January days

(Outside the Natural History Museum)

A Little Breather

I am happy to tell you that it's been a bit more quiet this month at the Dunne household. We've stepped back and taken some time to breathe. Tom and the kids are back at their studies, the extra curricular activities are back in full swing, and we're starting to check out the real estate listings for south eastern Ontario. I've been slowly (very slowly) putting away the Christmas decorations, and trying to dig out from underneath the piles of laundry and paperwork.

We haven't been completely sedentary though. I managed to take another Canadian military trip- this time to 'The Potteries' in Stoke-on-Trent for a whirlwind pottery shopping trip. As well, last Saturday we took the kids and hopped on the train to London for the day. And, of course, the day to day things make our days in England speed by, without having to go anywhere!

The Potteries

One of the many benefits of being posted overseas are the 'PSP' trips. These are planned excursions for Canadian military members and their families. They are subsidised somewhat, and a great way to get to know some of the other Canadians posted to England. The Christmas markets trip in November was a PSP trip too.

This month's trip was a 'serious shopping excursion' to the factory outlets and pottery shops in Stoke-on-Trent. We went to 5 outlet stores in one day! Spode, Portmeirion (two different shops), Wedgewood and Royal Dalton. It was great fun, as I got to hang out with adults and shop in stores FULL OF BREAKABLES without having to look out for anyone but myself.

And the deals were superb. I found 'Friendly Village' (my grandmother's and my mother's pattern that I thought had been discontinued forever) for 69p ($1.25) a plate!! Woohoo! I bought lots. I also got some great Christmas items for cheap, cheap, cheap.

The other nice thing about this trip was the organizer had planned a pot-luck supper on the bus ride home. The food was wonderful. I was stuffed. Not to mention the 'Wine Tasting' we did. It was a great day off for mom.

A Day in London

(Delaney and the Dodo bird-left)

As we were suffering from a little bit of travel withdrawal, Tom and I decided to take the kids for a day trip to London this past Saturday. We travelled by train to Paddington, then took a cab through Hyde Park to the Natural History Museum. (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/) What a wonderful museum! We spent over 5 hours there, and didn't see everything. There were huge dinosaur skeletons, fossils, a section on volcanoes, a room set up that actually felt like it was experiencing an earthquake...but the best part was the room called 'Investigate!'. Although you had to book a time to get in, it was well worth the wait. It was hands-on place--the kids could touch everything!! There were magnifying glasses, microscopes, measuring tapes, paper, pencils, computers and trays and trays of 'specimens' to discover. Animal skins, rocks, crystals, fossils and bones that the kids could touch and play with. It was a hoot!

After a quick snack in the cafeteria, we were off to discover the human body exhibit which was also amazing (and right up my alley). We were a little surprised at the very factual exhibit of how a baby is made (complete with cross section of how human parts come together....), but for the most part it was fascinating for kids and adults. And the best part was that admission was free!! We like free.

When the museum closed we decided to give the kids another new experience--the London Underground (aka 'The Tube') at what was basically rush hour. We managed to all cram into the same car (with about 100 other people I think) and made our way to Picadilly Circus station. Poor Kate had a lovely view of about 3 behinds the entire way. At least we were well padded. It was a bit like a twister game trying to unfold ourselves and get off at our stop. People were friendly though. I think we must have looked like tourists.

Our final stop of the day was Hamley's toy store. (http://www.hamleys.com/) This was a real treat. 7 stories of toys. There was a floor for construction toys (Lego), a floor for stuffed toys, one for remote control thingys, one dedicated to girly things, and one dedicated to boy things. Before entering we had set a 10 GBP limit for each of the kids, which was a good thing, as everything was very tempting! Delaney ended up with a lovely hedgehog stuffy, Kate with a lamb, and Shane got some cool England clothing for his stuffed bear. Mom and dad must have been bad, because we didn't get anything. Oh well, the smiles on our very greatful children made it all worth it.

Going to London is a great way to remind myself of my love for the country. Somehow London always seems like a place wavering on the edge of chaos. People everywhere, sirens screaming down the street, horns honking, lights flashing... it's great to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. At least not for too long. I like our nice, quiet spot in rural England. I'll take thatched cottages over highrises and flashing lights anyday.

I digress. Let's see, after Hamley's we took a much more spacious tube back to Paddington. On our way out of Paddington I got my first trial of giving an insulin injection while in a moving train. Kate, as always, was a trooper, and didn't complain. The lady staring at us from the seat across the aisle seemed to find it much more offensive than Kate did. I think she thought we were aliens from another planet. Little did she know...

Kid news

Shane finally got into Beavers!! He is ecstatic. After being on the waiting list for five months we were beginning to think it wasn't going to happen. His first day was three weeks ago. He was so excited after going that he could hardly sleep! He's already working on his first badge, and has been faithfully feeding Zeke, wiping his muddy paws and being a friend to animals in general. His promise ceremony will be next week, and he'll get his full uniform then.

