The XtraSuitcase

J’aime Paris!

10

Who says Parisians aren't friendly?

On Sunday we were in one of our preferred Brasseries eating our favorite dishes, Mine being a mixed salad with warm goat cheese on toasted bread with ham, an easy over egg, and potatoes.

D's is steak with pomme frites.

We struck up a conversation with three older french people next to us. They were ahead of us in eating so their dessert came out while we had our main course. They selected the one I had eyed when we walked in – Figue Tartlette. About 15 minutes passed and we ordered ours – or we tried to order – "fini" – all gone. OH NO. The three saw this and knew I was disappointed so the one women shared her tartlette with us! If that wasn't the sweetest thing.

We arrived early Saturday morning. We checked into our hotel, grabbed sandwiches made on pretzel bread and headed to one of the largest flea markets in Paris, Porte de Clinghancourt officially known as Les Puces de Saint-Ouen but known to everyone as Les Puces (the fleas). This flea market was officially opened in 1885!

I am ready for the hunt.

I told D he looks too sophisticated – he is going to hurt my negotiation technique!

For a more detailed tour of the flea markets and to see all the goodies I bought, hop over to my art blog at Ma Vie Trouvee.

That afternoon Thien, Donald's co-worker in from the US joined us. He has only been to Paris once so we took him to see MontMartre and the Sacre Coeur. We had a beautiful evening, in fact, we think this was the best weather we have ever had in Paris!

This was a fun street performer.

And those were real fish in the glass. If people tried to take his photo without giving him money he would stop the performance. But he did it in a fun way.

A few photos from our walk. I really like this one D took in B&W.

The romantic dream of being an artist in Paris!

This photo looks like a watercolor painting to me.

On Sunday there is an artist market.

We purchased a photo collage from the artist below. The one we liked the best was not of Paris, but of Lisbon. But since we were going to Lisbon the next week – we decided to buy it.

Ahhhh another wonderful time in Paris!
Vienna or as they say – Wien

09

Vienna is the capital of Austria. In 2001, the city was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is known for its great composers,

Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms

Cool coffee houses

and a coffee craze that started in 1683!

Goulash – so yummy with pickles and a sunny-side up egg.

Doner Kebabs.

And a wide range of architecture.

We visited back in 1996 and remembered being particularly impressed with the architecture. Most of the buildings were built during the Hapsburg Empire in the mid 19th century so they have a very stately – grandiose feel.

I was confused at what they were calling in the brochures – the Jugendstil architecture style. I had never heard of this, but to me it looked just like Art Nouveau. I just looked it up and sure enough it was just another name for Art Nouveau – the French word for "new art". Jugendstil is German and translates as "youth style".

The Majolika House (right above) is one of the most remarkable buildings in this style. Designed by Otto Wagner in 1899 it is named after the glazed pottery used for the facade.

Our hotel was centrally located so we were able to walk and take the tram everywhere.

One of the cities biggest markets runs everyday with fresh food and on Saturday a large flea market. D snapped these photos while I was shopping. I did not know he took them. I was too busy digging!

We went there early so we grabbed breakfast. D got a Doner Kebab – the perfect breakfast item for him.

I opted for the sweets – cinnamon bread cooked on a cylinder – the inside was hollow and it was still warm. Words cannot describe. D managed to help eat half even after his big kebab.

D found a quiet spot at the end to read….until a mini market popped up around him. He was oblivious that this crowd had formed around him.

Looks like this man got lucky and found a real treasure – a gold necklace.

The flea market was outrageously expensive but still fun to walk through. To read more about this adventure visit my art blog .

Onto the food section. So vivid and lively.

There were more exotic fruits then we have in Brussels.

I have never seen artichokes with the flower.

This is an efficient plant – decorate the table with it one night, eat it the next.

Don't forget your anti-oxidants.

Not sure what the two on each end are!

They also had good-looking prepared foods…..

and spices. We picked up a few local spices; fennel and kebab spice.

Hummm wonder what that bright orange one is? D thought it might be used to color foods. I looked it up and he was right – it can be used alone or with turmeric to give Moroccan dishes a yellow color (not orange). It has no aroma or taste and is very messy!

