Riding with the 'Big Boys'

Along the Prom after a rainfall

November has brought it's fair share of rain for an area that claims to have 300 days of sunshine each year.  Nowhere near the rains experienced by Paris or London but given how we got accustomed to consistently dry, sunny warm weather, 2 to 3 days of rain per week over the past few weeks was not what we bargained for.  I know bring out the violin.  Along with the rain, temperatures have dipped which has restricted my riding to coastal outings, alternating between rides west towards Antibes, Golfe Juan one day and east into Ventimiglia, Italy other days.  

            

After the rain

Two weeks ago Nancy and I drove to Ventimiglia to stock up on some groceries and have a rich and creamy, sumptuous cappuccino at Bar Canada (the original owner apparently lived in Canada for a brief period) which is right across from the daily market.  Ventimiglia is a small coastal town located on the Italian side of the border and were it not for it's proximity to France I suspect it's economic prospects might be more hard pressed than they are.  A 20-30 minute drive from Nice, Ventimiglia is a pretty enough town but no real reason to visit.  Given its proximity, many French along the coast frequently cross the border to buy groceries and clothing in Italy where the combination of greater selection and price differences of 20-40% make it a no-brainer.  A cappuccino in Ventimiglia sets one back 1.20 euro while in Menton that same cappuccino goes for 3.50 euro.  One café immediately across the border has cyclists lined up to order cappuccinos while 500 meters on the other side of the border a similar café can’t entice anyone through the doors.
  

View from Antibes looking towards Nice

It's a brisk (8C) sunny morning and I'm glad I'm wearing a few extra layers along with full-fingered gloves as I hop on my velo and head to Ventimiglia along 'le bord de mer'.  It's about a 90km round trip and for the first 30 to 40 minutes I lose myself in my thoughts as I still can't believe we are here.  The sparkling mediterranean waters combined with the snow capped Alps in the distance envelope me with a giddy excitement, a feeling I find hard to capture through words.  Beaming down upon me the sun warms me up and it's rays dance and shimmer along the water's surface.  

Snow peaked Alps in the distance

As I approach Monaco, a group of cyclists whiz by me and I soon find myself tucked in behind 3 guys all sporting RadioShack cycling outfits motoring along at a good clip.  I decide to test myself and see what sort of progress I've made by trying to keep pace.  Soon we are zipping along the coast of Menton, the last town before the Italian border and the guy next to me looks over and says "plus doucement, tranquil, tranquil' realizing I'm working too hard.  I nod politely and smile thinking 'no kidding buddy' of course I'm working hard, whadda ya mean go softly?  As we cross the border into Italy, he asks where I'm from realizing from my accent that I'm not a local.  He shares with me that he and one of his buddies are from Belgium and live in Monaco year round.

"So what do you do in Monaco" I ask?  "I cycle" he responds.  "As in cycle for a living, professionally" I retort.  "Yes", he nods.  "As in Tour de France, professionally" I add.  "Yes for the Radioshack team".  I soon learn that the 3 guys I've been busting a gut trying to keep pace with over the past 30 minutes have all competed in the top international races, including the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.  The guy next to me points to his friend and says “he’s a former world champ”.   Yeah right I think to myself.   Not sure whether they were yanking my chain I decided to introduce myself by name and asked them for their names so I might look them up online.            

Just before Ventimiglia my 30 minutes of riding with the big boys was up as they vanish up a hill and leave me to ponder whether they were who they said they were.  As I slowed to a near crawl making my way up the hill I kept repeating "plus doucement, tranquil, tranquil" and visions of another frothy cappuccino at Bar Canada was all I could think of.  

I was able to identify and confirm that two of the cyclists I cycled with today are both 30 year old Belgian cyclists, Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans.  Steegmans rode for Radioshack this year after not wanting to sign an anti-doping agreement with his former Russian Katusha team which agreement required any riders testing positive for performance enhancing drugs to pay a penalty of up to 5x their annual salary.