Delaney has held on to her two extra curricular activities (riding and Brownies) but Kate has made a slight change-she has switched from Rainbows (the younger version of Brownies here) to gymnastics. She goes on Thursdays to a local gymnastics club and is loving it.

So there you have it. I've been taxiing and tidying. I've discovered 'facebook' and have been very much enjoying hooking up with some old friends. I joined a local Bible study group and have met some new friends through that. I'm also playing travel agent and trying to book our next few holidays so that you have more interesting things to read about next time!! The next few weeks are filling up quickly with lots of fun social events as well (I'm looking forward to 'Burns' Night next week!!)

Hope the sun is shining on you,

B

A French New Year

Happy 2008!

It's always a bit anticlimactic to dismantle all of the Christmas decorations and put them away. After all of the build up to the big day, it's hard to let go. I suppose we have to do it though, or would the Christmas season be so special?

The tree is out on the patio, the Christmas cards (including the ones I didn't write in...) are packed up, and I've changed the guest towels in the powder room back to plain old brown. January is here, and Christmas has come and gone. What a holiday it was though!! Our trip to France was absolutely wonderful. We spent New Years' Eve sitting in our little French Chateau, eating chocolate fondue, and sipping local sparkling wine. It was peaceful and perfect. We visited castles, ate dinner in a cave, tried escargot, pastries and wine. The only deadline calling to us was our return ferry time. What more could a family ask for?

Ferry Crossing

Bright and early on the morning of the 29th, (about 6 am) we crammed into our little Mazda 5, complete with dog, bags, snacks and insulin kits, and were off on our European adventure. The M series highways were quite clear, and before we knew it, we were pulling into the Port of Dover.

Having heard all of the songs, I was eager to see the white cliffs of Dover. I'll admit I wasn't quite so eager to be on a ferry during a gale force wind storm. Luckily the winds calmed down slightly, and with the 'stabilizers' deployed, it was only slightly bumpy on our way from Dover to Calais. It's surprisingly quick, only about an hour and a half from coast to coast! We just had time to have a quick snack and go to the loo, and it was time to be back to our car again.

Our Chateau

We meandered southwards, to the west of Paris, eventually coming off of the highway just between Angers and Saumur. Our cottage was in a small village called Milly, south of Gennes. It was about a 10 minute drive south of the Loire River. The cottage was everything we had hoped for and more. A beautiful 16th C cottage (called a 'gite' by the French), built into the walls surrounding a chateau, attached to an ancient old church. There were fireplaces, exposed beams, stone staircases, and a great loft with saggy beams holding it up. It had recently been renovated, but the owner had stuck to the ancient feel of the cottage, and everything was very cosy and authentic feeling. The children loved it too, and were soon playing Harry Potter and medieval times, with mom only harping on them occasionally to 'Be Careful On The STAIRS!'.

It felt very medieval there, not only because of the age of the building, but because of the constantly ringing old church bell ( remember my mention above that it was attached to an ancient church??). It started ringing the hour at about 6 (twice), rang for what we think was mass, rang the half hour, rang for seven (twice) and then continued on the same routine until it rang midnight (yup, 24 dongs for midnight...). Thankfully it stopped until the next morning at that point. We didn't really mind it though, as it just enhanced the ambiance of our little castle.

Saumur

We spent the first full day there visiting the city of Saumur, about a 25 minute drive from the cottage. Saumur has a large, beautiful chateau perched on the edge of a hill, overlooking the Loire valley. We walked around and saw the sights, let the kids have a ride on the merry-go-round, took a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city, then commenced trying to find a place to eat supper. The French do not eat supper at what we would call 'normal' times. Every where we looked was either too seedy to take the kids into, or it was closed. We searched and searched, waited for one place to open (although it never did), and then finally set off back to the cottage (it was about 7:30 pm, and most of us were grumpy by this point...). On the way we passed a sign for a restaurant in a cave, and thought we'd try it out. It was open! So down into the depths of the earth we trotted... 200 metres down, to be exact. What an experience! They served fouees (said foo-eh), a type of pita cooked in a wood burning oven on site, with mushrooms and escargot grown in the same cave. Mmmmm. The kids even tried the escargot, but were much happier with the warm bread and butter with locally made sausages. Of course there was also local wine for the adults... The picture at the beginning of the blog was taken there.

On New Years Eve day, we went back into Saumur for a quick trip to a supermarket, and some more sight-seeing. We ended up having lunch at what was very similar to one of our Superstores. There were, of course, several differences. The prolific amounts of bread, wine and cheese on the menu, for one. In fact, there was basically a bar on your way in to the grocery store. Tom decided that this was the way to go grocery shopping with your wife-- he offered to stay in the bar while I shopped with the three kids-- I, on the other hand, disagreed.

