Blog en vacances -- hectic month -- lots of travel to do

Blog en vacances -- hectic month -- lots of personal travel to do (actually will be trekking back and forth from one European city to another)

Take care y'all!

Will be posting pics when I return... Ciao!

Blog en vacances -- hectic month -- lots of travel to do

Blog en vacances -- hectic month -- lots of travel to do

Take care y'all!

Why I love Cotes-d'Armor, Brittany (Pictures paint a thousand words...)

Marvelous cliffs located 1 km from home


Kiddies walk to this wonderful stretch of white sandy beach... a mere 15 min walk from the house

Palm trees are not an uncommon sight in Cotes d'Armor -- they grow everywhere in Europe but banana trees, near the Atlantic Ocean? No kidding, there are many of them. I saw mature banana trees in a friend's garden in Lezardrieux! I was so a......wed by the sight of fruit-bearing banana trees in his garden that he gifted me with a small one which I've now planted in my own garden...

Typical Brittany summer skyline (above & below)


One of the many ports near the house; this one is located 1.5 kms away from the house

One of the lovely beaches where kiddies like to play

Our parish church

Summer feast in town square


Celtic music is part of Breton life

Our very own corner in Cotes d'Armor that we finally selected and purchased last year from a short "long" list of nice properties for sale... Farmer helping us with ploughing a part of the garden

One of the houses we considered purchasing; a "Longere", (a long stone house), typical Brittany house; a longere's walls are usually 1-meter thick!; this house sits on one of the most beautifully landscaped gardens I visited while house hunting.

Another longere in our short list... Located in Lezardrieux, one of the biggest sailing ports in Cotes-d'Armor; very nice inside but ceilings too low.

A good longere with many outbuildings that could be converted into other small houses; in an excellent spot with an exquisite view of the valley; house is enormous inside with possibly 7 to 8 large bedrooms and sits on 7 hectares of garden/land, but too much work to be done on it; would have to spend 300,000 euros at the very least to put the entire property back up to speed -- finally said no. Asking price was only 245,000 Euros.

We almost bought this house (entire house not shown in picture)...Some renovations needed inside; Beautiful longere but didn't like the layout of the 1.7 hectare-garden. Property finally sold for 425,000 Euros.

One of the houses in our short list -- nice with lots of potentials but too expensive for what it is. Although in a nice spot, needs major renovation inside to put it back on track; garden a bit on the small side, only 1 acre of land that needs lots of TLC. Price: 295,000 Euros or some 360,000 US dollars.


Baby boy about "to cook" lobster (freshly purchased from one of the stalls in fishing port)

Cutting up cooked lobster

A typical summer lunch in Brittany

Favourite golf course located very near the house


Darling getting ready to putt

Beautiful 18th century clubhouse where I like to have my mid-morning "espresso"

Sailing is part of life (and our life) in Brittany

Lil Baby Boy playing along the cliffs near the house


And this is how the sea looks in Cotes d'Armor at 8 PM

Pictures of my part of Brittany that a paint a thousand words and show why I love this rather remote region of France!

Folkestone, Leeds Castle and Euro Tunnel

We crossed the Channel to help our Baby Girl, who's just finished her first year at uni in England, move out and bring back her "junk" home. (Next year, she will be renting a house with some of her close uni friends -- a real house out of campus -- and so, we won't have to come every end of term to move her things back and forth...)

We decided that a brief sightseeing tour was in order on the way back to our home in the European Capital.

First stop was Folkestone, a nice, sleepy seaside town in the southern coast of England. The sea front is lined with beautiful Georgian and lovely Victorian homes and buildings. On a clear day, one can see France across the English Channel (or La Manche as it's called in France!)

We stayed overnight at The Grand, a beautiful, genuine Victorian hotel facing The English Channel.. It was rumoured that Edward VII used to spend his dalliances with his mistress(es) in one of the hotel rooms above overlooking the "monkey conservatory", hence the expression "doing monkey business" as one lady inhabitant of Folkestone told us.

We then made a side trip to 12th century Leeds Castle, a ruin that was purchased by Hon. Olive, Lady Baillie, daughter of an American heiress, who transformed the castle into one of the most glamorous homes in England.

To me, Leeds Castle is the epitome of 'modern' grace and glamour re-built and refurbished ever so tastefully, in a most romantic and gorgeous setting.

The welcoming committee was composed of lovely peacocks, swans, ducks, birds of all colours promenading about in the sprawling estate which is adorned by lovely landscaped pocket gardens at every turn. It definitely is worth a detour-- never mind that an entrance ticket costs 16 Sterling Pounds per adult (note that ticket is good for multiple entries for a year!)

Here are some pictures I took of that brief but memorable trip to this nice, quiet English coast which happens to be linked to the Continent by the efficient Euro Tunnel... After a brief but enjoyable visit of that part of England, we then hopped onto a Euro Tunnel coach with our car for the half hour crossing that took us to Pas-de-Calais in France, en route for the European captial...

