Archive for May, 2012

30th May
2012
written by bob

Have you heard…bobandkatherine.com is now available in your native language!

Parlez-vous francais? Oui!

Si parla italiano? Sì.

Habla usted español? Sí.

あなたは日本語を話せますか?はい。

With english being our first language with french as a distant second, we obviously compose all our blogs in english. HOWEVER now, you can have our blog translated to your language of choice. Pretty sweet, EH? HAHA! Yes, that’s my Canadian in me coming out. HEY, wait a second…I didn’t see “Canadian” in this language lists?!? WHAT THE…?

Translate our site to your language of choice.

Also, don’t forget you can subscribe to our RSS Feed. That way all new posts will be delivered automatically to your inbox or favourite RSS reader. What’s that? You need the steps to subscribe. Glad you asked. You will find them here from a -> past post.

Au revoir, mes amis!

29th May
2012
written by bob

After a couple of LOOOOONG flights for a recent trip back to North America to visit family, we decided we needed something a little less scheduled. Plans for a train trip to La Rochelle fell through due to train scheduling so we opted for a trip to Corsica. It sounds like a great set up for a relaxing trip, right? A ferry ride to the island, a rented bungalow/cabin a stone-throw from the beach, my beautiful wife and amazing daughter…perfect!

The view from our Corsican beach.

It was Miss G’s first time on a passenger/car ferry. We put on her psi-bands in the morning prior to getting in the car. You see, Miss G doesn’t do too well in the car driving in France. Can you blame her though? All those twisty-turny roundabouts. Heck, who doesn’t want to puke? As we were unsure of how she would do on the boat, we figured we’d stay on the safe side. I have to say though, so far, when using the psi-bands Miss G has not gotten sick (especially since she got sick on both flights on our trip to North America).

After arriving in Corsica late on a Saturday evening due to a delayed ferry departure, it took us a bit to find our rented bungalow at Cala Bianca Residences. The Cala Bianca property is only a short 11km drive from the port in Bastia and boasts quite large number of bungalows with about 150 or so!

Checking out our pine cone collecting.

Our bungalow was the perfect home away from home; a two bedroom place with a full kitchen with open living room, and a semi-private patio for late afternoon sun. It had everything we needed.

The next morning was quite wet. The clouds were abundant and dark in hue with brief periods of dryness. The rain stopped long enough for us to take a walk to the main clubhouse and check the grounds out. We went down to the beach despite the wet sand and gloomy weather. We met a very friendly Frenchman at the Cafe where we stopped for “un cafe, une verre de vin rose, et jus d’pomme”. Due to the weather, I think we were his only customers that day.

The next day the sun beamed bright and it was a beach day! Following breakfast, we were beach-bound to soak up some sun. Despite the day being a bit breezy, we managed to enjoy a few hours on the beach. With only a few other people on the beach, we pretty much had the sand all to ourselves. Building sand castles, dipping our toes in the cool water, and collecting sea-washed shells was so much fun with Miss G. She LOVED it! Later, we had an old-fashioned, charcoal bbq of burgers, grilled asparagus with red peppers, potatoes, and for dessert grilled pineapple. Delicious!

A welcomed email informing us of another late departure from Bastia back to Nice meant that we didn’t have to get up at 530am to catch a 7am ferry. A 1.5 hour delay meant that all three of us could get a little bit more sleep prior to heading back home from a short but relaxing getaway in Corsica.

Click the picture here for the slideshow of Corsica in pictures! (…be patient though as the slideshow loads.)

Corsica Getaway

Au revoir, mes amis!

26th May
2012
written by bob

Well…it was supposed to rain this afternoon in the Cote d’Azur despite it being a beautiful morning, luckily the rain held off all day. No rain was perfect for us, since we decided to take a trip down to Cannes to see what was happening at this year’s Film Festival. Miss G wanted to see and hang at the beach today and the weather cooperated by giving us perfection!

Katherine made an awesome breakfast of scrambled eggs with red peppers, garlic, red onions, spinach, and ham. Miss G finished an entire “pain au chocolat” all herself, we got ready and headed for “la gare” enroute to Cannes.

Miss G soaking up the sun at the Film Festival!

After wandering around on “La Croisette” and checking out all the promotional billboards, beach restaurants, and people, we decided it was time for late afternoon lunch on the beach. There is nothing like an amazing afternoon of hot, sunny weather and having lunch on the beach! A bottle of Rose and two refreshing salads for us and “steak hache avec frites” for Miss G – a perfect day in Cannes I would say, yes?!?

Following lunch, we were off to find the carousel. Miss G LOVES the carousel. It’s a double-decker carousel in Cannes! We rode the Ferrari and spun around in the Tea Cup. As it was getting late in the day, the people attending the premieres were starting to come out. With barricades up, black cars, police, people in tuxedoes and sleek dresses were everywhere around us. We weren’t completely sure but we think we caught a glimpse of Matthew McConaughey. Also scheduled to attend today was Reese Witherspoon and Elijah Wood. There were probably quite a few “French” celebs; however, they are all “foreign” to us! :)

Click here for the slideshow to see our day in pictures!

2012 Cannes Film Festival

Au revoir, mes amis!

21st May
2012
written by bob

It was somewhat of a happy and sad day, all in one. Miss G started school about a week and a half ago. Yep…she’s a big girl now..just ask her! In France, kids are eligible to start school at 2 years of age.

Miss G's First Day of School


The fact that she knows quite a bit of French already (more than daddy), we wanted to continue her experience to the fullest and learn as much French as possible before we head to whatever the next destination will be. (I hear Asia might be asking for us to visit for a couple years?!?) Granted, that is still a couple years away so by then, G should be completely bilingual. With that being said…daddy will be in trouble! I had better find a French tutor in exchange for their practicing English with me. Thus far, I have been reluctant to pull the trigger on this one unlike Katherine, who has met a fabulous French woman with whom she exchanges linguistic notes/lessons.

Au revoir, mes amis!