a journal of the plague year² [new semester looming]

Returned from Corsica with two relaxed weeks where hardly anyone was anywhere in Paris, including the University. Which made plenty of room for preparing the incoming lectures of my undergraduate course (in Paris), cleaning our garden (and saving tons kilos of tomatoes from mildew into tomato sauce),

and cutting some of the fast-invading pumpkin vines,and finishing reviews of grants, papers and PhD theses.

Still some time for reading, including the very final volume of the Yalta Boulevard series, Victory Square, which sticks rather closely to the fall of the Ceausescu regime (a proximity acknowledged by the author), but also contains shocking (to me) revelations and some somewhat unrealistic foreign excursions. Nonetheless enjoyable enough to see the quintet as a formidable collection. Also read a short book on the non-elucidated murder of a Moroccan worker in Corsica, Les Invisibles, which I had bought while there. The style is a bit heavy and journalistic, and it certainly does not avoid clichés, but the report on the exploitation of North Africa seasonal workers by vegetable producers there is gripping (if reproducing identical patterns seen from Andalusia to Puglia…)

Watched two Kenshin movies [out of five] as well as some bits of the hilarious and rather silly very light Mystic Pop-up Bar series [with a lot of fast-forwards during my watch]. At the start, Kenshin is a prolific manga series set at the emergence of the Meiji era, series that ran from 1994 to  1999. And following a swordsman, Hitokiri Battōsai, who reminded me  (to some extent) of the 16th century samurai Miyamoto Musashi.

free Fall

Summer is off, Fall is back, as now the open air swimming pool has closed, the park opens too late for my schedule, shorts have all but disappeared from the streets and classrooms, the last raspberries have dried out, green tomatoes in my garden are unlikely to get any redder, the ant traps are no longer needed, the watering hose has been stored inside along the umbrella, and eating outdoors becomes a challenge, but the return from the traditional August vacation break has seen an explosion in the number of cyclists on my way to Dauphine, meaning I end up on most trips biking with (or against) other [100% nuke free] cyclists, with an improved trip duration (if not safer trips!). And no connection with the free fall tee!

new tomatoes [update]

first tomatoes

melanzane a bruschetta

I often make bruschettas on Friday night, if only because they are easy to cook and make a light and warm dinner. However, I usually make them with toasted Poilane bread and with a mix of tomatoes and Normandy butter…! Last evening, I tried a new recipe where eggplants replace bread (and are sliced, psrinkled with olive oil, then baked for 20 minutes) and topped with pesto and quickly boiled tomatoes (to peel the skin away). This is quite different a taste, with the eggplants providing a soft and fresh counterpoint to the topping, and I think I will move to this recipe from now on!