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Paisleys Abroad
Paisleys Abroad

Paisleys Abroad

traveled in 18 countries Read more🇮🇸Reykjavík
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  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Sagrada Familia basilica
    Gaudì designed the columns to feel like a forestWe played eye-spy here - can you find the basoon?Park Guell designed by GaudìGaudì's famous dragon/ salamander - found all over Barcelona as tourist iconBarcelona from Parc GuellCasa Batllò by GaudíDelicious late night churros!

    Estimem a Barcelona!

    November 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We all agree that two days is not nearly enough time to explore Barcelona... everyone wants to come back at some point. We focused on Antoni Gaudí, famous Spanish modernist architect - and visited several of his sites and buildings. Gaudí is playful and reverent, light and dense all at the same time. He is quoted as saying (translation) “To do things well, first, you need love; second, the technique”. I am inspired! LaraRead more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler

    Escola Baldiri Reixac

    November 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    An elementary school located in the middle of Antonio Gaudí’s Parc Güell. Imagine having your school day observed by over 3 million visitors each year. At least the grounds are inspiring. I learned that the older students work on English presentation and conversation skills to be able to interact and share information with the tourists who walk through the park.
    (Sorry, this is a repost - Geoff)    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    My new Barçelona socks!
    Giant dragon statue outside the Barça train station. It had three slides on it!View of our apartment on Paral-lel street.I took this video, and i was trying to be secret, so its all shakey. Dont worry, we gave him money😀What are you not supposed to do here?

    Barcelona

    November 11, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We got to Barcelona yesterday afternoon, from Montpellier, via train. Unfortunately, we only got to spend one full day here, and we’re leaving tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning for the airport! I love Barcelona, because it is so pretty, and has really cool buildings and parks. Also, the weather is a perfect temperature, (21 degrees C) not too hot, not too cold, which probably sounds pretty nice to all of you in Ottawa! 😄🌨
    Yesterday we went to Antoni Gaudì’s Basilica of the Sagrada Famillia, which is a giant church with lots of pillars. Then, mom and dad went out for dinner, while we got KFC and watched a movie in our apartment. Today, we took the metro and spent the morning at the Parc de Gùell, (Antoni Gaudì) and a few other places too.
    Turns out the Spanish language course I took on Duolingo did not help very much here, because the only things I learnt were food names! After a long search amongs tourist shops, I finally found Barcelona socks! Also, one last thing, on our way to the Sagrada Família, we took the metro, and there was a man who got on the metro with an amp, a speaker and a violin, and started playing ‘Despacito’!
    🎶 🍗 🚂 🛩
    Chloë    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    I hate pointing cameras at people in public, so it was tricky to try and capture the music.
    A rare occasion when the piano stood silent...

    Gift of music in public spaces

    November 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    This post is late coming (a throwback to France) but I wanted to recognize the absolute magic of open access instruments in community spaces (as a good Canadian Heritage girl). In the Central train station in Montpellier stands a piano, free for anyone to use. I walked by it almost everyday - from early morning to very late at night, it was almost never unoccupied. The train station is open 24/7. I saw all ages, genders, colours, and genres represented over my 2 months there... it was very inspiring! We lived close, so on warm nights, with our windows open, the music could reach us as we fell asleep. Here is just a small taste...Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    My parents's rental bikes
    Plage Espiguette...our favourite French beach.Dad's homemade baguetteIce cream at mamma mia

    Leaving montpellier

    November 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Tonight is our last night here in Montpellier. 😢. Tomorrow we are going to be on the train, headed for barcelona. Montpellier seems like it went by so fast. It feels like its been a week since we got here! I really wish we were staying here for a little longer. :(
    If i had to describe our time in Montpellier in 5 words, they would be: Bikes 🚲, beach 🏖 🏝, baguette 🥖, ice cream 🍦, and the pool 🏊‍♀️.
    -Chloë    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    1Yann Dumoget - communal art (Dale's favourite!)
    Yann DumogetYann Dumoget (Dale recognized a volcano)Art Brut - one of the pussy cats we sawL'art brutThe full sculpture is amazing, but Lara especially loved the eyes.We called this the yawning guy.This is knitted!1A well-deserved hot chocolate before running home in the rain.

