Dalia's Kitchen: The south of France, good food, good friends and getting ready to come back home...

A Cote D'Azur Morning :)

I am guilty of having had one of the longest holidays ever. Yes, I have officially been away for six whole weeks and even though I usually start itching to get back home after a couple of weeks, not this time. As much as I loved this past school year, with so much going on, like the beautiful birth of my baby girl and writing my cookbook, I must admit I was exhausted and truly needed a long break.

We have been in the south of France for the past few weeks, and it has brought back more memories than usual. After all I grew up in Paris, and spent a few weeks every summer in this part of the world since I've been tiny. The surreal thing is that this time, I have been enjoying it with my little man who is my favourite travel buddy! My daughter is still too young at three months to fully enjoy her French surroundings. She is very cutely sleeping her way through our holiday. So I am looking forward to her next summer holiday inshAllah where she will start discovering the world around her more actively :)

I cannot begin to describe the blast I've been having with Phares. Days in the sun, carousel rides, and long walks through the charming streets, his first Pain au Chocolat, and realizing that I was his age when France became home until I was 19 years old. So the bakeries, the beautifully roasted chicken on street corners, the grumpy French and the busy yet charming streets are something engraved in my soul, and are very close to my heart. So I could not be more excited to share this with Phares.

And of course, there is also the late night outings with friends part that I have missed terribly having been pregnant this past year. So it was particularly lovely to bump into very old and dear friends of mine in Cannes, Saint Tropez and Juan Les Pins. We managed to grab a coffee, and discussed our lives, and what has happened in the past decade. It brought back so many vivid memories, and made me realize how important it is to stay in touch with old friends. But distance, and life tends to get in the way I guess...

I'm off to Marbella for a few days before heading back to Dubai at the end of the week. Yes, the everlasting holiday is also coming to an end and it's time to go back home.

I will leave you with some delicious snapshots of our south of France getaway, and hope you are enjoying your summer too, wherever you are.

Much love,

D xx