One of the fun highlights of this trip to Provence was attending the Roman Games in Nimes. You know how Civil War reenactments are popular south of the border? Well, picture that except on a much more epic scale. The fully operational Colosseum in Nimes was the backdrop for a reenactment of an actual Roman Game with participants from all across Europe. As spectators, you could even rent costumes for the day and wander around town dressed as different classes of Romans and Gauls.

It was a great event for history buffs and families. There really was just a little bit of something for everyone. I’m pretty sure there must be some YouTube videos of us wandering the streets of Nimes in full costume though…

The best-preserved Roman arena in France.

Roman legionnaires, Celts, the Imperial Court, auxiliaries, cavalrymen and war chariots were all in full costume in celebration of ancient Roman civilization.

Before the Games began, the Colosseum was open for kids to participate in Gallic or Roman training.

Part of the "Ludi" games, famous throughout the Roman Empire.

Coming up: a couple restaurant reviews. For more pictures of Provence, visit my Flickr photostream.

So…it’s been a while since my last post, hasn’t it? I’m working on a bunch of secret side projects and just trying to find that right level of balance. Also, this weather has just been too depressing. Thinking back on the glorious sunshine of the south of France really just makes me want to pack up my bags and move there. Literally. I’m not even joking. In any case, I’m going to try and get through this vacation wrap-up and then perhaps summer will finally happen here in Halifax? Maybe?

One of my favourite destinations is Avignon. More specifically the historic centre. Walled in from the outside world, it’s still a thriving area with a university and ample shopping but you’re also pretty much tripping over ancient stuff everywhere you go. The last time Cokebaby and I were in Avignon, we were celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary. You can read the recap elsewhere on the blog.

This time around we were travelling with the in-laws, including a six-year-old niece. Combine that with the purchase of a music box playing “Sur la pont d’Avignon” and you get a song that seriously NEVER ENDS. All fun until someone goes crazy. It was definitely a different trip than the first but fun in another way.

An interesting juxtaposition.

Where it all began...with the song that never ends.

Part of a larger statue.

The French call it window licking.

Next up: more historic sites and a couple of restaurant reviews.

If you’ve come here because of a web search on the movie Thor: sorry to disappoint but this is a post about a town in the south of France of the same name. And big apologies to readers who were expecting vacation recap posts last week. Work + cold = not feelin’ it. Anyone living in Halifax can attest to the horrific weather we’ve been experiencing this spring. It’s enough to make me move to the south of France. On that note…

The perfect retreat situated about a 30 minute drive from Avignon.

For one glorious week in April, we rented a gite in Provence. The place was a short drive or bus ride from Avignon. Although we had seen pictures of the interior, we weren’t quite prepared to see this gorgeous villa awaiting us after we opened the property gates. A one week rental was about $1300 which was split between two families (this portion of the trip included Cokebaby’s sister, brother-in-law, and two girls).

A pretty amazing deal considering it included: a swimming pool (which actually isn’t open until May), a large living area on the main floor, laundry room, huge modern kitchen, dining room, games room, and powder room. Upstairs included a shared shower room for three bedrooms and separate powder room and an suite bathroom for the master bedroom with shower and bathtub.

Outside we also had use of a boules court where it was discovered I am the queen of the game. The gite was surrounded by a stucco wall which made the place very private and quite relaxing. The town of Le Thor itself is also really quaint. The people were incredibly friendly and happy to take their time with our varied levels of French language skills.

The central street in Le Thor leads to a square where markets take place a few times a week.

In the city centre there’s the 12th century Lady of the Lake Church. An older gentleman, upon exiting the church, shared some of the history of the site. You can still see the stone-masons signatures on each block of stone.

As with most French towns and cities, there are several types of markets that appear on set days of the week. That, combined with the proximity of the gite to an Intermarché, made this rental ideal. One thing to note when renting a gite is that although the houses can be quite beautiful, you should expect what you’d get when renting a cottage here in Canada: the bare minimum in amenities. Things like dish detergent, toilet paper, etc. are up to you to supply and there is a surcharge for towels.

Later this week: sur la pont d’Avignon, and other historic sites.

As promised, here begins the recap of my fabulous vacation in the South of France. Before we get there though…

Cokebaby and I took a direct flight to London because when you live in Halifax you’re limited in your flight choices to Europe unless you want to backtrack to Toronto/Montreal/New York and lose an additional 2 hours there, 2 hours waiting, and 2 hours back this way. That’s without delays. No thank you.

