Weekend

We had a quiet and relaxing weekend. Things have been hectic the past few weeks with the move and a trip to Geneva as soon as I got back from Canada, so we needed a weekend to recharge our batteries. It involved a lot of Netflix. We gave into the hype and started watching 'The Walking Dead'. I didn't think I would like it, but I'm hooked now.

I started school this morning. I'm going to a language school for a month to improve my French. I've been learning on my own but you can only go so far with a textbook and a computer. I need to be with other people speaking only French. I think it will be a good experience and I'm looking forward to it.

We have another trip planned for the upcoming weekend. Most of you know that the NHL playoffs start this week. Those who didn't make the playoffs will have a chance to keep playing. The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships start on Friday in Stockholm and Helsinki. Canada is playing in the Stockholm group and we are going to see them play Denmark on Saturday and Switzerland on Sunday. Neither of us have been to Sweden before so it will be a completely new experience for us. Should be fun.

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Kitchen Renos

Back in Canada, the kitchen renos at the cottage are finally finished thanks to some help from my dad. The tile back splash and counter tops were installed last week. This is what the kitchen used to look like...

and now...

If you know someone looking for a place in the area, here is the listing on realtor.ca
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=12649986&PidKey=2063574296

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New Apartment

We are in our new place and things are good. It wasn't quite up to our standards when we moved in but after Lori's usual routine - washing everything in sight - it was. We went for a walk yesterday to discover the new neighbourhood and it was so nice to walk down an empty sidewalk . There are plenty of markets, cafes and brasseries in the area. The building we are in is quite modern compared to the last place.

But the real reason we wanted this place was the terrace.

To me, this would be the perfect place for a barbecue but we have not seen a single barbecue in all of Paris. Not on balconies or backyards or terraces. We haven't even seem them in stores. We might have to change that while we are here.

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Moving Day

As Lori mentioned in one of her posts, we are moving into a new apartment. We pick up the keys this afternoon and will move a few things in, but tomorrow will be the big moving day. We have a van booked to cart us and our massive amount of luggage to the new apartment. Then on Sunday we'll come back to clean the old one.

We'll miss this apartment. We really love the neighbourhood, but it is such a long commute for Lori. She spends at least 45 minutes on the metro each way. Another downside for this area, it gets so busy on the weekends. With so many museums and beautiful buildings, it draws a lot of tourists with guidebooks in hand and it is difficult to make your way through the narrow streets.

The new neighbourhood is close to La Defense which is the business park where Lori works. It is also close to where we rent the car so weekend getaways will be easier. I will put some photos of the new place up on Monday. Have a great weekend.

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Charbonnade

Switzerland is known for fondue but we decided to try something different. When Lori was here a few years ago, she took her clients to a really interesting restaurant and I was keen to try it myself. The restaurant is called La Taverne du Valais and they claim to have invented Charbonnade in 1967. It is similar to fondue in the sense that you cook your own food at your table, but instead of cooking in a pot of boiling oil, you cook it on a grill over hot coals.

Every order comes with a selection of sauces and condiments. There is a curry sauce, a type of tartar sauce for the seafood and something that tastes remarkably similar to Heinz Ketchup. It was good with the fries at least.

We ordered the meat plate with beef, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey. We also ordered the seafood plate with shrimp, scallops, tuna and squid.

It was a lot of fun and a great evening. It is hard to imagine that something like this would be allowed in North America. I'm sure every customer would be required to wear flame retardant clothing and a fire extinguisher would be at every table.

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Geneva

I have returned to to our adventure in Paris and I will be updating the blog on a regular basis once again. I was on the ground for less than a day before we were on a train heading to Geneva Switzerland. Lori had to go for work, so it was the perfect opportunity to turn it into a weekend getaway.

Lori was in Geneva a few years ago, once again on business, so she was the local expert this time. Geneva is beautiful and is the cleanest European city I have ever been in. It is definitely not a party town like Brussels. It's very quiet and reserved. Of course beauty, cleanliness and safety comes at a price, Geneva is also one of the most expensive cities in the world.

