Charles Sings in Antwerp

We had a great trip up to Antwerp with Charlie and Anne to see our Charles sing with the AMIS Middle School Boys Honor Choir Festival. There were boys from international schools all over Europe and the Middle East (London, the Hague, Paris, Antwerp, Bilkent, Frankfurt, Beirut, Aberdeen, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Luxembourg, Munich and Zurich). They practised at home before gathering on the Wednesday to start rehearsals. The concert was given Saturday night. Charles had a great time and we loved the music. You can enjoy it too. Sorry the video is so small but the sound should be fine, especially if you plug in headphones or small PC speakers.

YouTube only allows videos to be 10 minutes long, so you have to watch the concert in chunks, scrolling down to see them each in sequence.

1. Welcome, Cantate Domino and A Song to You I Sing



2. Der Tanz, Homeward Bound, Toccata for Voices and Erie Canal


3. Mississippi Mud, Rainstorm, California Dreamin' and September


4. Encores: California Dreamin' and September

Ireland 3

Probably the last post from the Emerald Isle. We are doing laundry in Clifden, which means waiting for someone else to do it for us -- there is no "automatic" laundromat. It's OK. The weather, after being fabulous for a few days is now what they call "grand soft" (warm, windy and misty). So we've been hunkered down in a cute cafe and are now getting our email and blogging fixes.

As I said in my last post, we had a good visit to the village of Roundstone, our favourite area so far and where we'd look for a cottage in the future. The hill climb was just the right size for us. I didn't mention the spectacular header I did off the top of a 6 foot cliff landing on my back in a huge gorse bush. Thank god for backpacks otherwise I would have been a human pin cushion.

We didn't end up going to the Aran Isles yesterday as planned. We decided to stay closer to home and rode our bikes down to Cleggan where we caught the ferry to Inishbofin Island. It was about 30 minutes on the most beautiful, sunny day yet, making our way across the waves and being reminded of being in a much smaller boat on Georgian Bay.

On the way to the ferry, the thing happened that you'd think would happen more often. Just after a bus had passed us, we came around a corner and there it was, stuck trying to pass a truck. They were thoroughly wedged. We couldn't wait so we lifted our bikes into the neighbouring field and road around them -- keeping a watchful eye on the single cow and calf in the middle of the field hoping it really was a mom and not a dad!



The island was small enough that we easily biked all its roads in the 5 hours we had, even with an hour and a half on the beach (with a vicious sunburn to show for it). Small but beautiful, it was especially nice not to have too many cars about. The ferry is only for pedestrian and bike traffic. The cars are all very old and they obviously keep them going as long as they can, and mercifully there aren't many. So we have the roads mostly to ourselves, except for all the hikers. We even had about an hour riding off-road on sheep tracks. Very wonderful. We came back quite exhilerated.

Enjoy the photo album or slideshow.

Ireland Post 2

We just reached the end of our second week in Ireland. We're currently in a cottage in the Connemara region of County Galway. Just 10 km outside the town of Clifden (where there is a charming video and Internet store where I'm writing this post).

We finished off our week in County Kerry with a wonderful bike ride in Killarney National Park. There is a nice 10 km ride through the woods and the estates of an old abbey with a place to get lunch and tea looking out over the lake. Killarney is wooded and has several lakes linked together by meandering streams and is very reminiscent of the Canadian Shield landscape. The day was cool but mostly sunny and we had an easy but fun ride on a trail without cars -- gently undulating and curving like a good croos-country ski trail.

The following day we woke to grey and rain, but fortunately we were travelling. With windshield wipers engaged for most of the way we fought our way out of County Kerry and headed north for the Connemara. It is about a 4 hour drive but with traffic jams, lunch and shopping it took us about 7 hours. The traffic in Ireland is hard to believe. It seems as if the infrastructure is a bit overloaded. We took over 30 minutes to get through a small town that was a juncture for 2 major highways. We were lucky. The guys coming into the town from the opposite direction were lined up for miles. They must have taken over an hour.