Boonen is a former world champion (2005) and was among the most famous Belgian riders over the past 10 years.  This past season Boonen rode for Quick Step.  Incidentally, he's been caught using cocaine 3 times and was suspended from competition by Quick Step in May 2009 missing the Tour de France that year.  It's amazing what one can discover from the net!!  

Maybe with a quick visit to the local pharmacist I might find out what sort of concoction he can come up with and this 45 year old can be ready for next years Tour de France!

Sal                          

City of Light

Napoleon III Apartments in the Louvre

Ah....Paris, the City of Light - the most lit city in the world.  A few days back home from Paris and we  have almost recovered and ready to take on the next bustling European metropolis. Although, Sal and I had already been to Paris, experiencing it again with the kids this time was fantastic. They were in awe of the city and gained some appreciation for all the artistic beauty it has to offer, although we were pushing it by the last day.  Our final day in Paris was reserved for a visit to Versailles, but by that time we had no energy left for the one hour ride each way and the 3 hours plus to tour the enormous and magnificent castle and it's gardens. 

Notre Dame

We decided instead to explore the area we were staying in, Le Marais and the neighboring area of Ile St. Louis. These are both lively arrondissements  packed with restaurants, cafes,  shops and art galleries.  After walking along the Seine to visit the spectacular cathedral of  Notre Dame we decided that would be the end of sightseeing for us. We  the spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of the shops on the narrow streets, stopping often to  admire and of course sample the irresistible desserts displayed in the patisserie windows - the  French certainly know how to dress up their sweets!!    

Digging In!!

Walking through the Marais, home of the  Jewish quarter where we incidentally had the best falafel bar none just a few days prior, we came upon Place Des Vosges said to be one of the prettiest squares in Paris.  Stopping in at cafe Victor Hugo for cafe au laits and chocolat  chauds we had a chance to sit and  admire the square just across from us.    It turned out this 'down' day  was just what we needed on our last day in Paris . Missing out on Versailles will give us another reason to visit the French capital again.

We are resting up this weekend and staying close to home as we get ready to tackle Berlin next weekend.  A city I don't yet know much about, although I know it will be cold, we will pay homage to the Berlin Wall and likely eat sausage and drink beer at some point, although I am sure there will be much more to it than that.

Until next time,
Nancy

Time Out at Les Deux Magots

Maddy's Paris

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. Napoleon commissioned it after the Austerlitz battle in 1806. Construction started in 1806 and was finished in 1836. The Arc de Triomphe is found on Place Charles de Gualle at the end of Champ d'Elysee. The Arc is 50 meters tall and 45 meters wide. Under the arc there are carved names of the generals who were involved in the wars France fought.  (Sorry dad makes us do research on where we go and what we visit.)   Unfortunately we didn't know that you could go inside the arc. 

Posing for Rodin

One of my favorite parts of our visit to Paris was the Eiffel Tower. We climbed 680 steps (I know my sister already said the same thing) all the way to the second level lookout. Finally we reached the second level. How beautiful the city looked from such a high view and we could see everything, Le Louvre, The Arc de Triomphe, Invalides Dome, and lots of other buildings. Did you know the Eiffel Tower sparkles every 10 minutes at the beginning of each hour as soon as it gets dark. 

Goddess of Beauty?  Ya Right!

Another part of Paris I enjoyed was Le Louvre, one of the most famous museums in the world. At the Louvre we saw the Mona Lisa. I know its one of the most famous paintings in the world but I don't even know what the big deal about it was, people say it's by this Da Vinci guy like who the heck is he and why is he so famous? My favorite part of the museum was the Venus di Milo. I learned that the Venus di Milo was found by a farmer in his field and they don't know who sculpted it but they think it's a sculpture of the Greek goddess of love and beauty. 

One thing I didn't enjoy about Paris was the rain. 

Maddy

Simona's Paris

Picture Perfect Crepe Store in Paris

We got back from Paris sunday morning and I had a blast.  We visited many museums including, the Musee D'Orsay, the Louvre and Rodin museum which held many of Rodin`s most famous sculptures, including the Thinker. 

