Paris, Esposende and Porto, Portugal June 8 to June 26

Arrived in Paris at 5 in the morning--the flight was uneventful, managed to sleep a bit as we had an extra seat between us.  We are in the same time zone as SA so other than missing Sheryl and Neil and a night's sleep, we are fine.  Le Bus Direct left us at the Arc de Tromphe 1 1/2 hours later and we walked to our place.  George won as he saw the Eiffel Tower first.  We are in the mezzanine of a very old apartment--it is comfortable but definitely needs some TLC.  It is beyond its glory days.  It is a very large apartment with high ceilings and lots of windows.  We have a lovely balcony which looks out on many chimney pots and Sacre-Coeur.  The hosts are delightful if a tad eccentric. The husband talked and talked, mostly in French, George is amazing in his ability to carry on a conversation with him.  I find I can generally follow the conversation.  They have another guest who is here from California learning French.  (He is from China and is a computer nerd.)  We had some breakfast and then George organized his stuff and I went to bed.

After showers and a nap for me, we were off.  Paris is so wonderful.  We walked for miles seeing the sights and enjoying the bustle that is part of this city.  We walked down Champs-Elysees and stopped to ride on the Roue de Paris which gave us views of the icons.  We took chairs at the pond in Jardin des Tuileries and watched life go by--many tourists.  Paris is the most visited destination in the world.  We continued past the Grand Palais and Petit Palais, stopped in the courtyard of the Louvre where there is a new exhibit which is called the magic of trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye).  Muralist J. Jones has cast a spell over the Glass Pyramid which appears to make it disappear.  George took a great photo.  We walked along the Seine which is currently high as there was flooding before we arrived.  We stopped in the Petit Palais for bathroom break and poked around at the exhibits just before closing time.  We enjoyed a sit in the park in the shade--it had been hot and very sunny day.  We were tired.  When our heads hit the pillow, we were out for the next 10 hours.

Day 2 began slowly--breakfast was bread and jam and coffee.  As we were getting ready to leave our balcony, we spied our hostess below on another balcony and she was smoking a cigar and proceeded to throw the butt over the balcony!

Park Monceau provided a photo shoot for George.  We wandered around and relaxed.  There were many exercisers and nannies and small children enjoying the park as well.  There was a delightful carousel with unusual animals and bikes and train cars--each make a sound.  The carousel man went around showing the children to push a button and the noise would start.  I heard him say "ooo la la" to one who was extremely excited to be on a motorcycle that made the noise of one.  We had coffee and then went to the Musee Jacquemart Andre--what a lovely surprise, there was an impressionist exhibit as well as the regular ones.  There were also a few Madonna and baby paintings--one showed the baby swaddled so tightly that it looked like a mummy with red feet and a baby face.  We chatted with an American in the cafe who is visiting for a month.  Oh, we went to the second floor of a fav on Champs Elysees to watch people for awhile.  We walked and walked to get home.  A lovely day.

Today, our last in Paris for a couple of weeks, we wandered down Champs Elsysee, toward the Jardin des Tuileries and sat and watched the ducks play.  It began to rain so we enjoyed the light rain while thinking about Woody Allen's movie, "Midnight in Paris".  The Eiffel Tower has a pink and white soccer ball hanging in the middle.  The EuroCup Football tournament in happening in France with some games played here in Paris and other cities.  We had a lovely lunch in the Garden of the Petit Palais and took more time to check out the paintings and sculptures.  It truly is a magnificent building.  Then we wandered on home to relax, read and have drinks with our hosts in their parlour.  We had crepes for dinner.  We are seeing a different part of Paris this time.  Now we are packing and will leave here at 6:00 am to get the bus to Orly airport.  The bus picked us up at Champs Elysee and travelled around the round about and then right past the Eiffel tower on our way.  On  our flight to Portugal,  we were sitting right behind Business Class and as soon as we were airborne, about 6 Portuguese women rushed beyond the curtain.  It put me in mind of that old Wayne and Schuster sketch about the party happening in first class.

Here is my toe story:  As we were getting ready to leave for the airport, a monster thing fell out of the closet and right on my big toe.  It hurt very much and turned very purple and was throbbing a bit during the walking, busing and on our airplane but was lots better by the following morning.  Yay.