And a few items you would only see in the Austrian/German countries – Pickles -n-

kraut!

All the shopping made us thirsty and tired. Time for a people-watching break and a taste of another popular item – sturm.

Sturm is a product of fermented freshly pressed grape juice known as a must. It is a popular drink this time of year when they are harvesting the grapes. It was refreshing – like a lemonade. We did not order a second glass ; )

Look closely at this photos – where are D&C?

Okay – so a little corny – but we were amused by it!

That night we had a fine dining experience. Yes, that is a wiener in a bun.

with beautiful outdoor seating. My meal came from the Happy Noodle place.

and a scrumptious dessert! We love nice restaurants but we equally love street food!

The fancy restaurants were questionable. Would you order the first meal on this menu? We really did eat a few nice traditional Viennese meals of goulash, etc.

Sunday we spent the day at the Schonbrunn Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage site.

In it's heyday, it was the summer residence of the imperial family. The palace was started in 1695 but was not complete until the mid-18th century.

It stayed in the family until the early 1900, when it became a museum. It is pretty plain from the outside, but the inside? We decided it had the most opulent rooms of any palace we have visited. No photos allowed inside. A view from the side Garden –

What I found most interesting is Marie Antoinette grew up here until she was married off at age 15. Her mother was the well-known Queen Maria Theresa.

A view from the back garden –

A view towards the Gloriette or pavilion. Built in 1775 and considered the crowning glory of the palace.

The garden also had a maze…..which I could not pull D away from! He was up on a stand directing me where to go. What fun……watch Cathy get lost in a maze - urggggg

Late in the afternoon there was a vintage car rally through the city. We stood on the corner for an hour where they had to stop for a light so we were able to get a good look at them. Here is one of D's favorite cars – an MGA roadster.

How cute it this little one? Almost as small as the little smart car parked behind. Not sure the make.

I took this photo while peaking in a church. I think it looks like an old painting.

Our last night's dinner – what else but a doner kebab! this was where we had our first Kebab of the trip and our favorite – so we went back.

Yeah, I know, looks like all we did was eat and drink in Vienna.

But are those happy faces or what? D coined a new term for us on this vacation – we spent most of our time at the "living" museum….observing the Viennese way of life!
2010 Tapis de Fleurs – Flower Carpet of Brussels

08

The flower carpet of Brussels occurs every two years and it is made predominately of Begonias with accents of dahlias.

It is very difficult to photograph, as the entire carpet will not fit in the camera lens. In the photo above we were on the balcony looking down. D seamed two photos together to create a panoramic view.

Begonias have long been associated with Belgium and have been cultivated in the Ghent region since the 1860's.

Belgium produces 60 million begonias a year and is recognized as the world's largest producer. With eighty percent of the crops grown for export.

This robust plant is seeded in late January and they bloom all summer long. The most beautiful blooms are selected to make the famous carpet of flowers.

From design
to execution, the carpet requires more than twelve months' work from
hundred of volunteers. This year's construction was interrupted twice by rain showers.

The carpet requires an excess of 300 flowers per square meters, that approximately 700,000 begonias in every hue and shade.

The flowers are packed together one by one. The only soil used is for the spaces between the floral pattern (where the green grass is).

The first flower carpet was created in Brussels in 1971. Each year it is based on a theme, with this year's theme honors Belgium holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The presidency rotates throughout the EU every six months.
Don and Donna visit – London

08

Don and Donna, my very special mother and father-in-law, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in March, but the real celebration was in July……. in London!

D&D arrived in Brussels and the four of us took the train to London through the Chunnel (31.4 mile undersea rail tunnel linking France to the UK). Tammy, Allen, Trenton, and Jason joined us and we all stayed in a beautiful penthouse apartment, you have to visit their site and check this place out! We had the top three floors.

Our first night was Allen's b-day so the party group took a bus to a local pub to celebrate with a beer! I went along as team photographer   :   ).

Trenton was excited when he found out the drinking age in England is 16. Here he is enjoying a beer with his dad and his Uncle D. Grandpap was at the bar paying the bill!

