Foodstuffs

Portugal has found us experiencing some seriously good, and unusual, eats.

During our stay at Auberge da Bojardim, we accepted our host's recommendation to eat at one of her favourite restaurants in the nearby village of Serta.

We were warmly greeted by our waiter and immediately offered bread as well as various appetizers (for which you are charged if you accept).  The appetizers included mixed sausages, eggs scrambled with flour, a cod medley, and mussels (sans shell).

With the aid of Google on the restaurant's computer terminal, our waiter gamely proceeded to interpret the menu into English for us. After determining which dishes aptly represented the region, I bravely chose Maranho (stuffed pig's stomach) and bucho recheado(cod, pork, and rice encased in intestine).

Now, I know what you're thinking (and perhaps you're right): I really should have gone for the stuffed goat's snout - but, sometimes you just aren't in the mood for haute cuisine.

Kristine went out on a culinary limb and ordered...the salmon. Ooookay then.

When dinner came, it came large. Our meals arrived on heavily laden platters from which our waiter filled our plates, leaving sufficient food for us to immediately realize that we should have just shared one entree.

Kristine's salmon steak appeared to have possibly originated from a species of giant salmon not familiar to North Americans. It filled her dinner plate, competing for space with mounds of frites and wilted Swiss chard (or it may have been cabbage - it was good whatever it was).

My dinner was definitely unique. The pig stomach was stuffed with chicken, similar to southern pulled pork. It was quite tasty and tender, having cooked itself to a mouth-melting consistency in the pig stomach. The stuffed intestine (cod and pork), was drier, but very flavourful and my favourite of the two.

Desert was shared and undertaken with great care, given our extremely full stomachs. Kristine preferred the tigelada beira, a custard pudding baked in an earthenware casserole dish, whereas I enjoyed Portuguese creme caramel.

This was a marvelous meal that, with wine, came in for under 30 euros. Good value and superb quality.

We went back two nights later...!

Web album of Alberque de Bonjardim

I've already written about our wonderful stay at a winery in a small rural Portugal town called Cernache de Bonjardim.  Here is a link to some additional pictures.  It was so picturesque we couldn't help but take lots of pictures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kristine.d.morris/CernacheDeBonjardim#

Our main reason for staying in this area was to visit Tomar and the castle of the Knights Templar.  I will post pictures and descriptions of that site as well as an ancient Roman city south of Coimbra soon.

Good night,
Kristine

Mid-Portugal

September 20th - We left relatively early this morning from Puebla de Sanabria in Spain and basically drove due south into Portugal.  We were actually hoping for a border crossing as apparently there is some paper work we need to complete for our car lease, but since the European Union there are no formal border crossings with customs.  We did drive through what was once the gated customs area.  It looked very derelict - and a very visible reminder of a much more open Europe. 

We drove through the north of Portugal on a new superhighway, so new that it was not on our GPS, nor on our Michelin map and none of the service areas along the highway were open (not yet finished being built).  This area is famous for it's port. The rolling hills with tiered vineyards, their waving lines creating fantastic patterns on the landscape was quite beautiful.    It wasn't until we left this highway that we became very thankful of its existence.   As we neared our destination, Madge (our GPS) had us going along a very steep , curvy road the width of one car.  There were no guard rails and I tried hard not to notice the deep gulley a few metres away!

We are staying at the Albergue do Bonjardim.  Our host is Wil Lenders.  She is Dutch and best yet, she speaks English! We were welcomed with a shot of their grape liquor (essentially grape juice spiked with home brewed distilled alcohol) which was very yummy (but unfortunately not for sale!)  The 18th century manor house we are staying in has been lovingly restored.  And while the grounds are new they were designed and built to look old.  They've done a fantastic job of making a relaxing oasis in which to taste their wine.  At breakfast we had homemade yogurt with homemade strawberry jam and granola.  It was sooooooooooooo good!

This is the dramatic front entrance to the house.  You enter into a foyer with a wide stone stairway up to the second floor.

Our bedroom is very romantic with pink walls, matching floor length drapery and two windows with full length french doors which open up onto wrought iron balconies.  The dominating feature in our large bathroom is the tile work.  Big green and brown tiles which sounds kinda scary, but are quite beautiful.