In London, instead of sticking around for a connecting flight we decided to take the Chunnel to Paris for an overnight before meeting with Cokebaby’s sister and family in a village called Le Thor. We’d been to Paris once before. That was in the years when smoking was permitted at the airport which meant we were greeted immediately by that awful stench of stale nicotine. Apart from that, and unscooped dog poop, it was a lovely city then and a lovelier city now (less smoking in public spaces and more diligent canine overseers).

Paris, like Toronto, has something of a reputation to the neighbouring towns and countries. Even en route to the city the British man traveling next to us with his teenage daughter made rather an unkind observation about Parisians. I can’t say that I agree. We really didn’t have any trouble or experience unpleasantness. Maybe that’s partly to do with our ability to get by in the French language. By no means are we fluent but at least we gave it a try, sometimes more successfully than others. I equate it to those years I spent working in retail when American tourists expected to get change back in their currency. When in Rome…

In any case, Paris. We were there for my birthday! We spent the day walking around, taking in familiar sites, eating, drinking, and just taking it easy. That’s the great thing about revisiting a city. There’s no pressure to try to fit it all in. We even made an attempt to see the Catacombs but it was too late in the day and the line too long so we wandered off. Here are a few photographic highlights:

Reminds me of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

Most of the area around Forum des Halles was under construction.

The building housing the City of Paris's administration.

A view from the east garden.

One of many sculptures.

Another statue and series of columns in front of the Palais du Luxembourg.

Next week: Le Thor and the villa, Avignon, and some ancient hill villages.

Did you notice my absence from the web these past two weeks?

Yeah, so, I was on vacation.

At the old city wall of Avignon

Cokebaby and I spent two weeks in the south of France. It’s by far my fave vacation destination. This time, we took the Chunnel to Paris from London en route to Avignon. We then spent a week at a gite (which must be French for blissful villa) before heading into the city of Nîmes to participate in the Great Roman Games (in costume).

Because we had a car, we were able to visit many small towns and historic sites including some of the locations mentioned in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Ysabel (warning: if you read this book you’ll likely fall in love with Provence and want to travel there frequently and/or possibly move there).

As usual I’ll post trip highlights, including food reviews but this time I’ll dedicate a couple of posts to specific restaurants because they really stood out in comparison to the sandwiches and supermarket food we were preparing at the gite. In the meantime, you can check out the highlight reel from our previous trip to Provence.

Besides frites and beer in Belgium, and beer and cheese in Holland, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the culinary side of the trip. Sure, there are lots of jokes about people going to Amsterdam to eat Indonesian food and, of course, “special” brownies. But what else could we expect? Well, here’s a quick overview of some of the best spots we uncovered while traveling in both regions.

Beer—OK, this was a no brainer. There are thousands of beers brewed in Belgium and they come in all types, with a special glass for every one too! ‘t Brugs Beertje offered a phenomenal selection in Bruges including a wide range of Krieks (beer’s fruity cousin). As of this trip, Kasteel is by far my fave. So, NSLC or private local liquor stores, please call me when you get some in. Cokebaby and I also did a tour of De Halve Maan (The Half Moon) Brewery which was a very different experience from Guinness or Heineken because of how small an operation it is. The steep steps during the tour are not for the faint of heart!

Enter at your own risk!

Chocolate (Bruges)—Well, maybe this was a no-brainer too. All I can say is that, yes, it does taste better in Belgium. My favourite were the chocolate covered orange slices. This from a person who doesn’t really have much of a sweet tooth. There are chocolate shops around every corner here and each one seems to have a different take on chocolate. The only thing you can do is go from shop to shop and try them all…

Frites—We know them as French fries but that’s a misnomer because the Belgians invented and perfected them. The secret? Double frying in animal fat, then serving them up piping hot with a massive dollop of mayonnaise on top. I have to admit they were too rich for my taste but Cokebaby seemed to enjoy them.

Proeflokaal De Admiraal (Amsterdam)—One of several “tasting rooms” in the city, the place is decorated in an old nautical style along with distillery kettles and tools, and old wooden casks. This was actually our first stop to eat so we sampled some regional cuisine. Whenever we saw “snack” listed on a menu in Amsterdam it was referring to bitterballen. These are sort of like puréed meatballs made of beef, beef broth, flour, butter and seasoning. They’re deep-fried and served with mustard. Here we also tried pickled herring and smoked eel, both served on toast. The herring was only lightly pickled so it had a fresher consistency closer to sashimi than the stuff you’d find in a jar. We also enjoyed our first taste of Jenever (a.k.a. Dutch gin). I quite liked the berry infused one that I tried while Cokebaby went for an aged one that was more akin to Scotch.

