27 April 08 Vide Grenier - but first the bushfire latest

Wake up and immediately call bushfire information line. News is good. Rain did come; fire contained; some fire fighters released and local roads now open again. We can breathe earlier.
Prepare to go out but first see the running scores of the Richmond Hawthorn match on the net. Richmond hang on in, only ten points behind at half time. Come even closer 13 minutes into the third quarter but have to go out hoping, hoping, hoping.

Vide Grenier is at Crepand. A small village you go down to on way to Montbard. Some readers may have been through it with us on way to the station.

A picturesque route up and over the hill. Everything is so so green, interspersed with many fields of rape.


Quite a large vide grenier but little is being sold. Early days yet but we get the impression the economy is depressed and money tight. Haven’t yet got a feel for what our neighbours think of Sarkozy. But we can guess at Madame Duval’s view of his wife.

Come home a different route passing the canal de Bourgogne.

26 April 08 Market in Avallon; Bushfire in Tonimbuk

Saturday morning is market day in Avallon. We usually stroll around for an hour or so if we have nothing else on. Inevitably we buy more than we intend but it all gets eaten.

It was a larger than usual market today because it was also a fair day. The difference escapes me but there were certainly more stalls than usual.
Caught up with Gerald for a chat and drink in Le Marechaux. He is greeted as a regular (he is!) and Madame brings his coffee without an order being placed.
















Our morning calm is disturbed by a call from Justin. He is en route from Adelaide where he played last night to Bendigo where they are playing tonight. He had just heard from our friend Graham that there is a large bushfire in Bunyip state park. Seven miles south of Gembrook and heading for Tonimbuk. 50 fire trucks and some 200 fire fighters.

A concern but a long time ago we realised that these things happen and there is nothing we can do from this side of the world so worrying won’t help.

Ring our neighbours Joy and Andrew as soon as we get home. It has evidently been going for two days and getting worse. Came within 1.5 km of some houses but wind has now turned it away from Tonimbuk. Rain on the way may also help.

Found the latest news on the Age website and from the bushfire information line. Non Melbourne readers may want to cut and paste this link into their browser for full report---

http://news.theage.com.au/fires-threaten-homes-outside-melbourne/20080426-28ob.html



Sorry clicking it will not work (for the technically minded Hyperlink does not work on this site using Safari!!!)

24 April 08 With Eloise in Paris

We had a delightful day in Paris with Eloise. Rowena and Nicholas were there as well!!

Coffee and croissants at café on corner. Four French medicines seemed to have worked and Eloise much better. 























Then walked from Hotel through the Tuileries gardens to Grand Palais. Grandfather has difficulty keeping up with them and also taking video and now the Photos for the blog.
















Justin advised me against getting a photo card for the video camera. In his view video and stills do not go on same machine. Unusually I disregarded his advice. And I am glad I did. One camera not two is much simpler.

Stopped for Eloise’s lunch in English Garden then to the Marie Antoinette exhibition. Pleased we had booked tickets, no queuing, and Eloise presence speeds things along too.

The exhibition was of paintings, bijoux and furniture illustrating her life in three stages- childhood-Queen- and downfall. The pictures were not exceptional but the exhibition was arranged as only the French can do it. The various rooms were set out, and decorated, as salons in Versailles. So realistic one felt one was there; as befits my imperial status.

After the exhibition another walk along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Queues impossibly long (and impossible to book in advance unless you are in a group). At least Eloise has seen it; and has a postcard to send to friends at playschool/ kinder- sorry wrong it’s “Early Learning Centre”.




























Instead of the Tower Eloise had two rides on the carousel and a crepe.










Exhausted we bundled ourselves into a taxi back to the hotel. Brenda and I said goodbye- until next week- and had a good drive home to Ragny.

23 April 08 Babysitting in Paris!!!!

The pleasures, and responsibilities, of babysitting.

To Paris today to catch up with Rowena, Nicholas and Eloise. Poor Eloise has been suffering from a cold so they spent the morning at the Drs. Not quite what they had planned- the Eiffel Tower. Tower was anyway shrouded in mist although that did not deter the large crowds we saw queuing for entry as we drove past this morning.

