Vic's Big Walk is Done

OVER THE PAST several months I have put up an occasional post about our friend Vic who was planning an epic walk from the South of France (his current home) to Blackpool, England. Why? He wanted to walk the 1900 km in 70 days and plan it so that he arrived at the home where is was born on his 70th birthday.

Well...he arrived in Blackpool yesterday!

That's 1900 km in 70 days, for those of you sitting on your butts at home like me.

Well done Vic and Gay!

No Tour This Year

THIS IS OUR third full summer in Europe and it will be the first where we don't attend any of the Tour de France. One of the most enjoyable parts of previous summers has been going to Tour stages in various parts of the country. Whether it was the prologue in Monaco or a mountain stage in the Pyrenees, we've loved the pageantry the comes with the Tour de France.

But this summer we are in Italy so we have no choice but to simply watch on TV. That hasn't dampened Patrick's spirits, however. The other day he spent the better part of 2 hours creating and designing cycling jerseys for as many sponsors as he could think of -- including companies from France, Italy, the US, and Spain. He asked me which was my favorite, which is yours (based purely on visuals, since I obviously didn't get a high enough quality photo to read the team names)?

Who Can Help Me Explain These...?

IN THE PAST few days I have seen a lot of women wearing shoes that look like the ones in this photo -- sort of sandal-boot hybrid. I understand the relationship between Italians and fashion, but I'm trying to understand this one. If it's nearly 100 degree outside why do you want six inches of leather or suede fastened to your lower calf?

I know I'm setting myself up to be ridiculed for now seeing how obviously fashionable this look is -- but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

Umbria Jazz Festival: Sights & Sounds

TONIGHT WE MADE our second trip to Perugia, partly because we wanted to take advantage of the last weekend of the Umbria Jazz Festival. It was such a great atmosphere, with bands playing every 50 meters or so and two large stages with bigger acts playing to huge crowds. A few photos of some of the groups (with perhaps a video to follow tomorrow):

These guys were sort of in the 'Swingers' genre -- down to the plaid shirts.

Not sure how to describe this duo: lots of jazzy versions of Simon & Garfunkel and James Taylor. Odd, but kinda good.

A little sidewalk art.
A great, great band from New Orleans. They paraded the streets for 45 minutes twice a day for 10 days. Crowds loved them.
My favorite street group -- just three guys with guitars playing jazz standards. They were so great!

Tonight's main attraction was Herbie Hancock and Tony Bennett. Tickets were sold out -- plus I'm not sure the kids would have lasted until the wee hours of the morning.

Central Italy - Week One

JUST A FEW photos from the first week in Italy:

Lake Trasimeno and the grand fortress in Castiglione del Lago

P & J in Castiglione del Lago

Walking through Castiglione

Our house in Macchie, Italy

Passagnano, Italy

Scorpions and a Trash Can Full of Feathers

LET'S BE QUICK about this: until today, I'd never seen either. I'll start with the scorpion.

There is a large free-standing lamp in the corner of the main room in the house we are in this summer. When Kerri decided she wanted to move it a couple feet to the left (?) she obviously disturbed the scorpion that was living underneath the lamp stand. As it scurried across the room and up onto the stone wall, Kerri found the camera and called in the kids:

Hard to tell the size from the photo, but probably about 5-6cm.

After a few minutes on the internet deciding how dangerous it was, we (and by 'we' I mean everyone else in the family) decided that I should capture the scorpion and release it outside. With a plastic cup and a spatula (are those the absolute greatest things in the kitchen, or what?) I was able to trap the little guy and Henry and I took him to field across the street. Turns out this European variety of scorpion is quite common in this part of Italy and is usually not terribly dangerous, even if it stings you. Kerri vaguely remembers seeing scorpions at her grandparents house in North Carolina when she was quite young, but for me and the kids, this was a first.

[Quick sidenote. Is it wrong that Kerri and I have now used this scorpion as an illustration for the children as to why it is important not to leave clothes on the floor? From my point of view, why let this unbelievable opportunity go to waste. Sure, the kids are petrified any time they see a piece of their clothing on the floor -- but isn't that kind of the point? I believe someone quite famous once said: the ends justify the means! If the clothes are off the floor, I don't consider it exploiting the situation. Your thoughts?].

