June 14 - 21, 2012 - Tenerife

Hola everybody,

We took a much needed break from the miserable weather in the UK now that I have my Indefinite Leave to Stay visa in place, and hopefully, the sun will burn out whatever bits of a virus I have been suffering with since our Paris trip.  The flight was only 4 hours but seemed much longer as there was a kid that screamed and cried the whole flight which was really annoying.  The picture on the right is a view of a volcanic crater on Tenerife that we flew over as we came in for our landing.  Fred booked us into a H10 hotel that caters to couples only on a half board basis, which is breakfast and supper.  We arrived at the hotel in time for supper and the buffet seemed to offer a good variety of food from what we saw on our first night.  Our room was what they call a bungalow style and it was on the ground floor which we really were not too happy about as we prefer to be higher up due to the ease of breaking in.  I asked at the desk about changing the room and the lady at the desk informed us we had been given a premium room and that if we had booked through the hotel website we would have paid an extra 40 euros per night so we decided not to move.

We have decided to totally veg out on this trip as it is only a week and I wanted to get some much needed sun.  We had made prior arrangements to meet up with John and Anita and their two boys for the European Championship Game England vs Sweden.  So after a day of sunbathing around the pool we headed off to Avenida Playa de Los Americas, the area were they are staying.  We walked along the  promenade and some how managed to miss a turn so we end up walking along the street rather than the beach.  The picture on the left is a close up of a flowering tree.  We had a great evening with John, Anita, Ethan and Seth.  Fred, John and Ethan headed off  to a pub to watch the game while Anita, Seth and I headed off to window shop and walk along the promenade.  The Ethan and Seth are amazing kids and very well behaved.  We meet up at a pub where the boys were watching the match and I found it very entertaining.  You would have thought that some of the Brits had scored the goals themselves given their reaction when England scored.  England won 3-2 over Sweden.  We didn't eat until almost 10:00 p.m. and given the time the kids were still really great.  Seth who is the youngest was very entertaining at the restaurant taking a menu and ordering a drink.

We said our goodbyes and walked back to our hotel.  We passed a section called Veronica where there are 100 bars in 100 yards. We were asked if we were happy on numerous occasions and invited into the bars, something for the younger ones, but not us anymore, definitely a sign of old age but we were never clubbers even in our younger days.

Our time at the hotel was relaxing and the food was good given that the meals are buffet style. On Sunday I decided to have a fried egg for breakfast and as you may or may not know I like my eggs (yolk) well cooked.  That means yolks broken and cooked hard.  I explained this to the chef and while I'm talking to him a Brit says oh American style.  I responded no Canadian to which he says whats the difference.  I bit my tongue but I should have responded British or Scottish no difference but then again he was not worth any response at all.  Man have I mellowed with age.  I also had rabbit or "Thumper" as Fred calls it for supper tonight.  I have not tried rabbit since I was a very little girl, when my Grandma by the River cooked a rabbit that my Mom and Dad had shot.  I remember my brother and I being very sick after eating it so it put me off it for well over 50 years.  The rabbit was very tasty and since they sell a lot of rabbit in the U.K., I think it may be worth a try to cook it once we get back home.  By the way, Grandma by the River was how we as kids we differentiated our grandparents.  My Mom's mother lived on a Reserve by the river Thames in Ontario and my Dad's mother lived on the same street as us while growing up and was known as Grandma down the Street.

We totally chilled out with Fred meeting me at the pool around noon as he updated our iPads daily for the Times and staying out of the sun so as not to fry while I made the most of the rays.  On Tuesday we walked north along the promenade to check out what was along there and to take in the sunset as posted on the right.  The resort which is couples only had a mix of newlyweds, very young couples, some our age and then a large number of much older couples.  While sitting around the pool I spoke with a couple from Yorkshire and the lady was quite interested in my heritage, where I was from and why I was living in the UK.  Thomson Holidays put on a goodbye champagne party which they attended and she requested to have a picture taken with me.  She must have thought I was some kind of celebrity.

On our last night we attended a special 5 course dinner the hotel puts on, in the outdoor restaurant which overlooks the beach/sea.

