Van Gogh in Arles

House in Arles that Vincent Van Gogh rented and used as his artists retreat and invited his friend Manet to join him. Unfortunately Vincent got violent and threatened his friend with a knife and then subsequently cut off his own ear. Sad end of a gifted life!

Van Gogh

No other painter of caliber has a museum so totally dedicated to his own work thanks to his surviving family who so carefully curated his work after his death and the death of his collector agent and brother Theo ! Early impressionist in the late 1800's he painted as much as one piece of artwork daily before sadly committing suicide by shooting himself and walking home to die at a young age. The Van Gogh Museum is beyond anything I've seen in terms of range of works, historical coverage, quality of the selected pieces, gallery presentation, value of the pieces, almost all aspects! You walk through Vincent's life from his traditional Dutch dark works through his Paris enlightenment and awakening and then on to the Provence years in awe! Veritably all other galleries become generalized museums and this is a different league!

Our menu tonight

Nice!!  At the Toro Dorado in Amsterdam. You even get a certificate with a 10 digit serial number that can be traced back to the actual cow! You would not expect to think of Amsterdam as a beef sampling center of Europe but Toro Dorado had it all including the best Wagyu Japanese - the only restaurants in Holland to be authorized ! Quick calculation shows the top Royal Wagyu at 230 euros or $250 for 250 grammes or 1/2 lb - that's $500 per lb or $1,000 per kilo! Note prices are in Euros so multiply by 110% to get USD! Needless to say Margaret had the Scottish and I had the Argentinian! Superb!!

Amsterdam digs

Our pied a terre in Amsterdam about three blocks from the Centraal Station and a quick block from the tram which took us everywhere on our three day pass. All Amsterdam houses were taxed in width so hence their narrow profile which does not allow much of a staircase - so all houses have a pulley on their front gable so that deliveries or furniture can be hauled up to the appropriate French door windows for above ground floor delivery!

Entertainment on the metro

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View from half way up!

Pre-booked lunch at the 58 restaurant on the first floor of the Tour Eiffel... got center seat by the window (pays to dress up a bit!) and pique-nique French style lunch with terrine de canard, chicken or salmon and veggies, and ice cream dessert ! Walked off the calories by walking down the stairs back to ground. Lots of prep work going on on the Champs de Mars for the Euro 2016 Soccer Tournament!

Special Coffee!!

Roland Garros French Open has a unique signature chocolate sprinkle on my cappuccino!

Roland Garros at last!

The high point of any tennis fan is dropping in at one of the grand slam tournaments. Our day out we had great seats and great weather and a full day of excellent tennis including Rafa who beat Bagnis and unfortunately pulled out the next day with injury and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who beat Baghdatis! Roger failed to appear due to injury and cancelled a week before! Helas Roger!!

Here comes the Minister...

Even the French can drive on the wrong side of the road English style when they really need to … a fast moving ministerial convoy with motorcycle outriders speed across Pont Alexander III

Ile Flottante

French dessert with a meringue island floating in a sea of light custard! Margaret indulges in the island which is allergy free and I clean up the sea of custard! Works out well for both of us!

Goat cheese pit stop

These are just the goat cheeses! Hard to understand the sheer scope and diverse goat cheese offerings in France, each one a special delight! Maybe in my next life I will own and manage a cheese shop - a lot of tasting and sampling will be my downfall! One of my memorable five year old treats was driving home from our local French town market with a really hard goat cheese to gnaw on which kept me quiet but rather smelly! Better than candy or sweets!

Frederic - our chef instructor

Cooking class

Chicken with Marchant de Vin sauce, carrot and parsnip balls, mashed spuds extraordinaire, veloute of Jerusalem artichoke, and poire Belle Helene! Also included trip to market to buy ingredients and sit down lunch to consume it all!!

One of my favorites...

Kidneys in sauce and mashed potatoes... one of those French comfort foods at the Cafe du Commerce close to our apartment in the 7th arrondissement... they just have a way of making it so delicious!

Orangerie

Never been to an art museum where the entire main floor (of only 2 floors) is entirely devoted to one artist and eight paintings of water lilies and willow trees in his backyard at different times of the day at Giverny.
Claude Monet did take some 11 years to complete these masterpieces which if lined up end to end would be nearly 300 ft. The basement is not so shabby with a top notch collection of Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse and Modigliani. Compact but powerful art gallery!

French Markets.....

.... have a way of selling themselves by just spectacular presentation! How can you resist one of these planners of raspberries, blueberries, red currants, plums, strawberries or blackberries? Just salivate checking this out...

Macarons class in Paris

Julie and her six happy and successful students! The end product was tasted after 24 hours… superb!

Artistic bone stacking

The French invented the word bureaucracy and they should also be credited with elegant storage of dead people's bones... all six million of them! In the Paris catacombs which once were limestone quarries are now laid to rest (for the second time) the bones from victims of plagues and diseases, revolution and government insurrection put downs, and many Parisian cemeteries that were relocated due to expansion of the city going back 300 years. Skulls and tibbias form the main artistic components with lesser bones thrown in behind the wall. We are here some 60 ft beneath the southern part of Paris and walked two miles of underground bone storage tunnels ! Macabre!