On Sunday, we took a boat tour of Lake Geneva. The lake is 45 miles long and about 9 miles wide. It has been home to quite a few celebrities over the years. Lord Byron, Charlie Chaplin and Freddie Mercury to name a few. For fans of Classic Rock, like myself, this is the body of water that Deep Purple was referring to in their hit "Smoke on the Water". The fire that caused the smoke was in Montruex, which is at the opposite end of the lake.

One of the highlights in the Geneva harbour is the Jet d'Eau or Water Jet. It's a fountain that shoots 132 gallons water per second over 450 feet in the air. It is quite spectacular.

Being sailors, we were very happy to see so many sailboats on the water. I'm not exactly sure how many of the larger boats made it to an inland lake though.

There were a few quaint cottages on the shore as well.

On our way back to Geneva, we had a spectacular view of Mont Blanc, which is the highest peak in Europe. The mountain is actually in France. The lake itself straddles the Switzerland-France border.

As always, we ate very well while in Geneva. It is a hard statement to qualify, but I may have had to greatest chocolate ice cream I have ever eaten in my life. It was certainly the creamiest ice cream in the world. I have no pictures of it because it was gone before I could get the camera out. Tomorrow I will tell you about our Charbonnade meal. It was really good.


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Goodbye Cottage

Well the last three weeks have not been fun, which is unusual when I spend time at the cottage. Normally the cottage is a place to relax and unwind, not this time. I believe Lori had an ulterior motive when she decided she wanted the kitchen updated. I think she wanted to make sure I got on the plane back to Paris and not stay here indefinitely.

Speaking of planes, I'm supposed to leave at 8:40pm, but I'm sure the approaching winter storm will see that I'm delayed. Another good reason to get back to Paris is that Spring has sprung there, unlike Ontario.

It has not been all bad news here though. I got to spend time with friends and family, watch a couple of hockey games and of course eat some really good bacon. Being someone who is never satisfied though, now I'm craving Pain au Chocolat.

Our next weekend getaway happens shortly after I get back. Lori has to be in Geneva for work on Monday so we decided to make a weekend out of it. I arrive in Paris on Friday morning and we take the train to Geneva on Saturday morning. Hopefully one day is enough to get over my jet lag.

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New Neighbourhood

Dennis is back in Ontario this week.  While he's away, I've been doing some exploring on my own. 

We're going to be moving to a new neighborhood in a few weeks, so this morning I headed off to check out the new area.   It's much more residential than where we are now, and I think I may have been the only tourist in sight! I think we're going to like it there a lot - there are gardens and walking trails all around us - and the apartment has a terrace which is almost as large as the flat.   

I wanted to do a test run of my walk to work to see how long it would take, but being easily distracted and directionally challenged, I took a meandering route to the office, and found my way to one of the things I like best about this city - the Seine. 

Dennis has posted pictures of some houseboats on the Seine and the canals before, but I think I was in high end marine real estate today in Neuilly-sur-Seine.   These houseboats had their own city mailboxes and, unlike most of the ones we see, were very private.  Lots of trees and shrubbery on the banks above them.     

 

Cottage Renos

Sorry I haven't been updating the blog but I've been busy. So busy in fact that I have extended my trip by a week. When we put the cottage on the market, Lori was always on the fence on whether or not we should update the kitchen. It's always looked dated and has been a bit of an eyesore. Once we discovered that the dishwasher was shot, the ball started rolling and now we have all new appliances, I've stripped the wallpaper, I'm painting the walls and cupboards, putting on new hardware on the drawers and doors, installing a new range hood and next week, the new countertops and tile backsplash are being installed. It's been a lot of hard work and running around, but I'm sure it will look good once it's done. Lori has a pretty good eye for these things.

Once I have the kitchen put back together, then I can focus on what I came here to do, pack and organize our stuff. Some of it is going to friends and family, some is being sold and some going into storage. The weather has improved for the most part and the majority of snow is gone which helps. Meanwhile, Lori is stuck back in Paris by herself but work is keeping her busy, as it always does.

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