Piedmont Region - Italy - April 27, 2011

This is the LITTLE village where Ivana's Inn is located

A window of one of the apartments from the
front of the building

Our room

Our sitting/dining area

The view from the balcony

Andrew and his favorite wine maker - Stephania
from Stroppiana vineyards (and Ivana's sister!)

Stephania (and her husband), Leonardo (and his sister)

The oak barrels at Stroppiana

He looks right at home with the big barrels huh?!

Touring around the Piedmont region - La Morra Italy

View from La Morra

Emma and Adam enjoying the view



Bra???? :)

We couldn't find lunch in LaMorra so we opted for
dessert instead! - cannoli - yum!

The gorgeous landscape of Piedmont Italy

We found some lunch! Pizza - in Italy!

The kids decided that it's the best pizza they've ever eaten!

Erbaluna Winery-LaMorra Italy

Very interesting cellar with a special story told below

We had a wonderful tasting!

Nathan enjoyed it too!

More of the Piedmont landscape

Gelato anyone??? :) - Alba Italy

Cattedrale di San Lorenzo - Just after the funeral of
Pietro Ferraro (47 yrs.) - CEO of the Ferrero Group Holding Co.,
Producer of Nutella and Tic Tacs

The world headquarters of Ferrero Corp.

A beautiful statue in a church in Alba Italy

Andy asked the nice folks at Rolex if they could fix the
band on his $5.00 watch that he bought at the Arles
Market - unfortunately, they didn't have the right part.

Our visit to the Piedmont region of Italy was pretty special.  The decision to go to Piedmont was based on our meeting a wine maker, Stephania Stroppiana, who came to Canton in November to help market her wines around the U.S.   When Andy told her that we would be in France for six months and would try to stop by her winery, she suggested that we stay at her sister's "Inn" if we do make the trip.  So, because all of the places we checked on our route to Tuscany were booked due to the school holidays, we decided to go the one hour out of our way and visit Stephania and her sister, Ivana.  The reservation was made and Andrew e-mailed Stephania to let her know that indeed, we were coming to Piedmont!

Due to all of our stops along the way, we didn't make it to our destination until 11:00 pm on Wednesday April 26.  Ivana's Inn is tucked in the tiny little village of Monforte D'Alba - population = less than 100! We were able to follow the directions that Andrew was given until we were just outside the village - at that point, we decided to call for help.  By some miracle, between the broken cell phone reception in the mountains, Ivana's broken English and our lack of Italian we were able to communicate that we were, in fact, close, but didn't know where to go from where we were.  Ivana said that she would come and find us to lead us in, however, after about 20 minutes and no sign of Ivana, we called back - and it was good that we did!  Ivana couldn't find us so we changed locations and she sent her husband to find us, which he did, and led us to the beautiful Inn.  Ivana greeted us, showed us to our "apartments" (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting/dining room/ balcony) - the kids had one and Andrew and I had our own - The place was wonderful, we enjoyed everything about it! 

On Thursday, Andrew walked into town to get some breakfast for everyone - he returned with a couple of yogurts, some rolls and fruit --- and amazingly,  espresso in a dixie cup for me!  The town only had about 6 buildings so he was very limited but did find a small grocery store.  We are so used to boulangeries in France that I guess we assumed that they would be in Monforte D'Alba as well - no such luck!  After preparing for the day and collecting the kids, we were off to Stroppiana Winery for a visit with Stephania.

We found Stroppiana with very little difficulty between 10:00 and 10:30 am and were greeted by Stephania's 17 year old son Leonardo and her mother in law. When Stephania came around the corner and hugs were given all around!  We were taken to a simple and comfortable tasting room where we found a long wooden table with bottles of wine, glasses and a large bowl of hazelnuts.  After visiting for a little while and learning about Stephania's family, the bottles were opened and the tasting began!  The kids were very patient and after a few minutes, were offered Chocolate!  Stephania walked over to a large closet and grabbed several large bars, opened them up, cracked them apart, and the kids were smiling!  Stephania told us that Leonardo may be visiting the states and helping Claudia (their representative in the U.S.) with marketing - we told him that if he comes to Canton, he has a place to stay and tour guides :) -- We visited with Stephania and Leonardo for about an hour and then Stephania arranged another tasting for us at Erbaluna Winery, down the road in La Morra, at 2:30.  On our way out, Stephania's husband and daughter arrived, we were introduced, pictures were taken and we were off!

