Even though the rules are lame (newspapers can still solicit for new subscriptions for Christ's sake), the do not call list is official in Canada... Sadly, the website was down on the first day of it's launch:
Click here for no more phone spam, kind of
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Busy Weekend!
We had a busy weekend, so much so that but I can't remember most of what we did! First, I've gotten back into making sushi, as the girls like it for lunches etc...
At the same time, Beth got the girls to try on their hockey equipment... pretty classic. Robin looks like a marshmallow with her jersey on. They had "hockey" on Sunday, which was pretty classic.
Despite the rain, we headed out to the fall fair at the school. It was pretty small (I won't say lame, as it was the first year they've done this), but a good way to kill $30 and an hour...
Robin has decided that she doesn't want to be Yoda for Halloween anymore, she has opted for "Dark" Vader. When she got her gear on, she said "now I can kill Yoda!"... ummm... I don't know where she gets this stuff...
At the same time, Beth got the girls to try on their hockey equipment... pretty classic. Robin looks like a marshmallow with her jersey on. They had "hockey" on Sunday, which was pretty classic.
Despite the rain, we headed out to the fall fair at the school. It was pretty small (I won't say lame, as it was the first year they've done this), but a good way to kill $30 and an hour...
Robin has decided that she doesn't want to be Yoda for Halloween anymore, she has opted for "Dark" Vader. When she got her gear on, she said "now I can kill Yoda!"... ummm... I don't know where she gets this stuff...
Friday, September 19, 2008
Day 8: Versailles & Last Night in Paris
Our last day in Paris! We set out early on the train to Versailles.
Versailles was unbelievably big. The tour through the main building was interesting, mainly for the insight into the lengths the French royalty went to spend money on such... splendor? The strange thing that took away from the atmosphere of the place was this ridiculous artist's exhibit in almost every room. Check it out here. It was very bizarre. Sure enough, here's a blurb (copied from Wikipedia) on the controversy from the display:
The grounds of Versailles were beautiful, and expansive. After half an hour walking around, I avoided another meltdown by finding a Nutella crepe vendor :-). But neither of us lasted too much longer on the grounds of Versailles, so we decided to head out.
Near the station, I managed to get this crap shot of a menu at McDonald's which featured the Royale with Cheese and Le Big Mac.
We went straight over to the Champs-Élysées for some Beth shopping time (I brought my book!). We found a little place called George V next to the George V metro station, and decided to go back there in the evening for dinner before we went to the Lido.
Unfortunately, after a some drinks, a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne... yada, yada, yada... I lost my Blackberry. That was annoying. Here I was, smiling, before that happened!
Versailles was unbelievably big. The tour through the main building was interesting, mainly for the insight into the lengths the French royalty went to spend money on such... splendor? The strange thing that took away from the atmosphere of the place was this ridiculous artist's exhibit in almost every room. Check it out here. It was very bizarre. Sure enough, here's a blurb (copied from Wikipedia) on the controversy from the display:
"Jeff Koons Versailles", an exhibition of 17 Koons sculptures at the Chateau de Versailles (September 10 - December 14, 2008), marked the first time that the chateau has organized an ambitious display of an American contemporary artist, and is also considered Mr. Koons' first retrospective in France. The National Union of Writers of France, a right-wing group dedicated to French artistic purity, has been organizing protests at the palace gates, demanding the cancellation of an exhibition that they describe as "a truly sullying of the most sacred aspects of our heritage and identity." Arnaud-Aaron Upinsky, the group's chairman, added that the display "strikes at the heart of a civilization" and "is an outrage to Marie Antoinette
The grounds of Versailles were beautiful, and expansive. After half an hour walking around, I avoided another meltdown by finding a Nutella crepe vendor :-). But neither of us lasted too much longer on the grounds of Versailles, so we decided to head out.
Near the station, I managed to get this crap shot of a menu at McDonald's which featured the Royale with Cheese and Le Big Mac.
We went straight over to the Champs-Élysées for some Beth shopping time (I brought my book!). We found a little place called George V next to the George V metro station, and decided to go back there in the evening for dinner before we went to the Lido.
Unfortunately, after a some drinks, a bottle of wine and a bottle of champagne... yada, yada, yada... I lost my Blackberry. That was annoying. Here I was, smiling, before that happened!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Day 7: Back to Paris!
We returned the car and caught an early train for Paris... those TVG trains are awesome! We checked back into the Hotel Royal Opera Paris (it was great to come back to the same hotel - made things easy) and were off once again.
We walked over to the nearby Paris Opéra. What a building! We vowed to come back later or the next day to go inside, but unfortunately, we never got a chance. Next time!
We took the metro to Île de la Cité to go through Notre Dame. Needless to say, the building was impressive. I loved the stained glass windows surrounding the cathedral and was in awe at the size and height of the structure built almost 1000 years ago!
We crossed over to the left bank, and made our way over to the Musée d'Orsay. Beth was close to a melt down, but I managed to find her a Nutella waffle that calmed the storms... In Asia, I used to travel with a Snickers bar in case of emergency - clearly I was losing my edge. The Museum itself was a beautifully restored train station. As for the art and attractions, we weren't too into it (like I said earlier, we're not art people!). The coolest thing I saw was a scale model of the Opera, which made me want to go back and check it out.
