Here and There

Thursday John and Gina treated us to lunch at one of their favourite spots the Crow and Gate Pub. This place is hidden away south of Nanaimo and has beautiful gardens surrounding it.

Crow and Gate Pub VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The food was great, the company even better and then it was back to their place to put up a little blackberry jam before we headed back over the Rockies.

Jam Session VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As usual everyone had a job and as usual mine was the stressful supervisory position meaning I have to be ready to jump in at a moments notice to fill any of the other positions and of course that all important tasting position. Thanks again John & Gina for all that you shared with us this last few days.

Friday we got up in the morning thinking about going somewhere but just where was still up in the air until we popped over and had a peek at Rick and Paulettes journey from the day before. That made our mind up for us so it you want any more details than the few pictures below pop over to Rick’s Blog and he has done a great job of explaining our trip. Just start from the end and work your way up because we went about it in the opposite direction from them.

Port Renfrew VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thanks for the tip Rick, the trip was beautiful.

Saturday morning found us heading back across the Rockies. We were up early in the morning and rolling so we caught the 5:15AM ferry, it was a pretty empty boat and the crew took the opportunity to complete a bunch of their emergency drills. Most of them happened without us even noticing any thing but the man over board drill was a little more visible. They slammed that big boat to a halt in no time flat, dropped their launch in the water and tore off to rescue the MOB.

Man Over Board (this is a drill) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Once the drill was over and the ship was secured we were back on course, all with a little more confidence that if something happened our crew knew the routine. The rest of the 600 mile trip was completed without event and only a few stops along the way to stretch our legs and get fuel. The drive through the Canadian Rockies is a beautiful one so keeping your eyes on the road is a challenge sometimes but this is the only picture I took and we were stopped in Field, BC for it.

Island Visit

Sunday we took off early in the morning and made a dash through the mountains to the sea. We were heading towards our friends John & Gina’s place just south of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.

They have a picturesque place right on the banks of the Nanaimo River and run a small B&B there. I have waxed poetically about the beauty of their place, A Riverside B&B, many times in the past, so other than to mention as usual they have been working and upgrading non-stop since we left here last year and the place shows it, I will just share some pictures of our activities. Monday we were out to Coombs to visit the Market there and pick up some of their specialty breads then back to Parksville to meet my SIL Tricia and her sister and BIL the Wunders, who were all on their way to the west coast of the Island to enjoy a little surfing and beachcombing. We had a great visit and a nice lunch with them and then headed back to River Road for supper.

Yesterday was a wander the waterfront day in Nanamio where the picture above was taken as well as all those below. It is a beautiful spot and not yet a madhouse of cruise ships and the such although that is probably in its future.

Waterfront VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As you can see from the one of Brenda with her hands full of plums we have been availing ourselves of the abundant wild fruit that is just there for the picking here on the Island.

Yesterday we had a date with a cherry tree we had stumbled on on one of our drives around the district. Brenda wanted some fresh cherries so we headed over there after a great breakfast that Gina fed us and harvested a couple of buckets of cherries.

And brought them back to John & Gina’s where the girls were busy turning them into Cherry Pies.

I’d have a picture of the finished product below but it was eaten to fast to catch on camera.

Yaha Yahoo!

We haven’t been here enough this year, what with all the things that have been going on around Dogpound North this year it has been difficult to get in gear and get gone west. Monday morning we hooked up and just left.

Can’t imagine why we haven’t been here more this summer than we have but we had a great two nights and three days enjoying the peace and quiet. No cell or internet service and it is 50 miles back to the nearest traffic light. The Yaha Tinda is a ranch that is actually owned by the federal government and Parks Canada. They use it as a place to winter and train all the horses that work in our Mountain National Parks by the back country rangers. They have a campground on the ranch along Bighorn Creek that is used extensively by horse folk from all over Western Canada. It is also the place that Brenda and I got married just a few days less than 11 years ago so it has an especially special spot in our hearts.

Brenda took her first whirl at wheeling the LQ out west on Monday and did a pretty good job too, although she gets a little nervous when I close my eyes on the hills. Here are some of our fellow visitors on the road to the Yaha.

And a shot of our site, once we were set up.

Spring is a little late here on the Northern Ranges and it has been a wet year so the flowers were in full bloom which is a little surprising this late in the year.

Tuesday our good friend Wayne Ross joined us for a ride out west and although it was cut a little short by a loose shoe on my boy Blue

we still had time to set a spell by the river and enjoy some of Brenda’s great food.

This morning our neighbour in camp had a look at Blue’s shoe and a few minutes later he had it pulled off and reset as good as new.