Now to the feathers in the bin. We share an outdoor trashcan with our neighbors -- a large Italian farming family. This morning when I took out our trash I opened the lid of the shared bin and dropped our bag to the bottom. Much to my surprise, this resulted in a face-full of what appeared to be chicken feathers. As I tried to pick up the feathers and put them back into the can it suddenly occurred to me that these feathers were probably from one of the many chickens our neighbors have on their farm -- and that the chicken was probably served for dinner the night before. Of course, it could be that it was from the local butcher (I believe you can buy chickens, pheasants, etc. with the feathers still attached) but the more I thought about it, the more I was going with my first inclination. The feathers were still 'fresh', if that makes any sense: light, fluffy, no odor at all.

I've read many Italian cookbooks and I know that killing the animal that you are about it eat is not only quite common -- especially in the countryside -- but is also an important part of the food experience as it is seen as an important aspect of the respect Italians have for the food they eat. Our area of Italy is very agricultural and every farmhouse has a large garden and several kinds of animals. I'm sure that 'living off the land' is much more than a saying in these parts.

But it was still a bit startling. I don't normally see feathers in my trashcans.

Liking the Book. Hated the Movie.

YOU MAY REMEMBER a book published nearly 15 years ago called Under the Tuscan Sun that was hitting bestseller's lists all over the country. I'm a bit embarrassed to say that Kerri and I are reading it together right now. [Note: I'm embarrassed for several reasons. 1) Kerri is in essence reading it to me -- like I'm a child; 2) I generally don't care for books by Americans who go live overseas then tell everyone how great and perfect it is (blogs that do this in a somewhat lighthearted manner are...ahem.... fine with me); 3) I saw the film adapted from the book on a cross-country flight once and it was unwatchable -- a total pretentious chick flick if you ask this untrained critic.]

But...

Me Likey The Book!

More on that later...but today we visited the village of Cortona, which is where the author purchased and refurbished an old villa -- then published the entire experience. On the right you can see a total stock photo of the village I found on the interet. This photo actually doesn't do it justice at all because the real soul of the village comes when you walk through the narrow streets and visit the shops.

Cortona is about 25km from where we are staying and it is a mountain village that overlooks some of the most gorgeous countryside you could imagine. While it is well documented that the village dates to the Etruscans, the origins of the village are lost in the fog of various myths and legends. Is Cartona 2500 years old? Older? Can it be believed that inhabitants were in the area as soon as 200 years after the great flood? In any case, 'modern' Cortona really flourished and it became a major center in the Lake Trasimeno region. We'll visit several more times while we are here (the kids thought that a weekly Sunday lunch there would be nice), so I'm sure there will be more to share. It seems clear after one visit that several more will be needed in order to really get to know the place.

Oh, and I may have to give that movie a second look.

Sitting on Top of 20,000 Bottles of Wine

BECAUSE IT IS Sunday and Sundays tend to be a bit slow in Europe, we thought we'd just hang around the house in the morning and plan to eat out for lunch. After a few minutes on the internet we settled on Chiusi, the Etruscan village about 12 km from here and decided on a restaurant in the old village called Resorante Zaira. It turned out Zaira was both typical and atypical in terms the authenticity of the food: typical in the sense that the food was fresh and heavy on olive oil and herbs (Kerri's mixed legumes were incredible); atypical in that you couldn't order what our kids consider 'normal' pasta dishes like lasagne, fettuccine, or spagehtti-Os. But Patrick finally decided on an agnolotti with cheese and walnut sauce while Julia and Henry had the four-cheese and truffle ravioli -- minus the truffles (yeah, I know!). Kerri went with legumes and a salad and I chose a beef dish served with olive oil and peppercorns (which, by the way, I thought were capers and found out they weren't when I put about 8 of them in my mouth at the same time.)

