Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy the rest of your holidays! Andre and I had a very nice Christmas morning with the Lyttle's traditional eggs benedict of breakfast, but we didn't wait until after breakfast to open our gifts! We are so grateful to have such wonderful family and friends; you've all made our Christmas away from home not feel so far away.

Click here for the duck recipe we used on Christmas eve, we roasted it on a spit in the oven it was delicious!

Joyeuses Fêtes! 

Je vous souhaite de bonnes fêtes 

de fin d'année!!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Our Drive into work

Maybe not the best time to go  shopping

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! We’ve been having a very festive December too with all the snow we’ve been getting. Back in early November, as the cold weather approached, we were told that there would be snow in the morning and it would all melt by the afternoon.  But that has not been the case, as you may have heard; “in northern France, the authorities placed a number of areas on the second-highest state of alert.” BBC News

 click here to read the full article

There has been a full blanket of snow out in the countryside for at least the past two weeks. Out at the Vimy Memorial it’s been a winter wonderland with all the trees completely covered in ice and snow.

In Arras, the Christmas Market has kept the town centre festive, Andre and I have been a number of times to get Christmas items and sample the vin chaud and marrons (roasted chestnuts).

Now it’s almost Christmas, we have our Christmas tree set up and the duck is in the icebox ready for our little feast for two tomorrow night.

Venezia!

This past week Andre and I went to Venice! We flew out from Charles de Gaulle and arrived early in the afternoon. We had an idea of where our hotel was, and headed towards the Rialto bridge; which Andre had picked out as a landmark before we left. Maps seem pretty much useless, a good thing to have for the occasional reference but to actually use it for navigation would require constant review, which would be far too distracting… The buildings pile up on top of one another, as if they were organically coming up from the lagoon itself. 

We wandered through the narrow alley streets crossing over little bridges and passing through small squares using the street signs to guide us to the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge bustles with market vendors and store fronts, it being the first dry bridge to cross the grand canal, and one of only four to do so.

After checking in we continued our wanderings to the San Marco Plaza, where we saw the Basilica di San Marco and the Palazzo Ducale. The sun was setting by this time and the view out over the water was spectacular. The Bridge of Sighs turned massive advertisement behind us though, is a subject of debate…

To see what I mean click here

The next day we returned to see the San Marco Plaza in daylight and watch as the tide bubbled up from the various spouts in the ground.  Platforms are set up, allowing people to still visit the Basilica and cross the plaza with out getting their feet wet. We walked all morning stopping to warm up for a café et cioccolata; a hot chocolate so thick you eat with a spoon!

San Marco Plaza by day

San Marco Plaza at night

We took a waterbus back to the Rialto Bridge; Gondolas prices are very high. Most of the Gondolas are immaculate with seating that looks like a small throne. Although the waterbus route doesn’t go through the small canals, it was still nice to see the city from the water.

We ended our afternoon on the rooftop terrace of our hotel with a beautiful sunset

The next day we flew home; it was a short visit, but we still had the morning to wander and grab one more cioccolata….

La Grande Finale, avec Champagne!

After a day’s relaxation (shopping) we began packing our things for the Champagne region. My Mother and Granny Jill would not be returning to Arras so we packed all their things and the four of us into la petite voiture and headed out on the open road, this time Granny Jill could finally relax with Andre in the driver’s seat.

Laon Cathedral

Laon Cathedral was on our route to Reims and Epernay where we would be spending the night. The Cathedral was magnificent as was the old city walled within the hilltop. Winding our way up the hill 

we parked directly beside the 

cathedral and headed in to see the

 centuries old stained glass and 

luminous white stone interior.

Walled City Gates, Laon

We drove through Reims to the Tattinger Champagne house. We caught the last tour for 4:45. The tour took us down a winding staircase into the caves where the bottles of Champagne ferment. Some of the caves are from the Greco-roman times and have graffiti etched into the walls depicting faces, elements, and mythical creatures.

We ended our tour with a glass of champagne, santé!

 That night we had dinner in our Epernay campanile hotel room, courtesy of Leclerc the nearby grocery store. Complete with two bottles of champagne of course! The next morning we drove around Epernay and the vineyards, our toy car barely making it up the rolling hills.

We went into Reims to see the Cathedral and stained glass of Marc Chagall, whose work my Granny Jill adores. We also visited the Palais de Tau where the French Kings would prepare and celebrate their coronations that took place in the Cathedral.

That night we all stayed at the airport hotel to see my Mother and Granny Jill off the next morning. Thank you for a wonderful week!

Vous me manquez! 

Cow Patties and Potholes

Before writing on our trip to Champagne I have to make a quick post for the ridiculous journey we had returning from Sint-Niklaas to Arras.  Granny Jill was behind the wheel and Martha (the GPS) navigated our route. The pouring rain and four lane highway was proving far too difficult for our petite voiture so we veered off course to take the back roads home. We had quite the adventure driving through small Belgian villages. Specifically one much bigger than we expected where we took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of a farmer's field avoiding pot holes and cow patties!