We walked over to Les Invalides after the museum. Les Invalides was part historic military building, part church and burial site for Napoleon and others. The church was pretty cool, as they had dozens of old flags hung around the upper level representing nations that were conquered or lost a war to France.
Beth took a "back break" while I went around to the other side of the church, to the entrance of the tomb area. This place was even more impressive than the church side, and Napoleon's tomb was as large and gregarious as you would expect.
On our way to the Eiffel Tower, we passed an Indian Restaurant... hmmm... we looked at each other and decided we would definitely come back there for dinner. Neither of us were overly impressed with French food so far... mostly due to the fact that we weren't interested in fois gras or lamb. Maybe we would have to focus on French cuisine on our next trip!
The Eiffel Tower was very cool. We got "lucky" as there was some kind of bomb scare that had cleared out the tower just before we arrived, so we only had to wait about 15 minutes before grabbing the elevator up to the second level. Despite Beth fearing being blown off the tower, we managed to enjoy the view without incident!
Another update from Gram... you've got to love grandmothers with BlackBerries...
We walked over to the nearby Paris Opéra. What a building! We vowed to come back later or the next day to go inside, but unfortunately, we never got a chance. Next time!
We took the metro to Île de la Cité to go through Notre Dame. Needless to say, the building was impressive. I loved the stained glass windows surrounding the cathedral and was in awe at the size and height of the structure built almost 1000 years ago!
We crossed over to the left bank, and made our way over to the Musée d'Orsay. Beth was close to a melt down, but I managed to find her a Nutella waffle that calmed the storms... In Asia, I used to travel with a Snickers bar in case of emergency - clearly I was losing my edge. The Museum itself was a beautifully restored train station. As for the art and attractions, we weren't too into it (like I said earlier, we're not art people!). The coolest thing I saw was a scale model of the Opera, which made me want to go back and check it out.
We walked over to Les Invalides after the museum. Les Invalides was part historic military building, part church and burial site for Napoleon and others. The church was pretty cool, as they had dozens of old flags hung around the upper level representing nations that were conquered or lost a war to France.
Beth took a "back break" while I went around to the other side of the church, to the entrance of the tomb area. This place was even more impressive than the church side, and Napoleon's tomb was as large and gregarious as you would expect.
On our way to the Eiffel Tower, we passed an Indian Restaurant... hmmm... we looked at each other and decided we would definitely come back there for dinner. Neither of us were overly impressed with French food so far... mostly due to the fact that we weren't interested in fois gras or lamb. Maybe we would have to focus on French cuisine on our next trip!
The Eiffel Tower was very cool. We got "lucky" as there was some kind of bomb scare that had cleared out the tower just before we arrived, so we only had to wait about 15 minutes before grabbing the elevator up to the second level. Despite Beth fearing being blown off the tower, we managed to enjoy the view without incident!
Another update from Gram... you've got to love grandmothers with BlackBerries...
Tita changed the girls' sheets today and washed their bedspreads. What a treasure this person is!
She had prepared a baggie of veggies for the girls, and some water to take to school. But they ate the veggies before 5 pm! Then we walked over to the school. We had pizza, apple juice and (sorry) a doughnut that came with the drink. Abby found Carter, or the other way around, and they swung around a tree giggling and pushing each other around...more giggling.....We saw Jen and Steve.
Then we were first to see Mr Marshall. While the girls were playing in the classroom, I asked him if Robin had had any time-out yet. He said no!! :). But he said she's very chatty. He gives 3 warnings before giving a time-out. So far so good. I really liked him. He's noticed she writes going towards the left...he said it's not unusual and said that once they start writing in the correct direction everything gets straightened away.
Then we met Ms Romeo. Boy, what an organized class that is!! I saw Abby's desk, folders, artwork, etc. She showed us all around the class. They had to write about what they did during the summer. Abby wrote something to the effect that she went to her Gram's pool and swam with her cousins. :) They've both had a bath and are now watching TV (first night of TV) as they needed to relax.
Dad is looking for the instructions to clean the rat cage....??
Love Mum xx
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Day 6: Arles, Les Baux-de-Provence
Our last day in Provence and we chose Arles as our fist destination (coincidentally, it was market day in Arles...). Arles is quite the medieval little town - surrounded by a defensive wall and bordered by the Rhône.
The market was awesome - lots of food vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese (cheese!), meats, cooked food and more. After the market, we climbed up the road inside the walls of the inner city and went to check out the amphitheatre (a smaller coliseum) where they still hold bull fighting today.
I met an older guy who was wearing a Jays hat and a Pearl Izumi jacket who seemed shocked when I opened with "You must be a Toronto cyclist" - he was. He and his wife were on a one-week cruise up the Rhône where they would stop and do day trips at the towns and sights nearby. It sounded like a great way to see Provence.
We left Arles, narrowly avoiding a parking ticket by unintentionally speaking poor Frenglish, and drove towards Les Baux. Lex Baux-de-Provence is a pretty unique place in Provence - it's a fortress town built on a huge lime-stone outcropping that towered over the surrounding countryside. Parking there was a bit of a nightmare - you didn't want to be a rookie stick-shift driver in Les Baux. We had a nice lunch in a restaurant, sitting on a balcony overlooking the valley.