But the best part of the lunch: the quick tour of the 'downstairs' afterwords. When we were finished the waitress asked if we wanted to see the caves (plural!) where they stored over 20,000 bottles of regional wine -- including Brunelo, Chianti, and Carmignano. (I think the waiter was even trying to show off a bit by telling us they had over 5,000 bottles of Brunelo di Montalcino). We eagerly said yes to the invitation and descended a set of stone stairs and entered a labaryth-like set of about 6 or 7 deep caves, all of which where stacked with bottles of wine, each one with a distinct coating of dust. Like a good tourist, I took photos:





Of course, with all that wine in the basement, we ordered two bottles...of cold water.

Today's Goal: Find a Good Market

LAST NIGHT KERRI gave me some very clear instructions: find where all the local markets are and on what day they take place. My research found markets in Assisi on Mondays, Castiglione on Wednesdays, Magione or Montepulciano on Thursday, San Feliciano on Fridays, and Passignano- sur-Trasimeno on Saturdays. Perugia, of course, has several good markets every week, as does Siena.

But after our trip to the Passignano market today, we realized that what we are really looking for are Farmers' Markets -- the kind with stand after stand of fresh produce and local products. The Passignano market today was more along the lines of a flea market where lots of cheap clothes and other items are being sold out of the side of trucks. These are fun in their own way, but nothing beats getting a great deal on fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and bread.

So after a fun day exploring and driving completely around Lake Trasimeno, I now have a new set of instructions, and I'm about to get started on those right now.

First Ride of the Summer

RETURNED FROM MY first bike ride of the 'summer' about 2 hours ago. First bit of cycling in Italy as well. The country is beautiful here and roads are, in general, in good shape. The exception, however, is the road we live on, which is unpaved -- meaning that for the first 400 meters or so of any ride I have to pretend I'm doing Paris-Roubaix (come on, who gets that reference?)

I spent about 1.5 hours out on the roads just soaking in the scenery. I don't think (actually, I know) that I have never seen so many olive trees in one area. Every hillside is covered with hundreds and hundreds of trees. Absolutely incredible.

About 1 hour into the ride I stopped for a water break in the hillside village of Paciano. From this photo taken just above the village you can see Lake Trasimeno and the little peninsula fortress of Castigliano del Lago in the distance. The reason I've included this photo is because the house we are staying in this summer is almost right smack in the middle of the picture -- about halfway between Paciano and the Lake. You can't actually see it -- but it's somewhere down there.

Late Update: after looking at this picture a little more closely I need adjust my description of the location of our house. If you go the middle of the photo, then go up about and inch and to the right about an inch -- that's about where we are. I think.

A Beautiful Sound

EACH MORNING AT about 7:00 I hear a distinct clipping sound outside the window. It is our neighbor trimming the vines of his small vineyard (I took a picture of it yesterday evening). In the few days we have been here we have noticed that many of the family farms in the area include a few rows of grapes. In our neighbor's case he has 5 rows of vines -- each row about 40 meters long. When I muster enough courage I'll go out and ask him what kind they are and what he plans to do with them after they are harvested. I wonder if he just sells them to a local producer or if he will actually get his own wine from his own grapes.

I hope the clipping continues.

Italy Day One - Harvest Day

I'M GOING TO take these posts slowly and not try to describe everything all at once.

We have arrived in Italy and are settling into the house we have rented for the summer. After a few anxious moments (couldn't find the English news channels!!) it became clear that we were going to really like our place. It is an old renovated farmhouse surrounded by wheat fields and green, rolling hills. From the front of the house we look up to the mountaintop village of Panicale (right). The inside of the house is very modern, but with a really Italian-country feel. For example, there is no 'dining room' because the large square table for 8 people is located right in the middle of the kitchen. But the kitchen is big enough that the table doesn't come close to getting in the way.

Yesterday we explored a little bit of Castiglione del Lago, a popular medieval village on Lake Trasimeno which is about 10 minutes from the house. We ran around The main fortress in town was built by Emperor Frederick II in the 11th century and designed by a monk from the nearby town of Cortona.
Last night after dinner the kids and I went outside to watch the wheat harvest. A massive combine rolled right past our house and cut wheat right down to the stalk (do you say stalk?). Who knew that we would arrive on Harvest Day!! Reminded me of my youth, growing up in southeastern Washington State.

So far the interet access has been a bit spotty, but with some luck it will hold up.

