ENGLISH STRAWBERRIES

So we thought we knew what strawberries tasted like -we had forgotten about English strawbs-they are too delicious-now I know what the whole Wimbledon strawberries and cream is all about -English caviar! And now we've had raspberries -big and plump and full of flavour and I LOVE the supermarkets.  We have a small Waitrose near us - and what excellent stuff they have on their shelves and so much O stuff (organic for those of you who don't know that my family are sick of me using the O word!) and only a teeny bit more expensive than the non-O stuff . I am also trying to work out if London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, how come the products in the supermarkets are often cheaper than NZ!

 Can you see the name on the window? Best pic I could get - there was scaffolding all around the front .

 So, is LONDON # 1 on my list?  1stly, no rain (well nearly none), Hampstead Heath as gorgeous as ever, each part of “suburban” London its own little village and everyone speaks English-after 2 ½ months of being in  a haze of foreign languages, it’s a treat!  And we went to Moro in Exmouth Market for dessert - !  And Ottolenghi for lunch-Gil did say “Mom, just like you cook”!
I have always felt so at home in London  And it hasn’t disappointed in the least.

Wonderful Holland Park-you walk through and feel in parts as if you are in the country. An all time favourite-just as I remember it from the '70s!

Tomorrow we leave for SF and it’s goodbye to Gil-enough said.

OUR LAST 24 HOURS IN PARIS

Our last 24 hours in Paris was memorable for 2 reasons:

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The 1st, and most important one - we shared an excellent dinner at Le Dome du Marais with our wonderful friends, Orna and Ilan.That's them with us in the photo - over hot drinks and shopping bags one afternoon-remember them from the photo at brunch at Cafe Sonya in Israel?  The food was exceptional (how do you make those foam  “sauces” that surround the food?) And the wonderful connection with old friends. And promises of meeting in Berlin at 6.45p.m. exactly in 5 years time! We are still so overwhelmed that they came to Paris especially because we were there.  And we felt very French kissing and au revoiring on the Metro late at night!

We saw the uncrowded village atmosphere of Montmartre with a born and raised Montmartre ? guide - and got our daily exercise in  up and down the hills.  We finished the day at Georg Pompidou Centre - always such a lovely surprise to come upon it from any angle and the water sculptures …..that's me in the rain!!!

The 2nd reason is the time honoured Parisian hobby of ripping off tourists and it matters not how experienced you are, it seems you’ll still fall prey.  I had an all out fight with the barman in Monmartre at LE PALMIER.(just opposite the Metro stop Blanche) and only when Alan intervened and asked a fellow patron (Parisian) what he had paid for his coffee etc, did we get our refund for having been  grossly overcharged. The barman grudgingly slapped the refund on the counter as he could see I was not going to back down. So please, tell all your friends who are visiting Paris to give this cafe/brasserie a wide berth!

FAT DIET

So, Alan and I are back on our “fat diet”. Croissants for breakfast, lots of different cheeses and artisan baguettes, and a few French pastries thrown into the mix as well!

Paris is fabulous-even in the rain!  Today we went on a  Discover Walk in the Marais district-it poured from start to finish and even with umbrellas we got soaked, but hey, we are not in Paris everyday (or even every year!) so need to just go out and do it.  And we have our very good friends from Israel here as well,  so lots of stopping in cafes for more drinks i.e. coffee, then hot chocolate, then tea with a little something on the side.

Paris is so so full of tourists but if you know where to go (and also where NOT to go), there are great places to see and things to do that the average tourist does not seem interested in. We have loved the Discover Walks- guided tours run by Parisians with really good knowledge and some fun stories to go with the history. Off to Montmartre tomorrow……ooh la la!

SERENDIPITY

And now we are in Giverny……drinking the most expensive cup of tea so far - and we haven’t got to Pairs yet! - and about to see the Impressionist Museum-we will leave the gardens for tomorrow.

  Alan has piped up with  a comment “”Maybe I should become a waiter now that I speak  French” -does that mean we are moving to France-?

We have found our stay in France truly memorable (as it was in Spain and Italy and Israel!) oh and we were also in Beijing!!  We have visited areas that were new to us and met the most fabulous friendly French and only a very few very unfriendly ones!  This our final night in the country (countryside that is, not France!)-in a little village 10km from Giverny in a Chambre d”Hote “Les jardins du Val” (it will be in the 2012 edition of Maison d‘hotes de caracetere) -  highly recommended - just to be taken round the garden by the proud owner., a landscape designer and tree seller.- a most charming man who is passionate about his work and his surroundings. We have the Isle De France/Normandie border running through the bottom of the garden-it’s a stream -  and the peace and greeness of this magical place,   tranquillity personified.  Gosh, this is getting a bit too flowery! Unreal how different last night’s accom is to tonight’s-last night we were also at a Chambre d’Hote on a wheat farm 15min from Chartres-also most delightful place and people!

When I started out, the blog was going to be about the food we encountered -hence the name- BUT -  Alan says it should rather have been called Serendipity - for us it has been like that, stumbling on wonderful things and even with the ups and downs we have encountered.  




For some reason, only known to computr buffs, I cannot add images - have been on to google and help and tried lots of other things-so it seems only writing from now on!

9th JULY

The Atlantic coast (French one, that is) has been a revelation-at this time of the year, at least. Seems like half the population are heading this way to camp, cycle, tramp and everything else the French seem to do over the summer holidays. It’s so different from the Med side of France - scenery-wise etc and it seems much more French, less global even though I did see the big M yesterday! We drove through fields of sunflowers-as far the eye could see-a sea of iridescent yellow.