Les Baux was packed with tourists. The "city" was a series of narrow, winding roads accessed on foot only with lots of cafes and artsy shops. Beth opted to shop for an hour while I checked out the dramatic Château des Baux with its tall towers and huge structures dug right out of the limestone. I saw a funny (at least the scores of French school kids were laughing at the guy) demonstration of a trebuchet launching a cannon.
The drive from Les Baux over to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence was a little hairy, with all the twists and turns and hidden corners, but again, this section of Provence didn't look like anything we'd seen so far.
Saint-Rémy was, ho hum, another great little town. We stopped and watched some elderly locals playing bocce which was awesome - I've always loved watching locals playing games - throwing dice on the bridges in Venice, playing chess on the sidewalks in Ho Chi Minh - love it. After a coffee (chocolate chaud for me) and some shopping (Beth!), we were done for the day.
By the time we got back to the hotel, Beth was more than ready for some wine again...
Update from Gram:
The market was awesome - lots of food vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese (cheese!), meats, cooked food and more. After the market, we climbed up the road inside the walls of the inner city and went to check out the amphitheatre (a smaller coliseum) where they still hold bull fighting today.
I met an older guy who was wearing a Jays hat and a Pearl Izumi jacket who seemed shocked when I opened with "You must be a Toronto cyclist" - he was. He and his wife were on a one-week cruise up the Rhône where they would stop and do day trips at the towns and sights nearby. It sounded like a great way to see Provence.
We left Arles, narrowly avoiding a parking ticket by unintentionally speaking poor Frenglish, and drove towards Les Baux. Lex Baux-de-Provence is a pretty unique place in Provence - it's a fortress town built on a huge lime-stone outcropping that towered over the surrounding countryside. Parking there was a bit of a nightmare - you didn't want to be a rookie stick-shift driver in Les Baux. We had a nice lunch in a restaurant, sitting on a balcony overlooking the valley.
Les Baux was packed with tourists. The "city" was a series of narrow, winding roads accessed on foot only with lots of cafes and artsy shops. Beth opted to shop for an hour while I checked out the dramatic Château des Baux with its tall towers and huge structures dug right out of the limestone. I saw a funny (at least the scores of French school kids were laughing at the guy) demonstration of a trebuchet launching a cannon.
The drive from Les Baux over to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence was a little hairy, with all the twists and turns and hidden corners, but again, this section of Provence didn't look like anything we'd seen so far.
Saint-Rémy was, ho hum, another great little town. We stopped and watched some elderly locals playing bocce which was awesome - I've always loved watching locals playing games - throwing dice on the bridges in Venice, playing chess on the sidewalks in Ho Chi Minh - love it. After a coffee (chocolate chaud for me) and some shopping (Beth!), we were done for the day.
By the time we got back to the hotel, Beth was more than ready for some wine again...
Update from Gram:
The treasure hunt is a great motivator in the am!! Like Barb, we don't do the hunt until breakfast is finished and teeth are brushed. Abby is usually all done early, and Robin and Banka enjoy their food.....s-l-o-w-l-y.....
Robin apparently tried her hand as a hairdresser yesterday, cutting a few wisps of hair. Tita removed the scissors!
We're trying to keep all members of the family at the table until everyone has finished. Some of us eat faster than others and query the rationale, but we're persevering....
We made cards last night. Abby made some lovely ones for Owen, and Rob made a creation for Tita.
Tonight (or maybe tomorrow) we're going to iron the beads (kits the girls got). Banka has been busy doing it with both girls.
Where are you??? Hear that Beth is now into Rose?
Love Mum xxxx
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Day 5: Aix-en-Provence, Luberon
We couldn't even talk about a plan today until Beth had her Nutella on toast:
We decided to plan our next two days around the markets, as we loved the market at Bédoin so much. Tuesday was market day in Aix-en-Provence, and since Aix ("Ex") was on our list of places to see, we set off there first.
The markets usually ran until 12:00 or 1:00pm in Provence, so you had to hit them in the morning. Aix was a breeze to get to, though we opted for the side roads as they were way more fun and brought us through tiny little quaint towns. I really felt like you could not get lost in France - the roads were that well signed.
Initially, Aix seemed like a nightmare to park in - there were tens of thousands of cars parked in every nook and cranny on street level, miles from the center of town. We finally discovered the underground parking right in the middle of town, and it turned out there were literally thousands of underground parking spots. We were surprised how prevalent cars were actually; we had pictured European towns that were serviced more by bike and pedestrians and public transport; but the opposite was true.
Aix is very much a University town (they have three Universities) and there were a lot of young international students walking the streets. The market was pretty much all clothing, which was annoying for me (not for Beth!). The town itself was really nice. Besides the wide main boulevard of the market street, there were tons of narrow winding streets with great shops and cafes which would open up suddenly to a great square full of bustling restaurants and shops.
We spent half a day in Aix then jumped back in the car. I had heard that the drive through the Lubéron mountains was nice, so we headed North. I was trying, literally, to get lost - but it didn't work. We drove North through tiny little roads, but sure enough, hit a main road that directed us towards Apt, on the other side of the mountain range. The Lubéron park area is beautiful and very different from what we had seen of Provence so far. We saw a lot of cyclists climbing the mountain roads we were on.
