Review: L'Appart

L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ah, an apartment in Paris! How lovely! Or maybe not...
David Lebovitz has a way with words. Maybe it was the thought of an apartment in Paris that grabbed me, but he even had me listening to recipes, with pleasure (and I don't cook!). Equal parts appalling and amusing, follow David as he buys and renovates an old flat in Paris. OMG! This should be MANDATORY reading if you are even thinking of doing the same. I swear you will be too frightened to do it, which is probably a good thing. For someone like me, however, I learned a lot more about the quirkiness of Paris, Parisians, and the French. Nothing is as simple as you can imagine. An enjoyable light read.

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High Tea at Butchart Gardens

On a recent November day, we headed off to Victoria's Butchart Gardens - now one of Canada's National Historic Sites - for High Tea.
This was a special occassion, as all four of us where there together. Here are mom and I after our repast, which is served in the Dining Room, in the original Butchart family residence.

My sister and brother and brother may look like they are sitting outside, but that's just a really clean window. Great views of the gardens from here.

For each type of tea we had at the table -- it was the only thing we had to choose -- comes with it's own teapot (we had 3 types between the 4 of us), and individual straining devices. The teas were truly lovely.

And the food, ooh la la!! High Tea is what is served here in the winter, and is more robust in it's hot foods than the Afternoon Tea served in the summer. And, how scrumptious! We began with to-die-for candied ginger scones, followed by hot delicacies (we each got a cornish pastie, quiche and vol-au-vent), then a selection of sandwiches and savouries (4 types, and 4 of each, tho there was some trading off for favourites!), and finally the sweets. Ooh la la indeed! All of this, including the tea, is served for $26.65/person.

My sister and I also ordered the Backyard Flight of 3 wines, modestly priced at $12.95. How decadent to sit there sitting champagne! If you go, keep in mind that you need to pay for admission to the gardens to get in. In our case, we were treated on this occassion by my brother, who was, in turn, invited to High Tea as guests of the owners, with whom he has recently done some work. Lucky us! But for the quality of the food, and service, and the environment, the High Tea was good value and I would definitely recommend it.

From our table, we could see this statue of Mercury in the gardens (above).... and the water of Tod Inlet beyond, near Brentwood Bay (below).

There were still lots of autumn colours in the gardens...

My sister took this awesome picture of this not-so-green greenery.

One of the chandaliers.... ... and some of the old stained glass windows in the building.We didn't spend a lot of time exploring the gardens further on this visit, but we all wanted to come back for more. My brother and sister hadn't been there before, and my mom and I were unable to remember how long ago it was that we had been there together (20 years?!?), so I am sure we will be back. People travel here from all over the world to visit the gardens, so living 20 minutes away in Sidney does make it a must see! Thanks bro :-)

Sidney moments

Just a few pics and reflections and random moments from life here in Sidney.
This is what happens to a Red Bull can if you put it back into the fridge half-full with clear plastic wrap over the top. Thought it was so cool. My sis took this and the next pic.

Me as Red Bull Misty Done Girl in the backyard in the days before the plumbing saga began. Ah, the quiet before the storm....

Backyard moon.

Two birds. One economic action plan project here. Your tax dollars at work. Mine too.

This is what they are up to: an upgrade to Lochside Drive. It's one of my fav spots, where one can just park the car and sit and watch the water. Or get out and walk. It is rough and unfinished dirt now for the parking, and a sidewalk. They are apparently paving the parking, and putting in a new retaining wall, upgrading the walkway. It is good, I suppose, but it's rather a bother that it's not so enjoyable while they work on it.

A recent outside breakfast at my fav breakfast spot, Beacon and Eggs.

One of the local residents.

The local movie house, Star Cinema. I haven't been to a movie there yet myself, but it's apparently a great little theatre. Looking forward to going there in the fall.

This gives you a sense of the pace around here. My sister calls it a sleepy little town. I think that describes it well.

LOVED this sign, found on a telephone pole on a walk into town. I think it says a lot about the community here.

A few other random reflections:

• Fall here is beautiful... when the sun shines
• It can cool off quickly here, our house is just steps from the ocean - there is a nice ocean breeze
• When it rains here, it sure can RAIN!!! We are thinking it would be a good idea to get the roof on the sunroom fixed before winter....
• Our mailman wears one red sock and one blue sock

I don't have much more brilliance today. It is time to doodle....

