Christmas at The Lake 2010

Our first Christmas at Grand Lake in New Brunswick was GREEN but sunny! Pat and I arrived at the end of November to open up the house. There were some glitches in our heating system which required a couple of visits from the heating sub-contractor to rectify. On November 29th, we drove to Bangor, Maine as Pat was to fly out via Detroit to Coty business meetings near Raleigh-Durham, NC. We met back again in Bangor on the night of December 2nd, returning to the lakehouse the following day via St. Stephen (before the flooding) and a visit to Ganong Chocolates and Ovenhouse Smoked Salmon in St. George.

On December 7th, Pat had to head back to Spain to return to work. He was severely delayed in both Montreal and Paris due to weather conditions, and finally reached our home on the Med some 30 hours after he set out! (He could have travelled to Malaysia in that time frame!) I spent a week in a very cold and snowy Montreal with Jen and Ben and was able to visit The Farm one day to have lunch with my aunt and uncle and cousin, Beth. Ben returned home to NS to help out with the family's Christmas tree farm for a week. I returned to NB the day after some 200+ mm of rain fell which led to some terrible floods and high water on the Saint John River and at Grand Lake. Fortunately our new home is situated on a bluff some 25+ ft. overlooking the lake, so no danger of flooding here! Some of the roads leading to the lake experienced high water and flooding which made travel interesting! It was sort of like driving along a causeway for part of the way!

Steph and Lou were the first on December 21st to arrive after her interview for Paediatrics residency in the Portland, ME children's hospital. Jen and Ben arrived from Montreal the following day and Pat got in late on Lou's birthday, December 23rd, having changed his flight plan to go through JFK airport and on to Bangor, where he rented a car to drive to the lake. It didn't look like his original flight via Paris and Montreal were going to work out what with the snowy weather in Europe.

Luckily for all of us, the weather on this end was mild and there were no issues with the driving. The snow only fell on Pat's birthday, December 27th and now "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"!

The gang over the cheese fondue pot on Christmas Eve: Lou, Ben, Jen, Pat and Steph














Steph and Jen sharing a chuckle














The sun came out on Christmas Day














Santa came and filled stockings...and boxes and bags below on the hearth!






































Lou put up the 8-9 ft. tree in the corner of the dining room: with 6 strings of lights and lots of decorations, it looked great!



















Lou and Steph, Ben and Jen



















Opening presents in the Sunroom: Lou and Steph (wearing her new hat!)




















Jen and Ben befopre heading to Nova Scotia to spend time with the Seamone family














Christmas afternoon walk along Grand Lake, the ice was starting to form and making noises like a huge flock of birds chirping!





























Steph and Lou-their first Christmas Day together!




















Snow and gray skies on Pat's birthday, December 27th










































Route 690 through The Pines near our driveway














The causeway at Sypher Cove














Sypher Cove














The Back Lake at Sypher Cove...not ready for skating yet!














Along the causeway at Sypher Cove...














Wave action and ice along the shore



















Pat's birthday cheesecake



















WOW-that's some smoke signal! How old is he anyway?!?



















December 28th -walking in a winter wonderland...



















or rather, cross-country skiing! Steph and Lou on a great trail just across from our driveway in the woods!



















Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody! Hasta luego...

Our first Witty Walk! November 6, 2010

What, you ask, is a "Witty Walk"? Michael Witty, a member of the local British Society of Catalunya, leads monthly walks (or hikes) throughout the Catalunyan countryside for anyone who wishes to show up at the right time and place! More info on their website:
http://www.britsoccat.com/WittyWalks
(sorry you will have to highlight the link and paste into a new window)

Since we had no plans this past weekend, we decided to join them on a seaside walk (more of an easy stroll, really) from the town of Sitges, south of Barcelona to Vilanova i la Geltru, some 7 km, much of it alongside the Renfe railway lines. See map of the area:
http://maps.google.es/maps?q=Sitges+map&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Sitges&gl=es&ei=LybYTJFMjMviBsaStJwH&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBoQ8gEwAA

We left our house in Caldes d'Estrac about 8:45 a.m. in beautiful sunshine, armed with some snacks, water and sunscreen! We found a free parking place close to the train station where we met our group, some 60+ people in all! We walked to the coastal boardwalk through the old part of Sitges, admiring some of the architecture and homes built by rich "americanos" who made their fortune in Cuba. Apparently the person who started Bacardi rum, Don Facundo Bacardi, was born in Sitges in 1814 and you can visit Casa Bacardi to find out more about it! (Another day...)

