Around the World

After a great time in Oakville including some gardening, winery visits, a trip to Edwards' Gardens for a rhododendron show and a gourmet dinner with the International Wine and Food Society we headed for France and hopefully benefited from all the hard work there. I won't repeat what I've already covered on previous sessions but we managed two interesting day-trips by train. The first to Tende wound back and forth through mountains between Italy and France. The scenery was delightful and we visited the Musee des Merveilles in Tende which has petroglyphs from the area. The second trip was to Digne along the valley of the Var river. It was spectacular but it was a long (too long) day. We would have enjoyed it more if we had stayed over-night before heading back. Overall we had a marvellous time and when I came home Heather visited her son Tait, daughter-in-law Sego and granddaughter Leopoldine in Salzburg before joining me here in Vancouver for a couple of weeks before returning to Oakville.

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Classmates, Institut de Francais April, 2012

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Tende, France, 2012

Promenade des Anglais, Nice, 2012

Nice, France, 2012

Institut de Francais, April 2012

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En route to Digne Les Bains 2012

Edward's Gardens, Toronto, 2012

Cap Ferrat 2012

This vacation was really just so Heather and I could be together. And it was a lovely mid-winter break. Heather flew from Toronto and I went from
Vancouver. One of the highlights was para-sailing from a boat. You actually, after being harnessed up, are lifted by the parachute from a little platform at the stern of the boat and when you are finished are winched back to the same platform. It was beautiful and thrilling at the same time. We also swam,read, walked the beach and visited the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo which is full of galleries and is really a delightful place. All in all it was a great trip. Next adventure is a return to Villefranche for another month of French studies.

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Cabo San Lucas, February 2012

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Having had Heather with me in Vancouver after spending her year in Europe it was time for me to visit her in Oakville, Ontario. But soon after arriving we went to New York City for four days and stayed with her daughter Briana in Tribeca. What a great trip....saw the Broadway musical "ON A CLEAR DAY", visited The Museum of Modern Art, walked all over including the site of The World Trade Centre, saw all the window decorations, Central Park and much more. Also we experienced lots of different restaurants.

I was very comfortable in Heather's home which is a couple of blocks from Lake Ontario in the old and lovely part of Oakville. Oh yes she has a dog, a great dane named "Ocean". I'll let the pictures tell this story except to say I bacame a proficient dog walker with all that entails. Then we had to get ready for Christmas by driving out into the countyside to cut our own tree at a tree farm.(One of us at each end of the two-person saw). We enjoyed a picnic in the barn before returning home and decorating the tree. I joined the YMCA and excercised and swam regularly, we walked along the lakefront and in the woods and had a wonderful time.

My son Doug and his wife Linda had us for dinner and we entertained my old friend Richard Bodt and his wife, Lenora. Also I had dinner with John Stewart and Doug Middleton both of whom I worked with many long years ago. Then came Chrismas Eve, an especially emotional event for me since it was the first Christmas I had spent with my son in over 40 years. We went to his and Linda's home for dinner and all of his six children(Tanya, Shannon,Chris,Geoff,Cameron and Carolyn), two with their husbands(Powin and Kyle), and four grandchildren (Justin, Ethan,Spencer and Riley)were there. So that made four generations. My heart swelled with pride!

The next day Heather prepared dinner. Her daughters(Briana and Amelie) and Briana's husband Rim were there so it was a very special Christmas. We skyped Heather's son Tait in Austria and had fun talking to him, his wife Sego and their daughter Leo. Well Leo can't really talk yet but she certainly tried.

During my month in Ontario we visited many of Heather's friends and entertained and were entertained by a lot of them including a house party on New Year's Eve, Also we went to St Catharines, my home town, had dinner with my sister-in-law Bev and went to see my Mom and Dad's lighthouse in Port Weller with nephew Bruce and his sons, Robbie and Jim. This was another trip down nostalgia lane for me showing Heather where I grew up. Also we went to Welland for lunch with my sister-in-law Fran.

Then I came home and will meet Heather in Mexico next month.

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Heather in NYC December 2011

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Man and dog Christmas, 2011

Dog and man, December, 2011

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Visiting Bruce and family.