We had an afternoon coffee in Apt and walked around for a bit. It was, as usual, very nice, but there didn't seem to be too much to see of an archaeological/historical nature. We made our way back to Avignon, meandering through the local roads, passing vineyards, olive groves, lavender fields and the occasional sunflower patch.
We received another email update from Gram:
We decided to plan our next two days around the markets, as we loved the market at Bédoin so much. Tuesday was market day in Aix-en-Provence, and since Aix ("Ex") was on our list of places to see, we set off there first.
The markets usually ran until 12:00 or 1:00pm in Provence, so you had to hit them in the morning. Aix was a breeze to get to, though we opted for the side roads as they were way more fun and brought us through tiny little quaint towns. I really felt like you could not get lost in France - the roads were that well signed.
Initially, Aix seemed like a nightmare to park in - there were tens of thousands of cars parked in every nook and cranny on street level, miles from the center of town. We finally discovered the underground parking right in the middle of town, and it turned out there were literally thousands of underground parking spots. We were surprised how prevalent cars were actually; we had pictured European towns that were serviced more by bike and pedestrians and public transport; but the opposite was true.
Aix is very much a University town (they have three Universities) and there were a lot of young international students walking the streets. The market was pretty much all clothing, which was annoying for me (not for Beth!). The town itself was really nice. Besides the wide main boulevard of the market street, there were tons of narrow winding streets with great shops and cafes which would open up suddenly to a great square full of bustling restaurants and shops.
We spent half a day in Aix then jumped back in the car. I had heard that the drive through the Lubéron mountains was nice, so we headed North. I was trying, literally, to get lost - but it didn't work. We drove North through tiny little roads, but sure enough, hit a main road that directed us towards Apt, on the other side of the mountain range. The Lubéron park area is beautiful and very different from what we had seen of Provence so far. We saw a lot of cyclists climbing the mountain roads we were on.
We had an afternoon coffee in Apt and walked around for a bit. It was, as usual, very nice, but there didn't seem to be too much to see of an archaeological/historical nature. We made our way back to Avignon, meandering through the local roads, passing vineyards, olive groves, lavender fields and the occasional sunflower patch.
We received another email update from Gram:
Upon arrival today, girls were in-house playing with the playdough from this morning's scavenger hunt. Tita reported Robbie had a couple of "infractions" today...(Not Tita's words)....so I told Rob she would have to be extra good if she wanted all her stars today. She seemed to be hyper today, maybe tired or reacting to the changeover of guardians?
The girls helped Banka clean up the dining room table for dinner (stars awarded)and hoovered their dinners. Then bath, and Dad took Rob downstairs to exercise the rats and do dot-to-dot. I had Abby sit on my lap trying to teach her to knit. She passed the yarn over the needles for me, and then got bored. So she drew for me but asked me to continue knitting and marvelled at the growth of this thing called a scarf!
Abby was a real doll today! Helpful, polite, looked after her hair, teeth, etc tonight without being asked. She read me a book while I knit.
I've been teaching the girls French words which they seem to remember quite easily! Abby asked what colour people were in France. I declined to tell her about the zillions of Algerians and Moroccans..... !! :)
The week will pass quickly, I feel. Thursday afternoon at the school, then we have to fit in a trip to Mastermind, shopping with Abby, etc!! I don't like to plan anything during school nights!
Love Mum xx
Monday, September 15, 2008
Day 4: Ventoux, Bedoin, Chateaneuf-du-Pape
We just got back from a great day in the Provence countryside. We started out around 9am, after yet another baguette and croissant for breakfast, and drove to Bédoin, a little town at the base of Mt Ventoux, one of the famous mountain stages of the Tour de France (check this out for more on the climb - brutal).
We took the road East out of Bédoin that would take us to the summit of the mountain. We passed many cyclists along the way. At first we were envious of the riders, until we started getting higher and higher and the winds were stronger and stronger, reaching 50 to 60 km per hour at the summit! The mistral is always an issue in Provence, and it blows hardest at the top of Mt. Ventoux! Freezing cold and almost knocked me over! As we came down, we paused to check out the memorial to Tom Simpson who died on the mountain during the tour in 1967. We didn't see too many cyclists who had made it up to the upper third of the mountain. A lot of the people were under dressed, as at the base of the climb, the temperatures were around 23 degrees. The summit was cold - maybe 2 to 5 degrees. We saw a lot of people who had only climbed 3 to 5 kilometers of the 22.7km climb who were grimacing and didn't look to be in good form. I didn't envy them. The best thing was to see the people who had just started the climb and who were still smiling... they had no idea!
We came back down, passing lavender and sunflower fields and many grapes, stopping in Bédoin for a local market and grabbed some wine, cheese, sausage, tapinade and grapes for lunch.
The market was very cool, and although there were a fair number of tourists, locals far outnumbered us and it had a truly local/Provence feel. We found a vendor that had a huge round of two year old Comte and we bought a huge hunk... it turned out to be the best cheese we'd ever had.
We took off down the road West out of Bédoin and passed a bunch of other cyclists were climbing or returning from Ventoux. We meandered along the roads, eventually stopping in Vaison la Romaine for our picnic lunch.
