Miscellaneous

Here’s a pic that is, as they say, nothing to write home about. Just clothes drying on the line.

However, sometimes moments arrive in your life in the strangest way.

After living out of a suitcase for a while, the prospect of clean duds had a certain appeal.

As I hung the freshly laundered clothes on the line in the warm morning sun and the fresh Provencale air, I was accompanied by the sound of church bells ringing from the nearby village of Rognanas.

A brief moment of ‘divine domesticity’.

We spent five days staying at Mas St Antoine near Avignon in southern France. It’s a wonderfully peaceful spot – well located for seeing the sites of the region – hosted and managed by Kerrin and Keryn a very hospitable Kiwi couple from New Zealand. You can learn more about the Mas at http://www.massaintantoine.com/

Here are a couple of images from our stay. (more…)

We were browsing in the factory outlet of the Haribo Candy Factory near Uzes, France, when all of a sudden we heard the sound of a piccolo being played, and quite beautifully, too. The sound seemed to come from the direction of the parking lot.

As we made our way back to our car, we were intrigued to find the musician traipsing across the lot in the direction of a tour bus, followed closely by a growing collection of teens. (more…)

Parisians are well known for their fashion savvy. Older women, especially, are decked out in what we Canucks would consider Sunday best – even though they may only be taking the dog for a stroll or picking up a baguette from the corner boulangerie.

As we noted this week, even young schoolgirls seem to have a way of wearing their everyday duds that oozes style.

I suppose, then, that I shouldn’t have been so surprised by this sight. (more…)

We noticed this little fella on a warm and sunny morning near the Octagonal Pond in the Jardins du Luxembourg of Paris.

His Dad, empty stroller in tow, patiently followed the toddler around and around the pond – back and forth, to and fro, come and go. It was the birds that kept the little guy busy. Each time the pigeons and sparrows swooped in to nab a leftover crumb or two, Spunky gave chase. When the ducks paddled near the water’s edge, Spunky took a run at them, too.

What a lovely lesson on the simple pleasures of life and the pure, unadulterated optimism of childhood. In Spunky’s world, the sun was shining, someone he loved was close at hand, adventure called, and he just knew that next time out success would be his.

Does life get any better than that?

Our flight from Toronto to Paris was delayed by two hours while the company air-lifted in a fresh pilot from Montreal. Personally, I like the idea of flying with a well rested pilot at the helm. But, such a commotion there was as people lined up at the counter to air their complaints – voices raised, arms flailing, scowls from ear to ear.

Given that Air Transat deals mostly with vacation travelers, I’m guessing there were very few people on business trips that evening. However, some folks were catching trains or tours out of Paris, and, for a number of them, the window of opportunity to make their connections was squeezing tight. Things were about to get messy for them. (more…)

Sometimes there is truth in advertising. This license plate is attached to a racy yellow sports car that’s often parked on a side street near my home.

I walk past it most mornings, and it makes me smile every time. At least the owner is being honest about the power this car has over his or her life. It reminds me of that old line used often by comedian, Flip Wilson,  ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’!

This climbing clematis caught my eye on return from a morning walk.

The sketchbook and paints called. I answered.

   Fallen from glory, yes!

   Lost it’s youthful luster, yes!

   Beautiful all the same, indeed!

London may have double decker buses.

But Paris has double decker shopping carts.

Had to take one for a spin – despite the fact that all I

needed to buy was a pack of bandaids.

Ah—the cheap thrills of life as a tourist!