My New Very Favorite Hotel in the World

THIS EVENING I received a very nice email from Dominique -- the owner of the
Hotel les Arcades in Geneva. She was responding to an email I had sent thanking her and her hotel staff for their hospitality during my frequent trips to Geneva over the past several months.

When my classes in Geneva began last December, I searched the internet for a reasonable hotel in a centrally located area of Geneva. I settled on the Hotel les Arcades, purely by chance. Because I liked it so much (small, boutique-style, family owned) I inquired to Dominique about getting a special discounted rate if I promised to stay 25 to 30 nights over an 8 month period. She graciously offered a very good rate (especially by Geneva standards) which included room, internet, breakfast, bus card, etc. The fact that the hotel is right across the street from the train station on the Place Cornivan puts it in a perfect location. The only caveat was that from time to time I might be 'relegated' to one of the two rooms that had a bathroom that was across the hall rather than right in the room. Well, let me tell you that the bathroom issue was certainly not a problem for me. I don't mind crossing the hall when I have to pee in the middle of the night -- heck, I do it at home all the time.

In the end I stayed 28 nights at the Hotel les Arcades and every one of them was terrific. I recommend the place if you're ever in Geneva. It's right above the H&M store and just around the corner from Starbucks. Perfect, no?

Last Day

TODAY IS THE official last day of school around France. For Patrick and Julia it means they are now finished with primary school and will begin collége next year. For Henry, it means he has completed his first year of school -- and he's pretty excited about that. His school celebrated this week with several parties and picnics.

I Owe France an Apology

AT LEAST I think I do.

Last summer I received two speeding tickets in Strasburg while we were living there for the summer. Because the notices were sent to our permanent address in the South of France, we didn't get the notices until we returned to our home in mid-September -- when they were already way overdue. Without going into the details, we went back and forth with this -- trying to explain the situation in writing -- until I finally paid two 320 Euro tickets. Yes, TWO!

The response we kept getting was that we had to pay the tickets before our case would be heard. Yeah right, we thought. We'll pay the 600+ Euro fine and then the wonderful French government will choose to decline our appeal. We were not confident that we would ever see any of that money again. Our argument was this: we didn't get the tickets until they were already overdue because of our current living situation, blah blah blah.

Well, this morning I was looking at our bank statements online when I noticed an odd deposit for 475 Euros. A few quick questions to some friends about the 'tagline' on the deposits led to the one conclusion I wasn't expecting: our appeal has been approved and we have received a refund.

I certainly didn't expect that -- which means I owe France an apology. I'm sorry!

Summer is Coming

IN FRANCE SUMMER doesn't begin until July. School finally finishes around the 2nd or 3rd of the month, and then the vacations begin. As we have done for the past three summers, we are leaving the Cote d'Azur. Because we have a unique rental agreement which requires us to be out of our house each summer, and because I am a teacher and therefore don't work in July and August, we spend the summer months elsewhere.

Last summer we were in Strasbourg and the summer before that we rented a house near the Pyrenées in a village called Puivert. This summer we are taking a slightly different route and spending two months in the central part of Italy. Each year we go through the same routine: getting out of our house, renting a small apartment for a couple weeks, gathering our things, loading the car, and heading to our new 'home.' The task of preparing for our move gets old quickly -- be we always know that a nice summer is in store. We are certainly hoping for the same this year. We sure are looking forward to getting there -- hopefully by the end of next week.

Kerri and I joke that we'll probably pick up Italian in 3 or 4 weeks -- as compared to the 3-4 years it seems to be taking for French. With no pressure and no friends who speak English, we'll probably soak it all up. Actually, as long as we get to go to some great summer markets and cook some spectacular means, we'll be happy.

Some Good Food

THE BAD THING about going to Paris to do the Bac exams is that it's exhausting. Hours and hours of marking the same two or three questions followed by three full days of giving oral exams in which you hear the same thing over and over -- but with varying degrees of competence. It's a fun experience in many ways, but the repetition can get to you.

But the good thing...food. Our team was taken out a couple of times and a few of us hit some nice places the other nights. As I have said before: I like Paris on per diem...

I already put up this photo at Le Polidor...great!!

I thought about trying to get in here...but it became clear that wasn't going to happen.

