The Dentist

I have great teeth.  Just one of those things that I was born with.  They are straight without ever needing braces and they have somehow managed to never get a cavity.  Yet even with these great teeth I still hate going to the dentist.

Its not the actual sitting in the dentist chair while they work away at cleaning my teeth that bothers me.  Although really, I can't see how anyone can enjoy lying there with their mouth wide open while someone scraps and pokes and sucks water out of your mouth.  

What I hate about going to the dentist is how they treat you like you don't know how to brush your teeth.  Or how they feel the need to tell you that you should be flossing 10 times a day and then scold you when you admit that you don't floss at all.

Yes, I admit it, I am not a flosser!  But with never having gotten a cavity I am not sure I see the need to floss.

The other thing I absolutely hate is how they new decide to measure your gums and prick them with something sharp to see if they will bleed.  Hello news flash ... I am human, if you prick me with something some of my blood is going to seep out.

My dentist tries to get me into their office every six months.  Which is an improvement on the last dentist that I went to who tried for every 3-4 months.  No way I want to go sit in that chair every six months.  I manage to do every nine months, which is still more frequently that is probably necessary.

Fisher Price Disappointment

Little man got some awesome gifts for his birthday.  He loves all of the toys he receives and actively plays with everyone of them (and not just the box they were in).

One of the awesome toys he received was the Fisher Price Little People Discovering Animals Farm.  He loves this little set and has already spent a lot of time pushing the tractor around putting the animals in his mouth.

After taking a closer look at the box, we realized that there were suppose to be 2 fences included in the set that weren't.  Not wanting to go through the hassle of returning a product that R loves and has already played with a lot we decided to email Fisher Price and ask for them to send us the fences that should have been included.

The box that the toy was packaged in that clearly shows fences.

What is Fisher Prices response ... we don't do  do the fences any more too bad for you.  Oh but if you want you can buy other accessories at our website.

Fisher Price you get a great big

FAIL

Not only have you failed to provide the product that you advertise on the box but you also failed to have any reasonable customer service to deal with your false advertisement.  Shame on you.

BIG DISAPPOINTMENT

The secret ingredient

Besides using the freshest ingredients available there is one other thing I have noticed about all of my meals here in Provence.  A fanatastic ingredient that the French are not afraid to use and don't skimp on is the fat.

Whether it be the morning crossiant that must each contain a pound of butter to make them taste so yummy or the dips like aioli that is based with oil.  The other evening we had dinner at Leopold's in Aix en Provence, where I ordered the duck confit.  Confit is essentially the slow cooking of the duck in its own fat.   There was even a nice tasty drizzle of this fat on my plate that I happily sopped up.

Then there are the desserts.  This evening when we were out for a stroll we stopped in at Béchard, one of the top pastry shops in Aix (or so I have read). The smell in the shop alone is enough to make your mouth water and want to order one of everything.  I settled on a mini Tarte Tropézienne.  From the first nibble of cream you could tell that there were no low fat ingredients used in making this pastry. The cream was wonderful and the puff pastry part again must have had a pound of the best butter. 

After eating all these yummy full fat foods for a month it has done a number on my waist line. I wish I could figure out the French secret of how they eat all these yummy foods and still stay slim.

Our final day 😞

Well it has been a month in Provence and our final day has arrived. It has been an incredible month and we have done a lot. I however an not ready to leave as there is just so much more I would love to do.

Spring has arrived in Provence and the flowers are in full bloom. The plane trees on the Cours Mirabeau were bare when we arrived and now they are green as can be.

The weather has not been very cooperative today and the Saturday market I was looking forward to all week was a bust. We walked by around 9am to go get breakfast and it looked like the stalls were all setting up. By 10 o'clock most the stalls were closing up and going home 😞. This probably isn't a bad thing since we really don't have anymore room in our luggage.