17th October 2007 - Picasso and the Place des Vosges Paris was a little cool, so we found our jackets, scarves and I bought a new wool cap at the market near the apartment. The produce available looked so fresh and it was worth wandering through to check it out. Plenty of choices - pigeon, duck, lots of seafood, and plenty of meats to pick from. We had a good yack with the vendor I bought my cap from about Rugby, Australia and our impressions of France. My brain still works so slow in French and it always amazes me how hard complete strangers like this try to converse with us - the impression some people have of the French being rude is so far from the truth! Also, we bumped into an Aussie guy who ... read more

14th October 2007 - The Feast of Saint Gall An interesting morning - attended a Catholic church service for the first time in many years. It was the feast of Saint Gall, one of the two Patron Saints of Niedermorschwihr. The feast was in celebration of the recent harvest and was a big celebration and family event. We attended the service out of respect for Beatrice and also Bernard (one of Beatrice’s cousins, who was also staying with them who happens to be a Priest). So, together with the family members who were at home at the time we attended the local church at 10am and amazing as it may seem the roof did not collapse when I entered. The service was enjoyable and interesting, the choir and the organ sounded wonderful, the display of produce ... read more

11th October 2007 We had hoped that we would be in Alsace in time to help with the grape harvest. Alas, this year the harvest was about a month earlier than normal. This was due to some freakish weather in about April, when an Indian summer burst on the scene resulting in the vines producing their fruit much earlier. Then, the region was hit by a hail storm, wiping out about 40% of the crop. So, by the time we arrived in Alsace the harvest was well and truly over, except for a few rows of vines which had fruited a bit later than the others. We spent about 2 hours picking roughly 100kg of grapes and that was that. Jean and Beatrice lent us their Peugeot 205 and we set about re-exploring the district, starting ... read more

7th October We found our way to Arles, via the outskirts of Marseille without too much trouble. We had received an SMS the day before from Florence. Lorenza and I were really looking forward to meeting her in person. We had originally made contact with her via Hospitality Club sometime in 2006. We had exchanged lots of emails as she had been planning to visit Australia, but circumstances changed and instead we were on our way to meet her in Arles. The hotel that Florence had suggested to us was lovely, a very comfortable room overlooking a peaceful garden, right in the centre of the old part of the town. We got settled and called Florence to let her know we had arrived. Soon after our call Florence met us downstairs for a drink. The internet ... read more

We took a boat ride along the coast on board a fishing boat with the skipper Salvatoro. Helping out on the cruise was a funny old chook, Gloria, who was in her 70’s and originally from some where in the mid-west of the USA. Also joining us was a local photographer, Cindy, a newly married Canadian couple and an Aussie couple. The cruise took us along the coast to Ravello, stopping along the way for swimming and sight seeing. In one of the grottos we swam in the water was so clear, when you splashed it in front of you it shimmered like turquoise crystals. We stopped for lunch along the coast and the restaurant cooked up fish that Salvatoro had caught, washed down with local vino. This was such a relaxing cruise in a small ... read more