The next day D and I ventured out to a flower market and funky neighborhood, Columbia Road, that I had read about. D was quite amused with the candy store, Suck and Chew. Note the little bag of candy in his hand.

I had read about a very cool vintage altered art store, Jessie Chorley and Buddug – the shop. The store was fabulous as well as the neighborhood. Independently owned artsy stores. Most were only open on Saturdays and Sundays.

To see more photos on this store, visit my art blog Ma Vie Trouvee.

That afternoon Allen's sister Sherri, her husband Nick, and sweet daughter Eleanor came by for a visit. They live two hours outside of London. We had a very enjoyable afternoon chatting. Other visitors were our Euro buddies D & A. The family finally got to meet them in person. Not sure why….but I did not take photos of either event : (

Even with eight people all wanting to go in different directions we had a GREAT visit and spent most days together! Here are the highlights of our adventures.

The London Eye

Originally called the Millennium Wheel, built to celebrate the year 2000, it is the most visited site in London with over 3.5 million visitors a year. There are 32 capsules and each carries 25 people.

Tammy took some great panoramic photos from the capsule of Parliament and Big Ben……of course I could not go up due to my many idiosyncrasies : ).

Don and D stayed on the ground to keep me company. We had fun people watching.

Big Ben

Did you know that the real name of this structure is the clock tower and that only the bell is called Big Ben.

Big Ben just celebrated it's 150th birthday.

Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official residence. The current structure was built in 1703. The men are not just ceremonial guards, they are active soldiers.

On another day, we watched the Horse Guards daily change. I found this to be much more interesting than the change at Buckingham Palace because it was more intimate.

Time for a break. Our favorite Pub drink for the summer was a pitcher of Pimms! It is a light fruity alcoholic drink mixed with lemonade. Ahhhhh so refreshing.

As you can see here, Allen was in need of his afternoon Pimms!

Westminster Abbey

An Abbey was first built on this site in 1050 AD.

Tammy and I had toured it on earlier visits so we relaxed on the lawn and got caught up on things. Please note: the ice cream cone is in Tammy's hand. I did not have one as I was on a diet that hour : )

Don, Donna, D and I did the Hop on Hop off bus tour. Originally I just went along for the ride…..but this ended up being my favorite event. We went one afternoon and then again the next morning. I have been to London 5 or 6 time but this is the first time I did a tour.

Tower of London

The Tower of London is Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress and was built in 1066. The tower has played a prominent role in England's history, but today is only used as a museum and houses the Crown Jewels. Many of which date back to 1200.

It was the home to kings and queens of England up until 1837.   Buckingham Palace is now the official residence.

The Tower is still guarded by Yeoman Wardens or Beef-eaters, so called because they use to have to taste the Kings food to make sure it was not poisoned. They also give the tours of the castle and are quite humorous.

It has many interesting events in its history including the execution spot for two of King Henry's wives – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Sir Walter Raleigh was also imprisoned there for 13 years.



Tower Bridge

Tammy captured this lovely shot of the Bridge. It is an iconic symbol of London. officially opened in 1894. It is often mistaken as the London Bridge.

One day we all ventured into China town for lunch.

And enjoyed a street performer…

He was so good he was able to make Jason smile!

Allen too!

My attempt at a "we" shot – the girls enjoying an ice cream.

I was disappointed as we never got a group shot…This is as close as we got….the team waiting for a bus.

The funniest story of the trip was when we were all dining on the famous British Fish and Chips. Don was working the bottle of ketchup to get out the last drop. D and I were both getting ready to tell him to calm down……when it exploded from too much pressure…..

And it shot all over Donna's WHITE shirt! Donald started to wiped it off as you can see at the top….Donna did not flinch. She just kept eating her fish and chips.

Maybe Donna did not think this was the funniest story of the trip : )

The last day we broke into two groups. D, Donna and I opted for lunch at a Polish restaurant and some shopping.

The other group did the Winston Churchill War Museum and the Globe Theater. And Tammy got to walk across the Millennium Bridge!

For a few more fun photos – check out the album in the upper right hand corner at the top of this page.