    L'art partagé et l'art singulier

    November 9, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Dale and Lara finally got to a gallery walk on their last rainy Friday in Montpellier. We saw Yann Dumoget and his “peinture partagée” - Dale loved how you could recognize different places in his artwork (like the sea, a volcano, the desert), and then see how members of the public graffitied them. Then we went to the Musée d’art brut et d’art singulier (raw and outsider art) - it was filled with wondrous and creative paintings and sculpture - many of the artists were institutionalized with mental health issues, and were not initially recognized as artists for this reason. Dale noticed lots of cats, Lara loved the powerful colours and (sometimes playful, sometimes disquieting) creativity. We are posting a few photos here to “educate” (sorry, copyright reference...). Thank you in advance to the artists!Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler

    Pickled onions for dinner!

    November 8, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We had a fun evening tonight with our upstairs neighbours Laurent and Vivette and their 5yo twin girls. They arrived bearing delicious beer and pickled snacks and a traditional baguette from our favourite Montpellier bakery. Sad to only have met recently, and us with only two days left in Montpellier. Lovely to have tiny children running around the apartment. Maybe they will all come visit us in Ottawa one day.Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler

    Paul Crouzet Primary School

    November 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Yesterday, Malcolm and Geoff left the apartment at 0700h (7am) for the small town of Prades Le Les which is an hour-and-a-half long bike ride away. We met with Mme Nathalie Nagot, a primary teacher from Paul Crouzet Elementary School. Mme Nagot teaches a CM2 class (4th grade) with 27 students. She teaches all the subjects to her class except for science and social studies. The children are beginning to learn English, which they enjoy. We learned that the kids are at school from 9am to 5pm with a two and a quarter hour break from 12:00 to 2:15 and two 15 minute recesses, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. On Wednesday, they don’t go to school, they do activities like sports or clubs at a community centre or they stay at home. Their school year consists of six weeks of classes followed by two weeks of holiday, with a longer holiday in July and August. We did a presentation about Canada for the kids and showed them what schools are like in Canada. The classroom looked similar to our classrooms, maybe a little smaller, and the children sit in rows. When the teacher is looking for ideas, she asks a student with their hand up to answer, then that student chooses another student in the class to answer and so on. The school has a cafeteria but no gymnasium. Gym classes are held at a nearby field. The schoolyard is quite small compared to our schoolyards in Canada, but the children seem to enjoy it. After the school visit, Malcolm and Geoff ate cake and baguette and biked home to Montpellier.
    - Malcolm and Geoff    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    These are our jack o lanterns
    Drawing challengeMalcolm's fortune gamePhoto boothNot so fun for everyone...Dale's halloween macaronsChloë's yummy black catsMaster of disguiseOnce again...Bobbing for apples

    Hallllloweeeeeen!!!

    November 5, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    In France, they celebrate Halloween, as in sell decorations, and have parties, but people usually don’t go trick or treating like they do in Canada, so we decided to have our own Halloween carnival!
    🇫🇷🎃 👻 🇨🇦
    Everyone ran an activity or two, and everyone (Dale was there for most of it) went around to play the games. We even found pumpkin-like things to carve, and roast the seeds. 🎃
    The activities were: photo booth (run by me) with props 📸 👓👄,
    a speed drawing contest 🖍✏️ , (also run by Me), Malcolm made a weird fortune booth where you tell the magic potion a number, and you win a prize (candy) for the number you say 🍬 🍭 🔮
    and a cribbage gambling game 🎰
    Dale ran a funny trick or treat game for our stuffies, and dad ran bobbing for apples. 🍎 🍏
    (See the pictures below)
    Overall it was a fun night!
    -Chloë    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Pic Saint-Loup
    Check out this giant hand growing out of the ground!A chapel at the top of the mountain.

    Pic Saint-Loup

    November 1, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Pic Saint-Loup is an inviting mountain about 30 minutes north of Montpellier. We scored this gorgeous afternoon to hike with Thierry and Béa’s family up and down the mountain. The views, while beautiful, did remind me how much more exploring there is to do around France. It is with mixed feelings that we prepare for our last week in Montpellier and set our sights on Barcelona and Chiang Mai.Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    1Chloë's painting
    2In roussillionMalcolms drawingPont de gardDale's drawingOf a door

    Art project

    October 29, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    For an art project, we all had to pick a picture we’d taken on our trip in Provence, and recreate it. These are Malcolm’s, Dale’s and my projects.
    By Chloë

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler

    Question box

    October 29, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    If you have any questions about our trip so far then you can leave a comment with your questions in it and we will try to answer as soon as possible.
    Malcolm🤩🤡👻👻👻🎃😻🤟🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    CookiesLasagnaChloë's awesome guacamole...Meringues!Geoff's baguettes/french 'pains'Squeezing out little macaron poops.Halloween macarons

