NigelR
Nigel Robertson Joined: July 10th 2009
Logged in: September 11th 2011
Logged in: September 11th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Alambic machine
Well, it's our last day so we just spent the day close to home. Did some cleaning, mowed the lawn, ran. Went to a small lake nearby but when we got there, we found out it was closed. It was a private lake but you can go in for a small fee (if it had been open). So, we headed back to Valence and ended up finding a beautiful park called Parc de Jouvet. It was huge with lots of big old trees, a fountain (of course, every park has a fountain), and a little train that went around a track through the park. There were also lots of beautiful gardens. The kids played for a long time here and even made some French friends. We've enjoyed our holiday here so much and are sad to ... read more
View of Mirmande from afar
Another nice day - 30 degrees and no humidity. The sun here has a certain quality. It might be the crystal blue skies with no orange band of pollution as in Toronto. Everything sparkles. We started off in Mirmande which is on the list of the most beautiful villages in France. And it was gorgeous. It was built into the side of a mountain and the cobblestone roads and pedestrian walkways wound their way back and forth across the side of the mountain till they eventually reached the top where we found a church, l'eglise St. Foy, built in the 1100s. The few residents of this village are artists (potters, sculptors, painters) and there are also a few restaurants. We made our way to the top to take in the view (even Lori!). Then we were ... read more
Trying to find the finish
What an awesome day! Only bad part was setting the alarm....once we were up though, it was a great day. We drove to Grignan for la foulée de la Marquise race. This was an 11.2km trail run up and down and up and down along gravelly, rocky and a tiny stretch of paved, trails. At times, the trail ran alongside ancient farmhouses and vineyards so close you could reach out and pick a grape as you ran past. It was kind of like running the Seaton trail back home except the hills were longer and higher. Lori chose to start at the back of the pack, graciously not wanting to make everyone pass her. However, she found that she quite liked all the hills and on every hill would pass around 5 people or so. She ... read more
This sign cracks me up
Well, today we went into Valence and (surprise!) it was market day. Actually, this one we were expecting. There is a market in Valence every day but the biggest one is on Saturday. We found cheese, pre-moldy cheese, extra-moldy cheese, and mold with essence of cheese. Plus bread, olives, skinned rabbits (eyeballs and buck teeth intact), plucked duck and chicken with head still on, and other local specialties. We were looking for used novels in English (Lori is fresh out) and t-shirts in French (Nigel is fresh out...just kidding, we need souvenirs). Well, there were almost no English books (just Lord of the Flies and a used dictionary), and all the t-shirts were in English (see photo below). The t-shirts were either British themed or American themed strangely. That the English words were either randomly chosen ... read more
Bong, bong
Typical start to the day. A run followed by Nutella filled crêpes (oddly, Nigel's blood sugars aren't what they could be). Then off to Romans. We are getting spoiled by the mountain scenery and beautiful rivers on every drive, no matter which direction we go. It will be a shocker to come back to flat Toronto. Also, the ancient bridges and buildings and small villages that we spot every where we go. The old houses with the painted shutters and the boulangeries everywhere. We have the best luck with finding open-air markets. We (yet again) had not planned our trip today to Romans based on it being a market day. But it was. This town had a mix of newer and very old architecture. In the photos you'll see a church (Collègiate St. Bernard) that was ... read more
Live octopus
Today was another beach day. In some ways it was like being at a french marketplace: we saw women that looked like raisins, prunes and even a pepperette sausage with arms and legs. There was a woman close by us that we were positive was Magda from There's Something About Mary (the upstairs neighbour). Why she chose to go topless I'll never understand (after 75, one should keep one's clothes on). Anyways, some big dark clouds showed up at one point so we walked around for a bit with a cone and then when we settled ourselves again, the sun came back out in full force. Kids enjoyed sandcastles again and swam in the waves. Lori got out in the water today, past her knees. Chilly. Wine of the day: Pays d'Oc 2010 Chardonnay. ... read more
I ordered the small cheese platter
Kind of a quiet day today. Started off with a run and then hit the road headed for Privas. This is one of the villages named as one the most beautiful in France. The drive was very nice and when we reached the village, we found it to be quite lovely too! We found parking easily and were delighted to find that once again, we had arrived on a market day! Same fare, different village! What strikes us as really interesting is that these markets go until about noon, and then the village literally shuts down. The market is packed up, swept up and appears like there was never a market there earlier! After wandering around the market for a while, we went on a mission to find the terrace that offered the most appetizing lunch! ... read more
Enter Here
Today we went Crest, a small village that is famous for the Crest Tower which boasts the highest keep (think medieval castle) in all of France. Unfortunately, when we got there, Lori had some urgent business to take care of (sitting in the centre ville at a terrace listening to live jazz and reading her book) so the rest went way way way waaaaaayyyyyyyy up the stairs and enjoyed the view. We were lucky to arrive in Crest on a market day, so we wandered around all of the various stalls (cheese, meat, seafood, baked goods, olives, lavender, fresh pastas, nougat,more cheese, goat cheese, honey products, tons of fresh produce, cheese and more!) We bought some local dried sausage, and a bunch of baked goodies (sablés, homme suisse, dame blanche, pain). All yummy and not as ... read more
Orange Theater
Thank you all for your comments (especially Elke!). It is nice to hear back from you. Today we started off with a nice run. Then we headed out to a town called Orange. We found a lovely park in the downtown area where the kids played and we ate our lunch. It was a fancy park with statues, an ornate fence all the way around, a fountain, lots of huge trees, and a small fenced area for the dogs to poo in. This last area appeared to be quite popular. We walked around the shops and then wandered around town where we found some ancient Roman remains of an amphitheatre where Placeto Domingo performed (more recently than Caesar who also made an appearance here not so recently). We also saw my favourite roundabout so far - ... read more
Ideal Palace
Nigel here. I have to say—the only way to really experience a country is to do a house swap. You get to stay longer (~3 weeks) and you immerse yourself in local culture in a way that is just not possible on a hotel excursion. On our annual trips to Europe, we avoid the tourist centres. For example, we are not visiting Paris this trip. By dedicating ourselves to the off the beaten track we avoid the other tourists. We align ourselves avec les vrais français. On mange les nourritures locales. On boit le vin domestique (qu'on ne peut pas acheter au LCBO). On parle la langue (plusieurs personnes qu'on rencontre ne peut pas parler que quelques mots anglais —merveilleuses). On achat du pain là ou nos voisins l'achat. We are in food heaven tonight. Louis ... read more