We spent my birthday (yes, that’s what 9th July signifies!) at the seaside in a little village Veux s Mer (just north of Royan)-we spent 2 days at a real seaside hotel-direct access to the beach, lovely walks along the cliff side, architecture particular to this area and a great little food market to amble through

I opted for Moroccan for dinner and what a good choice that was! Had the most divine fish tagine with veg and preserved lemons and olives and Alan a lamb tagine with almonds and prunes and sultanas - and the couscous -ahh, now that was couscous - fluffy and light - best I have ever had. Had to top it off with sweet sticky Moroccan pastries and te de menthe oh, we had Vin de Moroc! Lovely end to a lovely day!

As usual, my photo does do the subject justice-our delightful hotel.

ADIOS SPAIN

Our last night in Spain (6th July)was a delight! We stayed in a lovely country hotel, Hotel Churrutt, in the Navarra district of Basque Spain. The building has been in the same family since it was built in the 1700’s and is decorated with some of the original antiques - and the dinner! - I had fresh papadelle with “tofona” oil and truffles with a poached egg on top-from the 1st bite-a taste sensation!
And of course I mustn’t forget beautiful San Sebastian and the lovely town of Tolosa. The Basque country is already calling me back but don’t let Alan hear that.
　

and mustn't forgot Alan's dessert (which of course I helped him finish, to his dismay) -a light as air cheese cake with a passion fruit coulis.

Oh dear, this photo of the entrance of the hotel doesn't do it justice - hope you can imagine all the greenery everywhere.

For all my shoe crazy friends-this was such a great window -and guess what! Rebajas means SALE!!!!

And of course I mustn’t forget beautiful San Sebastian and the lovely town of Tolosa. The Basque country is already calling me back but don’t let Alan hear that!　

A PUZZLE FOR YOU -MATCH THE PHOTOS TO THE BLOG!

ADDENDUM

There's the SPIDER above our bed!

ALMOST GOODBYE SPAIN

　
　
Our time in Spain is almost over-we have seen so much and yet only a small part of this beautiful friendly country. Lots of stories…..
the little village which seemed comprised only of elderly with walking sticks!
in this pic (you might need a magnifying glass!) an old man passed us riding his bicycle with his walking stick tied to the carrier! At this point, he stopped outside the bank, untied the stick and hobbled into the bank. Today I tried a cycle ride-my thighs couldn’t handle the hills-so I deduce the old man is fitter than me!

the fresh mountain water spouting out of a man made fountain in the middle of a clearing -we thought we’d found the perfect quiet spot for our lunch….and then car after car of locals from the village below arrived to fill up their big containers - and what cold clear delicious water it was.

In all the cities and towns we have visited, we loved all the green spaces, gardens and walkways beautifully planted down the centre of the boulevards and at night filled with the locals, either walking or sitting at an outdoor café.

We are now in Basque country and have learnt a thing or two about Basque sentiments. Nadal was not their pick and they cheered when Djokovic won!

It seems that Spain has more holidays than we ever imagined! Whenever we reached a new area, that day or the next was a public holiday. Typical scenario today -we arrived on the outskirts of Bilbao last night,(more about where we are staying further on) headed down to the city and Guggenheim today and it seemed awfully quiet for a week day - it’s a holiday!!! Everything was closed EXCEPT the Gugg - we loved the building, the setting, the tapas in the cafeteria and only some of the art.

How's this- Jeff Koon's live garden dog! It sits in front of the Guggenheim.

So Alan found us a golf estate to stay on, on the outskirts of Bilbao-odd place, to say the least--we can’t quite work it out but the receptionist cum jack of all trades is an absolute delight. Halid is always smiling, so so helpful and always seems to pop up whenever you need something and lucky for us has a smattering of English as we can’t speak the other 4 languages he speaks- Berber, Arabic, Spanish and French-makes us feel pretty useless. Oh, and I nearly forgot-I LOVE the pillows they use in Spain- long and flattish-if only I could schlep a couple back-so comfortable.

and this is the pic behind our bed! It's huge-"The Spider"-the original sculpture sits outside the Guggenheim on the river side. Hope I don't wake up in the middle of the night.....

The real reason we are staying here!

COW BELLS, HORSES, MOUNTAINS ALL AROUND - WHERE ARE WE??

We arrived at Fuente De in the national park of the Picos de Europa and if you like the outdoors, and an hike or two, this is the place to visit. Breathtaking drive here - sheer peaks and green valleys with little villages nestled in between and the sound of the bells around the necks of cows and horses! Delicious artisan cheeses - some are matured in caves - a speciality here - strong strong blue cheeses and pungent goats cheese! For a moment, I thought we were in Switzerland! Also great to be out of the oppressive heat of the centre of Spain -it was 45deg when we were in Toledo-too hot to walk around. When the temp in our car hit 14deg while we were driving through clouds in the mts, we gave a sigh of relief.
Yesterday we took the cable car up Valdecoro and tramped through breathtaking landscapes with eagles and vultures flying overhead, some snow still nestled in crevices high above us -and 25deg is the right temp for this sort of thing!

And these beautiful horses also enjoying the fresh mountain air.

There's the snow!-there was plenty more, but much higher up with these amazing jagged peaks as far as the eye could see.