Making progress with the outside of the house now. Finally finished shutter three. I had a big bloody smile on my face when that was done!!!!! Those shutters were extremely difficult to paint due to the fact they are original shutters, 100 yr old. Trying to get the paint to key on to them was hellish!!! Never mind, got there in the end and I am now strangely satisfied about it!! Been dotting about finishing off bits of masonary, work on that is all weather dependant, its been a mix of blue sky sun and rain here the past week so [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday I went running in the Bois de Boulogne. It was not easy to force myself out, despite the sunny day and the fact that I was running behind on my necessary 9-miler (part of my marathon training). I had to enlist Liz and Alan, my hosts, to come with me for the first 3 miles. For those of you who know me, the Bois de Boulogne was the scene of my concussion several years ago. I flipped over the handles of my bicycle and landed on my chin, causing me to temporarily lose my vision and have to rush to [View Full Entry]

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Een weekje verlof en gewoon genoten van elkaar. Het weer werkte niet echt mee, maar wij weten daar altijd wel raad mee. Vrijdagavond begonnen we met een gezellig etentje in Zaowong in 't stad. Met daarna een zalige Thaise massage met speciale kruiden. 3 dagen geradbraakt, zo'n diepe inwerking had deze. Zeker de moeite! Vanaf nu een klanten-kaartje. Ze zullen ons nog wel zien. De volgende dagen een beetje zitten brainstormen over ons volgende project. Maar maandagmorgen vertrokken we toch voor twee dagen naar Fontaine Bleau. Het weer was op zich wel oke, alleen heel vochtig. Erik [View Full Entry]

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Cousin M treated me to a French cooking class at the Atelier Des Chefs in the 15th Arrondissement...Loved it!!! L' Atelliers Des Chefs: The theme was crumbles with Potage Poitrine avec Langoustine: Pumpkin Soup and Scampi Citron avec Crevette: Citrus fruits and Shrimp Vin Rouge avec Poire: Red Vine with Pear The thing is that my crumble did not turn out very good... Apparently my hand temperature is somewhat high, witch caused the crumble to dough up... I suppose I can not ever become a Sushi chef, sigh :-(!!! I will add the pictures later... HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!! Marriage Freres: [View Full Entry]

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Today (11/11 ) seems to be a fitting day to begin blogging our next adventure - it is now 11 sleeps until we leave. No. 1 daughter is very excited and No. 2 is heading that way but until her last VCE exam is over, the holiday is still far from her mind. Remembrance Day always makes me think of my grandfather and this trip is very much about him as we will be touring the WW1 battlefields of France and Belgium where he served. This first entry of our travels is also a bit of a "test-run" to make sure [View Full Entry]

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An old French songs CD is playing...I am sitting by the window, looking out at the tree lined Blvd, sipping at a warm French Berger tisane, and munching on some canelle and chocolate cake that M baked...Life could not taste better... It is mid fall and the leaves are changing colors...A one day excursion to a couple of small towns along the forests of Fontainebleau, outside of Paris made for a very pleasant weekend... The first town was Barbizon, which was and is a haven for impressionist painters..It is a very quaint small village, with stoned walls, beautiful trees and flowers, [View Full Entry]

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As I had mentioned, we literally happened upon a bus that was leaving for Marseille in 1 minute, so in no time we were on our way. The trip itself was uneventful and in perhaps 45 minutes we were dropped off in the city right at the Arc de Triomph - yes, apparently Marseille needed its own. The oldest city in France, Marseille is second population-wise only to Paris. Its port is also the 2nd largest in Europe, so this was certainly going to be a change from little old Aix. Now we were all a bit apprehensive of spending 2 [View Full Entry]

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Lack of posts in the last few days has been due to me not being well. Got ill on Tuesday with Renal Colic and Kidney Pains. Rob sorted me out with these tablets from the pharmacist and basically all I did for 3 days was sleep, only waking up to eat. Didn't even make it out the Gite at one point, Carol sent me down food and Rob looked after me. Was feeling a bit better by yesterday afternoon, went back to Champdenier to get more tablets but I haven't been taking them during the day as they put me out [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was Place Royale/Place De Vosges, the 3rd and the 4th arroundissements, and the Marais and the Jewish neighborood, where M and I had coffee and Tarte Titin in a quaint cafe with a little courtyard along the Place Vosges. We were on our way to the famous Picasso museum. To our great surprise the museum was closed, under rehabilitation, and it will open up sometime in 2012. All the paintings have been loaned out to different museums around the world. in Place de Vosges there is this amazing tea store by the name of Damman Freres...It is such an experience, [View Full Entry]

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When I worked at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, I had a lovely daily commute. I walked across the street to the boulangerie on Boulevard de Port Royal, swallowed some sort of sinfully calorific pastry, and ducked into the metro. After sticking my ticket in the turnstile while attempting not to touch anything with my bare hands, I would elbow my way past the other commuters to the edge of the platform. Once the train arrived, it was always like a game of musical chairs - without the music, and without the good-natured laughter when you lose and instead some greasy-haired [View Full Entry]

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