Italy.....cut short!

With our Year in Provence coming to an end, it was off to Italy for one last fix of pasta, pizza and chianti before heading north for England.  Unfortunately our plans for a packed week of sight-seeing, eating and drinking were cut short......
We started off with three nights in Lucca, a beautiful walled city with so many narrow streets and lanes it was easy to get lost, which we did, several times.  In fact, I tried on a jacket in a shop one evening, and when we went back the next day to buy it, we couldn't find the place!  Serves me right for being indecisive!
Many of the shops have their original frontages with beautiful glass and stonework....

The weather wasn't great for two days, so to avoid the showers we ducked in and out of the shops, and cafes......the Italians do love their sugar and their carbohydrates, preferably combined in a couple of perfect mouthfuls.

Lucca is quite a prosperous city, so there were lots of interesting sculptures and artworks to be seen: you have to look carefully at this one, it was a bit hard to photograph.

A bus trip to Pisa was next on the itinerary.  Travelling by bus means you can see over everyone's hedges and fences into their gardens - in comparison to the French, the Italians make much more effort with their landscaping and general appearance of their houses.  While the French tend to plonk a semi-finished house down on a barren section then live like that for the next 20 years, the Italians are obviously big vegetable growers and like their properties to look homely and lived in.

Pisa was, as expected, teeming with tourists, most of whom are taking the classic photos of each other propping up the Leaning Tower.  Sorry, not for us, you get the boring version!

It is quite spectacular in its vertically challenged state, but we didn't pay the 18 euros to go to the top, instead spending our tourist euros on going in the cathedral....

The Baptistry....

  And the Camposanto, which is the cemetery....

We actually enjoyed the Camposanto the most, as there were hardly any people there, and there were some stunning paintings on the wall, and some great sarcophagi (stone coffins/tombs).

Moving south towards Siena, things started to go downhill....I got the flu!  We spent a day driving around the Chianti hills, with me sleeping in the car all day, and Lew hopping out to explore each little village.  The following day  I was totally incapable of moving out of bed, so Lew abandoned me at the B and B to see Siena.  Not much fun on his own, but someone had to see it!

Lew also very gallantly had to front up for breakfast each morning on his own, as I was beyond eating anything after day one....and what a breakfast it was!  The tablecloth does confuse the issue a little in this photo, but breakfast consisted of cereals, scrambled eggs, cold meat platter, various fishy things platter, multiple cakes platter, basket of bread, crostini platter, juice, RED WINE, and the thickest hot chocolate imaginable!  Lew did his best, but couldn't really do it all justice without me!

The staff at the B and B were wonderful when I was ill, constantly offering hot drinks, cakes and even a box of dubious sachets of something, which Mr Google told me were anti-inflammatories.  However, things were not looking promising, so, rather than pay to see the inside of another bed and breakfast in Florence, we decided to pull the pin and go back to France three days early. Besides, Lew had had enough of shopping for his dinner in the supermarket and eating it off a plastic plate with a spork sitting on the bed! Florence will keep for another time.

During our ten months in France, we've visited Italy three times, and find ourselves loving the country more and more, and comparing it favourably to France.  Why so??  Here are a few observations.

• Italians are more friendly.  The French have the attitude of "we live in the best country in the world, and you, little tourist, are lucky to be here".  The Italians attitude seems to be "we live in the best country in the world, and we want you to love it too...and love our food....and our wine....and our grandmothers....love us"!
• Italians are better drivers.  Especially on the country roads, there were none of the suicidal overtaking manoeuvres that the French have perfected, and the Italians give you much more distance when travelling behind.                                     

• Italians just look better, especially the men!  They take more pride in their appearance, not just in their classy stylish clothes, but there were noticeably more men exercising - walking, running or cycling the country roads.
• Italians take more pride in their houses and gardens.  Yes, the houses may be crumbling, but somehow its a better class of debris than France, and at least the crumbling house is surrounded by flowers and veges!
• Eating in, and eating out is much cheaper in Italy
• They are just as good at doors and knockers as France....

