Life has a way of sneaking up on you while you're not paying attention. Some weeks just pass by like I'm treading water, and other fly by because they are chock full-o-activities. Since I really don't have any direct purpose here, I thought I'd just dump a load of random thoughts on the blog today.
Such as...the Ville de Luxembourg keeps bees!
First, what's up with the Amy Peohler category on my Google News home page? I know she's super talented, probably the most cerebral person on prime-time TV and cute as a button, but I can't for the life of me figure out why she's been a sub-heading for two months now? I assume this is the same for you folks back state-side. Unless someone broke into our apartment and tinkered with my settings, I am baffled.
This weekend (June 22 & 23) marks the Luxembourg's official National Day. Big celebrations are planned to celebrate the Grand Dukes birthday as well as the Ville's 1,050th year in existence. Apparently it is a huge street party all day long on Saturday with Sunday serving as a day of reflection (aka sobering up). I'll try to get some pics, but the real revelry doesn't begin until midnight Saturday...stay tuned.
Ah, Christian, my wonderful Luxembourg friend...and my personal translator, language coach (although sometimes I just want to wring his neck...in a nice way, of course) and ambassador to all things Luxembourg. I finally have some photos for you. Christian was born a Frenchman, but renounced his French citizenship for that of Luxembourg. He must really like Luxembourg because this is apparently a rather serious thing to do - according to many other French people I know. Anyway, he recently he took me over to Belgium to a nice restaurant that used to be a priory for the local monks. Afterwards we popped over to the Orval Monastery, and I was able to get him to smile for the camera (yet another thing many French find challenging).
...and here's Paloma & Christian at the Orval Monastery with a big smile!
Christian also recently purchased a new apartment with about a 1/4 acre lot. Having never kept a garden nor mown a lawn, life in the suburbs is about to get interesting for poor Christian...or should I say poor suburbs :) I just couldn't resist the opportunity to snap this shot on the maiden voyage of the Tondeuse Verte.
If you haven't heard the latest Daft Punk single, you must be living in a cave. It is rather fun, and without it I would not have heard this next gem. What I enjoy about the radio here is that many of the stations are run like college radio. That is to say, they play many of the hits, but every once in a while the DJs are allowed to deviate from the 12 records in their box. Please enjoy...keep an eye on the male violinists eyes ;-)
And finally, here are some uncategorized photos that I think are quite fun.
Toby sitting patiently at a French Bistro...I know, he amazes me sometimes, too!
When my folks were here I ordered the 'Melon Salad with Porto' one afternoon, and this is what I was served!
Yeah, an entire Cantaloupe filled with Port wine? Rather tasty but absolutely confusing...and huge!
Jojo spotting a cat on the neighbor's balcony...
...and write your own caption here; _________________________________________.
It may be a small thing to most in the cycling community, but to have world class cyclists fly down my street in the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg was quite the thrill. Because we are always home-town fans, Jeni and I support the Radioshack-Leopard-Trek team. The owner is Luxembourgish, and of course Fränk and Andy Schleck currently race for the squad. Unfortunately neither Fränk nor Andy were in this year's tour, but, nonetheless, it was a good race for Radioshack-Leopard-Trek and for Luxembourg! The 2013 Tour de Luxembourg consisted of four stages throughout the Grand Duchy as well as a Prologue Time Trial through the city center. Unless the city hosts a Grand Prix this may be the fastest anyone will ever navigate the streets of our lovely Ville. After the prologue the riders lined up from best time to 'worst' time, and then set off from the center of town at the Place Guillaume II. They really just went around the corner to their buses and were driven to the official starting point just outside the city limits :)
Befitting a race in Luxembourg, the skies were nice and overcast for the start at Place Guillaume.
On your marks...
...get set...
...and GO! It really was an anticlimactic start to the race, but that dude in yellow, Jimmy Engoulvent of France, was the winner of the Time Trail.
So there I was at the beginning of the race. I was so close to the riders as they came through, I thought my camera might knock into them as they passed.
Bob Jungels - a Luxembourgish rider for Radioshack-Leopard-Trek (RLT) - heading for the start.
