For some reason, I just can’t seem to get motivated to write a post. Maybe because its start up time at school, or that Mich’s dad is visiting right now, or that I’m thinking about the 2, no 3, no maybe 4 hockey pool drafts I’ll be in next week. Who knows? But I do have several ideas of things I’d like to write about - I just have to find a way to get my butt into the chair and do it.
We did get our season’s passes for skiing this year today. So now I’m happy to let go of summer warmth and embrace Old Man Winter! Bring it on!!!!
Oh, and maybe I’ll take the opportunity to mention the new look. I think this might be my favorite banner picture so far. Well today it is anyway.
This shot was taken this summer at the top of Puig Carlit, part of our hike in the French Pyrenees. I’ve always wanted a shot like this; with Mich on the top of a rock that we’ve just climbed, the valley through which we hiked to get there off in the distance. I love the colors, the panorama feel and actually, the clouds in the background, nestled into the “little” divots between peaks. Anyway, details about this hike will be in a future post, one that I’m hoping Mich will be a guest writer on.
Well, would you look at that! I almost wrote a new post! I might be back in the saddle after all…
If you know me and Mich, you know that food factors into our lives quite prominently. I know, you’re saying “Duh! We all have to eat!”. And you’d be right. Now I wouldn’t call us “Foodies”, but we do look for opportunities to have great food. Couple this habit with our travel one, and you’ve got a couple of happy, well-fed travelers!
Now whenever we discuss our recent trip with someone, they often say something like “Oooo, you must have loved the food in France.” And indeed we did. But not in the way we may have expected. We found a fair amount of restaurants were quite overpriced (keeping in mind that this is Europe) for rather mediocre fare. So really, we didn’t eat out all that much. That said, there were a few things I wanted to be sure graced my plate on this trip.
Paella:
Yes, I know, this isn’t French food. But hey, we were in Catalonia, in the south of France where the Spanish influence is heavy. So when we walked past this little restaurant on a tiny back street in Perpignan and saw the sign “Paella 9.90€” I became hopeful. When I stuck my head in and saw this…
I don’t think I could fit this Paella Pan in my kitchen!
… I was in! We were told that Paella would be ready in 25 minutes, so we sat down for a glass of rose while we waited. The waiter frequently came out into the street to address the patrons with updates. “Paella in 17 minutes!” “Paella in 8 minutes!” When it did come, it was delicious and well worth the “wait”.
Jacqui and Glenn enjoying the ambiance. Methinks Jacqui has spied the garbage truck!
A funny thing happened during that meal. Although it was about 8pm on a Thursday evening (the night that Perpignan has a LOT of live music in the old city), the garbage truck came along to do its rounds. This was funny because as I said earlier, this was a rather small street. I suppose they must do this business in the evening simply to avoid the daytime traffic on the crowded, narrow French streets. Anyway, check out the video below of our fabulous Paella dinner interrupted briefly by the Perpignan Municipal Sanitation Crew hard at work. I THINK it is safe to say that it will be a once in a lifetime dinner experience, but then again, who knows…? Fine dining experience indeed!
Tapas (or Pintxos):
I know, this is supposed to be about French food. Well, being so close to the Spanish border, and due to the fact that we flew into and out of Barcelona, we did spend some time in Spain. Our last night in Europe was spent in Girona, a really delightful city, full of history and incredible cobblestone streets. It’s a future post in its own right. Anyway, seeing as we were there for a night, I felt we had to get some good Tapas. Glenn ran into a North American bloke on the street (quite literally - he said “excuse me” and we recognized his “accent” to be NA) and we had a quick chat. He was kind of a local in that he had lived there for 12 years. I pumped him for info on a good Tapas place and he did not steer us wrong. It was just the kinda place I was hoping for; no menu, rather they put the tapas out on a long counter and you just go up and pick up what appeals to you. Each one has a toothpick in it. They count up the toothpicks you have at the end of your meal and bill you accordingly. Awesome.
And no drool guard!
Fois Gras:
Here’s one I had some trouble with. I KNOW that I shouldn’t eat fois gras. I know it. I do. I know that it is cruel. I know that the geese have a really, really sucky life. But I also know the unbelievable culinary experience it is to dine on fois gras. People really, there really isn’t anything like it. So, this is one of those “when in France” moments. For the second time in my life (and perhaps the last), I ordered it. And I savored it. And I loved it. Like, I really loved it. I shared a bit with my table-mates, but really, I kept the lion’s share to myself. And it was good people, really, really good. Shame on me.
Fois Gras. Yes it looks like I’m sharing, but really, I’m not. Oh no, I’m not.
Cheese, Olives and Saucisson:
I can’t say enough about the cheese, olives, saucisson and, mentioned in a previous post, bread. The variety of cheese was staggering. Each village or region has their own specialty cheese, be it from cow, goat or sheep. It was fun choosing what to try and how much to spend! The same was true for saucisson (sausage). Probably the one we liked the most was this amazing little number that Mich got; it had pistachios in it! It was really expensive, but the saucisson man assured Mich that it would keep, unrefrigerated, in the cupboard for months! You’ve gotta pay for that kinda feature in your sausage! Plus, at the same market, Jacqui got some amazing cheese that was even more expensive. It had similar features though. It all came in handy when Mich and I did our multi-day hike. Nice to have cheese and saucisson for lunch on day three and not even have to be carrying a cooler with us!
Getting olives at the market. What a selection!
Cheese and Saucisson. Look ma, no refrigeration!
Cafés:
Of course we did spend some quality time enjoying coffee and baked goods out on the street. Mostly the little cafés or Boulangerie would have some seating out on the sidewalk, or more likely a little walking square. Many were very old businesses, handed down from generation to generation within one family. Pictured below are Jacqui and I enjoying morning treats from a Pâtisserie that was founded in 1775.
A Coffee Challenge:
And so it was that I decided that Glenn, a tea drinker, should become a coffee lover! See me in the above pic? That’s me absolutely LOVING a shot of espresso. Mmmmmmm. I wanted to see if we could show Glenn the way. I wanted to see him make that very coffee loving face!
We did finally convince him to have a cup. I asked him to express the love in his face so I could capture it with the camera. Below are the results.
The first try. I think he’s just warming up and only smelling it. Not quite ready I suppose.
Second try. What do you think Glenn? Hmmmm. He’s trying at least to look like he’s enjoying it.
Third try. Really? I’m supposed to like this stuff?
I don’t think he’s had another cup since. Back to Earl Grey for him.
In the end we did a lot of this; bread, tomatoes, cheese and olives. Accompanied by rose of course. And it was awesome.
France is part of the EU. Thus, they are certainly part of the EU’s act of legislation banning the import of Canadian seal products on the basis that commercial seal hunting, notably in Canada, is “inherently inhumane”.
You know, despite this bill’s potential hit to the Canadian economy (and perhaps identity), I have basically been on board with it. I mean, as a country, we can’t expect the French to get behind something that they deem to be “inhumane” right? None of us would. So good on ‘em…. right?
Well I thought so until recently, while in France,…
I saw THIS!
WTF? Seriously?
So clubbing seals is “inherently inhumane”, but clubbing orientals is openly advocated on the French streets? As a Chinese Canadian I have to say that I’m deeply troubled by the promotion of this kind of activity. I mean up until this moment, I felt pretty safe in France. Really, we saw none of the strife and violence that has plagued the country in recent memory. So I was literally walking the streets openly; sipping tasty french coffee at the cafés without a care in the world. Little did I know the peril I was putting myself into. Needless to say, I was WAY more cautious after viewing that poster. I even considered fleeing the country before things went from sweet to sour for me, and I wokked into some trouble.
In the end, I got outta there without incident. But not without being severely troubled by the whole situation. I can’t believe this has been allowed to go on unnoticed by activists ’round the world.
So I would like to use this forum to call for the immediate ban on certain French products, starting with French Fries. That should hit them where it hurts eh? Especially when you think about how many French Fries are consumed in Canada each day. Perhaps then they will start to think twice about this activity. Are you with me people? No more French Fries! And if that doesn’t work (though how could it not!?), I say we ban berets next. That should cripple their economy, leaving them little choice but to come to us begging for our mercy! Ha, they’d probably start asking us to ramp up the seal hunt and send extra seal pelts to them so they can create seal skin berets! I seriously don’t think they know who they are dealing with here.
** UPDATED**
Um… OK, perhaps I got this a little wrong. Thanks to all of you who have written me to let me know that this “Oriental Clubbing” thing is just some kinda craze or something at the Discotheques. Wow, um, who knew?
And yes, I also NOW know that French Fries are a bit of misnomer and that they were invented by the fine folks over at McCain Foods. Well, at least the beret is a French invention!
**UPDATED AGAIN**
Thanks to all of you who emailed me to let me know that in fact the beret really has Basque origins. I mean, come on, a good part of Basque territory is in modern day France! Give me a break here people!
Blake commented earlier with a request for a post about the wine we enjoyed on our trip. Well Blakey, said post was already in the works…
Let’s just say that there was a lot of this going on!
It goes without saying that France has a vibrant wine culture. But before our visit, I’m not sure I really appreciated what that meant. You can’t go very far without seeing a person with a glass of wine in front of them, be it through their kitchen window or at the internet place.
For example, we showed up one day at Alan’s place at about noon. As mentioned previously, Alan is a fantastic fella that Jacqui and Glenn met on their first day in the country. From Paris, he was on vacation, renting a place in Rasiguères, the village closest to our place. He was a great friend to make, full of interesting conversation and insights; a real window to help us peer into French culture. I wish we had been able to spend more time with him. Anyway, when we arrived at his place he asked us if we would like some coffee or wine. Of course, being that it was noon we requested coffee. He nodded and smiled and poured us some Rosé. It was his favorite, obtained from the Cave directly across the street from his place. And I’m not talking a bottle here folks, rather it was a 5 litre plastic cask that you can buy and have refilled onsite. Not bad! Actually, I should mention that I’ve never really been a fan of Rosé, but this trip has easily convinced me that on a hot summer day not much could be more refreshing that a cool glass of the stuff. Needless to say we enjoyed Rosé with Alan on more than one occasion.
I should discuss the Caves (or Caveau) a bit more. They are simply everywhere. Every town has at least ONE. Most have several. And we are talking about tiny towns here people; think villages. Basically they are the outlet that each winery has for wine dégustation , or wine tasting. They’ll pretty much crack any bottle you’d like to try, though there is an expectation that you’ll leave with something tucked under your arm. Well we always did anyway!
Some caves are fancy, some are far from it, but all have their wares ready for you to sample. And sample we did! In Languedoc-Roussillon, the region we were in, they had a few sweet whites, ambers, rose and lots of reds! We learned a bunch about it, though mostly about the reds. In this region the reds tend to be a blend of Syrah, Grenache and a third grape, usually Mourvedre or Carignan (one of the oldest grape varieties in France). Each winery has a variety of wines produced from this blend with several variables - the percentage of each grape, whether the wine goes straight to bottle (very common) or is aged (a year, six months, in old oak barrels or new oak barrels etc. and terroir -the type of soil the grapes are grown in as well as the aspect and angle of slope). We were amazed at how wines made of basically the same three grapes were so different given these variables, even from a single winery. We were so amazed that we decided we needed to do a fair amount of “research” into the phenomenon.
Even the Cave guy gets to sample each one!
What do you think of this one Glenn?
In the end we even got seven year old Andrew in on the action!
Oh relax! This is actually just jus de pomme. Though we totally had Andrew SMELL every wine we tasted! He had a few sips, but it didn’t really resonate with him the same way the Smarties Pop-Up ice cream bars did.
Of course we did find a Cave that was also a restaurant too. That is mostly another post, but the cool part here is that you could buy a bottle for dinner that they would crack for you at the same price as if you came in a bought it off the shelf. And if you didn’t finish it (as if!), they’ll stuff the cork back in so you can take it with you. Ever think that we don’t do things right in North America? I do.
One thing that was rather difficult to figure out was the way wine is classified in France. There are several “categories”: Vin de Pays, Vin de Table, VDQS and AOC. I won’t go into each here, but will mention that we did ask at a Cave where both the shop attendant and the winery owner tried to explain it to us (they both had pretty good English). In the end the owner decided that we should just understand that “it is very complicated”. ‘Nuff said eh?
Of course, if you didn’t know, Canada will only allow you to import 1.5 L of winewith you duty free on a trip like this. That equals 4 bottles for the two of us. So what is one to do after all these Cave visits? I think you can figure it out!
Well we are still in France. For a few more days anyway. yes there has been a lack of posts. Basically our dialup at the house went belly up, there is an expensive internet cafe about 20 minutes away and I’m kinda hating the french keyboards (several keys are in different positions which makes for rather slow typing). It all adds up to me posting about this great trip when we get home!
Many of the autos here in France seem to run on Gazole (Gas and Oil…aka diesel). This seems to be pretty good on the efficiency front as Glenn’s car is getting well over 700 kms per tank. Nice. Not nice in that demand seems to be high. Mich and I pulled into an Esso station (L’Esso?) only to find a little paper sign over the yellow gas gun saying “Gazole de pannes”. The attendant informed Mich that perhaps they’d have some in the morning… or the afternoon maybe… he wasn’t really sure. The problem was that the boat didn’t come in. Hmmm. I think I may have seen a similar sign at another station at some point. You may be asking at the point “what’s the big deal?” Really, on it’s own it wouldn’t be. But we were on the ODYSSEY DE GAZOLE!
I should explain. When we took the car today, Glenn’s only requirement for us was that we got some gazole. We were pretty low, about 1/4 tank. Again, you’re asking “what’s the big deal?”. The problem seems to be that a lot of stations will ONLY accept credit cards. Unfortunately that means Glenn’s may work at some stations, mine at none so far. Other stations accept cash, but ONLY at the times when there is an attendant in the little booth. These times seem to be few and far between (no matter what the sign may say).
So… we were low on fuel, and we had a plan of attack. Go check out a few cool sites, zip in to the Carrefour and get gazole and groceries. Then see the new Harry Potter flick. Good plan.
All went well with the tour. We had a really great time. Then things took a turn for the worst. Our camera battery quit quite suddenly. We were about done for pics anyway, so not a biggie. Next however we had trouble actually finding the Carrefour, site of gazole, groceries and the movie theatre. Eventually we did get there… only to find that the gas attendant was nowhere in site. Hmmm. No gazole for us! OK, we’ll get the supplies. Oh, Carrefour is NOT open at all today. Hmmm. No groceries. Now what. Well, howz about a quick bite and then off to the flick. The ONLy thing around is a McDonalds. So we make the ultimate sacrifice and go to Micky D’s. Off to the theater for the new Harry Potter!!
Upon arrival at the box office my first question is “Is the film Harry Potter in English or French?” You know what the answer was don’t you? “En Francais.”
Wow. Now not only are we now heading home with none of the tasks accomplished, but we can’t even go out for a nice dinner with our extra time as we bolted down the McD’s. Morale was low to say the least.
There was one last chance to redeem the situation; get gazole on the way home in Estagel. Remember le afformentioned Esso station? Yeah, that was the one in Estagel. So needless to say, we came home with a pretty empty tank. Glenn was forgiving as he’s had a less than smooth ride getting fuel too.
Hopefully that boat gets in tomorrow.
Update!
Glenn and I were able to fuel up. Of course we did it in a way that is consistent with the feel of “L’Odyssey de Gazole”…. See pics below…
Today was a post-road trip day of relaxation. Now I guess as we are on holidays, pretty much every day could be considered relaxation, but what I mean is that we stuck pretty close to home.
Around noon every day a very European thing happens (at least I consider it to be very European); the tranquillity of the countryside is shattered by the bleating of a van’s horn. This happy racket indicates that the breadman has cometh. He zips down the lane to our little group of houses here at Borde-Neuve and opens up the back hatch of his van to reveal a plethura of sumptious baked treats. Everyone appears from their houses and he happily grabs what you want. It is a a wonderful part of European bread culture - something that is certainly missing back in Canada.
After kicking around the house a bit, the heat got to us a bit and thus it was time to boot on down to the nearby river oasis. We arrived to see a great little swimming hole, a few locals enjoying it already, and our new friend Alain whom Glenn and Jacqui met soon after they arrived. He and his daughters are here on holiday from Paris.
As the afternoon waned, Mich and I jumped into the car and busted into the local grocery; Shoppi in Estagel. We got some supplies and cooked up a great little Fig and Crispy Battered Goat’s Cheese Salad. It went well with some wine we had picked up earlier at a cave (see previous post for more on the caves).
Day 8 Peyrepertuse - Storming the Castle
Historical research was the task of the day. Basically we decided to reinact the process of storming a castle. The castle of Peyrepertuse, overlooking the village of Duilhac was our chosen target. Instead of parking up at the site we opted to march through the forest and up the steep slope approaching the mountain top fortress. Along the way we realized that we’d be rather tired upon arrival, not to mention that during the 30 minute hike we were in plain view of the castle several times, thus announcing our pending arrival. Of course this would give castle defenders all kinds of time to mount their defences. We could almost smell the cooking tar as they readied it to pour upon us in addition to the volleys of arrows that we were suseptable to while out in the open.
The closer we got, the higher and more daunting the castle walls began to appear. It quickly became obvious why laying siege to a castle was really the way to go in situations like this.
Turns out that to breach the walls all that was required was to cough up 7.5 Euro each. After doing so we were all welcomed in and given a pamphlet to boot!
Out in the country here we are on dial-up with speeds that approach glacial so… methinks no pictures for you today. Instead straight to the commentary on the last few days. They’ve been good…
Day 4 To Nimes
Day 4 began our three day roadtrip centered around the Franz Ferdinand concert in Nimes. Nimes is a cool city (they all seems to be so far). One of its claims to fame is that it was the source of denim for a certain Levi Strauss. Indeed, he used the thick, durable cotton-based cloth, produced de Nimes (”de Nimes –> deNimes –> denim).
En route we stopped in the town of Arles. Its claim to fame is that it is the city in which Vincent van Gogh spent much time, created A LOT of fantastic art inspired by the area, and eventually went mad, cut off his own ear (after chasing off his good friend Gaugin with same said knife) and then killed himself (not in Arles). The Roman arena in this town is well preserved/ restored and inspiring to see.
Upon arrival in Nimes, we got through the congested traffic entering the old part of the city to arrive at our hotel, the comfy and clean Hotel Acanthe de Temple, a few short steps from the Arene de Nimes, site of our concert. Franz Ferdinand rocked; they were tight and the performance energetic and entertaining. Much the same can be said for the opening bands The Dodos, The Virgins and The Ting Tings. Both The Ting Tings and FF were known to us previously and neither disappointed. It was great fun, and thrilling to see a show in an ancient Roman arena. Stunning. The crowd was tons of fun and down to earth. There was smoke in the air, but unlike similar concerts in Canada, not pungent in aroma. A great day
Day 5
Though we all wanted to sleep in after the late night, we wanted to make the best of our time and sucked up the “early” morning, hitting the Maison de Villaret (a family run bakery founded in 1775) a little after 9 for great coffee and breakfast.
Next was a trip to the very charming (and busy) town of Uzes, in the Vaucluse region, for a visit to their morning market. We had a relaxing stroll past the stalls that displayed your typical Provence wares. We picked up some great “saucisson”, goat’s cheese and olives. The markets here are fabulous, similar to some of the farmers markets back home, but was they are usually surrounded by 1000 year old buildings, have a bit of a different feel! They are filled with true food artisans who have produced great treats for us!
Our next stop was the Pont de Gard, another ancient reminder of the Roman occupation of this area. It is an engineering marvel (as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site) that was used to divert water kilometers away from its source river. Pretty cool to enjoy lunch in its shadow. As it was one of our hottest days so far, it was a welcome suprise to see that people come to swim, as much as see the site. The rocky banks of the river are perfect for diving. Needless to say that after a quick change into our bathing suits in the bush we took advantage of the cool water!
Of course, all this activity stirred up a bit of a thirst so the next few stops were at a couple of Caves, which are basically wine shops for local winaries (and are everywhere in this region). Of course every vineyard produces their own product, so there is a lot to sample; 4 or more at each Cave. You tend to leave with a bottle or two each time! That reminds me - as I write this it is about lunch time. I wonder which bottle we’ll crack for lunch? Visiting the caves has been great fun so far; aside from the obvious, we are also enjoying this as a good opportunity to speak to the locals. It should be stated here that of the four of us, Jacqui and Glenn are certainly doing better with their spoken french. And of the two of us, Mich is the far better speaker.
Day 6
Yesterday was certainly the hottest day so far, reaching at one point, 43 degrees on the car thermometer. We spent it getting back home, with of course, a few stops. We visted the town of Isles-sur la Sorgue for another market. Our timing was good as things were just starting to wind down, helping us get a few deals on fruit! Yum.
Next was a trip to the stunning town of Gordes, a fortified city built on a steep hill overlooking the valley beyond. Our jaws all dropped as we rounded a corner in the car to see it for the first time. At one point, this village had become a “ghost time” until not so long ago it was discovered by the rich and famous who bought the place up and renovated. The residences here are now rather shwank.
Abbey Notre Dame de Senanque - outside of Gordes
In addition the Abbey outside of Gordes is stunning. It has been functioning for over 1000 years and is known for its lavender production. The place smelled great!
Montpellier was a nice surprise. We only stopped because Glenn and Jacqui needed to to visit the train station to retrieve an item left on the train from Barcelona. That didn’t go so well, but we did discover a vibrant historic downtown where we enjoyed a nice meal and great people watching.
Glenn got us all home after that. He’s been the chauffeur the whole time so far and doing a great job of it.
Today has been super relaxing so far, with a sleep in, some lazy coffee drinking and picture viewing. However, I just got the word that a trip to the river is now in order so it is time to pack the swimsuits and some lunch (and wine!).
Our second day was a lot of fun; filled with surf and sand and… baguette and cheese. First a stop at Alain’s, for some “quick” info on trains. Well there is no quick drop-ins in France! We were offered wine or coffee…we chose coffee and got wine…the good stuff from across the street that comes by the jug (refillable of course!). We enjoyed a few glasses before heading back on the road…at 1:30 pm. We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the sand of Canet Plage, turning our bodies just often enough to avoid serious sunburns, napping, reading and jumping in the salty Mediteranian to cool off in the waves. It was so very relaxing to just hang with the French tourists at one of their hotspots. Of course that meant some great people watching too. There’s been a lot of that at all locations really.
Day Three
Wonderful day trip to the walled city of Carcassone today to check out the stunning fortified castle. While we did have to brave crowds to do it, I found the endevour worth it as it was so cool to walk the battlements around and see the vast scope of what life used to be like in medieval times. This castle is well restored and while now filled with modern restaurants and shops it gives a real feeling about what it might have been like to live behind castle walls in a bustling community. Incidently, this is the castle that they did the location shooting for Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
We’ve been getting to all these great spots via our private chauffeur, Glenn. As they are in France for 7 weeks, they ended up leasing a great little car. It’s been so fun bombing around the country side in it; zipping up and down the thin lanes as we pass through the petite towns along the way. Every town is postcard-picture perfect, with alley ways, Boulangeries, squares and the ubiquitous tile roofs and stucco or stone walls. It really is amazing what passes for main roads here, both in town and highway. The difference from back in Canada of course is that these roads have been here for several hundred years (in some cases even longer), before they needed to be wider for modern travel. We had a good chat today about the fact that there are American and Japanese autos here that are both small and quite fuel efficient; something that seems to be in rather poor supply in North America. Despite the existence of these cars here, the auto makers are unable (unwilling!) to produce them for that market. At best they may be “in development”.
Returning home we stopped by the Aude River for some bread, cheese and olive tapenade. Our planned trip to Chateau Perpeteuyse will have to be done another day…we just tried to pack too much into one day!
Tomorrow looks to be a great day as we head up to Nimes for a music festival, that is headlining the Ting Tings and Franz Ferdinand in Le Arenes de Nimes, a stunning 1000 year old Roman amphitheatre (qnd perhaps the coolest venue we have seen a concert in yet…?). We might hang around that area for a day or two. Perhaps Nice..?
Our first day was great. Glenn drove down from Perpignan to pick us up at the Barcelona airport. Things were a little sloppy in that none of us knew the airport and thus we didn’t have a good meeting point. In addition, of course we didn’t know how long it would take to clear immigration and customs and thus what time he should be there to get us.
Turns out that entering Spain is beautifully simple and easy and, most importantly, QUICK! Forget the hour plus it will take you to enter via YVR in vancouver. Think the difference between a 400 meter hurtle race and a 100 meter sprint. Spain is the sprint. We walked off the plane, handed our (small) immigration form to the officer (we were lucky enought to have a very short line-up too - not seen yet in Vancouver) who promptly stamped them and waved us through. It was then simply a matter of picking up our bags from the carrasel and… “Bob’s your uncle”. An aside. Doesn’t anyone know where that saying comes from? I really must look it up.
Mich got us some morning espressos and we waited in the sun for Glenn to come and collect us. That done, we headed up the coast toward the French/Spanish “border”. They often talk of the Canada/USA border as being the longest “undefended” border in the world. It ain’t so. It’s as easy to cross from Spain to France as it is to travel from province to province in Canada. Try that at Canada customs.
The drive was super cool, and on a road, the windiness of which rivals that of the crazy coastal road we drove in Indonesia a few years back with Al and Maggie, though perhaps this one is rather more narrow. Glenn negotiated the corners with ease and we rubbernecked our way through quaint, scenic coastal towns, plunged through tunnels and drooled at the Mediteranian.
Of course we had to stop at some point along the way to hit the beach for a bit and have our first French meal; bagette with tomato and brie. Life is so good.
All that said, I really didn’t fully enjoy the tour as jet lag began to kick in. We really didn’t sleep much on the plane as it was a morning flight for us, 10 hours in the air and then arriving first thing in the morning here, our bodies thinking it was just about bed time. So we began to struggle to stay awake. However, with a nap in the car, coupled with a late afternoon one at the house, we ended up sleeping the night straight through and this morning, I think we are reset and ready too go!
This brings me to the house we are staying at. Glenn really didn’t prepare me for what was in store. We are truly in the French countryside, about 40 minutes from the city (Perpignan). The hills are covered with vegetation, trees, grapes and olive bushes. It is terifically scenic. The maison is super cool; an old mostly stone building that is now subdivided and housing multiple families. That said, our part is huge, much bigger than our own home. It is completely charming, covered in classic, wide plank flooring, vintage doors and windows, and old walls. It is exactly what you might expect a vintage French country house to be! I love it.
This morning, I type this with a hot cup of French pressed coffee beside me (OK, this is pretty standard for me) as I gaze our the open windows upon the hills of the southern French country side (this is not). Mich and Jacqui began their morning with a run through the grape covered hills. I expect them back any time now, so I’ll put the water on to boil for round deux of coffee.
Today we explore!
ps. We just heard about the nasty fires in Kelowna and Westbank. Hope you guys are all okay.
Well when Jacqui and Glenn called us many months ago and offered us a free place to stay in the South of France, we didn’t really think it was gonna happen. But hey, it is! So we are off to today to wine country. We should have some access to the ‘net so we will try to update on our travels here. We are planning to relax, hit the beach, stroll the countryside, play some tennis, hike in the Pyrenees and drink wine!
Our trip was fantastic. Everything went well from having great weather, to not having long waits for BC Ferries and starting the summer by sleeping in a tent for EIGHT straight nights.
We decided to access the Broken Group Islands (BGI) via the MV Lady Rose, an historic vessel that has been working in the area for decades. Turns out that the Lady has seen better days and while seaworthy, is not currently certified to carry passengers. Thus it was the MV Frances Barkley for us!
The trip down the Alberni Inlet was beautiful, filling us with hope for great weather for the duration of our paddling.
