Happy 16th to Elise...

Made a quick trip to Paris yesterday to send the three older girls off to America for three weeks with Gramma. Elise is lucky to have spent her 16th birthday on two continents. This morning breakfast at Starbucks in Paris and this evening, dessert at the Cheesecake Factory in Roseville! Not a bad way to turn sixteen.
We had a very sweet birthday-day shopping and visiting in Paris. Quick trip to Sacre Couer and Notre Dame...I guess we could call that a "church" trip! We also did some fun things...bought makeup at Mac at the Place St. Michel, found great august sales at Pimkie and the train station, had a swim and hot tub at the Hyatt and Ceasar salad, Turkey club, and Peperoni pizza from room service! Then beddie by for the big travel adventure...first time overseas on their own! Iam not even sure they have arrived yet. Took a few silly videos to share, but not sure if I know how to down load them. So here goes...

Guess who's back???

   I am temporarily borrowing my daughters computer to get back current on all the crazy happenings in this french adventure.  My last post was in April...so much has happened, of course I won't bore you with all the details. I did, however, loss some weight! That is only worth mentioning, as it was one of my father's last requests for his children. At christmas, my sister asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted his four children to lose weight! "Ask and you shall receive" So to you dad, I offer 20 ugly pounds...and more to come!
   In addition, other things worth mentioning, Marc and I both got jobs in May. Guess what we are doing? That's right!!!! We are both working in restaurants! Funny how life goes. Marc and I are now "competitors". Venasque has two restaurants right next door to each other- Les Ramparts (traditional/regional provencal menu) and La Cote  Fontaine ( gastronomic menu with a touch of japanese accents). I am at the gastronomic and Marc is the provencal. Our dear friends Bill and Kris Moore were here last week visiting and they ate at both restaurants. I will ask them to write a review for me.
    Working is great! Working in a kitchen for someone else is also great. But I have to admit that being back in the kitchen is not a dream come true. It was a matter of neccessity. Money is the name of the game sometimes and you do what you know. We know the restaurant business. And when the job opportunities presented themselves, the circumstances were almost Providencial. Two restaurant jobs right next door to each other and a house available three doors up the street and across the parking lot from Louis and Claudie's school... "Ask and you shall receive"!
     So for the moment, we are both expanding our knowledge of food, learning many new things that we would not have taught ourselves otherwise and most importantly, paying our debts.
Tomorrow we will welcome longtime, dear customers from Le Bilig Kitchen. Gary and Peggy Gubitz and their young men will be stopping by on their "Reunion Tour". You can check out their adventure on their blog www.gubitzeuropereuniontour.blogspot.com .
     I will have some pictures posted of our visit with friends from California soon. We had some real adventures with the Moores. I am sure they will remember this trip to france as much as the other nine they have had. Filled with family adventures...trials and tribulations of life at the Gypsy Table!  Be back soon...

Temporarily out of commission!

It has been a long while since my last post and I have so much to share. However, my dear little "notebook" has a big crack across the screen and I am forced to pile all my ideas, research, photos, videos, and beautiful visits around provence into a box and paitently wait for a practical solution that costs less than 25 Euros! Be back in business soon...thank you for your patience.  
The weather in provence has been beautiful. The cherries are turning red and almost ready to eat. Asparagus and strawberries are everywhere-even though they are expensive-and the streets are coming alive with visitors! I think we are about to see the evolution of the region into the world destination that we have been hearing about. The death of winter and the ressurection of spring.... stay tuned for the rise and fall of the Sorgue river, the Cherry Festival of Venasque, Spring visit to the Riviera (Monaco, Cannes, Nice, Antibes), and a special feature of the Fete du Transhumance in St. Remy. Abientot...

Le Marche...L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

Thursday morning, two double espressos at the Cafe de France in L'Isle-sur-la Sorgue 2.60 E... that is something to smile about!