And here we are in Porto, our driver was waiting to take us to Esposende.  We have to explore while we wait for our room to be ready.  We are living across the street from the sea--the place has some beautiful paintings which I plan to admire again.  Had a delightful walk around town on Monday--also Magnum ice cream bars.  Esposende is a sleeping little place with many coffee shops and squares.  Here is an example of how Portugal works.  We went to the tourist info--there were four people sitting at the desk looking at computer screens not noticing us.  We looked around, picked up a few brochures and used an electronic info thing.  Finally, we asked our questions re:  getting to the market, what is happening this week and getting to Porto on Sunday.  The man was helpful and as we were leaving they all got up and left as well.  It was lunch time and I think they had been waiting for us to go so they could have lunch.

Raining today so that means a chance to paint.  The paintings here are lovely so I wanted to attempt at least one.  I remember when we were here before, that I loved the paintings.

The Football game for the EurpCup between Portugal and Iceland is being shown on a large screen outdoors this evening.  We had our dinner at the restaurant that sponsored this event.  It was fun to be there with all the Portuguese people although they are pretty calm fans.  After the game, George read in an English newspaper that tying the game with Portugal was probably the best thing that happened to Iceland since the 1200s.

What a sleepy, lazy day we had today--it was rainy so we stayed in and I painted and George did stuff with the computer.  By 17h00, the sun was shining and we were walking beside the Atlantic Ocean and sitting on the Dunes.  Thursday was market day in Barcelos (Barcellosh) so we got on the bus and  I said Bom Dia (good morning) and helped with paying the driver and then instead of saying Obrogata I repeated Bom Dia.  Hummmmm guess I need to practice more.  Anyway, at the market, I wanted to buy a purse for my not-bought-yet Ipad.  George had checked the sizes so I figured my purse needed to be about 12 ins. deep so it would fit.  So I was off to find a measuring instrument.  I found a lady who was selling ribbon and fabric and only spoke Portuguese.  I tried to explain what I needed.  The fellow behind me spoke English and French and his wife spoke French and Portuguese so he told his wife and the wife told the lady and she sold me the ribbon for 30 euro cents and I bought my bag.  It rained again and the tarps that covered the market stalls were heavy with water and they were many spills.  We saw many rooster statues which are the symbol of Portugal.

We watched the Poland/Germany soccer game in a restaurant in the evening.  I think I could get into watching soccer.  This afternoon we walked on the beach and enjoyed sitting on the dunes.  The sky was blue, blue, blue and the sun was shining.  Some swimmers were doing para/kite surfing which was wonderful to watch.  I know it is not in the cards for me.

We stopped for coffee at one of the many small cafes.  The owner didn't speak English but did speak French so George ordered coffee for him and port for me.

I had some colour added and had some length removed from my hair.  The hairdresser didn't speak English but seemed to understand English.  It is amazing how much communication happens with gestures.  As usual, my hair will be fine in about two weeks.  We will have another beach/pool day--George skipped stones into the Atlantic Ocean.  We had Magnums which in our minds are equal to being in Portugal because that is the first place we ever had the yummy ice cream on a stick.

We went to the square to have dinner and to watch the next Portuguese football game.  Poor old Ronaldo had a few great shots on goal but once he was off side and the other time he hit the goal post. Needless to say, the fans and us were disappointed with a 0 to 0 tie.

And on to Porto--we took the bus from Esposende and all was well until we arrived here.  George and I were that last two on the bus and then the driver stopped and motioned for us to get out.  He had been grouchy with everyone since leaving Esposende and this trip was to end at the bus depot not in the middle of the street.  Anyway, at first we couldn't get a cab to stop and then a fellow came from the bar and showed us where to get a cab.  Our place is in the best location--right on the Douro River and in the middle of where John  the Baptist Day celebrations will happen on June 23rd.    Our hostess came over to tell us how to use the washing machine--turns out it doesn't work so she offered to do our laundry--we have hardly any clean clothes because we were counting on doing it here.  So we went to her place--she lives behind this building--and filled her washer.  She said she would dry it and it would be ready tomorrow.  We thought it would be done today so we even put our pjs in--Oh My.

Our laundry is back but they used a very strong detergent--it will take a few days to air it out.  We had a lovely walk over the bridge to the other side of the river.  Watched some of the England/Slovakia game.