A very Happy Anniversary indeed!
Don and Donna visit – The Cotswold

08

Saturday morning the West family headed back to the states and the four of us continued on to the Cotswold area in England. I love the city, but was anxious to show D&D the quaint English countryside.

Just a few hours from London, the Cotswold is an absolutely charming area with homes with thatched roofs, the epitome of "Englishness".

On our way there we stopped at Oxford University. Oxford is the third oldest University and the first English speaking institution in the world.

The exact date of when it was built is unclear, but there is evidence that teaching at oxford goes back to 1086. Interesting trivia – the University is actually made of of 38 individual, self-governing colleges. There are over 20,000 students. Allen's brother-in-law teaches there. Pretty impressive huh?

On our way our we stopped at Ben's Cookie shop. I had read that it had THE BEST chocolate chip cookies. So we stopped. And yes, we all agreed – Ben's had THE BEST chocolate chip cookies we had ever eaten!

Next stop was Blenheim Palace, home of the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and birthplace of Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the UK from 1940 – 1945 and again from 1951-1955). He is most famous for his leadership during WWII.

The Palace was built around 1705 – 1724 in the English Baroque style of architecture. Today it is a World Heritage Site.

The 9th Duke made the biggest impact on the Palace where he did many improvements throughout including the creation of the beautiful formal gardens.

Our first B&B was the Mole & Chicken. It was a restaurant with five petite country style rooms out in the countryside of Buckinghamshire. It was build in 1831 and was a worker's cottage, then the village store, next a pub, and now a restaurant with rooms.

Sweet rooms and a SWEET bathtub!

We had a delicious dinner in the restaurant and as we took a little evening walk down the street, an older gentleman popped out of his house (fourth house in the row) and began talking to us.

His name was Jack and he was 76. He invited us into his house to show us his collection of antique articles. It was a priceless experience. But I did not take my camera to dinner so no photos!

The next morning we had a typical British breakfast; eggs, sausage, ham, beans, mushrooms and toast. As seen below in the postcard : )

Our first stop was a very old church. There was nothing notable about it, we just thought it was pretty so we walked through.

An unusual but interesting thing all churches in England have is hand-embroidered cushions to kneel on. I have not seen this in any other country.

In England on Sundays, the entire family goes out for a traditional "roast" lunch. So we went to the Lamb Inn Pub for our Sunday roast.

Check out this cute sign in their parking lot. And D did park prettily.

That night I had a surprise for the group – Gifford's Circus!

I had read about this local circus owned and created by a husband and wife team. It tours the Cotswold every other year in the summer. They base the shows on the circus performances of the 1930's.

This year's show was called Yasmine and was a musical about the legendary female horse trainer, Yasmine Smart. It was a very small venue in a big top tent. Locals we spoke to were surprised that we had even heard about it. All my research!

The show was absolutely delightful! Old fashioned fun with some impressive performances There was a 12 piece band, horses, clowns, and several acts like the woman on the tight rope. Amazing!!

This one was equally impressive.

And the clowns had us all laughing!

We are so used to everything being high tech with flash and electronics…..it was amusing to see how entertained everyone was with the simple act of blowing into plastic flutes.

It was just good old fashioned fun and we all left feeling really happy. Who wouldn't with dancing pigs and all!

Our B&B for the next two nights was the Mole's End. A lovely manor home with three stately rooms you could stay in.

We gave Don and Donna the large room as this three day trip was our anniversary present to them. Not that our room was any less charming.

The next day we visited Shakespeare's home in Stratford-upon-Avon. Born in 1564 he grew up in this house where his father made gloves in a room adjoining the family home.

I like Shakespeare but am not a huge fan…..yet I was in complete awe when we walked through his house. To think….Shakespeare was born in this house and actually lived here 446 years ago!

As Shakespeare said, "such stuff as dreams are made on".

Why look, Don even got to meet Shakespeare. Isn't Don's sweater cute? We bought it for him in Scotland for Father's Day.

Another event I wanted D& D to experience in England was a proper afternoon tea. Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Ann, the seventh Duchess of Bedford in the year 1840.

