"Almost" a Year in Provence

Presque au revoir....

2009-06-15T15:14:00.004+02:00

In less than 10 days, Nick, Sarah and I depart for the United States. We are heading back to our home in Duxbury. As you can well imagine, we are busy packing, doing last minute hikes, sight seeing and saying beaucoup des au revoirs to many friends. Our bittersweet, last days here seem to be quickly slipping through the hour glass.

As you might imagine, "Almost a Year in Provence" is backlogged. I've many entries not yet posted and there are surely more to come so expect a quiet spell on the blog until after we get resettled on the other side of the pond.

A la prochaine!

Mariage Surprise!

2009-06-06T09:08:00.000+02:00

If you read my most recent blog entry about our 25th wedding anniversary get away to Moustiers St Marie, you were left wondering what surprise Nick had up his sleeve upon our return to Aix that evening. Well, he did tell me that several close friends would be joining us at Pasta Cosy for dinner and that he wanted me to go with him to one of our favorite gardens nearby for a brief moment beforehand. hmmmmm.....

When we entered the gardens at the Pavillion Vendome I felt a bit apprehensive but didn't really know what he had up his sleeve, despite our son, Nicholas, saying something the previous week about Nick and I "renewing our wedding vows".

No sooner had we entered the garden but about 15 friends and Sarah jumped out of the bushes shouting "Happy Anniversary!" Needless to say, I was shocked beyond belief. Darrin, our pastor here in Aix, came to welcome me and help me regain my composure before greeting the others...

After many hug and embraces, Darrin, told me that it was Nick's desire to renew our vows before this intimate group on the day of our 25th anniversary. Evidently, he'd been working up this plan for quite a while, had enlisted many helpers and even gone so far as to get the exact vows we'd taken back on May 26, 1984. So, what was I to do?? I got (re)married!!!

It was indeed a tender, awesome, unforgetable experience...........

Maele delivered a huge bouquet from her mother and father, Cecile and Fabien...

Nick and I got ready for the 'wedding' to begin...

The ceremony...

Sarah joined Nick and I for an almost family photo right after the ceremony...

The lighting was so perfect we lingered for some photo op time....

Julie and Darrin...

Graeme and Jill...

Fabien, Cecile, Eduard and Maele...

We walked through town on our way to Pasta Cosy...

where Fabien welcomed everyone with some champagne...

and we settled in for the evening...

Hilary and Dom...

Nick made a lovely toast...

A smiling Martin and his lovely bride, Christine...

What a memorble evening! Merci mon mari!! Je t'aime!!!

25ans de Mariage!

2009-05-27T12:28:00.016+02:00

One's 25th wedding anniversary certainly is a milestone , particularly in today's age and Nick and I were blessed to celebrate ours this week. To mark our special day, we simply desired an evening away somewhere special (and preferably calm) so we could have some time for 'just we two' to mark this significant milestone in our lives.

With that in mind, I planned an overnight to the small, medieval village of Moustiers Sainte Marie, located about a two hour drive northeast of Aix. We had visited this quaint spot just a few weeks after arriving in France in 2006 with Sarah, Mom and Dave. We had always planned to return so it was "Now, or (maybe) never" as they say! The town is famous for the faience pottery which first came to the region in the 1600's and became very popular in the 18th century on the tables of the rich and famous in France. Moustiers is also close to the Gorge du Verdun, the Grand Canyon of Europe(more about that tomorow).

We arrived in Moustiers on a scorcher of a day with the temps in the mid-nineties. Not the best weather for hiking but after getting settled in our room at Bastide du Paradou, we set off to make the trek into the village.

Situated in the Alpes de Haute region of Provence, Moustiers is a village divided half by a mountain stream which rushes down from a narrow rocky canyon above the town. The view of this mini-gorge, sprinkled with small waterfalls and medieval houses as well as the ceramic shops, is beautiful. As you wander the narrow, medieval streets and duck under vaulted passage ways all the while listening to the sound of the gurgling river you have the feeling you are in an Alpine village.

As we'd been to the village before, we didn't linger long near the shops but continued our climb up toward the chapel. It was a hot climb but well worth the effort. This path, lined with 12 stations of the cross, has been used for pilgrimages to the chapel since the year 470...

We had spectacular views all around including this bird's eye view of the village....

On our climb we passed through the ruins of the ancient defensive walls and finally made it to Notre-Dame de Beauvoir, built over the first 5c. chapel in the 12th century. On this particularly hot afternoon, the cool air inside the chapel was truly a gift from heaven! It was amazing to see the many and detailed stained glass windows, intricately carved decorative molding in such an ancient church located so far up a steep hillside.

The lure of a swim kept us going all the way back to the bastide, where we happily plunged into Jean-Louis' private pool for a cooling dip. Our special evening began in his lovely garden with a glass of champagne before we went to dinner at the nearby Bastide de Moustiers.

The super hot day gave way to the most delightfully, balmy evening thus ensuring our dinner at Alain Ducasse's fine restaurant would be outside under the stars. This welcoming table was our front row seat to a dining extravaganza we will always remember.

With a menu that changes everyday depending on what is fresh and growing in the Bastide's garden, each meal is a surprise. I'm not a food writer for Gourmet magazine so won't even attempt to describe our dining experience other than to say we were expertly served course after course of well prepared, inventive and classic, delicious cuisine that never failed to delight both our palettes!

The people watching from our table was interesting, but mostly we concentrated on each other and spoke of memories of our wedding weekend twenty five years ago and other anniversaries. As the dusk fell, the surroundings continued to dazzle our eyes...

We awoke the next day, our actual anniversary, to a glorious morning...

A glance out our window at the garden below showed us our table where we went to enjoy a relaxing, delicious petite dejeuner.

After breakfast we were off to visit the Gorge du Verdon. The world's second largest gorge, it is about 25 kilometers in length and up to 700 meters deep. It was formed by the Verdon River, which is named after its startling turquoise-green color, one of the canyon's most distinguishing characteristics. The weather did a rapid change just after we headed out so we drove some of the most impressive part between Moustiers and La Palud where the river has cut a ravine up to 700 meters down through the limestone mass. It is truly spectacular!!

At the end of the canyon, the Verdon river flows into an artificial lake, Sainte-Croix-du-Verdon.

As we were heading back to Aix, Nick casually mentioned to me that he had some special, surprise anniversary dinner plans for us that evening. I asked for more details but he left me wondering about it all the way home.....stay tuned!

Les Coquelicots en Provence

2009-05-23T11:33:00.000+02:00

After winter, we all look forward to the arrival of spring. Even without a calendar, one knows the month of May has arrived in Provence when the poppies, 'coquelicots' en francais, pop up! We see the field or corn poppy in any number of places around Aix; in fields, along roadsides and even growing in between cobbles on the sunny side of a medieval, village street. This bright-red flower has been used to symbolize sleep, think of Dorothy and the Tin Man going through the poppy field in their way to Oz, and in Greco-Roman myths to symbolize death and resurection. Perhaps the most famous literary use of the poppy was John McCrae's World War I poem, In Flanders Fields.

A doctor serving in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the war, McCrae reportedly wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer, on the front line. The poem appeared for the first time in Punch magazine on December 8, 1915.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

Today, throughout the world, the poppy is very much a symbol of that and other wars and those that fought in them. Looking at this field, I saw in it a likeness to an impressionist painting and was deeply reminded of McCraes' words "In Flanders fields the poppies blow..."

P.S. Susie just asked me to proof her blog entry. Uncanny comments as this is Memorial Day weekend and she hadn't put two and two together yet! Nick

PPS...and one more thing. This week, I have been reading "Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normany" by Donald Burgett. It is his look back at WWII and he describes the nonstop, nightmarish fighting across "body-strewn fields, over enemy-held hedgerows, through blown-out towns and devastating forests". The book captures a 'baptism by fire' of young Private Burgett, his comrades and the new 101st Airborne Division as they enter Normandy and become a legend of war. Concurrently, I have even been rewatching the fabulous series "A Band of Brothers" which so effectively documents visually that amazing time in world history. Nick

Paris en avril

2009-05-15T16:49:00.001+02:00

Thanks to an unexpected but welcome business rendez vous for Nick, the two of us got to go to Paris this spring. In addition to Nick's meeting, we got to do lots of walking, sightseeing and visiting with friends; all under sunny, Parisian skies!

We travelled to Paris on the TGV and took a cab to our hotel in the St-Germain-des-Pres district. Door to door was less than 4 hours. Hotel Academie, rue St Peres, just off the rue St. Germain, is a three star hotel and by Paris standards, our room was spacious. We'd booked a superior room with king sized bed but upon inspection it was a bit lacking and when we commented on it, they offered to upgrade us to a junior suite. A sweet deal for only an additional 20 euro/night. Speaking of sweets, the hotel is next door to Debauve & Gallais, one of Paris' best and oldest chocolateries. We picked up a few tasty treats to enjoy after dinner.

We left our things at the hotel and walked down rue St Germain to stretch our legs, see some sights and have lunch. We settled in at Cafe Bergamote, just off the main drag, where we enjoyed some deliciously fresh salads. Nick's meeting was across town over near the Opera so we took advantage of the lovely day and walked there. We crossed over the Seine at Pont du Carosel, walked through the Place du Carosel and the gardens in front of the Louvre(there were considerably more people than there had been in January!) and through the Palais Royale.

A quick stroll up the Ave de L'Opera and we'd reached our destination at Rue des Capucines. While Nick attended his meeting, I wandered up to the Opera and poked around in the shops in that area. We strolled back through the Jardin des Tuileries and stopped at one of the cafes for a Perrier...

As you can see by all the 'turtles' out sunning themselves, it was a glorious day and there was hardly an empty chair to be found.

In the evening, we headed down the St. Germain this time we stopped at Carrefour de l'Odeon and had dinner at a delightful, italian restaurant, Il Suppli. This tiny, 20 seat haven for pasta lovers serves delicious, fresh meals with friendly service. Our waiter was from Rome and you could feel his enthusiasm for all things Italian, especially the food. We started with bruscetta made with fresh tomatoes mixed with lots of garlic, a pungent olive oil and basil slivers whose flavor assured you that summer was not far away. Our main plates were also well received; Nick had a simple pasta dish that he'd discovered in Italy coated with rich cheeses and plenty of black pepper and I had veal scallopini accompanied by a perfectly cooked melange of zucchini, eggplant and red peppers. Dessert was our stash of specialty chocolates back at the hotel.

The next morning we walked the few blocks to Café de Flore where we enjoyed a leisurely, delicious and cher petit dejeuner. The cafe creme was parfait!

Café de Flore, dating back to the 1880's, has been a favorite hangout, think tank and meeting place for generations of writers, fashion designers, film makers and celebrities. In its early days, writers and notables such as Apollinaire, Simone De Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre met and wrote here. After the war and into the sixties it's popularity with that group continued and in the 60's it also became a haunt for filmakers, designers and models. Today, it still attracts all sorts of celebrities and tourists(like us!). While we sipped our morning cafe cremes, we didn't recognize anyone special but did thoroughly enjoy watching what was probably a typical, morning parade of local Parisians who most frequent this well known establishment. We tuned into the mother and daughter savoring a chocolat chaud on the way to school, the dapper, suited men having a serious business meeting with espressos before going to the office and felt sorry for the sad-faced woman, dressed to look 20 years less than her age, looking lonely with only her cigarette and coffee as company.

Charged up for our next activity of the day, we left Cafe de Flore and walked to meet our friends, Aia and Stephen, at their apartment located just opposite Theatre de l'Odeon and a stone's throw away from the Jardin du Luxembourg. This majestic garden was designed and begun in 1612, covers about 55 acres and is noted as probably the most popular park in Paris. Formerly a royal garden, it was not opened to the public until the 19th century.

During two brisk turns around the expanisve gardens, we chatted and caught up with each other and marvelled at the beauty of our surroundings. It was spectacular...

Between 1615 and 1627 the Palais du Luxembourg was constructed at the northern end of the garden. This royal palace was built for Marie de Medicis, mother of Louis XIII. She was of Italian descent, so the architect, Salomon de Brosse designed the palace in a Florentine style. This once palace has had a colorful history. In 1794, during the French Revolution, it served as a prison, during the Second World War it became the headquarters of the Luftwaffe and today, the building houses the French Senate.

Directly in front of the palace lies Nick's favorite feature of the garden; the octagonal pond, known as the Grand Bassin. In the warm seasons, children(and big grown-ups who wish they were children) can rent small boats.

The garden is also a place for many Parisians to sit, relax and enjoy the day. According to Aia, this group meets here daily....

All our walking enabled us to work up our appetites for dejeuner at one of Aia and Stephen's favorite left bank lunch spots, Le Comptoir. We were fortunate to get a streetside table at Yves Camdeborde's popular brasserie where we not only enjoyed our lunch together but the world going by around us.

All our dishes, which ranged from gourmet salads to poulet roti fermier with oven roasted new potatoes to a tender lamb shank with couscous, were delicious.

After lunch, believe it or not, we were still up for more walking and more gardens! We headed over to the 7th arrondissement to the Rodin Museum. It was a perfect way to pass the afternoon looking at the lovely gardens and the artist's works.

The museum is housed in the Hotel Biron, named not for the builder,Jacques Gabriel, or first inhabitant, Abraham Peyrenc de Moras, but for one of the last families, maréchal de Biron, to live there. After being used by Napolean, a Russian ambassador and as a school by the Dames du Sacre-Coeur, it was subdivided into rooms and Auguste Rodin began to use several of them as his studio. He also enjoyed entertaining his friends in the surrounding gardens. In the 1920's, at the height of his fame, Rodin lobbeyed the French government to make the estate a museum of his work. He made a bequest of his property, his archives and the contents of his studio at the time of his death, and the French government accepted in 1916. The museum opened in 1919.