A very nice background in St. Germain-en-Laye. One of the many homes of the Capet's

A very nice dessert tray at Zagato in St. Germain

Where Were You?

WHERE WERE YOU when Landon Donovan scored the oh-so-late goal against Algeria yesterday. I was alone in a hotel room in St. Germain-en-Laye silently screaming and jumping up and down so as not to disturb others in the hotel. But here are some other great, great reactions. I just watched these and at the moment the crowd goes crazy, I put my hands in the air and pumped my arms (I'm still alone in a hotel room in St. Germain-en-Laye). I could watch these kinds of reactions for hours.

As I have written before, American's don't get many chances to fully support a national team on the world stage because our sports don't have the global reach that soccer does. So this has been fun so far. Here's my favorite -- watch how the guy in the lower right seems to understand a goal was scored about 1 second before everyone else:

Polidor and Lots of Music

ABOUT 18 OF us who examine the national OIB had a wonderful dinner this evening at Restaurant Polidor, a very well known restaurant in the Latin Quarter that has been running since 1845. Without going into detail, there were several menu options and I went with salade d'épinards chèvre, Boeuf Bourgogne, tarte tatin, The group of 18 ordered about 10 bottles of 2003 Bourgueil. The restaurant is famous for two things -- other than their food and wine list: their rude waiters, and the fact that they don't take credit cards. The sign posted outside the windows makes it very clear: Depuis 1845, nous n'acceptons pas les cartes de crédit
I didn't try les escargots because I'm still a bit too American to order snails in their shells. But for fun I took a photo of the platter that the person across the table from me ordered. And to be fair, it smelled terrific.

We had a wonderful time catching up and eating great food with each other. Most of us only see one another once or twice per years since we all teach at lycées all over France. You can see Rob and Barbara talking in this photo -- two of my colleagues from Valbonne.

Normally, I'd be going to bed right now. But we got back quite late (3 1/2 hour dinner) and tonight is the Fête de la Musique a street music festival held all across France on the 21st of June, the longest night of the year. Right now, outside my window, music is blaring and people are singing and dancing along. It's 12:15.

Me No Write Long Time

THE BLOG IS BACK! Well, it will be shortly. It has been sparse couple of months but I have a good excuse. Really.

First, let me say that I am sitting at the Hotel du Cynge in Paris on Father's Day. I'm here, as I usually am this time of year, grading the Baccalaureate Exam and getting prepared for 3 full days of oral exams at the Lycée International in St. Germain-en-Laye. After a full day of marking exams today I stopped by the FIFA Fan Fest to watch the first half of the Italy-New Zealand match. Here's the view from my seat:
Now for the excuses. I'll just number them to make it easy (in no particular order).

1. As many of you know, I started a doctorate program last December which requires me to travel to Geneva every week. While the courses have been terrific (!!!), the travel and the amount of work has been, well, heavy. Lots of research papers and even a few exams just for fun. But I'm not done with the travel part of the program after 25 trips to Geneva since December 5. As you can imagine, I'm very happy to have this part of the program finished -- as much as I love Geneva!
2. As many of you also know, we have to be out of our house each summer because the owner uses it/rents it during mid-June through early September. That means we have to clean up and pack up the house each summer (and by 'we' I mean 5% me and 95% Kerri). The good news is that we have a place for this summer and it is in central Italy! We're looking forward to it.
3. Our car completely died about 6 weeks ago (you can read about that if you scroll down). That has meant hours and hours of searching for a new one (again, 5% me and 95% Kerri). But we have both wasted numerous hours traveling around the region looking at cars in various conditions. We finally settled on one -- partly by luck -- and are excited to get it in a few days.
4. It's the busy season at my school: preparing students for exams; giving bac blanc orals, grading the real bac, preparing for Paris, etc.

There are other things I could use as an excuse, but I'll leave it there. It's mostly the school and travel.

But once the summer arrives (remember, school doesn't end until July in these parts) I hope to be a little more regular -- not just because I enjoy sharing our experience with friends and family, but because this blog is a way to document this European Experiment that our family is in the midst of.

And yes, I just ended that sentence with an awkward preposition, but I'm in a rush...a colleague and I are headed out for dinner at Bistro Romain here in Paris.

Au revoir for now.