O Canada

This posting is a little overdue. We've been back from our Canadian trip since August 28. I should really be writing about our Labour day weekend. Maybe I'll get to that next week. Anyway, Stephen and I had a wonderful time visiting friends in Ontario. Here's a pictorial summary of our summer vacation.


First stop - Thain B & B
Susan, with Colin and Lorna (my godchildren).

Stephen and MVA

Spent a day on Martin and Sue's boat on the St. Lawrence River. No, this is not a picture of their boat. Well, that's not true... it is their dinghy. Anyway, Stephen and Martin puttered around some of the islands while I swam laps around the big boat.

Martin decided that Stephen should learn how to pilot the boat. I'm sure Stephen would have preferred to sit back and enjoy the scenery. There's a lot of traffic on the river.

Great shot of Martin and Sue.

Stephen and Lorna

Bonne fete a Colin. We celebrated his 22nd birthday.

Martin, Lorna, Sue and Colin


So, after a three nights with the Thains, it was time to move on. Had a lovely visit with Bob and Willemien in Oakville

Then onward to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula, between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.



Our wonderful hosts: Bob and Margaret.

Lake Huron in the background.

Bob took us to one of Canada's National parks.

A short walk brought us to the Grotto.


Rock climbing on the Bruce Trail


Rock walking. Not as easy as it looks - especially for someone prone to spraining ankles.

Thanks again to all our hosts. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Same time next year????

Zurich

This blog was supposed to be posted last month, I was in Zurich...on the way to Shanghai

Posted by Stephen - September 8th, 2009

I think I now understand Swiss Banking... If Paris is expensive, Zurich is uber expensive. And prosperous. Not a beggar or homeless in sight, street after street with watchmakers, jewelry stores and the roads full of Porsches, Land Rovers, Mercedes and other assorted exotic vehicles. And of course every once in awhile one comes across a sign clearly signifying (discreetly clearly signifying of course) that behind these doors only the rich may pass. Banks with names like Arab Inter Swiss Banking Corporation, Zurich Private Bank, and my favorite, Banque de Bois. I imagine that Banque de Bois might be a private Swiss bank for greenies, rich environmentalists...perhaps it offers offsets for the carbon footprint of money..?

The picture on the right is the Zurich train station. An easy 15 minute ride from the Airport. Clean, neat and exactly on time. Speaking of time...in Zurich there is a clock on every building.

Zurich feels a lot like Vienna. German seems to be the most widely spoken language, there are more modern buildings than in downtown Paris, it has a sense of more order. Of course the trams are very distinctive as well. It is cleaner, it has more open spaces, and a lovely lake. I took a boat trip around the lake, and it is obvious the lake is widely used by residents. Rental paddle boats come in a variety of formats, some with deck chairs, some for 4 people and even some with small water slides.

Note the clock on the tower in this photo.

I was only there for a day, but I would recommend it as a landing point for Switzerland. From other pictures, I think if I go back it will be into the countryside, lakes and mountains.

Bonjour M'sieur

Begging...

I am quite amazed at the number of beggars and homeless people I see in Paris...or at least in the part of Paris I am living. Perhaps the downtown and tourist spots are the prime panhandling areas, but I do also observe various individuals or gatherings of homeless, beggars in other parts of the city. I do not remember this from my previous visits. Maybe it is the current economy, or maybe the longer I stay, the more layers of the city I observe. As the new becomes familiar, my eye sees more things.

It is not uncommon to have to step over a person sleeping in the subway, especially if I am going in to work early. At the Gard De Nord station there are some regulars, same clothes, same spot, same bowl. Every day. (They do not seem to take off the month of August)

Outside my apartment there a man who lives in one of the indentations along the front of the building, where the apartment meets the sidewalk. What was once an architect's design feature now provides a partial shelter for a homeless man. I do not know his name, but he is unfailingly polite and very neat. He always greets me with a smile and "Bonjour M'sieur". I will call him Bonjour for short.

The French seem very tolerant of these kinds of activities. Near my office there has been an encampment of families who were evicted from some apartments. They have strung some canvas across the sidewalk near the local welfare office and have lived there since early July. On Blvd Beaumarchais, near Place Republique is an encampment of people who are in the country illegally. They are demanding official working papers. Both these places seem to have no trouble with either residents or the local Gendarme.

For the purpose of this blog, I need to inform you that in Paris, once a week there is a special garbage collection for heavy goods, old furniture, used appliances etc. Bonjour takes advantage of these and gathers furniture, bedding, whatever and uses it for his "home". The problem of course is that by definition, his home is where the collectors pick up the trash, so while the police do not bother him, once a week he loses all his furniture. As you can see from the pictures below, his weekly living space varies depending on the goods disposed of the previous week.

The first picture it was a pretty poor week, so his home is mostly cardboard.

This week he had a mattress and a lawn chair.

This week just a piece of foam and a play table. This is typical, during the day the bed is made and the SVP sign and dish are placed beside.

Good week..... foam, chair, potted plants....