We set up in front of the Roman ruins in the middle of the town. Beth polished off a couple of glasses of wine (now her usual lunch amount!) and we walked around for an hour, killing time until we could call the kids. I was amazed how nice all of the towns we stopped at and drove through were, and this town was no different.
Our next stop was the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape for some excellent wine tasting! Excellent!! We ended up picking up our max 4 bottles from there, all 2005's which was a great year apparently.
We got back at around 4:30, just in time for the Vuelta again! As Beth said in an email to her mom... "We always get a little homesick after our daily calls to the girls but we manage to talk about how great they are for awhile and then move on! We do miss them but are having a wonderful holiday."
Meanwhile, I received an email from Gram with an update on the girls:
I had prepared clues and hidden presents around the house before we left. The kids got a clue each morning (Robin was to trace the letters of the first half of the clue, Abby had to decode the second half of the clue) and called it a "Pirate Treasure Hunt" - it was quite the hit!
We took the road East out of Bédoin that would take us to the summit of the mountain. We passed many cyclists along the way. At first we were envious of the riders, until we started getting higher and higher and the winds were stronger and stronger, reaching 50 to 60 km per hour at the summit! The mistral is always an issue in Provence, and it blows hardest at the top of Mt. Ventoux! Freezing cold and almost knocked me over! As we came down, we paused to check out the memorial to Tom Simpson who died on the mountain during the tour in 1967. We didn't see too many cyclists who had made it up to the upper third of the mountain. A lot of the people were under dressed, as at the base of the climb, the temperatures were around 23 degrees. The summit was cold - maybe 2 to 5 degrees. We saw a lot of people who had only climbed 3 to 5 kilometers of the 22.7km climb who were grimacing and didn't look to be in good form. I didn't envy them. The best thing was to see the people who had just started the climb and who were still smiling... they had no idea!
We came back down, passing lavender and sunflower fields and many grapes, stopping in Bédoin for a local market and grabbed some wine, cheese, sausage, tapinade and grapes for lunch.
The market was very cool, and although there were a fair number of tourists, locals far outnumbered us and it had a truly local/Provence feel. We found a vendor that had a huge round of two year old Comte and we bought a huge hunk... it turned out to be the best cheese we'd ever had.
We took off down the road West out of Bédoin and passed a bunch of other cyclists were climbing or returning from Ventoux. We meandered along the roads, eventually stopping in Vaison la Romaine for our picnic lunch.
We set up in front of the Roman ruins in the middle of the town. Beth polished off a couple of glasses of wine (now her usual lunch amount!) and we walked around for an hour, killing time until we could call the kids. I was amazed how nice all of the towns we stopped at and drove through were, and this town was no different.
Our next stop was the famous Châteauneuf-du-Pape for some excellent wine tasting! Excellent!! We ended up picking up our max 4 bottles from there, all 2005's which was a great year apparently.
We got back at around 4:30, just in time for the Vuelta again! As Beth said in an email to her mom... "We always get a little homesick after our daily calls to the girls but we manage to talk about how great they are for awhile and then move on! We do miss them but are having a wonderful holiday."
Meanwhile, I received an email from Gram with an update on the girls:
We arrived amidst cheers from the peanut gallery! Abby asked what we had for dinner, and I told her we had brought meat loaf. After due consideration, she asked Tita to make her eggs and toast. They both ate their veggies, Abby her toast and eggs, and Robin had two helpings of meat loaf, rice, green beans and salad with yellow peppers!
The bristol board was a hit!!! They coloured their names (new markers for each) and I explained the rules. Needed additional explanation for "good deeds". Abby wanted to know if she did something more than once, could she get extra points [Editor's note: Nerd!]. I said sure! So they both passed today's rating, and each got 4 stars for extra effort (like saying please, helping,etc). They're anxious to do the pirate treasure hunt tomorrow am!
All's well! Lots of love,
Mum xx
I had prepared clues and hidden presents around the house before we left. The kids got a clue each morning (Robin was to trace the letters of the first half of the clue, Abby had to decode the second half of the clue) and called it a "Pirate Treasure Hunt" - it was quite the hit!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Day 3: Avignon, Pont du Gard
I had booked our train tickets for Avignon online 6 months before the trip. We grabbed a cab early and arrived at Gare de Lyon in plenty of time (read: early!) for our trip on the TGV (Train 6171 - 8:04 to 10:43 - $222 for both of us). We chose 2nd class reserved seats and were glad we did, as the other cars with unreserved seats looked annoying for people with luggage.
We made the 650km+ trip in about two and half hours - wow. The Avignon TGV station was relatively newly built, and it was spectacular: huge, clean and laid out perfectly. They had gradual ramps that led down to the rental car area, and everything was well labeled. I had reserved our car online at National, and it went off without a hitch.
Driving for the first time in France was a bit of a challenge at first, but we quickly got used to the signage and found it to be quite easy and enjoyable. We made our way inside the walls of the old city of Avignon to our hotel. We booked the Hôtel le Cloitre Saint Louis from Venere again, and it was quite a historic looking place. We decided to go a little more upscale in Provence, and the hotel was billed as 4 stars at about 100 euros a night. Here's a picture of Beth in the courtyard of the hotel:
We walked up the main street in Avignon, Rue de la Republique, which was like a mini Champs Élysées.
