To Slow Time Down

Here`s pic of me with my first grandchild. He's only 2 hours old.

How do I feel?

GREAT!!!!!

This week the New York Times is featuring a slide show of Rome at Night. One of the pics is from Isola Tiberna.
Here it is:

Here is my attempt, taken with a simple Canon SD900 digital camera last September, using available light:

OK, I know the Times photo is superior technically, but it is rewarding to see that we both chose the same angle and included the same elements.

WOW! What a surprise. When I logged on to ST a couple of days ago, I thought the Photo of the Week looked a bit familiar - then realized that it was one of mine that I took on a Saturday last September in L'Isle sur la Sorgue in the Luberon. Most visitors to the town likely go on a Sunday - the very busy market day when the streets are packed with vendors and shoppers and plenty of tourists.

Here's my photo.

It will be gone from the ST home page in a few days - thought I would extend the shelf life by posting here.

Here it is the end of March and it's still more like winter than spring in Eastern Ontario - piles of snow everywhere you look and a bitter wind that dries sheets on the clothesline quickly but is otherwise not very pleasant. Fortunately, my thoughts have been on the south of France for most of the last 2 days.

Two developments:

1. This morning I booked TGV tickets from CDG to Valence for our trip to Drome-Provence this June. I did a couple of test runs before giving my credit card # to see if I could get a better price if I said I lived in France or Great Britain - I live in Canada by the way. There was no difference but by the time I was ready to make my purchase the tickets were €25 more expensive - no doubt a reflection of my activity on the site. I also tried to figure out if it was still possible to print the tickets online, as I think some recent posters on Slow Travel indicated, but I was not able to do so. So I have to take my confirmation numbers with me, go to a kiosk at CDG when I land in June, and use the numbers and the credit card that I used to purchase the tickets to get the actual ticket. I've left 3 hours from the time our plane lands to catch the train. There were earlier trains, but I didn't want to risk missing a connection.

2. Last evening we had a trip-planning dinner with 4 friends who want to go to Provence in June 2009. We started out with a kir aperitif, then some fig and goat-cheese appetizers followed by herbed potatoes, asparagus and salmon, coffee and a choice of coconut-cream pie or chocolate cheesecake for dessert. One of the bottles of wine we opened was a Chateau de Mille 2003, which we picked up last September at the retail store in Apt.

I brought out several of our Provence resources, ready for the borrowing. Only two were selected - a copy of A Year in Provence and a DVD of A Good Year. It's a start.

None of our friends have ever been to France. It was interesting to hear some of their questions:

What will the weather be like in June?
How will we get there?
What is there to do?
What's a euro worth?
Will we have to speak French?
How do you pronounce Aix?

Here they are on the way out the door after dinner, all bundled up against the cold, well-fortified with wine from the Luberon and visions of two weeks in a most beautiful part of the world.

After they had left, I commented to my wife that they seemed very enthusiastic. "Well," she said, "Somebody else is doing all the planning and will be doing all the driving. Women like that."

Oh.

Not much to write about for the past several months - sure not many would be interested in my vagaries - but I have been working on a few travels.

June 14-28, 2008 - I'll be back in the south of France - this time in La Begude de Mazenc in Drome. One of my brothers has rented a house for the month of June. I'll be there for 2 weeks; Liz will be there for the first week; another local couple are joining us for the first week. Plane tickets booked back in October; car in November; and I'm getting ready to book the TGV from Paris to Valence, where we will pick up the car.

SNCF has changed the online booking for TGV tickets - much more difficult now. Kevin Widrow's excellent instructions appear to be obsolete. Among the significant changes:
1. Tickets can no longer be printed out at your home computer - must be picked up at a kiosk at CDG, using the same credit card that was used to purchase them online.
2. If you say you live in France, there is no English language option.
3. If you say you live in the UK, prices appear to be the same as in France, but you can only pick up the tickets at a free-standing kiosk. If you live in France, you have the option of getting the tickets at a ticket counter, talking to a real person. Hopefully nothing goes wrong at the kiosk - but if it does, only those indicating a residency in France have that option.
4. So far I haven't found a PREM option on any of the scenarios I've tried.

June 6-20, 2009 - Liz & I are taking 4 single female friends to Provence. I spent a few weeks poring over dozens of listings & asking advice from some friends. I was trying to prepare a short list of possible accommodations to present to our friends who are coming for a trip-planning dinner next Friday evening. None of the properties seemed ideal - until I came across a 5-bedroom house in the Luberon. Better yet, there was a glowing review on ST from Linda in NC. We have been to Linda's beautiful home - at last year's GTG in Brevard. If the house gets Linda's approval, it's the highest recommendation I could hope for.

When I inquired about other properties, none was able/willing to commit for June 2009 at this early date - either on price or availability. When I contacted the owner of the desired property, I received a much more satisfactory response. We have the rental for next year at this year's price - just waiting for the contract in the mail.

None of our friends have been to France. On Friday evening, I am going to mention the possibility of extending our time with a few days, up to a week, in Paris. I am optimistic that at least some of them will want to experience Paris - I'll let you know what happens.

September 2010 - Intrigued by Kevin Widrow's account of his week on the island and some online browsing, I am thinking about spending 2 weeks on Corsica - have figured out the logistics & have ordered a couple of books. The travel account should be healthy enough by then - hope to include additional time in France - either on the Cote d'Azure, or in the Luberon or Paris. As the Brits say it's "early days", but it's something I'll be thinking about over the next year or so.