Alas, as we arrived at Sechart, the Park warden was quick to single us out as canoists with the following comment…
This affected our plans somewhat, and choosing caution over bravado, we opted to aim for the nearby Gibraltar Island campsite rather than the distant Turret Island one.
This turned out to be a great choice; we had a nice first day paddle, met some nice people and using traps borrowed from our friends Chris and Millie, caught Red Rock Crabs, upon which we feasted.
The next day, after listening to the marine forecast, we made a try for Turret. We made it easily, picking our way through the Tiny Islands on our way. Though the gale warning continued (and continued for the duration of our stay), we departed early, and calm conditions held. Indeed, we never saw any truly bad weather! That made for great paddling.
In the end, we had days of wildlife viewing (eagles, fish, otters, seals, dolphins whales and birds, birds, birds), clear waters to paddle and look through, pristine beaches to lounge on, tide pools to peer into, trails to walk and history to ponder. Our company was wonderful; Tod and Catherine so much fun to be with. Sadly, Colin and Maureen we not able to join us as originally planned. Next time guys!
We have a bunch more photos that you can check out if you’d like via the photo player.
We are back! The trip was absolutely awesome. I’ll update with some details later today - for now I’ve got a lot of unpacking to do!
Tomorrow we set out on the first trip of the summer - The Broken Islands Group, Pacific Rim National Park. We’re very excited about this as it’s been a while since we’ve done a multi-day paddling trip, we’ve yet to paddle on the ocean, this is our first trip of that sort with Tod and Catherine, and the weather forecast is getting better each day! As a bonus, this trip got me to get my butt in gear on a project that was started BEFORE we moved to China! It’ll be done today, so more on that later.
Today was a near perfect day. We got up, packed up and paddled the South Thompson from Chase to Pritchard with my co-workers Gillian and Lindsey. The weather was amazing, the water great and fun was had by all. We relaxed afterward on our deck with a few cold ones. Then Mich and I capped the whole day off with a great meal. Awesome.
A little over a year ago when we were in Laos during Spring Break, we discovered a great little open air bbq place overlooking the river in Luang Prabang. And though it was hotter than hell out, we sweated away as we enjoyed this SE Asian style bbq over red hot coals. It was so good that we went back for more another day.
And while I was able to find one of the bbq contraptions in the market, I ended up not buying one as I didn’t really want to pack it around for the rest of the trip. It was a bit bulky for the backpack and I was also worried it would get all bent up. I’ve regretted that decision ever since.
Good thing my bro-in-law Jamie is a world traveler. He picked up not one, but TWO of ‘em in Thailand. Nice.
So Sunday night we tried it out. Jamie was in town for a couple of nights, and the weather was grand so really conditions were perfect. Jamie hit the hardware stores earlier in the day so we could make up a base for the thing and that was it.
Mmmmmmm, BBQ
In Luang Prabang, Jamie tries to feed Mich raw meat.
In the back yard, Jamie tries to feed Mich raw meat.
Well a BIG thanks goes out again this year to Heidi. She is a part time tail guide for Mustang Powder Lodge cat skiing. One of the things she likes to do is go up to the lodge after their season is over and ski tour. I think it’s pretty awesome that her boss is cool with that. Anyway, this is the second year that she brought us along. Phil - who we met just a week ago - joined us too at the last minute. It was great to get to know him.
One cool addition this year was that we got to actually ride in a snowcat as it was down at the parking lot. Last year we took snow machines in, which was much faster, but this was pretty cool. This year it was “Freya”, their back-up snowcat (the fancy Piston Bully cats are already put to bed for the off-season). Heidi showed off her driving skills by getting us up to the lodge. On top of that, Wayne, the summer caretaker needed a bit of training time in the snowcat, so he took us up onto the slopes on the first day. So I guess you could say that we’ve gone cat skiing now!
The snow was not as good this year as last, but we had tons of fun on terrain mostly different from last year. There was some new snow on the second and third day too which helped.
Anyway, didn’t take a lot of pics, but below are a few highlights…
Back in ‘96 I was fortunate enough to be in a position where I had five weeks that I didn’t have to spend at work or school. What to do with such time on my hands? Well I had long figured and stated that though many Canadians frequently traveled to exotic locales such as LA, Palm Springs, Mexico and Hawaii, not nearly as many had seen their own country. I was certainly guilty of that crime! So I packed my tent, fly rod, camera, discman and sundries, kissed my mom and sister goodbye, and pointed the tires east. I didn’t make it all the way across (I ran low on time), but after 118 hours, 48 minutes behind the wheel and 13,016.0 km of pavement behind me, I felt I’d begun to connect with my country. Previously, I’d never been east of Edmonton. Shame on me.
After driving east across the prairies, I had decided to shake things up on the way back and return through the States. Something struck me on that return leg that I had to capture in words; the difference between us and them (you know who I mean).
Border
I drive across the mighty Canadian prairie
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
abandoned barn
cows
telephone pole
telephone pole
telephone pole
turnoff to distant town with no services
telephone pole
_______________
I return via the Interstates
telephone pole
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
BILLBOARD
telephone pole
EXXON MEGASTATION WITH FASTFOOD TOO!
telephone pole
OK, it’s crappy poetry, but it’s how I felt at the time.
Anyway, it was on this trip, in Montreal as I recall, that I purchased “Last of The Ghetto Astronauts” by the Matthew Good Band. I’ve been a fan of Matt Good’s work ever since. As a result I tend to read his blog a fair amount. It includes a diverse range of topics from human rights issues to world events to mental health issues to the music and personal sides of his life as well. Recently he made an interesting post. I read it and something about it struck me. I got distracted and didn’t give it my full attention. Later, after a colleague at work (also a Matt Good fan) mentioned the same post to me, I took another look.