The street ends in a square called Place de l'Orlage, where we had lunch at a small cafe called Les Arts.
After lunch we explored the area around Place de l'Orlage, including the famous Palais des Papes. Avignon was home to the Popes in the early 1300's, which eventually leads to the story of Chateau-neuf-du-Pape later on. We ended up in a garden 100 meters above the Rhône River and overlooking the Pont d'Avignon.
Since it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed, but we walked around the little streets to the East of the Place de l'Orlage which were very cool. We headed back for a quick rest (nap for Beth, the Vuelta d'Espana for me, which was sweet since it's never on TV at home). On the way home, we passed a movie theater. When I was in Asia, I always loved seeing movie posters for American movies redone for the local market. In Thailand and India, they would paint the actors and make them look a little heavier, as it made them appear "better looking" and wealthier.
In the afternoon, we decided to venture out to the Pont du Gard, an amazing Roman aqueduct built in the first century(!). I had seen pictures of the UNESCO heritage site before, but like many great structures, pictures did it no justice. We walked around the site for a couple of hours, taking it all in!
We made the 650km+ trip in about two and half hours - wow. The Avignon TGV station was relatively newly built, and it was spectacular: huge, clean and laid out perfectly. They had gradual ramps that led down to the rental car area, and everything was well labeled. I had reserved our car online at National, and it went off without a hitch.
Driving for the first time in France was a bit of a challenge at first, but we quickly got used to the signage and found it to be quite easy and enjoyable. We made our way inside the walls of the old city of Avignon to our hotel. We booked the Hôtel le Cloitre Saint Louis from Venere again, and it was quite a historic looking place. We decided to go a little more upscale in Provence, and the hotel was billed as 4 stars at about 100 euros a night. Here's a picture of Beth in the courtyard of the hotel:
We walked up the main street in Avignon, Rue de la Republique, which was like a mini Champs Élysées.
The street ends in a square called Place de l'Orlage, where we had lunch at a small cafe called Les Arts.
After lunch we explored the area around Place de l'Orlage, including the famous Palais des Papes. Avignon was home to the Popes in the early 1300's, which eventually leads to the story of Chateau-neuf-du-Pape later on. We ended up in a garden 100 meters above the Rhône River and overlooking the Pont d'Avignon.
Since it was Sunday, most of the shops were closed, but we walked around the little streets to the East of the Place de l'Orlage which were very cool. We headed back for a quick rest (nap for Beth, the Vuelta d'Espana for me, which was sweet since it's never on TV at home). On the way home, we passed a movie theater. When I was in Asia, I always loved seeing movie posters for American movies redone for the local market. In Thailand and India, they would paint the actors and make them look a little heavier, as it made them appear "better looking" and wealthier.
In the afternoon, we decided to venture out to the Pont du Gard, an amazing Roman aqueduct built in the first century(!). I had seen pictures of the UNESCO heritage site before, but like many great structures, pictures did it no justice. We walked around the site for a couple of hours, taking it all in!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Day 2: Paris
For our first full day in Paris, we decided to head out first thing to Montmarte. We walked up to the Saint-Lazare subway station and quickly discovered that the Paris metro system was easy to use, cheap and got you within 100 meters of where you wanted to go, anywhere in the city.
Montemarte is a section of the city in the 18th arrondissement, built upon a pretty big hill and featuring the Basilique du Sacré Coeur.
The view from the church was fantastic, and we were lucky to get there before the crowds and enjoy a crepe for breakfast (Beth's new favourite, all-meal snack food quickly became crepe with Nutella... too funny).
Even better than the church and the view was the street scene to the West of the church. Artisans lined the streets and squares, among cafes and shops selling local art. I think if we had more time in Paris or were to come back, we would frequent Montemarte more - it would be a great place for dinner.
Mid morning, we took the metro down to Pont de l'Alma, one of the many bridges crossing the Seine in the heart of Paris, for a trip on the Bateaux-Mouches. The trip goes east along the Seine, past Notre Dame and then back West to the little Statue of Liberty and back to Pont de l'Alma - a 75 minute round trip. What an awesome way to orient yourself to the city - highly recommended!
When we got back off the boat, we walked down to the area just south of the Eiffel tower and went into a supermarket. We bought a bunch of stuff for lunch: baguettes, a Bordeaux and most importantly, we found some Comte. We were introduced to Comte by Ross and Jill the week before when they hosted a wine tasting for my parent's anniversary. We ended up having a picnic under the Eiffel tower - how romantic.
After lunch, Beth made the daily, 1:45pm our time (7:45am back home) call to the girls - we missed them already! The line ups at the Eiffel tower were huge, so we figured we would come back at the end of the week and try again.
We decided to walk over to the Hôtel National des Invalides, among other things, the burial place of Napolean. Unfortunately, the Pope struck again - he had held a sermon there that morning, and security still had the whole place locked down. Oh well!
After walking several more hours around the different neighbourhoods in Paris, we ended up around Saint Lazare again for dinner at Cafe Marco Polo.
Montemarte is a section of the city in the 18th arrondissement, built upon a pretty big hill and featuring the Basilique du Sacré Coeur.