Kristine with Wil (the owner) and Dan (the intern student from Holland who is studying hospitality and tourism management).  We were given a wine tour and here we are in the wine cellar.  Marcus was given a bottle of wine from the owners as we checked in on his birthday!

 

This is the wine tasting area that the owners have built reclaiming many features and relics of the original winery and other local establishments.  The logia (which is where we have breakfast) used to be a chicken coup - the only thing that is original is the floor.  The round tables are huge mill stones that were somehow used in producing olive oil. 

These came from a neighboring olive farm.   Wil explained that in the early days there would have been a outdoor washing place for laundry,  so the owners recreated one as a water fountain using the original spigot from the winery.   Apparently this was a hobby wine/olive farm for an aristocratic Portuguese family in the early 1900's.  In it's heyday, there were 4 servants working in the manor and 14 working the farm.  The wine and olive oil was for personal consumption and not for sale.  Rough life back in the early 1900's!!!

Every nook and cranny is well thought out and artistically presented.  They've put a lot of work into this place - a little oasis in very rural Portugal where you feel as if time has stood still.

I wish I could crate the pottery and bring it home!

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Slideshow of Chartres and Dordogne

We are a little tardy getting these online.  Here are some photos of the Cathedral we visited in Chartres, France, as well as the places we visited in the Dordogne Valley, namely the medieval fortress Castelnaud and the gardens at Macqueyssac, among other things.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kristine.d.morris/ChartresAndTheDordogneValleyFrance#

Guggenheim Bilbao

Since Frank Gehry's famously designed modern art facility, the  Guggenheim Bilbao, is not too far from where we entered Spain (in Hondarribia), we decided to drive there and spend the afternoon checking out the museum and the town. 

We had a little trouble actually finding our hotel which we booked the previous day.  Marcus was able to reserve a room by phone in Spanish with me pointing to sentences in our phrase book.  The hotel is in the old quarter which is mostly pedestrian zones and winding streets - we ended up having to park the car and find the hotel on foot ("Magde" our GPS seems to go a little berserk in the center of town just when we need her the most!). When we arrived we used a combination of the 10 Spanish words we know and sign language to get instructions, however, we were given two keys - one for the room and we still don't know the purpose of the second key. 

By the way, I am not quite sure what Marcus has against the Ibis chain of hotels.  They are equivalent to a Best Western.  The good thing about them - they have parking!

  The Guggenheim is a typical Frank Gehry building.  I've (Kristine) been lucky enough to have been in two other of his buildings -  one in Cleveland, Ohio and the Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA.   All are impressive - he certainly has a unique design.  (Gehry is designing the AGO in Toronto, but apparently he is not using his typical curving, shining metal structure.  http://www.ago.net/transformation/gallery/).  The curves of this building combined with the installation by Richard Serra of large scale curved sheet metal sculptures (that you can walk through), certainly provides a bodily experience - that is you can get a little nauseous.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Matter_of_Time.jpg

The whole theme of the installations they've chosen to represent in the museum is about the relationship between the art and the you, the viewer. 

An entire floor is dedicated to Spanish sculptor Juan Munoz (1953 - 2001).   I had actually seen some of his "Conversation Place" figures outside of the Smithsonian in Washington and became quite enamored of them then, so it was really neat to see more of his work (and to make the connection to something I had seen before).  Each floor had several large galleries and each gallery held only one installation.  Such huge space for one piece!  One curved room was empty except for two tiny figures sitting in the middle, their backs to the wall with a repetitive recording of a brief conversation "what, what did you say?"  "I didn't say anything."  "You never say anything" "And you keep asking." 

We had audio guides to help interpret the installations.  Afterwards Marcus said, "the people who write about wine are the same people who write about modern art installations"!!

Travelling light?

We tried to pare down on some things, but we honestly have been using much of what we brought.  It's the time of year when you need summer stuff during the day and warmer clothes at night.  Anyhow, as you can see from our picture, our two carry-ons, the one larger suitcase and my yoga bag, all fit quite nicely into the trunk.  We have no space for anything else!

No necesito uno coche mas grande!