Strolling through gardens, we enjoyed the tranquility which came from the sometimes wild nature of the plantings, the harmonious mix of landscape and statues and the magic of the reflecting pools. Of the many plants fowering at the time, the blooming peonies and lilacs were the most impressive.

The peonies truly captivated me!!

The most famous Rodin sculpture, Le Penseur/The Thinker is just one of many located in the gardens today....

Gates of Hell...

Caryatid Carrying a Stone-Sculpture...

Close up of Caryatid...

Being a warm day and all, Nick and Stephen decided a cold beer was in order so Aia and I checked out the nearby shops ....

After our busy day, Nick and I took in a movie, Cheri, as an entertaining way to get off our feet and have some downtime for a while. A light dinner at the nearby pizzaria, Le Golfe de Naples, was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

For our petite dejeuner Saturday morning, we went to Starbucks!! A radical departure from the Cafe de Flore but boy did we enjoy our vente lattes with extra shots! From there, Nick and I walked over the Seine to visit Notre Dame....

This wonderful old car parked in front could fool you into thinking you'd entered a time machine.

We spent a bit of time quietly taking in the awesomeness of the interior of the cathedral and then we went along the gardens along the Seine and crossed over the Pont de Archeveche onto L'Ile St Louis...

Neither of us had ever been over to this tiny island in the middle of the Seine. We loved the ambiance on this Sunday morning and thought we'd like to stay here if/when we're back in Paris someday.

Singing for his petite dejeuner or just enjoying the morning??

The colorful shop windows along the narrow streets were inviting...

Crossing back over to Ile de la Cite, we lingered on the pont St. Louis to just 'stop and stare'... we soaked up all that was around us and commited it to a savored memory...

We strolled up the right bank of the island, continuing our 'soaking up Paris' promenade....

Back at the Academie, we gathered our things and took a cab over to Aia and Stephens' where the four of us enjoyed a delicious Sunday lunch. We lingered at the table savoring not only the food but our friendship, touching many subjects all the while avoiding the elephant in the room which was possibly saying good bye for quite a while....instead, when we left for the train station, we simply said "A bientot, mes amis. A la prochiane".

More info:

Academie Hotel Saint-Germain, 32, rue des Saints-Peres, 75007 http://www.academiehotel.com/

Cafe Bergamote, 8, rue Montfaucon 75006, http://www.bergamote.org/

Il Suppli, 2, rue Conde, 75006, 01 40 46 99 74.

Le Comptoir, 9 Carrefour de l'Odeon, 75006, 01 44 27 07 97

Rodin Museum, 79, rue de Varenne, 75007

Paris au cours de l'hiver

2009-04-29T10:15:00.021+02:00

It's catch up time on the blog. Here's an entry I neglected to post about a visit to Paris back in January.

The background and reason for the trip all started when our dear friends, Aia and Stephen, moved to Paris from Aix last fall. Let me explain... They moved into a darling, but tiny, apartment suitable for only the two of them so having overnight visitors is not possible, no matter how much we missed each other. However, when Stephen announced he was going out of town on business for a few days, Aia rang me and asked if I'd like to come up for a few days. Mais oui! Bien sur! Get to see Aia, get to see Paris!! Despite living in France for nearly three years now we hadn't visited Paris once so this was a treat. We hadn't been in the 'City of Lights' since we came en famille in the summer of 2001. I'm sure it won't surprise you to learn that 8 years later....Paris hasn't changed!

I took the TGV from Aix and spent three blissful hours reading and sleeping during the 3 hour ride to Gare de Lyon in Paris. What a fabulous, relaxed way to travel! I love the Gare de Lyon, in fact I love cool train stations, there's something really exciting, energizing about them....

As the cab drove up the left bank on the way to Aia's, we passed Notre Dame, I had to pinch myself, I was really here!

Aia and I spent the next three days together in constant chatter, happily walking MOST of the streets of Paris. Their apartment is located the 6th arrondissment right next to the Theatre de L'Odeon and just a few steps from Paris' most popular park, the Jardin du Luxembourg. Despite the chilly, winter weather, we LOVE to walk so just bundled up and headed outside everyday and enjoyed every minute of it. We spent most of our time walking with a bit of shopping, window gazing and eating along the way. We crisscrossed our way back and forth over the Seine staying primarlity in the 1er, 2me, 5me and 6me arrondissements. There was something about this grey Paris, without leafy, green trees and colorful gardens, minus tourists that was quite intriguing and allowed me to see it in a different way. The architecture seemed more prominent and even the trees had an architectural look to them.

crossing the Pont des Arts...

A break for chocolate at L'Aduree, one of Paris' finest....

Fancy a cafe or cup of tea along Rue St. Germain?

Not much of the Eiffel Tower to be seen on this visit....

One day, we enjoyed a fabulous Japonese lunch at Yen. Earlier that morning, Aia and I went by the restaurant on our walk. We stayed for quite some time watching through the window the owner/chef making fresh soba noodles which he does everyday. By the time we moved on, quite a crowd had assembled to watch this true artist at work. Later we tasted not only the soba, but delicious tempura, tofu and tea as well.

If you're interested in seeing more photos go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107400&id=522967027&l=efdcbc1003

If you'd like to have some great Japonese food in Paris go to:
Yen- 22,rue Saint-Benoit, Paris 75007, France
Tel: 01 45 44 11 18

Bon Anniversaire Nick!

2009-04-20T09:11:00.000+02:00

Those of us of a certain age know that numbers are just that, numbers.....and unlike for Sarah, maybe better if not counted. Afterall, it's how you feel that counts. We celebrated Nick's birthday with much merriment, with friends of many ages and it all felt wonderful! For the third year in a row, we celebrated with our good friend, Hilary How Rivera, who's birthday is the same day as Nick's; April 9th. The evening began with aperos and a champagne rendezvous at our apartment.

With everyone assembled, we walked over to our favorite, Pasta Cosy, where our friend and host, Fabien had a special table set for us in his cave. Here, we enjoyed a delightful evening of good food, drink, stories, laughter and friendship. Definitely a memory to be savored....

Bon anniversaire Nick!

Sarah a 14 ans le 14 mars.

2009-04-16T07:45:00.000+02:00

Sarah's 14th year commenced leisurely on Saturday morning, the 14th of March, with Lindt chocolates for breakfast in bed. She was very happy!!

The supine sugar fix was followed by a more levitated, but still leisurely, morning stroll around the Saturday market in Aix. Our mother daughter duo made stops and some birthday purchases at a few of Sarah's favorite boutiques...

We visited the flower market in front of the Hotel de Ville where there was an overwhelming display of gorgeous flowers to choose from! Sarah could choose 14 stems and create a birthday bouquest but his proved to be too difficult given ALL the choices and she ultimately selected a fragrant, jasmine topiary for her room.

Later, Sarah and I met Nick for lunch at Boca Loca, Aix's newly opened, Tex-Mex restaurant. An ice cold can of Dr. Pepper was Sarah's primary reason for going there, but the delicious burritos and homemade salsa were also a lure.

That evening, Sarah and our friend, Teal Rapp, celebrated their joint birthdays at a party held in their honor at the Rapp's home in nearby Le Tholonet. Sarah received an unexpected bouquet of flowers from our friend and musician, Riad...

Megan made separate cakes for Sarah and Teal. With Teal celebrating his 41st and Sarah her 14th the numbered candles needed only to be reversed each time a cake was delivered and we sang "Happy Birthday" twice!

The birthday buddies...

The following weekend, Sarah celebrated her birthday with some of her girlfriends at a party at our apartment....

Jenn and Miranda are not sure about the pizza....

but Lara loved the hot dogs!

All in all, looks like Sarah's 14th year is off to a great start!!

Le printemps est arrivé!

2009-04-14T11:21:00.000+02:00

Spring is here!! All around Aix she proclaims her arrival. The wisteria is in full bloom, the Rotonde fountain is flowing and colorful tulips and daffodils brighten the markets. Easter is around the corner and the chocolate and patisserie shops are a sight to behold. One has only to walk around town to be craving some form of chocolate or special sweet.

A stroll around town past the best, and our favorite, shops was a mouth watering experience...

off to have some dark chocolate now....my guess is you are too. A la prochiane!

J'adore faire du ski!

2009-03-18T14:36:00.007+01:00

One of the fabulous things about living in Aix-en-Provence is probably something you'd never think of as one of the many reasons to visit, let alone live, here. It's for the skiing! It's amazing to find that even though we are a mere 30 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea, we also have many ski areas in our not too distant backyard. Being a passionate skier that is indeed good news!

One day last month, our international hiking group went skiing, instead of hiking. We went to Mont Serein, the closest of these ski stations(as they are called here) only about 1 1/2 hour drive west of Aix. This tiny resort has only 12 kilometers of slopes and not one chair lift. It really reminded me of some of the small resorts I skied as a child in New England. Mont Serein is located on the north side of Mont Ventoux, the highest elevation in the entire region at 1,912m/6273ft. Mt Ventoux' summit actually looks snow-capped all year round due to the white limestone on the mountain's barren peak. The day we were there, we had lousy ski conditions....low visibility and lots of ice... but we had a good time together on the slopes!

Always up for an adventure, my friends, Fiona and Hilary, and I went for a day trip to St Jean Monclar. This ski station is just shy of a two hour's drive north of Aix. This mountain village lies between the Northern Alps and Provence in the heart of the sunny side of the Alpine range. This was the first time either Hilary or I had skied at St Jean, but our faithful guide, Fiona, had already been here once this winter so we happily followed her all over the mountain!

The two slopes of the skiing area offer 45 kilometers of runs so we had plenty of mountain to explore and the scenery was spectacular!!

Fiona and I keeping warm in the sun and close to each other as we pause to enjoy the scenery...

On yet another sunny day, Sarah and our friends, Teal and Olivia Rapp, went to Les Orres, just up the road from St Jean Monclar, for a mother/daughter-father/daughter day trip. We had a blast-even if the girls didn't want to ski with the "grown ups" most of the day.

Well, that's all for now.... à la prochaine!!

La Fete du Citron

2009-03-04T11:17:00.005+01:00

Over the weekend, we went to the 76th annual Citrus Festival in Menton, France. This city of around 28,000, is located on the French Riviera, right on the Franco-Italian border. The gardens of Menton are known throughout Europe and in 1929 , when it was the leading supplier of lemons in Europe, this festival began.

Lasting for two weeks, people visit the Jardins Biovès daily to view the iconic visual images from around the world rendered with oranges, lemons and flowers. It is truly a sight to behold! We happened to be here on the last weekend of this extraordinary, unique festival. You might have read about Menton one of my recent entries when we were just passing through. On that trip there was hardly a person around....this time it was packed! What a difference some citrus fruits can make!!!

Singing in the rain??

Despite the inclement weather, we still enjoyed our visit and left with visions of oranges and lemons dancing in our heads. A la prochiane!

Petit Sejour a Ventimiglia et San Remo, Italie

2009-03-03T12:38:00.000+01:00

This weekend, Nick, Sarah and I went to Ventimiglia, Italy. We arrived on Saturday morning at our hotel, Sole Mare, where we met up with Gary, Fiona and Ellie Katzler who'd arrived the night before. The 6 of us squeezed into our Peugeot for the 18km drive east to San Remo. It was market day in San Remo and we were headed there to check out their big Italian market. We didn't realize how big a city San Remo is until we were actually driving through it. With a population nearing 60,000, this was no sleeping, coastal Italian village! There was quite a bit of traffic on the main road and we kept stopping along the way to ask pedestrians directions to the market. Finally, Nick spoke to a friendly, Italian gentleman who basically said "You're close, just park the car and walk up the hill, you'll find it". So we followed his advice and sure enough, his theory was right on. Here are some shots walking through the town to the market...

We've decided every town in Europe has a mime...

At this time of year, it's mimosa time all along the Mediterranean Coast. By the highways, in the hills and in the towns the willowy trees are in full bloom painting everything a brilliant yellow. The flower markets are full of boughs of the yellow flowers as well as many other spring flowers...

The cyclamen and primroses were gorgeous...

As it turned out, we weren't all that impressed with the San Remo market. Having quite a nice one in Aix may have spoiled us, but we felt the quality of most of the wares being offered for sale was low and the presence of many North African men selling fake designer handbags, watches and sunglasses was also a real turn off.

Not being much of a shopper anyway, it wasn't long before Nick was wondering if it was time for lunch...

He got no resistance from our crew and we walked back through the town to the waterfront and found a nice outdoor cafe, Lella's Place, where we enjoyed a yummy, relaxing lunch. Nothing like parma ham wrapped around melon, gnocchi with pesto, spaghetti alla fruite de mare, fried calamari, grilled gambas, insalata mixte and a pichet de rose to cheer up a group!

After lunch, we went for a stroll on the jetty alongside the harbor. Sarah and Ellie really enjoyed climbing on the rocks...

Back in Ventimiglia, we all took a little siesta before going out for a walk. Our cheap and cheerful hotel was located right on the beach...

A five minute walk brought us to the bridge that crosses over the Roia River to the main part of town...

We had dinner at a wonderful, family-owned and run restaurant, La Vecchia Napoli, located right at the bridge. The Katlers had eaten there the night before and liked the food and the atmosphere so much they wanted to repeat the experience with us. We were not disappointed! The owner, Senor Frederico, was the most animated, jovial restaurant owner we've ever experienced. He clearly loved everything about his job; especially mingling with the customers!

Tomorrow's destination is La Fete du Citron in Menton, France en route to visit some friends in Nice. Arrivederci!!

More info:
Hotel Sole Mare, http://www.hotelsolemare.it/
La Vecchia Napoli, Vico Passerella, 2 Ang. Via Trossarelli, 18039 Ventimiglia, Italy 0184/352471

Egypt-Day 7-Egyptian Museum, Old Cairo and the Souks

2009-02-20T16:26:00.015+01:00

Today, our group left for an all day adventure in Cairo. The day’s itinerary included an extensive visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, lunch at a restaurant on the Nile, a visit to a bijouterie, the souks, Old Cairo, the Citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque.

