Category Archives: Sports and Recreation

Lovely By The Seaside at St. Kilda In Spring

The throngs are yet to arrive — it’s only Spring y’know — but several dozen people were sprinkled up and down the beach and boardwalk at St. Kilda Beach this week. We’re lucky to live in such a pretty place, but I’ve lived in seaside towns in the USA and the UK and there certainly was a familiar feel to our stroll along the boardwalk. In spite of the whipping wind, the smallest bit of sun appears and off come the shirts, out comes the lily-white skin, and up go the refreshed signs from the local council telling folks what they are and are not allowed to do on the beach.

The sparsely populated St. Kilda beach and boardwalk on a sunny Spring day in Melbourne, Australia

Spring sunbathers at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia

Sand sculpture of a shark at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia

Woman on a bike at St. Kilda beach in Melbourne, Australia with her Jack Russell dog sitting in the front basket

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No dogs allowed on the beach at St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia, during the 5 months of high tourist season

Thieves In The Night in Melbourne, Australia

If I seem a bit off my game for the next week, it’s because I am dealing with a very stressful situation right now. We’ve been burgled.

Sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, someone broke into our garage and stole 2 of the 4 bikes in there — the most expensive ones — the customised Specialized road bike and mountain bike that Mark is out and about on several days each week. Not only that, they got all of the peripheral gear like the heart rate monitors, the bike repair kit, the brand new high-vis lights, the brand new pannier frame that only was installed this past week, and in Mark’s cycling bag was a digital camera which was also stolen. To add insult to injury, they left their ratty old bikes outside our garage as they rode away on Mark’s lovely bikes.

Mark and one of his STOLEN Specialized bikes

We are feeling quite gutted. The police came out from the St. Kilda Police Station to take fingerprints and they were lovely to deal with both in person and on the phone. But the likelihood of ever seeing these items again is quite slim.

Now I have to troll backward through YEARS of online receipts and paper receipts and pictures to find enough evidence to PROVE to the insurance company that we actually owned all of this. So my entire week may be getting eaten up with this ridiculous nonsense. It’s hard to feel happy about returning to Australia when we have to go through things like this and it came out of both of our mouths yesterday. We forgot to lock our car doors in Moyon or St. Martin de Brehal or St. Girons quite a few times when we were living in France for several years. Nothing ever got touched. But we return to Australia and within weeks back here we are burgled???

More soon-ish…

Time For The Tour de France

It’s that time again — the 3 weeks of each year when my husband’s concentration is fixed on the Tour de France. Unfortunately we aren’t in France this year — we’re back in Melbourne, Australia.

Mark saw the Tour live in Normandy in 2011 when we were living there — and then he saw the Tour live again last year in the South of France when we lived in the Midi-Pyrenees. Ah well — television coverage will have to do for this year.

But you DO know that your sweetie is a ‘cycling tragic’ (fanatic) when he decorates his hard hat from work with Polka Dot Jersey red dots!

An homage to the Polka Dot Jersey in the Tour de France on Mark’s hardhat

Back soon!

From Barcelona, Not The Normal Thing To See At A Museum!

Walking down a narrow street in Barcelona, heading for the contemporary art museum called MACBA, we strolled past several sidewalk cafes at the front corner of the large white museum building.

Sidewalk cafes are conveniently located outside the front entry of MACBA — the museum of contemporary art in Barcelona, Spain.

We certainly weren’t expecting what we saw unfolding in the courtyard in front of us. Dozens of young people were ‘hanging out’ in various places along the courtyard and in clumps at the front of MACBA. And what we were laughing at was the sight of skateboarders doing tricks right in front of that museum!

They were quite considerate and confined their activity to a small area so that they didn’t interfere with the pedestrians who were criss-crossing the plaza or coming in and out of the museum.

Young men on skateboards perform in the open plaza outside MACBA — the museum of contemporary art in Barcelona, Spain.

Day to day life in Barcelona surprised us again and again. We might be living in Europe now, but our quiet French town is rather sedate compared to the unfolding comedy, drama, and action in this large metropolitan part of Spain.

Cycling At Night in the South Of France

Daylight was slipping away as the scraping sound echoed up the stone walls and through the street. Barricades were being dragged across the end of the block, people began unpacking their cars in the parking lot across the street, and men in safety vests began taking up positions up and down the street.