In the Big Apple: Little Places, Little Pics - Part 1

Yesterday I checked into hotel #2 of my trip (as my friend Kelly went home yesterday ;-(. As I am trying to do NYC somewhat frugally, I decided to go out on a limb and do something different. Rather than get myself a 4 star hotel for cheap on Priceline (which I've done several times and scored big time for as low as $100/night), I decided to go for a place with shared bathroom (I know, the world stays in hostels and I haven't stayed in a place with a bathroom down the hall since my early 20's... heh). So I selected the The Pod:
This is me welcoming myself to my single room. It has a little nook with a teeensy sink (nice!), so of course I had to ham it up with the mirrors and my camera. It seems here like my room goes on foreeeeeever!

I got my pod for $89/night. I suppose I picked good dates and booked far enough in advance that I was able to get this rate. I think it's good value... hotels in NYC are expensive!

There are only two toilets per floor, but I'm not sure how many rooms on my floor use them. I've not yet had difficulty getting access. The bathrooms are spotless and very chic. The shower has one of those rain showerhead thingees, and even sideways sprayers - cool. As a handy aid, you can look over your door to see if there's a loo that's free.

On the back of your door, you get instructions on how to set up your bed:

And everything you want to know is in this handy little printed guide. Nice. So much better than some big clunky binder. Oh, almost everything you want to know.... there is apparently a rooftop deck, but I haven't figured out how to access that yet and the booklet is mum on that point.

I was very lucky to find they had my room available when I arrived at noon. I am on the 12th floor and have a corner room, so there are windows on both sides. It's very small, but actually bigger than the stateroom I just had on a cruise, and so well designed that it doesn't feel tiny. It comes complete with an iPod docking station (listening to George Harrison right now), free wifi, flat panel tv and a safe. And a hair dryer, if you're a person who needs that kind of thing. There are drawers under the bed.

View looking towards the door. The TV wall, and a view of the long sleek work surface/desk below the window.

Even with the shutters closed, the room is very bright!

And you can even open the windows! But with the heat wave, one is more inclined to keep them shut and enjoy the very good air conditioning. Though it is cooler this morning, and I had them open for a bit just to get some fresh air.

Looking out.

Looking down. Loved how this person claimed a little corner for a rooftop deck.

So far, so good, on the shared bathroom thing. It's a bit of a pain in the middle of the night, but it's really no big deal. Though when I heard some drunks in the hall late at night I wondered how I'd feel out there in my nightie with just my room card and a towel... and had a moment's inclination to switch to a room with a private bath... but feeling fine about it this morning.

The hotel is rather chic, and has very interesting art in the hallways and some nice shared spaces. I'll be sure to snap more pics as the days progress.

I had meant to continue this post... but Blogger was having a "moment" and I had to split this into two. Feel free to go onto Part 2 to read about the rest of my day yesterday, when I had food at another neat little place, saw a photography exhibit, learned about pinhold photography and met some new friends.

In the Big Apple: Little Places, Little Pics - Part 2

Continuing on from Part 1 of this post.... When I went out from my Pod later in the day, I eventually ended up here, in the back garden at Trestle on Tenth (which their website describes as a Swiss style brasserie) in Chelsea.
Looking up from the deck. It really was lovely. The day had cooled enough that it was very pleasant in the shade, with the cicadas occassionally singing.

It turned out to be an excellent choice, although we had simply stumbled on it, searching for cold beer in the heat of late afternoon. I had been to an exhibition at the Robert Mann Gallery, with Matt and Ian, two guys also staying at The Pod. With your reservation you get advanced access to an online forum where you can connect with other guests looking to do stuff with. Matt had suggested the exhibit, and both Ian and I had responded. The exhibit was very interesting, and it's something I wouldn't have found otherwise. Here is our post-exhibition repast:On the back of the board is Ian's rabbit rillette (which I tasted but wasn't really all that fond of, very rich), then my quadrello di buffalo cheese (to die for), and finally Ian's amazing cheese choice: tete de moine (I think), which is so pretty you almost don't want to eat it (I swapped half of my cheese for half of his, sweet!). In front is my spinach and pine nuts. Followed by cassis, yummy:

Ian is from Toronto and is a true food and wine connoisseur. Get this: while saving money by staying at The Pod, Ian treated himself to the 11 course tasting menu, complete with the wine pairings. Throw in a drink and a generous tip, and we are talking a $425 meal. For one. Wow. I love someone who enjoys their passions.

It turns out that Ian is an Egyptologist, so he wrote my name for me - it's the last line below, and the little lady at the far right indicates that it's a woman's name. How cool is that?!?!?

Ian is also a photographer, so I bought his book of photos, which he autographed for me. This is something I like to do when I encounter someone who is selling art or perhaps a book of their creative endeavors.