The down side?

• Italian roads are in worse condition, and the signage is terrible: we managed to get lost several times despite map, GPS and signs!
• Food - now this can be regarded as good and bad, depending on your preference, but the reliance on sugar and carbohydrate was a bit much for me after a few days.  Cake and bread for breakfast (with the exception of the one bed and breakfast above!), pizza for lunch,  pasta/rice/polenta for dinner.  However, the variety and quality of fruit and veges in the shops was amazing, so obviously home cooking must be different, we just didn't get to experience much in the way of plant matter when eating out.

Obviously we didn't have to get the car fixed, buy a 6 inch nail or ring a plumber in Italy, so we can't really comment on day to day living in Italy, but if we ever choose to house sit or look after a property again, I think we'd give Italy a go.

How the other half live....from one extreme to the other.

Ladies and gentlemen, step aboard our latest purchase.....a super yacht!  Yes, this week saw us mixing with the high-flyers of the yachting world, at the Monaco Super Yacht Show.  We were very lucky to be given free tickets by some friends down the road, so how could we turn down such an opportunity?  At €80 each, we certainly wouldn't have bought them!  So, we fronted up at Les Arcs train station at 7.30am to get the train to Nice, then change and get the train to Monte Carlo, Monaco.  Monaco is apparently the most densely populated country in the world (no, it's not part of France, it's a sovereign city-state) and we were well advised that driving into the city is not an option even on the quietest of days.  As you can see, the housing is not your typical French hill-top village....

The harbour was crammed full of incredibly large palatial yachts and launches, which enthralled Lew - I spent most of my time looking at the clothes and shoes parading around!  There were more Chanel/Prada/Louis Vuitton labels than you could shake a diamond-studded stick at, so we felt quite "exclusive" with our Kathmandu label attire!

Even in the "residential" harbour it was standing room only on the water...

And out to sea were the unlucky few who didn't manage to book a berth in town early enough.  We counted 150 vessels before giving up...

Back in the harbour there was plenty to look at besides the fashion parade.  Most yachts had their backs open (I'm sure there's a more technical term for that) to display the toys and sun-loungers available to the rich and famous...

 And whilst Lew assures me this photo was taken out of national pride, I'm not sure there wasn't some other attraction in the lens at the time...

As it was the morning after the America's Cup final (less said about that the better) we managed to talk our way onto one of the yachts to look around, as the Chanel model in charge of visits took pity on us!  The yachts were available for viewings to the select few, by appointment only, for prospective buyers, suppliers, clients etc.  We had to produce a business card to clinch the deal - it was a toss-up whether "agricultural consultant" or "physiotherapist" would be the strongest hand to deal!  Luckily there were a couple of Kiwi crew on-board so we blended into the background quickly!

As the smell of money was getting a bit overpowering after a couple of hours, we escaped to have a quick look around Monaco, particularly the Opera House..

There were several sculptures in the gardens, including this one of Adam and Eve.  Obviously the French versions had more to eat than just an apple, and why is a certain part of Adam's anatomy somewhat more polished than the rest?!?

A stunning display by the Red Arrows topped off the day.

From one extreme to the other.  A few days after the show we went for a walk through beautiful chestnut forests to a monastery in the middle of nowhere, Chartreuse de la Verne.

  This is a 12th Century monastery which housed an order of monks who must have been a bit careless with the candles - the whole place burnt down three times, before being left derelict until the 60's.  Its been incredibly well re-built/restored, using traditional stone building techniques, and is a very calm and peaceful place to look around.  It's now a working monastery again, housing an order of nuns of Bethlehem.

We've now got one week left here at Les Fadons, so we've been trying to visit a few places that have been on the list all year!  Today we took the bikes on the car to Grimaud, where we had a look around the village before cycling down to Port Grimaud on the coast about 5kms away.  This is a bizarre place: a marine village designed by Francois Spoerry in the late 60's as the Riviera's answer to Venice, with traditional French fisherman's cottages, numerous water channels and personal boat moorings at the end of each cottage garden.  All on re-claimed land!

