Grandma & Mrs. Eberhart's Visit! May 6, 2011

First morning in France -- They were treated to a trip to
the Arles Market

Enjoying Van Gogh's Garden

Smiling in the Garden

Andrew has been looking for just the right "chapeau"
since we arrived

Grandma found one right away!

Outside the cafe depicted in
Van Gogh's: The Cafe Terrace Arles at Night

Picnic at Sts. Maries Del La Mer with food from the market

Enjoying a breezy walk on the rocky pier

Celebrating Mother's Day!

Enjoying a little relaxation by the pool - Cheers!

Next stop - PARIS! 

Mom and Marilyn arrived on Friday night after 9:00 pm.  We had the house cleaned up, snacks ready and were very excited!  When it was time to go, we all walked to the tram station to discover that the trams were running 10 - 15 minutes apart and we were probably going to be late to pick the travelers up from Gare St. Roch!  The trams typically run 3 minutes apart except on Sundays when they run 10 minutes apart - this was a Friday night - I have no idea what the issue was! Rather than waiting for the tram, we began walking to the next station - down the road to Station Boutenet - when we arrived there, we would still have a 7 minute wait so Adam ran to the next stop while the rest of us patiently waited for tram 1 which finally arrived, right on schedule, 7 minutes later!  As we stopped at each of the following stations, we looked for Adam to jump on but never found him. I could tell that Andrew was concerned and I was beginning to be also.  I decided, however, not to panic until we got to the Gare St. Roch station - if he wasn't there, we had a problem!  Sure enough - the tram stopped at our destination and there he was, waiting for us with a sweaty brow!  He had run all the way from home to the train station - about eight tram stops!

We walked into the train station to discover that the train was running a few minutes behind so we had some time to catch our breath and figure out which platform they'd be coming in on.  Soon, the train pulled in and people began pouring out of all 20 cars.  Since we didn't know which car they were in, our family of 5 was evenly distributed along the platform looking for two grandmas and their baggage. They were found, baggage collected, hugs and "French" kisses (three in a row on cheeks!) were distributed as we showed them the way out of the station and to the tram.

Upon arriving home, they were given a tour of the house and a small portion of the gardens since the sun was setting and it was getting pretty dark.  We had a nice visit that night with wine and Pain au Chocolates (a welcome to Montpellier tradition started by the kids) as they settled into their visitors quarters - Emma's room  :).

Bright and early Saturday morning we awoke, drank some coffee, tossed everyone in the car and took them to our favorite Saturday morning hangout - the Arles Market.  Arles is approximately 1 hour from our house so the drive was nice and we showed them the outer edges of Camargue region.  The Camargue is known for the "Guardians" (cowboys) and their white horses and black bulls.  It is also an area where Camargue Rice is grown.  As we passed by many of the fields, I mentioned that I wasn't sure why there was so much water standing in some of the fields - Mrs. Eberhart (very smart former kindegarten teacher!) very nicely suggested that the fields might be rice patties - Ahhhh Haaaa!  Well duh!  That makes complete sense!  The drive was nice, we got to our favorite Arles parking garage without incident, and headed for the market.

Showing visitors around the market is always a big treat for us.  Mrs. Eberhart kept her eyes open for some Provencal fabric while mom looked around for souveniers.  We walked away from the market after a while to find a bathroom which, ironically, happens to be in Van Gogh's garden (the nicest bathroom that we've found in Arles that we don't have to pay for anyway!)  While we were there, pictures were taken and the various Van Gogh memorabilia was perused before our return to the market. 

Everyone agreed that since the sun was shining and it was close to lunchtime, a picnic on the beach sounded nice.  We bought some bread, cheese, olives, fruit, baked goods etc... packed everything into the car and headed for Sts. Maries Del La Mer for a nice beach picnic.  When we arrived, the wind was howling and the temperature was chilly!  We eventually found a barrier to sit behind (most of them were already taken), set up "picnic shop" and ate our market lunch on the chilly beach next to 4 teenagers - two guys, and two bikinis who, I'm sure, were happy to have our company!

After walking on the beach and watching some wind surfers, we collected our basket of goodies and headed for the town to walk around the shops and see if we could find the area of the church where people go to say a prayer for fertility that Mr. Boisson had explained to us. We bought rice from the Camargue area since we pass the rice patties every time we visit the area, tried some Gelato and enjoyed the afternoon before heading back to the house.

