FRANCE Next Year

Sue took me to Paris for my 60th - it's her 60th next year so I gave her the choice, diamonds or Paris.
You guessed it, we will celebrate Sue's 60th at a Paris restaurant.


Yes, that's us on my 60th birthday dinner delight in 2010.

Not much happened in "Melbourne - our Home by the Bay" this weekend. Well we did start the weekend with Friday night at a local restaurant, then a Saturday morning ride on Beach road - the normal "belt em up" ride. I'm really getting a bit too old for this stuff....But the coffee and chit-chat afterwards makes it worth while.

Anyway back to our planned trip next year.
After two nights in Paris and Sue's birthday dinner, we jump on the TGV to Marseilles for two nights before picking up a hire car.
Then we go to Frejus on the Cote d' Azure for a night before moving on to Vence in the hills behind Nice.



A painting by Paul Cezanne of Marseilles



The ruins of a Roman aqueduct near Frejus.



The village of Castellane where we spend a night before travelling through the Canyon Verdon.

I've always wanted to travel through the Canyon Verdon so we stay a night at Castellane before experiencing something we will remember for a lifetime.
We make our way to Aix on the Friday night before arriving in Saint Remy de la Provence. We stayed at the same villa in 2008. The owners, Josianne and Louie are perfect hosts and we have recommended many friends to stay there.


A street in Aix.

My daughter Carly and her partner Sharn will join us for the week so that we can share the sights and experiences from 2008. This time I hope to finally drive to the top of Mont Ventoux as opposed to riding there!!!



Sue looks out the window of the cottage in Saint Remy. Can't wait to say hello to our hosts from 2008.

After our week in Saint Remy in Provence, Carly and Sharn follow there own travels as we drive to the Loire via St Etienne, Moulins, Bellac for a night each. We stay in Chinon for two nights in the same B and B that we currently have been posting on "Wednesdays in France". Looking forward to meeting Helene and Jean Michel again.
After Chinon we are catching up with up with Carol and Michael, an expat couple from the UK who have a lovely cottage in Thenay not far from Pontlevoy. More about that experience in a future post on our 2009 Wednesdays in France. There are others we hope to catch up with in the Loire (you most likely read their Blogs - we do) before we head back to Paris for 5 days in an apartment to cook, eat and drink fine wine. We have friends in Paris that we owe dinner so that will also be an experience of seeing old friends.
Do you think this trip may be a time to meet and greet - we hope so.

Now we must ask you to offer us any advice on the "must see" things along the way. Be it sights, eateries, wines to taste, we will welcome your comments please.

SATURDAY SONG - Mixing it up with the Mixtures

Back in 1970, it was all flairs, long hair and platform soles - gosh it looks ugly now, but it was fun.
The Mixtures played around Melbourne and had a few hits, one being the Push Bike Song.
Two things I like about this clip from 1970 is that it shows Melbourne in a different era than today. The double road passes by the then newly built Saint Kilda Marina and then down Beaconsfield Parade in Middle Park to Port Melbourne. We  ride this route with Port Phillip Bay in view most weekends. The other reason to play this song is that it has bikes in it (Did I hear you say typical). I don't really like the song all that much but after 40 odd years, it does bring back a little whimsy.

Enjoy your weekend.

SAUMUR and the Cadre Noir

 Saumur and the Cadre Noir

Sue was pretty excited with the prospect of seeing a performance of The Cadre Noir at Saumur. She made me leave hours before the starting time so we had some time to see a little of Saumur, not enough, but some.

Saumur was just a little upstream from Chinon. We took the road that ran by the Vienne to where it joined the Loire river. Along the way we were amazed by several Troglodyte homes carves from the soft white limestone cliffs and ridges. We drove by the village of Montsoreau with its fine Chateau overlooking the confluence of the two rivers. It would have been a nice stop but Sue was on a mission - there would be no stopping until we reached Saumur.

We passed by Souzay-Champigny with its fine examples of further Troglodyte buildings and still no stopping but there in the distance, the Chateau of Saumur looked down upon us as we drove into the city. Guess what - we were early and so there was a little time to kill before driving out to the Ecole Nationale Equitation and the Cadre Noir. I needed some extra cash so we wandered the streets to find an ATM, then Sue finally relaxed and we sat in the sunshine with a cup of coffee with the Chateau rising above us. The buildings below in the old centre made the setting perfect. Yet just around the corner from where we sat was a much more modern Saumur that gave the impression that you could be in any regional business district anywhere in the world.

We sat with a coffee, taking in the local ambiance of Saumur in the warmth of the spring mid-morning.

With a little time to spare, we were able to discover some of the laneways in old Saumur.

On this visit we came across Cardinal Richelieu - we were to become more familiar with him later, but that's for another post.

A poster for an event this month - any readers going?



An early painting of the Cadre Noir

The sign the greets you in the lawns of the Cadre Noir

As we wandered about the grounds we could see the riders preparing the horses for the performance we were about to see.



In fact there was an audience - its just that Sue needed to be the first seated.

Alright, I was excited OK?
I'm not sure where or when I first heard about Cadre Noir, same as my excitement about seeing the Bayeux Tapestry. Having said that I probably learned about the tapestry in the early 60's in Primary School. In those days Australia still believed it's history was that of England, and that was taught. But, I digress.