Eiffel Tower bids good night

Every evening we look out of the kitchen and bedroom window of our friends apartment (he left for Bali!) and enjoy the stunning view - at 11pm and midnight the tower comes alight with popping white flash led that scintillate the whole tower for five minutes. High security everywhere after the latest Egyptair crash.

Inside Quai d'Orsay Museum

Behind the clock face

The Quai d'Orsay museum overlooks the river Seine and once upon a time was the main train terminus for Orleans. Now the ultimate Paris museum it houses the best of the best! Great lunch in the restaurant and time to have a cafe behind the clock face....

Notre Dame

The Chimera on the Notre Dame tower keep a watchful eye over Paris

Soft Shell production line

First of the season! Fourteen hotel size soft shells, some with quinoa flour and most with regular seasoned flour, hit the two fryers with steam, smoke and flying oil - a house specialty and an evening to remember!

Locking into the Panama Canal

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Colorful beach chairs

Along the beach at Corolla we find a whole row of vacant beach chairs which deserved a special shot! Mid morning! Where are the owners?

Corolla Beach Time

Another superb endless as far as the eye can see soft sand beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Guests at the beach front house for a week of great beach walking and even better dining!

The current demarcation line

About seven miles offshore of the Oregon Inlet the water change color dramatically! The colder greenish Labrador current flowing south along the coast meets the warm and dark blue northbound Gulf Stream without much sign of merging. Along this thermocline gamefish are very active and we caught 4 sharks, a Remora and a Cobia within an hour! Exciting stuff!

Let's go fishing !

Catching Red Drum off Oregon Inlet NC under the guidance of master angler Sneaky Pete. Most had to be thrown back in being oversized and deemed to be protected as reproductive stage in their life cycle. Did keep some Cobia and Shark!

A new mode of travel !

After 40+ years of water born travel we decided to branch out a bit and get ourselves equipped with a new Flying Cloud Airstream. Shake down cruise to Cape May NJ followed by a week on the Virginia Blue Ridge Parkway and next.... our summer trip north to Nova Scotia and PEI. The water is never far away from us and we will keep one foot in the water and one foot in the Airstream!

Wine on the Water

Great evening at St Margaret's who host wine on the water when school is out! Midnight Coal Company were the musical entertainment for the evening!

CBF jet powered workboat

Docking at RYC for ten days, Jenny S was the workboat platform for several classes run by Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Capt. Jimmy very skilled waterman and teacher! Great job he has! The workboat has a water jet propulsion system and can operate in ultra shallow waters which abound around here!

Seaplane landing

Landing across our bows when all we were trying to do our usual cocktail cruise!

Tornado report June 18th

No damage on our side of the river!

Bald Head Island

No motor vehicles here! Just golf carts. We are guests for a few nights on this wonderful remote and peaceful island stuck out in the Atlantic off Wilmington NC and at Frying Pan Shoals the shipwreck graveyard of the Atlantic...

Tasty oysters

Grilling those large oysters until they open up, remove top half of shell, a spoonful of butter parsley and shallot dressing and allow to grill for another few minutes until they are shriveled and golden!

Sandbridge Beach

Great walking this almost deserted beach south towards the turtle egg laying grounds in the wild life preserve.

Suggestive metallic outlines

Seen in the garden of the Terry's at Fleeton - the pond is connected to the Chesapeake Bay on the East side of the Fleeton Point peninsula. The occasion was the memorial service for Cousin Ruth who died earlier this year following complications from a dog bite - RIP Ruth such a wonderful person....

New charcoal wood grill installed at RYC

Two years after leaving the Chinn House we finally reassemble our outdoor grilling platform at RYC. Designed for charcoal or oak the grill is lit at least an hour before cooking can start and wait until the embers are glowing! No way you can rush with this grilling!

Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Another great bridge on the East Coast as we venture north in the Beast to acquire our new Airstream! Quite a few folks freak out at driving across this very high bridge and have to seek out the volunteer drivers to drive their vehicles across the bay! Margaret did very well and drove across it on our return trip towing our 25 ft Flying Cloud....

Richmond Fine Arts Museum

Fake bulrushes in the garden pond!

Riverside Condo #305

Time to put the Condo on the market. Having acquired this for the in-laws we now have no further use and decided to sell - see www.tappacondo.com

A brisk walk across the Golden Gste

Dropped off in Marin County and picked up in the Presidio by our faithful Uber driver Ben! Just a splendid walk with great views and plenty of fresh air!

San Francisco Bay

Taking a stroll through Chavez Park near Berkeley at sunset we can just about make out the Golden Gate Bridge to the left and the Marin County headland where the sun is setting!

Rivahaven Yacht Club

Winter at RYC settles in - water color by Waterlogue

Beware of Dragons

The Diagonal Alley banks are well protected! Gringotts Bank has a Ukrainian Ironbelly Dragon that will crisp you if you are an undesirable visitor!

Portofino?

Well yes and no! It is called Portofino and it is modeled after Portofino except it's not Italy - it's Orlando and it is a Universal Studio themed resort which serves as base to priority access the park so we can ride the Harry Potter adventures!

Pelican digestion

What a pelican looks like when it opens its mouth for more food!!