Below are some typical houses of the 19th century in Sitges "old town" area, many of them reflect the style of Antoni Gaudi, so popular in Barcelona.


























































































The beginning of the seaside boardwalk in Sitges














We marvelled at some beautiful homes overlooking the sea, many occupied only in the summer months.















































Looking back towards Sitges centre, popular restaurants line the boardwalk.




























and ahead to a hotel, our first "meeting place" to catch up all the stragglers!














Another large hotel overlooking the sea, some ducks being fed in the river, a golf course to the left.














As mentioned, much of the walk, once we were out of the city, bordered the Renfe train tracks (both commuter and short-distance trains). We had to walk up and over the hills whereas the trains went through tunnels.














Looking ahead towards Vilanova, our destination in the distance.
























































There were many sheltered coves along the route, although the beaches were quite rocky.










































A lovely old house with a gorgeous view...except for the train tracks right at their front door!














Kathie and Pat just before entering Vilanova and a refreshing drink at a local bar/cafe followed by a typically late Spanish lunch "al fresco" in the late afternoon sunshine! The food was nothing particularly special but the company was interesting and the weather glorious!














We were told that this not typical of most Witty Walks, where far fewer people turn up! Usually they meet out in the surrounding countryside, hike up a mountain, across the top then down the other side, enjoying a picnic lunch en route or meeting in a local restaurant for lunch. We hope to join them again sometime, depending on our schedule!

Hasta luego....

A weekend in Provence October 22-24, 2010

After our visit to Monte Carlo, we drove along the coast through Nice, lunched at Antibes on the beach, then to Cannes where we rejoined the autoroute to Avignon. The countryside was far more mountainous than we had expected...where were all the fields of lavender and sunflowers that I associate with Provence?!?
We spent two nights at the quaint Hotel d'Europe in the Place Crillon, established in 1799. http://www.heurope.com/















Our room looked out onto the front courtyard














A Sunday morning bird bath!



















Narrow streets within the walls of old Avignon



















The old plane trees in the Place de l'Horloge














The entry to a restaurant inside a pretty courtyard














There are the colours of Provence!



















City Hall in the Place de l'Horloge














An old-fashioned merry-go-round, typical of small towns in Europe














Now, forgive my ignorance of French geography, but I only just realised that the Rhone River flows right through Avignon lending its name to the famous Cotes du Rhone wines of the area!














The Palais des Papes and the huge courtyard (le cours d'Honneu), built during the 14th century and intended as a fortified palace for the pope. Seven French-born Popes invested huge sums of money in building and decorating this, the largest Gothic palace in the world.































Roman ruins














OK everyone sing along now:
Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse, l'on y danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon, l'on y danse tout en rond!

Below is the famous Pont St-Benezet, originally a 900 m wooden structure. All but four of its 22 spans were washed away in the mid 1600's.
















The famous bridge is only half there at present: it is believed to have been started in 1177 when Benezet, a pastor from Ardeche, was told in three visions to span the Rhone at any cost! Originally, the bridge straddled the island of Barthelasse, the largest island in a European river!














Getting back to wine country...not only did we discover on this trip that the Cote-du-Rhone wines were so close to Barcelona (four hours' drive), but Pat's favourite, Chateauneuf-du-Pape is located a mere 12 km to the north of Avignon! Guess where we headed after breakfast and a visit to a local wine shop for some good advice! Below are some of the Domaines/Caves we visited...there are dozens more in a small radius around the small village of CDP. Wines produced in the following villages can also be labelled as CDP wines: Caderousse, Jonquieres, Courthezon, Bedarrides and Sorgues. Likely there are "no bad wines"!


























































Scenes from the village of Chateauneuf-du-Pape




















The Church














Pat went in for a haircut "chez Philippe", cheaper than in Spain!




















The ruins of the "Chateau neuf du Pape" (the Pope's new castle)














A view of the village, Rhone River and surrounding countryside of CDP














The wine we brought back home is wonderful and is aging in our cellar below the house, aka The Garage!
No more travelling for awhile...back again soon! Hasta luego!