The menu for the night started with a warm salad of mushrooms and king prawns with current and seed vinaigrette, followed by cod gratin with honey alioli on a nest of spinach.  This was then followed with a mango sorbet with millets foam and then pork tenderloin in puff pastry with port sauce and glazed vegetables. Final course was a papaya lasagna cooked au gratin with pernod cream.  This was accompanied by a nice red wine from Tenerife and Champagne.  The evening's wait staff were fabulous as was the entertainment, a perfect way to end our week in the sun.  We will definitely return to this location and hotel for a longer period so that we can explore the sites on the island.

Hasta la vista,

Sandy & Fred 

April 26, 2012 - Montmartre

Bonjour mes amies.

Our last morning in Paris and, you guessed it, it's not raining.  We decided to head out and complete the walk we had planned to do on Wednesday.

Montmartre is a butte located in northern Paris that is primarily known for the basilica Sacre Coeur and a district where the nightclubs are located.  In addition, many artists also had their studios in the area, among them Salvador Dali, Monet and Picasso. We took the Metro from the station near the hotel and exited at Blanche the station near the Moulin Rouge.  It looks rather smaller than what you would expect, but then the movies have probably influenced our expectations.  With photos taken we continued our walk along Avenue de Clichy until we reached the road that took us up to Sacre Coeur.  We walked up to Place St.-Pierre the street at the base of the butte that Sacre Coeur sits on and then doubled back on ourselves walking along Rue de Abbesses towards the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  This area of town is very old and extremely hilly.  Living here would certainly keep you fit giving how steep the hills are.  We came across a church, Saint Jean de Monmartre, that to me was much more interesting than Sacre Coeur.  Saint Jean de Montmartre was built between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic and it is very ornate.  the walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right
between 1895 - 1904 of brick and ceramic tile and it is very ornate.  The
walls have hand painted murals depicting various religious scenes as seen on the right.  Restorations on the pipe organ have recently been completed so that it can once again be played.

Leaving the church we walked down the hill ending at the Cimitiere de Monmartre.  Cemeteries were banned in Paris in 1786 due to the health hazards they posed and new ones were  placed outside the precincts of the capitol.  Montmartre was the one designated for the north of the city.  It is a huge cemetery and graves are packed in very tightly.  Many famous artists and people are buried here from painters to bankers.

We made our way back to the Metro and returned to the hotel to finish our packing and check out before heading to the Gare du Nord to take the Eurostar to London.  In London we will be dog sitting Casper and Ziggy while John and Adrienne head off to Venice for a three day get-away.

Unfortunately, I was really not feeling well as my throat was extremely sore.  We had a wonderful time in Paris in spite of the weather and we hope you have enjoyed this segment of our blog.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 25, 2012 - Sacre- Coeur & Louvre

Bonjour mes amies,

We decided to have breakfast in the hotel this morning so that I can get a decent cup of tea and have the convenience of not having to put coats on.  The weather was once again sadly wet and windy, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out though, although we did have to modify our plans somewhat. Once again we purchased tickets from the concierge for the Louvre and he suggested we visit later in the afternoon as the museum was open until 10:00 p.m. and will be less crowded.

We headed off by Metro to Sacre Coeur.  The basilica was built at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city.  It is a double monument, political and cultural, both a national penance for the supposed excesses for the Second Empire and of the socialist Paris Commune 1871 crowning its most rebellious neighbourhood, and the embodiment of conservative moral order.  The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie with construction beginning in 1875 and ending in 1914 with it being consecrated at the end of World War I in 1919.  We were somewhat disappointed in the basilica itself  and also that the taking of pictures was not permitted, though I will admit to sneaking photos.  Sacre Coeur just did not seem to have the presence that Notre Dame has, which we visited last September with Jonathan and Amy.  Notre Dame also permitted the taking of pictures, just no flash.