For some reason it didn't feel very real, and not much like Venice either.  There were lots of tourists around (like us!) looking at the boats and houses, but no feeling of a community or village in any way.  We weren't sure if anyone actually lived there full-time, or whether all the houses were second homes for rich Parisiens who use it as an expensive boat mooring.  A bit like Monaco really, but less high-rise!

After a week like this one, we've come to the conclusion that we're not the French Riviera types, and we need to stick to our Provencal villages, with doors, knockers and pot-plants!

A few favourites

France is so photogenic, around every corner is another gem just waiting to be snapped at!  If we lived here for longer, or if we grew up here, would these images be normal and mundane I wonder??
It certainly doesn't pay to leave home without the camera.

Last week was a combination of playing the tourist, the host, and the worker.  We are suddenly aware that we have just over two weeks left here, so we are attempting to see and do a few things before we leave this area - who knows if or when we might be back.  So, off to Moustiers, a village built into the side of the hill up near the Gorge du Verdon.  Very famous for the faience pottery, it is a bit on the touristy side, but at this time of year its not too bad.

The French love to put chapels in rather inaccessible places, often at the top of a mountain with foot access only.  Obviously the devout were a determined and hardy bunch in those days.  Moustiers had its chapel strategically placed on the side of the gorge, but at least there was a well worn pathway to the top.

For those of you hanging out for more net curtain shots, Moustiers didn't disappoint, with two more classics to add to the collection...

I still think there's a whole un-tapped market for net curtains like these in New Zealand.......

Next picturesque village - Correns.  For a tiny, fairly ordinary village in the Var, it seems strange that none other than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have got a house here.  Of course, when I say "house", I'm talking multi-bedroomed-pool-and-tennis-court-closely-guarded-chateau-complete-with-full-vineyard type of house.  Always optimistic, I went dressed in my best, fresh lipstick applied, in the hope that Brad might be popping into the boulangerie for his baguette.  He must have been having a gluten-free day when we visited, as the boulangerie was disappointingly empty.
However, plenty of other things to look at...
The best piece of street graffiti we have seen for some time ....

A sign on a hotel door - "full"....

And a sure contender for the title of Best French Knobs and Knockers...
I love the way her tail (?) has worn a hole in the door - this resident is obviously a popular person.

Our friends from Nelson, Karen and John, arrived for the weekend, so we spent several happy days showing them round our favourite haunts.  Villecroze is definitely our number one village in the area, not just due to the best pain au raisin...

Villecroze is an arty little village, with evidence of serious effort on behalf of the villagers to entertain the tourists, as well as keep them out!

Karen and John were able to join us in a very enjoyable evening of boules and Pastis with the neighbours.

The French take their boules games very seriously, especially when its a 'social' game with the neighbours

The evening continued with more Pastis, dinner, wine, more Pastis, a little wine, and finishing off with Limoncello and Cassis liquers!

During the course of the evening we noticed something very interesting.  There were seven children aged between 13 and 4 at the gathering.  We arrived at 4.30pm and left around 11pm.  The children greeted all the adults with kisses when we arrived....and that was pretty much the last we heard of them: they had some cake in the kitchen at about 5pm, then ate dinner at the same time as us, about 9pm, again, inside in the kitchen.  They played together for the rest of the time and never once came to the adults complaining about anything, or saying they were bored/hungry/tired, and there was no fighting at all.  When we pointed this out to our friends as being very impressive, they couldn't quite understand us, and said that was normal behaviour - if the children drew too much attention to themselves the adults might realise the time and decide its time to go home!

And just to round off the week....a little bit of work!

Oh humble fig, how do I love thee.....

How many figs can you eat in a day?

That depends on the consequences you're willing to pay!

