Two Days in Provence

We left cloudy, overcast Paris on Thursday for sunny, warm Provence.  We had a nice time Thursday evening with Claude and Marie-Helène, then spent Friday and Saturday (up to the wedding) being tourists.
The first picture is taken at Saint-Paul de Mausole, in St. Remy-du-Provence - the asylum where Van Gogh spent about 2 years.  If you click on VanGogh, you'll get an idea of how many of his famous paintings were done while he was here-sorry that it's a French website.

We did see a re-creation of this room.

On Saturday we visited Les Beax de Provence, where there is a large cave/quarry, now known as the Cathédrale d'Images, that is used for spectactular visual shows.  Last year we saw a Picasso exhinit there and this year the theme was Australia.  Absolutely perfect!  It covered the entire continent, including the New Year's celebration in Sydney Harbour - Hooray!

Conor's Birthday

We had a good time with Conor and Kathleen and Leyla. Conor was 5 August 26 - we celebrated a little early. That's Evan, a cousin of Conor's (on Leyla's side) behind Kathleen.

Time for a little tennis too.

Philadelphia

We spent 2 wonderful days in the Philadelphia area, visiting the Barnes Foundation, catching up with Fred and seeing Longwood Gardens. I think we saw more Renoirs and Cezannes and Matisses than we have in
our whole lives cumulatively.  It is the most amazing private collection, all in reasonably sized rooms with furniture that enhances and complements the art.  Truly special.

Beautiful orchids ...

...and lovely flowers.

Wrapping up the Keystone Trip

On Thursday, Bart and I hiked about 6 miles from Silverthorne to Frisco, via Lily Pad Lake. 

It wasn't sunny enough for the flowers to be open, but it was pretty.

On Friday we went to the BBQ at the Summit in Dillon.  Great bands. Check out the washboard player.

This grill team tried to be musicians - in the Jimmy Buffet way.  I liked the Grill Hero sign.

On Saturday we took an hour and a half horseback ride out of Breckenridge.

This picture doesn't capture the verticality of this Super G run.

Then off to Breckenridge Brewery for some more Vanilla Porter. Yum.

Condo at Keystone

Don't know whether you've heard the news. We are under contract to buy a 1 bedroom condo at Keystone.  We first looked at it last summer and decided to wait - for several reasons.  After we arrived last week, we looked at 8 or 9 other places and kept coming back to this one.  Take a look. 

Keystone Map  (Building #28)

#1753 condo in Montezuma.

Wagon Rides and Bike Rides

On Monday, in the pouring rain, we took the wagon ride to the chuckwagon dinner.  Not too many pictures.  It poured all night long.

So we all huddled inside to eat.

On Wednesday, we rode from the top of Vail Pass to Keystone.  We stopped at Copper Mountain and rode one of their chair lifts to 10, 570' and had lunch, before continuing on to Frisco, Dillon and finally , Keystone.
We started at the Rest Area at Vail Pass.

Vail Pass Trail

The view southeast, from the top of Copper.

The chairlift at Copper and us on the chair lift.

Gore Creek, which we rode along between Copper Mountain and Frisco.

Dillon Reservoir

New Playthings at Keystone

I don't remember these in the gondola area last year.  They look like fun (maybe for next year's reunion).  It'll be Bart's 70th!

Bluegrass and Beer Festival

This weekend is Keystone's Annual Bluegrass and Beer Festival.  We went on Saturday and the music was great and the atmosphere was jolly.  And beer tasting 3 oz at a time sure does have a cumulative effect.  Maybe it's the altitude!

Our favorites: Breckenridge Brewery's Vanilla Porter (it even tasted good with ice cream, but that was at the end of the afternoon, so who knows?), Alaskan's Amber and their White (absolutely delicious), and Grand Lake's Nut Brown, Oatmeal Stout and Red Ale.  We must have tasted 10 others including a chili pepper infused beer and a blueberry beer.