More unwanted visitors = Aug 2013

Just to catch everyone up on what has been going on in Algiers....we were robbed in August during the night, while we were sleeping in the house.  Thank God we are fine and they only took stuff.  We can replace "stuff".

I woke up one Friday morning (which is our weekend) to notice that some things are out of place by the bathroom.  I woke Kirk up to ask him if he had gotten up in the night to move anything.  He jumped out of bed knowing something was amiss.  We realized, as we woke up more fully, that someone had been in the house.  We went to call the embassy and realized all of our cell phones had been stolen.   We used our radios to make contact and had security here within 10 minutes.  We checked all the doors and windows only to find out they were all secured and locked....no broken glass, no tampered locks.

The local police showed up which was quite a show (think Inspector Clouseau from Pink Panther!!)  The police kept questioning us like we were making it up!!  They couldn't understand how there was no damaged locks or windows.  I have never seen so many people in our tiny apartment.   They had their version of CSI come in.  I was cleaning up finger print powder for days!!!  The thieves got away with my laptop, jewelry, cell phones and iPods.  It was so unnerving to know that someone was in the house and we had no idea.

Thank goodness most thieves are stupid and the police were able to locate them by tracking my Blackberry.  They arrested 2 Algerians who apparently had lots of keys and stolen merchandise in their house.  They were targeting our neighborhood and had somehow gotten keys from the hardware store to enter residences.  They will spend 3 years in jail. 

We are finally getting bars and grills on all our doors and windows.  They have reinforced the doors with slide bolts from the inside until the grills are all installed.  They are also fortifying the outside perimeter wall, making it higher and adding concertina wire.

Never a dull moment!

Paris July 2013 Part 2

We drove from Normandy back to Paris and spent a wonderful 2 days near the Eiffel Tower.  We walked miles!!  We found the most wonderful sidewalk cafés where we had some great food while enjoying several bottles of wonderful French wine.
The weather was hot and we really enjoyed walking along the Seine River.  We took a night cruise and took in the "City of Lights".

Holding Paris in my hand!

                                                             Nice "hat" Kirk!  :)

Outside the Louvre museum.

The Eiffel Tower all lit up at night with twinkle lights! 

It looked even prettier in person (especially after a few glasses of nice French wine!!)  LOL

Notre Dame

France July 2103 - Day 2 - Omaha Beach Normandy

Our second day in Normandy was spent in awe at Omaha beach and the American cemetery.  We both have a fascination with World War II history.  This day was unbelievable.  We spent the morning at the American Cemetery, where they have a wonderful museum that gives all the history of the war, with wonderful displays and documentary movie clips.  Then we made our way into the cemetery.  Wow.  I find it difficult to put into words the feelings I had.  If you have ever been to Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC, you will know what I mean.  The sheer volume of pristine white crosses is almost haunting. 

 

After we explored the cemetery, we made our way down to Omaha Beach.  It is not commercialized.  It is an enormous beach, comparable to Daytona Beach in Florida.  When we walked out onto that beach and I thought about all the troops that disembarked and fought their way across that enormous beach, dodging artillery and wicked looking German beach obstacles and mines, I felt my stomach flip flop.  My heart broke for all those men that stormed the beaches of Normandy that day.  I felt sad, angry, grateful, proud...all at the same time.  I went down to the water and looked back up the top of the hill, where the cemetery is, and thought how impossibly far it looked.  I thought about all the blood that was spilled by that greatest generation.  It was a very humbling and reverent morning.

 

We found a wonderful little restaurant on the beach and enjoyed our lunch at the beach. Then we got in the car and drove down the coast through charming small towns.  We saw Utah Beach, Juno Beach, Gold Beach and Sword Beach, a man made port used during the war and all kinds of old churches and buildings that were destroyed by bombings but have been since rebuilt.  They had photos of what they looked like before the war, during the war and after the war.  We stopped a few more places and saw trenches and foxholes and tunnels used by the Germans.

Manmade port at Juno Beach

Foxholes and tunnels.