Our original plan to visit Bra Italy was nixed after Stephania and Leonardo explained that there really isn't anything there - so, although Emma and I were excited to have our picture taken in Bra, we opted to not visit the town.  We did, however, take a pix in front of a "Bra" sign.  Upon Stephania and Ivana's suggestion, we stopped in the town of La Morra for a look around and some lunch.  Unfortunately, a lot of the restaurants were closed so we got some canoli to hold us until we found something more "lunchlike", which we did in the next little town, Garibaldi - pizza :)  They were delicious and hit the spot. 

Erbaluna winery is in a beautitul setting on a hillside with vineyards all around in La Morra Italy.  The lady who conducted the tasting was informative, fun and explained the reason for all of he dusty wine bottles in the pictures above: Whenever a new child is born into the family, a case or two of wine from that year is saved until that child's 18th birthday at which time, at the celebration, the wine is opened and enjoyed!  What a fantastic tradition!  The wine was great, Nathan enjoyed it too - we liked everything we tasted, bought several bottles, met some German folks outside who where heading in for a tasting as well, and were on our way once more. (and today I discovered that Erbaluna wine is available at Astor Wine shop in NYC! - I stumbled upon that bit of info. when researching the town that the winery is actually in for this post-Astor ships to North Canton!)

Next stop: Alba Italy.  Stephania and Ivana suggested that we visit Alba and both warned us to NOT go until later in the afternoon due to the funeral of the CEO of  the Ferrero Corp., maker of Nutella.  When we arrived, many of the stores were closed and 99% of the shop/restaurant windows held a photograph of a gentleman who we assumed, must be running for some kind of public office.  Soon, however, we realized that it was the CEO who had died - the town loved him which was evidenced not only by the number of photographs, but also by the number of bleachers/speakers etc.... that were being dismantled and loaded into trucks from the funeral mass which was held in the church (pix above) with the crowd spilling into the square outside.  When we arrived home I checked the internet and found that Pietro Ferraro had died suddenly while biking in Capetown South Africa.

The kids enjoyed some gelato and we did enjoy walking around Alba for awhile, then headed back to the Inn to relax before a wonderful dinner at a beautiful little restaurant which was tucked down a hill, around a corner, behind some vines - I really don't know how people find these restaurants!  The restaurant was a suggestion from Ivana again, and I'm glad that we went - dinner was delicious!  The next day we were driving to Tuscany and making some stops along the way.

Trip to Piedmont Italy - April 26

First Stop - Grasse France - The center of the world's
perfume industry since the 16th century

Musee Internationale de la Parfumerie

Touring the museum, Emma is smelling some of the
plants that are manufactured into perfume

Fragonard Parfumerie

Grasse was the birthplace of Jean-Honore Fragonard

Second Stop - Cannes!

Palais Des Festivals et Des Congres - the location of the
International Film Festival (sans the red carpet!)
They were preparing for 2011 - Runs May 11-22
We were there a little early

Mickey Mouse's Handprint

The Pink Panther

Emma - A Jedi!

Adam - A Jedi!

Smile!

Nathan and Andrew taking a break

Very fun sand sculptor

ITALY! (this was the best pix we could snap between
tunnels!

Our first italian dinner was here - a restaurant whose
driveway was between guardrails off of a very
windy, in the middle of nowhere, road.

We left for our big Italian adventure on Tuesday April 26.  This was the second two week break for the public school system so the kids did not miss any classes.  Our ultimate destination was Florence/Siena in the Tuscany region but we planned some fun stops along the way as well due to the distance involved.  We would travel east along the A8/E80 freeway, just north of the mediterranean sea and stop wherever we wanted to along the way.  We had numerous recommendations from friends and family regarding what to do and what not to do which were very helpful, so, although Monte-Carlo and Monaco sounded like great places to stop, we chose not to do so on this trip.  The size of the towns and knowing that they would probably be very busy due to the holiday time (children out of school) played a large part in that decision.