A traditional Dutch treat similar to miniature pancakes

Café Cobra (Amsterdam)—Situated conveniently within a stone’s throw of the Rijksmuseum, Cokebaby and I stopped here for a light lunch. He ordered poffertjes, essentially miniature buckwheat pancakes, while I had mustard soup with salmon. The rest of the trip we were on a mission to find a poffertjes pan (which we did) and some time this fall I’m going to try my hand at making the soup based on this recipe. If you have a better one you’re willing to share, please do!

Sacre Coeur (Bruges)—On most of our trips we typically find one restaurant that we return to more than once because of the recipe for a good place to eat: delicious food, excellent service, interesting ambience, and good value. Sacre Coeur has it all. And they don’t skimp on portion sizes. Of all the meals we had it was the traditional Flemish stew and Koninginnehapje (Queen’s Delight) that I’d recommend above everything else.

At Sacre Coeur Restaurant

Tujuh Maret (Amsterdam)—We couldn’t leave the city without trying at least one Indonesian place, right? This meal was by far the most expensive of all the places we went but the food and service was great. Cokebaby ordered a rijsttafel (rice table) with a wide variety of meats and vegetables in interesting sauces. I opted for one of the smaller, but still considerably pricey, dishes that was essentially a plate of appetizers. Truly a delicious experience.

Honourable mention goes to breakfast. In Amsterdam, for me that meant having a slice of ham and fried egg piled on a piece of toast with cheese melted on top (always served with a small salad). Meanwhile Cokebaby sampled a number of sweet and savoury pannenkoeken (pancakes). In Bruges, our hotel provided an amazing spread that included pate, smoked salmon, a variety of yummy cheeses, breads and homemade jams.

On a side note, if you ever do fly with Icelandair, everything at Reykjavík Airport is crazy expensive! You’re better off eating on the plane or packing a snack. I don’t mind splurging while on vacation but not on airport food.

In any case, that wraps up the posts on Amsterdam and Bruges. You can check out some more photos from the trip on Flickr.

During our trip to Amsterdam and Bruges we came across some pretty bizarre things

A carillon on wheels

Inside you’ll see, that’s right, the makings of a bell tower. A musician plays pieces within.

One of four horsemen of the Apocalypse

Cool artwork but also kind of freaky when you realize you’re standing in the centre of a half circle of the harbingers of Conquest, War, Famine and Death.

The most photographed dog in Bruges

Our only celebrity sighting.

This is either a martini hospital or a snake rehab centre

We never went in to find out. And, the best for last:

May I serve you something inedible?

Next week: the long awaited food post will wrap up the blog posts for this fun trip.

During our stay in Belgium, Cokebaby and I went on two outings with Quasimodo Tours which we had booked before we left Canada based on some research and recommendations. It’s an operation run by a husband and wife team. Philip was our excellent guide on both two full-day tours around the countryside. On a side note, he explained that Bruges [brewje] is the French pronunciation whereas the preferred Flemish name is Brugge [brugg-ah].

Our first tour was called the Triple Treat, featuring medieval castles and historical Damme, interwoven with a chocolatier, a Belgian waffle and beer tasting. It was a very pleasant way to spend a day exploring what the country of Belgium is best known for. I’ll be certain to mention some of the highlights in my food post next week.

15000 Canadians died or were wounded in this battle

Our second trip on the following day was Flanders Field which included Passchendale, Hill 60 preserved battlefield, bunkers and craters, restored trenches, the town of Ypres and the Menin Gate.

You might be wondering why we’d think to take a tour of such a depressing part of history. It’s part of world history that bears remembering. I think we sometimes take for granted our liberties.

While the Belgian countryside is now lush with greenery, Philip painted a stark picture of wartime that included discussion about uses on all sides of chemicals and the living conditions of the soldiers. The trip also showed very clearly the very small amount of territory they were fighting for.

A restored trench

Although this part of history seems far removed for many of us, many Belgians are still dealing with physical mementoes such as undetonated bombs still beneath the surface of the fields. There have been enough of them collected to date, including chemical ones, to keep a special bomb squad safely disposing of them for the next 65 years.

In fact, it’s called the iron harvest. Many farmers are still seeing remnants of the war and apparently there are still enough bullets and ammunition to harvest for the next 100 years. It was certainly a sobering part of the trip but absolutely worth it. Philip was able to balance fact with passion for the subject matter.