Nicholas has also been suffering a cold. Rowena looks the fittest of the three.

Staying again at Hotel Therese near Opera (Justin, Santana and Mollets will know this). Very convenient for everything except parking.

Just a wander this afternoon. Sephora where Eloise delighted in buying her own colourful bath cubes (she has them at home and loves them); then Boucharra and Galleries Lafayette for Brenda. Computer shop for me. Bought 500G hard disk to store all my videos and photos.

Babysiting this evening. Eloise is such a delight and no trouble at all. It must be money for jam for the professionals.

22 April 08 Gardening Today

Well at least a start. Roses weeded and fed but the other borders will take some time. At least the ground is so wet that the weeds come out easily.


M Duval came round to ask for my assistance in finding a chain in the loft of his workshop. This entailed getting ladder down from roof of his garage and then foraging in the roof for a very old rusty chain. He was looking for two chains but I could only find one. Gather all he wanted the chains to help an elderly neighbour pull a tree down. Not bad for 87 this year.

Helping Mr Duval is a pleasure but not as easy as you might think due to the language difficulties. I have more difficulty with him than anyone. I doubt that I understand 25% of what he says. I suspects he understand even less of my garbled French.

5pm and a quick visit to Auchan. Those of you who have enjoyed exploring our local supermarche will be pleased to know that little has changed. Except that there seem to be quite a few more English voices around. And some of them are so strident. Strange how we secretly resent “our” Avallon being invaded from across the channel.

21 April 08 Another Farm-Another Boat

I had been wondering how soon I could get to my boat but it was Brenda who suggested we visit M Saquet and see how Ouki VA (my French boat) had survived the winter.

Brother Gerald came with us to Lac des Setans. A pleasant drive down through the Morvan and everything so green. The lake still had a wintry look. Most of the pontoons are still out of the water. They have a lot of work to do before the port opens next week and the boats go in the water Yes we call it a port although in fact it is just a small bay with a number of pontoons and some boats at moorings.

On the other side of the lake at the sailing school there were a number of small cats on the water with young people sailing. They seemed o be enjoying themselves but it must have been cold.

Then to M Sacquet’s arm. He was out when we arrived but his wife (?)(companion!!) was welcoming. Interested in Australia and us but very rural, very French her ro0ts are firmly in the soil here. She talks at length about the French not being great travellers. We were also treated to the history of her extended family….. and M Sacquet’s for good measure.

And Ouki Va? I had had fears of her being covered in cow muck, bird droppings with covering torn away by curious beasts. Fortunately no. She was as snug and clean under her tarpaulin as Brenda and I had left her last Sepember.



There were some young calves in the same shed but securely fenced off from the boat.














M Saquet arrived as we were leaving. His wife had told us he was 71 and retired but he had spent the day planting “Sapins de Noel” i.e. Christmas trees. He has some 60,000 on his hillside. Some retirement!!!

Jaan and Bruce would have found our afternoon interesting. We know they have planted lots of trees for protection at Labertouche- but 60,000. A hard way to diversify!

20 April 08 ---We are at Ragny

Yes we arrived at 7pm yesterday after an uneventful flight from Helsinki and an easy drive down the A6.

It is always a relief to arrive and find everything in good order after 6 months absence. Mme Jacotot had everything spotless and had opened up the shutters and left flowers earlier in the day. Gerald, my brother, had returned the freshly charged car battery. Again a relief that the car started first time.


The house did feel cold but the chauffage was soon at work. Today we have also had the family room fire in operation.

Although we have owned Ragny for nine years now we have never been here in April; a new experience. I had expected to arrive and find the grass a foot high and badly n need of cutting. Nothing like that, spring is obviously late this year. None of the vines on the house and dependances are out. Just a few buds beginning to appear.

But the garden is a joy to behold. The lawn is covered with cowslips. We have tulips out that we have never seen before. Brenda was enthralled to look out of the bathroom window and see a small bird darting in and out of a hole in a nearby tree. Obviously making his nest. But is it male or female- who does the work in the bird world?