A traditional tea would consist of sweets and sandwiches. And you absolutely must have scones with jam and clotted cream.

We skipped the sandwiches and each selected a slice of specialty cake and shared the scones. All were absolutely divine!

Outside of the tea house an old time car caught Don's attention. I love this photo! Don looks like he owns the car and the house behind it!

We spoke to the owner and she said it was a 1933 original Austin and you need to crank it to get it to run. It was a beauty.

Our last stop of the day was a lavender field. I had read that it was in full bloom at this time of year. I was surprised to find a lavender field in the Cotswold.

But to my delight…the color was as intense and as beautiful as any I've seen in Provence France!

The air was fragrant, full of that luscious lavender smell. I wish I had a scratch and sniff function on this blog.

There were thousands of bees busy at work on the lavender and the nearby sunflower field.

The owner was also very busy harvesting. It was peak time for the harvest, in fact if we were a day later, we would have missed seeing the beautiful purple fields.

Our wonderful vacation ended on Donna's birthday. Happy Birthday Donna!

We savored a leisurely breakfast at the B&B. Jane, the host, made really good eggs.

We had a little time before heading to the train station so we walked though a quintessential English neighborhood with thatched-roof houses. How sweet to live in one of these and enjoy it everyday.

We stopped at the local post office/florist/tea house for a spot of tea.

It is always special when you order tea in England. Even in a tiny tea house they will bring your tea in proper china.

Since it was Donna's birthday and we would be traveling most of the day, we would not have time to celebrate with a cake. But what would be even better than cake? BEN'S COOKIES!!! That's right, we went back through Oxford just to buy cookies.

Was it worth it? Oh ABSOLUTELY 100% YES. We splurged and each got two. It was a birthday celebration after all !!!!
Don and Donna visit – Amsterdam and Brussels

07

AMSTERDAM

A beautiful day trip.

Unfortunately I came down with a very sore throat (the first time I have been sick since we moved to Belgium) so D, D, and D ventured out to Amsterdam for the day without me.

This entry is written through Donna's eyes, based on her travel journal which she wrote in daily and the photos were taken by D, all nine of them. I take 500, he takes 8.

7:30 D woke us up and said it looked like a good day to visit Amsterdam. Can we be ready in an hour? We left the apartment at 8:40; took the metro to the train. The train ride was 2 hours and 45 minutes. We read and played cards (hearts). I won the game!

We arrived in Amsterdam and it was a beautiful sunny clear day.

First, we took a one hour canal ride. It was an enclosed glass boat (like the one above Don's shoulder). We saw houseboats from beautiful to shabby. Our boat barely made it under one of the bridges.

After the boat ride we walked through part of the Red Light District to get to Chinatown where we ate lunch. We had ribs, duck, veggies, rice and tea.

We walked back through the Red Light District. Some very attractive girls. Some on the phone in the windows with red drapes.

Cathy's comment – The red light district has been on Don's "bucket list"….so glad he had the chance to see it in person!

We walked around the city for awhile. Saw the Ann Frank House, but the line was too long to get in. Saw cafe smoke shops. Cathy's comment – if you remember from an earlier Amsterdam Blog…..pot is legal in Amsterdam and they smoke it openly at the coffee shops.

Thousands of bikes in parking garage. Lots of young people.

Walked through the flower market. Don bought Cathy an Amaryllis bulb.

Back to train station. Picked up sandwiches and water to eat on the train ride home. A lady around 60 sat in our pod with us on the train. She had several bags and a violin. She drank a coke and was very chatty. She told us she was a "busker" – a person who entertains in public places for money. We got home around 9:05.

Fun days in Brussels

A visit to the Victor Horta House and Museum. He was Belgian and one of the most prominent Art Nouveau architects of the century. Many of his designs survived the years including his own home which is now a museum.

Don and D went to the car museum in Brussels where they have over 400 cars. Don saw many he would love to own. They ranged in age from 1886 to 1970.

Drinks at our favorite wine bar. We like to stop by on Wednesday's on our way to the evening market.

How sweet is this?