Sunday was Mothers' Day - Nathan surprised us with gorgeous flowers and wonderful cream puffs from the patiserie as well as a nice card written in French.  We went to St. Pierres for mass in the morning and enjoyed a tour of the Parc Zoologique, compliments of Adam, in the afternoon. The sun was shining, time was spent by the pool.  Andrew and Nathan left later in the day for Aix en Provence, where Nathan had made arrangements to take his important A.P. Biology exam. Aix is approximately two hours from Montpellier so they wanted to get there Sunday night in order to check out the town, find the testing location and get a good night's sleep before the test began early Monday morning.  During the test, Andy toured around Aix and had an enjoyable time on his own! Nathan felt that he did well on the test and will be anxiously awaiting the results until they arrive at our Ohio home in July.

The rest of us spent Monday touring around Montpellier, showing the ladies all of the monuments, little squares, Place de la Comedie etc... The guys returned on Monday night and we celebrated the end of Nathan's intense studying regiment with a delicious cake from his favorite patiserie! Early Tuesday morning I delivered the ladies to Gare St. Roch to get them on the next train to Paris - which is where they spent the next few days, touring around by themselves.  We got them back on Thursday evening.

Heading "Home" from Italy - Genova May 1, 2011

What a surprise-We woke up to hot air balloons!

The beautiful Tuscan countryside from our patio

The town of  S'ant Appiano Italy from our patio

Andrew enjoying the fire at dawn

Genova - first stop on our way back to Montpellier

Pirate ship from Roman Polanski's 1986 film "Pirates"

The ship - The movie starred Walter Mathau
and Leslie Nielsen among others

The ship's bow

Walking around the town of Genova-The man was creating
various critters from palms

Cathedral of Genova

This was one of two lions guarding the cathedral -
I Love his face!

Inside the Cathedral of Genova

The organ - gorgeous!

One last Gelato in Italy

 Even Andrew got a cone this time!

Strolling along the water

Adam and his BIG chocolate smile!

On our last morning, Andrew and I woke up and went outside to find a familiar site from home – Hot air balloons were hovering quietly over the Tuscan countryside!  We sat outside and watched them as they floated on by and then woke the kids up to pack our bags and head for Montpellier.  On the drive home, we decided to stop in Genova for one last look around an Italian city.

Genova is a port town, with many sailboats in a marina and several large vessels floating further out in the sea.  As we walked from the parking garage to the marina district, we were amazed at the numerous yachts docked along the city – Huge, gorgeous, movie star style yachts with people cleaning and polishing every inch of them.

Agreeing on what to do once we arrived was, as usual, a struggle.   Although Andrew didn’t find an Office of Tourism in Genova, he did find an information booth with a very nice lady who spoke a little English.  He discovered that there was a large pirate ship docked nearby that we could tour but was advised that there was not much onboard to see – the ship was used in a 1986 Roland Polanski movie starring Walter Mathau and Leslie Nielsen called Pirates.  We enjoyed walking around the outside of the ship and taking pictures of the ornate carvings that adorned it. 

A large aquarium was also nearby but due to the ticket prices and the fact that we only had about 2 hours to walk around, we decided against going in.  Rather, we found a cafeteria connected to the aquarium and enjoyed a very expensive, not so wonderful, cafeteria lunch.  Afterward, we walked around the old town of Genova and found a flea market, large church, museum and many sweet little shops.  Andrew enjoyed looking at paintings from local artists that lined the streets, many depicting Tuscan scenes.

I had always heard from Tracie and Neil, what wonderful coffee Italy had to offer – I remember looking forward to trying it while we visited, however, on our way from Tuscany to Genova, I realized that I never had  opportunity!  Andrew tried to bring me coffee from town in the Piedmont and Tuscany apartments – the coffee from Piedmont was literally delivered in a Dixie cup – I've come to realize that the Europeans do NOT believe in coffee “to go”! After that experience, I decided to buy some coffee to have available in the Tuscany apartment and it was a good decision because when Andrew tried to find some coffee there, he had absolutely no luck!  During the rest of the time, we were too busy running around seeing everything and the thought of trying the coffee had slipped away.  

