way.

Example: "Il y a eu tout un battage médiatique autour du projet, et puis c'est retombé comme un soufflé." "There was a lot of media hype around the project, and then it fell back like a soufflé."

So now you get it, don't you? Just why it is that my French is so startlingly sparkling and all-encompassing! 

Well, I wish.

Okay, some news from another!

From Maria Isabel Pita comes the announcement of a new book! And if you have never read any of her fiction that takes place in ancient Egypt, gang, you are in for a real treat.

The Truth is the Soul of the Sun: A Biographical Novel of Hatshepsut-Maatkare