Well the heavens opened so we decided to head to the Louvre Museum or just the Louvre and spent the afternoon rather than the evening as suggested by the concierge.  Once again getting tickets at the hotel was well worth the extra 2 euros as the line ups for tickets was crazy, which I am sure was due to the rainy weather as well as the normal influx of tourists. We got in with about a 15 minute wait in line which was for a security check of bags.  Considering how busy the lobby was, once inside and exploring the various rooms of the Louvre it was relaxing and not that crowded with the exception of a few areas.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began life as a fortress in the 12th century under Philip II.  Remnants of the fortress can be seen in the basement of the museum.  The Louvre went through many alterations during the middle ages with Charles V converting it to a residence in the 14th century.  It remained a royal residence until Louis XIV moved to Versailles. The Louvre did not become a public museum until after the French Revolution and officially opened on August 10, 1793.  It is one of the largest museums in the world.  To start, we explored the Richelieu wing were we concentrated on Mesopotamia and Ancient Iran.  It was very easy to get lost or turned around as the museum is huge, and we do get turned around.  We came across many ornate rooms as well as museum pieces.  Off course we visited and saw the  Mona Lisa.  Fred does manage to elbow his way in to get a decent shot of it.  All of mine were blurred as I got pushed around and had people jumping in front of the camera I moved before I got pissed off and started pushing back.  You would think that given the popularity of Mona Lisa the museum would have some kind of structure in place so all could get to see her.  Here again we see orientals posing with the hand gesture.  After about 3 1/2 hours in the museum the weather had cleared so we head out to get pictures outside the Louvre.

We headed back to the hotel stopping to purchase more wine, some to take back with us and a bottle for our room while we downloaded pictures and started packing for our return to the UK.

We had already chosen a place for supper.  It was across the street from last night's Bistro.  It was an Italian restaurant called Del Papa that looked very busy so we decided it was worth a try.  We arrived and were lucky to get seated as we did not have reservations.  We were seated near the door and a man said to us "this is where they seat Americans and other tourists".  I quickly told him I am Canadian and as we had no reservations we were happy to be seated.  It turns out he was from Virginia and was in Paris on business which was now finished and he now had the the rest of the week to explore Paris.  We split an appetizer of grilled calamari on rocket and it was delicious.  I had a ham pizza which was huge and Fred also had a pizza with mushrooms, ham and an egg.  The meal was accompanied with a bottle of Beaujolais.  Our waiter was quite comical and gave me the menu showing me the weight watcher desserts as I had left the crusts of my pizza as I was struggling to get through it.  No dessert but I have a cappuccino and it came with chocolate and coco coated almonds.  As I did not use the sugar the waiter brought us more almonds telling me I was allowed a treat.  We really enjoyed our meal and were not rushed at all.  This was a place I would definitely recommend or return to.

Back at the hotel we were able to arrange a late checkout of 1:30 p.m. for tomorrow and hopefully the weather improves and we will get a bit more exploring before catching the train to London.

Au revoir,
Sandy & Fred

April 24, 2012 - Palace of Versailles

Bonjour mes amies,

After breakfast at Micky D's we checked with the hotel's concierge on the easiest way to get to Versailles.  We were also able to purchase our entrance tickets to the Palace from the concierge although it did cost 2 Euros more.  On arriving at Versailles and seeing the queue to purchase tickets and then the queue to get into the Palace it was well worth the extra 2 Euros.  We took the RER to Versailles which was about a thirty five minute train ride.  On the train we met a retired American couple from Washington state who really didn't seem to know where they were going.  They said they hoped they were on the right train and asked Fred if the train went to Versailles.  He pulled out his iPad and showed them the RER map and gave them directions.  One would think you would plan and know which train you needed to take before blindly heading off and ending up who knows where.  It was a cool dull day and started to spit rain as we walked up to the palace.  The queues were unreal.  Thank goodness we had our entrance tickets.  From when we joined the queue until we actually entered the Palace took a good 35 minutes.  While in line we chatted with a school group from the States who were over with their English and French teachers doing some French immersion.  Apparently it was spring break for them which may also explain all the Americans tourists.

I will provide just a bit of history on Versailles; to me the important highlights as its history spans a long period of time.  Versailles began as a hunting lodge in 1624 for Louis VIII.  He later began structural changes to make it a chateau.  His successor Louis XIV was responsible for changing it into one of the largest palace in the world.  The new construction started in 1664 and ended in 1710. Versailles was in those days a country village but Louis XIV made it the centre of political power when he moved court to Versailles from Paris.  It remained as such until October 1789 after the start of the French Revolution when the royal family was forced to return to Paris.  So Versailles  symbolizes not only a  magnificent building but also a symbol of absolute monarchy.

We spent a good three hours meandering through the palace exploring and taking in the rather elegant and decadent designs and decorations.  The Hall of Mirrors, pictured on the right is a sight to behold.  One can imagine the ballroom dancing that must have gone on when the Palace was in its prime.