Mushrooms on toast for breakfast

After a fitful night at an Ibis Hotel on Friday September 12 (think Days Inn, without all the luxury), we ventured on to the Dordogne region to visit with Mr. Cro  Magnon. We have it on good authority that our ancestors once lived here, albeit tens of thousands of years ago, and we decided to visit the old cave for the sake of nostalgia.

We traveled south on the B roads, which are punctuated by old villages and innumerable round-abouts (these are quite  brilliant insofar as they eliminate traffic lights, although at the expense of some (more) gray hairs as you become accustomed to asserting yourself with a camion).

This was well-received by "Madge," our GPS system, which immediately directed us to a cow patch by way of the numerous medieval cart paths and highways once enjoyed by the local peasantry. After some clarification, negotiation and compromise, including a tire-spinning extrication from a mud-patch, Madge reconsidered, and we were able to make good progress towards Sarlat. 

This is the cloud that followed us all day!  It was sunny everywhere else, except directly above us.

Nearing our destination, we began searching for our night's accommodation. Fearing another night at an Ibis (shudder), we became determined to find a "suitable" place. Spotting a sign for a Chambres d'hôtes, we decided to check it out.

We turned off the highway, onto a narrow road and, after some minutes, onto a gravel path. This led to a coach house and then to a wrought-iron gate, behind which was situated the stunningly rustic 300-year-old farmhouse, courtyard (avec BMW convertible), manicured gardens, and sweeping pastures that screamed "way too expensive" in capital letters. However, if you don't ask, you don't know, so...

Not seeing an office, we approached what appeared to be a main door and, with no response to our knock, entered a sitting room. With still no answer to our calls, we made our way towards a dining room and, upon hearing voices, entered a kitchen where we were casually greeted by our future hosts, English ex-pats Mike and Lindy, who were preparing their supper. Inquiring about a room, we were told they were full, and were instead offered a cottage at the same price (much less than an Ibis room). We maintained our poker-faces until after we were shown our quarters, situated in the charming, renovated outbuilding with a swimming pool, at which point there was much fist-pumping and high-fiving.

The next morning, after a run to assuage our guilt about our French diet, I bumped into Mike, who explained that the farm was approximately 300 years old. The lower level of what I assumed to be a gate house had, in fact, been a large bread oven used to feed the farm workers who had occupied about twelve surrounding cottages. The upper floor of the building was a pigeonry (SP????), supplying fresh meat. Mike and Lindy had lived here for the past seven years, running a B&B for six months of the year. Envy prevented me from inquiring where they spent the remaining six months...

We then made our way to the breakfast table, where we met two other guests, also British ex-pats, enjoying a vacation in the Dordogne along with, as we would learn, much of the population of England.

Lindy offered the usual breakfast items (toast, cereal, etc.) and then, somewhat hesitantly, asked if we would like freshly-picked mushrooms on toast. I wondered if we would spend the rest of the day in a psychedelic haze (or hospital), but politely accepted. The mushrooms were simply delicious, with a mild, nutty taste and firm texture that perfectly completed a lovely and filling breakfast (the colour of the sky remained normal, man).

Lindy asked if we were going to stay another night. We replied that it was an offer we couldn't refuse. We stayed for 3 nights.

(For future reference, look for Les Sarrazinies, near St. Felix in the Dordogne. It's worth the drive.)

www.lessarrazinies.com

We must be missing our monster...

We haven't seen too many cats, but when we do come across one we are quite thrilled.  Here's one that we saw just once inside the courtyard at our flat in Paris.  Très jolie, non?

"monster" is the nickname for our cat Hayley.

On the Road...

Currently, I write this while sitting in our room at Hotel Jehan de Beauce in Chartres, and am thinking that we are going to probably have to pare down on a few things we are lugging around (we chose this hotel as it was downtown AND had parking only to find out afterward that the parking was down the street and the only parking spot available was on the 7th floor!)  Since this is likely to be a common experience we need to pare down.  

Now, I know what you're thinking.  You think that I don't need my Restoration Hardware fun-fur lined slippers.  You would be wrong!!!!!  I am wearing them right now and they are so comfortable and comforting that I cannot part from them!  It feels as if Hayley is sitting on my feet.

Maybe we are just feeling luggage weary because we carted everything from our flat in Paris 23 metro stops to the Renault Car Leasing office. It was fun.  Actually it went very smoothly, if you ignore that fact that our large suitcase trolley handle actually broke.  Picking up the Mégane was a breeze.  All the paperwork was pre-done.  We just picked up the keys and took off.

