It is that time of the year again. We are off this Friday, June 29th for our annual house-swap abroad. This year, we are going to Edinburgh, Scotland.... read more

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

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

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

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