Visiting Fran,

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First stop on this adventure was Toronto where I visited my son, Doug and his family. We went to grandson Cameron's first football game of the season, cycled to the waterfront, walked all over and had a family dinner with grandkids Tanya and her husband Powin, Shannon, Cameron and Caroline as well as great grandkids Justin, Ethan, Spencer and Riley. Also there were Justin and Cameron's girlfriends. All this was held under the calm and capable direction of daughter-in-law Linda. I had a session with Doug's personal trainer to up-date my weight training routine which hadn't been changed in 17 years. Now I should be set at least until I am 100.

Heather and I met in Paris and took the train to Strasbourg, a wonderful city, which, along with Brussels, is headquarters of the European Parliament. It is in the Alsace region and well worth a visit. We also went to Colmar, home of Albert Schweitzer, to tour the vineyards during the harvest and stole a few grapes and drank some wine too. Once again we rented bikes in Strasbourg and found it a great place to cycle.

Then it was another train trip, this time to Salzburg. I can't imagine any better way to get around in Europe than by train and it's cheap as well. We went to Salzburg, home of Mozart,to visit Heather's son Tait and his wife Sego and Heather's first grandchild, Leopoldine. A good time was had by all. After four days we went to Munich for Oktoberfest. Don't ask me why it is held in September. This event has been held in the same location for 200 years. It's all dirndle skirts, liederhosen, oom-pah-pah music, beer and bratwurst. What Fun!

Then it was off to Villefranche for four weeks at the Institut de Francais. This was my fifth time at this intensive language school so I won't repeat what I've said previously except to say it was as good as ever. Our apartment was very near the school and overlooked the natural harbour and beyond that the Mediterranean. We went to Cannes and rented lounges and an umbrella on the beach and we also swam a few times after school in Villefranche. What a life! One weekend we went to Genoa, Italy and the beautiful fishing village of Camogli. Also we went to Saint Paul de Vence where Heather and I connected last year.Throughout my time in Europe we visited many museums and art galleries, attended concerts and plays and a few movies too.

Heather came to Vancouver with me for three weeks before returning to Oakville. It's been an interesting time for us being in my apartment and we are learning lots about each other. We drove to Quesnel via Whistler where we stayed overnight and then through the mountains to the Cariboo region of British Columbia. So now Heather has met my daughter Melinda,who lives there, her husband Wayne and my granddaughter Andrea and her daughters Makenzie and Erika. Our visit went very well and the drive was spectacular. It was terrific to be able to get together with Heather's sisters, Jean, who lives in Vancouver, and Janet who lives in Sooke but was in Vancouver for a conference. Also we had my grandsons Michael and Chip over for dinner. Keep tuned, I am going to Oakville December 5th for a month. Heather will then meet the rest of my family.

Strasbourg, 2011

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Tait & Doug, Salzburg, 2011

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Munich, 2011

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Melinda and Wayne

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Granville Island, 2011

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I've talked about the Cariboo district of British Columbia before so will try not to be repetitious. But after a particularly beautiful flight over the mountains and raging rivers the plane came down in what looked like a spectacular golf course. Except for one thing, they had just cut acres and acres of hay which was in thousands (at least that's my estimate) of bales as far as the eye could see. In this part of the country all the livestock(horses and cattle) have to be fed all winter when there is no grazing so hay is a precious commodity and it's planted right up to the edge of the runway.

Well, we visited, ate, drank and laughed. Everyone was well and we had a really nice visit. Melinda had arranged for swimming lessons for the little girls, Makenzie is five and Erika is three. So she and I took them to the recreation centre three days in a row and we all played in the pool before and after the lessons. The girls did very well, aren't afraid to dunk their heads and are very close to being able to float on their own. Melinda and I walked every day and visited the local saloons although we did have one lunch with Andrea in an Italian restaurant during her lunch hour.

I leave for my next trip to France September 12th but I'll spare you any details until I return from what, I'm sure, will be a very interesting adventure to say the least.

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Melinda and grandkids, 2011

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Melinda and Wayne's, 2011