Christmas

Today, Thursday 15 December, we are on our way to Broadstairs for. Christmas with the family. As usual, we took the 0715 bus to Béziers, stopped on Avenue Paul Riquet for breakfast and then took the 0835 train to Paris. Now, we are whizzing up the Rhône valley. In Paris, we will change stations, have a light lunch and then take the Eurostar to London where we will meet Jim for an early birthday meal at the restaurant of the Great Northern Hotel, the Plum and Spilt Milk before continuing to the flat that we rent for longer stays in Broadstairs.

Our first job after settling in was to look after Lenny while Helen went to Ernie's Christmas play. Ernie was a wolf in the play and had a dance which he wouldn't repeat for us. Lenny explored the flat and found somewhere to sit under the sink.





Needless to say, time flew by. We had many visits to the park with the two boys, helped with the shopping and cooking, babysat whenever needed, etc, etc.

On my birthday, we went to a small restaurant in Broadstairs with Helen for a delicious lunch.

The following Tuesday, we took the train to London to meet with Cambridge friends, Rachel and Brian and ate a festive lunch at the Plum and Spilt Milk.

Jim came down to Broadstairs at Christmas and stayed in the flat with us. We had good weather most days, with Broadstairs looking good in the winter sun.





Lenny is following in his brother's footsteps as far as iPhones and iPads are concerned. While he doesn't yet have all the skills, which is hardly surprising at 14 months, he has an eagle eye and appears from nowhere when an iDevice appears.





Some photos of the boys




At Morelli's ice-cream parlour




On Boxing Day, Jim returned to London to prepare for his trip to Brussels to join Sophie and then continue for a holiday in Sweden and Denmark where they will celebrate his 40th birthday. First, we went for lunch at the Yarrow hotel, which à a training hotel for East Kent College. The bar and dining room are spacious, and so suitable for small people who need space to run around. The staff were very child friendly, perfect for us.

So now we are on our way back home and will start work on our next trip.

The blog will continue at uzin2017.blogspot.com

- Pat and John on tour

Summer 2016

This year, our summer was dominated by the need to do some work on our Cambridge house while it was free of tenants. We stayed in Broadstairs both on the way to Cambridge and on the way back, and so were able to be at Ernie's 4th birthday party which was held on the beach where there were bouncy castles for the children.

In between work in Cambridge, we were backwards and forwards to Broadstairs and saw Jim in London, renewed Pat's passport and other mundane but necessary tasks.






At the end of July, we returned to France and drove down just before the 'grand depart' when vast numbers of Parisians leave Paris and head for the sun, causing much chaos on the roads in the process,

By the time we reached home, we were happy to spend the whole of August on the terrace and enjoy French life again. Here we are celebrating Terry's birthday .




At the beginning of September, we were back in Broadstairs with Helen, Nick and the boys




catching up with Cambridge friends Brian and Rachel, who were visiting nearby in Ramsgate, then to Ely for the 70th anniversary of the Ely Sailing club, where John was once Commodore.




then on to Appleton, near Warrington where Olive and Peter now live. They have a lovely bungalow with a sixth share of a duck pond. The six bungalows are arranged round it in a semi circle.





We also met with John's niece, Belinda and family for dinner in Lymm before flying home back to France.



The next day, in France, we met with Katy, Pat's former colleague from Cambridge who was taking part in a choral week nearby. We exchanged news ove lunch and then attended the concert at the end of the course.

After a couple of weeks relaxing on the terrace, we were ready for a busy October. The first event was John's birthday, which we usually celebrate at L'Escala on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, about 2 hours drive away. We had wonderful weather, a room overlooking the sea, excellent meals, tapas and wine. As usual, on the way back, we found new medieval villages to visit and new wines.



Throughout the month, English speakers with second homes in the village were visiting and so we were busy with apéros, meals etc, which is always a pleasure. At least 5 families arrived incl using those from Scotland, Ireland, London, Sweden and the West Country, so we had a very social time

After a week at home with exceptionally good weather throughout the summer, the heavens opened and for 36 hours, water poured down the street. John had to empty his rain gauge twice - we had 15cm in 36 hours. Schools were closed and the corresponding buses cancelled. We were booked on a coach tour on the next day, so were unsure whether it would be cancelled. Fortunately, the rain ceased overnight and so we headed off the the Tarn the next day.

It was a grey start, but thankfully, we didn't see any rain. We were a small group, about 20 people, half of whom were our friends from the troisième âge club who we had been to Italy with in June.

Our first stop was where we stayed in the centre of Montauban in the Mercure hotel: once known as the hotel du Midi. This was to be a busy weekend, packed with visits to old towns.





After lunch in the hotel, our guide, who would be with us for three days, took us on a tour of the town. Unfortunately, part way round, Pat was stung by a wasp which fell from a tree. We found a pharmacy and then Pat stayed at the hotel while John rejoined the tour, visiting a museum in the town.

The next day we visited Moissac




The cloisters were a highlight




The next stop was Rabastens with a friendly church with priests in attendance, where children were running around using the church as a playcentre.









On our final day, we met our guide in Albi, the star of the tour.







We returned home having seen enough churches for a while

Our next event was a lunch with the local oldies where, by chance, we sat on an international table: one from Luxembourg, one Italian, one French, one English, one Irish (the last two being us). We had a very jolly afternoon with good food. It was noticeable, however, that the group is aging and the usual entertainment (people 'doing a 'turn' singing and joking) didn't happen.

Our last event in October was our annual gastronomic event, which this year was two nights in San Sebastien with friends Sile and Martin. The aim of the trip was a visit to a Michelin 3* restaurant, Arzak. Our meal was nothing short of excellent.






