I just spent a fabulous long weekend in the Cote d'Azure with a friend who was born there, on the end of a work trip to London. I have way too many photos and stories to share, but for now, I will say - I may have had the best coffee in the world in a little modern shop in old town Nice, France. Look at the crema. It's thick, smooth and so pretty. More to come in a few days... Related posts:Coffee in Pavia, ItalyLunch at Great Queen Street RestaurantOlives, Olives, Olives in Nice, France

I was at a wedding not that long ago when the groom came up to me and said, “I thought of you while I was at the wine store – and I bought an extra case.” Now I’ve never been known to drink an entire case of wine in one night (that I can recall), but I guess that tells you something about me. I love wine and I love a good cocktail and I love iced cold beer too. Along the same lines, more recently I was going to my friend Laura’s house to grill out (she has one of those rare things in Brooklyn called a roof deck), and I was excited enough about the grill and the deck. But that day, she sent me a text simply saying, “I’m making bourbon peach punch.” Clearly, Laura knows the way to my heart. The night was one of the hottest so far this summer, humid and sticky, but sitting far above the pavement, there was the slightest breeze, and we looked out over the rooftops and church steeples, and it felt like we were someplace else entirely, like France maybe (only a France set in front of a gorgeous Manhattan skyline). There ...