Friday, April 29, 2005

Four more markets

Just four more Carquieranne market days before we leave! It's such a pleasure to shop this way. The market gets larger as the season goes on....great to see all the old regulars and some new ones. This last time there was a fellow with kittens and puppies...big sign ANIMALS NOT FOR SALE but he was selling some key chains and stuff and getting a big crowd petting the animals. I took the picture I had taken of the fellow who sold us the rabbit and he and his wife were thrilled to get it and the message Don had written.

Looking at another picture we took our last night in Paris at a restaurant in Ile St. Louis. It's a good one of the four of us and also an Australian couple who got talking to us and jumped into the picture just like that's of course what anyone would do! It was their 29th anniversary. We're looking forward to celebrating our 3th anniversary here with dinner at this great local restaurant called Les Pins Penches (bent pines).

Jim's talk on Huxley's Love Letters went really well and we were very pleasantly surprised to be give a 60 Euro gift certificate for a book/Cd store...will be fun to pick stuff out.

Red poppies are blooming everywhere...have to include them in some painting.

Books I've been reading:

Deception Point by Dan Brown...as usual a great plot...he really does capture your interest. Kind of neat to see the Louvre after reading his Da Vinci Code.

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Takes place on the French Riviera and they spent quite a bit of time here. Seemed familiar and must have read it in university a million years ago. Didn't finish it...seemed dated and overwritten although some amazingly good poetic passages in amongst the dross...no Great Gatsby.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley...you may be amazed I hadnt read it before! Great stuff and very funny and so timely...hard to believe it was written in 1932. Jim is loving teaching it here.

Something in Disguise by Elizabeth Jane Howard. One of my Christmas books...very amusing...interesting writer...I'll have to find more of her word. Married to Kingsley Amis apparently.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Bee loud glade

We returned from Paris and Brussels to the wisteria in our arbour in absolute full bloom, smelling heavenly, and also humming with hundreds of bees! Blossoms a bit of a mess for the pool but it is lovely. Our landlord did a major gardening job when we were away and now the pool is getting quite a bit of direct sun. it's gone up from 59 to 66 degrees so perhaps we'll get some swimming yet.

It was interesting being a tourist in Paris again....crowds unreal even in April...can't imagine what it's like in the summer now. Since we've seen everything we usually just wander and discover new areas to explore and of course go through and around Notre Dame numerous times and possibly head into Sainte Chappelle if the light is right. It was fun to go to the Louvre again and the Mona Lisa is a much better experience in its new room. I think they need to do something with the Venus de Milo like they've done for David in Florence...make a big space for it and keep people a distance...impossible to enjoy it now...glad I saw it without the hordes.

We had wonderfully sunny weather our last two days in Brussels and happened on some very old and famous brasseries which was really fun. What a pleasure to go into the Beaux Arts Musee and find NO CROWDS, NO LINEUPS... we knew the Breughels were there....fantastic... but got a real bonus with the Magritte and many amazing Reubens....

Identifying Pictures

It's difficult to label these pictures now that they're posted so I'll try to go in order starting with the one directly below...I also can't see them now so they may get out of order...

* Carasol in Sanary 'le petit prince airplane'...we all commented on how charming these carasols are and how plentiful

* Jim, Alan, and Susan...Carqueiranne beach

* Fish market, Sanary

* enjoying a meal in our back garden

* Hotel Splendid- balcony of our favourite room overlooking....