Of course, we had to do the tapas bars on out on the second evening




The Guggenheim museum in Bilbao was impressive as was the countryside between San Sébastien amd Bilbao




On the way home, we called in at Pau for lunch. We had been to Pau earlier in the year with the local choir. We walked round for a short while and then set out for home.

On our return, we met with new neighbours, a Swedish family. We had seen them before we left for Spain also.

Just before we set out for the UK, it was Halloween. John decked out the house in the usual way, with eirie music and darkness. This year we had catered for 30 children, but more that 50 arrived. Next year we will expect more!

Now we are on our way by train to Broadstairs to see Helen and family and call in on Jim on the way back in a week's time

- Pat and John on tour

Cinque Terres and on to Savonna

Our last day of this holiday was th the Cinque Terres - a destination that had been on the list for a while.

We left our hotel in Montecatini and drove up the coast to the south of Genoa. We collected our guide at Manaola and boarded a train that took us along the coast to Riomaggiore.

The Cinque Terres is a series of once isolated villages in bays. Getting from one to another is by trains that go through the mountains, sea or a long climb up and down.

The tourist route is by sea from where one can see even the most isolated of the villages.

At Riomaggiore where we had a walk around the village.



Then we headed for the boat. We had seen the harbour (top photo) but that wasn't where the boat came in.






So getting onto the boat would be the first challenge: a rather animated gangplank. Fortunately, the crew were on hand to get us all on.




Then we set off up the coast to Manarola, Cornigila, Vernazza, plus several smaller communes. before Montorosso where we left the boat, had a short tour and then looked around the town.




We then returned along the coast, but this time continued on to La Speiza where our bus was waiting. We continued towards France, round Genoa and spent the night a Savonna, which was where we ate lunch on the first day of our holiday.

Now we are on our way home. We stopped for and apero at noon where this photo of the group was taken.




- Pat and John on tour

Florence again and the Uffiitzi

We had not visited the Uffiitzi before and had added it to our bucket list- that is, until we realised that we were to visit the museum on this trip.

We set off on good time, but a long traffic queue caused by an accident made us late. Our driver, Christoph, left the queue, but then got lost. John helped out with the navigation and the delay could have been much worse.

We were met at the bus drop off spot by a guide and walked to the museum. It has become apparent on this holiday, that the distances we were covering each day (8km was the minimum) are too much for some people as the gap between the front of the group and the end gets longer.

Our guide explained that we were to start at the top of the gallery and descend. There was a lift available for those who wanted it. She (and we) walked up the 100 or so stairs accompanied by at least four over 80s.

At the top, we were in the gallery of the house of the Medici family. The gallery was once open air, but has long been covered in. There are many paintings and sculptures of the Medici family.

The ceiling and a detail with Medici portraits





Views from the gallery






There was far too much for us to really appreciate the riches of the gallery in the time available. The art is grouped into rooms,; we saw 6 of many. We came away convinced that it really does need a guide to get the most out of the museum, as we did in the Prado in Madrid.

A small selection of the tresures that we saw.





Our next stop was lunch. Meals are always a highlight of the day we all sit down and talk to our friends and make new friends.

Afterwards, we had free time. We already had a ticket for The highlights of Florence from our visit to the cathedral and we planned to climb the campanile with its 440 steps. This turned out to be more of a challenge than anticipated and Pat was happy to have stopping points at different levels. Unlike the leaning tower in Pisa, there is no control on the stairs (traffic lights). Lower down, the steps are wide enough to pass a person standing at the side (but not both moving). Closer to the top, it should be one way at a time but isn't. At times and on corners, the moving person may be best on all fours!

Views on the way up and from the top








Having negotiated our way down, it was time for a cup of tea. Our next stop was the museum of the cathedral. It had been recommended to us, but we had not appreciated just how good it would be.

Over the centuries, the Duomo has been remodelled several times and magnificent sculptures no longer required were consigned to the archives. Now they are available here. The museum seems to have been opened recently and was certainly worth a visit.


Doors of the Baptestry


Madonna of the nativity, Angel lifting a curtain c. 1300 and



Pisano carvings: agriculture, navigation, the art of paining, prudence.



Silver altar from the 14c depicting the life of John the Baptist.





We were so impressed that we bought the guide!

- Pat and John on tour

Our first stop of the day was Lucca. We had not managed to get there on our last Tuscany trip 7 years ago, so were looking forward to seeing it.

Lucca is a walled city and we had to walk quite a long way to a gate  (possibly because we walked the wrong way round).



Inside the walls, we were met by our guide, Marco who took us around the narrow streets. Our first stop was the site of the ancient Roman arena of which only the structure remains.





Then we wove in and out of the narrow streets



passing the music school and a statue of its founder and paid our respects to Puccini who was born here.


Finally, we reached the main square and cathedral





Then it was time to move on to Pisa and lunch. Pat was hoping to climb the leaning tower in Pisa, repeating a climb 7 years ago, but it was fully booked.

We had a guided tour of the Cathedral, Baptestry and cemetery building with perfect weather for photos. Below, the cemetery building, cathedral and tower and then the Baptestry.




As always, Pat enjoys zooming into the details on the buildings.



We started with a tour of the Baptestry and a demonstration of the acoustics the singer would sing several notes one after the other so that we could hear the length of the sound and the combination of the notes.




Pat was able to climb up to the gallery for views down, which compensated for missing the tower climb.




Then it was on to the Cathedral where, unlike many others, we could walk around, but our guide could not give the usual commentary. She had, however, briefed us beforehand.





Finally, it was on to the cemetery building which includes memorials. The statue is Fibonacci (he of the sequence).



So then it was time for the final photos, including the leaning tower and fountain.




- Pat and John on tour