Happy Birthday Jock?

Fireworks taken to another level!

Last note from France

Avignon

I just got back from spending two miserable days in Avignon. The first day, it rained with thunder and lightning which was all too close. I didn't want to be exposed so I got inside quickly.

After the lightning and thunder subsided, I did walk around but first I bought a cheap pair of shoes as I didn't want to ruin my good shoes walking in all the rain. With my new shoes and my Monaco umbrella, I walked up the "rue de la Republique" from my hotel to the "Palais des Papes". As I was a senior, I received the special entrance fee of 9 euros and for 2 euros more I received a headset to announce in English the guided tour through the chateau (or palais). To be honest, I was not impressed. The only thing of interest to me was the models and the description as to how the chateau was built. I am glad I did not live in that era when the chateau was occupied as it must have been very cold with all the stone walls, floors and ceilings. The only heating that I could see was a fireplace. (Maybe had I visited the chateau in the summertime when it is warm, my attitude would have been different. As it was, I was cold and a bit wet so that may account for my cynicism.)

After visiting the chateau, I had lunch at a little hole in the wall that was recommended. It was costly, but the cuisine was very good. How the French Chefs can take simple ingredients and make a presentation so beautiful and at the same time very tasty is a talent. When out and about, I spotted a high-end dining room and went in to make a reservation for Saturday Evening.  My luck didn't hold, they were full and wouldn't even consider me, a single. Besides, the dining room would not be open until 10 o'clock that evening. Hell! The time of 10 o'clock is my bed time so that was out. I had to accept something less. (When the French dine in the evening, it is generally at 8 o'clock.)

Sunday was no better. The sun was out but the winds were gusting up to 150 km/hr. It was cold. As a result, I didn't do much site-seeing. I did see the bridges over the Rhone even the one that only goes part-ways across. There were three Viking River Boats tied-up along the shore of the Rhone. This is obvious not the time to cruise the River Rhone.

The center of Avignon is not much larger than about a square kilometer or so and is completely enclosed by a very large wall. The city is very clean with "non crottes de chiens" as they have little boxes equipped with plastic bags (all free) for dog owners to help themselves and pick up after their dogs. There are also little containers to deposit the doodoos. Speaking of dogs, the breed of dog that I saw most was the "Jack Russell" type.

All the stores are closed on Sundays in France, even many of the restaurants. On weekdays the town squares are crowded with people, but on Sundays; it is the very opposite.  There is something that I can't figure out is the significance of the "carrousels" or merry-go-rounds in the town squares in France. I first saw them seven years ago in Strasbourg, now in Avignon and Montpellier and they all seem to be identical. Strange! Regarding town squares and pedestrian malls, I first saw also these in Strasbourg, Stockholm and Copenhagen. It seems to be common in Europe. Government Street in Victoria would be an ideal street to make into a pedestrian way. However; I don't think it will be happening in Victoria as the thinking in that city is too staid.

There are two things that I miss here in France and they are a "bran muffin and a good cup of coffee". I have searched a number of grocery stores for muffins. They just don't have them. The closest thing is a cupcake with lots of chocolate chips in it. The French love their chocolate. They sprinkle chocolate chips into all their desserts. As for coffee, their coffee tastes like "Nescafe Instant" and if you just say coffee all you get is a demi-tasse and pay twice what it's worth. Asking for "Cafe-Americane" is no better, but at least one gets a three-quarter size cup. They don't have mugs here. I thought by going to a McDonalds that I would get a decent cup of coffee but no, it was again the Nescafe in a demi-tasse.  Oh for a good cup of coffee! I should be thankful though as they do make good wine and cheese here.

Well I'm going to close now. My next letter, will be from Arbutus Ridge in Cobble Hill as I have only one more week of classes. By the way, not to brag; I have been moved up to a higher level class at the Institute.