After 50 years of marriage they are still holding hands.

They truly are our role models for a great marriage and I hope that we will one day see our 50th wedding anniversary!

HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY!
The Ardennes and the butterfly park

07

We decided that we need to explore Belgium more so we planned an over-night stay in the Ardennes (southeast near the border of France) at the lovely B&B, Le Prieure Saint Gery. It has two star Michelin restaurant where we had a spectacular four hour dinner. If you would like to enjoy dinner with us, please click here.

Our first stop was the Maredsous Abbey, founded in 1872. Not very old by European standards. We had a casual lunch at their outdoor cafe. They are Benedictine Monks who created the very famous Maredsous beer, but it is now brewed in Puurs Belgium in the Duval Brewery. They also make a very nice cheese.

We then headed to the town of Dinant know for their Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame completed in 1227. Look closely at the top of the ridge behind the church and you can see the Citadel, originally built in the 11th century. It was destroyed in 1703 by the French and was rebuilt in 1821.

There are colorful homes and shops along the River Meuse.

Dinant is also know for their couque (American cookies) known as the hardest biscuit in Europe. And I thought mine was just stale! We tried to eat this cookie. Impossible! We even dipped it in coffee, still as hard as a rock. Next time I'll just paint it and keep it as a souvenir!

For those trivia buffs out there, Aldolphe Sax was born in Dinant, the inventor of the saxophone.

If this isn't the cutest euro-car. The keys were left in it…..I should have taken it for a little ride.

The next morning we headed out to La Grange Aux Papillions. On the drive we saw a beekeeper which I found fascinating. If you look very closely (or double click on the photo to enlarge), you can see hundreds of bees flying around.

It was a bit overcast so the Papillons, or butterflies, were a bit sleepy. But for us, this was perfect as we were more interested in photographing them rather than seeing them flutter around.

I was anxious to put my new camera to the test. How close could this new macro lens get and still take a clear photo.

It passed the test. Check out the detail on this butterfly's eye.

And the detail of his wing. Amazing patterns which are to help camouflage them from predators. The patterns are also used in courtship rituals.

Butterflies weigh as little as two rose petals.

A butterfly lives between three weeks and a month.

There was an elderly French couple who were also visiting and they were helping me find the butterflies to photograph. The women kept tapping me on the shoulder. It was very sweet and helpful as sometimes they were hard to see.

Butterfly wings are actually transparent. The vivid color comes from iridescent scales which overlap each other. All butterflies have four wings.

And all butterflies have six legs. But many keep the front two tucked in. Did you known that they taste with their feet?

They do not have mouths rather they have a long tube-like structure called a proboscis used to suck juices and nectar from flowers. When not in use, it coils up. You can see this in the photo below. Some also eat rotten fruit.

This flower certainly looks like it would be a good one for them to nibble on.

There are 28,000 known butterflies throughout the world.

These were so delicate they were behind glass. The life cycle of a butterfly consists of four stages; egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (seen below) and adult (butterfly). The pupa can last from a few days to a few months. They do not eat during this time.

Looks like this one will be ready to release into the hot house garden very soon.

I was pretty sure nothing could top the beauty we saw at the butterfly park, until we passed this field of poppies – which are one of my favorite flowers in the wild.

Poppies are so delicate, they look like paper flowers.

We found a quaint little restaurant to eat lunch just outside the town of Chimay. Donald had frog legs in a sauce that was so good we wanted to drink it and I had a specialty of the region fish escobeche. It was a white fish in a cream cabbage sauce.

Our last site was the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Scourmont where the Cistercian Trappist Monks live. They have been making the famous Trappist Chimay beer here since 1863.

It was a very peaceful oasis. Tours of the brewery were not permitted. Trappist Monks are very secretive with their beer making. There are only seven Trappist Beers in the world. Six in Belgium ( Chimay, Oval, Rochford, Westvleteren, Westmalle , and Achel) and one in the Netherlands (Koningshoeven).

What makes a beer a Trappist beer is that is must be brewed on-site at a Trappist Abbey or under the control of a Trappist Monk. Donald has tasted every one of the Trappist beers and we have visited four of the Abbeys.