Bob Woelk and his daughter Stacey were spending a few days out at the Yaha before they headed off to an endurance event north of here in Hinton on Friday, so they rode with us today after Bob got that shoe all fixed up.  I am thinking that their Arab endurance racers never had such a relaxing ride through the hills before but after we got back to camp they were heading out on another ride and I am sure the pace will be a lot quicker on that one. Thanks again Bob and good luck in that endurance race.

That’s Bob and Stacey up in front of Blue and I, notice all the flowers here on the ridge. The picture below is from one of my favourite lunch spots along this particular trail. Good place to set a spell and watch the world go by.

And below is Brenda with Eagle Pass in the background,

and then a shot in the trees so folks know it is not all mountain vista’s here in the West Country.

House of the Lord

Well we wandered all over London and Paris looking at great old buildings that the folks had built to glorify their God’s, but we are home in the place he built for himself.

This was our view out the window when we awoke this morning and although we had a great holiday it sure is nice to trade in the roar of traffic and the gabble of the crowds for the sounds of deer slipping through the dew and the ponies munching on green grass. I think I will just go out and go for a walk and not worry about dodging cars, buses and hordes of folks hurrying one way or the other.

We have a few more rounds to cut on the lawn as you can see and it has been growing pretty quickly while we were gone so it might take a while to get it back under control but hopefully the John Deere’s are up to the task. Once we get the yard back in shape we are loading up and heading west with our ponies for a few days of peace and quiet at the Yaha.

Oh I forgot we put that little garden statue here at Dogpound North while we figure out where it should really fit in.

Back in the Commonwealth

Well we had a great trip over to the continent and really enjoyed our time in Paris, but it is always good to come home too. Well not our own home but Canada is a member of the Commonwealth and as the biggest country in that group of nations we hold a special place in the hearts of our British hosts. We were welcomed back at our hotel and especially our favourite restaurant, Bar Remo, with open arms. You’d almost think we were family there, last night every member of the staff was out to great us and the drinks and appy’s were flowing fast and free. We won’t leave this place without going there once more anyway.

Once again we tore across France on the Eurostar and just a couple of hours after a breakfast of croissants, we were back in the land of English Bobbies and Fish and Chips. They are getting ready to host the Olympic Games here starting Friday so things are starting to hop all over the city. Luckily we get out of town the night before that happens but we have a busy week ahead of us making sure we do and see everything we want to as it might be awhile before we are back.

Tuesday Brenda drug me kicking and screaming back to the British Museum, well I wasn’t really kicking and screaming, but it was her idea to go, much to my surprise as we had already been there once and it is usually me who wants to hit all the museums. The fellow who guided our tour at Stonehenge had told her about some exhibits there so off we went to check that he wasn’t pulling her leg.

Our hotel here on the north side of Hyde Park is pretty conveniently located so we have been walking most places and this morning was no different although we did catch the train part way back when we were finished as it had warmed up quite nicely while we were in the museum. Another great part of this spot is the fact that Hyde Park is directly across the street from us so it is a great place to go for a relaxing wander.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I walked over to the Natural History Museum and what a great place that it is. There is everything under the sun under their roof. Both a geological history of the world as well as a collection that must encompass most of the species of critters who have inhabited this place over the centuries, some long extinct and others like Man, who are still pretty abundant. I got there early so the crowds were not bad at all, although when I left there were getting to be a few too many of this species around the place.

Since we have come back to London we have seen two more musicals, Blood Brothers and my favourite all time musical, The Phantom of the Opera. Both were as good as advertised and we have throughly enjoyed our cultural education. Not to much opportunity to hit the “theatttre” at Dogpound North, or for that matter Dogpouind South either.

We are off this morning on that quest for the world’s greatest grilled cheese and then it is off to the airport for our flight home. Hopefully we will get clear of this spot before to many of the expected 1 million visitors arrive for the Olympics.

Shopping in Paris

Remember the last entry we were looking at a little summer place here in Paris, well we thought we should kinda of spruce the place of with some homey touches so we headed out today to find some of those hidden treasures that would kind of make it OURS. First off we thought we should find some pieces to put around the back yard and although it was a little damaged we figured we could get this one at a decent price at a scratch and dent sale.

Then we needed to pick up something for a bare spot on the wall in the back kitchen and found this little portrait of someone's grandma that kinda of fit the bill.

There was an almost unlimited selection at this little market called the Louvre but it was a little crowded there, 24,000 folks a DAY go through the place. We actually had a guided tour of the place and was that ever worth the money. Our guide got us around through the mobs and we got to see some pretty cool art up close and actually have someone who knew what they were looking at explain it to us. The little painting above was done by an Italian fellow who also painted a few church ceilings back home, his home, in Italy, and had a commission to do this portrait of someone's wife but just one of the mysteries surrounding it is that no one knows whose wife it was and obviously the fellow who commissioned it didn’t like it cause it was still in this Da Vinci possession when he died. Big mistake not picking up that little painting I am thinking.