Before I go any further I would like to apologise for any lapses of fact. I'm sure you'll forgive me if I'm wrong and go for the big picture!
Cadre Noir has military origins and continued that way until the 1970's when the French cavalry ceased to exist. They had a long, noble and well respected lifetime as a military force to be reckoned with.
The French Government then decided they would become an academic riding school and train future Olympians and world champions in equestrian skills...which they have!
Cadre Noir means of course (in Australian) "mates in black" The members wear the famous black uniform, while their students wear blue.
My French sadly lacking, I had been dreading the phone call to book our seats for the performance. The phone is the harshest way to demonstrate inadequacy in language! Our gracious hostess, Helene from Chinon did that for us, so after that all was plain sailing.
The equestrian centre is about 6km from Chinon in a forest.....I can't begin to tell you how my nerves were tingling. As we got closer there were many very handsome horses in the fields beside the road.
Arriving there I was thrilled to see there was an outside ring where they warmed up the horses, practised, whatever, and where you could stand close as you liked! Oh joy! 
Don't worry, Leon didn't get it either.
I probably should explain, that a large part of my wasted youth was spent on horseback, and I didn't stop until I was pregnant with our elder son and not allowed to ride! It was a way I decided if the guys I went out with were good enough to keep for a while! Leon passed....although he never stopped shaking and saying that he just wanted to walk on the "thing"!
So, in we finally went. What a huge indoor auditorium. Apparently seats 1500 people. Was almost full too.
The performance probably lasted for an hour and a half, but for me it seems to flash past in minutes.
They showed the abilities of the horses both on a long rein (with the handler on the ground beside them) and as ridden horses. They also at times had the horses performing together as a troupe.
Highlights for me:
 The long rein activities were performed to the strains of classical music in the background. As much ballet as horsemanship.
They maintained and emphasised their military  background, by bringing tables and chairs to the middle of the arena, setting them up and then the horses jumping them in various combinations. NOT something to see in normal dressage or jumping competitions, but a reminder that these horses were to be trained to overcome all obstacles.
Airs above the ground. OMG
Lawrence I hope you're reading this, cos I have no doubt I'm boring the crap out of everyone else!
Well.....I guess you could say I had a good time. I would very much like to go back again next year, but it's all a matter of timing. They have a limited number of shows per year and we were very fortunate to be there at the right time.
Seeing Cadre Noir was a huge highlight of my trip in 2008.

Leon back again.....

Since returning from our 2008 trip we discovered a Saumur bubbly - its very nice but its the pleasure linked  to our memories of experiencing Saumur. Who knows, but we enjoy our Friday night start to the weekend with a glass of Saumur Brut.

BAYSIDE HOUSE PRICES

A comment from one of our regular readers, Nadege on the West Coast of the US mentioned she saw a house in Hampton, a bayside suburb not far from us with a price tag of one million dollars plus. Yes that's not uncommon in certain areas but there are affordable houses in Melbourne for 1st home buyers. It just depends on where you want to live.

When I was young (Oh! is that me talking) we just wanted to start home ownership. No big screen TVs, not even carpet on the floor. That was our first house which was about 12 miles from the CBD of Melbourne way out in the northern suburbs. The first morning we woke to the sound of cows, horses and magpies.

The second house was in Mentone and yes, we are still there after 30 years. Its a great area and we truly love being here. Its only a short drive or long walk to the beach from our home on the bay.

OK, here's the deal - we bought in 1992 at $47,000 back then and we have no idea what it may be worth today - possibly in the $700,000 plus but who's counting?

We are about a kilometre there abouts from the beach and most probably on the wrong side of the railway tracks but its still a really nice street we live in. After 30 years neighbours come and go but really not so many in our street. That says something doesn't it?

Mentone took its name from the French town of Menton (on the border of France and Italy) which sits on the Cote d'Azure.We stayed a night there on our first (2006) visit to France.

Back to House Prices in Melbourne - shall we concentrate on our local area? Why not?

From Mentone, further around the bay towards the city of Melbourne there are the suburbs of Beaumaris, Sandringham, Hampton (the one that Nadege mentioned) and then Brighton. I don't think we need to go further for this post.



This house is on Beach Rd near where Sue's brother and sister in-law live. It blocked out their view of the bay when it was built. It is currently being advertised for $1.6M. What the buyer will not know is that there were some issues on the build quality at the time. I remember it being built from styrene blocks infused with concrete. Some work needed to be redone.



But you will wake each morning with glorious views of Port Phillip Bay. These are the views the builder stole from Sue's rellies.



This little cottage on Beach Rd is a real steal at just $1.6M.



Just the next suburb on at Hampton, this little number was just over the $1m.



I did find this Hampton town house - brand new for under $1m.



This Sandringham house didn't have its price disclosed
but it certainly would be around $1.5m



Brighton a little further down the road from Sandy and Hampton has this house for sale - who knows how much it will go for! Very French Provincial.



Still in Brighton - maybe you don't need servant's quarters and a 5 car garage, then this older style 2 bedroom apartment in this exclusive suburb might be more to your liking. It's advertised from $480k to 520k.





So if you're thinking of moving to the "World's Most Livable City" then you might like to have a little search of your own. Not all houses sell in the $1m bracket but it is getting harder for young couples to find affordable homes in bayside suburbs. They can buy a new home and land packages in the outer suburbs from $350k plus. Maybe they would like to renovate an older home or prefer apartment living closer to the inner suburbs. Home ownership is the dream of most young Australians but renting sometimes their only option.

 http://www.domain.com.au/?mode=buy



WORLD'S MOST LIVABLE CITY

One of our regular blog readers, Craig congratulated us being voted the WORLD'S MOST LIVABLE CITY. We sometimes take things for granted - we know how livable Melbourne is, especially in our "Home on the Bay" area. This doesn't stop us from admiring and experiencing other cities even if it is through our fellow bloggers.

How many of you out there have been to Melbourne and what were your experiences, good or bad? Let us know, leave a comment.

More for your interest here.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/melbourne-judged-worlds-most-liveable-city-20110830-1jjaq.html