We departed the supermarket and drove down the river all of the way to Angers, then crossed the river, got momentarily lost, and then travelled up the river to the cottage again. You could see why the region is so loved by summertime vacationers. The flowing rivers, ancient buildings and lush vegetation was beautiful. The majority of the buildings are built from 'Tuffeau' stone, a soft yellowish stone which was mined from under the hills in long cave systems. There are caves everywhere you look, being used for everything from living quarters to wine cellars. There were stable caves, mushroom growing caves, tourist attraction caves, hotels in caves... you name it, there's a cave that does it. There are also several prehistoric 'Dolmen' around the area. These are very much like small stone-henges. Most of them are just standing in a farmer's field. They are generally 6000 year old burial chambers.

New Years Eve

We spent a lovely and quiet family evening at our cottage, having spaghetti, fresh bread, cheese and wine. Afterwards it was our traditional chocolate fondue, and then a 10 o'clock countdown with the kids before bedtime. The kids loved the party poppers, and were pooped little partyers afterwards...so off to bed for them. Tom and I rung in the New Year in front of the fire with local champagne. Very romantic. New Years day, we just hung out. No driving, no shopping. We went for a walk around the little town, ate more pastries, and relaxed.

Chenonceau

On January 2nd we thought we'd do a bit more of a day trip, and planned to go to Chenonceau, a castle built on the Cher River near Tours. It was about a two hour drive to the castle. It was a lovely drive, and the castle was worth it. It's built like a bridge, with supports over the water, and much of it has been preserved as it would had been in the late 1500's. It has an interesting history, one of Henri II's mistresses lived there for a while, but she was ousted by his actual wife, Catherine di Medici, when he was killed. It has also been used as a sanctuary for writers and artists, as well as a hospital in the wars. At one point one side of the castle was in German occupied territory and the other end wasn't. You can take a virtual tour of the castle by visiting http://www.chenonceau.com/ .

Cadre Noir

The Cadre Noir are an elite equestrian team which operate the French National Equestrian School. They do musical rides and dressage type shows, much like the RCMP in Canada. The owner of our cottage, we discovered on our first day in France, is one of the chief instructors at the school. Not only that, but he very graciously offered to give us a tour of the school. Delaney was in heaven. Neat, tidy stables, row upon row of horses. He introduced us to two of the six (I think) horses he rides each day, showed us one of the main arenas and allowed us to explore a little more on our own. Even better, he brought each of the kids a souvenir pin and pen. They were thrilled. Thank you Eric! You can check out the Cadre Noir on both their website http://www.cadrenoir.fr/ (best viewed in French) and on Wikipedia. I'll attach some pictures.

Sailly/Vimy Ridge

On our way home we decided to drive home a day early, as we had a small, but significant objective. Before leaving Canada, I had several discussions with Mom and Dad about a relative of ours, Lewis Ward Love, who was killed during WWI. He was Mom's uncle. Dad had sent me some info about the cemetery he was buried in. Tom and I did some more research, and planned it into our last day in France.

We went as far as Compiegne on Friday night, a town just outside of Paris, awoke bright and early to a delicious French breakfast (although the hotel, I must admit, was nothing to write home about...) and headed for the small village of Sailly. The Cantimpre Canadian Cemetary sits in a farmer's field just outside of the town. The visit was moving. The obvious care that has been taken in the maintenance of the site was very impressive. But to see all of the headstones with young men killed before they had really lived was heartbreaking. And then, to know that one of them was related to you... I must admit, my eyes weren't watering because of the bitter cold wind. I was proud to be a Canadian standing there in that muddy, cold field. Even more proud to know that my children and husband were there with me. Those men died to preserve what we have, and I want my kids to know it.

After this, more personal, visit we headed off to Vimy Ridge. I'm not sure if you got a chance to see the footage of last year's anniversary ceremonies, but the monument to the Canadian Forces who died taking Vimy Ridge is large, thought provoking, and very humbling. On your way into the park, there are many pockmarked fields roped off with electric fences warning you of undetonated bombs. There are several large craters that are in no way natural. And to see the Canadian flag on every sign and flying high above you in that foreign place envokes a deep pride in our country. If you EVER have a chance to, go and see Vimy Ridge. We cannot forget.

Back to routine...

And after all of that, it was good to sail 'home' and sleep in our own beds. Tom started school today, and the kids go back tomorrow. Most activities are back to their usual routines this week too. We had an absolutely wonderful holiday, once again, and are looking forward to 2008. For those of you who haven't heard, Tom has been offered the CO's position at 424 squadron in Trenton, Ontario. He'll start there after his course has finished. We're very proud of this accomplishment, and will be happy to be back to the Quinte region. We were both posted to Trenton when we met, and Tom started his pilot career at 424. Life will have come full circle, in a way.

I hope this finds you all well...drop us a line when you get a chance.

All the best,

B