    Kids in the Kitchen

    October 28, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    One of the nice things about being in one place for an extended period of time is being able to accumulate ingredients and make good use of the kitchen. The kids have been very helpful at planning, preparing and cleaning up meals. They have also taken some interest in extending their repertoire beyond microwave kraft dinner. Chloë made a lasagna for tonight’s dinner and earlier on she repeated her chocolate mousse from the summer. Malcolm tried his hand at a French baguette and meringues, and Dale has made some traditional macarons. It is nice to have the time to do these things together, we were rarely able to manage it at home between work and school and activities.
    - Geoff    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Getting our fix of fall colours!Mill on the Vis river.The Moulin de Foux (a medieval flour mill) at the bottom of the valleyIn my defence... it was a bit scary!

    Cirques de Navacelles

    October 19, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    I had to do some geology research about the formation of a cirque to prepare for this day. A cirque is an amphitheater shaped bowl carved out of the side of a mountain by water and ice. We were able to get a good view of the cirque from the Blandas lookouts on the opposite side of the valley. Nestled in the bottom of the cirque is the tiny commune of Saint-Maurice-Navacelles. Today we hiked down into the valley to the remains of a medieval stone mill that was powered by the Vis river. The hike followed steep paths that fell off precipitously down into the valley (Chloë observed that in Canada these trails would be completely fenced in). We walked under enormous cliff faces, through green pastures and past several lizards. France is riddled with natural phenomena that are protected and preserved. The tourism bureau is well organized at harnessing the economic resources of the foreign visitor. We were delighted to discover that visiting this beautiful site was free! The other point worth mentioning is that the drive to get to the cirque area is hair raising. We climbed to the lookouts poking along at about 10k/hour on a single lane highway cut out of the side of the valley - hoping desperately at each hairpin curve there wouldn’t be another car coming in the opposite direction. Much to the amusement of her children, Lara spent most of the drive curled up in a ball to avoid looking over the edge of the cliff on her side.
    - Geoff    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    He has been a beary good friend
    For scale, check out stair railings way in the background!

    Grotte des Demoiselles

    October 19, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we went to a giant cave with stalactites and stalagmites. I learned that stalactites come down from above and stalagmites rise from below. On the tour in the cave we saw both stalactites and stalagmites, we saw columns (when they join together) and we saw many other rock formations. The cave was discovered when a shepherd fell down a hole in the top of the cave while looking for his sheep. In the cave we saw creatures including a stuffed bear which represented an ancient bear skeleton that was discovered in the cave, and a transparent dromedary shaped rock formation! Did you know that to get to some of the parts of the cave the early explorers had to climb through a hole that was 70cm by 45cm wide! We got to look at a huge part of the cave that was 100 meters long and 50 meters high. At the end, the tour guide played Au Clair de la Lune on some small stalactites and used a hollow rock for a drum. Talk to you later,
    Malcolm😎🤓😜🤩🤗    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Sur le Pont...
    Making a living in front of Palais des PapesRocher des Dom gardens

    Sur le Pont d'Avignon

    October 17, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    In Avignon, we found a beautiful garden inside the medieval walls of the city, and Chloë and I danced and sang on the Avignon bridge (much to her hidden delight which looked a lot like embarrassment...). In fact, the original 16th century tune is quite different than the one we learn in Canada as children, but we stuck to our own version. We also came across a teenaged basketball tournament in front of the Palais des Papes, in the center of town. I really do love how Europe uses its public spaces!Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler

    Roussillon

    October 17, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    A few days ago we went to the town Roussillon, in Provence, and saw lots and lots of ochre rock formations and buildings. Ochre is a kind of clay, but when we saw it, it was bright orange, and dark red! All the buildings in Roussillon were obviously built out of mostly ochre, cause they were orange too! Something I noticed about the ochre sand was that it was super soft, and that it made your hands all orange! In Roussillon we went on a small hike called ‘Le sentier des ochres’ where we saw lots more ochre rock formations. After the hike, we were going to get ice cream, but all the ice cream stores there were closed, so we went to two other towns, and got the same result. We ended up going for ice cream the next day, in Arles, and we got to the store the day before they closed for the year, so they were almost all out of everything!
    Chloë    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Arène de Nimes