The view from the church was fantastic, and we were lucky to get there before the crowds and enjoy a crepe for breakfast (Beth's new favourite, all-meal snack food quickly became crepe with Nutella... too funny).
Even better than the church and the view was the street scene to the West of the church. Artisans lined the streets and squares, among cafes and shops selling local art. I think if we had more time in Paris or were to come back, we would frequent Montemarte more - it would be a great place for dinner.
Mid morning, we took the metro down to Pont de l'Alma, one of the many bridges crossing the Seine in the heart of Paris, for a trip on the Bateaux-Mouches. The trip goes east along the Seine, past Notre Dame and then back West to the little Statue of Liberty and back to Pont de l'Alma - a 75 minute round trip. What an awesome way to orient yourself to the city - highly recommended!
When we got back off the boat, we walked down to the area just south of the Eiffel tower and went into a supermarket. We bought a bunch of stuff for lunch: baguettes, a Bordeaux and most importantly, we found some Comte. We were introduced to Comte by Ross and Jill the week before when they hosted a wine tasting for my parent's anniversary. We ended up having a picnic under the Eiffel tower - how romantic.
After lunch, Beth made the daily, 1:45pm our time (7:45am back home) call to the girls - we missed them already! The line ups at the Eiffel tower were huge, so we figured we would come back at the end of the week and try again.
We decided to walk over to the Hôtel National des Invalides, among other things, the burial place of Napolean. Unfortunately, the Pope struck again - he had held a sermon there that morning, and security still had the whole place locked down. Oh well!
After walking several more hours around the different neighbourhoods in Paris, we ended up around Saint Lazare again for dinner at Cafe Marco Polo.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Day 1: Arrival en Paris!
After a nice overnight flight, we arrived at what I would later conclude to be the worst airport in Europe - Charles de Gaulle. Wow, huge, unorganized line ups, pushing, shoving... brutal. However, we just rolled our eyes and waited patiently, about 45 minutes, to get the 25 meters from the door of the plane through passport control.
When we went to Italy 5 years ago, I used a hotel booking site called Venere.com and it was spot on and reliable. I used it again for our 2 hotels on this trip (in Paris and Avignon) and again, success.
For Paris, we looked for something centrally located and clean, and found the Hotel Royal Opera. It was exactly as described - small, clean and very friendly and at 120 Euros, we felt it was great value for such a big city.
After checking in, we walked down towards the Tuileries and had lunch at a cafe, Parisian style! Then we took a walk in the Tuileries garden, towards the Louvre.
We had always planned on skipping the famous Louvre museum. First of all, neither of us are into art, and I had heard that, not only is the Mona Lisa unimpressive when seen in person, but that if you went to the Louvre, you were looking at spending at least a half day (if not several days!) to see everything. We didn't want to rush through Paris just to say we saw the Mona Lisa and other famous works of art. The size of the museum, from the outside, is unbelievable.
We continued walking, dipping down to the bank of the Seine,and headed East to Pont Neuf which connects the right and left banks of Paris, with the Île de la Cité, the founding location of Paris, in the middle.
On the way, a teenage boy tried a little scam on us which we saw a few more times later on in Paris. He stooped over and (dropped and) picked up a gold ring, and said "did you drop this gold ring?"... I waved him off and he had this perplexed look on his face. After we passed him, we watched him try it a few more times with other tourists. Whatever he was up to, I'm glad we still had our Asian-scam-detector-glasses on...
When we got to the island, we headed East again towards Notre Dame. We were impressed with the city so far - so clean and beautiful - everything about the city was very impressive. As we approached the famous cathedral, we noticed security and police everywhere. It turned out that the Pope was giving a sermon that evening at 10:00pm at Notre Dame, so it was closed for the day.
We continued walking, across the bridge to Saint Michel, which was a really cool area that we would have liked to explore more in the future. It had lots of little narrow streets with boutiques, and squares and cafes - very cool.
Now on the left bank (the Seine flows East to West, so looking downriver, the left bank was the South of Paris, the right bank, the North), we walked West along the Seine, passing dozens of little vendor stalls that sold touristy knick knacks, books and local artists' work. We walked as far as the Musée d'Orsay, a grand old train station refurbished as a museum. We crossed over a footbridge and back to the Tuileries garden, where we headed West towards the Champs-Élysées. Everything along this section of the city is "big" - huge expanses of gardens, wide walk ways, huge trees - it was beautiful. We passed through the Place de la Concorde, which had special meaning for me, as one of the fountains was the location of the "money shot" for the final stage of the Tour de France each year.
We were getting tired, but we made it to the Champs-Élysées. It's everything it's been billed as and one of the best areas to people watch in the world. Besides shopping (Beth was salivating, but tired enough not to go in any stores yet!), the restaurants and overall city life of the area amid gigantic trees gave us newfound energy.
While Beth took a break, I went underground and over to the famous Arc_de_Triomphe. I climbed up the narrow, winding stairways to the top of the monument for some awesome views of the surrounding area:
It was getting late, and we decided to walk back to the hotel, so we hiked down Boulevard Haussmann and back to the hotel. We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant near our hotel and we were fast asleep by probably 8:00pm. It had been a long flight and first day in Paris.
When we went to Italy 5 years ago, I used a hotel booking site called Venere.com and it was spot on and reliable. I used it again for our 2 hotels on this trip (in Paris and Avignon) and again, success.
