some news from Europe

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Berlin, Colosseum, Metro line C, Potsdam, Roman Forum, Rome

I was reading that Pol Roger Champagne was Winston Churchill’s favourite, he drank one bottle a day. What a nice idea, better than water.

In other news I saw that in 2025 Line C of the Rome Metro will see the opening of Colosseo station. The entire Line C has been under construction for 30 years and is billions of Euro over budget. The opening of this station will link it with Line B. Some 6 other stations are planned but I can see another 40 years passing before they open. The station at Piazza Venezia is promised for 2030, but do not hold your breath. It is under construction at the centre of Rome but it is smack in the centre of archeological Roman Forum. The tunnels have to pass 90 feet underground to avoid any archeological artefacts and main buildings of antiquity, a very complicated task. The Colosseo station is sandwiched between Metro Line B, built in the 1930’s, the colosseum, the palace of Nero, the Temple of Venus and Rome, the Roman Forum.

This year a major reconstruction project is coming to fruition in Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin. It is part of the re-building of the city centre destroyed in April 1945. After the end of hostilities, the new Communist Government of East Germany took control of what would become East Germany. Potsdam was part of their territory and the new ideology simply bulldozed any memories of the historical past which did not fit the new political reality. Potsdam’s centre was in ruins, the communist wanted a city for the new man and went into a building spree of pre-fabricated buildings. By 1989 when the regime and the wall fell, most of those constructions were in a very bad state of neglect. The Unified Germany wanted to return to the historical roots of its cities based largely on the era of Frederick II in the 18th century. In Potsdam with public donations and municipal government involvement several building were resurrected.

This is one building which had been an hotel dating from the 18th century. It would be demolished in the 1950’s and replaced with a brutalist style building for the economic school of the University of Potsdam.

In this photo you see the yellow building in the background, the school of economics in 2000. It was already abandoned and decaying.

Now it has been replaced by the original building which use to stand in the area in 1945 before the bombing of the city.

This is what it looked like in the 1930’s

Here is another look but from the other end of the block with the other rebuilt buildings. Potsdam is a very beautiful 18th century city to explore and only minutes from central Berlin.

Double duty

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Anne of Green Gables, Canada, Confederation bridge, Lucy Maud Montgomery, PEI, tourism

Yesterday was a very nice sunny day for tourists to visit. I did two tours, one in the morning to see the Confederation Bridge, the longest bridge 8 miles over icy sea water in Winter. I had 52 people with me. Since I own the mike, I have to entertain them for about 3 hours. Then I also took them across the bridge to the mainland in New Brunswick. We visit the national park by the bridge, a nature preserve with lots of birds. Given the nice weather it was interesting for them. On the way back I show them the very small boats about 8 feet long used prior to the bridge to cross the Strait in Winter. A very dangerous affair mostly so the mail could travel but take on also people about 6 or 7 jammed in. Talk about agriculture and farmer’s markets and life on the Island, etc…

In the afternoon, I had 30 minutes for a turn around, so I quickly had my sandwich and a coffee and got the bus ready and spoke with my driver and loaded 47 people taking them to Cavendish the site of the Green Gable house and Anne Shirley fictional story. The book is 116 years old and I do ask of my audience how many have heard of it or its author. Because you cannot take that for granted, so many have never heard of it. The site is very nice and we go through a national park with the famous red clay hills, sand dunes and the ocean. The house was that of the author’s uncle Mr O’Neill and is farm is now surrounded by woods to match the story in the book and the house is exactly like what is described in the book Anne of Green Gables. As you enter the house on the left is the living room, small and decorated to give a sense of atmosphere of the 1900. In 1942 when the O’Neill still lived in the house, this is where the coffin of the author Lucy Maud Montgomery would be placed and visitors would stream in to pay their respect. It is known now that she died of an overdose of pills (bromides) and liquor in Toronto, leaving a note on her bedside to explain and apologize to her family. Her husband would follow her to the grave in 1943 same bromides and liquor.

I also present to them a comparison of the life of the author and how her books mirror her life in many ways. Written from her own personal experience on the Island in the stifling society of the time. I also then compare it to the play adapted and commercialize in the 1960’s many years after the author’s death into a funny kids play. I always wonder what Lucy Maud would think of what the modern world did to her work. I personally wish that one day, a movie be made of Lucy Maud Montgomery, her life, disastrous marriage, her family and fame. It might shock some sensibilities, but it would free her spirit for this endless nonsense to please the tourists.

All those renovations

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British, Chateau, ex-pats, France, Real Estate, renovations

Currently it would appear that there is a craze of Brits who have been coming to France since Brexit buying chateaux to renovate. There is a lot of talk about the history of the Chateaux, however many are not typical Chateaux they are mostly grand houses, Maison de Maitre as we call them in French, Mansions if you like. Most were built after 1850 during the reign of Napoleon III by wealthy business people. The truly ancient French Chateaux owned by the ancient regime aristocrats are today either national museums, in ruins, or owned by very wealthy business people, like the Chateau du Champs de Bataille, the owner is Jacques Garcia, a renowned designer. Some are still owned by old French aristocracy but that is rare, even the Comte de Paris, heir to the French Crown lives in a chateau owned by a foundation. He belongs to the Bourbon-Orleans line and they have no properties in France. In the case of the Chateau de Purnon, it was bought as a ruin by an Australian couple, Tim Holding was once a politician in Australia and Felicity Selkirk. Because Purnon is on the list of France’s National Monument at 103 rooms, the entire roof and stone facade are being rebuilt by artisans and all of it is paid for by the French Government and the Director of the Palais de Versailles is the expert helping in this project, which will likely cost about 3 million Euros. The Australian couple then have to restore the insides identical to what it was in 1772 when the Marquis de la Haye built it, however with modern electricity, heating plant, plumbing and all other amenities we know today. However the wall colours, wallpaper, draperies, furniture must be in the style of Louis XV. Just the cost of heating such a large place is astronomical. I can see how they would probably turn part of the Chateau into a B&B. They will also need a team of gardeners to maintain the 100 acre plus park.