The boys from the hometown squad of RLT did very well, indeed. Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA) won the second and third stages and Bob Jungels (LUX) won the fourth. Bob's win on the last stage had him momentarily in second place overall, but he was docked 10 seconds for breaking some arcane cycling rule.(?) Here's the quote from the official website;
"The initial complaint of Jungels receiving a track-style hand sling from
teammate Danilo Hondo was awarded a 10-second time penalty as well as
200 euro fine, but he was allowed to keep the stage win. The time
penalty took Jungels out of the white jersey as best young rider and off
the final podium."
The winner of the 2013 Tour de Luxembourg with the best cumulative time was German rider, Paul Martens of team Blanco Pro. I just read that his bike was stolen when he went up to the podium to receive his trophy! My what a crooked town we live in! HaHa!
Now, to set the stage here is a picture of the front of our apartment building.
...and here is Bob Jungels racing by on the final lap of the race through the Ville.
Yep, that's our trash in that bin!
How Exciting for us!!
Finally, here is a brief video I took. I believe this was lap two of five. Please ignore the rube at 52 seconds...please.
Oh, where to begin. Since my last post, I've been to the Burgundy region of France to look at a garden project, play poker and drink fabulous wines. Also, Jennifer came home for ten days of "rest and relaxation"...which she would have had if we weren't running around with my awesome parents - who, by the way, were our first official guests from the States. Seriously, after visiting London and Paris, my folks (aka Rich & Judy) hoofed it all over Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium with us! Well done Mom and Dad on your tour of major European capitals!! - Yes I am including Luxembourg City as a major capital.
Rich & Judy in Luxembourg
Locally, our Grand Duchy also hosted the Games of the Small States of Europe (sort of a mini-Olympics for the tiniest of nations - e.g. Lichtenstein, San Marino, Andorra, Iceland, etc). Everyone gets a trophy and an orange! There have also been numerous music festivals, and perhaps most noteworthy is the Tour of Luxembourg bicycle race that will end with five laps through the Ville...including five passes right along our street!
Street scene in Culles les Roches
Burgundy - Bourgogne in French - is a fantastically rural region in the east of France. Capped with the city of Dijon in the north and Lyon to the south, this part of France is famous for its wines and its gastronomy. Burgundy did not fail on either account. The charm of Burgundy's rustic villages is exactly what you would imagine, and our neighbors, Tom and Oivi, just happen to own a home in the cutest of villages called Culles les Roches(yes that's correct - there are 187 +/- residents in the town). Culles les Roches is so small that we had to drive 5 km just to find a bakery...supermarkets are another story entirely. Tom and Oivi have been renovating their stone house which was built at the turn of the century, and they asked if I would like to pop down to see their garden space. Uh - yeah, duh? Words can't describe how beautiful their home and its village are, so I will just show you some of my photos. The garden plans are coming together, and I will keep you posted on events as they develop.
The sleepy little village of Culles les Roches
Tom and Oivi's place...did I mention they were kind enough to let me bring the dogs?!
What an amazing canvas! Framed with a dry-stack stone wall, and...
...a small stream. Complete with the original Bain Lavoir!
After my jaunt to France, I raced home to retrieve my lovely wife at Luxembourg's airport. Needless to say I was absolutely ecstatic to see Jeni after three months apart! Jeni and I had a couple of days together, and then my parents arrived on the train from Paris. We spent the next several days exploring the region. Because Luxembourg is so centrally located, we were not only able to see the highlights of the Ville de Luxembourg, but we also traveled to Trier, Germany then up to Vianden in the north of the Grand Duchy as well as Brussels, Belgium..whew!
We made our rounds in a rental vehicle I dubbed 'The Land Whale'. Now, I reserved a mid-sized sedan (think Toyota Camry), and when we went to pick it up the car I was informed that we were to receive a Ford Galaxy. I interpreted the slight smirk from the clerk as, "oh, Monsieur, look at the upgrade we gave gave you." Looking back, I now realize that she knew what my initial reaction would be...try navigating the narrow streets of European city's in this thing! Certainly roomy...
My parents visit was brief but a lot of fun nonetheless, and Jeni's stay at home was far too short. The weather was perfect - note the blue skies and puffy clouds! Overall we had a great time, but we only scratched the surface of the many sites, sounds and tastes the cœur vert de l’Europe has to offer. Here's a short photo-postcard of our whirlwind tour.
We started in Trier, Germany. Rich & Judy at the Porta Nigra
