Hop On

SONG -  Scarborough Fair by Simon & Garfunkel 

Day 5 - Sat. May 4

Mr. B had read about the Antique & Flea Market that happens every Saturday in Bath so Saturday morning we decided to go check it out.  We had gotten up a little on the late side so we headed over to the market and found a shop just across the street to have a light lunch.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good poke around a flea market and it was delightful!  I found several small two-pronged silver forks that would be perfect for a charcuterie board and I got them for a song.

We then walked back towards the Abbey square but spotted a bright red HoHo bus parked right in front of us and we decided to hop on since my knee was barking at me. It was a perfect sunny afternoon to sit up top and enjoy the tour.  We were taken past all of the tourist stops in Bath - the Circus, Pulteney Bridge, Jane Austen’s home, the Assembly Rooms, etc., but I found other things that caught my eye  

There were narrow boats and flowers, advertising signs & chimney pots, people watching & quaint bridges with toll booths to be enjoyed  

Dinner that night was at a Mediterranean restaurant, Portofino Oyster Bar in old town which Mr. B thoroughly enjoyed - Sea Bass & Muscles!

Hope to catch you tomorrow!

Tarasque Creature - Day 19

Song - Under Paris Skies Medley by Lee Terry Meisinger

The first stop of the day was the Flea Market in Avignon.  Lots of fun things to explore!

 But the cutest thing I saw there......

 .....was this little guy riding in his mama's purse!

 As we worked our way to the car park under the Palace, we came across some Roman architecture dating from the 1st century. Above it now sits a clothing shop!

Mr. B is pausing to look at the Pope's Palace built on rocks and to admire a song being played by the man on the right with an accordion. The sounds bouncing off the stone walls was magical!

On the way to Arles we drove along the Rhone River past some more bright red poppies and into the town of Tarascon.

 We passed by the Chateau de Tarascon with cannonball holes in the top (so Mr. B informs me).  It is a well preserved castle on the Rhone that was built by the Anjous in the 1400's.

 And the statue of the Tarasque creature is nearby. We originally drove into Tarascon to see if we could find a Tarasque T-shit for Mr. B but no T-shirt shops that we could find! I did get a ton of photos of shuttered windows and beautiful ancient doors depicting the colors of Provence.

 After parking the car in Arles, we stopped for a bite of lunch sitting outside at the Grand Cafe Malarte and then headed into the ancient part of the city.

The Roman Theater

Arles Amphitheater

 We walked around the Amphitheater and enjoyed street music, lively shops and people watching.

Van Gogh lived over a year in Arles before his breakdown.

 Streets radiated out from the arena like spokes on a bike.

 And more photos of shuttered windows for me!

Unfortunately we had to leave Arles before we were ready as our hotel had made us dinner reservations and we had to be on time!

Once again an ancient city built on rock...........it just boggles the mind....well my mind anyway!

We arrived at the restaurant just as they were opening.  It was modern and chic.  Avenio is the ancient name for Avignon we later found out.

The staff was very friendly and the food..................was incredible!

Mr. B ordered a smoked haddock for his appetizer......

While I dined on an artichoke salad with Mangalica ham & Parmesan cheese.

For our main course I ordered the asparagus risotto with morels........mmmmm......

Mr. B enjoyed Iberian ham on seasonal vegetables topped with a saffron sauce.

Dessert was shared but I can't remember what it was......yikes!


I highly recommend making reservations here if you're anywhere nearby.  The chef Jerome Nolin worked for several Michelin star(s) restaurants before opening his own place in Avignon.  You can taste and feel his passion for food!

"Seize the moment.  
Remember all those women on the Titanic 
who waved off the dessert cart."
--Erma Bombeck
 

The Duke

Song - Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler

Do you know this man?  

I don't either but I found this photo yesterday in a shoe box on a shelf I was cleaning.

(I really should be painting)

The shoe box was full of post cards and old photo's totally unrelated to our family.

 I bought them at the flea market in Lake Tahoe several years ago.

And since this name and date were on the back of the photo.....

I Googled him.

 (I really should be painting)

His name was on the Harvard Autograph File collection, just several names down from Einstein's!

So I Ancestry-ed him.

(I really should be painting) 

He died at 60 of Typhoid Fever. I found his grave.

I learned about his parents, two wives, children and siblings.