Love

Dave

Motém

Happy Birthday Shannon

Feb 21, 1997

Easter Gathering

The Easter Gathering of the clan McKay will take place on Easter Sunday, April 5th at Follyhill, Woodlawn, ON starting around 10 a.m. It will be a brunch so that  those who need to get on the road can do so.
Bill and Wendy
The only address of the younger generation I have is Kevin’s so would you please forward the invitation to them.

Report from France

Dear Family Members

Well I thought I would take a trip to Monaco to see if I could find a rich widow for me to play Gigolo and help her spend her money. My plan was to watch for a lady with a dog in tow and make a fuss over the dog. It always works as I know at Arbutus Ridge I got to know all the dogs and dog owners that way. But alas, it was raining cats and dogs when I got there.  As a consequence, no one except a few hen-pecked guys whose wives said to take the dog out for a walk, in spite of the rain, were walking dogs. As an aside, the dog of choice in Monaco is a Bichon Frise or a West Highland Terrier. Anyway, my fool-proof plan was not to be. I'm still single and broke.

On Friday last, I took a train (great trains) to Nice and stayed at a newly renovated hotel (everything was ultra modern) close to the Nice station, too. That night, I lucked into a small but lovely dining room called the Angleterre. It reminded me of a dining room in Bristol, England that Irene and I visited some years past. A very appropriately dressed lady, whom I took as the owner, met me and gave me a table by the window where I could look out and at the same time and observes the other clients in the dining room. The first night I chose from the the à la carte menu and was not disappointed. The next night I chose from the table d'hôte menu where I had the choice of dishes from 18 or 30 euro. I chose the 18 euro one and wasn't disappointed. While in Monaco I had lunch at a small restaurant and wasn't disappointed there either. One thing that I noticed was that the restaurants are very loyal to the region that they are in as they only offer wines from their own region.

As I said before, it was raining in Monaco when I got there, and I discovered I had lost my umbrella. Fortunately, there was a shop within 100 metres where I could walk without getting too wet where I bought a replacement (One with the Clan Gunn Tartan). Since I couldn't find a rich widow, I decided to buy an all-day bus pass and tour Monaco that way. There are four bus routes there, all starting and ending at the train station. I rode every one and got off and on at various places to take a few photo shots. On one of my tours I saw a luxury yacht that was almost the size of one of the BC Ferries.

Monaco is built on a cliff so every thing has to be built into the cliff. Even the train
tracks into Monaco are tunnelled under the cliff or rather mountain. In fact the route from Cap D'Ail to Monaco is one continuous tunnel.  When one gets to Monaco you're underground and have to take an elevator to the station on surface. It's like in a mine, taking the skip up the shaft to surface.  I can't say enough about the stations in Montpellier, Marseille, Nice or Monaco. They sure put the Vancouver Railway Station to shame (for that matter, Toronto too).

Because everything is excavated into a cliff, it is necessary to employ plenty of ground support, where rock-bolts (rock-anchors to a civil engineer) screening and shotcrete. Being an old mining engineer, I was in my glory observing the methods of ground support utilized there in Monaco.

The streets are totally clean in Monaco and very well maintained. Because of the shortage of land, they build upward as there are many high rise buildings there. (All luxurious too.) There is a wee park (in a gulley) at the center of the town that caught my eye and I took a couple of pictures there. Oh by the way, the stores all seem to feature high-end goods. (Really lovely stores and lovely goods.)

When I got a back to Nice in the late afternoon, I walked around a bit there but not too far as it was raining. But the next day the rain had stopped for a while and I again resumed my exploration of Nice. Nice also has a good public transit system just like Montpellier.  Also, non aux crottes de chien (no dog shit) on the sidewalks. Nice must have some sort of an ordinance as all the dogs I saw were on a lease, where as in Montpellier dogs can run at large.

While on my little tour I passed a large church, it was the Basilique Notre Dame. When I went inside, mass had just started so I stayed and lit a candle for my "Lil Honey". I even took communion. Catholics don't go to confession anymore as the Confiteor said at the beginning of mass seems to be enough. The congregation in France sing the whole mass. The only time they stop is when they read the Lesson, the Gospel, the Creed and the Lords Prayer. Where in Canada, it is the practice to receive both bread and wine, in France the congregation doesn't get a taste of wine as the priest hordes it all to himself.

