L'ARTICA BAKERY AND CAFE, ALQUEZAR SPAIN - RESTAURANT REVIEW

When it's off season and you are visiting a vacation destination early in the week, choices can be limited. The only bakery/cafe that was open at the beginning of our stay in Alquezar was L'Artica. It was enough. We never even walked through the doors of the others after they opened.

The bread display case was filled with enticing goodies. Both the main and the upper floor featured small balconies with views over a rocky gorge. The coffee filled the mid morning bill. The beer was cold. (Yes, a bakery with a bar!) And the food hearty and priced right.

We lunched on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, I had a French loaf filled with scrambled eggs and sausage while Cathey enjoyed dense, toasted bread topped by salt cod. On Wednesday, I chose a smoked salmon/hard-boiled egg sandwich while Cathey munched on an assortment of charcuterie on toast. Each with beer. Each meal for less than 25 euros total. Cheerful attentive service. Pleasant surroundings. Recommended.

Read more of my reviews HERE.

IRA'S STUPID STUFF & A JT/CAROLE KING DUET - 21/10/2016

1. A man buried 2,500 years ago in northern China had 13 marijuana plants covering his torso like a shroud. Not the first burial in the region showing signs that the Chinese were stoners. A grave close by contained two pounds of seeds and powdered leaves. Seeds and shake in a grave? Saving the buds for the living, maybe?

2. Conservative pundit Matt Drudge said that he didn't believe that Hurricane Matthew had the potential to be as bad as was forecast. The National Weather Service lied to hype climate change, said Drudge. We are in a post-truth world. Drudge makes a claim. News agencies report the claim. The claim becomes a concern. The concern requires a Congressional investigation. And suddenly the National Weather Service has to defend its science because Drudge was having a brain fart. Bull cookies! (And of course, the flooding in the Carolinas was massive...)

3. Hillary said, "My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders..." and the Right and the Left go nuts. Open borders and open markets. Like a nerdy Star Trek future. Hillary also said that it's not for governments to do. Specifically not for governments, she said. Spin, spin, spin...

4. The American Presidential election. That's all. Just that.

5. Brexit, Hard or Soft? The Europeans are saying that as long as the Brits choose to leave, it's Hard. Period. As if that wasn't obvious from the start...

My kind of singer/songwriters...

ALQUEZAR, SPAIN - VACATION COMMENTS AND PICS

Built by Moors as a fortress in defense of a nearby town, what became the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria in 1099 dominates the skyline of the village of Alquezar. The year-round population of just a few hundred swells ten-fold during high season due to Alquezar's majestic views, interesting architecture, the surrounding national park, and the many nearby opportunities for adventure travel. Cathey and I chose to visit during October, a quiet time that would have been just a touch quieter if there hadn't been a cadre of youth on the streets freed by mid-term break from their Spanish schools. Not many, and not too rowdy, but just enough to add a bit of color.

We chose the scenic route to Alquezar from our home in Quarante, heading for Toulouse and then turning southwest and climbing over the Pyrenees. Even with a six-page printout of directions from the Michelin website, we strayed off our route more than once and, when the road turned into what amounted to a paved cow path, we found it necessary to inquire of a family having lunch on their patio if we were indeed on the right road. To our surprise, we were. On arriving, we found parking toward the top of the village, located our Hotel Castillo on a quiet side street below, then struggled with our luggage. After we spent a couple of days learning the layout, we realized that we could have driven to the hotel's front door. I'm glad that we didn't try that initially, though. Tiny streets with dead ends, not wide enough for cars traveling in different directions to pass, can make for nervous driving especially if you're not certain of your directions.

The Hotel Castillo was perfect. Quiet. Great view from our room. Perfect little breakfast. Check out their website HERE for more info. But a slight caveat. The photographer who took the pictures of the rooms really knew his/her stuff. Our room was adequate to be sure but not as spacious as the website made it appear.

Since high season had passed, not all restaurants were open during our Monday through Thursday stay. But we found the available choices perfectly satisfactory. The norm seemed to be a simple, three-course lunch or dinner, wine included, for 14 euros - interesting starts, grilled meat (beef, rabbit, lamb, chicken, sausage) and frites for a main, and an assortment of sweets for dessert. All good. I'll be putting up reviews on this blog over the next several days.

We didn't raft or canoe or hike the gorge. Our days were quite simple. We enjoyed our breakfast, walked around the village - more hiking than strolling given the changes in elevation, found a place for lunch, returned to the room for an afternoon nap, then chose our dinner stop. Simple, quiet days. Eye candy and good food. A vacation.

So...here are the pics. Enjoy.

One of the better roads through the Pyrenees.

For those of you familiar with the Languedoc, think of Alquezar as a fully realized Minerve with better restaurants.

Our room named Blancal..

Night time view of the Collegiate Church from our room's balcony.

View of the gorge of the Rio Vero. We didn't take advantage of the many goat tracks leading down from the village.

Whenever I enter a new church, I light candles for Florence and, more recently, Mae Brown. This was a new experience, though. Put 20 centimes in a slot and an electric candle lights up for an allotted period of time. It's probably cheaper than tapers for the church but I prefer real flame.

Huge altar piece covered in gold leaf. Truly impressive.

Wall paintings - I don't know if they qualify as frescoes - surround an upper gallery.