Officials and riders preparing for a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Cycling is such a passion for people of all ages in France and the Tour de France is not the only racing or touring event that attracts attention. We discovered yet another reason to love living in St. Girons 10 days ago when a night-time cycling event was held here that circled the town and passed right beneath our window again and again and again.

Cyclists preparing for a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Hours passed, the light changed from twilight to darkness, the streetlights illuminated the pavement, and the cyclists went around and around the circuit until after 10 PM.

Cyclists on a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Mark was a very happy man as he watched some fellow cyclists going around and around the curve at the end of our street. And he did it all from the best spot possible — out the front window of our apartment.

Watching the cyclists go by in a night-time road race in St. Girons in the Midi-Pyrenees in France

Farewell To The Festival

The 4 day summer music festival in St. Girons, France has just come to an end and I shall certainly miss the level of activity in town.

Oh wait — ANOTHER TWO multi-day festivals begin this coming weekend!

I’m not quite sure what the next event had to do with this past weekend’s music festival, but it was certainly listed on the official schedule. The petanque tournament was on a very hot and sunny Monday afternoon and when I arrived, I was quite surprised to see about 100 men of all ages participating in what was clearly a multi-generational event.

Men of all ages playing petanque in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

A tired-looking referee paced up and down the gravel trying to keep an attentive eye on the multiple competition teams that were all playing at the same time.

The referee in a striped shirt tried to manage the multiple petanque games which were all played at the same time in St. Girons, France.

And there were the occasional ‘debates’ about the just-completed toss.

A friendly discussion about a just completed game of petanque in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

As I passed the old riverside chateau, the Palais des Viscomtes, I could see that the scaffolding crew were busy disassembling the large framework that had supported the lights, speakers, and cameras during the weekend music festival.

Workers removing the scaffolding used for lights, speakers, & cameras at a music festival in St. Girons, France

The concluding event was a fireworks display to be set off from the gardens of the old chateau which are just a few blocks from our apartment here in St. Girons. We had been rather disappointed at the level of fireworks on Bastille Day, so we didn’t walk down to the park for the fireworks which were meant to start at 10:30 PM. But at 11:00 PM, the sky erupted and the fireworks went on for at least 20-30 minutes. It was immediately clear that the festival committee had splashed out with the fireworks budget because what we were seeing was nothing like the subdued pop-pop-pop of the Bastille Day fireworks.

Fireworks in St. Girons, France

They were splendid! And we had a wonderful view from the balcony of our apartment. I probably got much clearer photographs from that elevated position than I would have from a standing position under the trees of the chateau’s garden.

Fireworks in St. Girons, France

Tour De France Photo Essay

One of the many joys of being an ex-pat resident of a country like France is getting to attend events like the Tour de France live without the hassles of around-the-world flights from Australia. We never imagined when we left Australia in December of 2010 that Mark would get to watch a stage of this famous race for two years in a row.

I’m turning the photo essay over to my husband Mark today since he’s the one who braved the drizzly weather to watch a Midi-Pyrenees stage of the 99th Tour de France on Sunday, the 15th of July.

Instead of being crunched by the crowds at the finish-line in Foix, Mark chose to watch from the village of Massat which is only about a 40 minute drive from our home in St. Girons. Here are some scenes in the village prior to the arrival of the caravan of floats and then the peloton of riders.

5 Jersey Display in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Man Waiting for the Tour de France in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Gendarmes in front of building decorated for Tour de France in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

The caravan passed steadily by as people of all ages eagerly awaited the ‘goodies’ which are flung out to the crowds.

The pre-peloton caravan parade begins in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

The Haribo (candy) parade car in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

The Big Yellow Rider at the pre-peloton parade in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

The Mickey Mouse comic book car in the pre-peloton parade in Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Waiting and watching for the Tour de France cyclists to arrive

Zoom! After all of the waiting, it was quickly over for another year and people began returning to their homes.

Tour de France cyclists passing through Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Walking home after watching the Tour de France pass through Massat, Midi-Pyrenees, France

Caps, keyrings, fridge magnets, packs of candy & snacks, wristbands, tote bags, blow-up pillow, glasses case, and more. Mark was much luckier this year since he picked a spot that had less people than his position in Normandy a year ago and he thus increased his odds of catching the ‘goodies’ that are flung out by the caravan of floats prior to the arrival of the peloton. He came home a very happy-chappy with a huge grin on his face!

A selection of 'goodies' that are tossed out to the crowd during the pre-peloton Tour de France parades through villages & towns

A Wanderful Life

The Neverending Journey