We had a good day today (Tuesday).  We used the Teleferico de Gaia (read cable car)  to get to the top of the second bridge and then walked over the bridge and toured around  on the other side of the river.  We went to a fancy McDonald’s, used to be called the Imperial café.  One of our traditions is to go to the big M in a new city.  We bought some hammers for Festa de Sao Joao (Festival of St. John) celebration.  This is the Mad Midsummer Party where people party all night on the 23 of June.  In the past people would hit others on the head with a large leek or a large smelly garlic stem, these days you can buy a plastic hammer that squeaks. Supposedly, the hit is to show that you like the hittee.  We also made  Baloeiros which are like hot air balloons made out of tissue paper.   Cotton is soaked with paraffin and lit to make the air hot inside and it floats.  The tradition is to make a wish  before letting it go.  If it catches on fire, it is necessary to stomp on it.   It was serendipitous as we just happened to walk by the place when the construction was happening.   We will attend some of the party but will not be up all night as we are geysers.   The day after is a holiday and there will be a regatta of barcos rabeirs, the wooden, flat bottomed boats that were traditionally used to transport wine from Douro Valley to the port houses.  We have been invited to our hostess’s for dinner which will include grilled sardines.

We had a tour of Sandeman which is a port house down the street from us.  The symbol is a person dressed in black that resembles Zorro.  Our guide wore this costume and she looked great.  We had a port tasting with our group and chatted with some fellows--two from Czech Republic who are studying computer science in Portugal and the other is a nurse from the Philippines who works in Cambridge--just started and he gets 9 weeks of holidays.  Then we had a delicious lunch at Taylor's another port house.  We had the best table on the balcony overlooking Porto and the Douro River.  To get there we walked up a few skinny, winding rabbit warrens.  In the evening, we went out to buy a basil plant as a hostess gift.  These plants are everywhere and are part of the celebration.  When you bounce your hand on the top, it smells lovely.  On seeing me carry it, a lady stopped us to tell us about the festival--most we already knew but she was being kind.

Well, Porto really knows how to do a party.  This festival is one of the best I have ever been part of--wow!  We strolled around in the day time but really things only got under way after 20h00.  We went to our hostess's courtyard which is just behind where we live.  There were many people there.  We wore our Ronaldo shirts and took our hammers.  Also, a basil plant which is a symbol of good health, luck and fortune and some dark chocolate which goes well with port.  We could converse with some of the friends there--one fellow and George discussed football/soccer for a long while.  The food was tasty--highlights were the sardines and a yummy cake.  There was also a cake which had the symbols of the festival-hammers, basil plant and St. John. (Sao Joao).  We also took our baloerios--one of the guests had one that floated really nicely.  It is the same idea as hot air balloons--lighting the paraffin soaked cotton puts hot air into the balloon part and it floats very high.  The men at the party were really keen to get the baloerios to float.  I am afraid mine had to be stomped because it just wouldn't go up.  All evening we saw hundreds in the sky floating away.

The fireworks were the best I have ever seen anywhere.  They had five barges in the river that were spouting the lights and the bridge had one that looked like a water fall running down one side.  The street in front of our building was so crowded and it is two hours since the fireworks ended and people are still trying to get to the bridge to return to the other side.  They are singing and clapping just outside our window and probably will be for another hour.

The hammer thing was a blast.  A lady stood on the opposite side of our street and was selling plastic hammers.  She started with three bags full and by the fireworks, she had about six left.  People just tap who ever is near them on the head.  We also saw some garlic stems in the crowd which were used instead of hammers.  The crowd was estimated to be 200,000 and I think they are all passing past our window.  It is 2h00.  Oh, what a night!

Friday, today, is a holiday here and also for us.  Yay, we had a great sleep-in and when we looked out the window, we were surprised how clean everything was.  Seems the cleaners have been through.  There is one blue baloeiro stuck in the tree nearby.  We will have a quite day and then watch the regatta.

Portugal will play Croatia today (25), we will don our Ronaldo shirts and join the crew at the Square near City Hall.  It has been a wonderful week.

And so to Paris, arriving at 19h00 June 26.

Cape Town and Namibia and Pretoria and Swaziland Bushfire May 9 to June 8, 2016

Our trip began with the Union/Pearson Express Train which took us to the airport.  In seven hours we were in Amsterdam and then ten more took us to Cape Town and our driver who brought us safely to our place .......  It is lovely and rustic and has a huge jacuzzi tub and a veranda on the roof.  It was great to get into the sixtieth bed since leaving Ottawa on November 30, 2014.  We slept late and then, had coffee and omelets at Origin.  We walked to the harbour and enjoyed the sights and the Ferris wheel ride.  Oh, we had a discount because we are seniors.  Since my last birthday, the government has been paying me to be alive.  Yay.  We shopped for some food and came home for a quiet evening.