In her blog, Diane talks of a "wee house". I guess if you stretched the definition, Bonjour has a "wee house", or, as this is Paris, a "wee apartment". And he is very eco, as he is a recycler. He always seems to have money in his dish, and today I even noticed one kind person had placed two apples and a banana on his bed. As of yet I have not made a contribution, but I feel a little guilty, as if somehow writing this blog is invading his privacy, or exploiting his situation. I will perhaps give him a small royalty and drop a few of Euro into his dish tomorrow on the way to the Airport.

Velib

Posted by Stephen - August 6th

While not exactly Shanghai, Paris does have a lot more bicycles than most US cities, and more than I recall from London, Munich or Florence. (I am sure somewhere out there you can Google which city has the most bike riders). The city also has a very accessible, municipally supported short term bike rental program. It is called Velib, and there are stations everywhere, probably about 4-5 within a few blocks of my apartment. According to one source it has saved over 10 million car trips! And, not only is the program successful, it has also caused a general growth in bike ownership and bike riding...how green, how European. The first 30 minutes is free, after that a few Euro. An hour an a half is less than 2 Euro. Many people use it to go to work every day!

Now, if you go to the Velib web site, it all initially seems so simple. As I am now considering myself a resident versus a touriste, I decided to opt for the annual pass. Simple really. Log on to the web site, give a credit card number, make a link for authorization to have my subway pass be used to charge for bicycles charges and voila, once again I am reducing my carbon foot print, not to mention giving myself an alternative to the knee pounding runs I do frequently on the hard Paris pavement. Ah, but wait, this is France...alors.

It is not a credit card, but a bank card that is needed for the annual pass. The credit card option is for the 1 or 7 day pass. (la pass touriste). To get a bank card I need to open a bank account and to open a bank account I need...oh well, that is another story.

This is a picture of a Velib "station" near the apartment. This is early morning and it is full. Not unusual to see it empty later in the day, weekends etc. Not only does this station lock the bikes, but it also charges the front and rear lights that are quite bright and a good safety feature.

Velib self serve rental box. Quite complicated I thought.

If you want to know more, here is a good link.

http://europeforvisitors.com/paris/articles/paris-bike-rentals.htm

I mentioned general bike ridership in Paris has increased. This is pretty evident as I walk around Paris, everywhere there are bicycles locked onto anything that is heavy or bolted down. Very common to see a line of bikes and scooters along the sidewalk.

On occasion, you will see a bike, that while technically "locked" has suffered a serious accident or "malaise", and one doubts the owner will return. The Paris authorities seem very tolerant or patient, and there appears to be no rush to remove these semi bike carcasses. I asked a waiter from the restaurant behind this bike how long it had been there, and he replied he had worked there 4 months and it was there when he began.

I would think locking your bike to garbage receptacle would be asking for a problem, but no. The kind souls at "properte de Paris" step over this "bicycle" every day, assured that it owner will some day came back.

In the past I had stood in front of these self serve posts, but had been unable to figure out how to use the system. Some of the French terms I just did not understand. I saw mention of a fee of 150 Euro and would get concerned. Never got the courage to just stick my card in and see what happens.

Then I would see a families of American tourists merrily riding down the street on these bikes. Very frustrating. Must be the 14 year old kid who figured out, like a video game these things. However I was determined, Today at lunch, using a bribe of a baguette lunch, with the assistance of one of my French HR team members, I delved into the intricacies of the system. After about 3 minutes he politely pointed out to me that there is a button that converts the system language to English. Hmm, had not seen that button. Ah, yes, but anyone can do that...I wanted to figure it out in French.....(The 150 fee is a reserve in case you abscond with the bike)

Anyway, I leave Paris on Friday for 4 weeks. I will probably going to try the 1-7 day version on my return to Paris in September, if I like it I may actually open a bank account.

Happy Trails

Giverny

Saturday August 1st, 2009 - Giverny France

Another weekend...another road trip. This time we took a trip to Giverny France, home of the impressionist artist Monet for the last 40 years of his life. It was a short, (53 minutes) train trip from Paris, this time from Gare de Lazare. The train actually goes to a village called Vernon. Giverny is 4 kms away. From the train station one can walk, taxi, bus or bicycle. We contemplated biking, but at the last moment took the bus.

On other trips, we have headed out from Gare de Nord, Gare de l' est, Gare d'Austerlitz and now on this trip Gare de St. Lazare. We seem to be testing every train station in Paris. We were not overly impressed, but perhaps it is because the station is under renovation.

The village of Giverny was a small rural community when Monet moved there, and apparently initially he was not very popular, as he attracted a lot of other artists to the area. If they could see it now! There are the usual parking lots, alterations to roads, tunnels under roads so tourists do not get run over by buses and tractors etc. Add to this. the local restaurants that have all expanded to handle busloads of tourists. Perhaps because of the heat today, or it being August, it actually was not that busy on our visit.

Entrance to Monet's Home

The farmhouse.

Genya on the porch of Monet's house.

This is the view from Monet's bedroom window

The home was large, but they they needed it because of the large family. Monet had a blended family, 8 children..sort of an 19th Century Brady Bunch. We were a bit surprised by the size of the gardens. And, of course the famous lily pond, inspiration for several of his paintings.

We end this blog posting with a floral tribute to Monet's garden.