Brenda was less enthralled to realise that the noise behind air vent in bathroom was probably another bird nesting!! The problem of old houses. I am off to see M Boudret the mason tomorrow. We are waiting for his quote to reface one wall which has a number of holes; ideal repositories for bees, wasps or even birds.

For those of you who have only seen Ragny in full summer these photos are quite different.









































Caught up with Gerald his afternoon. He was not here for most of last summer so a lot to catch up with.

A good weekend for the Rudges. Justin’s gigs in Canberra and Sydney went well. Nicholas, Rowena and Eloise still enjoying London. AND…………..Richmond almost beat Footscray. At least we got the draw and two points. Already have more points after 5 games than the whole season last year. And the bulldogs were unbeaten until today.

Carol Q- thank you for your comment. Much appreciated to know the blog is read in Indonesia!!!

18 April 08 ---A day in the country

Took a bus ride into the country today. And they do things well here. The main bus station, under a shopping complex, was adjoining the metro and as well organised as a main line train station. Melbourne take note!!

Bus trip was one hour so gave us a chance to see a little of the surrounding country. Virtually no signs of spring yet, no leaves or even buds on trees. Brenda corrects me. All hotels have daffodils in tubs struggling to survive in the arctic winds!!!

So country side consisted largely of stands of silver birch (obviously these are to Finland what gums are to Australia) and fields freshly sown but very wet and no indication what the crops might be.


We visited Porvoo the second largest city founded in 1346. Cathedral was being restored after roof destroyed by a vandal fire in 2006. Restoration underway and they have made excellent progress in a short time. Was able to get a glimpse inside despite being officially closed.

Cottages of old town on riverbank have also been restored and are quite picturesque.



The sun did appear again briefly this afternoon and we felt warm for the first time in several days.

Evening concert in a Rock Church. A youth orchestra conducted by an enthusiastic Irish lady. Elgar took us back to the Malvern Hills.

Have just come across a very apposite quote by Mrs Elgar who devoted her life to her husband

"The care of a genius is enough of a life work for any woman."

WILL THIS ELICIT ANY RESPONSE FROM MY READERS I WONDER. IT GOT A SNORT OF DERISION FROM BRENDA!!

Isn’t Skype great. Had a long talk with Justin – voice and video. He is playing in Camberra and Sydney this weekend. Hopefully band had a review in SMH today.

Nichols, Rowena and Eloise are in London. We catch up with them babysitting in Paris next Wednesday.

17 April 08 ---Palace Hotel Helsinki

8am and we are excited- the sun has appeared!!!
It was cold but dry when we arrived Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday we awoke (at 5am) to a wet, dull, cold, overcast day. And it remained until mid afternoon.

Despite this the view from our hotel room is simply stunning- a complete panorama of the harbour with ferries to Stockholm and Tallinn.








Many of the buildings in this area are art nouveau which greatly interests Brenda











The weather has not stopped us enjoying ourselves. Mainly indoors two exhibitions and shopping. In the evening we went to a Helsinki Philharmonic concert at Finland Hall- a very impressive building.

The concert was advertised as including Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings but instead they played a string serenade by Dvorak before the main piece a Symphony by Josef Suk. Suk is a little known Czech composer. Elements of nepotism he was the son in law of Dvorak and the piece was a tribute to his father in law and his (Suk’s) wife who died tragically young. Enjoyable but Brenda says not outstanding. My untutored ear is incapable of such refined judgements

15 April 08 ---Reflections on Japan

Writing this en route from Osaka to Helsinki.

Well our Japan adventure is over for this year- and Brenda is busy looking at map of Helsinki planning our time there.

But first some thoughts on Japan.

• Again a very enjoyable, busy but relaxing stay
• Found our way around with ease; feel totally at home.
• Despite the friendliness the Japanese remain an enigma.
• Everyone so quick to offer help. We must have looked as if we needed it!!
• But how can a nation so friendly have committed such atrocities?
• It must be a terribly disciplined society- but one sees no very evident signs of it
• Not true railway guards, drivers, bus drivers etc all act as per rote. Presumably this permeates everywhere?
• No obvious signs of police presence- apart from traffic direction.
• No armed forces on the streets. Not surprising since they have no army!!
• One must question the Japanese rewriting of history
• But again one must revisit ones knowledge (or lack of it)


Finally- a new type of chocolate- a mixture of Kit Kat and Green Tea





And now for Helsinki!!!

