Beautiful Basel the Blog

Last weekend we took advantage of one of the many jours feriés that we've had lately. I believe May 8 was VE day, and because it fell on a Thursday, many schools and businesses took the Friday off as well to make it a nice long weekend (the Monday was ferié as well. I know, la vie est dur).

We hopped on the new TGV line and headed east to Switzerland to visit our Swedish friend Alex who now lives in Basel.

Basel is a beautiful city, very compact, and very German in many ways, being part of the German part of Switzerland. It's close enough to both the French and German borders that Alex regularly does her grocery shopping in France.

On our first day there, Alex took us on a tour of the high town, we visited the Cathedral, had a snack at an old paper mill, put our feet in the Rhine, and crossed the river on a boat that is powered by the current.

Crossing the Rhine on the current powered boat


Enjoying the view



Testing the waters (verdict: cold!)


Is it bad to say that the highlight of the trip was Alex's apartment? She has a very cute place, with a great garden and a patio, and we all our meals outside. Erik was thrilled to be able to barbeque, and spent both evenings outside manning the grill while the girls sipped blender drinks on the terasse.

Erik loves the BBQ


We make pina coladas


So much meat!



Mmmm... cheese


MMMMMM.....Swiss chocolate!

On Sunday we rode the tram through the countryside to visit the Beyeler Foundation, and private art collection that is now open to the public. The collection was very impressive, and we viewed works by Picasso, Monet, Cezanne and Gaugin among others, all displayed in a beautiful building designed by Renzo Piano, the same architecht who created the Centre Pompidou here in Paris. We also perused an exhibit they were showing on Action Painting, featuring Jackson Pollock. It was interesting, but I think we all left feeling kind of like we just didn't get it.

Beyeler Foundation


Enjoying some rose on a patio

Saturday night Basel was playing Bern in the Swiss Soccer finals, so we watched that then headed down to the main square after the win to see the team tour through. Very exciting.

All of Basel comes out to celebrate their win


The winning team


The beer cart



Sunday morning we checked out the architecture museum, which was featuring two very disappointing exhibitions which we didn't enjoy. Then it was back on the train for our quick trip back to Paris.

It was a lovely weekend, and so much fun seeing Alex again.

We might have also enjoyed some TV. Oh how I miss the BBC....

Beautiful Basel and an upcoming Blog

Not to be outdone by my charming and witty husband, I of course have to have the last word. Or blog. Tomorrow I'm planning to write about our trip to Basel, but in the mean time you can enjoy our photos in all their unorganized glory here.

Now I'm off to watch the Office. Happy Friday to all!

Monet's Garden – A Man's View

As I imagine many of you have been yearning for another blog from me, Erik, and as I have a penchant for blogging about such manly subjects as rugby games and eating Christmas dinner, it is time for another testosterone-filled blog about … visiting Monet's Garden.

During our guests' visit a few weeks ago, we visited Monet's Garden in Giverny. Monet first rented this property outside of Paris in 1890, eventually buying it (and adjoining property) as he became a more profitable artist - something he accomplished without employing the typical artists' strategy: dying.

He painted his famous Water Lilies based on the Japanese Pond therein, and he painted that work – as commissioned by the French government – at the end of his life, while he was unfortunately as crazy as a bag of bees. While in his creative/insane fog, he refused to relinquish the canvasses, constantly adding more layers and colours, until he eventually died. Apparently, that is the universal signal for the completion of a work-of-art (see Eyes Wide Shut for counterexample).

For those of you with my level of culture, a quick note: Monet was a painter.

For one to describe this property as a garden, in my opinion, is a bit of an overstatement. I actually found it quite hard to spot the flowers, so as an aid to the layperson, I was kind enough during the photography to point out the occasional flower as they were not always evident. Oh wait, there's one…

I also want to add that the original of "In the Hollow of a Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa" by Hokusai was one of the many etchings inside Monet's house. It is a masterpiece, and it was hanging in his kitchen.

Hey, there's another one.

And one more...

Now, I wasn't quick enough to point out the flowers in these next few shots, but see if you can spot them...

I know, sort of a "Where's Waldo" for flowers, but hopefully you can pick them out.
Some of the flowers in the garden were fake, though. For example these ones:



How can that be real? I'm supposed to be impressed by the fact that you know where to buy yellow spray paint and you can cut a circle out of cardboard?

Also bamboo. These trees are six to nine metres tall, but the trunks are less than 3 cm in diameter.



I'm sorry, but there must be rebar running up the middle of each of those. Shenanigans!


Whoops, there's some more real flowers. Let me point them out...

There was also a Mom plant, a plant that camouflaged any Mom that walked by to hide them from their ever-demanding children. See if you can spot the hidden Mom...



Hey, there's Erik!



Lookin' good! And not sick of flowers at all! But in the midst of all this beauty, I spotted the most beautiful blossom of all... there she is!




A very patient woman, and hopefully, one with an enduring sense of humour.

We realized, at this point, that I had lost my bus ticket home. So - as any responsible husband would do - to win back bus money, I entered a high-stakes poker game with a group of bears.



In case you were wondering, it was a straight flush, and we got home okay. Those of you who are card players could probably tell from the look on Smokey's face. Bears always look flabbergasted when you bring the big-city action.

Bears, blossoms, and bamboo. It was a nice day.