While walking out of the town of Genova, back to the car, Andrew saw a brasserie offering coffee and asked if I wanted to try to get some – we went in and asked if I could, in fact, get a cup-o-joe to go and we were told yes!   I waited anxiously to try real Italian coffee and when it was delivered I smiled, took the “cup”, said my grazies, and walked outside with the family wondering how I was going to walk and drink this coffee without spilling it all over the place.  I believe that the “cup” used to accommodate my American way of not relaxing and enjoying my coffee in a chair, was actually a condiment container with a plastic lid that balanced on the container but in no way was meant to keep the liquid from sloshing out, down the side and all over my hand.  Now, the other part that may need to be explained is the fact that coffee, in Europe, unlike coffee in America, is actually Espresso, so the amount served is approximately the equivalent of a shot glass – sloshing around and losing, even a little bit, was sad.  The coffee was o.k.  – it was probably better than “o.k.” but I was too worried about keeping up with the family and not spilling anything to truly enjoy the Italian coffee experience.

Leaving Genova was uneventful and we thought about other stops along the way.  Emma suggested stopping in Grasse again which I would have liked to do, however, by the time we would have arrived, all of the stores would have been closed.  On to Antibes France we went – to see the sea and have dinner along the shore – well THAT didn’t actually happen.  After several suggestions to stop in Antibes and walk around the pretty little sea city, we ended up parking on the street and eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant!  Emma and Adam finished dinner first and went for a walk to find the sea.  When they returned and announced that they had found it, we paid the bill and started walking ---- to a little body of water filled with sailboats – well, we saw water in Antibes anyway.  Everyone was anxious to get home so that was the extent of our Antibes visit.

The most humorous part of our entire Italian adventure began about an hour outside of Montpellier.  Andrew drove Mo Mo along the highway, in the dark while the rest of us sat quietly in the car and I tried to find decent radio stations.  At one point we heard a horn honk a couple of times so we looked around to see who was beeping at us but couldn’t determine which car or truck it was.  About a minute later, it happened again and then again and again until we realized that the car that was beeping was our own sweet Mo and Andrew was not involved!  Memories of the movie Herbie the Love Bug came to mind as we cruised along A9 with our spontaneously honking horn – if we happened to be near another car when Mo decided to honk, we smiled and waved at the driver – by the time we got to our exit 29, we were all laughing very hard!  It was at this point, when we got off at our exit and started driving through Montpellier, that Mo decided that she had had enough!  The horn, rather than spontaneously honking every minute or so, Stuck! Hoooooonnnnnnkkkkkk……  We pulled over, shut her off and restarted her, hoping that we might get lucky and solve the glitch that way.  Unfortunately, we discovered that the glitch with the horn was connected to the lights – if the lights were on, the horn was honking! So, the last 10 minutes of our trip home was in complete darkness unless we saw an oncoming car at which time we would turn on the hazard lights or turn on the lights and deal with the honking!  Never a dull moment with us!

Siena Italy - April 30, 2011

Nathan and I took a cooking class with an Italian Chef
in Tuscany

Learning how to use this rocking slicer !

Our Chef/Teacher Rosanna Passione of La Chiara di Prumiano

Basilica of St. Catherine

Entering Siena

We climbed that tower!

The square

Learning about torture!

Poor Adam

Andy's enjoying the torture a little too much!

Climbing the tower

Daddy and his little girl

From the wayyyyy top

Looking down the staircase - we climbed up that!

A treat for a climb well done

So many flavors, so little money!

Yummmmm

Sweet little store

We happened to be in Siena for the 550th anniversary
of the canonization of St. Catherine by Pope Pius II

The boys trying on some Italian leather jackets

The procession with St. Catherine's head

Yes!  That IS a real pizza!

HUGE!  And delicious!

Saturday began with a cooking class for Nathan and me with an Italian chef.  The idea came from the literature about our apartment/hotel, that offered the cooking class, however, when we inquired about signing up for it, we were told that the chef was in the hospital and not able to teach at that time.  Another chef at a local restaurant located close to the apartment was recommended as a substitute so we signed up with her.

Andy drove us to the restaurant, which actually turned out to be an Inn for people or groups of people who came for various retreats or conferences ie: Yoga, spritual meditation, etc... - it was a wonderful location for those typed of groups and the Inn was aged, stone, quaint and, of course, surrounded by vineyards and a garden from which the vegetables and herbs that are used for cooking, are grown.