Everybody who has seen it wants this letterbox.

Stairs everywhere.

Everywhere...

I'll be doing a restaurant review but I just had to give a shout out to L'Artica. Great for a late morning cup of coffee and a tasty, hearty lunch. Staff pleasant and attentive. And, of course, the view.

ABBEY FONTFROID ORCHID SHOW AND SALE - OCTOBER 2016

IRA'S STUPID STUFF AND BOWIE DOING PINK FLOYD - EARLY OCTOBER 2016

1. A man was arrested on a New Jersey beach wearing a 'swimsuit' made of clear plastic wrap. Island Beach State Park, my favorite Jersey beach, had the honor of hosting the show. The investigation before the arrest took two days, during which time the police report says that his genitals were clearly in full view. I guess the police had to be careful how they handled the evidence.

2. My Presidential candidates spend late nights on Twitter either ranting about sex or replying to rants about sex. I'm asleep. They should be too. If they are asleep, it's somebody from their campaigns posting on Twitter. Either way, they both should be ashamed at the depths to which this campaign has sunk. I certainly am.

3. Nigel Farage is back. That's all. Just that.
3a. Tim Tebow is now a professional baseball player. That's all. Just that.

4. Although Florida Governor Rick Scott denies having created the policy, a former lawyer for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says that employees were banned from using such terms as 'climate change' and 'global warming'. Now, Hurricane Matthew. Certainly, Florida has been devastated by hurricanes in the past. I saw for myself the havoc wrought by Andrew. But with flooding on the streets of Miami a common occurrence when the winds blow onshore during a normal high tide, let's hope that Matthew veers away to the east or at least brushes past at low tide. Otherwise...

5. On a Sunday talk show, Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani resented being asked about his admitted marital infidelities while speculating about Hillary and Bill. Why are we listening to Giuliani in the first place? I guess because New York's Roman Catholic former mayor had three wives and one of them forced him to sleep on the couch during his tenure, making Giuliani a leading expert on marital infidelity by public figures. Alongside Gingrich. And Trump. Maybe that's why Giuliani said 'everybody does it'. All of his political friends did.

This works. Cumberbatch? Not so much. 

(Or didn't you know that Gilmour brought Cumberbatch 

up recently to do Comfortably Numb with him?)

WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT LIVING IN FRANCE?

The conversation is predictable. It begins when we say, "We live in France now."

Full time?

Yes.

Really? All the time?

Yes.

Why?

Well, during our active retirement years we wanted to visit friends in England and travel in Europe. Why not live here?

How did you pick France?

Long story. (Pour wine and tell story. It's HERE on the blog.)

Are you going to become French citizens?

No. Residents but not citizens.

Does it cost more than living in the States?

Not really. Depends on how you live. And the dollar is quite strong these days. Viva Brexit!

Do you speak the language?

Well enough to get by and we're getting better all the time.

And then, at some point during the conversation, "What do you miss most?"

The stock answer is, "We miss friends and family the most." But you can see the real answer for yourselves when you see the picture of what Cathey brought back from the States for me in her suitcase last week.

IRA'S STUPID STUFF AND A BEATLES COVER - LATE SEPTEMBER 2016

1. On a recent Saturday, a French hunter 'accidentally' killed a hiker wearing brown clothing thinking that the hiker was a deer. Protestors demanded that France calls a halt to all hunting...on Sundays. People hike on weekends because it's their days off? Guess what. Hunters hunt on weekends because it's their days off too. But the point is that if you shoot a hiker, any day of the week and regardless of the color clothing that he's wearing, it means that you haven't properly identified your target. That's not an accident. At the
very least, that's reckless endangerment.

2. 'Community activist' Sean Thomas grabbed Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson from behind and shoved a custard pie into his face while shouting at him. Johnson, a former all-star pro athlete, proceeded to kick Thomas' butt. Thomas says Johnson over reacted. I say Thomas is an entitled idiot who is lucky he can still walk and fashion complete sentences. Whether you see Thomas' action as civil disobedience or felonious assault, I simply do not understand why folks who carry out these types of actions expect to walk away clean. Purity of heart is not protection from the consequences of your act or from the law, even if the law is unjust. Be prepared for the consequences. (Are you listening, Eric Snowden?)

3. A judge asked a rape victim why she didn't just keep her knees together. A former small-town mayor says that the four year-old girl that he abused for over two years was a willing participant. A teenager who pled guilty to sexually abusing a one year-old baby for a porn video spent two years in jail awaiting trial but was sentenced to probation, registering as a sex offender, and no further jail time. I'm not worried about ISIS or ISIL or Daesh. I'm worried about the guy next door. He seems OK, but...

4. Hillary started the whole birther thing...and Whitewater and Travelgate and she had Vince Foster murdered...
5. And Bill committed adultery...like Trump and Giuliani and Gingrich... 

6. A cruise ship sailed from Seward, Alaska to New York City via the Northwest Passage because of the lack of Arctic ice. Cabins started at $22,000. Because the pristine wilderness that is the Arctic really needs a cruise ship with folks popping golf balls off the fantail and a small ice breaker and an escort ship for evac (just in case) passing through. And do you really think that they packed out all of their trash and sewage?

 OK. I get it. You can't take a perfect song, cover it, and expect everyone to be happy. But what can I say? I like these guys and I like the way that they honored this wonderful song.