Happy Halloween

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

In memory of Rat Dog - my cousin's dog who I thoroughly enjoyed!

Chilly Night at PB&G

Deb is minding the grill after the game. Thanks to Chris, Paul & Deb, and Charlie for bringing beer, brats and ribs for the PB&G last night.

The temperature was a bit chilly at the PB&G and everyone was huddled around the grill. Lars looks like a zombie - he must be getting ready for the next week's Halloween party.

Paul Fights for Pelt

In our game against the Cockers, Paul ended up with the pelt after he scored, assisted and then landed some blows in a fight with the ringer from the Cockers. Way to go Paul- I hate playing against that team (plus I think you were just showing off for Deb, who was at the game and filming it all on video).

Fight Survival

How long would you survive in a fight with Paul? or a velociraptor?

To see how long you could hang with a velociraptor click on the link below.

I could survive for 57 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

Adventure in Monaco?

I wasn't lost in Monaco, only away from the group for a short time. Ironically, I took this shot during the time of separation and I was only a few feet from the elevator down to the parking garage - I knew I wasn't far from where I needed to be, but didn't realize how close I actually was.

Earlier in the day I had to take a moment along the side of the casino in Monte Carlo to take a self portrait (using my timer, a tripod, a bit of imagination and lots other shots that weren't so centered). I took over 5000 shots during this past trip and enjoyed every click.

Monaco Cathedral

Here is a good looking group in front of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier are buried at the cathedral and Princess Grace's grave is the only grave permanently honored with fresh flowers.

Grand?

Our hotel in Tours was called "Le Grand Hotel" but I think something got lost in the translation as it was not what I would consider "grand".

I stayed at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan earlier this summer. Now, that is a hotel worthy of the name "Grand".

Foxy

The chateaux were all filled with beautiful hand made tapestries - here is a detail of one. I imagine that Sandra's pet fox would have looked a little like this one.

Château de Blois

The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley - it is comprised of several buildings constructed from the 13th to the 17th century around the main courtyard. This equestrian statue of Louis XII on the palace facade is in flamboyant Gothic style.

The royal porcupine is the emblem for Louis Xll.

The François I wing of the Château is where Henry III had the Duke de Guise and his brother, the cardinal of Lorraine, assassinated in December 1588. Henry lll was then assassinated by a Dominican monk on the first of August 1589. I am not sure which guy this is, but it doesn't really matter - they all died.

Château d'Amboise

The royal Château at Amboise is built on a promontory overlooking the Loire River.

Records show that Leonardo da Vinci was buried in the church of Saint-Florentin, part of the Château Amboise.

An awesome view of the river Loire.

I found my knight in shining armor in Amboise, but it turned out he was an air head and had a lot of screws loose.

The girls walking along the river Loire.

Château de Chenonceau

In the morning we went to the Château de Chenonceau, near the small village of Chenonceaux. It is in the Loire Valley and was built on the site of an old mill on the River Cher, sometime around the 11th century.

I enjoyed the long tree lined walk way and the gardens more than the actual Château.

Travellers (Gypsies)

In France more than half the Gypsies are nomadic, some are great travellers, while others restrict their movements to a region or even to a department (county). There are 500,000 travellers in France according to the "official estimation" but realistically there are 1,200,000-1,300,000.

The caravan, like this one, is the most common form of dwelling used by the travellers. This one was along the river Loire.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe is the common name for a group of hemi-parasitic plants in the order Santalales that grow attached to and within the branches of a tree or shrub. There were clumps of mistletoe in many of the trees we saw along the French roads.

Mistletoe species grow on a wide range of host trees, and commonly reduce their growth but can kill them with heavy infestation. Viscum album can parasitise more than 200 tree and shrub species. Almost all mistletoes are hemi-parasites, bearing evergreen leaves that do some photosynthesis, and using the host mainly for water and mineral nutrients.

Most mistletoe seeds are spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush in Europe.The seeds are coated with a sticky material called viscin which hardens and attaches the seed firmly to its future host.

Memorable Image

This was a memorable image of the trip for me - Doug and Elsie walking hand in hand through many of the cities we visited.

Approaching Tours

The fall colors were beautiful as we approached Tours.

We saw several groups of hot air balloons out enjoying the beautiful fall evening.