They hang from the tree, so plump and inviting,

The thought of eating them is oh, so exciting!

But how to obtain them?  Herein lies the problem,

High walls and fences are there to protect them

So at dusk and at dawn, two shadows are seen,

Cycling the neighbourhood, looking for trees

Lew is tall and athletic with a physique to boast,

If I stand on his shoulders I reach higher than most!

It doesn't take long to collect up our loot,

Silently, quickly, off home we scoot

We gorge on the flesh, so purple and fruity

In a matter of minutes we've demolished the booty

Well, to leave them to rot would simply be rude,

And it always feels good when you're eating free food!

(Egg) breaking news......and other stories!

You can tell we've had a fairly quiet time recently, as I'm starting off with an egg story!  But this is not just any old egg, this is a potential record-breaking egg in the making!  One of our chickens has always laid a super-jumbo sized egg, so for obvious reasons Lew named her Kiwi, in recognition of her efforts.  However, the other week she excelled (or should that be "egg"celled?!) herself and laid a whopper.  The egg was so big, she couldn't fly up into the nest, and had to lay it on the floor of the coop.

Checking in with the Guiness Book of Records, we found the world record for a domestic chicken egg is 180 grams.  Average jumbo egg is around 60g.  Kiwi's effort?  154 grams!!!

Only another 27g to go and she'll be famous!  Whilst there were no signs of discomfort, she had a couple of days off before getting back into laying again, and is obviously training hard for the next record attempt.  You'll be the first to know if there's any "egg"citing news!

Still on the home front, Lew and I have been making a few attempts at clearing the river of tree debris which was still stuck in the river after a huge flood 18 months ago.  Lots of tree trunks and large branches have lodged themselves at various points, providing traps to snag any other debris and rubbish that gets washed down the river.  So, having cleared as much as possible from the banks, it was time to launch HMS Unsinkable.
I was the self-appointed Transport Manager, so with aspirations of a place in the 2016 NZ Olympic rowing team, I was soon handling our sleek streamlined boat with ease....

With Lew finally satisfied that I wouldn't tip him out, I came back to collect him and added Operations Manager to my CV, while Lew took on the role of Chief Labourer and Dangerous Equipment Operator....

At one point it became obvious that the boat was a bit superfluous to requirements, so we had a man overboard - entirely voluntarily of course - and I continued multi-tasking as Team Photographer...

Luckily neither of us had accepted the role of Occupational Safety and Health Officer, so the underwater use of saw....

and chainsaw....

was judged to be acceptable and within the job description!
Our timing was just right, as we've had the most enormous storm this morning.  The rain should raise the river enough to wash away all the bits and pieces we managed to release.

We've just had my parents here for a week, so we've spent some lovely days showing them around the favourite places we have got to know during the year.  The weather was perfect, although perhaps a bit hot for mum and dad- even though its September, we're still up at around 30 degrees every day.

Inevitably re-visiting places means that we don't take many photos, as we've already taken them earlier in the year.  We're finding we take fewer photos anyway, as things which once seemed unusual or noticeable, have now become more normal or ordinary.  But there are still some sights that are just irresistible to the camera....

On the food front, we are now into the fig season.  This is very similar to the asparagus season in New Zealand - they're only around for a very short time, so you have to go into overdose mode and consume as many as is humanly possible, as tomorrow they will be gone.  That's all very well with asparagus, as, apart from the bizarre effect on your pee, there are usually no real adverse effects. Figs on the other hand......well, lets just say you have to go carefully to work out the safe daily consumption!

Lew has never really seen the attraction of figs, but he has suddenly become a convert, as they are so beautifully ripe, and there are so many different varieties within a 5km radius of the house.  He has therefore taken on the hunter-gatherer role, and has been spotted in the early morning light, taking off on his bike to relieve the neighbours of their excess figs overhanging the road!  So far he has got away with it, but as the hunting season has started up again, he needs to make sure there isn't a gun-happy Frenchman just around the corner!