Rather, Emma and I suggested that we stop in Grasse, the center of the perfume world!  We were excited to smell a wide variety of scents and maybe even purchase something as a souvenir.  Grasse is a lovely little town positioned in between hills with views of the sea and surrounded by lavendar, mimosa, jasmine and rose fields (although we didn't see any of them in bloom). The buildings are painted with bright colors and the town is very warm and welcoming.  We parked Mo Mo in a parking garage and went in search of the Office of Tourism.  Before finding the office, however, we found the one museum that was recommended in our tour book - the Musee Internationale de la Perfumerie. Andy, Emma and I decided to go in and look around while Nathan and Adam chose to look around the town and get a snack - we agreed to meet back at the front doors of the museum in 30 minutes.  Overall, Andy, Emma and I were disappointed with the museum - We were hoping for more explanations of how the perfume is made, how scents are determined etc..., however, the museum included more information regarding the history of the industry overall - especially perfume bottles and cases.  Our favorite exhibit was the one in the photo above which allowed us to "scent test" the various plants used in perfume manufacturing.  We met up with the boys as planned (who had found the Office of Tourism!) and went over to the Fragonard Perfumerie and museum.

The historic perfumerie was built in 1782 and still produces perfumes and soaps daily today.  Emma, Nathan and I had a nice time walking around the quaint little shop smelling the various fragrances and looking for "just the right one" to claim as our official souvenir.  (Nathan was smelling the mens' fragrances :) ).  Meanwhile, Adam waited outside and Andy decided to check out the Fragonard museum.  I wish we would have had more time to spend in Grasse, because Andrew appreciated the Fragonard museum much more than the first museum we had visited and I would have liked to tour it as well.  In the end, Emma and I decided to purchase a three pack of mini bottles of perfumes which included one that she liked, one that I liked, and one that we would share!

After Grasse, we drove a bit south to Cannes to check out the town that is famous for the annual International Film Festival and many other festivals as well.

Although our handy tour book told us that, in addition to the festival area of town, Cannes has an Old Town which Lord Brougham (founder of Cannes who arrived in 1834 when he was unable to reach Nice due to a cholera outbreak) knew as the center of the city, we stayed around the newer festival area.  I think we are pretty "old towned and ruined" out by now!

The festival area reminded me a lot of what I envision Rodeo Drive in California to be like.  The stores lining the street across from the sea included names such as: Dolce & Gabbana, Coach, Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Dior, and Hermes.  There were banners still on the poles lining the streets announcing the "Cannes Shopping Festival - 21-24  Avril" - I figured that since we arrived just two days after the festival, we might stumble upon some sales at those nice stores - ha ha - just kidding, I knew better, but it was fun to look! 

We attempted to enter the building where the Film Festival is held (Palais Des Festivals et Des Congres), however, there was a lot of construction etc... going on, I assume, in preparation for the festival which begins on May 11 so we were unable to go in and check the place out. We did enjoy walking around outside where we found many handprints of stars in the sidewalks - photos of a couple of them are above.  In addition, there were ice cream stands, street vendors and a lot of hustle and bustle - tourists, construction workers, kids riding the Carousel and playing carnival type games.  Cannes is an exciting area.  Even though the day was overcast, we had a nice time strolling along the streets where many movie stars, producers, and animated characters have strolled before us.

Getting out of Cannes was interesting and took quite awhile but thanks to Andrew's (now) expert European driving skills, we made it and began our final trek to Italy! As we came closer to the border, we understood why the Wolff family was so impressed with the number of tunnels they drove through on their way to our house a few weeks before.  The tunnels began coming one right after the other, with literally only 30 seconds to 2 minutes between gaps! The kids began keeping count when we entered the first one and Emma kept up the count all the way through Italy - final total: 270 and that was one way - we did not count on the return trip!  The "Italia" sign shown above is positioned between two of the tunnels so as soon as we exited one tunnel, we grabbed cameras and tried to snap but only got what you see above before entering the next tunnel!

The trip was absolutely gorgeous, with mountains on one side and the sea on the other side.  The scene at the exit of every tunnel was breathtaking - with the end of every tunnel came another "oh my gosh, look at that!" comment worthy scene.  Photos were difficult to snap due to the guardrails (very necessary!) on both sides of the car and there were nostopping opportunities.  We enjoyed the entire trip and hope to remember the beauty for a long time.