Our farmer friend from the market...I asked him this morning if I could take his picture because his San Francisco hat was where I was from. He was happy to get the attention and as we walked away, we heard his friend laugh and ask him why he was wearing Francisco's hat? He took the hat off, looked at it, and kinda puzzled said, "I don't know where I got this, I didn't know it was Francisco's!"  Two cute old farmers, having a good time.

Typical French Market

Thursday morning market in the heart of the old part of town. What a great way to spend the morning. A curiosity at every corner-folklore, tradition, the colors of provence, the sharp smell of the sea, the earthy smell of the farm, people gathering and departing from every direction. The world is a very strange, yet beautiful place and the market reminds us that technology can never replace that which the heart longs for...community!

Road trip-Getting to know Arles

PART I

Three minutes in the Place de la Republique...

When the sun shines in provence the streets come to life.

A gypsy on a park bench, playing his accordian,

 Young people "hanging out" on bikes, skates and boards- gathered in groups- sitting on steps,

An ancient "Scottish highlander" lost in time.

The delicate carved stone of a romanesque cathedral facade,

The pleasures of art: recycled plastic phantoms, paintings of celestial light and stone men gazing at a cross, steel wool scouring pads stretched to the shapes of man clinging to each other and hanging from space.

 

This is just the begining of Arles, the land Van Gogh, bullfights and gypsys, Roman ruins and Romanesque monuments. Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage City. So much to see and so little time! On friday we will return to Arles and for part II ...



A Birthday in Dad's Memory!

No more neckties, soap on a rope or packages of golf balls to wrap.

No more looking for a good book or an interesting video about history, airplanes or anything mechanical, construction, or a good old fashion western he hadn't already seen.

No more crosswords or puzzles to fill up the cupboards.

No more last- minute framing pictures of grand kids to put on your desk.

No more gift certificates or gadgets...cause what do you get for the man who needs so little and wants only to spend time with his family and friends.

No more bottles of spanish wine to try and compare.

No more silly "Best Grampa in the World" t-shirts and hats.

The only present left to give is our eternal love and gratification for all you left us...the wonderful memory of a life well lived!

   



Words of Wisdom...Again!

Six Month Anniversary
It has been six months since we arrived in Provence and I decided to re-post this poem. It has been a dear, old friend to Marc and I ever since my sister Cindy gave it to us years ago. 

Cindy was my first traveling partner. In 1983, she and I set out to discover Europe. She had just graduated from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and was 24 yrs. old.  I was 18, and had not a care in the world. Cindy, with all her beauty and knowledge, led us in a spectacular, six month adventure around Europe.  Actually, I led in the adventure department-she kept us safe and guided us to discover all the culture, history, art, antiquity, and charm I would have passed up to "check out guys and lay on the beach". We were perfect traveling companions. I got us back stage passes at Rod Stewart concerts in Madrid and Lisbon, a room at the Palace Hotel Madrid-four doors down from Rod, and pushed us to keep on walking when we didn't want to take another step. She took care of logistics and got us from the Artic circle in Scandinavia to the Bavarian Forest, down the Rhine river, through the Alps, to the Vatican, castles in Austria and Switzerland,  kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, hours of art at the Prado, running of the Bulls in Pamplona, and much more. I never imagined the how that trip would change my life. Until I met Marc, she was my best buddy and I love her for "babysitting" me on that journey that gave me a taste of the old world.

Merci... My Sister Cindy...
"Je voudrais cinq billets pour Lourdes"...inside joke-you had to be there!!!

GOETHE
Until one is committed, 

there is hesitancy,

the chance to drawback,

always ineffectiveness.

Concerning all acts of initiative

there is one elementary truth

the ignorance of which kills

countless ideas and endless plans:

That the moment one definately commits oneself, 

then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision,

raising in one's favor all manner of 

unforseen incidence and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would come his way.

Whatever you can do,

or dream you can, begin it!

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

     ...Goethe