Our first stop, the museum, was a real highlight of the day. This museum was opened in 1902 and as you might imagine, it is home to the most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world-120,000 items to be exact! The building shows its age but wears it well. A new museum is being built near Giza thereby combining the two attractions in the same geographic area. Our guide, Mimi, intentionally had us arrive at the museum well before it opened so we could get tickets be first in line to enter. She gave us explicit instructions upon entry to follow her at running speed through the museum up to the second floor to the popular Tutankhamen exhibit.

Imagine 25 adults and children running through an empty museum passing by statues and tombs….it was like a scene from a movie! Once at the Tutankhamen exhibit, we had the place to ourselves, which was Mimi's intent. Normally, crowds of people, crammed together like sardines, wait to just get in to see the incredible treasures of the famous Pharaoh but being the first to arrive we had plenty of elbow room and could look at all his amazing treasures leisurely. No cameras are allowed into the museum so we had to commit what we saw to memory. The exhibit contains a total of 2,099 objects from the Pharaoh’s tomb so that was quite a bit to absorb!!

Mimi was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of behind the scenes information about the Tutankhamen as well as other exhibits in the museum. We would have loved to have spent days there, but it was time for lunch and we were hungry! We were taken to a big restaurant beside the Nile for a leisurely lunch with our group. The kids had their own table…

After lunch, we made an obligatory stop at a bijouterie. Apparently, all these tours do the same drill. Some people aren’t comfortable buying things on their own at the souks and look forward to having the opportunity to shop without pressure somewhere with fixed prices like the bijouterie. We just thought it was another way they try to make money off the tourists. We preferred to wait until later to do our shopping at the souks. Now, we're off to Old Cairo.

Driving through the streets, fresh baked bread carts, like the one this boy is tending, were common...

Our visit to Old Cairo was fascinating. This old part of the city contains remains of an ancient fortress. Our first stop was to visit the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga). This 4th century church is considered to be the oldest of Cairo's Christian churches. It is dedicated to two early martyrs and traditionally believed to have been built on the spot where the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and the infant Christ, rested at the end of their journey into Egypt. Inside the church, we looked down the shaft of a staircase which lead to the spot where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are believed to have stayed. They may have lived here while Joseph worked at the fortress.

Before Egypt became an Islamic state, it was a mostly Christian country with an ancient Christian heritage. Not only was it was a land where Jesus and his family were known to have traveled, but also where early Apostles came to spread his word, particularly at first in Alexandria. Today, Christians make up only about 10-15% of the population. We visited another important Coptic church, Al Moallaqa. This church dates back to the 4th century and is supported by two towers in the Roman fortress. Because of this, it is also known as the “Hanging Church”.

Our guide also took us to one of the first synagogues in Cairo which was located right near the Coptic church. It was built in the year 882 on the remains of the basilica of a Coptic church that had been sold to Jews. It became known as the Synagogue of Elijah the Prophet and also as the Ben Ezra Synagogue.

We then drove to another part of the city, up on a hill, to the Citadel and Mohammed Ali Mosque.

During the 12th century, walls were built around the old Islamic cities of Cairo and around the Citadel. This complex stands on a hill commanding views of practically the whole of Cairo. Stone from the Giza pyramids was used to build the Citadel’s fortifications...

The best known monument in the Citadel is the 19th c. alabaster-lined Mohammed Ali Mosque...

The design of the mosque imitates that of the Ottoman mosques in Istanbul, with a large, square ground plan, central dome, four half-domes and two tall minarets. It was impressive!

This is the only mosque in Cairo which allows entry to non muslims. We removed our shoes upon entering the complex and were permitted to wander around the interior with our guide...

The view of Cairo from the mosque would have been more spectacular without the pollution...

It was dark by the time we arrived at the souks, which were filled with people and quite lively! For those not familiar with the term, a souk is the term used to designate a commercial quarter or the market in general in any Arabized or Muslim city. this was just one of several in Cairo...

Nick, Nicholas and I spent nearly an hour in this tourist shop(we had to wait for a bus) which funny enough was called Golden Gate Bazaar! This father and his three sons own and operate this and a few other tourist shops. The two sons were tending the store while we were there and they were most happy to speak with us about their lives in Cairo, in Egypt in general, their thoughts on the government, living conditions, education, employment, etc. They didn't have much nice to say about any of it and both young men hope to leave Egypt for 'greener pastures' asap. In the meantime, they've got winning smiles to help them sell their wares.

When we returned to the hotel, there was a bit of time to relax and go to the spa before dinner. We had a lovely, Indian-inspired meal with our friends and then were entertained by a large, Egyptian wedding reception taking place in the hotel. They made a lot of happy noise!!!

Tomorrow’s itinerary….. back to France! This trip will never be forgotten!!

Egypt-Day 6: Giza, the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx

2009-02-18T10:37:00.010+01:00

What a difference a day makes! Poor Sarah got the "tourista" bug during the night so she and I stayed at the hotel today. Nick, Nicholas and Lindsey went off with our group to tour Giza; the sight of the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx.

GIZA:

Giza is the name given to the gigagntis burial grounds of ancient Letopolis(now Cairo). They cover an area of 2,000 sq meters on a plateau. This is the only seven wonder of the ancient times that remains today; they have existed here for more than 4500 years! The Sphin and the three Great Pyramids are all that remain today. The three funerary complexes, from biggest to smallest are Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus. Each complex had a mortuary temple, a causeway and a valley temple. They are situated on this desert plateau in such a way that none ever hide the sun from the others. At almost 150 meters high, The Great Pyramid of Cheops, also known as Kheops or Khufu, is the oldest and the biggest pyramid in Gizah. The accepted theory is that pyramids were built to be the tomb of the pharaohs, but the actual purpose of these pyramids is still not clear. Cheops. More than two and a half million stone blocks were necessary to complete it. Chephren’s Pyramid, 136 meters high, is somewhat smaller than Cheops but may appeaer larger as it’s on higher ground. The Great Sphinx, 26 meters tall, lies in line with this pyramid. Sphinx’s were mythical creatures with human face and body of a lion. They were placed near temples, thought to be guarded by lions. The Shpinx’s face is a portrait of Chephren himself so really he is guarding his own temple. Mycerinus’ Pyramid, 62 meters high, is smaller than that of his uncle, Chephren.

Camel drivers in front of Cheops...

Nicholas and Lindsey having some fun with the pyramids...

The Great Sphinx...

From Giza, the group went to tour a papyrus factory. Papyrus, a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt. In addition to paper, ancient Egyptians used this plant to make boats, mattresses and mats. Today there are vendors everywhere selling papyrus but most are selling fakes. Being at the factory gave us an opportunity to see how it is made and buy the real thing!

Back at the hotel, Sarah was feeling a bit better so that afternoon Lindsey stayed with her and Nick, Nicholas and I went back to Giza for the evening "Sound and Light" show. The elaborate show is "narated" by the Sphinx himself. During the show, it is his booming voice telling of the history of the great pyramids. Nick found this comment by 'him' particularly moving;

“Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon paused at my feet. I saw the ambitious dreams of conquerors whirling like dead leaves. Tomorrow once more the rising sun will give his first caress and thousands of other suns shall rise again, and man’s oldest achievement will remain the highest, the purest. The Nile be praised, for it is the Father of all our harvest, knowledge, our architecture and all our strength.”

Tomorrow we are going to the Egyptian Museum, tour Old Cairo and visit the souks.

Egypt-Day 5/Christmas Day- Abu Simbel and Arrival Cairo

2009-02-16T14:51:00.005+01:00

This Christmas morning reminded us of past Christmas mornings from our youth because we had to wake up while it was still dark outside! Our bags were packed the night before so we just had to drag ourselves out of bed to get a cup of coffee, a box petite dejeuner for the ride and get on the bus. For safety reasons, we were transported by military convoy south near the Sudanese boarder through the desert to Abu Simbel. There, we would view the monumental temple complex beside Lake Nasser and then fly to Cairo.

ABU SIMBEL: This temple complex was dug on the Western mountain range in 1290-1224 BC and was dedicated to the triad gods Amon-Ra, Ptah and Ra-Harakhte, by Ramses II. The Temple of Re-Harakhte, also called the Great Temple of Ramses II, is one of the most impressive temples in Egypt and in the world. Next to this temple there is the so-called Small Temple of Abu Simbel: the Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Hathor (the wife of the Sun God) and to Ramses II 's favorite wife: Queen Nefertari. These two temples would have disappeared for ever under the waters of the Nasser Lake if the UNESCO had not acted. Impressive that they were moved.
The temples in Abu Simbel were discovered by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813. Travelers to this area since Victorian times passed them by as they were completely covered in sand. The Sun Temple of Ramesses II is one of the most impressive temples in Egypt.
Ramses II, son of king Sethi I, reigned 67 years (1290-1224 BC). He was famous for the number of wives and children he had; more than 6 wives, and more than 100 children. You may think he didn't have time for anything else. This is not the case; he was a military strategist and a builder. Some of the monuments constructed during his reign are: the temples of Karnak (Luxor), The Ramesseum (on the West Bank near Luxor) and the monumental temples of Abu Simbel. He also commanded his troops in many glorious battles.

The seated statues are over 20 meters(65ft) high!

After our morning visit, we boarded a chartered flight at the nearby airport and flew to Cairo. From the airport, we made a stop for lunch along the way. What an eye opener our trip from the airport was!! Cairo lived up to it's reputation as being both very polluted and very poor. Even the ride was a bit hair raising...

The restaurant was mostly outdoors with a buffet of typical Egyptian food as well as "food for the masses"-grilled chicken, baked fish, humus, salads of carrots, chick peas, beets, warm pasta dishes and rice. There was a woman baking pita bread in an outdoor oven who made a shrill noise like a wounded peacock!! We were SURE it was a bird until we saw make the noise with her mouth.

The grilled chicken was some of the best we'd ever eaten. Nick would like to have a grill just like theirs...

When we finally got to the 5 star JW Marriott we truly felt like it was Christmas Day!! We entered the hotel and saw everything festively decorated much like we would have found it if we'd been at a hotel in the States.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, JOYEUX NOEL!!

We got to our lovely rooms...

and almost immediately went to enjoy the comforts of the hotel's spa...

Later that night, we had a fabulous Christmas dinner in the hotel with our friends, the Pellegrino's and the Le France's. The theme of the entire meal was the sea....we began with all the sushi you could eat and then could choose from too many other types of fish and seafood to even begin to describe! The deserts were amazing too, especially the Häagen-Dazs ice cream sundaes!

Tomorrow we're off to see the Great Pyramids!!

Egypt-Day 4:Adventure on the Nile, Aswan, Philea and Christmas Eve

2009-02-15T18:20:00.000+01:00

Today, Christmas Eve day, we left our big cruise ship and boarded smaller boats for an outing on the Nile. Sarah wrote this blog entry about our day's adventure on the Nile...

"This Christmas vacation we traveled over the Mediterranean Sea to Egypt! It was a fantastic, eye-opening and educational vacation. We were there for a week but I am going to tell you about my favorite day! Today, we woke up very early (like every other day) and hopped on to a small boat and went to a Nubian village.

We went on these small boats...

Our guide, Robert, helped everyone get board the boats...

Lindsey and I found some comfortable seats...

While we were going down the river, the crew taught us some Egyptian songs...

It was a lot of fun sitting up on top of the boat...

Mom and Dad enjoyed the boat ride...

A little while later, we arrived at the Nubian village...

The chief of the village owned about 8 homes and had given one to each of his daughters(Mom thinks they were his wives). We got to visit one of the homes where a couple of women lived with their young and beautiful children...

We got to experience many different things such as looking at real crocodiles, which were sadly cooped up in a small stucco area placed in the middle of the room. Everyone was anxious to see them and I was very happy to see that they were only about 3 feet long and not 12!

The women were also selling beautiful handmade bracelets made of wooden beads which we treated ourselves to and then I (Sarah) went to get a Henna tattoo. I got one of the Egyptian Eye. I loved it!

Nicholas and Lindsey tried smoking huka...

After visiting the Nubian house, we wandered around the village...

Lindsey stopped to say hello to this camel...

Afterwards, we got back on the boat and went to ride a camel, which I KNOW I will never do again! To go along with it, my sister, Lindsey, and I both got on a camel together and had a mute man who was leading the camel and did not even speak Arabic! That was when he showed his true side of being meant to be a mime! Our camel was very charming…except for his breath, but he always had to be at the front of the line galloping……….truly not my thing!

Here we are heading off into the desert. I am clinging to Lindsey for dear life!

Dad's camel wasn't too sure he wanted Dad to get on his back. Dad doesn't look too sure he wants to be on the camel's back either!

Here we are out in the middle of a desert riding camels and this guy is on his cell phone!!!

Mom took this shot while she was on a camel so it's a bit out of focus, but you can see I'm not thrilled with this experience...

Here we come back from our ride. Nicholas had to ride with another boy from our group...

After riding the camels, we got into different boats called feluccasand went sailing on the Nile. It was really fun, especially for Dad...

Our Egyptian captain...

Even I, who sometimes don't like sailing, had fun!

Next they took us in the small motor boats to visit the first Aswan Dam, built in 1902 with the help of the British...

We later visited a beautiful botanical garden filled with flowers, plants and trees from all Egyptian soil and country.

A view of the river from the gardens...

This was my favorite day in Egypt because I got to experience things instead of looking at them." by Sarah

The rest of our day(continued by Susie)...

On our way back to the cruise ship, we passed the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan, distinguished Imam of the Ismaeli Muslims who chose this spot as his place of eternal rest due to the air of peacefulness it emanates...

