Ah, the weather has turned on us yet again. But I am also a fan of overcast, blustery days like we've had this week. And there was something about the light on my morning ride Thursday, it must have been, that reminded me of a long ago adventure in Dordogne.

I pass this house...


... nearly every morning biking through Cambridge, but it wasn't until Thursday that it reminded me somehow of this one...


...where I stayed when I visited France for the first time many years ago. 

It's funny how the quality of light at a certain time of day in a certain season can take you back to someplace so long ago and far away, but there I was.

I had gotten my cholesterol results Wednesday, of course, and wanted to celebrate, preferably by eating something totally inappropriate. So on my way home I stopped into Shaw's at Porter Square, and found just the thing: they had Utz potato chips for a buck a bag (they were advertised like "10 for $10," but please) and while I had never heard of Utz, the bag said they were "crisp all natural" and "judged Best In America by Food & Wine Magazine in 1981."

How could I refuse?

They did not disappoint.

And in honor of my flashback to my first trip to France, (which, incidentally, included, among other memorable sidetrips, a pilgrimage to see the Black Virgin at Racamadour), I bought a big hunk of soft-ripened double creme Brie de Meaux, a baguette, and a bottle of Beaujolais, and decided I would open a boulangerie in Davis Square someday.

Anyone want to go in with me on this?

With gloomy weather forecast for the weekend, a trip to the museum might be in order.  I was over at the Boston Public Library on Copley Square the other afternoon.


There's a nice little exhibition in the McKim Building, upstairs in the Wiggin Gallery, of new acquisitions—works of art on paper.


The works range from the whimsical and campy...


...to the, well, untitleable...


There's also a charming exhibition in the Cheverus Room, Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures, through September 2nd. All free.

Whenever I'm in the neighborhood, my favorite quiet secret spot is the diorama room:


But even with the clouds and the rain—and it's really just sprinkling out there, if you want to know the truth—if you can get out, do. The tulip season will soon be past, but now it's in full swing. This is the time to visit the Public Garden to see them: