Finally back to the blog
It has been 6 or so countries since the last post so here's to catchup...
While hurricanes were raging in the Caribbean we went back to Europe.
Buckingham Palace
Her Majesty's Crown...so they do grow on trees
Westminster where the que was too long so we moved on
yip yip Big Ben AND a red double decker
That wheely thing...The London Eye... Family, has anyone actually been on it yet?
Gran, they are still there...much to the horror of the St Paul's janitorial staff
I'm sorry to report but we did not understand much of the modern "art" at the Tate...
A giant milk sachet filled with air...?
or was that just the packing left from another exhibition?
Shakespear's Globe Theatre where we were just too late to witness The Taming of the Shrew
The first but not last time we saw this. What fun, park and plug in
Same lions, same person so what has changed??? Try as in might, I could not get onto the lions back!
Another opportunistic pleasure was grabbed when we passed the theatre showing Phantom just when they were ready to sell those last few tickets
Farewell England and your White Cliffs of Dover
On to stay with the Cpt's family affording us the opportunity to explore Hamburg.
The warehouse district in this old shipping capital, now a rather trendy area
Other peoples fill up their public spaces with sculptures and fountains, to please the eye...
The Germans put up big black boxes with horns that pour forth Bach's and his colleagues' compositions, to please the ear...
On to Holland we went, to visit this charming little fishing village...whose sea was pushed back 60km or so... The nets were hung up in favour of plows and the boats now sail the canals
It looks a bit odd but the harbour was preserved and now serves as a refuge for boats sailing along the canals. It freezes over in the winter, trapping the boats within
We then just had to pass through Brussels on our way to France which meant of course spending a night right in the centre for max touristing potential
Apparently Brussels is the birthplace of the Jube jube type sweet. There are entire shops dedicated to their sale. I definitely now agree with the one proprietor we met who claimed that they taste completely different when fresh and dont retain said freshness for more than a few days
Every beer is served in its specific glass...Imagine how many glasses a bar must store
Smoke and a pancake? Cigar and a waffle? anyone?
We were lucky enough to catch friends in Arbois. This resulted in some wonderful sightseeing, marvellous wine tasting and unbelievably fantastic overeating.
Every year in Arbois the winemakers collect the best grapes from the first harvest to create this giant bunch which is paraded through the streets and hung in the church as an offering.
The wineries in Arbois are boutique and generally don't sell their wines outside the region, mostly because they're soldout before they make it out.
When visiting this winery conversation led to us mention whose house we were staying in (our friend's late aunt's house), who, it turns out, was a member of the wine makers guild. You may only join this guild if you are invited and a spot only becomes available upon the death of member. Needless to say it is rather exclusive and once our connection into this world was established our host became all smiles and we were free to explore at will.
The double story apartment we called home for the following few months was down the road from the lake that these flamingoes called home for the the summer.
Weekends were spent cycling around Lac Salagou. This dam is surrounded by crumbly red iron rich clay based rock which forms wonderful cycling tracks, French style. With my personalised bike, courtesy of the Cpt, I felt I could do anything: sharp cornered crumbly tracks, steep downhills, even reasonable "cliffdrops". But apparently not stopping on a slope...
We were not immediately supplied with our wonderful apartment upon our arrival in France and as such spent several weeks bouncing between hotels...with no laundry... Reminiscent of the Bariloche laundry, no?
Our Flamingo neighbours
French lunch on our French balcony
The Cpt having a play on a Lac Salagou trail
A view to catch your breath with.
Lac Salagou
Dont forget the Monaco Yacht Show, as part of work in Europe. Being all about who you know (or at least, who youre with), we were invited to bypass the long signup que for "Only those interested in purchasing may line up" and step onboard the newest Wally to explore. We received many curious glances from the passers-by below (way below, it is a rather large yacht) probably wondering how two such unsuitable looking potential purchasers managed to land on deck.
Our weekends were not exclusively dominated by Lac Salagou. We did explore some of the ancient towns in the region including the trout filled St Guilhem les Desserts, where it seems every house not only has a veggie garden but a clear as glass trout stream out back.
This town was apparently established by one of Charlemagne's best generals and cousin when he retired from fighting and decided the relics he had accumulated needed protection. To this end the church was built in this out of the way, dramatically beautiful area.
The town being so out of the way and difficult to get to, was overlooked by all the subsequent invading armies and as such apparently looks much as it did when it was built.
Is it a combine? Is it a frontendloader? No its a grape picker...
The French Riviera, well Nice's view of it anyway
Some Roman Relics from the remains of a way house along the Via Domitia. No wonder the Romans believed the Gods decided at dice, there is nothing random about such a lopsided dice...hmm then again, it is a thousand or so years old so who knows
We found a Gaulish friend and his tree loving dog along The Way
The road is in remarkable condition given its age. The ruts were actually built in on the slopes so that the carts didnt slide off the road.
A two thousand year old bridge, once bridging one section of the Via Domitia to another.
Hmmm what to do at the end of summer on a French Beach? Well run the bulls of course
And my favourite tourist town in the area...Nimes!
The Amphitheatre that was built in 70AD and has pretty much been in use ever since. Initially for its build purpose, to watch fighting, animal vs animal, man vs beast and of course gladiators vs gladiator. According to the audio tour it was a rare circus where a gladiator was killed. Purely due to commercial concerns of course. If a gladiator was killed during a games, the host of the games would have to pay the owner of the gladiator compensation.
During the turbulent years of the fall of the Empire and for the invasions following, the amphitheatre was use as a city within a city. People built houses in the corridors and arches and used the ginormous stone walls to ward off attackers
Today the amphitheatre has returned to its original purpose, or part thereof, hosting bullfights...and the odd rock concert
Then there is the obligatory Roman Temple which believably lays claim to being one of the best preserved Roman Temples, anywhere.
The Tour Magne or Great Tower is located on a spot occupied by a tower since before Roman times. The current Tower was built by the Romans and was included in the defensive walls of the city. Rumour has it that there is dum dum daaaah a treasure buried in its foundations. One chap even managed to practically dig the tower into instability before people realised what he was up to.
The Jardins de la Fontaine, Garden of Fountains, was apparently built over the Roman Baths and served a functional as well as aesthetic purpose. Beautiful as they are, this series of fountains and pools provided an industrial Nimes with a means to access the unbelievably copious amounts of natural spring water. sigh those were the days when industry created beauty instead of smog-lines. but hey, i suppose even smog produces glorious sunsets.
The nearest city to our location was the university city of Montpellier. Wonderful architect, wide open spaces and living history (the St Jacques trail passes through the city, marked by the symbolic St Jacques clam in bronze pressed into the street.), all in a student atmosphere.
Trouble with our trusty car was sorted out The Correct Way... reflective vest and all
Ah smell Aix. All those markets with their spices, foods and food related objects...home of the wooden spice grinders... ah Aix en Provence
The Aix biscuit shop. Gran can you imagine having to produce that many? And this was just the store front.
Everyone always seemed to be eating oysters, a food ive been wary of since our dabble with them in Cape Town with the parentals. But when in Rome, well France at any rate. So on one of our touring Saturdays (giving ourselves the Sunday to recover) we dug in. Oh my oh my, i now understand.
Then there was Beziers. If you want to get from the Atlantic Coast of France to its Mediterranean shore I was always under the assumption that you had the usual overland choices of car, rail or air. Nope. Turns out for centuries you have been able to take a boat across France. Apparently the idea of this canal had been bandied around for centuries before finally undertaken in 1666 when the engineer figured out how to get enough water to the canals passing through the mountains...
A healthy European Dinner no?
Chouquettes. ah sigh chouquettes. The main reason our French colleagues lamented our departure... The Cpt would bake these wonderfully light sugary french treats for our tea breaks. Believe me, there is no "Oh i'll just have one"
And since we've been back on the boat i have not managed to make them successfully even once.
Duck duck please more duck!
Foie Gras; magret de canard and we even learnt why the duck legs were so cheap. (turns out all that manic underwater paddling makes them rather tough)
And then our time in France was done.
Over the suspension bridge we drove
As the return journey required a roadtrip across France we found a stop in Paris fully justifiable.
With just one evening there we walked our way to the top of the Eiffel Tower and oggled the rest of the city from there
View from our hotel
Whats a trip to Paris without some Parisian food? Raw raw with some more raw...complete with, yes, look carefully in that clam shell top left and at those shells below the scampi claws, snails. They even give you a snail fork...a twirly contraption the waiter more than happily demonstrated how to use.
um yes, it was TWO levels and um well ja it was for just 1 person...little, happy me...
After some play time it was work time. We had a quick one to Guadaloupe and back with a fun couple who enjoyed hiking and exploring. On the first day of adventuring we had mixed success: Nothing like, 5min into our fist hike, seeing our lady guest disappear off the edge of a rock. Luckily she slipped most of the way and with minor bumps and bruises cheerfully continued the hike. 
Warm mineral water springs
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