 

 

 

 

 We ended the day at Pegasus Bridge, where the British gliders landed to take out strategic bridges to ensure the Germans couldn't advance.  This is the preliminary strike before our troops took the Normandy beaches.

It was a day full of history, emotions, beautiful weather, charming French villages and wonderful goodies found at out of the way bakeries.

We also realized how good it was to drive again.  It made us realize how restrained our lives are in Algiers.  We felt free and it felt good! 

 

 

France July 2013 - Day 1 - Etrétat and Houlgate in Northern France (Normandy)

After planning the 4th of July official event for the embassy, I was so ready for a break!  Kirk planned a wonderful weekend in France.  We flew into Paris at night, rented a car the next morning and drove to Normandy where we spent 2 wonderful days!   We stayed in this place, where we had a small apartment with a balcony (where we enjoyed wine, cheese and baguettes)!

 

We spent the first day in Etrétat, where we explored the archipelagos (natural arches).  We hiked up to the top of each arch. 

 

                               It was VERY windy this day!

This is the village, nestled in the small cove.

This beautiful old church and the pasture of lazy French cows were at the top of one of the arches.

 

  The beach is not sandy but made of smooth stones.

There was a really big cave that we walked into to explore. 

We felt like pirates searching for booty!  Arrrggghhhhhh!

 

 

 

 

After our day in Etrétat, we drove to a small village called Touques on our way back to our hotel.  My relatives have traced our family tree back to this small French village in the 1600's.  The church is where one of my ancestors, Marthe Rainville, was baptized. 

Some of these buildings have been standing since the 11th century or earlier! 

It was an amazing afternoon of exploring and seeing so much history.

The view from our room in Houlgate.

This is the sunset from the beachside restaurant where we enjoyed a leisurely

French meal and a lovely bottle of wine.

 

 

Alicante Spain May 2013

Memorial Day weekend was spent in Alicante, Spain.  It is in the region known as Costa Blanca (the white coast).  We enjoyed 4 days of sun, relaxation and good food!  It is a quiet beach town, much smaller than Barcelona but we enjoyed it very much.
Here
 are some photos from our trip:

The sidewalks on "Las Ramblas", the main street near the beach.  These were a little challenging after a couple of sangrias!!  Actually, even sober, they messed with my mind!

 



Me Tarzan...

You Jane!

 

 This is the view of the Castillo Santa Barbara from outside our hotel (way at the top of that hill).  We hiked to the top one day and had some beautiful views.  It was a great day hike and we worked off some of the great food and wine we had been enjoying!

The view from the top, with the Spanish flag flying behind us.

 

  Sunset at the beach, right outside our hotel.

 

On our way to dinner.

Frankfurt, Germany

We took a long weekend at the beginning of May and flew to Frankfurt, Germany for some relaxation and "normalcy".  It was fabulous!

We stayed at a hotel outside the city, using the trains, trams and metros to maneuver around the city.  It was so nice to be able to use public transportation.  Once we figured out a few German phrases, we were able to get where we needed to go!  We walked all over the downtown area.  Frankfurt is a very large, modern city.  We shopped, ate, ate and ate!!  There was a street festival going on in the "old" part of downtown.  We ate brats, potato pancakes with applesauce, fried potatoes and drank LOTS of German beer!!  I am not a big beer drinker by nature. I drank more beer in that 4 day weekend than I have in 5 years!  LOL  It was so good!

We found amazing German restaurants each evening. I ate every type of schnitzel available!  SO GOOD!  In Frankfurt, they serve it with a cold green sauce (made with sour cream and about 9 different green herbs).  I also had jager schnitzel and wiener schnitzel.  YUMMMMMMMM!! Kirk had pork medallions in a creamy mushroom sauce, german potato soup with sausage.  There were lots of American fast food options also but why eat fast food when we could experience the local cuisine at its best!! :)

We relaxed, we slept in, we enjoyed shopping and exploring and we even saw a movie!  It is the little things you miss when you don't have them.