Learning French? Not me.

Unfortunately my French is limited but occasionally I hear a word or two I know or am able to stammer a few words to ask for a coffee. Aris however does exceedingly well, picking up a couple of phrases everywhere we travel.

On this trip we went to meet George's second cousin, Stephane, in Marseilles along with his second wife and triplets (Mano, Lola and Tom; aged 7) and a host of other family.

A lovely weekend in Provence was enjoyed by all, especially since on this trip we had our very own tour guide with a remarkable knowledge of the area and the history.

First we visited Avignon to see the Palais des Papes. A medieval Gothic church which is on the UNESCO world heritage list. It is here the Popes came to live when they were sent out of Italy in 1309. It amazes me how they built such huge structures and they still stand today despite fires.

Aris was fascinated by this little dog who had lost half his face. The dog is actually placed at the feet of the dead to watch over them until they wake again.

The wealth of the catholic church is astounding. Gold Statues of Mary are on many churches.

The Amphitheater in Arles was built in 90AD and could seat 20,000. We happened to visit when the Gladiators were taking a break and they let us feel how heavy the helmet was; I have no idea how they can wear that on their head because it must weigh at least 10 kg/22 pounds.

Arles was very enjoyable especially when we found a market and ate our way through it. The most beautiful strawberries, freshly made bread, tapanade and a pork sausage with hazelnuts. We sat down to eat in the park which is the site of where Van Gough painted L'Entree du Jardin Public.

Perhaps my favorite pictures of this trip are of the streets and houses. 

                                                Trompe l'oeil - trick of the eye

                                                      More Trompe l'oeil

 I must apologise that I have none of Marseilles itself because by the time we went to Notre Dame de le Garde on Sunday the battery in the camera was exhausted and George had to take some photos with his iPhone.                                                   
So to leave you with a phrase Aris learnt well in France but didn't really need:

Au secour!
.
.
.
 Help!

And the lyrics of the song  Sur le pont d'Avignon which he also learnt but we failed to see the broken bridge of.

Sur le pont d’Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le pont d’Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond
On the bridge of Avignon
We all dance there, we all dance there
On the bridge of Avignon
We all dance there in a ring

Only the Irish.....

Would celebrate St Patrick's Day a full week before it was due. Not only that, when I saw it advertised in the Flanders's News- an English language paper I get delivered each week, there was going to be a parade.
Well in my mind a parade is big! Those of you in Melbourne think Moomba, those of you in the USA think Macy's. Well maybe I was a little too hopeful after all this is not the native home of the Irish, this is an expat community. Well here it is and the picture will tell 1000 words-

These four people constituted the parade and here is how Irish the Irish can be. If you notice the dark skinned girl second from the right she is won the right to be "Prince of St Patrick's Day". Oh isn't it grand to be Irish?
In any case the weather turned out a treat. In fact I was too warm in my coat and we enjoyed a Sunday afternoon in Parc du Cinquantenaire/ Jubelpark and we thought the Irish were funny- in Brussels everything is given a French and a Flemish name.

                Sets of these deck chairs are scattered around the park.

Right under this park is a tunnel which takes traffic in a straight line from one side to the other. We have driven under the park, and around it, finally it was time that we walked on it.

At least the Irish had Green horses. Actually this is the top of the Cinquantenaire Arcades, build to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence in 1803. However, the arches and these horses were not finished until 1905.
Just the other side of these arches are the Art museum, military museum and car museum. Will definitely have to come back, even the military museum looked interesting from the windows with fighter jets and helicopter (Aris is interested in these now that he has multiple Lego sets with which to make planes and helicopters).

                       Squashed in the bouncing castle but having a blast.

At the end of this park was our train station and it is also known for its number of cafes. So we stopped for a drink and a Crepe Citroen and then headed for our train and tram.

Tot ziens, au revoir, slan tamall, and see you.

Bikes, Dijk and "Rottendam"

Yes, we managed to get away to "Rottendam" on Friday. This is what Aris thought the name of Rotterdam was until we corrected his misconception, and there was nothing rotten about it.
By now you must all think that we are never at home and partly it is true. Aris seems to get an unbelievable number of holidays- there is always a week off for half term and at the end of the month we get two weeks off for Easter break.
However, this trip to Rotterdam was a quick two day trip because George wanted to consult with the doctor who invented the treatment he has been having in Germany. Good news is that he does not recommend more treatments for now because the cancer is stable and has suggested some other treatments to keep it this way. Bad news is that there seems to be no cure. That does not stop George from looking for his own cure and he is presently looking at some other treatments which may indeed reverse the growth.
So while in Rotterdam we enjoyed the zoo - mainly because our zoo membership in Belgium gives us free entry and because it was fun for Aris. This is a big zoo. The aquarium was really beautiful and since we forgot Aris' extra coat it was warm. The weather had promised to be raining but, lucky us did not experience any. Since we got to the zoo rather late we hopped onto the train which takes you from one end to the other for a cost of one euro each way. Not many animals to see on the train and it is definitely just a means of getting tired kids back to where you entered the zoo.

Bikes are abundant in Rotterdam as the land is flat and they turn up in unexpected places.

Art and sculptures also jump out at you.

                         We had just recently been talking about Cyclops

                      Pinocchio we had found in Pisa and again here

                                 An art project that Aris couldn' help but walk on

Saturday morning we drove out to Kinderdijk which is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list to see the windmills. We had no idea that we had to take a ferry across a canal to get there.
There are 19 of windmills and although the sky is grey they still look impressive.

                                                                                                             

Notice the tree is starting to bloom-spring might be in the air.

Fortunately we arrived in time to go inside this windmill

The family that lived here had eight kids

Notice the bed behind the blue shutters. This is where the parents and the baby slept.

The stairs were so steep. Aris was terrified and we had to have him climb down like on a ladder.

Yet another bike!

Yes spring is on its way, or so I thought when I saw these snowdrops which have also blossomed in our garden. Alas I might be wrong. Sunday rained nearly all day and this morning when I dropped Aris off at school the snow was trying to fall again. Correction, I just looked out the window and it is snowing at 10.45 in the morning.

Oh well I guess I need that coat and hat when I go out shopping in a few minutes.

Tot later- until later!