Joan Blogs

Another fantastic day in Paris! Spent the morning at Gallerie Lafayette taking a cooking course (in French - watercress risotto and caramel raspberry mascarpone mousse) and then shopping & rooftop viewing at Primtemps, seeing Madeleine (Maille store) & picking up Parisian delights for Howard. Walked along the Seine & went to Torie & Erik's for a yummy supper (roasted chicken with Provence herbs & gravy , new potatoes, green bean & cherry tomato salad). So sorry to be coming to the end of our trip. 537 pics & counting... Giverny tomorrow!

Praha 2

Photos from our trip to Prague can be viewed here.

Enjoy!

The Visitors

On Friday afternoon, two intrepid travellers conquered the challenging Parisian cityscape to spend some time in a find country we call France.

So far we have enjoyed some delicious meals, done a lot of walking, learned that train tickets should not be booked after two glasses of Champagne, and discovered that most museums (or the ones we want to visit) are closed on Tuesdays.

It's great having them here!

More Snow?

Well, not the cold kind, anyway :)

It was our Birthdays!

This year both our birthdays happened up in the air: Erik's was celebrated on the plane coming back to France after our quick trip to Toronto, and mine on a plane coming back to Paris from Prague. It's been a busy month, and so the celebrations have been more of a drawn out affair, resulting in lots of cake, and lots of reasons to enjoy some Champagne.

The cake above was my new favorite, Nigella Lawson's chocolate Guinness cake, with cream cheese icing. It's easy to make, and Erik likes the fact that there's always a half can of beer left over for him to enjoy. I made this one on my birthday, and Erik got molten chocolate cakes that I made the other day when Karina and Joan came over for dinner.

All in all, it's been a busy month for both of us, full of travel, friends and family. What more could a person ask for? (except maybe a Kitchen Aid stand mixer....) :)

Praha

So that you can join in the fun, here are a couple of shots of our weekend so far....

Two pints are better than one


Erik gives the beer a thumbs up (and tries to pretend he's in Germany)


Erik pulls out the Canadian gear (too bad you can't see the MEC bag on his back). Unfortunately it was too warm for long johns...

Snow

Try to ignore the cherry blossoms and notice the white stuff on the cars.

We haven't had any snow all winter, what's the deal with it finally coming in April?

Picture Time

Breakfast from Bonjour Brioche, a yummy French bakery down the street from Nancy and Daryl.


Nancy's cute baby belly


Riverdale Park


yay! Pete's here!


Can't visit from Japan without a cask of Sake


Mark and Alyssa enjoying the sake

Hannah and Roman's wedding:

Waiting for the fun to start. Recognize the photographer?



The happy couple






Dinner and drinks with the family:

On the flipside

We're here, back in Toronto, and life is good.

So much to say, but I'm way to tired at the moment to articulate any thoughts. Right now we're in Waterloo, getting ready for the wedding. Lots of snow, and lots of Canada geese. Fun.

A bientot :)

Fete du printemps

On Friday at the Nursery School we celebrated the start of Spring. We have these fun little parties a couple of times a year, the kids come dressed up (this time like spring things: insects, flowers, gardeners, and princesses. You know, the spring time princesses like Belle and Cinderella :) ). We all go up to the big classroom upstairs, and they parade around, and sing songs. Then there is a snack. Because this was the spring party, parents were supposed to bring in things like fruits and veggies. Luckily for me, many interpreted this to mean fruit tarts, chocolate cake, and homemade sushi. And even luckier for us teachers was the fact that the kids were way more interested in the fluorescent frosted cupcakes than any of the fancy pastries and absolutely delicious sushi. Paris celebrated along with us by treating us to a whole gamut of weather: torrential rain, bright sun, and hail. We rotated through these three in twenty minute intervals for most of the morning.

It was a fun morning.

Since this weekend is Easter, we're celebrating by stocking up on goodies to bring back to Canada, checking out the deals at Galleries Lafayette, writing report cards (me) and practising presentations (Erik). Erik's big presentation is Tuesday morning, and he's wearing his new suit and practising as I type this. Apparently the drying rack that he presented to this morning wanted to hire him, as did the laundry hamper, and now they are in salary negotiations to determine who can offer him more. At least he still has a sense of humour about it.

Easter Sunday will be spent hunting for eggs at the gym, which is open for business comme d'habitude, and this business requires my services tomorrow.

I hope everyone is having a lovely long weekend, we're looking forward to seeing lots of you next week, when we're back in TO!

Bye Bye Vacances

So, it's back to work for me tomorrow (sniff, sniff). Despite being on holiday for the last two weeks, I've managed to do a fair amount of work, finishing off with a 5 hour marathon at the gym today. And good old Erik came and took his first BodyAttack class, and can still walk, so things are good :)

I have to admit that, aside from the hours I've worked at the gym, it's been a fairly unproductive two weeks for me, but I enjoyed the down time. Some highlights include:
-making bagels. Pretty easy, and almost as good as Kettleman's.
-Les annees folles an awesome exhibition of clothing, accessories and make up from the 20's.
-watching the entire first season of Dexter. And then starting on the second, and getting Erik hooked.
-going for a wine tasting dinner at a friend's house. We were served some fantastic wines, and the food was pretty awesome too.

I really wanted to do a lot of cooking, but soon realized that anything sweet that I make is going to be eaten almost entirely by me and Erik the day that it's made, and that complicated dishes usually produce enough to feed 6-8. We learned the last one the hard way by eating lasagne twice a day for a week.

So voila! Hope everyone is doing well. The next big thing for us is our quick trip home at the end of the month. Can't wait!