For Paris, we looked for something centrally located and clean, and found the Hotel Royal Opera. It was exactly as described - small, clean and very friendly and at 120 Euros, we felt it was great value for such a big city.
After checking in, we walked down towards the Tuileries and had lunch at a cafe, Parisian style! Then we took a walk in the Tuileries garden, towards the Louvre.
We had always planned on skipping the famous Louvre museum. First of all, neither of us are into art, and I had heard that, not only is the Mona Lisa unimpressive when seen in person, but that if you went to the Louvre, you were looking at spending at least a half day (if not several days!) to see everything. We didn't want to rush through Paris just to say we saw the Mona Lisa and other famous works of art. The size of the museum, from the outside, is unbelievable.
We continued walking, dipping down to the bank of the Seine,and headed East to Pont Neuf which connects the right and left banks of Paris, with the Île de la Cité, the founding location of Paris, in the middle.
On the way, a teenage boy tried a little scam on us which we saw a few more times later on in Paris. He stooped over and (dropped and) picked up a gold ring, and said "did you drop this gold ring?"... I waved him off and he had this perplexed look on his face. After we passed him, we watched him try it a few more times with other tourists. Whatever he was up to, I'm glad we still had our Asian-scam-detector-glasses on...
When we got to the island, we headed East again towards Notre Dame. We were impressed with the city so far - so clean and beautiful - everything about the city was very impressive. As we approached the famous cathedral, we noticed security and police everywhere. It turned out that the Pope was giving a sermon that evening at 10:00pm at Notre Dame, so it was closed for the day.
We continued walking, across the bridge to Saint Michel, which was a really cool area that we would have liked to explore more in the future. It had lots of little narrow streets with boutiques, and squares and cafes - very cool.
Now on the left bank (the Seine flows East to West, so looking downriver, the left bank was the South of Paris, the right bank, the North), we walked West along the Seine, passing dozens of little vendor stalls that sold touristy knick knacks, books and local artists' work. We walked as far as the Musée d'Orsay, a grand old train station refurbished as a museum. We crossed over a footbridge and back to the Tuileries garden, where we headed West towards the Champs-Élysées. Everything along this section of the city is "big" - huge expanses of gardens, wide walk ways, huge trees - it was beautiful. We passed through the Place de la Concorde, which had special meaning for me, as one of the fountains was the location of the "money shot" for the final stage of the Tour de France each year.
We were getting tired, but we made it to the Champs-Élysées. It's everything it's been billed as and one of the best areas to people watch in the world. Besides shopping (Beth was salivating, but tired enough not to go in any stores yet!), the restaurants and overall city life of the area amid gigantic trees gave us newfound energy.
While Beth took a break, I went underground and over to the famous Arc_de_Triomphe. I climbed up the narrow, winding stairways to the top of the monument for some awesome views of the surrounding area:
It was getting late, and we decided to walk back to the hotel, so we hiked down Boulevard Haussmann and back to the hotel. We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant near our hotel and we were fast asleep by probably 8:00pm. It had been a long flight and first day in Paris.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Animal in the house
We hadn't heard Robin for a few minutes, which is usually not a good sign... Then we heard an unusual slur ping sound in the bathroom. I peaked around the corner and saw this:
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Girls Stories
Some recent funny stories...
Robin was talking to Beth about a girl in school that gets a lot of time outs, and Beth asked about a recent example. Robin said "She said the 'F' word... the 'Fuh...' word, I'm not going to see it, but she said the 'Fuh...' word".
Right, got it Robin.
===================================
I was on the front steps tying my shoes, while the girls were in the garage. Suddenly I hear what sounded like raccoons fighting in the garage, and then Robin bursts into a wailing scream. I walk (slowly) over to the garage, and see Robin holding her arm, like she had a new "injury" there. I said "Abby, did you hurt your sister", she says "YES.. but she said the 'F' word... and I don't mean 'Freakin'!'"... I went around the corner to hide my laughter.
===================================
Robin said to Tita today "When is Mommy going to be home so I can be bad?"
===================================
Yesterday, at the park, about 20 minutes after I had left for Reno for a couple of days, Robbie was sulking on a bench. With her lip quivering she said to Beth "I am not going to play without my Daddy"
Robin was talking to Beth about a girl in school that gets a lot of time outs, and Beth asked about a recent example. Robin said "She said the 'F' word... the 'Fuh...' word, I'm not going to see it, but she said the 'Fuh...' word".
Right, got it Robin.
===================================
I was on the front steps tying my shoes, while the girls were in the garage. Suddenly I hear what sounded like raccoons fighting in the garage, and then Robin bursts into a wailing scream. I walk (slowly) over to the garage, and see Robin holding her arm, like she had a new "injury" there. I said "Abby, did you hurt your sister", she says "YES.. but she said the 'F' word... and I don't mean 'Freakin'!'"... I went around the corner to hide my laughter.
===================================
Robin said to Tita today "When is Mommy going to be home so I can be bad?"
===================================
Yesterday, at the park, about 20 minutes after I had left for Reno for a couple of days, Robbie was sulking on a bench. With her lip quivering she said to Beth "I am not going to play without my Daddy"
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Two-wheeler update
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