Our itinerary for the next few days is to hang out in Chartres as we explore the town and the cathedral here, the Cathedral of our Lady of Chartres, and possibly head back towards Versailles to spend a day there.   There is a English scholar who does daily tours of the Chartres cathedral.  He's been studying it for 50 years which makes we wonder how he can limit his tours to only 75 minutes.  We'll found out tomorrow.

Marcus can't decide whether or not he is coming down with a cold. Let's hope not! 

Bye for now!

The Louvre

Perhaps we should have rested up before tackling the largest museum in the world, the Louvre, but we didn't, so we made pretty quick work of it.  We checked out some of the "showcase" items such as Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, the medieval moat and the Apollo Gallery where the coronation crown of Louis XV and other royal jewels are displayed.

What's fascinating is the amount of space given to these famous masterpieces, no doubt to provide for crowds.  The Winged Victory is considered one of the Louvres most prized possessions and it is dramatically displayed at the top of a staircase. (Click on the photo here for a link to a wiki article for more info on the sculpture).

 

 

This is just a small section of the larger piece called Coronation of Napoleon (as emperor), by Jacques-Louis David.  Here Napoleon has just crowned his wife Josephine and is about to crown himself (the Pope behind him was not considered worthy of the task!)  This event took place in the Notre Dame Cathedral although interior decorators raised staged greek columns and roman arches to mask the gothic style of the cathedral.

What I found the most interesting was the buildings of the Louvre itself.  I am not sure if they offer it but if were to go back again I'd take an English tour of the history of the Louvre as the french royal court.

We were feeling pretty smug on our first few days here when it was raining and cool and there seemed to be hardly anyone out and about.  After our visit to the Louvre (no lineups using the Paris Museum Pass and the group entrance), we decided to nip into Saint Chappelle (built to house the crown of thorns).  WRONG!  The sun had come out and suddenly there were people and line ups everywhere!  And it's been pretty busy ever since.  In a way, I wouldn't mind if the rain returned! 

I've added more pictures to the existing web album link below if you want to see more.

K&M

Paris a pieds!

We'll try to not overwhelm you with all our pictures.  Here is a link to some of the best from our visits to the Musées d'Orsay, Moyen Age, and Picasso, and the following churches:  Notre Dame, St. Sulpice and St. Severin.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kristine.d.morris/ParisWithKristineMarcus#

Today, I was able to adequately describe to a french pharmacist my desperate need for an effervescent foot bath balm.  It felt so good to soak my aching, sore feet.

We found an area in the city where the food is inexpensive, albeit not authentic - at least there you can get a coke for 2 Euros and not 6 Euros (yikes!)

Tomorrow we tackle the Louvre.  We found podcasts on the Rick Steve's website that we have downloaded to our MP3s.  Very cool!

Paris - Day 1

Our flight to Paris went very well, mainly because we were bumped up to First Class. It was great! We were able to sleep most of the flight. Getting to our flat was fairly uneventful, although I did have to jump right in and start using my French. I would say about half the people I talk to reply back in English! That obvious, huh?

I managed to delete (without realizing it) all our photos from our morning walk! I've learned my lesson. After a lunch of cured meats (sorry, can't show you as I deleted the picture) we came back and had a nap. Here are the photos we took during our evening stroll.

These sweet cherubs adorn the outside of the Hotel de Ville.

 

 

 

The next picture shows the detailed iron scroll work in the background of this picture.

Maybe we'll be able to figure out the symbolism of the ship with a bit of research. (Added courtesy of Oliver our walking encyclopedia friend...this is the Fluctuat nec mergitur  or "She is tossed by the waves, but is not sunk" motto of Paris, and is present in the city coat of arms depicting a ship floating on a rough sea.)

 

This was taken inside the Notre Dame Cathedral. We plan to return one evening this week to view the hour long film about how the cathedral was constructed.

We have yet to make it back through the maze of alleys and similarly named streets to our flat without getting totally turned around. No doubt by the end of the week we'll be better.

 

 

Here's a link to a few more pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristine.d.morris/ParisDay1#

Bon nuit!