Maybe the best part of the Louvre is not the art inside it but the museum itself is a work of art well worth the trip to see all by itself.

It is huge and the shot above is just one of thousand of similar pictures you could take of the exterior.

Of course no trip to Paris would be complete without an éclair and these were a way better than they look in the picture, I could eat a dozen all by myself, but then I would have to buy new clothes so Brenda drug me away with only one, the other one was hers.

Today was another day to wander the city and just look at things, we walked out this morning and stopped at this restaurant for our breakfast.

I had the Egg Benedictine and they were excellent but Brenda had plain old bacon and eggs and they were not so good, so the picture is obviously before we ate. Once that was done we strolled on up to the Notre Dame Cathedral and caught a boat along the River Seine for a look at the town from the riverside. And jumped off at the Champs Elysees where we found this fellow completing a bicycle race.

Well I am not sure he was actually in the race but he was the first guy on a bicycle we saw on the course so in my books that makes him the winner, but I guess the rules of the Tour de France are a little different and the gang of cyclists in the pictures below (the pics below didn’t publish so maybe when we get home) came ripping by and must of passed him before he got to the finish line a couple of hundred yards away from us. And like that bullet train we were on these guys fly, they tell me they were traveling uphill towards the Arc De Triomphe at 60 km/hour (36mph) and coming back down at speeds up to 80 km/hour (50mph). Now this isn’t a big hill, I know because we strolled up there and never really even noticed the hill. But I guess when you get to the last couple of kilometers of a 3479 km, 23 day bike ride you are in pretty good shape and can really boogie along.

Of course after all this strenous bike riding that was being done right in front of our very eyes we need to get some sustenance in us and it really wouldn’t be a trip to Paris if we didn’t indulge in a Crepe or two would it.

The top was dinner and the bottom was dessert and as you can tell I had to taste them to make sure they were worthy of getting in the blog before I took the photo’s. Let me say there was nothing left on the plates when I was done and it was only the fact that we were in a crowded restaurant that prevented me from licking my plate clean.

Now the one thing we heard over and over when we told folks we were coming to France was some concerns about the French hospitality. I am hear to tell you we have been treated royally by everyone we have dealt with here. We got here hardly knowing how to do more than say hello and thank you and each and every person we have met has helped us to understand things and were excited to teach us new words and explain things to us. Heck tonight I ordered my dinner in French and and can even get the key to our room without resorting to sign language. Don’t get me wrong I am not going to be doing the play by play for the Montreal Canadiens or anything but I won’t starve to death either. All in all our Parisian adventure has been a highlight of our trip.

Around and About in Gay Paree

We thought we had better get going today and see if there is anything to see here in Paris. Rumour has it there is some art on display and some monuments around that are worth stopping in at. We found in London that one of those Hop on / Hop off buses worked well for giving us a quick overview and from there we could stop and spend time with those things that meant the most to us. We got a three day pass for the one here in Paris and will use it as our primary mode of transportation. Although it is not as well run as the British one and really needs to have more frequent bus service it will do the trick. The language is less of a problem than we had expected, for a couple of reasons, folks here are more than willing to try and communicate with them if you make the effort, and actually find our rudimentary French quite humourous. The other thing is as Canada is officially a bi-lingual country we have been reading French on the back of our corn flake boxes and other stuff for all our lives and a lot of French words have worked there way into our minds and although we have no idea how to pronounce them a lot of times we can actually read the menu’s and street side signs quite well. Just don’t try to order arsenic and fish (poisson) in the same place.

Our tour took us near some famous spots and although you could get a lot closer to the Eiffel Tower than this it took much better photo’s from farther away, kinda like me! Some of these spots we will return to in the next couple of days but others will have to wait for another time. This is the Paris Opera House, really a fantastic architecturally marvel.

Another famous spot is the Notre Dame Cathedral and if you look closely you can see Quasimodo ringing the bells in the tower.

What?, you say you can’t see him, well I guess next time I will have to bring my big zoom lense to get those old eyes a little closer.

After we had a look around Notre Dame and ate a not bad sandwich at a very expensive roadside (smell the carbon monoxide) cafe we walked our way back towards the Montparnesse district which is where all the artistic folks including us live. Well there may be a slight difference between my writing and old Papa Hemingway’s but we are hanging out on the same streets.

On the way we stumbled on a little place that we thought would make a great summering spot for us and our horses. Just enough grass to keep them happy and a few rooms for Brenda to keep busy decorating, and unlike Dogpound South not much dust.

Now if I can just get those pesky French Senators to vacate the joint.

Oh and a ride our friend Rod, should keep the rain off and he does like that German engineering, but I am not sure Loyce will think much of the rumble seat.