The new cottage in Connemara is quite unlike the one in Kerry. It is relatively new, which means bigger and more windows. It is spacious and has lots of natural light, but not much in the way of charm. And the beds are hard (sore hips).

The first day we took it slow and mostly just walked to the beach and lazed the day away. Monday, we were more adventurous and drove over to Omey Island, only reachable by low tide across a sand bar. The day was glorious, the best yet, with lots of sun and almost no wind. We took a long walk out onto a peninsula into the Atlantic and found a sandy place to even go swimming. On my god. Very cold. Think Georgian Bay in early June.

Tuesday we went to the famous Kylemore Abbey (photo at top of today's post). For 33 years I've been looking at a photo of the Abbey on the wall of our cottage. I think it has finally rotted away. So I had to go and see it, if just to take a photo to replace it. The Abbey was actually built in the second half of the 19th century and is a bit of Victorian neo-something. From outside, up close, it's a bit overbearing, but it is quite nice inside. Now an abbey for Benedictine nuns, it was originally build by the heir of a Manchester cotton fortune. They had a lot of money, and even blasted a space out of the rock where they planted a formal Victorian garden that the state has been restoring since 1995. It will need some time to really fill in. I find it interesting the way the modern democratic states now fund the restoration of aristocratic follies. The place is now a major tourist center and probably provides local jobs and helps keep the nuns in cash, but it is a bit of an oddity all the same.

Today we drove across the "bog road" from south of Clifden. It is a vast bog littered with small lakes and very desolate. Lovely on a sunny day. We then went to the picturesque village of Roundstone where we climbed the local hill (3 hours with lunch). We had a lovely sunny afternoon and enjoyed it a good deal more than Carrauntoohil. But you'll have to wait for the photos until my next posting cause they're still in the camera.

Off to the Aran Isles with our bikes tomorrow.

See the photos or the slideshow.

Ireland Post 1

It’s taken us a long time to get to Ireland. For Catharine, who left over 30 years ago, it was a long overdue homecoming. For me, it has been a much-delayed return to my Irish Hamilton roots. And so, after 18 years of marriage, our children safely away in Canada – one working at camp (Alexander), the other doing the tour with relatives and a 2-week stint at the same camp (Charles) – we are here.

The trip from Paris was potentially fraught – an 18-hour ferry crossing from Cherbourg to Rosslare that could have been difficult if the weather had been bad – but everything was remarkably easy. The weather was sunny, the sea, calm. Other than a gentle sway to the boat and the vibration of the big turbines driving it, we could have almost been on land. We enjoyed a lovely evening and sunset from the deck; a good night’s sleep in a cozy little berth, and we woke the next morning to sunshine and big puffy clouds over the Irish coast.

Our first stop was Waterford, the home of the world famous crystal. Not a usual destination on the tourist’s itinerary, but it was lunchtime, we were hungry and it was a place to stop. As it turned out, it was an ideal starting point for our trip. There is an award-winning museum in Waterford that we visited, after a lunch of Thai fish cakes (a strange choice for our first meal in Ireland, perhaps, but much has changed here and it is as prone to international lifestyle trends as any other affluent Western country).

Waterford played a very important role in the early history of Ireland. Its key moment perhaps being during the reign of Henry II (husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Richard the Lionhearted – 12th century), when the overthrown King of Ireland, Dermott MacCourragh, invited Henry and the Normans to help him re-take his thrown. The key Norman knight who helped accomplish this was from Wales and named Strongbow. In exchange for restoring the Irish King, he wed his daughter in Waterford, and thus the Normans were established in Ireland, a century after they had conquered England. The Irish weren’t too keen on Dermott after that.

Our first day ended at a B&B in Cobh (pron: cove) on the Great Island at the mouth of Cork Harbour. This is where Catharine spent 5 formative years, leaving when she was 14 years old for England. Although she lived in Portugal, France and England before coming to Canada – now her home and native land – Catharine’s strongest childhood memories come from here. It was a very emotional experience for her to be in Cobh for two days. Especially with a visit, the first day, to Libby Heckett’s beautiful home, where she and Libby caught up on over 30 years of comings and goings of people that both had known in the early 70s when Catharine lived here.

