Maurice the Luthier

I knew what is a luthier (a violin maker in French) but has never actually stepped into a real atelier until I went to pick up my friend Eric for dinner - he sent his contrebasse for servicing at Maurice's and I got to see a real atelier...

Out of curiosity, I asked Maurice (the guy against the shop door) how much does a violin cost: he took out a fine exemple from inside the oak cabinet, all hand made by him, all 500 hours (like 2 years' work) and he whispered the price - 12000 euros (yeap, the zeros are in place). I thought I heard wrong and I discreetly asked Eric afterwards which he confirmed the price....

Eric took a shot at one of the contrebasses...

Oyster season!

The coming of autumn signals one particular delicacy that is truly synonymous with the French: oysters. There are even advertissements by the producers making allusions to the addiction to oysters - look at these exemples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VkyOdfsZrc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86aaWcsFqmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbYheaRNxho

I only cultivated the liking for oysters upon leaving France after having stayed there for 5 years - so the first thing I looked for when in France was of course, oysters...this is strange because I am basically allergic to seafood and shellfish but oysters do not seem to give me problems and evidently the first cultural lesson when in France during Christmas is that oysters will probably be the choice entrée for dinner.

Above is a panoply of oysters even though we are far away from the Atlantic Coast where French oysters are principally grown and harvested (in marennes Oleron)

 This little restaurant is in the heart of the covered market in Besançon and serves fresh produce from the market, great place to have seafood if you must, even at the Swiss border...

A dozen of oysters (fin de claires no 3), medium-sized for about 13 euro.

something from the "coin" or place: feuilleté aux champignons (puff pastry with mushrooms) 

Wild Baby Kelah

The freshwater mahseers of Malaysia, locally known as Kelah (Tor tambroides) is a threatened species in the wild as its population has been greatly reduced due to pollution, loss of habitats and overfishing. I was glad that during my usual trip to the jungle for my photography sessions, I came across a small population of Kelah in the wild (fries) and hopefully, they will get their chance to continue growing...

First, there're still the Rasboras...

A school of tiny fries (about 3 inches long)...given the right conditions, they can live for a very long time like a koi, exceed a meter in length and weigh over 30kg!