Here's D with a bottle of Chimay in hand! For those of you who are interested this is one of the Trappist beers you can buy in the US. You will probably pay three times what we pay…but hey, a special treat.
The four hour dinner

07

–

WARNING: Do Not Read if you are hungry : )

Le Prieure Saint Gery is one of 14 two-starred Michelin restaurants in Belgium. We have been wanting to try it for awhile, but it is hard to get reservations. They have a special offer which includes dinner, and over night stay in their 6 room B&B, and breakfast.

The meal lasted four hours and it had 13 courses. We selected the flight of wines where the sommelier paired a wine with each main course with a sweet wine for dessert.

This was the pre-pre amuse-bouche. Tomato mousse with mini savory waffle. It is a little dark as I took this first photo without a flash. I was trying to be "cool". The restaurant was very relaxed so I didn't worry about the flash later. My Blog readers needed good photos!

Next course, and one of my favorites (because of the ice cream) – cold asparagus soup topped with parmesan ice cream and a parmesan crisp.

The next two came on a plate together – oyster in a pesto broth and

white fishwith olive tapenade with creme fraiche.

Another amuse-bouche – seafood egg roll with aioli sauce.

Wait, one more amuse-bouche – warm egg salad topped with shrimp and broccoli gelee. This one definitely tasted better than it photographed.

Oh and I can't forget the bread. I could have just eaten this along with the butter. It may have been the best butter we have had. It was from from Brittany France and they are known for their superior butter. Guess where I want to go next?

And finally the real appetizer – a lovely white fish, called Saint-Pierre served with eggplant, grapefruit, saffron and a few other tasty morsels.

Ta-Da – our first main course. Red fish, bouillabaisse with clams, zucchini, arugula pesto, with a to-die-for cream broth.

A palate cleanser, again one of my favorites as it was sweet pea ice cream served with crispy bacon salt and asparagus cream. Doesn't this make your mouth water just reading the description.

The second main course. It had a sauce, but I was so anxious to eat it, I forgot to take the photo after the sauce was poured. Duck breast, duck rillettes, asparagus, wild mushrooms, spring onion and red fruit.

Of course there had to be a cheese course. One of the most beautiful cheese carts we have experienced.

Worthy of three photos.

You are able to select the cheeses you want. But we told him to just make a plate for us, each one different so we could share. We told him small. He gave us each seven cheeses each.

The cheeses were served with a plate of condiments.

I now have no room left. But wait, how could I skip dessert?

I can't : )      Good thing it was small.

The little chocolate one deserves a close up

Perfect……until we discovered this was just the pre-dessert to dessert! Below is dessert, a parade of chocolate. Again, another one that was hard to photograph, but trust me – it was so devine it melted in our mouths.

And believe it or not…..there was a post-dessert, dessert cart with coffee and ICE CREAM!!! Now you know I was completely full as I passed on the dessert cart. Just to make sure you caught that…..the dessert cart had ice cream and I passed on it. I could not find one teeny-tiny spot to put it in. It may have been the first time in my life I skipped ice cream :   (

We were very happy that we only had to walk upstairs to go to sleep. Certainly an unforgettable meal!
Le Tour De France

07

The tour De France is making it's way through Belgium and today it went through Brussels. The starting point for today's race is just one block from our apartment. The area was crazy with paparazzi, chase cars, support buses etc….Very exciting!

We got there early so we would have a good view for photos. There were crowds of people all along the route. This is the path D takes when he walks to work.

Here they come!

swishing by in a matter of seconds

In the yellow is Stage 1 winner, Italian, Alesandro Petacci, who escaped the terrible crash yesterday that took almost the entire race to the ground.

We are pretty sure the one in red is Lance Armstrong he is racing on the Radio Shack Team this year.

And this poor fellow….we hope he catches up!

After the bicyclist go by, the team cars carrying the extra bikes proceed. There were probably 40 team cars. It really is quite an event. They even had French Police on motorcycles that travel with the race.