After lunch aboard the ship , we went off for the afternoon by bus to visit the new Aswan Dam and the Temple of Philae...

ASWAN DAM: Built in 1960, the dam was a collaborative effort between the Soviets and the Egyptians. It took ten years to build and formed the biggest artificial lake in the world; Lake Nasser. A few more facts about the dam; 35,000 workers were necessary to complete it, it is 3,830 meters long, 111 meters high, 970 meters wide at it's base and 40 meters wide at the top. Lake Nasser is more than 500 miles long, and provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt.

The temples on the Island of Philae started to become flooded after the construction of the first Aswan Dam in 1902. Between the years of 1972-1980 UNESCO mounted a gigantic rescue operation to move these temples to higher ground. We took small boats out to the island of Agilkia to visit the temples.

PHILAE
Built during the final Egyptian dynasties and in Graeco-Roman times, the Temple of Isis is the most important temple on the island. Isis is the wife of Osiris, god of the underworld, and mother of Horus. The cult of the goddess Isis was transferred here to be near the Island of Biga where the Ancient Egyptians believed the body of Osiris to be buried.

Being out in the Egyptian desert, under sunny, warm skies it was hard for us to remember that it was Christmas Eve! Of course, we were much closer to Jesus' birth place and in a climate like that of the first Christmas than ever before in our lives. The French celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th and the crew of the ship made a big celebration for everyone. there was a entertainment before dinner, an AMAZING display of culinary magic for all to see followed by a delicious, four course meal with champagne for all!!

Tomorrow we leave the ship to visit Abu Simbel and then fly to Cairo for the second half of our vacation. See you!

Egypt-Day 3:Edfu and Kom Ombo

2009-02-12T08:10:00.014+01:00

On our second morning, when the staff knocked on our cabin doors to wake us up for breakfast, we all felt much more rested. One hour later, on dry land, we did not find a bus waiting to take us on the day’s excursion in Edfu, but lots of horse and buggies lined up at the pier.

The five of us got in our assigned buggy and our nice driver let Nicholas take the reigns. We were off to the Temple of Horus!

EDFU
Edfu lies on the west bank of the Nile and here you can visit the best preserved cult temple in Egypt: the temple of Horus. This temple dedicated to the god, Horus, who was the son of Isis and Osiris. Egyptians represented him as a falcon or as a man with a falcon’s head wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt on his head. The temple was begun in 237 BC by Ptolemy III, on the sight of a sanctuary during the reign of Tutmosis III, and was finished in 57 BC by Ptolemy X III, the father of Cleopatra. The Greeks called this temple Apollinopolis Magna, but that’s a whole other story!

Upon arrival,the visitor is at first struck by the 118 feet (36 m) high pylons with typical scenes of the pharaoh in battle with his enemies. The entrance is flanked by a monumental, black granite falcon representing Horus.

See the falcon statue to the left of the entrance? Looks small in the photo but as you can see from above, it was huge...

Through the grand entrance, you enter the hypostyle hall...

There were numerous groups of Egyptians, school children and tourists alike...

On the walls, there are numerous reliefs; in one of them the annual reunion between Horus and his wife, Hathor, is depicted. Hathor’s name means “house of Horus” and one of her titles was ‘the mistress of the sky’. She is always represented with two horns holding the moon on her head. Later, she was identified by the Greeks with the goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite and Venus.

Beyond the great hypostyle hall there is another hypostyle hall followed by a succession of smaller, darker chambers which lead into a sanctuary. The walls are decorated with religious and mythological themes. The reliefs depict mysterious rites, magical formulae and ceremonies from which the ordinary people were excluded. Sadly, only the pharaohs and nobles would have been allowed past the hypostyle halls to see these beautiful works.

The buggies waited for us while we visited the temple but when it came to finding our assigned carriage it was nearly impossible! Each looked just like the others! Of course, the vendors and buggy drivers offered to help you find your carriage number...for a price! They all want money for everything so we got to practice saying "La shukran" ,"No thanks", a lot there. We decided to find our buggy ourselves but it took quite a while.

On the way back to the ship we had a race with the other buggies! Quite exciting, and a bit scary going through the town with traffic of buggies and cars. Not to mention, Nick was holding the reigns!

On board the ship, we had a big surprise waiting for us when we got to our rooms!!
The stewards on Beau Rivage had taken our clothes and clean towels and made these crazy 'people' to greet us when we entered our rooms! So clever and what a surprise!

While we ate another delicious lunch, the boat moved down the river to our next destination; Kom Ombo. At our assigned table in the restaurant, we were making friends with our table mates, a French family from Nice, Daniel and Martine Pellegrino and their two lovely daughters, Sandrine(25) and Ornella(15). Over lunch, they explained that there would be an Egyptian costume party that night. We all discussed what to wear and after lunch went off to the ship’s store, as well as to the vendors along the pier, to buy costumes for the event. Just wait until you see what we all ended up wearing!

Mimi took us to visit the Temple of Kom Ombo in the late afternoon so we could be there into the evening when it would be illuminated. It was beautiful but quite chilly once the sun went down

KOM OMBO
Kom Ombo, the "city of gold", is located 41 miles south of Edfu. The feature attraction here is the Temple of Kom Ombo. This temple is similar in layout to that of Edfu but not as well preserved. It consists of two mirror temples. The left temple is dedicated to Haroeris (a falcon headed god, a form of Horus)) and the right one to Sobek (a crocodile headed god). South of the double temple, there is the Hathor temple, dedicated to this Roman goddess. There you can visit a collection of mummified crocodiles. They were creepy and also pathetic.

Here is a relief of Sobek. Can you make out the crocodile face on the left?

Two of the most interesting things I saw at the temple were first, in one of the small chambers there were reliefs covering all the walls and ceiling. They got bigger and bigger as they went up toward the ceiling. Mimi explained that this was the room where all the medical formulas and representations of medical instruments were kept. It was fascinating!

The second interesting thing was a Nilometer located next to the temple. A Nilometer is like a huge well that is used to measure the height of the Nile River and therefore to predict harvests. The people were taxed more in years when the water lever was high (and harvests would be plentiful) and less in years when the level was low. The harvests varied significantly based on the amount of flooding each season.

True darkness arrived and we were all frozen. Time to go...

We raced back to the warmth of the bus which delivered us to the boat where everyone was busily primping for the evening's festivities. There were special drinks and hors d’oeurves along with entertainment in the bar before dinner. Then we enjoyed an amazing multi-course, Egyptian feast the chefs prepared and there was dancing to follow.

Here we are at our table with the Pellegrino family...

Sarah and Ornella...

Daniel, Sandrine and Nicholas...

For our whole family it was truly a memorable evening!

Don't go far....tomorrow we're off on a real boating adventure on the Nile!

Egypt-Day 1 & 2:Arrival and Luxor

2009-02-11T08:00:00.028+01:00

Nearly two months have passed since our Christmas trip to Egypt. It’s about time I got down to the task of writing about it! In a word, the trip was FABULOUS! My stumbling block with writing about it has been that there is so much information I know it will be like writing a major university term paper and while I am completely captivated by the subject, I guess I'm just out of practice and also probably needed a deadline! Thanks to Lindsey, who wrote out details of our itinerary on each of the eight days, I have a pretty good outline to get me started. The basics of our trip were as follows: December 21: Arrive Luxor, board cruise ship and spend 4 nights cruising the Nile River and visiting cities, ruins and temples along the way. Ports of Call were: Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswan and Abu Simbel. On December 25, we were flown from Abu Simbel to Cairo for the second half of the trip staying in a fabulous 5 star hotel and visiting the great Pyramids, Museum of Antiquities, mosques and souks through the 28th. In the blog, I'll include information which we gathered before, during and after the trip. Feel free to skip the history lessons if you aren't interested. We became more and more interested in all things Egyptian the more we learned and this whole blog entry will serve as a memory jogger for us in the future. As far as photos go, we had 4 cameras between the 5 of us so our adventure was well documented!

Now to begin.....

We celebrated Christmas on Sunday, December 21, our departure day. Like all the Christmas mornings of my entire life, we began the day with our traditional breakfast of Grammie’s scrumptious, apricot rolls (flown in with Nicholas two days before), grapefruit, orange juice and lattes. Our tradition continued as we retired to our living room to open stockings and presents. Very small bounty this year as our Christmas gift was going to Egypt! The afternoon was spent doing last minute packing and tying up loose and year-end things. We finished our early Christmas celebration with a delicious lunch of poulet roti, tomato tart, salad of pear, Roquefort, endive, lettuce and walnuts and fresh baguettes. Not our traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pudding Christmas lunch but delicious and memorable just the same.

In the early evening we went to the airport, joined some of our French tour group from the company, Marmara. We had a bit of a wait and here's how our kids passed the time until our flight left for Luxor around 9pm...

We arrived in Luxor at 2am and boy, were we sleepy! We had to wait at the deserted airport on the chartered buses for the rest of our group who were delayed from Paris. With the exception of a few military personal and our tour group representatives, not a creature was stirring...

After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived and we went to board the ship. Our ship, the 74 cabin, Beau Rivage, was docked with several other similar ones along the Nile at Luxor.

Our ship, the Beau Rivage...

Perhaps it was due to sleep deprivation and being disoriented, but we really couldn't believe we were actually on the Nile River!

All we really wanted to do when we got onto the ship was crash in our cabins but we were told our first excursion began at 6 am….that was in 2 hours! Nonetheless, at 6am, bleary-eyed but full of excitement and anticipation, we met for breakfast and then at 7 set off for day 1 of our Egyptian adventure; the sights in and around Luxor.

LUXOR
From Sarah- "Luxor is located in Upper Egypt, in the province of Qena. It was the capital of Ancient Egypt. The early Arab travelers admired Luxor for its monuments and ruins scattered around the city. “Luxor” means “the palaces.”

From Susie- “Luxor is one of the most interesting destinations in Egypt. Former named, Thebes, some of the biggest and best preserved temples of the ancient times can be visited here. The city was already a tourist destination 2000 years ago when first the Greeks and later the Romans visited the many monuments in the area. Since then, visitors have admired the ruins of the pharaohs. Currently the city has 350,000 inhabitants, most of them work in the tourist industry. Although people from Luxor are very nice and friendly, most visitors only meet the locals used to dealing with tourists. One of the most important phrases we learned to say was “no thanks” in Arabic, "la shukran" as the vendors follow you everywhere.

When we boarded the bus, our Mamara guide, Robert, introduced us to Mimi, who would be our official Egyptian, historical guide for the trip. Mimi was not only knowledgeable, she was a joy! A native of Alexandria, Egypt, she was kind, patient, full of and energy and had a contagious passion for her country and it's rich, vast heritage. You'll find her, third from left, happily squeezed into a group including Lindsey, Nicholas, Sarah and many of our new French travel mates...

The first stop we made with Mimi was to see the great seated statues, known as the Colossi of Memnon, which had guarded the entrance to the now destroyed, Temple of Amenophos III. Built 3000 years ago, the Temple is believed to have fallen in the earthquake of 27B.C. The statues themselves are 18m high(think of a modern six story building!). Looking at the statues, one can only imagine what the temple would have looked like!

From there we drove to the famous Valleys of the Kings and Queens. In stark contrast to the desert landscape , the land all around this area was fertile and verdant green thanks to the waters of the Nile...

VALLEY OF THE KINGS AND QUEENS
(From Susie and Sarah)The Valley of Kings was the royal cemetery for 62 pharaohs from the 18th to the 20th dynasty. The Valley of the Queens hosted the royal wives and their family members. Both are is located on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor. This area was very protected by sentries, which were placed at the entrance of the Valley and along the top in case of tomb robbers. Rulers rejected the traditional system of burial in a pyramid as it was too easy to find and rob. They chose instead to hide their tombs in the stony hills of this valley. The tombs here can be as simple as a pit or a tomb with over 121 chambers and corridors. Despite their best efforts at protection, nearly all these tombs were robbed, probably by the very workers who built them or guards or even family descendants. Only the Tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered by British archaeologist, Howard Carter, in 1922, was found almost intact. The incredible treasures removed from this tomb are housed in the Cairo Museum which we visited later in the week.

We stopped first at the Valley of the Queens, we learned that most of the tombs are either not open to the public or are in poor condition, except for that of the tomb of Nefertari, favorite wife of Ramses III.

Walking up into the valley with our group. We followed Mimi's umbrella everywhere it went....

The small openings to several tombs...

Nick took an interdit photo of one of the interior walls of a tomb. Note the amazing color even despite the poor quality of the photo and the fact that it was painted about 4000 years ago!

We drove to the Valley of the Kings, located 1.5km south of the Valley of the Queens, where we visited the tombs of several Pharaohs.

The magnificent treasures which were to have accompanied each Pharaoh to the Netherworld have either been carried of by robbers or placed in museums but one can still admire the beautiful reliefs which completely covered the walls and ceilings of the tombs. Most of these depict scenes of the Paraoh in the afterlife as well as texts from ancient sacred books. We were fascinated by the drawings and the brilliant colors. The size of a Pharaohs tomb and extent of detail on the walls had much more to do with how long he lived after he began his reign and not with his popularity, wealth or heritage. Construction of each tomb began when the Pharaoh commenced his reign. If he lived for a long time afterward, his tomb would have many funerary chambers and much detail on all the walls and ceilings.

Archaeologists are certain there are more undiscovered tombs and buried ruins all over Egypt in this valley in particular. Ongoing excavation here continues to discover new tombs as these next few photos show...

We felt like history was unfolding before out eyes and imagined this open pit could be some important new discovery!

Everywhere we went in Egypt, there were military personnel posted singularly like this man. Always carrying automatic weapons, they also sometimes carried a smile...

