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I always do a travelogue of our trips, and this one has been delayed due to other travels. We spent 8 wonderful days with you in Greece last August. If you can wade through the first two installments of France and Portugal, I’ll get to our Aegean Odyssey in the third and final installment. I hope you enjoy the ride, and our adventure as seen through my eyes.

Pete and I had been looking forward to this trip for many months. We had signed up for Coda’s Aegean Odyssey, an 8 day cruise of the Greek Isles on a mega yacht, the Harmony V. But it wasn’t just for that tour that we set out for Europe. We have some very special friends there whom we wanted to see, so our trip begins in France. We left Buenos Aires on 13 August, on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow, 13¼ hours with a 4¼ layover before our short flight to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I’ve learned from experience to leave an adequate amount of time for our layover to minimize the chance of missing a connecting flight. We have Platinum status with American Airlines so waiting in the Admiral’s Club, or the British Airline equivalent at Heathrow, is not an inconvenience, and we always make good use of the time with our electronics. The free food and drinks is always a huge plus as well, with comfortable chairs and the restrooms close by. We could even take a shower if we pleased. We landed at Charles de Gaulle at 13:25 and were met by Bruce and his son Sam. I couldn’t believe how Sam had grown. I think we first met Sam when he was 4 or 5, and he is now 17.

We dropped Sam off in Paris because he has a rugby practice, and school the next day. Bruce then drove us to Chalvron, about a 2½ hour drive south-east of Paris (237.2 km) in the Bourgogne region. Bruce and Charlotte’s home in Chalvron is warm and rustic, nestled in the most peacefully beautiful country setting you can imagine.

Their new baby, Iréne, has the most beautiful red hair, and a smile that simply melts your heart. Just look at those beautiful blue eyes. Some lucky young man in her future is going to be inescapably captivated by that look. The photo of Pete below was taken in the British Airways Business Lounge at Heathrow. We both enjoyed the free WiFi.

We immediately felt at home, and Charlotte was the perfect hostess. Plus she is a wonderful master at country French cooking. We ate like kings the whole time we visited them. I didn’t want to leave when it became time to go.

Bruce recently sent me some photos taken when all his kids were there visiting him, and I’m borrowing one here to show his wonderful kids.

Left to right: Sam, 17; Bruce; Iréne, 9 months; Billie, 24; Ella, 29. Doesn’t Bruce look like the epitome of a proud father?

We had a few wonderful meals outside, and always with an excellent bottle of wine. Two of the border collies were always nearby, and always very affectionate. They are really a great breed of dog.

I can still taste the dishes Bruce and Charlotte prepared for us. They are quite a team, especially with Iréne.

The tomatoes for the salads came from their own garden, and you simply can’t beat vine ripened for flavor.

Iréne is a very active little girl and requires a lot of energy from her parents. Fortunately Charlotte knows how to relax when opportunity knocks. French white wines are wonderful. I think I could live here. ;o)

Bruce took us to see their horses. The black one is Sam’s. They were both beautiful animals, and looked very healthy.

Have you ever noticed how soft horses muzzles are? They are definitely beautiful animals. A short story; when I was a kid of only 6 or 7 I had my first experience with a horse. My paternal grandparents lived on a farm/ranch in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. The house he and my grandmother lived in was a large old Spanish style stucco house painted a bright white, on the edge of a huge orange orchard, and my grandfather kept bees for pollinating the oranges. He was a cowboy all his life, and actually used to ride fence on a huge ranch near San Francisco, and was out riding the fence the day the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck. He told me and my siblings stories about how he saw the earth coming towards him like swells on the ocean. He still had horses on this ranch in the San Fernando Valley years later. My first time sitting on a horse was quite an experience. My cousin Larry was standing behind the horse, and for no apparent reason he opened his jacket and that spooked the horse, who reared on his hind legs, and me with no experience with horses, slid gracefully off the horses hind quarters and landed flat on my back on the ground, knocking the wind our of me. I gained an immediate healthy respect for horses, as you can well imagine.

I have since, as an adult, ridden horseback and enjoyed it very much. I certainly admire anyone who can ride competently. I also very much admire Charlotte for being such a wonderful mother to Iréne. I think Iréne is a very lucky little girl to have such great parents, not to mention two beautiful sisters, Ella and Billie, and a protective and loving brother, Sam.

I couldn’t help but notice how intently Iréne's attention was focused on those eggs. Like any young French girl, she should have been more focussed on the wonderful cheeses. ;o) What is a French meal without cheese? A disaster!

The next day Bruce and Charlotte took us to visit the Fontenay Abbey. It is possibly the most beautiful Cistercian abbey that is entirely preserved in France, and is one of the wonders of Burgundy. It’s foundation by the abbey-mother Citeaux dates back to 1118.

Cistercian, byname White Monk, or Bernardine, is a member of the Roman Catholic monastic order that was founded in 1098. The order’s founding fathers, led by St. Robert Molesme, were a group of Benedictine monks from the abbey of Molesme who were dissatisfied with the relaxed observance of their abbey and desired to live a solitary life under the guidance and of the strictest interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict. They took a vow of silence, rejected all feudal revenues and reintroduced manual labour for monks. Communities of nuns adopting the Cistercian customs were founded as early as 1120-30, but they were excluded from the order until about 1200, when the nuns began to be directed, spiritually and materially, by the White Monks.

The golden age of the Cistercians was the 12th century. After the Protestant Reformation the Cistercian monks disappeared from northern Europe, and, where they survived, abbeys struggled for existence.

