"Les êtres suivaient, ils voulaient s’accrocher, mais il n’y avait rien, et c’était le malheur. " 

"Then came human beings; they wanted to cling, but there was nothing to cling to, and that was unfortunate."

                                                                                                                 La Chute (The Fall), Camus  

or

"You were the Chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them, bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness."

                                                                                                   I can't believe I'm quoting Star Wars

To beetroot lovers.

The dark side of the beet smoothie (why not...)
(vegan, gluten-free, raw)


180 g raw beetroot, grated
1/2 pear
1 small banana
tiny piece of ginger , grated
3 g spirulina powder
1/4 to 1/2 garlic clove (optional)
5 g chia seeds
150 cl coconut water

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.


Smoothie du côté obscur de la betterave
(végétalien, sans gluten, cru)

180 g betterave crue, râpée
1/2 poire
1 petite banane
un petit morceau de gingembre, râpé
3 g spiruline en poudre
1/4 ou 1/2 gousse d'ail (facultatif)
5 g graines de chia
150 cl eau de coco


Mettre tous les ingrédients dans un blender et mixer.

Earth Day was a few days ago but there is no need for a special day to sing the wonders of the Earth.

The region where I was born and raised is called Auvergne. It's definitely not the best known region by foreigners (or French people) but it's as rich and beautiful as Provence, the Loire Valley or Paris. The part I'm most familiar with is the Chaîne des Puys.Volcanoes have shaped the landscape over the last 95 000 million years as it has shaped the lives of people here. They've build Roman temples on them, they've erected cathedrals with volcanic rocks, they've benefited from pure mineral water, cattle have grazed on the slopes of "puys", unique cheese made from their milk, generations over generations, farmers have ploughed the earth.

I was shaped by these volcanoes: my family, my friends and I have hiked them, we have bathed in lakes and maars, (yes we enjoye dipping our feet in lakes formed in volcano craters!),  spent endless hours lying on the grass.

I cannot think of a better place to grow up. Among the volcanoes. We are children of nature. When my friends and I get together, we do not go to a café to chat around a drink, no, we saunter on volcanoes. Volcanoes unite us and make this place oustanding.

It is a place where every tree stands proud, where you can run knee-deep in snow, where on a trail you feel that strange presence, turn your head and see in all its beauty a sprightly deer looking at you, where wild boars cross your path hastily a few feet ahead of you, as scared as you. 

It is a precious place.
Earth is a precious place. Protect it and cherish it. 

P.S. : the Chaîne des Puys and Limagne fault is candidate to UNESCO's World Heritage. If you'd like to support its application or simply take a 360° visual tour, visit this site.

I love pears but only if they're as hard as stone. Otherwise, I won't eat them. They get ripe so quickly though (sigh).

Chocolate and pear tartelette
(vegan, gluten-free)

15 g coconut oil (not melted)
40 g almond flour
15 g raw cacao
15 g raw sugar
a few drops of bitter almond extract

Preheat oven to 210°C.
In a small bowl, mix all ingredients to form a dough. Press 3/4 of it onto a greased tartlet pan.

5 g coconut oil
15 g almond flour
15 g agave syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
1 pear

Add the ingredients above to the remaining dough and mix well. Fill the tartlet with it. Slice pear and place onto tartlet. Bake for 18-20 minutes.