Les Invalides

The most interesting to me was the Louvre. It was a gigantic never ending museum filled with 35 000 paintings and sculptures made by hundreds of different artists. I was very excited to hear that the Mona Lisa was in the museum and was eager to get right to it, but I was expecting the portrait to be much smaller, because people had told me that it was smaller than they expected it to be. The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci and is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy businessman in Florence. Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503, and completed it in four years.

Another section in the museum that I really enjoyed was Napoleon III "apartment." It was really just his office building that he used to work in that is called an apartment but looks more like a palace. It felt so royal and the ceilings and the walls were all carved into different patterns and designs with golden coloured wood. While we were in Paris we also went to a Claude Monet exhibition with most of his paintings from all over the world, including three from Canada. We waited in line for almost four hours just to get into the exhibition, but his paintings were worth the wait. I love his paintings of women with their parasols taking a walk in the summer, and his lillypad paintings. I like his technique of tiny, short cut brush strokes.   Too bad I can’t paint like that!!

Wow!!

I was very excited to go see the Eiffel Tower and it turned out to be my favorite part of the whole trip. We climbed six hundred and eighty steps to the second floor at night and seeing  the whole city lit up looked so cool which made the climb truly worth it. Every hour the tower sparkles for ten minutes on the hour. I loved watching it twinkle in the dark sky. It almost looked as if a giant came and sprinkled glitter on the tower. To bad it was raining the whole time we were there, because it would have been nice to sit on the grass outside the tower and look at it. 


Simona

All Museumed Out

Ok Girls what do you think?

Another long weekend in France and a few days off school for the kids, Thursday for Remembrance Day and Friday because what’s the point in going back to work or school for one day.   Better to bridge it – or as the French say "faire le ponte" - to the weekend.  Who are we to argue?  Combine that with the usual Wednesday of no school for Maddy and Simona’s half day at school, a quick scan of Easyjet flights and voilà (I love saying that),  250 euro for the four of us and we find ourselves in Paris.

Cold, wet and windy, a typical grey November day and while this could just as easily be a description of Toronto or London, it’s Paris.  Ugggh!!    Paris greeted us with ugly, bone chilling rain, weather that reaffirmed our decision to spend the year in the more temperate climate of the Cote Azur which, incidently is embracing sun filled days of 19C!!   With umbrellas in hand and dressed in typical Canadian attire, gloves, heavy shoes and coats, we made the most of our visit.

 

How can one help but not be seduced and fall in love with Paris? Apart from the exaggerated myth of great French cuisine (I know sacrilege but I will come back to this in a future post), Paris is at once elegant and sophisticated, La Grand Dame de France. 

The most delicious 8euro hot chocolate!!

A historical and artistic treasure one could not possibly cover in a 4 day visit with its countless museums and historical landmarks it provided no shortage of things to do and places to visit.    Everywhere we turned we were in awe at its architectural beauty even though other than the most well known landmarks we had no idea what we were looking at.   Like appreciative tourists we obliged our gracious host by emptying our pockets on all the museum entrance fees in the hope of becoming more culturally refined North Americans while at the same time walking ourselves to exhaustion.  

Simona's reaction to seeing the Tower

Previous visits to the Eiffel Tower were always during the day and I never quite understood its appeal seeing it nothing more than an interesting steel structure.   This time we were encouraged to visit it by night and what an entirely different experience and impression I was left with.   Perhaps it was because this was the first visit for the kids and seeing their mouths agape as we turned the corner and the Tower came into view all lit up against the backdrop of the black night was priceless.   There it stood all decked out in sparkling lights, standing tall and glittering in the night it seemed that she was wearing her finest gown and most brilliant diamonds in anticipation of our visit.  

Perhaps it was Madeleine and Simona’s youthful exuberance and energy as they raced up the stairs to the second level look out urging us to keep up as we climbed “comon mom and dad hurry up”.   Whatever it was, this visit to the Tour Eiffel just seemed more special and provided a totally new perspective.  