Our next visit was to the Karnak Temple located just a few miles from Luxor on the east bank of the Nile. It is interesting to note that the east and west banks separate the living and the dead. All the houses, palaces and temples devoted to local deities were built on the east bank where the sun rose and everything that had to do with the dead, from mummification workshops to necropolis with underground tombs of kings, queens and nobles were built in the stony hills of the valleys between the Nile and the desert...

KARNAK
The largest temple complex in Egypt, Karnak is considered to be one of the most representative exponents of Ancient Egypt dating back to the Gerzean period (c. 3400–c. 3100 BC). It should be called the temples of Karnak, because in the area there several temples. The three main ones are: the temple of Mut, the temple of Monthu and the temple of Amun (the three of them are enclosed by high walls). Outside the walls there is the open air museum and the sacred lake. Admire the statue of Ramses II, you can see part of the second pylon, built during Ramses II reign. Also the entrance to the hypostyle hall. The hall is the most astonishing part of the temple (and one of the most beautiful ruins in Egypt). This part of the temple, that occupies the space between the 3rd and 2nd pylons, was commissioned by Ramses I (1292–90). Twelve enormous columns, nearly 24 meters (80 feet) high, supported the 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet) ceiling of the hall. Light entered through holes on the roof (no longer there) and illuminated the huge room. Seven lateral aisles on either side brought the number of pillars to 134. The hall was completed during the reigns of Seti I (1290–79) and Ramses II (1279–13).

Here we see Nick standing before the avenue of sphinxes. Behind the sphinxes two huge pylons(from the Greek word pylos, door).

The Egyptian man standing in the lower corner of this photo gives an idea of the size of the sphinxes...

Thousands of years ago, this avenue of sphinxes connected the temples of Luxor and was 3 km long! A mere 100 meters is all that remains today...

Nicholas, Lindsey and Sarah inside the pylons in the interior courtyard...

Through this entrance you enter the hypostyle hall....

The hall contains 134 gigantic columns, the twelve in the center 23 metres high with papyriform capitals 15 metres in diameter. These columns supported a 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet) ceiling of the hall!!! Can you imagine!?!

Statue of Ramses II...

Standing in front of Ramses II statue...

We were glad to see that this place was not 'just for tourists'...

Moving out through the hall, we came to the oldest part of the temple, where the tallest obelisk in Egypt stands. This obelisk was built at the command of Queen Hatshepsut.

Viewing Karnak from the Temple of Mut...

After our visit to Karnak, we returned to the boat for lunch and a relaxing afternoon cruising down the Nile. After lunch, we went up on deck to enjoy the afternoon sunshine...

We saw a small felucca sailing toward a village with a towering white minaret...

Not all the banks of the Nile were fertile and green...

Two of our three were wiped out....

and the third was....studying!!

The rest of the day was spent reading, napping and relaxing. After dinner that night, there was a disco on board but all of us went to bed so we'd be ready for our 6 am wake up call the next morning. A demain!

Skiing aux Trois Vallees

2009-02-07T13:53:00.015+01:00

Sarah went on a school ski trip last week and Nick and I were invited by our friends, Fiona and Gary, to go on a ski trip of our own. We went to Les Trois Vallees located east of Grenoble in the Massif Vanoise. This area is comprised of the ski resorts of Courchevel, Meribel, Les Menuires, St Martin de Bellevilleand Val Thorens. With over 600km of terrain, it the largest skiable domaine in the world!

We drove up to the mountains together from Aix passing through the lovely Isere River Valley en route. Just seeing the snow got us excited about the skiing that lay ahead...

After a four hour drive we arrived at the Alp Hotel in the small village of St. Martin. This authentic Savoyard village is situated at 1,450m in the middle of the valley. It had everything we needed for a perfect stay in Les 3 Vallees without all the frill you might find(and pay dearly for) in next door Courchevel and Meribel. It was a charming village, with Baroque church, St. Laurent de la Cote, and just the right amount of shops and restaurants to offer diversity but not feel touristy. Our hotel was right on the slopes at the base of the St. Martin station.

Our first night there, we ate in the hotel's dining room and despite the regional delicacy of a duck salad which included the duck gizzard, we had a delicious four course meal!

We were all up bright and early for our first day on the slopes. Fiona and Gary had skied Les Trois Vallees many times before and knew the mountains wellso Nick and I were treated to never having to look at a trail map and basically having them as our private guides for three days of fabulous relaxing skiing. Without too much more commentary, here's a look at our mountain adventure...

First day, first tram...

First run, happy skiers...

Fabulous views in every direction!!!

With Gary and Fiona as our 'fun to be with' and very affordable personal guides, we saw most of the entire area of Les 3 Vallees during our stay. Their son, Jack, working at the resort as part of his gap year, skied(and ate) with us on several of days. He was value added for knowledge of the mountain and for entertaining us with stories of life as a teenager in Courchevel!

One of the great events of the ski day in Europe is lunch...or is it the vin chaud mid-morning break, not sure?! Everyday, we stopped around 1 o'clock for a proper lunch at any one of a number of adorable, sometimes fashionable chalet-type slopeside restaurants. Depending on the meteo we ate indoors or sat outside soaking up the sun...

No matter what you order; a tartiflette, spaghetti bolongese, savoyard omelet, salade with chevre chaud it's a great way to warm up, rest your weary feet and people watch. With hearty food like this and a glass of local red wine, you're fortified for a full afternoon of skiing.

One afternoon after skiing we wandered into the village of St Martin de Belleville...

We had an after dinner drink by the fire here one night but left when they asked us if we'd like to participate in Karaoke Night! Pour quoi pas?!

All in all, fab ski trip...can't wait to come back someday and do it all over again! A la prochaine!

More information:
Les Trois Vallees: http://www.les3vallees.com/ski/ski-resort-france.html
Alp Hotel, Les Grangeraies, St. Martin de Belleville, www.alphotel.fr +33 (0)4.79.08.92.82

Un jour sous la pluie ou Le dejuener en France et le diner en Italie!

2009-02-05T11:29:00.001+01:00

On a recent Friday, Nick and I had plans for a day trip hike with our friends, Hilary and Dom. When we awoke that morning to a downpour, which was forecasted to last all day, we were tempted to postpone for better weather. However, being 4 hardy souls up for an adventure, we merely changed our destination and went off to brave the elements. After all, as Queen Elizabeth is reported to have said, "There's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices". With that in mind we armed ourselves with raincoats and umbrellas and set off!

Our new goal for the day was to go to places we hadn't been before that were easily accessible by major highways (to be safer in the rain). No little windy back roads allowed on this outing! We chose the A8, a straight, lovely-to-drive, autoroute, and east as our direction. First stop, Frejus, where only Dom had been before. We found a sweet, little town, busy even in all the rain, complete with roman ruins incliding an aqueduct and an ancient amphitheatre. We also visited an interesting, DRY and WARM museum of antiquities. As our stomachs announced lunch hour was approaching, we decided to drive another 30 minutes east to Cannes, somewhere no one knew well and I had never been.

After a driving tour of the ville(much more civilized than walking in the rain) we managed to find a restaurant mentioned in our guide book. The "Le Monaco Restaurant" was now the "New Monaco Restaurant" but the meal we had was well worth the 30 minutes wait to get in and completely lived up to the review in the book. Located between the train station and the 'red carpet, film festival' center, this cozy spot served an excellent, very well priced meal. it appeared to be a popular spot with the locals and we were clearly the only "out of towners". The fact that we were able to converse with everyone in french helped us fit in right away. After our 'entrees' and a glass of wine, Hilary raised her glass and said "I've got an idea! Let's go to Italy for the night!!". After an initial bout of laughter, we all sort of looked at each other and Nick said "I'd consider that!" Having nothing in the way of overnight bags, Hil and I decided that if we could at least find some tacky "I Love Italy" t-shirts and a toothbrush, we were in. The rest of lunch was spent pondering the next chapter of our adventure.

Back on the road again, we kept driving east passing by Nice and Monte Carlo and just before the Italian border we took the last exit to go to Menton. Every time we've driven to Italy we always comment on this picturesque town as we drive past it, but we'd never taken the time to get off the autoroute and go visit. Today was that day and we were so glad we did. Only minutes after we arrived at the waterfront, the sun came out and a beautiful arc en ciel(rainbow) touched down on the blue water toward Italy. We walked along the quay and admired (and dissed) the yachts tied up there. After enjoying the sunshine and the view, it was back on the road again....next stop; Italy!

Ventimiglia is the first town you come to after crossing the border. The rain had found us again but we wandered the town, dodging puddles and searching the shops for those tacky t-shirts but instead found bottles of Limoncello, Prosecco, unique. specialty pastas and huge jars of pesto. All we needed then was a kitchen and we could have made our own dinner in Italy! Although the overnight idea began to fade, we still wanted to introduce Hil and Dom to a special little town we'd discovered on a prior trip to this area.

Dolceaqua is situated inland from Ventimiglia by about 8km. This medieval town of 2,000 inhabitants can trace it's roots back to the Iron Age! You can visit the ruins of a castle, built in 1151, perched atop a rocky spur at the top of the village. When we arrived it was early evening so there wasn't much daylight left. We explored the hillside village walking up the steep, stone walkways to the ruins. It was wet and very slippery and we wondered what they do when it snows?? It was too dark to take any photos while we were there, but I really want you to get a feel for this wonderful spot so I've used photos from a website listed below.

After making our tour of the medieval village we crossed over a beautiful, single-arched bridge to the "new" part of the town (it was settled in the 15thc!.

Right at the foot of the bridge, we found a quaint pottery shop. Being dark, cold and wet, we were surprised to find it open.

We visited with the owner for a while talking about the town and ogling at the lovely hand made potslining the shelves. As we couldn’t figure out how to get any of the ones we liked back to Duxbury unbroken, we bought an indestructible olive wood bowl and pestle instead. We followed her directions to a suggested restaurant and once there settled in for a nice 'light' supper of salad and pizza and to sample the special local wine, Vini Rossese. We started out sharing two pizzas, but they were so delicious and the crust so thin we ended up ordering a second round!

After dinner, we went outside and looked up at the starry, starry night and our chauffeur said “Let’s go to Aix” so off we went. Nick got us safely home shortly after midnight. Who wouldn’t want to live in this delightful part of the world where you can have lunch in France, dinner in Italy and still be home in your own cozy bed for the night!?!

A la prochaine!

More information:

New Monaco Restaurant, 15, Rue 24 Août 06400 Cannes, France+33 4 93 38 37 7

La Rampa, Via Barberis Colomba, 18035 Dolceaqua 01 84 20 61 98

Dolceaqua:http://www.villageterraneo.org/an/dolceacqua.htm

Sanary-sur-Mer

2009-01-19T07:11:00.010+01:00

Nick, Sarah and I went to Sanary-sur-Mer last Saturday. Although on our list of “places to go” for a year or two, it was our first visit to this quaint, seaside resort. Located less than an hour’s drive southeast of Aix, Sanary is a small town (pop. 18,ooo) sitting right on the Mediterranean Sea. It was first established as a fishing village in the 1600’s. In the harbor, we could still see evidence of a fishing industry and many pleasure boats as well.

Upon doing a little research post trip, I discovered Sanary was a haven for a colorful list of writers and artists, particularly in the 1930’s when, due to the rise of Nazism, a great number of German writers and intellectuals left Germany and settled here, where the cost of living was lower than in Paris. English writers were also attracted to the town and had quite a community up until the declaration of war in 1939 when the French government treated these exiles as enemy aliens and interned them in camps. After liberation, the little village that had been known as "Sanary-les-Allemands" chose to ignore the whole episode until about 20 years ago when the volume of German and Austrian tourists encouraged the unveiling of a small plaque and some signposted tourist itineraries.

Today, Sanary-sur-Mer still looks every bit the fishing village it began as but now has a thriving tourist industry as well. It also appears to be popular with retirees. Along the boardwalk, there are many restaurants, shops and cafes to visit. A bit father on, several lovely but deserted sandy beaches await the summer crowd and in the harbor, there are a wide variety of boats to choose from for those who wish to get out on the water. Nick thought this looked like a nice one to try....

but he could also see himself going out in a boat like this one....

or maybe just stick with one which has the right name...

We stopped at La Marine and had a delicious lunch of moules frites(mussels steamed with white wine and onions served with a plate of fries), salad, baguette and a light rose from nearby Bandol . A cafe noisette(espresso with a tiny bit of milk) and a crisp, Speculos biscuit put the perfect finish on the meal.

When asked how she liked our day in Sanary, Sarah said it was "Much better than I expected". Coming from the mouth of a 13 year old, Nick and I take that as a two thumbs up and we're planning to return in the spring.

A la prochaine!

Vallée de Saint Pons

2009-01-17T16:12:00.000+01:00

On the most recent outing with our hiking group, we went to the Vallée de Saint Pons and hiked to the foot of the "Pic de Bertagne"(in the photo above) which is the highest peak in the "Bouches-du-Rhône(the district we live in in France)!! Only a 45 minute drive southeast of Aix, once off the autoroute we passed through the small town of Gémenos and found our way to the parking area for "Parc de St Pons".

Our route commenced at the magnificent Parc de St Pons, with an old chapel from the 13th c, abbey and mill...

Having just had a huge snow storm of historical proportions the week before, there was lots of water coming down off the mountains. The waterfalls were everywhere and beautiful!

Along the valley floor we went under bridges...

and passed more rushing waterfalls...

We proceeded up(of course that always has to happen!) toward the foot of the Pic de Bertagne. There were gorgeous views all the way to the top!

A bit futher along we got to see a “Glaciere”. This is not an ice cream store or a glacier! A glaciere looks like a Jolly Green Giant-sized well at the top of a mountain. A technique used since the 1600’s, these deep ‘wells’ held enormous quantities of blocks of ice to be used in the summer months. This particular glaciere supplied ice to the Marseille region.