We felt very fortunate to see just how they lived, how they worked the land and followed the Rule of St. Benedict. It was certainly a way of life very foreign to me.

The abbey grounds are being kept in immaculate condition, and the buildings of stone look like they will be around for many more centuries.

I assume this prone statue covers the burial place of some saint. The stone carvings on the wall I believe displayed the 12 passions of Christ.

The vaulted ceilings were magnificent, and the stained glass windows let in a lot of light.

Charlotte is giving Iréne a bottle. Little ones require constant care and feeding. Iréne has been a perfect angel all the while.

The long hall ways with their arches open to the courtyard made the perfect avenue for monks to walk and contemplate as they observed their vows of silence.

Have you ever wondered how the metal body armor was made in the middle ages? I have, but now I needn’t wonder any longer. This abbey had a magnificent forge where metal was smelted and turned into sheets for making armor.

I’m sure that if this ancient anvil could talk, oh the stories it could tell.

The mechanical wizardry was astonishing. This device was used to pound the metal into thin sheets, and it was driven by a waterwheel. As the waterwheel turned the pins on the central wheel would catch the end of the lever and raise the hammer on the other end. Then as the wheel continued to turn, the lever was released and the hammer would fall with great force onto the metal sheet. It was ingenious.

This scale model of the device was actually a working model, and it shows how the beating of the metal was done. I took a couple of short videos of the actual device running, and of this model and put them on my facebook page. You can watch them if you like here

This is what I’d call some pretty impressive metal work, although it was not part of the abbey we saw, just Google provided.

The ample grounds and buildings cover a lot of territory, and we did a lot of walking. That huge tree Bruce is leaning on must be several hundred years old. Oh, if trees could only talk, the stories they could tell. Back home for lunch, and Pete helps by cleaning up the dishes.

There seems t be a place for everything, and hopefully we are able to get the things in their proper places. We don’t want to make Charlotte have to search the whole kitchen to find her favorite tea cup. ;o) Bruce and Charlotte were the perfect hosts.

Under the house Bruce has the most amazing work shop. He has quite a collection of huge power tools; a lathe, a band saw, a planing machine, a table saw, an air compressor, and several other things I had no idea what they would be used for. Bruce is a very talented craftsman when it comes to working with wood.

I took wood shop in high school and loved it. Pete’s mom still has a chest of drawers in her bedroom that I made from ash wood. I’d love to start a project in wood in this amazing work shop. With Bruce as my professor I’m sure I could create amazing stuff. ;o)

Bruce took us to see the property where they are planning to build their new home. It has a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside. He keeps bees there for now, a great source of pure fresh honey, as well as providing for pollination of the fruit trees in the area.

Bruce has constructed a scale model of the home they will be building on their property. That’s a great way to start a project.

They are also seriously considering purchasing this home. At $9,000 the price is certainly right. With Bruce’s construction abilities they can easily turn this into a cozy and livable home to use as income property if they rent it out. It’s nicely located.

The inside looks a bit challenging, but everything is very solid and has endless possibilities. I wish I were younger, I’d welcome the challenge, and jump in with aplomb. Bruce would have to beat me off with a stick.

On one of our outings they were going to take us to the local museum, but by the time we arrived, there was only 30 minutes left before it closed, so instead we found this comfortable outside seating restaurant and enjoyed a most welcome beer.

That evening Charlotte prepared another magnificent meal. I truly loved the salad she made with their home grown tomatoes. The flavors were extraordinary, and I went back for seconds.

From the expression on Iréne’s face it is clear that she is aware that she has the greatest mom in the world. Lucky kid!

Bruce and Charlotte treated us like family, we couldn’t have felt more at home. Every meal we had was totally healthy.

I hope we are able to return the hospitality soon, should they venture a trip to Argentina.

Wouldn’t you say that we were a couple of happy campers, with our beer in hand, and relaxing in this warm environment.

In the afternoon they took us to visit this quaint little church on the hill, quite remote from anything else. The graves were well attended to, although I couldn’t tell if the church was used for services regularly. I can only assume it was.

Opps! Iréne needed a meal, and perhaps a nap, so back home we went, to enjoy the rest of the day there.

I guess you can tell I love kids, and Iréne is such an angel. Who would’t fall in love with her.

The trip from Chalvron to Charles de Gaulle airport for our departing flight is quite a drive, and since our flight to Lisbon was at 10:35 AM, we would have to be at the airport by 7:30 or so. That would entail leaving Chalvron at around 4:00 AM. So Bruce took us to his Paris home on Rue de la Révolution in Montreuil the night before our flight, and we slept comfortably there.

It was apparent that Bruce had made a lot of cosmetic improvements since our last stay there. The kitchen is small . . .

. . . but totally adequate. It was late however when we arrived, so we didn’t waste any time getting to bed.

In the morning we had time for a cup of tea and I took several photos to remember our visit by.

On our first visit here many years ago, Bruce told us that this property was originally a factory and had been converted to several apartments. This inner courtyard is a very nice shared space with lots of plants.

Outside, as Pete loaded our luggage into Bruce’s car, I took a couple of shots of the street to remember it by.

It was difficult saying good bye to Bruce and Sam at the airport. We really did enjoy our visit, although we didn’t see much of Sam because of his school being in Paris, and us being in Chalvron. Hopefully we will have more time to spend with him on our next visit. I hope that won’t be too many years down the road.

My next installment will cover our time in Portugal with Paulo Rocca, our friend we met in New Zealand in April of 2002.