We left Cobh the following day and took the circuitous route along the southern coast through Kinsale (quickly, because packed with tourists) and onto the Head of Kinsale where we peered over cliffs hundreds of feet above the ocean and watched the seabirds reeling and swooping in the air below us. From there we wove and wound our way over to Bantry where we had lunch and then did a quick tour of Bantry House. An 18th-century aristocratic home with a small collection of interesting European treasures, including some large Gobelins tapestries made for Marie Antoinette’s marriage and mismatched pieces of furniture that had been collected from all over Europe. The house was really the major attraction, with a magnificent view of the bay and some really lovely big rooms.

We then set off for our destination, Kilgarvan, outside of Kenmare, where we had rented a cottage for the week. We made the classic mistake of trying a shortcut on the map, which turned into a bit of a nightmare, as the road turned into a mountain track, barely one lane wide, with no guardrails and took us almost 3 times as long as we had planned. Of course, we survived without incident, but needed some hot tea and freshly baked scones (prepared by the cottage owners for our benefit) before we recovered our composure.

The cottage is delightful, a small stone structure that the owners restored. Low beamed living room with fireplace, a small but efficiently appointed kitchen, and two bedrooms and a bath (with shower) upstairs. All modern amenities and fittings, but with the stone showing here and there, it is a nice combination of old and new – and very cozy.

Since then we’ve spent our first three days hiking in the area. The first day, just up above the cottage, the second on the Beara peninsula, and yesterday, being very ambitious, a windy climb and eventually rain-soaked descent on Ireland’s highest mountain (Carrauntoohil, 3,000+ feet). For me, this was the completion of the four highest points of the British Isles, having done Snowdon (Wales), Skargill Pike (Lake District) and Ben Nevis (Scotland) 30 years ago on my first visit to the U.K. For Catharine, this was her first mountain ascent. It was the most difficult of the four, with the weather being nearly as bad as on Ben Nevis (in November). The wind knocked us off balance several times and we saw some water spouts on one of the lakes we passed. Fortunately, this time I had polar fleece and Gore-Tex, so it was much more comfortable. But after 6 hours of walking on shifting, wet rocks and mud, we were happy to arrive back at our cozy cottage for warm baths, hot tea, Guiness and several hours of Harry Potter – which we’re reading to each other.

The world has a way of reminding you that you are part a larger community, even when you’ve struggled to the top of a lonely, wind-swept aerie, far above it. We arrived to find an Irish couple crouching in the lee of a stone shelter, eating a snack before their descent. We chatted as the clouds blew in and the wind howled around us; they too were on a hiking holiday (although they were much more ambitious hikers, trying to bag every moutain over 3,000 feet in Ireland in one week); he too was testing out his new GPS navigation gadget (we compared notes); their children were also older and on holiday somewhere else; and both couples were reading the new Harry Potter book during our evenings. It was a bit like looking in a mirror, albeit an Irish one.

Watch the slideshow or look at the photos.

Tyson, Skateboarding Bulldog

This little guy was featured during the promotion for the iPhone and I had to do find out more. He is the star of the skateboarding bulldogs but, as with all stars these days, there are a number of me-too bulldog skateborders that are hot on his heels.

Here's another one of Tyson:

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The dream came to Paris last week. It wasn't quite midsummer's eve but almost. The students took this on without any help from the teachers. They directed it, made costumes, choreography, etc. It was very impressive.

Alexander was definitely one of those on stage who was actually acting and not reciting lines. He played a very dignified Duke of Athens with several long speeches delivered with obvious understanding of the English -- not always easy with Shakespeare -- and it made it much easier for the audience to understand as a result. We were very proud parents and heard many complements from friends who saw the performance.

See the photo album or watch a bigger slideshow than above.