We enjoyed our picnic lunches basking in the warm, winter sun before making the return trip down the mountain.

Neige en Aix!!!

2009-01-08T08:20:00.014+01:00

This corner of Provence became a winter wonderland before our very eyes yesterday. Around 6 am the pretty white flakes began to fall and by 7 accumulation had begun. What ensued is indeed a rarity in this part of the world....one Aixois said this last happened in 1996, another said sometime in the '80's. No matter that exact date, there were many who experienced their first blizzard of a life time yesterday. Today, Aix is snuggly blanketed in white and the city resembles one of her many sister town up north in the Alps. All is silent here-no buses are running, few cars have ventured out and schools are closed. Yes, I have some quiet time to catch up on the blog!!

Sarah's school "recommended" she not attend yesterday so we had nothing to do but go out and enjoy the rare experience! By 9 am, the snow was really starting to accumulate so bundled up and went out. We all agreed, a snowstorm is different in a city than what we're used to in the country. Last night, Sarah said, "I really enjoyed the snow here in Aix today! It was definitely the first time I ever went sledding through a crosswalk or had a snowball fight during a "walk/green" light!" She met up with one of her buddies at La Rotonde where they made a snowman. Then they proceeded to go all over town giggling, sledding and throwing snowballs at people's faces....on billboards that is!

Nick and I walked through town together enjoying the winter scenery. Here we are on the Cours Mirabeau....

The little side alleys were picturesque...

We met up with Hilary to go for a photo walk around the town. We started up on a rooftop apartment where we found the whole town truly blanketed...

Back at ground level, we visited many town landmarks beginning with the Hotel de Ville and it's Plaza...

Next, we made our way toward the Eglise de la Madeline and the Palais de Justice...

Benevolent Roi Rene looked cold but regal as we passed him on the Cours...

A visit to one of my favorites, Les Quatre Dauphins, found the four little dolphins hardly recognizable!

Walking back to our flat, it was clear it would be days before these cars or their owners would be going anywhere! Don't think there is any snow removal equipment in Aix whatsoever, only the hand shovel and the broom! Looks like we're going to be snowed in for a while...or a few days, who knows!?!

A la prochaine!

Nous sommes encore 5!

2008-12-21T09:06:00.004+01:00

Our Nicholas arrived safely at the Marseille International Airport on Friday into anxiously waiting, welcoming, loving arms. It was SO good to see him!

We've spent the weekend enjoying each other and the merriment of the season.

Tonight, we are off on an adventure to Egypt and we wish all our friends and family who read this blog Blessings of the Season, a Merry Christmas and Joy and Peace in the New Year!

Concert a Cathédrale St-Sauveur

2008-12-09T12:12:00.013+01:00

Last weekend, our church had its annual Christmas Carol concert in the beautiful Cathédrale St-Sauveur (Holy Savior Cathedral) in Aix. The cathedral was built in fits and starts from the 5th century to the 15th century and is known for its interesting combination of architectural styles. The site on which it was built has been considered sacred for thousands of years. It first hosted a pre-Roman pagan temple, then a Roman temple, and finally the Christian church that stands today. At the concert, there were about 1200 French, English and other nationalities in attendance. This was our family's third year participating in the concert and this year there were four of us; Nick and I sang in the Carol Choir and I also sang in the newly formed Gospel Choir.

Sarah moved from Children's Choir to Ushering...

and Lindsey was in the audience!

Hilary How Rivera and her assistant, Shane, did a great job of directing all three choirs...

The cathedral looked beautiful and we had some great speakers who told the story of Jesus' birth through scripture...

The last song of the evening is always Silent Night. For this carol, all the lights in the cathedrale are turned out (and it is really dark!). While we sing Silent Night acappela, one single candle is carried from the rear of the church to the alter where all ministers, priests and pastors present congregate to light their candles. They in turn, light the choir's candles and then the light moves throughout the cathedrale until everyone's it lit. These photos hardly do the whole experience justice, but they give you an idea of how magical it is...

One of our church members, Apryl Anderson, put together her photos and made a YouTube video of the performance. If you watch it, the background music "Oh, Happy Day" is sung by our gospel choir and that is our good friend and choir director, Hilary, singing the solo. Maybe if you look very closely you might find a few photos of Nick, Sarah and I.

Concert video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkOSsVsuGBE&eurl=http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1022250529266

The second video is of the concert rehersal the night before.
Concert rehersal:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phe2qBWxZJA

Here's a photographic look at our walk home from the concert that night.

The Hotel de Ville....

Rue Gaston de Saporta...

The Cours Mirabeau...

Let Us Give Thanks...

2008-12-04T09:22:00.002+01:00

At this time of year, many of our American friends say “They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving there, do they?” Well, the French don’t celebrate but the Americans definitely do. Not only that, but the French love to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. They find this particular American holiday really interesting; it's history and, o course, the special foods. This year, we had the opportunity to share the tradition not once but three times!

Our first and largest celebration, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, was organized and sponsored by our church, The International Christian Community of Provence. In an attempt to provide many with a place to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast, our congregation invited friends of many different nationalities to come and partake of the meal at a Salles des Fetes in the nearby village of St Marc Jaumegarde, just 7 km east of Aix. Each family was asked to bring their favorite side dish or dessert and a baguette; the church and its staff decorated and set up the facility and provided all the turkeys and wine. Our good friends, John and Claude Elk were here to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving with us for a few days. Together we made mashed potatoes, with Claude's secret ingredient, ground nutmeg, and green beans for 15 to contribute to the meal. Everyone’s combined efforts, as you can see, produced a long, lavish table!! What a ‘harvest’! Can you believe 248 people were served that day!?!

Lindsey's housemother, Marie Francoise, Lindsey's housemate in Aix and at the College of Charleston, Caroline and Claude...

Our bookend friends in this photo, Martin, British and John...

Now add our Scottish friend, Jill Eadie, to the table....

And our French friends, Bettina, Capucine and Waldemar Lucas de Reau for a truly international bunch!

Our second Thanksgiving dinner was the brainchild of Lindsey and her American housemates, Caroline and Karolyn. These three college students, who’ve been living together during their semester in Aix, put together a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner for their housemother, Marie Francoise, 5 of her friends and Nick, Sarah and I. They worked really hard to produce all the dishes they each felt needed to be represented on their Thanksgiving table. Being from the states of Colorado, Alabama and Massachusetts there were different ‘must haves’ from each of them. Fixing a traditional Thanksgiving in the US takes a lot of time and effort, but imagine life without ingredients like Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix or Libby’s pumpkin pie filling? None of that stuff is available here so you have to make everything from scratch. The girls made cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, a tomato casserole and a pumpkin pie! Everything was delicious and we all gave these girls very high marks for their first attempt at preparing a Thanksgiving dinner.

Linds was happy to have Dad on hand to make the gravy and carve the turkey...

Sarah helped put the finishing touches on the gravy....

A few smiles for the camera....

and we all sat down to another feast!!

Our third, and final, Thanksgiving dinner took place on Thanksgiving Day at 2:30pm in the afternoon with the same three families we celebrated with the year before. Our pastor, Darrin and his wife, Julie and their kids hosted the meal this year. All tolled we were a party of 16; four families of four! Nick, Sarah and I were delighted to have Lindsey with us. We were joined by our American friends, Teal and Megan Rapp, their girls and Fabien and Cecile and their children, now celebrating their 2nd ever Thanksgiving.

Julie set a lovely table....

Darrin and Fabien carved the beautiful bird....

Julie, Cecile, Nick and Teal anticipating the feast....

Kids table also awaitng the feast....

In addition to homemade pumpkin pie a la Lindsey, Cecile brought amazing French desserts. One special one has hidden treasures in each one and Olivia and I each got one so we were crowned queens for the day!

So, as you can see, YES, we do celebrate Thanksgiving in France....and with so much to be thankful for why not do it more than once!?!?

Un jour a Montpellier

2008-11-21T08:09:00.001+01:00

Nick, Lindsey, Sarah and I went to the southern provencale city of Montpellier this week. Located about an hour and a half southwest of Aix by car, we have been interested in visiting this city for a while and decided to make our debut trip a 'look-see' day trip. In current travel literature, Montpellier, population 225,000, is described as France's fastest growing city. "Located just a few miles inland from the sea, it has been transformed from a sleepy, university city into the powerhouse of Mediterranean France – and the new darling of the international party set." 1 Montpellier is described by one visitor brochure as "an ancient, academic city with handsome historic buildings, abundant gardens and an impressively vast central square". OK, so let's take a look! We arrived at midday and went directly in search of a cafe for lunch in that 'vast central square' known as Place de la Comedie. The square is dominated by the opera house of the same name and is also by the fountain of the Three Graces, both of which you see here...

The cherubs in the fountain were precious....

Place de la Comedie is home to not one, but two, grand opera houses a mere 400m apart. The other one is the Berlioz opera. Monpellier is known for having a large, well endowed music program and hosts events of all kinds year round.

Once on this great plaza, we had a number of inviting cafes to choose from and we settled on the Cafe 1893, which might very well have been there since then. We got a great outdoor table which allowed us to listen to street musicians and watch the constant parade of people walking by. Apparently this pedestrian zone is one of the largest in Europe with some 60,000 people through it each day. There were far fewer when we were there for lunch but by afternoon when schools were out it was full of people of all ages. It never felt crowded though, just full of energy.

After lunch, we began our very informal, self-guided walking tour of the city. We started out from Place de la Comedie on rue de la Loge, one of the main shopping streets. We saw most of the same shops one finds in Aix, only they were bigger, as well as others that were new to us. On past the retail taunts, we took rue Foch toward the Arc de Triomphe...

This arch, built at the end of the 17th century, is an imitation of the gates in Paris and was constructed to honor Louis XIV. Passing under the beautiful Arch, we crossed the periferique and entered Place Royale du Peyrou, a large public square with a grand statue of Louis XIV on horseback and at the far end a water tower.

Nick's three girls!!

From this terraced promenade, de Peyrou provides views as far as the Med and Cévennes National Park. The walk leads eventually to an aqueduct modelled on the Pont du Gard, which is located to the north outside Nîmes.

We continued our tour passing the Jardin des Plantes, created by Henry IV and one of France’s oldest botanical gardens. We will go here on our next visit, hopefully when Mom, the landscape achitect is visiting. Next stop was the Faculty de Medicine, the oldest still-active medical school in the Western world. Montpellier was only two centuries old in 1181, when its Lord Guilhem VIII signed a surprising and far-reaching edict. He declared that anyone, regardless of religion or background, could teach medicine in Montpellier.

Nick and I standing at the doors to this illustrious institution...

There was much more to see in Montpellier, but the afternoon got away from us so after a brief stop in a cosy cafe we headed back to Aix with definite plans to return to this fascinating city soon.

1. http://www.timeout.com/travel/montpellier/intro
2. ibid.

Tourist information: http://www.ot-montpellier.fr/

Les randondees en automne

2008-11-19T10:09:00.015+01:00

This fall, Nick and I have spent nearly every Tuesday hiking in the Provence region with the International Hiking Group of Provence. On these hikes, we’ve seen some spectacular scenery, experienced mostly gorgeous weather and enjoyed the company of our fellow hikers from all over the world.

The first hike of the fall was situated in Bandol, a coastal town east of Marseille, reachable by car from Aix in about a 1 hour. Everyone had lots of catching up to do as many of us had not seen each other since June. Our fabulous leader, Isabelle, welcomed everyone back and gave us some instructions prior to the hike...

It was a gorgeous, warm day and many took advantage of the warm weather and went swimming during our lunchtime break. Sorry no bathing suit photos!

Our second hike, also along the Mediterranean coastline, was in Niolon , a tiny fishing village west of Marseille. The weather was a mix of sun and dark, near rain clouds that day. Not only did we have amazing views but the clouds made for some dramatic sights...

We climbed up and down the rocky coastline, and in and out of rock tunnels...

and along some steep, cliff side spots...

In early October, we moved inland and drove up north to the well known town of St. Remy de Provence, where we hiked in the beautiful Les Alpilles mountain range. It was really hazy most of the day so we didn't take many photos of the surrounding countryside.

Later in October, we had one of our best hikes ever! Our destination was the village of Ansouis, located in the Luberon mountains about 1 hour north west of Aix. This hike also included our annual pot luck luncheon and meeting at one of our member's nearby winery. Nick’s cousins, Francis and Lydia Matthey, were visiting for a few days from their home in Surrey, England so we brought them along too. The day commenced with a lovely hike in and around the town of Ansouis...

Nick and cousin, Francis...

As we climbed higher, we had a belle view looking back at Ansouis...

We admired this 'little' chateau nestled into vineyards and hills...

After the hike, we went to the nearby St. Esteve de Neri winery, owned by fellow hikers, Alexandra and Alan Wilson, for our luncheon. We were at the same winery exactly one year ago to the day. How do I remember that? Well, it was on October 21, my birthday! Last year, Mom and Dave had been visiting from the States and we had come up that day for a wine tasting party the Wilson's had to celebrate and watch the Luberon Marathon, which ran through their vineyards, not once but twice! This year, they offered their gorgeous home and provided their wines for our lunch. The weather cooperated to allow us to be outside in their lovely garden.

They'd set up festively decorated tables...

The color of the grape leaves made for spectacular centerpieces...

Francis entertained us all with some classical and flaminco guitar music...

And Nick surprised me with a birthday cake...

All in all, it was a perfect day!

More hiking entries coming soon!!

Mon Anniversaire... Surprise?!?

2008-11-05T06:30:00.000+01:00

This year, my dear, sweet Sarah decided to throw me a small, surprise birthday dinner. The only trouble with her thoughtful idea was keeping it a secret from me! As she wanted to have the party at our apartment and do all the cooking herself, keeping it a secret was a challange. In the midst of all the details, let's just say Nick came a bit overwhelmed and my knowledge of the situation couldn't be helped. All that aside, Sarah still managed to keep many of the details, especially the guest list, a secret and we had a super time!!

