Cafe Charisma: 01 Let's Go France!

My bags are packed, I'm ready to roll, I'm standing here outside my door...and heading off soon to San Diego harbor airport.

San Diego, California

While it's slightly overcast here in California, looks like lots of snow in Chicago where I'll change planes for London Heathrow, the fourth busiest airport in the world. Weather reports for London Gatwick (where I have to transfer again for Marseille) says 'Forecasters issued warnings of widespread ice and hazardous conditions lasting well into the weekend as the country's cold snap tightened its grip on Friday.'
Check out this winter wonderland in Gatwick...

So, guess I'll bring a blanket and plenty to read - have a feeling I'm going to spend a while at one of these airports waiting for flights to return to normal.

Flying over the Marseille mountain range, I'm expecting a typical Mediterranean climate of the south of France with hot summers and mild winters.

However, Marseille is also known for its "Mistral" which is a cold wind blowing mostly in winter and spring coming right from the Alps Mountains where I'm ultimately headed. It's a wind that blows the ears off of donkeys. The wind that the 17th-century Madame de Sévigné described as "bitter, freezing and cutting"? It can last for several days at a time but there are winds of that nature all over the world - the tramontana, the sirocco. No big deal.

This old town Marseille, formerly known by the Greek word Massalia, is where grandpa lived back in the 60's.
I remember visiting him in July, 1969, when the first man stepped on the moon. We'd stroll along the harbor and indulge in the best sea food of the region, a popular dish called the Bouillabaisse.

Marseille looks beautiful anytime of the year

For a fisherman's delight, here's a recipe you can have fun with...

http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/tips.php/id/2/ and no cheating on the ingredients! It was originally a fisherman's dish. While sorting out the fish to be sold, they used to put aside certain species which they would then prepare for themselves and their families. The way in which the Bouillabaisse is served in restaurants is left to the discretion of the manager, but as a general rule it is served in two different dishes, the fish in one and the soup in the other. There is, however, one fundamental rule: the fish must be cut up in front of the guests.