A fun thing to see – but wow was it fast!
Artsy Edinburgh

07

We were pleasantly surprised to see that Edinburgh, Scotland was such a creative, humorous, and an all around fun city. And always high on our list…it had delicious food! This is Elaine Davidson, the world's most pierced woman.

She has a grand total of 6005 metal adornments on her body. She is in the Guinness Book of World Record. In 2000, when she was first accredited, she had 462 piercings, with 192 in her face alone. Nine years later she is up to 6,005 including more than 1,500 that are internal. Not sure I really want to know what that means!

She was born in Brazil and was a nurse. She now owns her own piercing and tattoo shop in Edinburgh. At least she has real experience with needles! I paid one pound to take these photos. Money well spent!

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland. It has an old town where medieval architecture was preserved. This old town city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As you can see from the beautiful blue skies, had unusually sunny and warm weather. A real treat for Scotland.

There is also what is called "new town" built in the neoclassic style in the 18th century. The juxtaposition of the old and new gives the city such unique character.

The main feature is the castle, built in the 16th century. It sits high on a hill above the city.

It is built on a Volcanic Rock (now extinct). History shows that there was a fortress on this site as early as AD 600. We toured the castle many years ago so we skipped it this time.

We visited the reputedly haunted, Greyfriars Kirkyard graveyard. Burials have been taking place there since the 16th century.

The haunting is attributed to the restless spirit of the infamous "bloody" George Mackenzie. Many visitors report feeling stage sensations; touched, pulled, bitten, and scratched.

The most recent was in March of this year, a women suffered a single stabbing sensation to the top of her head and scratches on her arms. Me thinks she was at the pub too long.

We encountered many funny signs – Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties, translation:

Haggis = sausage with oatmeal and spices cooked in a sheep's stomach

Neeps = yellow turnip, turnips

Tatties = potatoes.      D did eat haggis and replied, "it was excellent". Right!

Now here is a place to get your hair cut…a shot of vodka with your trim!

And how about the upstairs neighbor to this nursery? Look closely at that window on the right.

Edinburgh has several working artisan studios. This was a man who made beautiful knit clothing.

He had quite the intricate machine. I tried on a few of his designs, but you needed what I call "the euro-body" to wear his clothes.

In another studio a woman made fun colorful hats.

There were also many vintage resale shops selling clothes from the 1920 – 1980's. I bought a few pieces of vintage linen but no clothes.

A very colorful window from a vintage shop.

And the hot color for kilts was purple and blue.

And yes, we did see a few men wearing them on the streets. Since we were there on the weekend, there were several weddings and they wear kilts instead of tuxs. Here is a sweet photo of a young bridal party. How cute are the groomsmen in their kilts?

Maybe the brides father?

This man was the bag pipe player at a wedding that was taking place in our hotel. Love the shoes!

The food was fresh and contemporary, not what we were expecting. We thought it would be more like British and Irish pub grub. My favorite was a restaurant called "the dogs".

The coronation chicken I ate there was my fav and I have been making it every week since I ate there. I am including the recipe (my version) at the end of this blog.

  D's favorites were the roasted pig…..

…..a beer at the pub and

the highlight of the trip…..

We had read about them in magazines but have never tasted….a deep fried mars bar! And oh was it good.

Okay, so it looks gross, but when you bit into this hot gooey mess, if you closed your eyes, you would have thought you were eating a very expensive french dessert.

Oh I so wish you could have a bite! Oh I wish I could have another bite too!

And no matter how many times I see them, I am still amused by the red phone booths.

One last photo of the reflection of a castle in the Pizza shop window. I hope you try the coronation chicken.

Coronation Chicken

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/3 cup sultana raisins one large mango,peeled, thinly sliced

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon mild curry powder

1 to 2 tablespoon mango chutney (I used mango chutney with ginger and lime)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 pinch salt and ground black pepper

3/4 cup toasted cashews (I use almonds or pecans)

Directions: In a large pot, cook chicken in lightly salted boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain, cool, and shred. In a large bowl, stir together chicken, raisins, celery and mango. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, curry powder, chutney, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, then toss gently with chicken mixture. Stir in the nuts. Chill or eat at room temperature (not hot).

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