MERCI, Sarah. Je t'aime!!

Un jour dans le Chianti

2008-10-30T17:18:00.012+01:00

On our third day in Italy, we woke to blue skies! This day's adventure took us south to the nearby Chianti region. The drive in the countryside was truly lovely and we stopped frequently along the windy roads to enjoy the views. The vineyards were magnificent;the leaves colorful and the vines heavily laden with fruit just weeks away from harvest.

We arrived at our destination; the quaint, little town of Radda. As it is a bit off the beaten track, there were fewer tourists and tourist shops than Siena or Lucca. The black rooster is the symbol of Chianti and roosters were everywhere on everything...

Despite our relatively remote location, we couldn't get away from the reality of the plunging world stock markets...

Who knew if these men were contemplating where to go for lunch or if they, like us, were wondering what was going to happen to their retirement savings...

We found a cute corner cafe, Dante Alighieri, for an alfresco lunch. These diners happily awaited yet another delicious plate of pasta!

After lunch, we set off to visit a nearby winery, Castello d'Albola. This world reknown winery is owned by the Zonin family, who have restored the entire medieval complex beautifully. The oldest buildings on the estate date from the 12th century, when the property was owned by the noble Magnate of Monterinaldi. We had a professional but informal tour of the winery and sampled some delicious wines in the tasting room. Several bottles managed to find their way home with us!

Back at Villa Mezzola we greeted Ted and Edie's son Alex and three of his friends who had come down from Florence for the night. Lisa, Edie and I were the chefs of the evening and after picking up some supplies in town, we prepared a feast for everyone.

We savored the last few hours of the evening before packing our bags for an early departure back to Aix the next day. Arrivedercci!!

More info:

Castello d'Albola http://www.bardotti.com/albola.htm

Un jour à Sienne

2008-10-29T17:30:00.000+01:00

Brighter skies greeted us on our second day in Italy as we headed off to Siena not only to visit this well known Tuscan city but to meet up with Nick's cousin coincidentally travelling in the area. About a 30 minute drive from Villa Mezola, we arrived with plenty of time to make our rendezvous on the Piazza del Campo.

Piazza del Campo, at the heart of Siena, is famous for its shell-shape, and is very much the focus of city life. "The piazza took shape at the end of the 1200s, on a space that was for a long time used for fairs and markets and was situated at a crossroad of important streets. The paving is made of red bricks arranged in fishbone style, divided into a sunburst pattern by nine strips of travertine. When it was built (the flooring dates back to the 1300s) it managed to hold the entire population of Siena, who gathered here to attend events, tournaments, and buffalo and bull races." Today, Il Palio, a traditional medieval horse race is run around the Piazza del Campo each year. This two minute a horse race is the greatest traditional festival in Siena and is held on 2 July and 16 August. "Thousands of people come as spectators and participants, transforming the main piazza into a teeming sea of people." 1

Fortunately for us, while we were there, it was just an ordinary mid-week day in October or we might never have found Nick's cousin. Jocelyn Bates, who lives in Portland, OR, was on sabbatical in Italy with her good friend, Pat, and it just so happened was able to meet up with us right here on the Piazza del Campo!

Within the Piazza del Campo is the Fonte Gaia, a fountain unique in its quadrangular form and surrounded by beautiful figures on the edges.

We all had lunch together at a small restaurant just a short walk from the piazza on via Rossi called Osteria L'Osteria*. Everyone enjoyed their meals but the homemade pasta with fresh truffles was out of this world!

After lunch, we strolled the streets of Siena walking off a bit of lunch. It truly was a colorful town to explore...

We noticed many young people walking around town with fresh wreaths on their heads like the one you can see in the next photo. We think there had been a graduation somewhere in town earlier that day...

We gradually worked our way over to another major landmark in Siena; Cattedrale dell'Assunta (the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption) located on the Piazza del Duomo. "The Duomo was begun in the twelfth century and is one of the great examples of Italian romanesque architecture. Its main façade, built with a dark green and white marble, was completed in 1380. It is a truly a beautiful building which was added onto through the years mixing Gothic and Romanesque architecture.

It contains works by many artists, including Donatello, Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio. One of its main attractions is the marble-inlaid floor, to which many artists contributed." 2

Here is the backside of the Duomo as we are beginning our decent from the piazza and the town itself...

On the way down we took in the beautiful view of the town along with the Church of San Domenico. The church was begun in 1226-1265, but was enlarged in the 14th century to the Gothic appearance it has now....

As we walked to the car, Nick, Ted and Jono are either discussing the news of the 700 point plunge in the US stock market that day or how long they must wait for their next plate of pasta!

Back at Villa Mezola, we didn't have all that long to wait for another amazing meal. That night we went to La Tenda Rossa* located right in our little village of Cerbaia (near San Casciano Val di Pesa). One guide book descibed it this way: "There is a shiny red door through which you enter into a very special gastronomic world. The modern and comfortable environment, the politeness of the waiters are only details in comparison to the cuisine level. The food, always very well presented, is a refined elaboration of Tuscan and Italian recipes. The restaurant offers also a prestigious wine list." Another said; "It is one of the handful of restaurants in all of Italy to receive a remarkable two stars from in the revered Michelin Red Guide!" Needless to say, it was a gastronomic experience, the service was impecable and the six of us had an unforgetable evening. If you ever find yourself in Cerbaia, be sure not to miss La Tenda Rossa.

Tomorrow, we are off to the Chianti region to explore some smaller villages and go to a winery!

Arrivederci!!

*Osteria L'Osteria, Via Rossi, 7953100 Siena (SI), Italy+39 0577 287592

*Tenda Rossa, Piazza del Monumento 9-14, Cerbaia Val di Pesa, Firenze.Tel.+39.055.826132Closed: Wednesday, Thursday for lunch, August.

1. http://www.aboutsiena.com/palio-of-Siena.html

2.http://www.aboutsiena.com/monuments-in-Siena.html

Voyage en Italie

2008-10-27T17:11:00.001+01:00

In mid October, Nick and I drove to Italy to rendez vous with our Duxbury friends, Ted and Edie and Jono and Lisa. One of their sons is doing a college semester in Florence and you don't need a better reason than that to plan a 10 day trip to Italy, do you!?!? Part of their 10 day trip included renting a villa for a week about a 15 minute drive south west of Florence in the small Tuscan town of Cerbaia. They invited us to come and join them there for a few nights and no arm twisting was required for us to say yes to that offer! Our first rendezvous point was Lucca, one of our favorite Italian towns. It was approximately a 5 hour, pedal to the metal, drive from Aix. We made it just in time meet for a late lunch in the Piazza Anfiteatro located in the center of town...

We enjoyed a simple pizza lunch at the aptly named Anfiteatro Pizzaria and then headed off to see the town. Being a cloudy, Monday afternoon, the place was fairly quiet and many of the streets which would normally have been teaming with tourists during the high season, were almost empty.

A highlight of our afternoon was visiting and climbing to the top of the Torre Guinigi. This 14th century tower is one of two towers you can climb in Lucca. Despite the overcast skies, the 360 degree views of the of the city and the surrounding countryside made the climb up 230 steps well worth the effort!

Somehow, no matter how many times I see them, the red tiled rooftops always captivate me...

It is very unique in that it has oak trees growing on top of it..and they were self seeded! Jono wrapped his flexible tripod around one of the trees and got this group photo. Missing:Ted and Nick who were discussing the world financial crisis at ground level.

The rooftop garden provided a great back drop for a great photo of Jono and Lisa...

and the 'sister act', Edie and Lisa..

We meandered about the town in and out of rain drops....

Driving out of town, I tried to capture the marvelous medieval walls that encircle Lucca.

Nick, Lisa and I followed Jono, Ted and Edie (with the GPS!) back to the villa and arrived about an hour later in Cerbaia right in the heart of the beautiful, Tuscan country side...

In order to get to Villa Mezola you must cross the narrowest of bridges....we wouldn't want to do this often, in the dark or in a hurry!! Notice the very sturdy looking side rails...

Once across the bridge, you drive slowly up a very narrow dirt road, being sure to stop along the way and take in the view....

which just kept getting better...

The last few hundred feet you must take care not to scratch your car on the side of an ancient rocky wall...

and then you arrive!!

The lovely villa, which sleeps ten, has many spacious rooms filled with an eclectic mixture of antique and modern furnishings, art work and sculptures.

This little bridge crossed from the pool over to the house....

On our first night, Edie and Ted's son, Alex, came down from Florence for the night.

We were all treated to a fabulous dinner prepared by Alexandra, the on site chef and caretaker. She served us antipasta of italian hams, olives and cheeses, a delicious entree of warm homemade pasta torte followed by the main plat of veal, potatoes and green beans. Desert was a rustic apple raisin tart with a small glass of the sweet italian after dinner wine, vin santo.

We loved this dining room with it's spacious, square table...

After a leisurely dinner it was time to say buona notte. We're off to Siena in the morning!! Arrivederci!!

Randonee sur Mont Sainte Victoire

2008-10-13T14:15:00.010+02:00

On Sunday, Nick, Lindsey, Matt, Caroline(Lindsey’s roommate) and I climbed the local “mountain to top all mountains”, Mont Sainte Victoire. The range is visible throughout all of the Pays d'Aix and familiar to any who know Cézanne's paintings. He painted it over 80 times! It's one of our favorite landmarks too.

It was a nice day, low 70's, light breeze although a bit hazy due to brush burning in local village farmlands. This ascent has become an annual event/challenge for Nick and I and today, the day after the climb, I’m proud to say we’ve made it three for three, although it seemed harder this year than last. Hmm...

The route we took started in St.Marc de Jaumegard at the dam of Lac du Bimont, an important water supply for Aix and Marseille. Our destination, the most Western peak with the Croix de Provence on top has an elevation of 3103ft (946m). We hiked through forests, open trails and rough terrain. Also on the mountain that day, were about a hundred students from the Lycee Militaire d'Aix en Provence. Here you can see one group of them; a line of blue uniforms on the trail...

Nick looking toward the west, you can barely make out the blue water of the dam where we started our climb...

We climbed over rocky ridges, traversed many switchbacks and rested here and there...

In just under 2 hours, we finally made it to the cloister of Notre Dame de Ste.Victoire. This small church was built in the 17th century and was used daily by the monks who lived on top of the mountain.

Another 50m and we'd made it to the very top of the mountain at the Croix de Provence. Built between 1871 and 1875, thanks to the tenacity of a campaign priest, Father Meissonnier. Building funds were collected from parishioners throughout the diocese of Aix and Arles and the names of the 22,000 donors are still kept in copper container embedded in the monument. The pedestal has a height of 11 m and the metal cross is 7 m high. Struck by lightning three times between 2002 and 2003, the Cross was so badly damaged that restoration was seriously questioned but local commitment and architectural value weighed heavily in the decision to rebuilt it.

Right at the foot of the cross we found a good spot to rest and enjoy our well deserved picnic lunch...

The 360 views seem to go on forever despite the hazy skies...

What looks like snow in the distance of this photo is actually the limestone covered summit of Mt. Ventoux in the Luberon Mountains to the north...

Directly below us, we marvelled at the rugged mountain range surrounded by the rolling terrain of farmland and vineyards...

After lunch it seemed like everyone had the giggles....

Lindsey and Caroline posing for their Tri-Delt newsletter...

After admiring the scenery and resting a bit longer, we made our descent in about 1 ½ hours. The downward leg takes less time and is easier on the lungs, but it can be killer on the knees, ankles and feet. But as they say, “no pain no gain” and we were all glad to have made the trip...and also very happy to stop for a candy bar on the way home!

A source for the St Victoire info and also an interesting site about the small villages surrounding Aix:
http://www.provence-hideaway.com/219.html

La classe de poterie

2008-10-11T18:38:00.006+02:00

The Bates family is doing something new and different....we're taking pottery classes! Our friend, Caren, gives private classes in her studio at her wonderful, quintecentially provencale bastide just outside of Aix. A few weeks ago, Nick, Lindsey, Sarah and I went for our first lesson. It's doubtful any of us have touched a piece of clay since grammar school but what fun we had. While doing our projects, we are entertained by jazz music on the radio, Caren's 3 adorable dachshunds and occasionally her husband, Jean, who took these photos. This day, Nick made a peanut bowl, Sarah a dauchshund, Lindsey started a nude a la Pamela Anderson and I worked on an angel figurine.

The following week when we returned we were almost all able to finish our projects and start some new ones....

We'll keep you posted on any great future masterpieces!

Rentree encore!

2008-09-27T14:21:00.012+02:00

It's nearly the end of our first month in Aix and it sure has been a busy one! For a variety of reasons we've felt our third rentree has beene most difficult one so far. Moving into an apartment, adjusting to 'city' life, difficulties setting up communication all contributed to the process. We are just now feeling mostly settled into the apartment and are no longer living out of the boxes. We got the internet line up and running last Friday and this morning our land line has also finally started working!! Yes, you can now phone us (33 44 260 0182)! To some, living without these modern day 'conveniences' might seem like a welcome change, but living over here, the internet is our lifeline to the outside, English-speaking world, not to mention how Nick does business. Lack of an internet connection is my excuse for writing but one blog entry since we arrived so now I’ll attempt to catch up on what’s been going on.

The entire month of September is all about the “Rentree”. There are rentree parties, rentree lunches, rentree sales(especially for back to school supplies) and more. In general, it’s when everyone “re enters” life as they knew it before summer vacation. The most common use for 'rentree' is for 'back to school'. This year, Sarah is in the 'quatrieme classe' equivalent for US eighth grade at The International Bilingual School of Provence (IBS). Here she is on the first day of school with several of the girls in her class.

