I don't think I've been on here to post anything since October 09 - and even then it was an update on a trip we had taken in
August to Cassis.
Rach has done a more than admirable job in filling that void, however I know (and have been reminded with increased frequency recently) that I need to pick up the slack.
So.......... since a picture says a thousand words and I am several thousand in arrears... lets do a little photo montage of my favorites - and this may have to be a two-
parter...
This was from part of the
Cassis -
Aix trip... just a reminder of my quest that began in 1989 to find the best of Europe's pizza... I led our troops a bit astray just to find this restaurant when we first got to
Aix, and we had a fantastic, and really fun dinner there the next evening.
On the way back to our hotel we convinced the carousel guys to fire it up for us and give Peter, Catie, and
Rach a spin for free. Several blurry shots actually capture it really well...
In September we headed back to France again - this time to Bordeaux for the Marathon
du Medoc. I chronicled the actual race on
fbook with all runners in costume running through the upper left bank of Bordeaux - by my watch we ran for 4 hours and 17 minutes - but we were out of the course for 6 with the 23 wine tasting stops, bands to listen to, chateaux and vineyards to see, etc. The photo above is the morning after the race and where we went to a much appreciated breakfast.
across the street from the above photo - Bordeaux was much larger, and much nicer than I had expected.
from our hotel - looking down to the city.
We also were in the mid Atlantic with Craig and Rebekah for Coop's baptism - and were able to see Puffin, Andrew, James and Cece:
Sarah and Grady hosted a fantastic
bbq where we inserted British scoring terms in to
cornhole - one of my new favorite sports
and then ran off some of the calories while fending off my little buddies with a sprinkler attachment:
same walk...16 years later
Back to London and Ed and Amity came to visit Paris and London as a
pre-baby vacation. In the background is Ye
Olde White Bear which used to be my favorite pub in
Hampstead... soon after this it was closed and now it is a posh
gastro pub (still a good destination) renamed The Old White Bear... clever.
and at the end of September we said goodbye to our friends Jen and Ben, with whom we coined the term 'football tourism' over the year prior in Newcastle, Liverpool and Barcelona -- and also shared many laughs, good times, and a Thanksgiving in London.
(the Butchery and
CWMC (Camden Westminster
Mens Club) will have to wait...)
In October we drove down to Bath to see Kent School play a high school football game (which was a day prior to the NFL game at
Wembley) with our friends Susan and James (and Ian - pictured here bundled up)
and I got to bust out the old school sweatshirt circa 1990:
and soon after
Rach was off again to Berlin for work, and I joined her at the tail end of that trip to revisit our favorite restaurant (bold statement)
Die Henne - which, to the best of our knowledge, serves only fry-roasted half chickens, potato salad and
cole slaw... and it is the best.
Berlin was just getting ready for the Christmas market season to begin with all of the stalls, stands, and
gluhwein vendors getting set up... and so were we - but in Stockholm with our first ever guest from
PVB:
- so that's my 2009 wrap up post (in July!) apologies for any omissions in advance - but its been great fun just to go through all of the photos and revisit all of these trips and visits with friends and family.
Book tickets and let us know when and where!
TJ found a half marathon in Epernay, and after the full one we did last year through Bordeaux, we knew we just had to.
We drove the car through the Eurotunnel, (Chunnel) for the first time, and enjoy a fun long weekend with our friends John and Melissa.
We were dressed as 'footballers', complete with Queen masks and mustaches. It was quite the site.
The race was a tough one with lots of hills. Running next to vineyards filled with Champagne and stopping occasionally to sip a glass or two was a memory I'll cherish.
All the pictures are here!
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