“The Only Juno Worth Receiving”, and its subsequent comments triggered the memories of my trip across the country, and though expressed far more eloquently than I could, inspired this post of mine.
One of the cool things we did over the holidays in Nicaragua was hike Volcans Maderas on Isla de Ometepe. That hike had a lot of cool things about it, but one of the standouts for me was the hoards of leaf cutter ants we saw on the way down (they weren’t out while we climbed the same trail).
Leaf cutter ants are a curious bunch who harvest the foliage from deciduous plants, sometimes defoliating an entire plant in a matter of hours. They proudly carry their cuttings back home in a long parade. However, this action is not about food storage. Well, that is, not food storage for themselves. Instead these little fellas are basically farmers, using the leaf material as a kind of compost that is eaten by a fungus, parts of which are, in turn, eaten by the ants. Cool eh? Even cooler is that the ants will tend to the fungus, feeding it only leaf material that it responds favorably to. And in a further twist, the ants also secrete the products of a bacteria that lives on their bodies, helping keep their crops free of molds and pests.
Of course we didn’t see all that underground action, but it was fascinating to watch them march back to the nest with their little flags waving!
One of the great experiences of the Nica trip was deep sea fishing. It was an interesting day to say the least. Trev and I went sans Jen and Michelle as they opted for a dawn surf followed by a morning yoga session and then beach time.
Fellow surf camp guests Joe and Rachelle joined Trev and I for the early morning departure in our 25 foot open topped fiberglass boat captained by a local fisherman who brought us and Gerry, from the surf camp to all the hot spots.
On the way out we saw the surface of the water boiling with schools of bait fish. Unfortunately, they weren’t biting so we continued out to the first site.
Things began quickly, no more than 10 minutes in, when I heard that beautiful zinging sound of line peeling quickly off the reel and felt the pull on the rod that means…. fish on! I got it reeled in, letting it fight, deftly playing it, knowing its minutes to live are few. As I got it close, the call came out…. “Mackerel! ” (not “Holy Mackerel!”). I worked it closer, the gaff went in and our first fish was in the boat. Awesome - a great start to the day.
Things got pretty quiet after that. And for a long, long time we didn’t get a bite. The decision was made to head for much deeper waters and the voyage was great as we saw four manta rays just under the surface as well as sea turtles, glowing bright green in the bright sunlight. By the time we got there, we were 45 km off the coast of Nicaragua, in what now seemed like a tiny little boat in the middle of nowhere! We were going for mahimahi, also known as dorado. Well, the sun was hot, the swells were big and the fish were not to be found. After a few beers (it was hot, no shade on the boat), it was time for a quick dip in the water to “cool off” (empty the badder) in probably the deepest water I’ve even swum in. After we got back in, someone thought to ask where in Nica you could find sharks. “Here.” was the rather direct answer.
The day began to get a little long in the tooth and both Trev and I were pumped to get back for the late afternoon surf session so we abandoned the quest for mahi and made our way back toward the first “hot” spot. On the way back, in addition to several more sea turtle sightings, we were lucky enough to spot a community of dolphins coming right at us! I say community because there were easily 50 or more of them. We stopped and watched ‘em swim on by, some doing Sea Worldesque aerobatics as they went. Wow. A little further along we spotted a whale. And though Gerry assured us it was a Killer whale, both Trev and I know it was something else - Grey perhaps. It was a ways off.
We spent some more time trolling along the submerged “rocks”, deposited there by the most explosive volcanic eruption in Central America’s history over 100 years ago. You know, the one that left the mountaintop out in the ocean as a new island. Yeah, that one. It was a fruitful move as Rachelle was able to hook another Mackerel. Trev did too, but much to his and our disappointment, it was lost as we tried to gaff it. Doh!
Anyway, it was a grand experience. I dosed up on gravol before we left and though the swells were big, I was totally fine. I got to catch a big fish, we saw some incredible sea life and we capped the day off by surfing until the sun went down. Awesome day.
Oh, and my mackerel? Back at the surf camp Gerry turned it into the most heavenly thing to pass down my gullet the whole trip - ceviche! Mmmmmmm.
The last part of our trip to Nicaragua found us at Monty’s Surf Camp in Jiquilillo. It’s a great, small operation, run by Monty, a Canadian and his Nica business partner, Gerry. It was great to be WAY off the tourist path (not that there is much of one in Nicaragua) on this rural, northern beach by a small fishing village. The food was good and we pretty much had the place to ourselves - us and about four other guests. And while we did other things, including meeting some great people, we were there to surf.
The water was warm, the sun was always out and the waves came up twice a day with the tides. We got up at dawn for the first waves of the day. By the time they were finished (about 7:30 am), coffee was on. Mich even grabbed a few post-surf Yoga sessions, put on by Sandy, our new friend from Kelowna.
The waves at Jiquilillo are perfect for us beginners, which we and Jen and Trev were. They were big enough to have tons of fun, but be manageable. Think Tofino, but sans wetsuits! We took to it pretty fast, but still didn’t catch EVERY wave. Doh!
However, there is always another good swell coming in from the Pacific ready to break.
There was a lot of sun to be had while the tide went out, not to mention plenty of cold Toña. We did a bunch of other things during low tide that I will discuss soon. Afternoon brought another high tide and with it, more great waves. Each evening we surfed until the sun went down.
Well the last post was about the cold. This is about the warm Nicaraguan climate. Yes, we are now here in Granada where it is in the 30´s. Nice. Time for an ice cold beer…
In case you were wondering, the new banner pic of the dude fishing was taken on our spring break trip earlier this year. It was taken on the Mekong River in Luang Prabang, Laos.