Here is Matt toasting us while he puruses Ian's book. Matt is a teacher and lives in Saudi Arabia. He and his wife have taught overseas for most of their adult lives, so he had lots of stories to share. Now with two kids, they live inside a compound where the only beer they get is what Matt manages to brew himself. It is an understatement to say he enjoyed selecting his beer here.

Matt is also an avid photography fan and his passion is pinhole photography. I thought I knew what that meant, until I met Ian and he showed me his cameras:

The one that says 99 cents is an old camera which he bought and removed the lens. The others are his own contraptions, courtesy of tips that one can find on the web. Another fascinating dicsussion.

It was a great experience for me, as it's the first time I've intentionally met up with someone I don't know to do something together while travelling. They both said the same thing. And we all had a rather grand time.

I do still think it's funny that the two of them who are such avid photographers didn't take a picture all night, while I was snapping away with my little digital (and they were both ok with me taking pics knowing they'd go on my blog). Three very different photographic styles. Three new friends. Cool.

In the Big Apple: A Ferry Tale

The other day, Kelly and I went on a little waterfront adventure in New York City. It was a fine day as we made our way down to Battery Gardens restaurant, so named as it is right on the edge of Battery Park. For our purposes, we took the subway to the Whitehall St./South Ferry station.
The location of this restaurant is it's primary draw, though the food is pretty good too. There is a big two-level patio with umbrellas (when they weren't blown away by the wind, which happened to a couple while we were there!), as well as inside seating.

I had risotto, which was tasty. Kelly's meal was a salad, which she said was good. And we had a few beers. The bill was one of those tricky ones that, if you are not paying attention, you could end up double-tipping on. While it said $77, this was actually $60 plus tax and service. I woulnd't mind so much if the service was good, but it was marginal (we had a good bus boy who took good care of us, including our beer, but our waiter was totally indifferent... probably worn down by tourists). Regardless, I'd return, as the location is awesome.

Below is me as a wedding crasher? Well, not quite, but they were setting up for a wedding. That's as close as you'll get me to that kind of fairy tale. Heh. They also have a beer garden, but it appears to be out back, with no view.

Nourished, we set out on the next part of our adventure, the:

The sign is so big, you really can't get it all in one shot. But the Staten Island Ferry is New York's greatest things to do, as it is interesting, fun and, best of all, FREE!! It's really a commuter route but attracts many tourists, all who love the nice outside deck seating, demonstrated here by Kelly.

This is where we are headed, out past the Statue of Liberty, then onward to Staten Island. As you can see, New York is a serious sea port.

Here we are, setting out, as another ferry comes in. They have several going back and forth at the same time.

It was a cloudy day, but I managed to get this shot when there was a wee sunbeam falling on Lady Liberty's flame.

Tall ship-like boat going by...

We met some folks who offered to take our pictures. Here we are with Manhattan as our backdrop.

Approaching Staten Island...

You can go back and forth as much as you want, but you have to leave the ferry and reboard at each end. I've done this voyage twice now, and haven't yet gotten off to explore Staten Island, so that's an adventure still to come for me. If you are lucky, like we were, you might even have some entertainment.... though the return sailing to Manhattan was so quick that we essentially ran by this guy. I'm sure he was good, and might have been worth missing a ferry for.

On the way back, I managed to get some cool pics standing behind the guy in dreadlocks on the right.

OK, Kelly kids me that I sure took a lot of pictures of this guy... but my defence is that you never know which one is going to be the winner! And it was probably only about 50. Sheesh. Heh. Anyways, these were among the best:
Salute or phallic symbol? Hee!

Another view of the lady, with the other ferry going by.

As we neared Manhatten, an eager crew headed to the bow of the ferry with their cameras.

Here's some people setting up for the ubiquitous shot of holding the city in their hands. These were actually a couple guys in town for a hairdressing course from Chicago, and were definitely having fun.

The Manhattan skyline is SO beautiful as it approaches!

OK, it doesn't approach, we approach it, I know, I know.... heh. Here's a nice shot of the Brooklyn Bridge as we near the dock.Much camera clicking...

This picture shows the restaurant where we had lunch. Battery Gardens is at the far left of the picture, nestled in the green of the park.

A better close up...

One last shot, a bit further out from shore... love the way we caught sight of a sailboat going by.

All in all, it was a great day. And wonderful to feel the breeze on our faces. There is hardly anyting more iconic than the Staten Island Ferry and while I haven't yet taken a tour boat to get close to the Statue of Liberty, I suspect I'd still enjoy this more. If your budget is tighter than ours, you could pick up something from a deli to eat in the park, instead of the fancy restaurant. This is definitely a good cheap thrill in New York. And that's now ferry tale.