Our first destination in Italy was in the Piedmont Region - at an Inn run by the sister (Ivana) of an Italian wine maker (Stephania Stroppiana) that we met at a wine tasting in Ohio in November.  We needed dinner first, however, and Andrew decided that we should stop in ???? - a large town off of the main highway.  I, on the otherhand, as the exit approached, suggested getting onto the next highway and THEN finding a restaurant so we didn't get lost in a large Italian town where we knew even less of the language than we did in France.  So, we continued on -- into more mountains, in the dark, with no streetlights and where the roads got smaller and buildings were fewer. Pretty soon dinner was looking like a disant dream.  Although we saw signs for towns, they were not directly off of the highway so our chance of finding it within an hour and then being able to get back to the main road after dinner, wasn't looking good.

Finally as a result of hunger desperation, we decided to take a chance and got off of the highway, drove down a narrow road and noticed that there was a driveway to a ristorante between an opening in a guardrail!  Seeing very few other options, we turned in, bumped along the dirt driveway and parked Mo Mo.  The ristorante was teeny tiny - approximately 30 square feet which included the bar, about a dozen tables, an area where the host chopped fresh meat and cooked it in an open fireplace, and a coffee "bar" corner.  The kitchen was behind one of the walls, I have no idea how big IT was.  The place was full (I'm not sure where everyone came from) but did have one table left for our family.  The host was very busy, wonderfully kind, and even spoke a little english.  We each ordered a pasta dish (our first real italian pasta!!) and ABSOLUTELY LOVED every bite!!!  The sauces were amazing, the lasagna was the best that Adam  had ever eaten, and I loved the pesto - we picked the right teeny tiny ristorante (as if we had a choice!).

After dinner, our trip continued to Monforte D'Alba - a wonderful little town in the mountains where Ivana's Inn was waiting.  After several failed attempts to find it on our own, in the dark, we sunk to the level of having to call Ivana (late-it was about 11:00 pm by this time), explain where we were, and have her husband come and lead us to our temporary home away from home away from home ( we were within 1/2 mile).  Ivana was waiting outside for us, led us to our "apartments" - Andrew and I had one, and the kids had their own - they were lovely, comfortable, and we were happy to be there.

Passover and Easter 2011

Passover came first this year and Andy was able to find a temple (traveling temple!) through a man that we met during movie night in the beginning of our stay in Montpellier.  They have no permanent synagogue here so apparently, make due with various locations.

For Passover, the Jewish congregation was holding a Sedar meal in the Corum which is a very large, beautiful convention center where shows, meetings, and cultural activities are held.  On the very top floor of the building, there is a meeting room with a kitchen area - the room where the Sedar was to be held.

On the night of the Sedar, we all got in our "fancy clothes", walked to the tram, and got off at the Corum stop. From there, we were supposed to find an elevator and go up to the top floor.  Well, being us, we assumed that the elevator would be around the public area of the building so we headed up some stairs, then further up more stairs (all outside).  We ended up on the roof of the Corum and asked some College aged kids if they knew where the room was - "no, but maybe down a floor" - so, we headed down only to confirm that the room wasn't there and neither was the elevator!  Andrew pulled out the cell phone and called his contact person (a lady from the congregation) who said that she would meet us at the tram stop - down we went to meet her, which we did and then followed her about 100 feet to an elevator door tucked in a part of the building that we didn't see initially! 

Since it was a very small elevator - we sent Emma and Adam with a gentleman who had met us with the lady, up and planned to follow.  When the elevator came back down, the rest of us climbed aboard, pushed the button, and didn't go anywhere - the elevator was suddenly broken.  So - we got to hoof it back up all of the steps, and back onto the roof where, tucked back into and around a corner, was the door to the room we had been looking for all along - ugh!

The service had already begun when we walked in, but the kids in the room were very relaxed and goofing off so we didn't seem to be disturbing anyone by coming in late.  There were about 50 people in attendance.  We handed over our contribution to the "Pot-Luck Sedar" (strawberries, matzo and wine) and found some seats (which we were eventually moved from because they were reserved for the president of the temple).