    Roman legacy in Laguedoc-Rousillon

    October 16, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Better late than never to post about our trip en Provence... we started out in Nimes - a “hit” at the Arène, one of France’s oldest and best preserved Roman coliseums. Once I got over the initial resistance to the 40€+ entrance fee (yikes!), it was a very interesting site, with a great audio guide. Did you know that the killing of defenceless prisoners by wild animals or armed men were actually unpopular events - generally not attended by most of the audience? Moreover, gladiator fighting, the real reason everyone came to the coliseum, seldom resulted in the death of a gladiator since the magistrate who organized the event would have to compensate the gladiator’s school for the loss. And... the “thumbs up/ thumbs down” is also a fiction - actually, a thumb tucked into a closed fist meant “mercy”. Hollywood fails us again! Then onto another Roman legacy in the region - the Pont du Gard - an amazing bridge supporting one of the best -preserved examples of a Roman aqueduct. Aqueducts, in bringing water from high in the hills to towns and cities, allowed for the growth of an agricultural economy, but what I find more interesting is their innovative effects on governance and growth of public spaces. Cities and towns could bring people together, around fountains or baths, and had public lavatories to support this (you understand this if you have ever been to an outdoor concert without adequate port-o-potties...). And they also had to manage a shared resource - with all the physical and social challenges of fairly allocating it... clearly I remain a public service e geek at heart! For the future traveller, note that seeing the Pont du Gard off-season, in the rain, and at the end of a long day, is not ideal. It is a beautiful area that deserves sunshine and a picnic, probably bikes or kayaks. Maybe next time... :)Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Lara's lesson: "getting to modern"
    Chloe's Picasso "girl with a ponytail"Dale's Van Gogh "starry night"Malcolm's Inspired by Chagall "i and the Village (Paris)"Malcolm's inspired by Chagall No. 2 "the thinker"Geoff's inspired by Maud Lewis "La Comedie"Dale in her own style...Chloe in her own style1Dale No. 641

    In the heart of western art country...

    October 16, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    France is a wonderful place to learn about the historical, philosophical and aesthetic transitions between classical and modern western art - we have seen lots of art since we hit Paris in early September. So I embarked on an “art history” lesson of sorts with the kids - taking ”the last supper” as a theme, and examining its representation by different western artists from 12th through 21st centuries - medieval and gothic, renaissance, baroque, mannerism, neoclassicism, realism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism, cubism, fauvism, surrealism, pop art, etc... it’s been done across the eras. it is a pretty interesting exercise to isolate the subject like this, and look solely at the differences in style, technique, perspective, light, and elements of historical and social context - I may have found this more fascinating than my children did... but i am ever hopeful that it will all be stored somewhere in their brains for future inspiration! Everyone then did some research on an artist of choice, and created their own versions of their artists’ work. Picasso, Van Gogh, Chagall, and Maud Lewis (Geoff stayed true to his Canadian roots). I am also including some of the kids’ art since then... they are clearly finding their own styles. Today we head out for a three day explore of Provence, with Art history on the agenda (though the sunflowers in Arles have long gone!) LaraRead more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    1
    This one is for you Pete...

    Montpellier Handball

    October 13, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    What a night. Me and Geoff went to a European handball game between the French league champions and the Hungarian national champs. European Handball is a mixture of ultimate, basketball and soccer. The point of the game is to score the most points in one hour by throwing the ball into the opponents net.
    See more rules in this video link.
    https://youtu.be/L0Y8qFFVPXw

    The two teams exchanged the lead multiple times and the final score was...(see pictures).

    After the game finished my bike got a flat tire so we walked to the tram station to find out that the ticket machine wouldn’t take Geoff’s credit cards and he had no cash. We only had six minutes until the next tram came so we went to a close-by bank and discovered that it had just closed for the night. We still had no tickets so we missed the tram. We were about to start walking a 1 hour 30 walk back to the apartment when Geoff had a brilliant idea. We crossed the street to the other ticket machine and luckily it worked! Sadly we had another 15 minute wait till the next tram came. We heaved our bikes onto the tram and rode the tram back to the apartment.
    Cheers Malcolm 😜    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    It is feeding time!

