New Bike
As a belated birthday present Doug bought me a new bike, with a ginormous seat hoping that I will like it more if my bum doesn't hurt so much. So I took it for a spin today in the forest to try it out. I learnt that riding through soft sand is really hard, horse trails are not good for bike riding (multiple reasons - trail chewed up by hoofs and having to dodge large piles of droppings being the top 2 reasons) and that the bigger the seat the comfy-ier. Now to find a hose to wash all the sand off my bike...
Any video, even not very good mountain biking, becomes better with music!
Normandy
Another weekend road trip, this time an overnight to Normandy to see the sea side and the D-day beaches. But it was cold and windy so we only got out of the car once to walk on the beach. And we didn't go to any of the museums because we didn't have time so we still know almost nothing about the war and the D-day invasions, oh well we'll just have to go back or read up on the internet.
The dish to eat up there is the local
mussels which come in huge bowls, but Doug made a pretty good attempt at finishing them!
We had to take a picture of this sign. Watch out for those train tracks!
Unfortunately the day was overcast so everything was the same colour; the water, the sky, the beaches, but here are a couple of pictures including Juno Beach where the Canadians landed.
Girls Day in Paris
With our boys all crazy busy doing cover letters, in the hopes of having a job when this is all over, Minali, Lakshmi, Ali and I decided to go to Paris for the afternoon. So we piled into my car and headed out.
We went and had a nice wonder through the Latin Quarter, a great lunch, and then went over for a walk through Notre Dame and the Ile de la Cite and Ile Saint Louis.
That'll teach me...
So last week the weather here was gorgeous. Sunny everyday, highs of 17, daffodils out, a beautiful spring. On my home page it has the weather for Paris and Vancouver; Paris was all suns and Vancouver was all rain. So I was going to do a blog post about reasons to come and visit and have a screen shot of the new spring blooms and this weather forecast - a bit cocky I know...
So this week we got snow/sleet/hail, that'll teach me for wanting to rub it in - I jinxed our weather!
Our First Chateau Party
Some of the Insead students live in chateaus in neighbouring villages and it is tradition that these chateaus host great parties. In addition to their rent they all pitch in for a party budget to cover decorations, snacks and alcohol. The best thing is that the chateaus all have a cleaning person so after the party ends and everyone goes to bed they wake up to a clean house, all evidence of the party gone, except the headache...
We went to our first one last Thursday. So we got into our car and after 35 minutes of driving down deserted forest roads and through little villages we arrived at the party (yes they are a long ways out, Doug would never make it to class on time if we lived that far away!) This chateau was totally decked out with a sound system and lights, it was like being at a club where everyone is a friend and the booze is free! Anyhow this week it is another chateau that is hosting - we'll get some pictures this time.
A Missed Picture and Meeting
Road Trip!
Well it was only a day trip. We headed out towards the Loire Valley, munching on our fresh croissant and enjoying the very little traffic on a Saturday morning. Our destination was Chenonceau Chateau (the third most visited chateau after Versailles and Fontainebleau). We took a meandering route but ended up right where we wanted to be, at a beautiful chateau on a sunny day.
For some reason we decided to bypass the garden and head for the winery, missing the famous picture of the chateau's arches over the river, so you will have to take a look at the
tourism website to see the shot that we missed. But we did buy 2 bottles of the estates wines...
While looking around we took a look at the guest book, and to our amazement there were a bunch of signatures from Rossland BC that day. Looking closer we saw a name we recognized! Our friend Michelle's mom was there with a school trip! Judging by the number of signatures we missed seeing her by about an hour!
Heading out from the chateau we made our way down the Loire River and saw some of the local cave houses. Stopping to talk to a local, apparently some are still being lived in. They were originally built thousands of years ago when the ice receded from the area and were modernized over time, with chimneys and doors and windows (we are not sure about plumbing and electricity but we didn't see any outhouses). Although most are now garages or storage and some have houses built in front of them incorporating them in the home. The people who live in them are called
Troglodytes, which Doug remembers being an insult from Asterix and Obelix...
Then on the way home, again meandering our way along, we passed a bunch of wind farms. So Doug had to slow down and take some pictures. Sarah hopes that after a couple of weeks in Europe the novelty of wind farms will wear off, or we are going to end up with more pictures of wind mills then us!
My first forest run
WOW that run makes me want to live here. Heading to the head of the trail by our house I passed amazing stone houses with huge yards. The forest is awesome; the only people I saw were either running or horseback riding - both with their dogs running along side. It is beautiful and there are trails going everywhere - good thing we bought a map! Apparently once the weather is better there will be tonnes of climbers out for the excellent bouldering that is in the area as well (right now there are only a few crazy ones who don't seem to mind the freezing cold rock!). Doug just bought me a new bike for my birthday and his will be here soon from Canada, so I can't wait to explore more of the trails.
Next time I will take a camera for my run, which then might turn into more of a walk - but we need pictures, it is beautiful! Makes me want a big old stone house and a dog...
A Wirlwind Trip to England
We flew into the Nottingham airport where we rented a car and headed out for the drive up to Skipton where Sarah's Grandad lives. We had a nice visit with him and shared pictures of our time in SE Asia.
After tea we started the drive back down to Kenilworth to stay with friends
Heather and Josh and their little girl Jamie. But on the way we made a short detour in Sheffield for a quick visit with Sarah's cousin Shari and her husband Dan and their little girl, Indira. [picture hopefully coming soon...]
We rolled into Heather and Josh's at about 11pm totally tired from the driving and from the jet lag from Singapore but we were allowed to sleep in and felt much better the next day. So we went for a drive in the northern Cotswold's, very pretty and since the weather was good had a nice walk on one of the many public paths that criss cross the area. For the walk, Doug made a pretty good pack horse but Jamie let him know with a good kick when he wasn't moving fast enough!
The next day we had a lazy day, just hanging out and visiting. But then, to make Doug deliriously happy, we went to a Coventry Blaze hockey game. It wasn't great hockey, but it was hockey. A lot of the team were Canadians, including Dan Cloutier's little brother.
A trip to Heather and Josh's would not be complete without a trip to the
local castle, so we braved the wind and little bit of rain and headed out to see the ruins.
The old chimneys made for good peek-a-boo games.
Notre Maison
C'est excellent!
We have only been here a few days but so far so good. The house is great; it has been recently reno'd and has fairly new appliances as well as being well stocked with dishes and furniture (you can tell it is a french house because it has 45+ wine glasses and only a few water galsses!).
We have a bit of garden
and a view of the forest on one side and our landlord's house on the other; his house is... well, very amazing!
It is right on the edge of the forest with trails running everywhere, so that'll make Doug's bike ride school much more pleasant then having to ride along with traffic.