Most of the service was in French, until the person leading the service got to a certain prayer and only knew how to say it in....Arabic!  Needless to say, it was a very interesting, culturally diverse, evening.  We were lucky enough to sit by an english speaking couple - she from New York, he from Turkey who had three boys around Adam's age (they, however were sitting with all of their friends).  The food was good and again, culturally diverse - 2 different matzo ball soups, some meatballs and other various dishes.  After a couple of hours, we were all ready to head for home and thanked the english speakers for taking us under their "wing".

For Easter, I went out in search of a traditional Easter ham, only to discover that there are none!  I called Marie to ask what people in France eat for Easter and was informed that Leg of Lamb is the tradional dinner of choice, I however, was not about to attempt my first leg of lamb here so, we resorted to our tradional passover dinner from home - Bourbon Chicken, which everyone loves! 

We decided to go to the Easter Vigil service at The Cathedral of St. Pierre for mass on Saturday night.  The weekend had been rainy but we made it to the church dry by tram.  When we entered, we picked up Easter candles for a 50 cent donation and were told that there would be a procession into the church at 9:00 pm.  We found a seat up in the front and waited.  Andrew went for a walk outside to pass the time and found a group of people standing around a very large TV screen watching the Montpellier Handball match! He was back in time to join in the procession and was very excited to tell Adam what he had found.

The Bishop, along with numerous priests and deacons, lead the church service, beginning with a fire outside the front of the church, the lighting of the big easter candle and the procession into the church - it was a beautiful event - the music/singing, candlelight and ambiance of the Cathedral all together for Easter, was very moving.  The service was looong as all Easter Vigils are, and we stayed for the whole thing! 

On Easter morning, we were suprised to find that the Bunny had visited us in France!  Much Chocolate was found and enjoyed :)  The day was spent going to the Zoo to visit the animals and relaxing at home.  Our dinner of Bourbon Chicken, mashed potatoes and whatever veggie we had, was good.  The kids had colored their Easter Eggs the day before thanks to Grandma and Grandpa's care package.  I didn't see any egg coloring kits here in France.  The new tie-died style eggs were beautiful and I know I took pictures of them but am afraid that I deleted the pix at some point since I can't find them on the computer :(

Overall, the holidays here were very nice and enjoyed by all of us!

Cassis and First Day at The Pool - April 16 and 17, 2011

Cassis!  A beautiful coastal town about 2 hours
east of us

Enjoying a picnic on the beach

The kids - deciding if it's too cold to get in!

Clever Eli - found a rock on the beach that was perfect
for cleaning the sand out of his toes

Eli's getting buried - vertically!

Big cousin burying little cousin!

Havin fun with my cuz!

Fun on the beach

This is a river and gorge along the mountains where we
hiked at the beginning of our trip - beautiful!

Tracie and Andrew

Guess Who!

Our bus for the weekend - thanks Tracie, it was much
more comfy than everyone in Mo Mo even though
the window fell out!

First day of Boisson pool season

Check out the guns!

Thinking about getting in - she did!

Cousins - very sweet

Nathan decided to join the fun also

Uh Oh!  Look out, he's comin in!

Tracie enjoying the peace and fun

We were able to take Tracie to one of our favorites - Domain de Rieussec 

We made it through the week transporting everyone with Mo Mo the Peugot since we usually had one less child along due to school.  The weekend, however, was a different story.  Rather than having a couple kids pile in the back of the car (Emma and Eli) again, Tracie rented a nice big 9 person van for us - it was one of the biggest vehicles on the road (like the Wolff bus when they were here).  It was roomy and we were hoping, would help Koby and Eli with their car sickness.  On Saturday morning we got everyone moving early so we could go to the Arles market for some goodies before heading to Cassis.  After everyone was in the van and we were driving out, Adam (?) stayed in the yard to hold Vox and Cool - when we circled back to pick him up and the sliding door on the van was closed, an indicator light was still on so I got out and slammed the door hard causing the window to pop out and into the van!  Koby, who was sitting on the other side of the door, and I, looked at each other suprised and I said Uh-Oh!  We tried to pop the window back in and, although it stayed in place for the most part, there was about a one inch gap through which the wind blew, sounding like a jet airliner, for the rest of the day.  It was frustrating and loud, but the rest of the bus was fine.