    Montpellier aquarium

    October 11, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Have you ever been to an aquarium? Have you ever seen who’s hiding under the water? Well I have. Because today we biked to the Montpellier aquarium and it was AWESOME! We did a project in school about the aquarium and we each chose two different animals to learn about and find in the aquarium.we found Chloe’s arawana and arapaima my cape penguin and the tail of my pyjama shark and Malcolm’s zebra shark but his other one the nautilus wasn’t there anymore. We saw lots of cool and colourful fish. we also saw jellyfish and sea horses but my favourite part was the cape penguins.If you were there you could probably tell it was my favourite part because I stood there and watched them for a loooooooong time.
    - Dale    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Brining the thanksgiving chickens...
    Preparing the stuffing...Basting the lemon garlic chickens and boiling potatoes for the mash...Blending the cream into les jaunes d'oeuf...The stuffing au jus...Malcolm sets the table...Chloë tests her guacamole....Geoff and Dale will do the dishes...

    Thanksgiving in Montpellier

    October 7, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We kept up a long standing thanksgiving tradition this year, the one where we choose the most beautiful day outside for Lara to stay inside and cook up a storm. We couldn’t imagine the month of October without indulging in a giant dinner that takes a full day to prepare. Lara hatched a menu inspired by accessible French ingredients (unfortunately, these didn’t include a turkey) and performed flawlessly down to a saucy crème anglaise for our dark chocolate ice cream. Our friends Thierry and Béa and their boys Gaspar and Hector joined us for a delightful evening in our little Montpellier apartment. Happy thanksgiving everyone!
    - Geoff    Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Espiguette sand dunes
    1Doesn't this bring lake superior to mind?Ain't she a beaut?

    Wild beach, wilder ride...

    October 6, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Our first car adventure in France... to Plage Espiguette - an absolutely beautiful wild beach on the Mediterranean about 45 minutes out of town. We rented using “OUIcar” - an AirBNB type car sharing platform, so we saved a very few euros and ended up with a 20th century special - dingy and small, but we figured it would get us there and home... The day was actually amazing - with soft white sand, fun waves (I thought about Crystal Beach in Thunder Bay), excellent beach combing and sand dune climbing. It is a beach devoid of development, which means a different vibe - lots of bikes and kite-pulled dune buggies (and no constant requests for ice cream at the local beach bar). At around 18h00, we had to head home - slightly burned and very sun-tired, weighed down with shells and sand - our hair, clothes, towels, and every other place you can imagine. Sadly, our perfect day was not to be... we took a wrong turn about 10 minutes into our ride home, and that’s when the car engine started cutting out. Still 40 minutes out of town, Geoff pushed so hard on that pedal and ignition key I thought they would break, the engine finally turned as the night fell, and we finally roared in the direction of home with the big red light on the console flashing “STOP” in our faces. Malcolm offered to tell jokes to lighten the mood, but soon realized the futility of this, and contented himself with occasional body noises for a laugh. Anytime we slowed down, the engine would sputter again, and threaten to cut out -so Geoff did not slow down once for 40 minutes until forced to in a left turn lane - thankfully about 15 minutes from our house, and 5 from the drop-off for the car. Stalled on the road, now completely dark out, I called the owner. We sat amidst the honking horns (drivers not so patient having to go around). After 25 minutes, the owner arrived with his solution - he put Geoff at the wheel in neutral, and pushed the car back to his place using his own car... who needs a tow-truck in Montpellier? I walked home with the kids and we had dinner at a fashionably French hour - around 21h00. Dale sees this as a “scary” experience, Geoff sees it as a sign that our next car rental should be with an established company, I see it (now) as good practice for the many similar experiences we are bound to have in the next 9 months!Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    1
    1Just another Montpellier sunrise from our balcony... (red sky in morning!)

    Weather in Montpellier

    October 4, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We haven’t had a drop of rain since we arrived... I fear it is coming, especially when we biked under this last night on our way through La Comedie. Montpellier is ready!
    (Actually, they are part of fundraising event for breast cancer research - I learned this when we walked by them today).Read more

  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourTraveler
    Improv tap and drum duet.
    1We tried to tango!Where's Chloe?Always a critic...this must have been during the modern dance performance.

    Danser en Montpellier

    October 3, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Lara’s sleuthing through a growing pile of Montpellier brochures yielded this little gem...a dance fiesta and atelier at the Agora Dance Centre, an indoor/outdoor performance space deep in the heart of the Comedie. We watched several performances by amateur and professional dancers in a wide variety of styles from classical to contemporary. Throughout the evening we were invited to participate on stage for tango, hip hop and tap workshops. The threat of a day without nutella waffles buried under smarties helped encourage our children to join us in the workshops.Read more

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