(1) Folkestone tourist map
(2) One of Folkestone's beaches
(3) A view of the beach from the cliff
(4) A stately Victorian home in Folkestone
(5 & 6) The Grand Hotel
(7) Georgian homes line up the sea front
(8 & 9) The relatively small but lovely Leeds Castle
(10) Castle map
(11) A typical commode, one of the beautiful pieces of furniture in the castle
(12) A rather 'bold' picture gracing one of the walls in the castle
(13) One of the guest rooms
(14) Lady Baillie and her two daughters
(15) A display of Lady Baillie's finery
(16) A beautiful painting, most likely that of Lady Baillies, who was considered one of the most accomplished hostesses of her time
(17) Baby girl at the bottom of the main staircase
(18) An array of old books in the library
(19) Baby girl with a daring white peacock in the background
(20) The unusual white peacock posing for a picture
(21) Ducks everywhere!
(22) Plants with gargantuesque leaves!
(23) One of the sitting rooms in the Leeds Castle
(24) A lonely parrot in the aviary
(25) One of the hidden gardens within a garden in the sprawling Leeds Castle estate
(26) Another peacock promenading among the tourists
(27) On our way to boarding the Euro Tunnel train
(28 & 29) Inside one of the coaches of the Euro Tunnel
(30) Half an hour later, we are in France and on our way out of the Euro Tunnel
(31) On the road home...

Visiting and people watching at La Grande Place in Brussels on a sunny Saturday afternoon...

The weather was fantastic last Saturday, stunnignly sunny and so we decided to take our young guest (shown in first pic) for a short tour of Brussels, and of course not to be missed was the highly animated Grande Place.

This famous square, a UNESCO World Heritage houses some of the prettiest Belgian architecture of the 17th century.

Here are some random pics I took of the short visit to La Grande Place, which, more than anything, was people watching (as opposed to bird watching.)

I was amused by a young woman all dressed in pink replete with a pink wig who was kind enough to pose for a shot for me. I think she was part of a group that was doing some sort of gig in the square that afternoon.

We saw a group of Spanish tourists who were practising on a new mode of tourist transport (don't know what it's called). I thought at first that the gadget looked lethal, i.e., passenger/driver might fall on his/her face, but not quite -- it was soon obvious after a few minutes that it was fun. And guess where the Spanish group was doing their practice session? Right under the statue of Don Quijote around the corner from La Grande Place!

Playing in the midst of Le Courégant's beautiful sea and sky views

Le Courégant is situated in Morbihan, in the French province of Brittany. It has a wild coastline and is home to some of the most beautiful sea and sky views in this part of the world... Here are some of the views I captured on camera while we were on a brief holiday in the region last year. Included are some shots of the kiddie boys close up as well as the rented cottage by the sea.

Meditative baby girl is shown in front of a playful sea. My baby boy and his classmate and close buddy could be seen romping over the rocky side on the beaches of Le Courégant.

Naples, Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius, Sorrento... lovely

A 6-day trip to Italy may be quite tiring but can also be vivifying.

Last week, we left the cold, sun-less capital of Europe to arrive in busy, noisy but sunny and bubbly Naples.

I've always loved Italy particularly its southern coast. Its mix of sophistication and crudeness never ceases to amaze me. The Italian language can be pleasant to the ear but can also be disagreeable when spoken in a deafening fashion.

This is our 10th, possibly 11th trip to Italy. But this time around, we toured the Naples region, ate Napolitani cuisine in abundance, took in the sights tirelessly and re-lived a civilisation that's both enthralling and surprising as we climbed amazing Mt Vesuvius, walked the beaten paths of historical Pompeii and lazed around in gorgeous Sorrento.

Naples had a lot of roadworks so it was dusty and noisy. But that didn't bother us. What I couldn't get over was the sight of clothes hanging out to dry in balconies! With grime proliferating in the air, I was wondering how those clothes could be kept clean. But that's how it's done down south and the more south you go, the more they live outdoors.

It's well and good to sunbathe in the hilltops to view the magnificent Naples Bay with Mt Vesuvius in the background but a tour of Naples wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Old Naples. The narrow streets -- where the sun virtually never shines -- in Old Naples are unkempt and cluttered but they are part of the Napoli charm. I woudn't have missed them for the world.

Of course, one cannot go anywhere in Italy without doing a bit of shopping for bags, shoes and some pieces of jewelry. We left for the tour with little baggage but came home with an armful of great Italian craft. We arrived back home tired but really pleased!

(1) View of the Naples Bay with Mt Vesuvius in the background
(2) Start of visit of the old city of Pompeii
(3, 4, 5, 6) Vestiges of a buried city
(7) Plaster cast of a Pompeiian that was buried under the rubbles in the aftermath of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79AD
(8, 9, 10, 11, 12) Vestiges of the city of Pompeii
(13) Francesco, our lovely Napolitan guide and driver
(14) These are called "ears", a Napolitan pasta delicacy
(15) Climbing Mt Vesuvius
(16) View of the bottom of Mt Vesuvius halfway to the top
(17, 18, 19) The famous crater and its signboard pointing to the view of Pompeii with a religious picture on the side of a lava wall
(20, 21, 22) Naples Bay and a horde of locks, a tradition for lovers to hang a lock by the rail and the key thrown into the sea to symbolise eternal love
(23) Port of Naples with a beautiful yacht in the foreground
(24) By the port
(25) Viaduct on the way to Sorrento
(26, 27) I've always wanted to own a cincocento, the famous Italian miniature car and what do you know? We arrived in Sorrento during the town's cincocento rally featuring so many colourful Italian minis!
(28) View of the bay of Sorrento
(29) A Roman garden hidden in a walled Sorrento home
(30) Ah, one of the local desserts, a lemon curd, very fine tasty Sorrento specials
(31) Pittoresque Sorrento ceiling, waling on high street and an Italian wedding
(32, 33) Leaving Naples; view of the surrounding Napolitan region from the air!