Nathan and I learned how to make homemade saffron fettuccine with zucchini and cherry tomatoes, Savoury chicken with herbs and olives and a chocolate cake from scratch.  We also received a couple more recipes that were not made that day.  Although Rosanna Passione (the chef/teacher), was very nice and taught us delicious recipes, we were disappointed overall with the class because we were not involved with the cooking at all.  The two of us were the only students and we just stood in the kitchen and watched Ms. Passione create the meal. Nathan and I assumed that it was to be a more "hands on" type of class.  We'll know to ask more questions before signing up from now on!

Andrew arrived to pick us up just in time to help us eat the food - lucky guy, it was good!  From La Chiara di Prumiano, we picked up Emma and Adam and went to Siena - just south of S'ant Appiano.  Andrew dropped the rest of us off and parked Mo Mo while Nathan, Emma, Adam and I went into the Basilica of St. Catherine where we had heard St. Catherine's head is encased in glass.  Sure enough - we found it!  Pictures were forbidden in the church so we did not get a photo of the head.

When Andrew arrived, we walked into the town of Siena and found a snack for our hungry children - Pizza of course!  The slices were large and delicious!  Then on to find the Office of Tourism and plot out our activities for the day.  The office was located in the Piazza del Campo, the main Square, we were given a map and some suggestions of things to do which included climbing the Torre del Mangia on the other side of the square and some walking tours. There was to be a procession at 4:30 beginning at St. Catherine's Basilica through many of the streets in Siena. During the course of the day, we heard drums and saw little groups of costumed men throughout the city whom I assumed were preparing for the procession.

The whole family agreed that climbing the tower was a good idea since we had such spectacular views from the tower in Pisa. In order to purchase the tickets for the tower, we climbed about three flights of stairs to the office (Emma and I were already winded by the time we got to the ticket office).  When it was our turn to purchase the tickets, we were informed that cash was the only form of payment accepted - ugh!  Back down the stairs to find a bank machine that may or may not work with our bank card!  We did find a machine and by some stroke of luck - Andy guessed the right code and we were able to get some cold cash for our climb!  Back up we went, got our tickets and began our climb. 

The stairway was much more narrow than the one in Pisa and there were fewer "resting" places.  Several times during the climb, we were forced to stop to let people coming down the steps, pass us - there were many languages spoken and a lot of laughter when that happend!  It was fun!  The view from the top was wonderful - Siena is a beautiful old city and it was certainly worth the climb to see it from that vantage point.  We met a family from Australia at the top who had been touring around Europe climbing towers for the past month - mom, dad and two teenaged sons - they were having a fun time too! 

After the climb, we rewarded ourselves with gelato and walked the streets of Siena.  We tried to go on one of the walking tours but got turned around at some point and were no longer on the "tour" depicted on the map so we made up our own tour!  We enjoyed looking around the little shops, sitting in the square and watching the people. 

One of the shops that we found sold leather goods made in Tuscany - we went back to that store a couple of times and in the end I purchased a new wallet to match my purse and a new briefcase type bag for work!  Adam and Andy tried on leather jackets but didn't love them enough to bring them home.  While in the shop, we heard the drums again and saw the saleslady who was helping me, head toward the door.  She was very nice and motioned for all of us to follow her.  When we approached the door, the drums got louder and we saw a parade of Priests, other religious people (ie: nuns, bishops??), and many men who were dressed in costumes reminding me of court jesters.  St. Catherine's head was carried through the streets also.  The lady explained that the town was celebrating the 550th anniversary of the canonization of St. Catherine who was from Siena - wow! Did we time this visit well! 

The various "court jesters" were from different sections of Siena and each group representing the various sections, carried their corresponding flag. At the end of the parade, many townspeople followed the procession which was headed to the Piazza del Campo (square).  It was a sight to see and we felt very fortunate to witness such an event.

During this time, Nathan had gone on his own to find an Italian flag (he has decided to collect flags from the various countries we visit), which he found and purchased. After the procession, we found Nathan and a nice quiet restaurant for dinner and ate pasta (of course!)  The dinner was good, but we just couldn't resist heading back to the pizza shop and ordering one for the road.  The pizza was HUGE (as you can see from the photo above!).  The pizza guys were very friendly, made our pizza, snapped some pictures and we were headed back to the car --- munching on slices along the way!  Siena was great!