Granny Jill got us home safe and sound to dinner and a glass of wine, we all needed it after that drive!

Family in Sint-Niklaas

Three Generations + Anthony

After spending the night in Bruges we continued our journey to our final destination and the real reason we went to Belgium; to visit the gravesite of my great uncle, Bob, who perished in World War Two. He was the Air Bomber in a Lancaster which crashed near Sint-Niklaas killing the entire crew. We were also in Belgium to meet the family who tended the graves which had fallen into neglect years ago.. . We met Anthony and Rieke at their home in Sint-Niklaas. Anthony’s mother discovered the neglected war graves of the Sint-Niklaas cemetery and tended to them for many years before the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) recognized their responsibilities.

We arrived in Sint-Niklaas for a wonderful lunch at Anthony and his wife Rieke’s home. After getting acquainted and looking over family photos we enjoyed a fabulous traditional Belgian dish of endives wrapped in ham and covered in cheese sauce. Délicieux!

To see a recipe click here. I made my own imitation last night, and even though Andre isn’t particular to endives he admitted it was very good.

After some coffee, cookies, and more Belgian chocolate we drove to the cemetery. We were all very moved by the care and attention the CWGC and the city dedicates to the small row of mostly Canadian war graves. I have seen many such grave markers since arriving in France, and it was very different to see one that belonged to a family member, who although I never met, meant a great deal to those I love.

We are forever grateful to Anthony, his mother, and Rieke. There are no words to describe how much their care has meant to my family. Thank you for your hospitality and compassion.

Three Generations go to Belgium

Tuesday morning my Mom, Granny Jill and I packed our bags and headed into Belgium. We drove to the city of Bruges to see its historic city centre and buy some chocolate. The historic centre of Bruges is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The recognition could largely be considered to be for its architecture yet it’s interesting that the designation also states the importance of the city’s role in the birth of the School of Flemish ‘Primitives’ painting. 

To read more about the designation and see a video on Bruges click here.

Andre and I did go to Bruges before, at the end of the summer. The canals and architecture are so spectacular I thought it would be wonderful to spend another night again, this time with my Mother and Grandmother. We arrived at Hotel Floris Karos by noon and were able to check in right away. After a short reprise, and a bit to eat, we headed down to see the old city. We walked around the winding streets stopping in some shops along our way to the Grote Markt. We stood gapping at the immense brick Beffroi and went in the Chapel to see Christ’s blood before continuing on to the chocolate shop around the corner.

 

Whilst moseying along the canals to the chocolate shop we came across a weaving loom in action. In the arcaded square around the corner from the Grote Markt artists sell their creations; the loom weaver and his wife sell the scarves they make on the loom shown in the video below: 

From there we continued on to last Brewery that remains within the city centre limits; De Halvee Maan. Sitting by the fire we enjoyed a few brewskies. It was time for dinner by that point so after we finished our drinks we walked from the Brewery to the restaurant; Grand Kaffee de Passage. The restaurant serves fantastic regional dishes, of which we each ordered a different one and sampled each-other's. With no room for dessert we went back to the hotel for some tea, chocolate, and an early night’s sleep.

Three Generations, Two Counties, One Week!

Now to begin the real posts for my Mother and Grandmother’s, vacation in France. It was a wonderful arrival Saturday, close to noon for lunch and after unpacking and a quick nap, we all headed out to take a little walking tour of the town. We wandered up to the Petite Place, to have a tea and café before visiting a few shops. We had Galettes for dinner when we got home and called it a night; after all the excitement we were all pretty tired.

Our rental car!

The next day we took the car out to see the Vimy Memorial, we walked around the monument taking photos and then piled back in our tiny car to go see L’abbaye du mont Saint-Éloi. The ruins of this abbey are very impressive, only the cathedral and parts of the original wall that would have surrounded the complex remain.

Front of the Monument

Mother Canada - Vimy Memorial

Mont Saint Eloi

Arras Cathedral

When we got back to Arras we went to see the town’s large Cathedral. It is immense with large faintly coloured stained glass windows.

RED MEAT

For dinner we went to the Assiette au Boeuf where we all had a plate of beef and a large helping of fries. Dessert is included for the month of October so we all heavily indulged ourselves!

Monday we went to Amiens to see the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe, and the head of Saint John the Baptist. On the drive back Granny Jill saw a sign for a Menhir, so immediately we pulled a U-ie to find it. It was very cool to wind around the old tractor roads and discover a pre-historic upright standing stone alone in the middle of a farmer’s field.

                                                                     

We returned to Arras with enough time to shop before calling it a day. We had an early start the next morning; Tuesday we went to Brugges....