14 April 08 ---A Boring Blog???

I have been concerned that this was turning into “a Boring Blog” or even “a Very Boring Blog”. However I am encouraged by one of my (many?) readers who has emailed me

“Congratulations on the creation of Ted's Blog. We did have tech difficulties at first, but have just read all at once.

I have passed it on to Rupert Murdoch, Channel Nine & Lonely Planet.

Rupert has said he is interested, Channel Nine are not, Lonely Planet can't get approval from the BBC.

We have really enjoyed this effort Ted. Creative and very interesting, informative, with some great asides.

We always knew your latent talent Ted, would come out eventually. You are the ATTENBOROUGH of the Travel Scene. Ted's Tours was just the beginning !!!!

I was not expecting such appreciation but it is very welcome. Thank you G.

Brenda does have mixed views of this blog. She has encouraged me on the grounds that it keeps me busy and out of mischief. However she complains she gets insufficient acknowledgement for inspiring our excursions. She is also the source of some of my more profound observations; but not the political ones she quickly reminds me!

What are your views? Do please post your comments- positive or negative. All will be gratefully received.



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13 April 08 ---Shrines not Church today.

We did think of going to church today. There used to be a very beautiful Anglican Church n Kyoto. However it was pulled down following the Kobe earthquake in 1996 and has not yet been rebuilt. There is a catholic church but enquiring further I found that, although in Kyoto prefecture, it is on the North Coast some 100km from Kyoto city. Not practical for 8am mass.

Instead we decided to visit some nearby temples.


First a five minute train ride and I thought this machine at the station was interesting.







Not a normal ticket machine but a fare adjustment machine. On arrival if your ticket will not let you out for insufficient fare etc you merely put ticket in this machine and it lets you legitimise yourself by paying the extra fare. Tell that to Connex and Vic Rail.

The two shrines were very different. The first was the Fushima Inari Taisha Shrine. It was a vast area covering many acre and the paths were marked by thousands of red Tore poles. The paths through the complex wound slowly up hill. Forever it seemed as we turned back after several kilometres.









The second shrine was the Tofukuji Temple. A Zen shrine altogether more restrained. It had the most beautiful gardens and really felt a place of peace and relaxation.

12 April 08 ---An unusual building-an unusual exhibition.

Took a trip to Osaka today. This building is the National Museum of Art. A very modern building with all the galleries underground.

We made this trip especially to see an exhibition of aboriginal art. A long way to go from Tonimbuk you may think.

The exhibition was “ The Genius of Emily Kame Kangwarreye”. To my shame I knew nothing of the lady but Brenda was well informed. Emily was an aboriginal lady who only started painting in her late 70s but despite the late start, no training, and no travel outside the red centre is now recognised as a genius. Supposedly the foremost aboriginal artist of the 80s and 90s. Was certainly prolific in her short career with a variety of styles.

Brenda was very impressed and liked the works. I was not so sure.
A number of works were ours i.e. from NGV but there was also one from the private collection of Allen Arthur Robinson- the wealthy lawyers.

After the exhibition we strolled round the local market before catching train back to Kyoto. Luckily it was only 30 minutes standing. Not a bullet train- more like the sardine express.

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11 April 08 ---a day in the country.

A day in the country. We took a train ride to Hikone some 70 kms from Kyoto. I say the country but like most of Japan we have seen the view from the train window was a succession of houses, industry and rice paddies. One understands the population pressures.

Nevertheless away from the major centre one does feel one is seeing more of the real Japan. The attraction was Hikone Castle. A moated castle with quite a climb to the tower at the top.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikone_Castle

The cherry blossom here is still in full flower- as are your correspondents!!!










I mentioned in an earlier blog the practice of cherry parties. We came upon the preparations for several- and one that was just commencing.

Note the shoes all carefully aligned at side of the tarpaulin. This was taken at 3pm, already quite cold with a very chill wind blowing. We assume they would have been frozen by late evening because they do party on quite late.










Oh well we all have our customs.