Monday, July 02, 2012

Bon Anniversaire, Monique!

Jim and I wish you all the very best on your birthday, Monique.

Monique on Pender Island....her very favourite local place.


Of course there is another place that is very dear to her heart and that is France.  We've had many good times with Monique and her family in France and thank you for introducing us to all the following things we enjoy so much!


Raclette


Moules-Frites


Bandol




Gambas of Bandol


Pastis


Bouillibaise

Hotel Splendid on the Renecros Beach in Bandol

This is not my photo as I couldn't seem to find a good one in my iPhoto library but of course the wonderful thing about the internet and keeping a blog is that I could do a Google Image search which not only brought up this photo but also two old photos of my own that were taken in 1976 on slides that I had converted to photos and that I scanned for a blog post at some point.  So,  quality not good but the memories remain the same. 

We knew Monique from Victoria but we met up with  her in Bandol that year at the Splendid and met her parents, Robert and Jacqueline, for the first time who both overwhelmed us with their charm and gentillesse.

You can see "The Snack" where we had gambas every day for lunch while we were there.  I forget the price but they were very cheap compared to the fortune we paid for the gambas we had with the Curlings that are pictured here. 

Jim, Robert, Monique, & Jacqueline having breakfast on the terrasse overlooking the Mediterranean.