We had a face time session with Brienne and Claire.  She has completed her courses for this term and did very well.  Sheryl, who is in Port Elizabeth on business, sent some emails.  She and Neil will meet us in Cape Town on Friday.  Grant has been offered a new position as a procedural clerk in the House of Commons, which is exactly what he was hoping for.  Details are still scant but he will begin on May 26th (which would have been Gladie's bd).  Yay.

Thursday, I had to sleep in so instead of a Hop On Hop Off tour,we went to the District 6 museum.  Our guide had been a young man when the powers decided that the whole district should be moved to townships.  He was allowed to return in the last few years but is a tad bitter.  All of the rest of his family has passed on.   It is quite sad all the things that happened during Apartheid. The decision to give the land back smacks of similar things in Canada.

We had coffee and a steam dog at "Truth".  I usually don't eat hot dogs anywhere but in North America, but this one was delicious.  On Friday, we had a motorcycle/sidecar ride.  It was funny as I first noticed it and thought it would be a fun thing and then started to change my mind and then George decided that it would be fun and so we went off with a driver.  We saw some lovely scenery and went up to Signal Hill.  And on the top there were people doing parasailing.  Maybe that should be on our bucket list. It has been a great time in Cape Town.  Our driver from Tuesday, returned to take us to the airport to meet Sheryl and Neil.  He was quite chatty and told us that cooking was his passion--gave us a lesson about cooking crayfish.  He tended to talk with his hands at times so that was a bit disconcerting.

Sheryl and Neil arrived.  While we were waiting there were two families reuniting with a travelling parent coming home.  It was so sweet to watch how excited the children were to see the parent arriving.  The arrival part of airports is quite heart warming.  We rented a car and left for Franschhoek which is about one hour from CT.  We were staying at a lovely winery hotel, Asara.  We attended the literary festival--we all had tickets for four events over the two days.  One of my sessions was a discussion about how the future is effected by the past.  One of the authors wrote, "God, Spies, Lies"--I must read it.  Even though I am starting to know a bit about SA politics, many times in this discussion, I felt a tad lost.  I also attended a string quartet which included a pianist in the second half.  Two of the other sessions that I attended were about authors talking about the processes of writing their books.  So many books, so little time.

Today is Monday and we are in Namibia---flew from Cape Town leaving at 6:30 am which is way too early.  We rented a giant 4X4 truck thing which will be useful if we get driving in the dunes and gravel roads.  It is a Toyota, Hilux--turned out there were many of them at our hotel as there is some convention happening.  Also, they are shooting an ad which we will likely see sometime.   Namibia is on the Atlantic Ocean and is mainly desert.  We had a lovely walk on the beach and now must go to bed.

Oh what a day--after breakfast on Tuesday, we were off to Sandwich Harbour and a Land Rover tour of the dunes.  I can't express the amazingness of seeing sand dunes and more sand dunes and more sand dunes.  We had an excellent driver who could drive down one dune and up the next and repeat and repeat.  We climbed to the top--well, to be honest, George and Sheryl and Neil climbed to the top--I stopped in the middle and waited for their return.  I made a sand angel.  Neil jumped over the edge of a dune into much more sand.   It is hard to stand on the top of a dune and realize that it is 110 meters deep.  That is a lot of sand.  We were surprised to see jackals, springboks, oryxes and many birds including flocks of flamingos.  In the middle of the tour, we stopped for a champagne snack which included oysters--delightful, well, not the oysters!  Sheryl said at the end of the day that things just kept getting better and they started our just fine.  I would go on this tour again in a minute.  Our driver was so keen--even seemed excited to see some of the animals--got his giant camera out and took photos, too.  This was our very own piece of "Fury Road".

Our next day--after another lovely  breakfast, George and I walked on the beach and checked out the market which was quite uncomfortable.  The sellers were like flies on honey--we did finally buy a mask for Grant and were glad to have escaped with our lives.  Then we rode quads in the dunes.  I was quite frightened about this escapade--after the first few feet, I would have been happy to stop and we were still on the concrete.  Anyway, our guide was excellent and very encouraging.  It was scary going up the dunes but worse coming down.  I learned later that when asked if we could go faster, he said that he didn't think Mama (Mama meaning me!  Guess I have arrived to oldhood.) wanted to go any faster.  I gained confidence as we went.  We stopped in the middle and Neil went down the dune on a board for sliding--it was very far and fun for him.  Then our guide went down to pick him up on his quad.  It was so cold for a short while when the fog rolled in. Someone said that in Namiba, one can experience all the seasons in one day!  We spend 2 hours driving in the dunes.  I felt like I was glad to stop but would not have missed the experience for a minute.

