Getting the flavor of ... A breezy day on Amelia Island, and more

A breezy day on Amelia Island

Amelia Island, Fla., “wears its charms well,” said Tim Warren in The Washington Post. This relaxed island, just off the northeast coast of Florida, approaches life at a leisurely pace. Whether you stay at the Ritz-Carlton or the Florida House Inn (the state’s oldest operating hotel), the “ambience remains the same: unobtrusive and agreeable.” The annual average temperature is a pleasant 70 degrees, and life revolves around the historic district of Fernandina Beach, a 50-block area adorned with Victorian facades at least a century old. “Hundreds of mature palm trees and live oaks draped with Spanish moss add to the feeling of authenticity.” Visitors can grab lunch at T-Rays Burger Station—a secret burger joint inside an Exxon gas station—and then spend the afternoon fishing for their supper at Fort Clinch State Park, a “haven for nesting sea birds and sea turtles.”

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Looking to channel my inner Julia Child, I arrived at the Canadian branch of Le Cordon Bleu, said Micheline Maynard in The New York Times. The Ottawa institution is the only North American outpost of the famous Paris culinary school. It offers classes to everyone, even if you don’t know the difference between a spatula and a sieve. I wanted to see if Le Cordon Bleu “lived up to its worldwide rep,” so I enrolled in a pair of courses. The first, which entailed a trip to the historic Byward Market, left me feeling confident. The second, however—titled “Flavors of France”—“taught me the highs and, sadly, the lows that the professional kitchen can provoke.” I was to cook an array of French classics including a gribiche, a sauce made from hard-boiled egg yolks, mustard, vinegar, and olive oil. That sounded simple until I’d stirred my gribiche into a “glob.” Looks like I’ll be keeping my day job.