Arles was it's typical busy, crowded self on market day but Andrew with his great driving and parking skills, was able to find a parking spot for the bus on the street since it wouldn't fit in the parking lot that we've come to know and use often.  The market was nice - I believe that the biggest treat for Koby was when he and Adam found the bargain of the day - 13 Pain au Chocolates for 3,50 euros - they declared that the entire bag was theirs and theirs only and guarded it accordingly.  (in the end, however, a few of the treats were missing and assumed "stolen" by siblings).

Tracie, being the smartest one of the group, decided to go touring around on her own.  One minute she was there, the next she was gone, but met us at the agreed "meeting point" at the agreed time.  She found most of the tourist sights in Arles during that brief time away from us along with some cute shops.  When we were all accounted for, we made sure that we had enough food for everyone and made our way back to the bus.

With Andrew as the driver and Tracie the co-pilot, we were ready to find the beach! As we approached Marseilles we missed a turn somewhere and rather that going around the city, found ourselves smack dab in the middle of it - in a traffic jam with our big bus. I was anxious and nervous, Tracie was calm but worried about Eli and Koby and their car sickness issues and Andrew remained calm and maneuvered the city beautifully.  We managed to get out of there after 30 - 40 minutes and made it to Cassis.  Finding parking, however, was another story!

Cassis is a beautiful beach town with windy, narrow roads where people park.  After looking for a good spot for a few minutes, we decided to drop Tracie and the kids off in the town while Andrew and I went in search of the perfect spot - which we found, about 1/2 mile away and up a hill.  After parking, paying, putting the "paid" ticket on the dash, Andrew was informed that the "spot" we found was illegal - but we should be o.k. since we did pay and weren't the only ones there!  We took a chance, left the bus, and walked with baskets, blankets, cameras etc... to find the gang.

We set up camp at the beach - in the sand where the sun was warm but the water was chilly.  People all around us were in their swim suits, bikinis, speedos etc....  Our kids were shocked when their Tia, who arrived in jeans, while sitting on the blanket, decided to change into her shorts - right there, sitting on the blanket!  Giggles and "Tia!!!" comments were heard for a few minutes - to which she responded "I am wearing no less than most people on this beach" and she was right!  We unpacked the picnic, began cutting bread, sausage, cheese, fruit etc...  Eli discovered that he likes olives :)  Koby and Adam, however, looked at all of the food and asked "is this all we brought??" and tried to dive into their pain au chocolate treat bag!  We reminded them both that they were supposed to make sure that there was food that they liked, in the picnic basket before leaving the market - I guess in their 12 year old minds, a bag of pain au chocolates fit that bill!

Tia was very sweet (I was very frustrated) and took the boys into town to find some acceptable food - PIZZA of course!  They came back happy, full, and with an extra slice to share.  The rest of the visit to Cassis was relaxing, warm and enjoyable.  The kids played in the sand while the adults walked around the town and sat on the blanket and relaxed. Eli was partially buried - vertically, by Nathan and all of the kids worked together to build a "dam" with rocks.  Koby was the only one to brave the chilly water while Eli gave it a good try and got partially wet - our kids stayed dry!

We spent several hours at the beach before packing up and walking back to the bus which was still exactly where we left it!

The final day of the visit began slowly and relaxed with the kids getting up and playing outside for awhile waiting for us to give the A-O-K for swim time.  Mr. Boisson was trying to fix the broken fence around the pool so we had to wait for his O.K. as well.  When all was clear, the kids changed into their swimwear and started dipping toes into the pool water to determine its cold factor.  They all got in eventually, although, not for very long - we were impressed that they got in at all.  Even Andrew came out in his swim suit and dove off of the diving board!

When the kids had had enough, we made sure the pool was cleaned up, kids were out and dressed and then Tracie, Andrew and I took off to find some more wineries.  Unfortunately, we only found one open on that Sunday - but it was one of our favorites! Domain de Rieussec  was the winery wear the owner came out and served us our wine right out of the stainless steel vats!  We all enjoyed the wine, took a walk around the gardens, visited with the owner and the winemaker.  When we were finished, we drove our bus to the car rental office and dropped it off, picking up Mo Mo and going home.  The kids were fine, we were relaxed and it was time for the suitcases to be packed up since Tracie and the boys were heading to Barcelona early in the morning.

We enjoyed having Tracie and the boys - it was good for us (again) to have english speakers to visit/play with and it was fun for us to show them our little temporary corner of the world.