Burgundy, France

We stopped for a break at the Sacred Heart Basilica of Paray-Le-Monial. The Romanesque church was built at the end of the 11th century by Hugues de Semur, abbot of Cluny. In 1875, it was transformed into a Basilica dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

This crazy car was in the parking lot near the basilica.

We stopped in the charming town of Moulins for lunch.

French Alps and Fall Colors

The Alps with the trees in all stages of fall colors was beautiful as we approached Lyon.

Lavender, Mountain Passes and Sisteron

We drove by fields of lavender, although the harvest of most of the lavender had already taken place earlier in the fall.

It is hard to imagine our big bus would fit through this small mountain pass...

...but it was no trouble for our handsome, crafty driver, Nikki. Although, we did come face to face with a camper on the other side - but Nikki and the other driver worked it out and we were back on our way.

Janice poses with some lovely flowers during a short lunch break in Sisteron.

The town of Sisteron is built on a narrow rocky gap where the Durance and Buech rivers join. Behind Sandra is a 13th-to-17th century citadel, which was built on the cliff to protect the town.

Coffee in Castellane

The scenery was beautiful driving along the Route Napoléon in the foothills of the Alps.

The winding road took many hairpin turns as we drove through the mountains.

The town of Castellane is invisible from a distance as you approach, except for a tall rock jutting straight up out of the valley, with a stone chapel (from 1703) perched on top. The Chapel Nôtre-Dame-du-Rock was built by the monks of the Abbey of St-Victor of Marseilles.

Charmaine, Susan and Connie are enjoying a cup of tea at an outdoor cafe in Castellane.

This cricket planter is a souvenir from southern France.

Roundabouts, Grasse and Déjà Vu

The first roundabout was constructed in Paris around the Arc de Triomphe in 1901. As of mid-1997, there are about 15,000 modern roundabouts in France. We went around many of these roundabouts during our trip.

Grasse is a very beautiful town in southeastern France and is the center of the French perfume industry. It produces over two-thirds of France's natural aromas (for perfume and for food flavourings). This industry turns over more than 600 million euros a year.

This roundabout in Grasse features a copper vat that was used by a perfume maker to steam blossoms to distill their essence. And it wasn't déjà vu, but we really went around this one several times.

Déjà vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously - the term was coined by a French psychic researcher, Émile Boirac in the late 1800s. Whether déjà vu or a wrong turn at a roundabout, we got to spend a little more time in beautiful Grasse.

Evening in Lyon

Lyon is in east-central France and is the third-largest French city, the first being Paris and the second Marseille. Lyon's geography is dominated by the Rhône and Saône rivers. I have no idea which river this is since we had such a whirl-wind tour of Lyon upon arriving.

Lyon, with more than 150 painted walls is the kingdom of trompe l'oeil - paintings creating a world of fantasy and poetry. Trompe-l'œil, is a French term that means "trick the eye" and is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three-dimensions, instead of actually being a two-dimensional painting.

Lyon also has a reputation as the French capital of gastronomy - which is the study of the relationship between culture and food. So, I guess that is why we had such an interesting dinner in a the basement of a restaurant decorated with creepy puppets.

Click here for the recipe for Chicken Liver Pudding.

I could not find any detailed information about this flower sculpture located in the Place Bellecour, but I did find a cool website for Lyon's annual festival of lights which is coming soon on the 8th of December.

1664 Beer

Raimondo and I are sitting in the lounge of our Paris hotel, toasting to a great trip with a couple of cold 1664 Beers.

Think of France and perhaps the thing you are least likely to think of is beer. In fact, it's French premium Kronenbourg and is France's top-selling beer - more than one out of every five beers sold in France is a Kronenbourg. The 1664 comes in a Phillipe Stark designed fluted glass bottle by with a screw top to keep it hygenic and fresh. Starck's goal was to highlight the noble nature of beer.

Why "1664"? - It all began one day in the now famous year of 1664, when young Jérôme Hatt proudly filled a brand new barrel with his first official brew. Jérôme had just been awarded the diploma of brewer-cooper, which meant he could henceforth brew and sell his own beer. He set up his brewery right in the centre of Strasbourg, at the Brasserie du Canon, a few steps away from the cathedral. Little could he imagine what the future would hold.