Oh, I finally figured out why one sees no parking meters here. There are little boxes where one buys a ticket to place on the car dash. We have the same here but the boxes are not little, they are big and they are more conspicuous.

Well that's enough of my ramblings,

Much Love to all my family

Dad or Dave or whatever.

Antigua: Vacation Judy and Rob

Another Family Artist

Motëm wrote in Tumblr:

I saw Cezanne’s paintings in real life at the art gallery in hamilton and i feel inspired to do some original paintings on my own in my own style, much like the motëm music, these will be unique works, not one else could do these paintings, only motëm’s brush shall grace the canvas, only motëm selections of colours will be selected uponst.

Miles Family Before and After

Click photo to enlarge 

Photoshop Elements

Kevin and Julie Donghee Shin at Niagara Falls

News from Montpellier

Hi Dear Brothers

I have composed a little update hoping that on receiving this I might hear from you fellows.

Yesterday was a busy day. I took my laundry to a laundry mat just around the corner from my apartment. I don't know the price that one pays in Canada but to me I thought the price to do two loads of laundry at $15 was a bit expensive. I also did a bit of grocery shopping where I bought a barbeque chicken just like back home at a farmer's market. (A very interesting place.)

I also booked a train ticket to Nice and a two nights stay there for the next weekend. While in Nice I'll take a train trip to Monaco. The locale train from Nice to Monaco runs every half hour. It's costly to go to Nice but while I'm here I should at least take a side trip and see some sites. Up and until now we have had lots of home work on the weekends but now it is slacking off. I'm not going to be bilingual when I get back. As for me at my age, it would take at least six months or a year to become fluent in the language. All I can do is make myself understood when I'm in the stores or at an agency that requires some information, like customs or the post office.

Last Friday, after classes a big German kid & I (they are all kids in my class, ranging in age between 19 to 35), we found an Irish Pub called the "Fitz Patrick" just around the corner from our school. I downed four pints (not bottles, pints) of Kilkenny Ale. I was pretty mellow after that. Oh by the way, I can buy a good bottle of wine for less than $5 and a bottle fair table wine for $3. I am eating Camembert cheese at $2 a pack like it's going out of style.

Saturday afternoon I went out to a very modern super shopping centre, it is acres big. That's where the arena rink is located at the far end of town. Like Kim (Richard's wife) said in her e-mail to me. From 2PM to 4PM there was a kid’s hockey practice...the ankle bitters (little guys 5 and 6 age) and the peewees (maybe 12 and 13).  One can see that the peewees have had little ice time as compared to Canadian Kids. Their skating is not as good and they don't know how to raise the puck. When they shoot the puck, it just slides along the ice and with not much speed either. Anyway, they all seemed to be enthusiastic which is what matters and having fun too.

I can't say enough about the tram service here. It's all welded rail with flange guards even on the strait-a-ways. It gives a very smooth ride. At every station there is a video showing when the next tram will arrive, so you know how long you have to wait. There is also a schedule posted that tells you when all the trams will arrive at that particular station. Believe it or not, they seem to be on time or maybe a minute out. It's fantastic.

The one knock I have about the people is that they don't respect their streets or sidewalks. They allow their dogs to doodoo on the street or side walk and think nothing about it. It's a good thing that the streets and sidewalks on the narrow streets are cleaned each day. On the wider streets the sidewalks don't get cleaned only the roadways, that's the problem. As everyone seems to smoke there are butts all over the place. The old part of the city is interesting and it's too bad that people use the street for a garbage dump.

High heal shoes and boots seem very popular with the ladies. Right now every one is bundled up as it has been a cold February, so it is hard to say what the latest French fashion is like. I had to buy a heavy jacket as the coat and sweaters that I wore in Cobble Hill were not warm enough.


Much Love From Your Young Brother

Wee Davie

Grandma, where's your rockin' chair?