While at Versailles, the only down side for us was the number of rude tourists, and we don't really understand the purpose of the "pointing pose" the orientals do when taking pictures.  Fred wonders if, when they get home do they put those bubble captions on their pictures when they post them.

We also missed out on the Gardens, because of the rain, which looked beautiful and it would have been nice to stroll through them and see where our son Christopher proposed to Meaghan.  The weather was very windy, cold and drizzly and I was starting to feel sick.  We hope to return someday and just visit the gardens which I am sure you could spend hours exploring as well.

On our way back to the hotel in search of a bottle of wine we came across a market on one of the narrow streets.  The fresh fruit, fish, meats and produce looked lovely.  There will be more pictures of Versailles posted on my facebook page and Fred's flickr page which Fred still has to post to

After relaxing in our room we headed out for supper.  Tonight we tried a little cafe named Bistro Four Seasons.  I had escargot and Fred tried a farmhouse pate.  For my main course I had chicken with frites and Fred had a butcher's peppercorn steak.  The food was delicious and accompanied with a Bordeaux.  We passed on dessert but had our very first cappuccinos.  Hard to believe but true and we did enjoy them.  We had a nice full day and headed back to the hotel to plan for our last full day in Paris.

Au revoir,

Sandy & Fred

April 23, 2012 - Paris

Bonjour mes amie,

Today we headed off for Paris by train from Liverpool.  The first portion of our trip (Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston) took just over two hours and we were on the quiet car.  I had packed a picnic lunch complete with wine which we enjoyed while enjoying the scenery and reading on our iPads. Once in London we took the tube from Euston to St. Pancras, one stop and then boarded the Eurostar to Paris for another 2 1/4 hour ride.  It was a nice relaxing way to travel especially for Fred who is always the driver on our journeys.  I dozed off on this portion of the trip as my throat was starting to hurt.  Once in Paris we took the RER which is part of the rail system in Paris to the Arch de Triomphe which was a 5 minute walk if that to our hotel (Renaissance Arc de Triomphe).

Once we had settled in we decided to explore the area.  As we were not very hungry, we looked for a place that offered sandwiches and lighter food.  We came across a cafe/bar called Indiana which offered what we were looking for and it was an Southwestern American style pub.  We had a good laugh as we came all this way to Paris to be surrounded by pictures of North American Indians as seen in the upper right hand corner.  Who would have thought that my heritage would pop up in Paris of all places.  Our waitress told us she wondered what these people would think of their pictures being here on display.  I laughed again, no worries here as they are long dead.

Tummies satisfied we headed to the Arch De Triomphe to get some photos of it at night.  We got  

some excellent shots as the traffic was much lighter than it is in the daytime.  Built in 1806-1836 by the Emperor Napoleon 1st it is 164 feet high and you can take the 277 steps to the top to get views of Paris. Following the war of 1914-1918 it was decided to bury an unidentified soldier beneath the Arch.  There is an eternal flame to mark the grave, which is replenished every evening at 6:30 p.m.  We could see the Eiffel Tower off in the distance and decided to walk to it to get photos of it lit up.  One would think we knew exactly where we were going as we just happen to take the right Avenue (of 12 that radiate from the Arc de Triomphe) that took us to the Jardins du Trocadero a square that looks down towards the tower.

It was now late at night but we still had to run the gauntlet of Africans selling junky trinkets of the tower.  Very annoying but I guess they got to make a living somehow.  The Tower was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 by Gustave Eiffel.  It is 1,052 ft high and weighs 7,340 tons.  It has 2,500,000 bolts that hold 14,000 girders in place.  The tower is repainted every 7 years and it takes 40 tons of paint to do the job.  There are 1,652 steps and 3 floors to the tower.  If you are energetic and walk up the tower you can only reach the 2nd floor and have to take a lift (elevator) to reach the 3rd floor.  The top of the tower sways up to 5 inches depending on the winds and the height can vary up to 5.9 inches depending on the weather.  Once the photo ops were completed we headed back to the hotel.

We decided to walk back to the hotel although we could have taken the Metro from here if we wanted, and for once Fred got all turned around.  I have a moment of directional clarity and got us going in the right direction which if you know me well enough is amazing as I really don't have a sense of direction; so this was a rare moment indeed.  Once we were back at the hotel we planned what we wanted to do on our first full day in Paris and hoped the weather was going to co-operate.