Tomorrow we are off to a new location called Outpost and that is exactly what it seemed like.  It was way darker than the farm ever was.  We have two rustic, well equipped chalets.  The trip here was mostly on gravel roads which Neil and our truck thing managed just fine.  We had a lovely dinner and then checked out the stars.  The moon is nearly full.  We can get on the roof of our chalet to star gaze.  We went to bed early as we were going on a balloon ride the next morning and have to leave here by 4:00 am.  The balloon ride was spectacular-so much sand and mountains of rock.  We floated along and the pilot brought our balloon down so the trees brushed the bottom of the basket.  Then we had a marvelous, champagne breakfast at the bottom of a sand dune.  Desert! Yay.

Our early rising meant a nap time for me while George organized photos and Neil and Sheryl had a walk around the site.  We have been relaxing by the pool and doing email stuff.  It is so lovely.  Next day, we drove on the gravel, stony roads to Namib Park to see and climb the dunes.  I wasn't planning to climb as by the time we arrived it was very hot.  George and Sheryl and Neil climbed for 2 hours while I read and played Angry Birds in the shade.  They were hot and tired when they returned but also exhilarated after the climb.  The sand was really quite orange.   We also walked on Dune 45 which was amazing.  Our shoes were too small because they were of the fine sand.  It is still difficult to take in all the dunes. What an amazing country.

Alas, our last day in Namibia is Sunday.  We are now in Pretoria after six hours on very bumpy, gravel roads, one place there was water over the road.  That is the most water we have seen here.  They haven't had rain in 4 years.  Anyway, back to the travel, we arrived at Windhoek which is the capital and from where we will fly to Jo'burg.  Our flight was uneventful which is always nice.  We picked up the car and are now getting settled in our usual room at Sheryl and Neil's.  Yay.  We have been en route since 8:00 this morning and it is 21h00 here.  While they go to work, we will have a quiet day tomorrow.  Namibia was the best.

Three days of relaxing--we hardly strayed from this place.  I did spend one day following a watercolour painting course--did two lessons.  Yay.  George has been sorting photos.  We walked to a nearby shopping centre for coffee, groceries and a haircut for me.

We attended a Quiz night at the High Commission.  Our group, called "The Wheat Kings" won a prize for being last.  Maybe because the questions were tough and certainly, trivia is not a strong point for me.  Anyway, I meet a colleague of Sheryl's who knew of PattiCakes in Ottawa.  Small world.

And now we are off to Bushfire Music Fest in Swaziland.  The car is packed with stuff because we will be "glamping" while at the festival.  The border process was interesting.  We had to show passports and get the car approved on the way out of SA and again on the way in to Swaziland.  The lines were long because many were going there as well.  Our wait was a tad shorted because the car  has a diplomatic licence and both S & N have diplomatic passports.  We were travelling there with five friends of Sheryl and Neil's.  Unfortunately, the roads were bumpy and uneven in places and the other carload had an accident.  (I will refer to them by the first initials because I forgot to get permission to use their names--V, D, Y, M, L)  We were following and when we arrived their car was in the ditch, going the wrong way.  What a shock to learn that they had got caught in gravel and flipped over and then landed on the tires.  Miracle of miracles, no one was hurt except Y had a very sore neck.  Oh, yeah, and it was dark--darkness comes really quickly  and we were in the middle of nowhere.  So what to do?  A few cars stopped and one guy said he would call the police and report the accident.  So while Sheryl drove D, Y, and L to the nearest clinic which was forever away. (George and I went too.)  Neil and V and M stayed with the car to wait for the police which took forever too.   We spent many hours at the clinic and Y ended up with a neck brace and the others were OK.  Interesting fact:  the private clinic we went to didn't have a radiologist to read the x-rays so they sent them by phone to L's father who is a radiologist in Chicago.  They also sent the results to a radiologist in SA.  Meanwhile, back at the accident car, the three were giving statements and the police were writing things and looking and were very helpful and kind.  A tow truck finally arrived and the driving agreed to drive them to Bushfire grounds.  He then towed the car to the SA border and the insurance guys would get it the next day.  Riding in the tow truck:  the two women shared the seat with the driver while Neil stretched out in the box and viewed the stars.  Trucks here are called "Buckies".   By the time we all got to the "glamping" place it was midnight.