By Friday we were all museumed out with all the museums we visited in Paris, Barcelona and Nice, but Nancy insisted that we stand in line for 3 and half hours to visit Monet’s collection of life’s work.   And thank goddness she did as this collection of 160 of his finest works from all over the world (including 3 from Toronto) all under one roof was simply brilliant.   As tired as I was, this exhibit was a feast for my non-artistic eyes and the wait was well worth it.   


Voila - And just like that, 4 days had come and gone and we were greeted by rainy Nice!

Sal

The stained glass of Notre Dame

Halloween in Barcelona

This week we went to Barcelona, with dad's cousin, another Sal Rocco and his family. Sal has a daughter, Jennifer my age, a son, Anthony who is 7, and another son, Nicolas who is 5. I loved hanging out with Jenny especially on Halloween night when Jenny and I were matching Hello Kitty. 

MJ Lives!!

On halloween night we went for dinner and then went to a flamenco opera performance which I found boring.  After the show we all went to our apartment and Jenny and I put on a dance that we had been working on.  As well, Simona, who dressed up as Michael Jackson danced to Thriller.  That night Jenny invited me over for a sleepover.    

Monday was our last day with our cousins and we went to the Joan Miro museum in the morning which I also found very boring.  After the museum we found ourselves sitting in a square in front of a huge cathedral and dad spontaneously started a soccer game with a bunch of Italian kids we met.  Now that I did NOT find boring!    We had a great time.      

Barca Juniors!!

That evening we took a walk along the beach and Anthony, Niki and I had races…. Of course I always won!!  We then went for ice-cream and as we always did, Jenny and I got the same flavours, strawberry and lemon…yum!!   With ice cream in hand we walked arm in arm talking and talking until it was time to say our goodbyes.    I can’t wait to visit Jenny in Rome and she promised she would come visit us in Nice.   

 As for me (Simona), I really enjoyed going to see the Sagrada Familia a church designed by Antoni Gaudi.  Gaudi was a famous architect that designed many buildings, including Casa Milia, Casa Battlo and a mosaic park called Parc Guell which we visited.  We didn't get to go inside the Sagrada Familia but seeing it from the outside was enough. The detail, the shapes that were used, all the carving and structuring was incredible. The temple was very well designed and I really like Gaudi's style of architecture. As I looked up at the church I wondered how they were able to build a church so tall and complicated without the technology we have today.  Construction began in 1882 and it is estimated that it will likely be finished in 2026.

The highlight however, was going to watch a Barcelona FC vs. Sevilla game with my dad.  The stadium was ginormous and holds 110 000 fans. I thought the stadium back home where TFC play was big but this was three times the size. The wave was constantly going around the stadium and all the fans were cheering wildly. Four minutes into the game Messi dekes two defenders shoots, and scores. The fans go wild cheering.  The game ended 5-0 Barcelona with Messi scoring two goals, Villa scoring two goals and Alves scoring one. I was disappointed when the game was over as I didn't want to leave the energy in the stadium.  Hopefully, I will get the chance to go to another game while we are here in Europe.        

Simona & Madeleine

Home Sweet Home

How good it feels to be home!! It seems odd that we would feel that way about coming "home" to Nice, but after being away for 6 days in Spain, we looked forward to getting back to familiar surroundings.  We really are creatures of habit and given the chance one quickly adapts to new environments. No, our move to Nice will not be permanent and we most definitely will be returning home to Toronto next summer. 


As for Barcelona, it seems we all came away with a different perspective. Unfortunately, Nancy spent 2 days in bed with a cold and flu like symptoms and never quite warmed up to Barcelona. She found it to be uninspiring and somewhat "run down and grungy" and is in no rush to return. The highlight for Simona was watching Messi and Co dismantle Sevilla 5-0 with Messi and David Villa each netting 2 goals. 