Au revoir,

Sandy & Fred

April 21, 2012 - Chirk Castle

Helo All,

After a bit of a lie in and breakfast we headed back home.  The weather again was wet and dry.  We decided to stop at Chirk Castle, which is located just outside Wrexham, about an hour and ten minutes from home.  It was very busy as it was a Saturday and in hindsight we should have passed and did our visit midweek.  The castle was first built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk.  It was bought by Thomas Myddelton in 1595 and the Myddelton family resided there until 2004.

So it became more of a family residence than a castle and thus is very well preserved.  The artifacts in the house span the period of time since 1295 and the decoration and furniture is very opulent.  We spent about two hours exploring  and stopped in the tea room for a scone which we shared and hot tea for me and beer for Fred.  As I mentioned earlier there were a lot of rug rats everywhere as well as adults and I really don't know which were more of an annoyance.  Misbehaving kids or rude adults both which Fred and I have no patience for.  Well lesson learned no sites on weekends ever again.  We stopped at the farm shop on our way out and purchased a couple of local brewed cider for me and beer for Fred as well as pheasant and herbed sausage. We had the sausage for supper on Sunday and it was very delicious and I would get again.  It would be worth a trip back to Chirk just for the sausage, all products sold in the store is sourced from the castle grounds.

We hope you have enjoyed our blogs of our mini trip to South Wales and stay tuned as we are heading off to Paris, The City of Love on Monday.

Hwyl am Rwan Nawr,

Sandy & Fred

April 20, 2012 - Dinefwr Castle & Aberdulais Falls

Helo All,    

Our first stop for the day was Dinefwr Castle and Newton House.  The weather once again was rain and sun or a combination of both.  The nav chick continues to take on some weird routes and the National Trust book had warned against following sat nav due to problems that had been reported.  Luck was with us as the weather had cleared up as we arrived.   As the castle is a ruin, we decided to head their first while the weather holds.  The walk to the castle was through the parkland that is part of the grounds.  Our walk took us up through a bog forest, a forest with ancient trees and pasture land. The walk was all up hill and half way there I am totally winded and I am not the one who is sick.  Fred was managing very well considering how bad his cold was.  A very good indicator that I must get into better shape before our trip to Maui.

As always, here's a bit of history on the castle.  Dinefwr became the chief seat of Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda, the first ruler of Deheubarth and later king of most of Wales.  Between 1155-1197 the castle went through various stages of growth and demolition.  Near the end of the 15th century Sir Rhysl ap Thomas rebuilt the castle and what we see of the remains today.  Around 1600 Newton House was built and the castle was then used as a summer house.

The views from the top of the ruins down into the valley are spectacular and we got a number of amazing photos.  We spent a good half hour exploring and climbing the various remaining turrets. I for some reason had issues with height at the highest remaining lookout so Fred was on his own to take final shots of the valley.  I am not sure if the narrow steps or the fact I got so winded getting to the castle contributed or it's just age catching up.

After the castle we headed back to explore Newton House, that has been restored as to how it would would look during the early Victorian and late Edwardian periods.  The rooms are all very large and airy with some amazing plasterwork on the ceilings.  The staircase was also very interesting but you will have to check out photos on Flickr or my Facebook wall to see them as the blog does not allow me to share all the pictures I would like.  While we were exploring the house a group of deer romped around the back which is the grounds deer park.  There was a stag relaxing, however, with our cameras he was just too far away for a decent picture.

Our next stop of the day was Aberdulais Tinworks and Falls. Once again the nav chick took us on some hairy roads.  The scenery was breathtaking but so was the ride for me at various points.  Fred once again was a master navigator, managing to ignore my grabbing of the door and seat.  The Tinworks was rather disappointing after our castle visit as there was little remaining of the factory and the falls were small.  We spent about 30 minutes here mostly taking pictures then decided to head back to the hotel.       

At the hotel we headed down to the lobby to access the free WiFi so that I could post pictures and download the Times.  Unlike our first night which was quiet, we were invaded by a bus load of seniors and a rugby team as well as a group that were in for a stag weekend.  Noisy is a understatement.  We checked out supper menu and turns out we had to book a table due to the influx of people.  Booked, we headed back to the room for a bit of peace and quiet before supper.  Almost sounds like we are becoming crotchety old folk, but we have always enjoyed our quiet times as they are accompanied with a nice glass of red wine.
Hwyl am Rwan Nawr,

Sandy & Fred