Who's On First?

For those of you familiar with the famous Abbott and Costello routine, the title of this post will be immediately meaningful. For those of you who don't know it, you can see it on YouTube, because everyone should know who's on first.

But nobody knows it better than Charles, because he had to perform it live for three nights in a row when the Middle School of the American School of Paris put on their spring musical with Charles as one of the stars in a great ensemble cast of young actors. You can watch the first few minutes of it above.

They sang, they danced, they did comedy routines and commercial jingles from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

The first act was the 40s and they started with a radio show sponsored by Winston cigarettes ("singing "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should"), a Marx brothers routine, excerpts from War of the Worlds. We also heard the Chicita banana jingle and the Andrews sisters sang "Boogie, Woogie Bugle Boy," as well as Charles and Max doing "Who's On First?" (photo above).


Then we went to the 50s where Charles and Max sang the Everley Brothers hit "Bye, bye Love" (with Charles doing harmonies) and backed up a boy doing a credible imitation of Elvis, doing Blue Suede Shoes (the backup duo in photo above). A girl in Grade Six with a huge amount of poise and a great voice did "Teenager in Love." Charles and she later danced the jitterbug. We also saw Lucille and Ethel replaying the candy factory scene (also on YouTube if you've forgotten) and we had an impressive performance of "Johnny be Goode."


Then it was on to the 60s where it was all Woodstock, peace and love. We heard Deja Vu and several numbers from the musical Hair, including the closing number "Age of Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine". The costumes were fabulous as you can see above (spot Charles in purple with the beads). Watch the final number on YouTube.



We had a great time watching him and, despite some nerves, he really enjoyed doing it. And now we can have a performance of "Who's On First?" whenever we want with Charles doing both parts.

See all the photos on Flikr or view the slideshow.

An Afternoon at Chartres

Dawn split her visit this spring between her extended family in Paris and a week-long visit to Chartres Cathedral where she joined a group of like-minded souls in an exploration and meditation on Chartres. We were lucky enough to join her there at the end of the week and partake, if only briefly, in some of her energy and enthusiasm. It sounded like it was a wonderful experience.

For me it was the first time to the Cathedral and it is truly impressive. With the boys to goad me on, I climbed from the labyrinth to the spire and here are some of the photos I took -- none of which adequately capture the majesty and the mystery of the place, but nonetheless were my way of engaging with it as best I could.

View the slideshow or the photos.

The Roses of May

For the second year in a row, we have visited the rose and iris gardens of the Bagatelle. This year with Dawn during her visit to us -- and one month earlier than last year. And it was worth coming earlier! The roses were magnificent and the irises as well. These gardens were built by a Scot (of all things) named Thomas Blaikie, who began them during the reign of Louis XVI working closely with the Comte d'Artois (the funder), brother in law of Marie Antoinette.

The photos speak for themselves (view them or the slideshow).

Le Fief at Easter

In France, it seems that the Easter Bunny is not responsible for distributing the chocolate eggs, but rather the Bells of St. Peter's in Rome. However the magic happens, there was a garden full of colourful, foil-covered confections at Le Fief when we returned from Church (accompanied by some hurried scurrying about by Irena and Catharine) and we all got more than our fill of chocolate before Easter was over. Not to mention lamb, roast potatoes and champagne.

This year my mother joined us on our yearly pilgrimage to the Limousin to join with Michael, Irena and family. The weather was warm and sunny and felt far more like summer than the beginning of Spring. We all enjoyed as much time as possible being outside at the table or taking walks on the surrounding lanes and walkways.

Here are some of the photos I took and a slideshow of our weekend.

Dean-Day in Normandy

It was my pleasure to lead Dean back to the beaches of D-Day, where his uncle had landed and where so many fell. It was an emotional journey for us all, not without some fun along the way, but in the end a sobering reminder of those who gave their lives to free France and re-instate the values of fraternite, egalite and liberte to the land that first made them law.

See the photos or watch the slideshow.