Two of a kind

Maddy probably had the most fun but Barcelona had nothing to do with it. She could have been anywhere given the fun she was having with her new found "3rd cousin" Jennifer (the other Sal Rocco's daughter).  She was disappointed to learn they were only "3rd cousins" as if that somehow impacted the relationship or possible enjoyment.  The 2 were inseparable the entire time, sporting hello kitty costumes for Halloween and tried all manner of gestures to get the human statutes on Las Ramblas to move or laugh. At one point they had us all laughing as they performed a dance themselves on Las Ramblas and were rewarded for their performance by spectators who dropped coins into one of their hats. 

As for myself, I like Barcelona for what it's not. It's not an elegant, sophisticated city like a London, Paris or Rome. While it has no shortage of museums and other landmarks to visit, it lacks the glitter and polish of so many other large European cities. It has a vibe and pulse all of its own. It is genuinely raw and not afraid to bare it's soul for all to see and experience. It has no pretenses and makes no effort to mask it's defects or shortcomings. Students and pensioners, the working and unemployed, impoverished and wealthy, thieves, drug addicts, buskers and artists of all sorts, street vendors and women of the night each plying their trade and leaving their mark in full view. No matter where one goes, a walk along Las Ramblas, the Gothic Barri or Born districts, barceloneta or along the waterfront, Barcelona will generate a reaction love it or not.   

We are off next weekend for 4 days to visit Paris, a stark contrast to Barcelona.  I'm curious to see what sort of response it evokes. 

Sal 

Expectations

It's amazing how expectations shape our experiences and our enjoyment. I came to Barcelona 3 years ago for work and simply had an incredible time. The city was youthful and alive. There was a certain gritty, bohemian allure to it. It was edgy and fun and lacked the formality of cities like Paris or Rome. Working by day and tourist by night, it was amazing how much I packed into each day. 

Dali Museum

Sagrada Familgia, Museo Picasso, the Dali Museum, Gaudi's houses and an unforgetable Barcelona F.C. game in which Ronaldinho scored two goals in a victory for the homeside. And who could forget sitting or standing at Tapas bars every night until the late hours enjoying all those delicious offerings and good spanish wine. I recall coming away thinking this is a city I have to come back to. I've been singing Barcelona's praises ever since and we purposely planned our current visit here during the kids school break so as not to feel rushed if we wanted to stay an extra day or two. Unlike our trip to London for which we had no expectations, we were ready to be wowed by Barca. We even invited my cousin from Rome, Sal Rocco (imagine that.... another one!) and his family, to join us. 

Entertainment on Las Ramblas

Three days in to our five days here and so far it's been underwhelming and I can't understand why other than to blame it on overblown and unrealistic expectations. Perhaps the law of diminishing returns for me and overly inflated expectations I established for Nancy? Las Ramblas remains as crazy and entertaining as it was three years ago with all its human statutes and buskers and Sagrada Famiglia and other Gaudi attractions an intriguing commentary into the soul of a brilliant artist. And yet somehow Barca hasn't measured up to our inflated expectations notwithstanding the beauty and richness of this wonderful city. 

As my fingers hammer out these thoughts, it occurs to me that I should enjoy the simplicity of the setting instead of trying to figure out whether Barca measures up. Our apartment with, it's Romeo and Julliet balcony, overlooks Placeta del Pi, a very small and beautifully illuminated square where I sit and enjoy a glass of Temparillo. Placeta del Pi's charm is in it's simplicity - that, combined with the many musicians who stop to play and sing for the 75 or so people sitting and enjoying a late day cocktail. 

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

At its center adorning the square sits a platanu tree, its speckled bark creating a beautiful mosaic. The sound of Iglesia del Pi's church bells strike 7 and as I finish the last drops of my wine to rush off and get ready for dinner I realize that I shouldn't be so quick to draw any conclusions on Barca! There is much to see and do over the coming days, highlighted by tomorrow night's game (10 pm kick-off - ouch!) in which Messi and many of his world cup Spanish mates take on Sevilla. With a pair of tickets in hand, Simona and I should be in for a real treat with 100K or so of our closest Barca friends. 


I can already hear the crowd.....   Barca clap, clap, clap, Barca clap, clap, clap..... 



Sal