The last stop on the trip was to a field hospital of literary historical significance. During the Second Battle of Ypres a Canadian artillery officer was killed on 2 May, 1915 by an exploding shell. He was a friend of the Canadian military doctor Major John McCrae who shortly afterward wrote In Flanders Fields. Philip ended the day by reading the poem and it was a fitting and emotional end to the day.

Written on May 3, 1915

Wrapping up this week: A photographic journey of unusual sightings.

Next week: the final post of the trip, talking about foods (and drinks) of the region.

Waiting for our train to Bruges

What can I say about this lovely city in the Flemish region of Belgium? It’s an absolutely breathtaking Medieval town that seems almost untouched by time. As we entered the old city for the first time and walked down cobblestone streets, I got a sense that every building must have had a story to tell.

Absolutely everything is scenic from the squares around just about every corner to the canals filled with white swans. On one of our tours (to be recapped next), Cokebaby and I actually also saw one of two black swans that were imported from Australia.

Even our hotel, Jan Brito, was the former residence of a baroness. We stayed in a standard “Knight” room but they offer grander suites where you can feel like a Baroness, Marquis or Duchess. The shared enclosed courtyard with a marble statue in a functioning fountain was a nice touch. If we hadn’t been so exhausted by the end of each day (and itchy from bed bug bites) we probably would have made better use of that space. As it was, we enjoyed a few photo ops there.

Along the canal

In town there are plenty of cafés and restaurants, many of which are overpriced for full sit-down meals, particularly around the main square. We were lucky enough to wander off the beaten track and find a great spot attached to a hostel (more on that in the food post next week). Throughout the town for the most part though, beer was priced at a bargain compared to anywhere else we’ve travelled. That probably has something to do with the fact that Belgium produces something close to over 8,000 different beers.

Then, of course, there were the windmills. Although modern ones dot the skyline in the new part of town, the old ones that line the canals are quite picturesque and well worth the extra footsteps to get there.

In retrospect, it looks like I'm wearing a sexy monk outfit

One of the more tranquil walks was within the confines of the Beguinage monastery where signs instructed visitors to be silent. And it’s not like the streets of Bruges are overly crowded, at least not while we were visiting, but there was something about that enforced quiet that made the walk all the more memorable. This was especially true when the bells in the church began to ring and we watched as a Benedictine nun ran across the courtyard to join her sisters for service.

One eyesore that has to be mentioned is the Concertgebouw (modern concert hall). Although it was short-listed in an international architectural competition, it’s frankly quite hideous and shows a disregard for the beauty and historic integrity of the old town.

Coming up this week: Quasimodo Tours shows the best of castles, chocolate and beer one day followed by a sobering trip through Flanders Fields. Then I’ll highlight some of the bizarre things photographed in both Amsterdam and Bruges.

Next week: The long-awaited food post. Believe me, I’ve got some yummy things to talk about.

Samples were cheap and our appetites ample

For our trip to Amsterdam & Bruges, Cokebaby and I decided to purchase a pre-paid Eurail pass for the sake of convenience. We chose a flexible pass that allowed us to travel as much as we wanted during the course of five days during our time abroad. One of the day trips we took was to a quaint little medieval town called Alkmaar for the last traditional Dutch cheese market of the season.

The traditional market is one of four left in the country. In a nation with cities named Edam and Gouda you have to consider cheese to be taken pretty seriously. The little town in fact even has a cheese museum in front of which a weekly demonstration takes place.

(Not everyone dresses like this in Holland)

The market was filled with tourists (including us) looking for photo ops of the old-fashioned cheese porters and women in traditional clothes. Here traders and carriers weighed the cheeses that are made in the local area. It’s not actually possible to buy cheese at the market itself, which is really only a demonstration of how the merchants’ market operated historically. That said, it all takes place in front of a medieval weighing house which is surrounded by a number of food and other stalls.

The Kaasmuseum from the canal

Once everything wraps up, the barriers are taken down and the cobblestone area is covered with patio tables from the surrounding restaurants (which are plentiful). There are also a good deal of boutiques and and other shops, ideal for window browsing.

Alkmaar made for the perfect day trip, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city of Amsterdam. The old part of town where we spent most of our time also offers scenic views of canals. We made our own picnic lunch by one overlooking the Kaasmuseum by which we had purchased a sample tray of cheeses along with bread from a local bakery. Then we chased it down with some yummy beer on a patio. The best part is that Alkmaar is a mere 40 minutes by train from Amsterdam.

Later this week: We head to Belgium and another medieval town, known as Bruges but really called Brugge.