The Musee d’Orsay is smaller than the Louvre, however, has just as much splendor. It contains works of art from many of the world’s masters, Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin, etc. I’m sure art historians would be able to answer the question as to why so many French artist seemed to flourish during the mid-late 19th century. Probably there were social, economic and politic conditions that brought out all this creativity and genius? Close by is the Rodin Museum primarily containing the works of Auguste Rodin, the French Sculpture. Two of his more famous pieces were on display, the “Thinker” and ”The Gates of Hell”. It is interesting to note, that in both of these museums many school children were visiting with their teachers being indoctrinated to classical art which is a very important part of French ... read more

There is a health ”app” that provides a number of measurements. On Saturday, we discovered it took 21,845 steps, 13.5 km and 25 floors to walk from our apartment to the Champs d’Elysees, climb the Arc de Triomphe, tour the Louvre and head back around 6:00 PM. It explained our fatigue at the end of the day!! Debra visited the Champs d’Elysees many years ago and she opined that it has lost much of it’s earlier charm. Along the Boulevard there are numerous high end stores selling global brands, some restaurants, including McDonalds, and it was quite similar to many of the exclusive streets in cities around the world, (Barcelona, Shanghai, London, New York, etc.) Adding to the “commoness” was a giant Ferris Wheel which distracted from the more enjoyable aesthetics areas. The tree lined promenade ... read more

In previous blogs of our last trips to South Africa, we wrote about an evening at the Starlight Concert on the bucolic grounds of Vergelegan Winery. It has been a tradition for us when staying in Gordon's Bay. This years event was very enjoyable with a wide variety of musical genre featuring mainly South African entertainers. Before the concert, our group sat under the shade of a magnificent Camphor tree and shared food, drink and conversation. What a civilized evening! If you drive by open fields or parks on Sunday, you will often see groups of people dressed in white conducting an open air church service. They are Zionist!! It is estimated about 40% of South Africans belong to this religion. The South African Zionist religion began as an “off shoot” of Catholic Christian Church which ... read more

You have probably read about the severe drought in Cape Town and the ensuing water shortage which has not improved since our last blog. In fact, effective Feb 1st, water rationing will be reduced further to 50 litres/day/person (25 litres per person for us as we are in a guesthouse of 8). For perspective, on average, water use in all of South Africa has been 237litres/day/person and in Canada, which is one of the highest in the world, usage is about 329 litres/person/day. So the restrictions will require significant behaviourial changes by all. The government has set up provisions on their website that allows everyone to monitor water usage of their neighbours. This seems drastic but is symptomatic of the action required. It has been reported that 60% of residents are not following the established water ... read more

Hello Everyone: We'll be returning from January - March 2018 to South Africa, Gordon's Bay(about 1 hours drive outside of Capetown. We will be staying once again at Highcliffe House, hosted by Jane and Jim Yeomans. We spoke with Jane and Jim recently and they had a last minute cancellation on their Reisling Suite which has a beautiful view of Gordon's Bay etc. It's available from January 24th. If anyone has an interest they can contact Jane and Jim directly (contact info below) and or course we'd be happy to help with any information as well. Look forward to sharing our travel experiences in South Africa. Best Regards Debra and Dana Contact info: Highcliffe House, Gordon's Bay Cape Town Western Cape 7140 South Africa http://highcliffehouse.co.za/ Jane and Jim Yeomans... read more