(I really should be painting) 

So I wrote to several of his family members to see if they would like a copy of the photo and for them to be able to see if it really is him!

I got a reply.

They said that the brothers married Kramer sisters in NY and the sisters were instrumental in preserving George Washington's headquarters on upper Manhattan.

 

 

 (I really should be painting) 

Now I have sent them the photo and I'm ready to paint.

My work here is done!!!

"George Washington slept here" - J. Baird

Building a BBQ

Song - "I Love Lucy" opening theme

Beautiful day today and it made me think about grilling our dinner tonight.  But then the clouds came in and I decided to save the BBQ for another day. 

I have some old photo's and postcards that I have collected over the years from the Lake Tahoe Flea Market.  It is pretty "funky" but occasionally I find something to add to my collection.  Usually it is just fun to people watch.

Sisters? Friends? I love the laundry flying and how tight the woman in the back seems to need to hug the woman in the front.

This photo reminded me of the old "I Love Lucy" episode when she and Ethel build a BBQ.  Lucy loses her wedding ring in the cement and they have to take it all apart and put it back together (kind of) in one night.

"Lucy: Now Ethel, I'd do it for you if you'd lost your wedding ring. Ethel: If I lost my wedding ring, we wouldn't have to find it. We'd just have to buy another box of Cracker Jack"

Rocking in the Real World

June and Lily  - my two nieces' daughters
June couldn't love Lily enough...her very own baby doll!





Easter Sunday....thank you to my dear brother, Tim and my incredible (and I do mean incredible!) sister-in-law, Donna for having the whole Crawford gang over to your wonderful home and beautiful garden for a relaxing day.....well at least for the rest of us...it was relaxing! It is amazing how having a few young children around, lift your spirits and gives you that pause of wonderment! 

Calvin and Tim dropping the Pinata

 "April in Paris" Rose.....from Donna's garden

Dad, me & Tim all in pale yellow shirts (unscripted!)

I was greated upon my return, by my garden

with a wonderful bloom of Sweet Peas, Lilacs, Wisteria, Roses, Iris, Climatis, Dogwood......



Dogwood




Bearded Iris



                                                

                                                  Climatis



However, after being home for a week now, I need to say how much I miss my traveling buds, Jackie and Syd. Both sisters and wonderful, fun, intelligent, creative friends!  Jackie got a "bonus" burlap dress for buying two coats.  It reminded me of the "I Love Lucy" episode when Ricky, Fred, Ethel and Lucy are all in Paris and the two girls want a "runway" dress but the guys suprise them with "designer" dresses and hats made of burlap.  Well after a good laugh, we left it in Paris!

And Sydney with her Parisian Flea Market "deal" that she carried over her head to get onto the Metro, then

spent two days and probably quite a few Euro's to bubble wrap, tape and wrap her purchase for traveling.  She carried it to the airport and had to go to several "oversized luggage" desks to transport it home.  Luckly she had found a discarded box that already said "tres fragile" on the box!  So determined and sweet!  Thank you both for such great memories and great times!



Sydney after 30 hours of travel and still a smile on her face at the airport



Flea Market Day

After much planning and down dressing and security measures (no jewelry, hidden money & small secure purses, etc.) we took the Metro to Marche aux Puces de Saint-Ouen on Clignancourt in the 18th. Unbelievable!!! So much to see it was impossible to do more than a small portion in one day. We could go every day for a month and still not see it all. It was more like a little village than a flea market in the states. You walked down streets to get to the different areas of the Market. I found a nice etching & a Provencal plate. Jackie found beautiful linens and Sydney found several lithographs.....small and very large. Mmmmm....I wonder how large her suitcase really is? Next time we will need to order a shipping container!!!


"They say a reasonable number of fleas is good for a dog - keeps him from broodin' over being' a dog." - Edward Noyes Westcott

Then there were....

....other areas of the Flea Market that looked like Restoration Hardware!


Shopping Flea Markets Tradition

Flea market: And while we are on the subject of bugs… Have you ever wondered where this saying came from when you were out buying antiques or the “nearly new” already used items?

There seems to be a consensus among the educational intelligentsia that this phrase was a literal French translation. Le Marché aux Puces literally translates as “market of the fleas.” During the 1920’s American Art Deco period this was a popular place to shop in Paris. (French Art Deco was much earlier in the mid-1800’s.)