Thom and me in Prague.

The holidays were a real flurry. I jetted all over the place, first with Jen, who came to visit me in Chambéry, and with Thom, and then with family + Thom. I have yet to root through the pictures from those hectic weeks. Since then I have had a bit more time to think (though still often on trains). On my bike too, though it looks like the errant streak of spring that passed through Chambéry and Fribourg (my two haunts) is coming to an end. The first blast of winter hit this week, keeping me mostly indoors, concocting things in my head and in the kitchen. Jen took the above photograph of me and thought it gave a good account of me: bound for somewhere, facing backwards, absorbed by the passing landscape but smiling really at my own reflection.

Here I am at home in Chambéry on Jen's visit, laying out my favorite kind of breakfast: the vast kind. Foreground, plastic baggie: the inspired Nutella-meusli cookies we baked for Thom (and about which he was completely ambivalent!); just behind, our massive banana bread (which was exquise).

Romping through Geneva with Jen.

In the kitchen at Jolival in Fribourg. (You know Jolival---the much-talked-about artists' enclave in the famous university town.) A supper with Jen featuring another imported item from Savoie, the famous reblochon cheese, melted over pasta and smoked trout. But it was so strong after having kicked around for a few days that the delectable heap you see on our plates was practically uneatable.