Amazing race 2009: Corse, Sardegna et Cote D'Azur

Admiral and Lady Pelican just finished another episode of Amazing race. Little Fiat Panda took us from Marseille(Marseilles) to Aiacciu(Ajaccio) via Corsica ferries from Toulon. The sandy beaches in Corse(Corsica) are so beautiful and fishes swim around us. The time ran fast and we only got to visit southwest portion of Corsica and its capital Corti(Corte). Certainly we invited ourselves to the childhood residence of Napoleon 1er, Empereur des Francais.

After calling Ile Lavazzi, we took a Mobyline ferry from Bonifacio to Santa Teressa, Sardinia(Sardegna). Surprised by the Sardinia flag; there are four Moor's heads on the four quadrants of a red cross compared to one Moor's head of Corsica(Corse).

Stayed Stintino near Golfo dell's Asinara and enjoyed La Pelosa beach, "Happy fish festival" with free sardines and vino, carabone, dance, ...

Certainly white donkeys, wild boars, goats, sea turtles paid us few visits in Asinara. We also called Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune's Grotto) and enjoyed suckling pigs and spent some euros in Alghero.

After unforgettable few days of sun bathing, we boarded a Grani Navi Veloci ferry from Porto Torres to Genova(Genoa) and then onward to Cote D'Azur. More to come.

Corsica, Sardinia and French Riviera, "We shall return!". That's the way of life!

Crema catalana, Crème brûlée & Crème caramel

Traveling around France and Spain, having 3- or 4- course meals are very typical.

Crema catalana or Crema de Sant Josep, Barcelona, Catalonia in June 2009


Crème brûlée, Lubron, France in May 2007


Crème caramel, Valencia, Spain in June 2007

Salade Català

In Cabaneros near Barcelona Sants, the price looked decent. Aranell vi de Taula from Vins Padró, 6 euros for a 75cl bottle, was surprisingly good. Another surprises are Salade Català and Tarta de Santiago (Pastís de Santiago or Cake Santiago) with some heavy liquor. Costillas Cordero (lamb chop) was so so.

Jamón Ibérico cortado a mano y pan con tomate

Walking into Carmen Restaurante, then the hostess and I can not communicate with each other either in Spanish or Catalan. After struggling with menu, I pointed to Paella and started with hand gestures. Eventually, the hostess sent in a 250ml red wine "RIOJA 2006 Crianza" which came from CALIFICADA (California), @#$%. As I walked to washing my hands, a display interested me and after another finger gesture with the hostess, half order of "Jamón Ibérico cortado a mano y pan con tomate" showed up my table, plus huge pot of "Paella de marisco".

Louvre is free!

Surprisingly the sun comes up and I took the opportunity for a good walk. First walked around Notre Dame. No matter where I headed, Mr. & Mrs. Yes-We-Can just seemed to bump into me. Certainly, they got all the right of ways, so I had to keep turning around. It's a long journey, Luxemburg garden, Latin quarter and Museum d'Orsay. After watching a parade of bikes on the right bank, I finally arrived at Louvre. It's first Sunday of the month, Louvre is free. First I walked into North wing, Richelieu, which we missed in January. Sit with Sculptures and thought about some Physics. Eventually, I walked into Near East area and read a few paragraphs of quark scattering in front of a pillar with bull heads at "Capital of Apadana" exhibition. On my way to lunch, I made a quick run on sculptures in the south wing. The sky turned gray and cloudy, so I called it a day. A surprising long walk!

Carnard in Paris 7

Just arrived at Paris this morning with a red-eye flight, the weather was miserable and I was very sleepy. After struggling to wake up from a nap in Hotel Daguerre, I took Bus 28 (first time in Paris) to Rue Cler in Paris 7. The bus vented all passengers at École Militaire which invited lots of complaints and @#$. Lucky or not, Mr. Yes-We-Can and Monsieur l'Américain were in the neighborhood; and security were established near Eiffel tower. Commander War and Peace (aka Admiral's thesis adviser) and I enjoyed a decent meal at L'Aubergy du Champe de Mars. I picked warm goat cheese salad (entrée), carnard (main), and Pruneaux à l'Armagnac from the three course menu (20 euro), and shared a bottle of red Bordeaux. Just walked out the bistro, police started to block parts of rue Saint Dominique. Lots of suited secret service agents trolled around La Fontaine de Mars, across the street at the corner of rue de l'Exposition and rue St. Dominique. We guessed Mr. real and wannabe America were gonna dine at La Fontaine de Mars. Folks commented that there are tons of places around with better dishes. We stayed around with the crowd and hoped to see them, but polices just kept pushing us away without any chance of peeking at these two presidents.

Next Amazing Race

From Bordeaux to Nice (August 28 ~ September 12)

Northern Flicker

After putting up a bird feed, there were no customers for first hour or so. Suddenly a woodpecker showed up at around 1100 and the winner is northern flicker, Colaptes auratus. My first mate has reported similar sighting last weekend, but no confirmation. The white rump is the only hint at that point. Finally, the way it stood on the oak tree gave away for a woodpecker. The red 'Y' mark on the head, black crescent and spots on the belly were the measure for the Northern flicker. Possibly a female according to my first mate.

Beavers

Strolling with my first mate this evening, two beavers showed up at Lake Artemisia and were enjoying this beautiful spring day.

For the following evening, we spotted three beavers; possible 2 adults and one youngster.

First Pit Stop of Amazing Race 14

When "The Amazing Race" on CBS showed the first pit stop of Season 14, we looked at each other and knew where that place exactly was even though only the side wall of the building was revealed. Ouch! The production company is so cheap! And we were expecting something like four-five star hotels for those teams. We stayed three nights at Hotel Alpenhof in Stechelberg during our own Amazing Race 2008 (Switzerland-Italy-France) last fall. The Alpenhof is a hostel style lodge with shared bathrooms and restrooms, and is run by a nice couple, Mark from Briton and Diana from Australia, along with their cute little baby. It also provides a kitchen for guests to cook and the surrounding is very peaceful with streams like my birthplace in Far East. Stelchelberg is about 20 minutes from Interlaken in the very end of the valley. We enjoyed James Bond breakfast at Piz Gloria on the Schilthorn where the 007 film was staged. During our hike through the snow covered glacier on Jungfrau (top of Europe), it was really breath taking (we almost didn't make it with only basic clothing). There are still a lot of places to explore and we shall return!

François Bayrou at Café Roussillon

Three members of the Gang of Four gathered at Café Roussillon almost daily for breakfast during our stay in Paris (Jan 10-19, 2009). We met François Bayrou, one of French presidential candidates (2007), at Café Roussillon. He stopped by our table and our French colleague introduced us, then went on to chat about what we were working. He expressed his welcome and even made a little conversation with me (in English of course!) Quite a nice guy. Wish him the best for his next endeavor.