Now let me talk about that--"glamping" is just camping in tents with cots and sleeping bags and dark.  The write-up was a stuff up!  (This is a new expression learned in relation to the border crossing).  Anyway, George and I got into our tent and it was dark, very dark, and also cold as it is winter here and the temperatures go down around 9 degrees or less at night.  Imagine us stumbling around, putting something down and loosing it and maybe never finding it again and it was dark even though we had flashlights.  Wait a minute, we hate camping even if it is called "glamping".  I put on many clothes and zipped up my bag and put my head inside like a turtle and tried not to move much.  Good that morning came. Oh, the good news was that we were so close that we could walk to the events, but the bad news was we could hear the music until 3:00 am.  I think I won't talk about the bathrooms and the showers because George says that was too traumatic.

We had a delightful day listening to many bands and cruising the food court and the market place and eating.  It was 22h00 and we were waiting for a special band to begin and George went looking for a bathroom, I was cold so I moved nearer to a table that had a heater.  There were two women sitting there and a man standing.  I asked if I might sit to get warmer and that was fine.  I said I would move when the man wanted the chair.  They were from Limpopo which is a province in SA.  Anyway, the group was quite dozy waiting for the band to begin.  Finally I asked the man if he wanted the chair and wait for this, he said, "No, you have it because you are old".  I was warm and willing to play the old card in order to stay near the heater but felt a tad hurt.  Do I really look that old?   We chatted and he was surprised that we were from Canada.  (English was not his first language so our conversation was short and really he didn't look much younger than me.)  Anyway, when the band started, the other mate and my mate  arrived and we all danced around and enjoyed the music.

After the band player, we walked home to enjoy another night glamping.  Did I mention that breakfast next morning was better than Saturday morning's which was awful?  There was light at the end of today's tunnel, we are  moving to a guest house for Sunday night.  Yay.  We enjoyed some more bands and missed some as they was a "stuff up" at the border and they didn't arrive.  Who would have thought crossing the border would be such a big deal.  V who owned the crashed car spent the day shuttling to the airport and around getting a rental car that they could all drive home in.  By 20h00, we had all arrived to the Guest House which was lovely and they served a very delicious meal.  It was a table d'hote and we could order small plates and taste everything.  What a delightful time, good food, good company and fire places.   At one point in the meal when we were discussing travel, D said, "When I get big, I want to be you (ie me)!"  She was wise not to say, when I get old!

Next morning, which was Monday, we had a delicious breakfast and were on our way from Swaziland.  We stopped at a glass factory where they make beautiful things using recycled glass.  We had to buy a few things, including a glass elephant.  Imagine buying an elephant when I don't have a house to display it in.  Oh, well, S & N will enjoy it on our behalf.  It was great to be back in Pretoria and home again.  What an unforgettable weekend, including these great friends.

Our many driving trips, were made much better because we listened to podcasts and a Sherlock Holmes series that Neil had downloaded.  We also listened to Cat Stevens which is a fav for us all.

Wednesday when Rose comes to tidy, George and I took the Gautrain to Jo'burg.  We had planned to go to the Rosebank to shop but there was a stuff up between there and Sandton, so we stayed at Sandton.  I found a pair of black leggings, a cozy pj for Sheryl, but no runners.  The sizes are different and I was looking for black ones so they could also be a bit more dressy.  My current runners are done--all that sand in Namibia.

We are discovering that it is possible to walk somewhere in this neighbourhood although we may have been the only white people who walk anywhere.  Our first walk was to a shopping centre where I got a hair cut.  The hair washer person also massaged my neck and hands which was lovely.  She also brought me some magazines which were written in Afrikaans.  We had coffee as well.  Yesterday we had coffee at Woolies (Woolworths is an upscale grocery store and sometimes clothing shop here.)  Our young waitress cleared up the value of Rand coins for us but was disappointed that we didn't have any Canadian money to show her.  Then we shopped at the "Housewives' Market" which is at the other end of the scale and has large quantities of stuff including nuts.  We bought nuts to make granola which is a fav of Neil.

Had some relaxing days--I am delighted that I have done up to Lesson 7 in my wc painting book.  I have been moving the patio table into the sun and painting until my heart is content.  I watched a Quebec movie called "Lawrence Anyways" about a transgender man and the trials of change.  Interesting and sad and somewhat complicated.

Our wonderful time here is fast speeding away.  We had many lovely meals together and enjoyed many laughs.  We will miss Sheryl and Neil but will see them briefly in Ottawa when they are in Canada to celebrate the anniversary of Neil's parents.  Next stop-Paris!