What happens on tour...

Mes enfants ! What I have to do to get a good feed and a drink. So much talking, walking and biking... oh la la but it was worth it.

Cook's Tour in Caromb

There is nothing to say except, I, Hubert, was not allowed to attend. And it looks... perfect. Sob.

Bonjour mes amis

At last I can have a little break - all of that driving around France, and showing people the fine foods and wines can be a bit exhausting for a hippo. It was worth it though because they all had a very good time.

Now Gail and Maurice have abandoned me while they go off to England to look for houses to rent for the Rugby World Cup. ( I personally don't like rugby as much since the fields stopped being so gloriously muddy.) You can see they have left me well prepared, and I know they will be back for me at the end of August.

Here's a picture of my summer quarters, a garage The Active Gourmet uses to stash all their goodies when not on tour.  I am lucky because it is right by the River Thouet in Saumur and, though I am a sophisto hippo, it is pleasant to smell river smells from my camp.

I will have time in the next couple of weeks to download a few pics of our travels, so stay tuned.

Au revoir
Hubert

Bonjour MTG travellers,

Yes, I am here on the Cote Basque wearing more clothes than I would skiing, and watching the giant grey waves of the Atlantic curl into the beach.

My reason for being here, apart from doing research for The Active Gourmet Pays Basque tour at the end of September, is to test drive a product on you behalf - the socks.

I am happy to report they have survived the third day of wearing in a row, although they have yet to pass the sniff test today!

When I finally get round to washing them, I must remember to put them in their little bag and to use cold water (for once I did read some instructions). Just think how our luggage could be made lighter if all our clothes were made of merino and cashmere!

Ah, please remember to pack your water bottle in your main luggage and, when on the plane, remove a couple of those little hand towels when you are jammed in the toilet - they make the very best face clothes because they are so miserably thin that they dry quickly. European accommodation seldom provides such items. Guess why I remembered to mention this to you all......Bring very few toiletries apart from the giant soap. French chemists have the most exciting things, often in small sizes, and they are always ready to offer advice on ailments, much as we would use a doctor.

I know there was something else I was going to remind you of, but the brain is blank. No, it has flashed back - if you have a tendency towards fluid retention, ring your doctor and ask for four or five fluid tablets. They are to be used with caution, but they will help rid you of that feeling of being the first cousin of the elephant in Paris zoo.

Meanwhile, I am back to my maps and the waves. Fly well and I will see you at the Avignon TGV station.

Hubert

Hot day in Paris

Slept in too long today. Had a late start to our hop on hop off bus tour and now have to do another tomorrow. Simply too much to see and do here. Paris in the spring is amazing.... In fact wasn't there a song written about this?

I think the photos will tell you all about a beauty day out and about. Very hot  27+ degrees today and hardly a cloud in the sky. 

 

 

Last time with Diane and Geoff today as they are off to catch up with Alexis in London. Had a great last supper in a wine 'cave' tonight.

[Hubert: And to finish - one hot waiter...]

A walk around the City of Love - Paris!

Decided to explore the areas close to us as suggest by Gail. So glad we did. Strolled through the streets of the Marais district and explored the Place des Vosages (first photo below) with lovely trees, grassed areas and a meeting place for many especially gays and Jews.

The Village of St Paul (above) is in the oldest part of Paris and you can even see the wall remains of the original fortification now with a modern playground (see below) made from a synthetic all weather surface which looks like sand. There was even a three-lane 60m straight running track and a long jump pit. This is probably part of the school that is nearby.

For lunch we sampled the best falafel sandwiches in the world (reputedly) and were lucky to get a seat in the restaurant. The meals were certainly very good and we didn't need a big meal later! There were people lined up down the street to get takeaways.

The place over the street sold the same but had no customers! Also took in a photo exhibition which was superb.

Oh to be able to take photos like that. One was contrived black and white shots of a beautiful girl using great lighting set up. The other was of war torn or disaster areas which captured the moment but the lighting effects added in later in the studio.

Then on to a strange building called the Centre Pompidou named after a previous president. It is completely out of sync with the style of building in Paris and stands out like a sore thumb. The photos paint the picture if you can excuse the pun. It is a National Art Museum mostly the more modern rather than the classics. Saw a travelling Matisse exhibition which happened to be on at this time and more of his works in the permanent collection along with Picasso and Brague. Modern art doesn't do much for us though. However, well worth the visit as it does house a lot of art.

Could not complete the whole tour...too long and tiring. The sky was blue (for a change) and its was hot so made our way back to the Notre Dame again for better photos and another sampling of some superb ice cream from Berthillons close by.

Tried a few shops. The streets were full of people, bars were full after work and the shops were finally open so we were able to more than window shop.

Before getting back to the apartment we stopped to rest our weary feet after 12 hours walking and had a great Belgian beer!

Tomorrow we use the hop-on hop-off bus to get around the other main sights.