Our first visit to Thailand (back in 2003) we made sure to get a bit off the beaten path. That led us to the northern province of Nan. There, after a great bus trip (great means - interesting and fun. OK, the bus almost didn’t make it) and a couple of connections by way of the back of a couple of trucks, we made it to Bamboo Hut.
You never know who you might meet at a place like that . In this case it was a nice couple from Manitoba. This was good because Bamboo Hut is a small, hard-to-get-to place. So you get to know the few people that are there. Thus you want them to be cool. We got to know Murray and Lei Anne around the fire. By summer, they run Poor Michael’s Bookshop in Onanole, Manitoba, just outside beautiful Riding National Park. We’ve been there since, and I’m here to say that if you find yourself ever in Onanole, do stop by as they run a great place (and make a decent cup of joe too!). It is filled with treasures from far away places because come winter, Murray and Lei Anne close up shop and travel the world, importing art they find along the way.
I was first aware of Murray from our hut; I heard him before I saw him. He was playing guitar! I was missing mine after being on the road with only a pack on my back so soon found myself following the notes through the hot northern Thai air until I found the two of them. Murray was happy to play songs that showed a special kind of wit - including the one we remember best, “Lonely Planet People”. It was a funny little ditty about meeting people on the backpacking circuit.
Turns out Murray had a band back in Canada called das match SHOW! They have since renamed themselves, and are now Dust Poets, and play witty songs with intelligent lyrics and catchy melodies.
We were lucky enough to see the Dust Poets last week at the penultimate show at the Ashcroft Opera House. Yes unfortunately the Opera House has closed. Fortunately, the Dust Poets were there before it did. We enjoyed the show immensely - this is talented band - and got a chance to catch up with Murray a bit too.
You can check out their music streamed on their website. The new album starts with the great lyric, “Out on the edge of town, everything’s on the edge of town”, and gets even better from there.
There are profiles on CBC Radio 2 Blog here and CBC Radio 3 here. Check it out. And if you ever get a chance to see these players live, don’t pass it up.
You may have noticed a new banner pic recently. It’s one of my favs from our trip to Indonesia. Part of the time we spent on Flores included a multi-day boat trip to Rinca and Komodo Islands - home, of course, to the world famous Komodo dragon. It was a fantastic few days that also included some awesome snorkeling (really awesome) and other fun stuff like a flyover from Flying Foxes. Anyway, the pic above is from that boat trip and was taken on a little side trip we did to an awesome, secluded little “resort” on an island. It was hard to believe that the little slice of paradise was abandoned because they couldn’t get enough guests to make it a go. That was something we really enjoyed about Indonesia, specifically the eastern parts - it wasn’t very touristy (like Thailand for example). Would sure love to get back there one day.
I came across an interesting article recently on cbc.ca. Upon reading it, two surprising things came to light for me. First was that there is a Toy Hall of Fame. Who knew? I guess it’s not that big of a surprise in this day an age where we have a hall of fame for pretty much everything, and if not, at least there is an “award” for it. I mean really, our house is already in the Dust Hall of Fame (according to Mich) and I’ve won several awards for outstanding bed head. Anyway, I digress - enough about us. So the Toy HOF must be filled with incredible wonders of Toyland like slinkies, and silly putty and Matchbox cars, games like monopoy and checkers (not really toys I guess) and of course… The Stick. Now at this point you may expect me to poke all kinds of fun at the crack Induction committee over there at the Toy HOF (they’ve inducted the cardboard box too), but actually no, I think it’s all quite wonderful. In this time of computer games, and robot dinosaurs and other electronic wonders that younger and younger kids are all hoping to see under the imminent (according to Big Box) Christmas trees, the idea of the Stick and the Box, nay, the idea of ideas is what really warms my heart. I’m talking about imagination here folks.
I remember way back when I was a little kid and my parents received beautiful rosewood furniture from China. It was shipped all the way over in wooden crates. After the furniture was out these amazing crates were moved to the basement and passed on to my siblings and me. In our care they became forts, garages, jails, castles, beds and whatever our little imaginations could dream up that day. They had no moving parts. They had no decoration or electrical plug ins. They had no lights, bells or whistles. But they did have us. And we spent countless hours in the worlds they provided for us.
I remember my nephew as a youngster (maybe 1? 2?) at Christmas one year in PG. Though he didn’t really get what was going on with the whole present thing, we were able to convince him to rip off the paper of his gifts. Soon though he seemed less interested in presents and stuff, and more interested in the boxes! Awesome.
And that brings me to The Stick. Its induction in the Toy HOF shows the genius of the selection committee. There are few places on Earth that a kid couldn’t come by a stick, obtain it for no cost and have it become myriad playthings for him or her. I have many personal stick stories I could share from the simpler days of my youth, but instead I want to share a modern day finding that I thought of instantly upon reading the headline of the aforementioned article. On our spring break trip to Laos we had the opportunity to spend a day and a night in a village on a home stay. It was a very interesting time for many reasons. One of them was that before dinner, we sat on the front porch of our hosts’ house and watched the village kids play a remarkable game. They played for hours, stopping only for lack of light. It was basically a team contest. The only things required were a couple of sticks, a hole in the ground, some space and a bunch of kids. While we didn’t totally figure out all the rules, they were fascinating and intricate. Now there were a few TVs in this village, though not too many other modern amenities. But these kids weren’t interested. They were outside. They had no shoes. They were having fun. ‘Nuff said.
My fav part of the game comes around the 30 second mark of the video below. I’m thinking that’s an advanced move.
And for next year, if it’s not in the Toy HOF already, my nomination goes to The Ball.
Looks like fun eh?
For the whole list of toys that have made it so far into the Hall of Fame, click here.