The parking situation at school has a particularly bad and well deserved reputation. On the first day of school, minus Antoine, the traffic director, it was a 'catastrophe'! Pure grid lock for about 30 minutes, which gave all the parents extra time for some rentree reuniting.

'Rentree' is definitley a time to reconnect with friends who you haven't seen all summer. We’ve been busy getting together with friends for lunches, dinners, a swim or a hike.

Hilary and Dom had us over for dinner to their new and first apartment! Lindsey's friend, Caroline, also studying here this semester from College of Charleston, came along.

Fabien and Cecile has the Bates and Jones families over for an al fresco rentree lunch. We had a chance to meet the newest addition to their family: Douglas, an adorable ,11 week old, King Charles Spaniel, with whom we all fell instantly in love!

Caroline really seemed to enjoy the day!

Darrin got a big laugh out of her!

Julie, Cecile and I were thrilled to be reunited.

Nick and I have gone on two beautiful hikes with the International Hiking Group of Provence. The first, to the southeast to the lovely, coastal town of Bandol, and the second to the southwest to the smaller and a bit more rugged, coastal town of Niolon.

Bandol...

Niolon...

Julie Butler emerging from one of several tunnels we passed through...

Off the trail, we've also enjoyed being right in Aix this month. The town has been alive with rentree street festivals nearly every weekend. One festival seemed to be all about modes of transportation and another all about movement be it dance, roller blading or scootering. It is a treat to be promenading on the Cours Mirabeau without any cars. Nick was fascinated by all the dancing in the street. We thought perhaps Nick was going to sign up for salsa or belly dancing classes!

Last but not least, this past Thursday was our first Women's Monthly Luncheon, called what else? the Rentree lunch!

That's all for now. See you in October!!!

Salut! Rebonjour!

2008-09-10T07:54:00.001+02:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog so not only do I have lots of catching up from the summer, but I need to get going on the events of our first 10 days here as well. So, here goes....

Nick, Lindsey, Sarah and I departed Duxbury, August 31 and flew to MRS via Frankfort. Lufthansa flight was a disappointment in comfort, food and amenities but it was on time and we arrived in Marseille at 9:45am on September 1. Despite lack of sleep and the fact that it was really only 3:45 in the morning EST we were bright, chipper and SO happy to be in France!! Our realtor, Rebecca, met us at the airport and brought us and our mound of luggage to 30 Victor Hugo #S3, our new home in Aix for at least the year.

Arriving in Aix and seeing the fountain at La Rotonde, just one block away from our apartment, was exhilarating for us all! Right in the centre ville, our with a few doctors’ offices and an American study abroad office(not Lindsey’s program) on the ground floor. We parked at our building, an older, 5 story greystone, and schlepped our luggage and bags up to our 3rd floor apartment in the tiny 3 person elevator (many trips!) but at least we didn’t have to do all of it by stairs! The owners, Dr. and Mme Sacco met us at the apt and, together with Rebecca, we went over the lease, signed a contract and were shown a few things about the property.

Darrin and McKenna Jones met us at the apartment with keys to our car which they had kindly kept for us over the summer. That allowed us to drive Lindsey up to Marie Françoise’s house where she will be living for the semester. Her friend, Caroline, had already arrived from the airport and the girls had a wonderful reunion. Marie Françoise was also happy to see all the other Bates again and invited us all to stay for lunch! What a “first meal back in France” we were treated to! She just “whipped up” a salad of fresh garden tomatoes tossed with olive oil, basil and balsamic, individual bowls of chilled, cooked, aubergine(eggplant), zucchini and red peppers, an aubergine caviar and of course a fresh baguette. Following this first course, we had hot spaghetti tossed with homemade pesto and parmesan cheese, to which of course you could add any of the above mentioned delicacies if you had any room left in your tummy!

After lunch, Sarah, Nick and I left Lindsey and Caroline to unpack and we returned to our apartment to attempt to do the same. It will take quite a while to fit all our things into this space but with time and careful organization I’m hoping it all fits.

The apartment, owned by a retired Aixois couple, is decorated in the art deco style and is truly lovely. With high ceilings and large French doors and windows in every room it has great light all day. The tile and parquet floors, custom painted walls(the hallway is painted with a special paint from nearby Roussillon), many fine crystal chandeliers, period leather and other furniture pieces, art work, all give it a very sophisticated feeling. We certainly haven’t found this in our last two rentals where IKEA furnishings reined supreme.

We have 6 rooms and a large center hallway. The sunny living room opens into a good sized dining room where the sideboard contains a large set of formal china, linens and every kind of formal glassware you can imagine. There are 33 dinner plates! I envision many dinner parties, not to mention a Thanksgiving feast, ahead. The kitchen is rather small (maybe those big dinner parties will have to be pot luck!) but will function just fine. A large, second informal dining/family room will function as library, music/game room and nick’s office-obviously not all at the same time. It also has a small twin bed for an afternoon nap or maybe a single guest. The apartment has 2 bedrooms. Funny story, we almost didn’t take this place because the master bed was too short for Nick but the owners removed the foot board and now he does fit but with not an inch of mattress to spare. Sarah’s room has two twin beds, a desk, chest of drawers and an armoire so she has plenty of space. It is bright and cheerfully decorated; perfect for a 13 year old girl. We have two bathrooms but only one WC which, like apartment living, will also take a bit of getting used to but will be fine.

On our second day here, we had the unpleasant task of retrieving ALL of our other belongings from the house we lived in last year. Fortunately, Darrin and Dom came to our aid and brought the church van along to help. Miraculously, we able to load everything into the van and our Peugeot wagon so we only had to make one trip. We were glad to close that chapter of our lives and move forward. Getting all the stuff up to the apartment was made easier by the assistance not only of Darrin and Dom but Lindsey, Caroline and our friend, Aia, as well. Now, several days later, we are still surrounded by boxes and bags but day by day we are chipping away at the mess and trying to find extra storage beneath beds, in cupboards, closets and corners. No sense spending all our time doing work when the weather is hot and there are friends to see, things to do places to go!!

a bientot!

July 4th

2008-07-28T14:32:00.001+02:00

On the 4th of July this year, despite the rain, we started the day by hanging the flag above our front door. The rain dampened not only the lawns we were to sit on to watch the parade but our spirits as well. No one likes a rainy 4th. However, by mid-day when all the festivities began, the sun was out, and everything had brightened and dried up quite a bit. We set off for the day's activities dressed in red, white and blue with family, houseguests, greek and pasta salads and lawn chairs in tow.

We started at Matt's house where a young, festive crowd was already assembled and celebrating our country's birthday! Matt had a huge plate of raw tuna and all the fixin's for some delicious sushi. He and Nick thoroughly enjoyed it...

Nicholas arrived from Newport just in time to join in the fun...

At the Carnuccio's, we also played Corn Hole, an outdoor bean bag type game that keeps everyone entertained. Matt, Nicholas, our house guest, Gianni, and my nephew, William, had a rousing game....

At our next stop, the Hendrens', we had more lunch. This time we had the more traditional 4th of July fare of hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad. They also had a special 4th of July cake...

At two o'clock, the parade began it's journey down Washington Street. Somewhere along the way, I forgot to keep taking photos, so this year's take was pretty small...

After the parade, we returned home where our neighborhood was alive with celebration. Two side by side neighbors were having parties; one a lobster/clam bake and the other a southern BBQ with ribs and pulled pork. Starting at dusk, there were fireworks displays everywhere! The skies were beautifully lit all around. We just stood at the water's edge with a few friends in awe of the wonder of it all.

What a difference a day makes...

2008-07-03T15:22:00.001+02:00

Fishing is a favorite summer pastime in Duxbury. Most anglers go out on the Duxbury and Plymouth Bays for striped bass and bluefish. Our good friend, Matt, an avid fisherman, took Lindsey and I out on his boat recently to go fishing for striped bass, or striper as they are more commonly called. We left the dock around 5 am on a beautiful, calm morning. First, we had to catch around 12-15 'pogies' to use as live bait for the stripers. Matt is a pro at this. He finds a school of pogies, casts his line into them and drags it through. He nearly always snags a fish. Lindsey is getting better at this skill and I was completely hopeless but enjoyed being there and watching the action.

Lindsey has a pogie on her line...

and Matt helps her bring it in...

We got plenty of live bait but unfortunately all our efforts at catching striper were in vain and we went home empty handed.

The following day, Matt and two fishing buddies set off in his boat on a tuna fishing expedition. They did the same routine catching the pogies in the bay and then went about 15 miles offshore toward Provincetown to a popular feeding ground for larger fish and mamals. They saw whales, shark and tuna. Not long after they arrived, Matt got a tuna on his line and about 1 hour later he landed the 180 pound, 66 inch long fish! This is the biggest fish caught by anyone in Duxbury so far this summer. We went down to the harbor to meet them and see the catch of the day!

Taking the fish off the boat...

Todd Roberts, Matt Carnuccio and Willy Woodruff...

What a difference a day makes!!

Needless to say, we enjoyed a delicious dinner of fresh grilled tuna that night. YUMMY!

It's "End of the Year" time

2008-06-24T08:41:00.002+02:00

We're leaving Aix for the summer in just a few days and that means it's almost the end of our "End of the Year " activites. Like last year, it's been chock a block full of events. In this international community, many who live here during the school year depart for all or part of the summer to go 'home' to their mother country to visit families, consequently there are lots goodbyes- fortunately most just for the summer, but a few forever. Nick, Sarah and I were very glad we weren't saying a final goodbye. Here are some of the hightlights....

Our dear friend, Diane Mizell, blessed us with her company for several weeks during May and June. She even filled in for me while I was in the States for Nicholas' graduation! We had many wonderful moments both alone with Diane and sharing her with our friends here in France. Here we are in the quaint, nearby town of Ventabren where she treated us to dinner at the wonderful restaurant, La Table de Ventabren.

Our Spanish friend,Paco's, birthday seems to be on it's way to becoming an annual event. We are fortunate to be his guests because not only do he and Danci throw a great party, but Danci puts on a great show in the food department. Last year's party featured her paela and this year she made foods typical of the Canary Islands, where Paco was born. We call him "The King of La Gomera", after the specific Canary island he hails from.A group of us presented 'the king' with a gift of new benches for the tennis court...

Paco and Danci trying out one of the new benches...

Moving on to another anniversaire, we celebrated Nathalie's birthday at the Set Club again this year. The theme was tennis attire...

A few of us joined Julie and Darrin to celebrate her June birthday at the Lebanese restaurant, Divan d'Antioche, in Aix. Here the happy birthday girl gladly accepting a gift!

Cecile, Susie, Darrin, Megan, Fabien, Julie and Teal...

Should we use our hands to eat the hummus and taboulie?!?

We were all pretty surprised when desert came out with a touch of a WILD flaming sparkler!!!

Our Monthly Women's Luncheons had it's final gathering at the lovely home of Asunta de la Parte on a gorgeous June day. We were a happy bunch of women from all over the world. Here, Canada, Norway and France...

California and Germany...

Holland and California...

England, two blonde California girls and Thailand...

France and NYC...

Massachusetts, Spain, France and Spain...

Lillies from France!!

The End of the Year "Spectacle" at Sarah's school was complete with lively entertainment and the awarding of academic prizes. Sarah was in several chorus numbers doing some french songs as well as a few numbers from High School Musical Two. She was also awarded third place in her class for academics. Bravo, Sarah!

Sarah had the camera for the rest of the night. Here are some of her shots...

Pasta Cosy, which has become our French version of Cheers, was the scene of many final finals in June. First, we said goodbye to our favorite server, Jennifer...

Next, Nick wanted to have his 'last supper' there before he left for San Francisco...

As the weather had finally warmed up, we were able to dine at an outdoor table...

Megan and Teal stopped by to buy Nick a little farewell glass of Rose...

And even though he adores the pasta there, we know one of the real reasons Nick wanted to eat his last meal at Pasta Cosy was to say au revoir to his dear friend, Fabien...

Two days before Sarah and I left Aix, our good It was a lovely, hot summer day...perfect for swimming and playing in the pool...

Sarah with Adrianna and Asunta...

dining outdoors...

and playing soccer...

Spain was to play Italy in the Euro 2008 championship that evening so all the Spanish guests came dressed in red to support their team. Spain not only beat Italy that night, but went on to win the Championship for the first time since 1964. These amateurs enjoyed a pretty good game too!

My final night in Aix was spent attending Megan's birthday. We went for tapas to Anita's apartment and then to dinner at Pasta Cosy...where else!?

So folks, that's the end of the ends.....now it's off to blog from Duxbury for the summer!

Happy Summer and a la prochaine,

Susie

Les Temps des Cerises

2008-06-20T14:24:00.000+02:00

We have a new produce market near our home. Come have a look...

Sarah thought the display was so good, she photographed most of the store!

it truly was a 'temps des cerises', mmmmm good!

A Wedding in Provence!

2008-06-20T08:19:00.011+02:00

At the beginning of May our dear friends, Hilary How and Dominic Rivera were married at the gorgeous Val Joanis winery located in the Luberon. It was a perfect afternoon and the chateau's gardens were the perfect setting for the ceremony.

The couple said their vows beneath an ancient cupola decorated for the occasion...

After the ceremony, Hil was all smiles and raring to go!!

and apparently so were many others!!

Fabien, Jennifer and Nick no doubt sharing a Pasta Cosy moment...

Julie and I savoring a few restful minutes in the sun...

Hil's parents, John and Wendy, were also able to relax!

Christine and Martin strike a pose...

It was truly a perfect day; aperitif in the garden followed by a delicious buffet sit down dinner complete with toasts and dancing. Nick caught me with a particularly lovely but energetic French dancer who really wore me out!

The newly weds left late that night under a shower of sparklers...