* our favourite beach

* 17th century country home/vinyard of our landlords

* Painting Francoise did of the home

* Sea urchin festival

* landlord's vinyard

* sea urchin fishermen preparing their wares

* campanile in Cuers

* my favourite dog in Carqueiranne market

* painting of Carqueiranne market

* painting of a wall mural

* Robin the cat neighbourhood cat leaving disdainfully

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Brussels

I see Richard got some pictures up. I'll explain what they are when I get back to Carqueiranne. this will be a brief update with more details to come. We all had a super time in Paris and the Don and Elaine loved the city and all the things we did. Well....who can't fall in love with Paris? Jim found more reseach related stuff than he was counting on...same thing in Brussels so he's very pleased. I didn't quite know what to expect of Brussels but it's really quite neat. We're located in the 'lower town' where all the action is and close to the 'Grand Place' which is a fabulous square with wonderful architecture (guildhalls; city hall etc
I didn realize Belgium makes over 500 beers....we are enjoying various brews and neat old bars and cafes. The first night we ended up in a seafood restaurant area and had a wonderful lobster dinner...later found out the lobster was from Canada....can't find the exclamation mark...;yet another keyboard.

Friday, April 15, 2005

Mission Accomplished!

We took the train into Marseille Wednesday and found the Maison du Pastis. It was quite something and the fellow spoke English which was great for Don and Elaine and he was very knowledgable about pastis and all the specialty ones. It's really almost like single malts when you get to the specialty ones. We bought some neat glasses and of course some very special pastis which we've been enjoying tremendously especially since we'll never be able to get them in Canada.

We had a bouillbaise at a very highly recommended place but were rather disappointed. You can't go to Marseille without having a bouillbaise but we all agreed it is a rather bland dish with all white fish (albeit many different types) and can't compare with local Victoria creations for taste even though they aren(t so called authentic. Took the petit train around the old town and that was neat as we hadn't done that before. Lots of excitement in Marseille as there was a huge demonstration by fishermen protesting increase in the price of diesel fuel...they blocked the port and the street were choked with people and police. We were quite thrilled to have the old regional train that we took over 30 years ago when we started going to Bandol. Great nostalgia but the pleasure was somewhat diminished when the one on the way back broke down and we had to change trains and just luckily heard that it wasn't going to stop at Hyeres so had to get off at a little station and get another one. No English of course so any tourists would have ended up in Nice!

We did get to Cassis yesterday and the weather cooperated. It really is such a super place and the entry through all the vinyards is so neat. Don and Elaine loved the narrow buildings with all the different colours and we had a rather choppy (good thing they've dived and are used to motion on the water) ride on our trip to the calenques (high cliffs and inlets that are famous in the area). We started off the day going to the market in Carquieranne which was also quite a thrill for them and Don found s vendor with a roast rabbit so we bought that. He spoke some Enlgish and he was quite a card joking about it being 'cat with blue eyes'...those of you who know Don know how much he would have enjoyed that! It was fabulous and all the innerds including the head were there so Don was in heaven.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Gambas Provencale

We're having a super time with the Curlings...more converts to France and this very special village and way of life. They finally saw Bandol, ate some magnificent Gambas with the rose de Bandol...things they've been hearing about for years...no disappointments! After 10 straight days of warm sun the weather turned rather poor just as our guests arrived but things are brightening up and we hope we'll get a fabulous day to go to Cassis on Thursday. Today we're heading to Le Lavandou for lunch and taking the train to Marseilles tomorrow to visit this famous Maison du Pastis and have a bouillbaise in the Vieux Port. Then off to Paris and Brussels for a week this Saturday...we're all really looking forward to that.

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Wine, fish, and classical music

Jean-George and Christienne invited us as their guests to a super concert in Toulon with a Russian pianist playing Tchaikovsky's Concerto number 1 and also Symphony 6 on the program. An excellent evening and topped off with a Champagne reception afterwards. Sunday, Patrick has invited us to another classical music concert in Cassis at the Camargo Foundation. This foundation supplies accommodation for visiting scholars and Jim has been looking forward to seeing their premises. It will also be interesting to meet some of the scholars currently there.

We had a super lunch in the heart of the old town of Hyeres hessterday...'marmite au pecheur'...fish soup with sal,on, rascasse, rouget, mussels, and shrimp. We haven't been into the old town of Hyeres that much this time...it really is very charming and interesting...lots of little food shops and shops of every kind.

Really looking forward to the arrival of Don and Elaine next Friday...won't be long now!