In all cases, as some projects approach completion, you discover that the Chateau will be rented out as an Air B&B and rooms will cost anything from $500 a night and more. The owners have to make their money back and it is a business. Then you also have the breakdown of relationships and the scandals surrounding such projects, the UK Channel 4 does a lot of shows to highlight such projects and this can be lucrative for the owners. The case of the Pethericks is interesting, army desertion, theft of sacred objects in many churches in France, fines and jail times. In all projects they appear as do it yourself, in reality they need to hire teams of workers and many seem to rely on other Brits who come across the channel to work illegally under the table. They own one XIX century chateau and one huge convent built around 1800.

In all those projects, dry rot and wood worms in all beams appear to be the top problem. I think here of the Chateau de la Ferté, owned by a British couple who had to rebuild all the floors and try to salvage ancient wood beams etc. Now they are trying to sell the Chateau without luck, cost of heating the place got them.

The strangest of all, is this Irish fellow who left Ireland in a mini-van with his family, bought a run down cottage in a village and is restoring it, all the while his small children are running around. He has done an ok job but again, he barely speaks French, struggling around to renovate, I feel sorry for the guy.

You also have the property flippers with the click bait line in their videos, very annoying. His blog is called Bordeaux Life, the first project was a nice mansion in a classical style that he restored with the prospect of selling it. Unfortunately because he did not use any certified electricians, the town inspectors refused to grant the approval safety certificate and now he has to rent it out as an Air B&B. Currently he bought what was a dark small stone warehouse and he is renovating it. The place had been used by squatters for a long time and is in the wrong neighbourhood of Bordeaux. The place is still dingy looking despite all the renovations. He wants to sell it or rent it out to students. The guy is wealthy he drives a luxury car and seems to have loads of cash.

It is rare that you find a site where the people involved in a project are doing a good job, they do exist but after a while you question their sanity in purchasing a chateau, you have to ask why did you do this? Please there is nothing romantic about working your ass off to fix an old building.

Ash and Terry at their Chateau de la Lacelle in Normandy, which has been greatly renovated by them in the last 2 years, Beautiful job and will be a B&B with rooms in the style of Louis XV. Price for a suite is about $550 a night. Both are nice guys and work very hard. However there is a troubled unmentioned family history here.

Finally Dan Preston another Brit who is restoring the Chateau de Chaumont which burned to the ground some 40 years ago. He basically for the last 2 years been working at rebuilding this chateau, an enormous job but you have to give him credit for effort and his vision of where he is going.

Photo taken 3 years ago, a lot of work has gone on since and the chateau looks much nicer.

Program is shaping up

Tags

Canada, Jail, PEI, Politics, Summer, tourism, Trump

Today I received a flurry of emails about upcoming tour guiding of groups visiting the Island. So my dance card is getting full and it requires a lot of preparation. Some of the guiding will require my meeting visiting groups outside of town and take them around to different places. Some are brand new sites for me on the island. All I wish for is good weather when I do my tours. The best is discovering even more nice places on the Island that I may not be aware of.

Wheatly River, PEI

Today I went into our Fish shop MR Seafood, everything they sell comes straight from the dock off the fishing boats. They have the best and I went in to look at the cost of Lobster per pound, it’s $8.99. So for an opening price to the season that is very good. In the super market its $18.99, no way and if you look at the tank in which the lobster are, the water is always dirty. May and June are the months when the price of lobster is at its lowest. Mussels per pound is $2.50, that is pretty good, also a lot cheaper than beef or chicken.

This morning I got a call at 09:30am from my dentist, imagine waking me up so early, at dawn almost. Could I come in for a cleaning, ok I will come because it is 3 weeks early for my scheduled appointment. I have to return in July about a filling that needs work.

I try as much as I can to not follow the Trump trial in NYC with Judge Merchan. However YouTube is full of experts not to mention the news network and everyone has an analysis of what is going on. However it remains a fact that it any judicial matter it is dangerous to think that you can predict what a judge will decide. Many have had surprises with judges who ruled the opposite of what public opinion thought was going to happen. The other fact is that Justice takes time and a ruling cannot be tied to an election date. To many appear to believe that Trump is a shoe in for this election. I do not believe that to be true. I suppose that we all have to be patient. The trial in NYC will be over before the end of June and Trump, if found guilty on criminal charges would become a felon and most probably face jail time. There is also the other judgements against him now and that too will have its corrosive effect.

We have our own problems in Canada with a Prime Minister who is more unpopular now than ever. The current federal budget has been tabled and it looks like it will pass and be approved with the support of the NDP who are supporting the Liberal Government. The rumour is that once that is done PM Trudeau will step down and this will open the door for an interim leader and push the election date to 2025. Some appear to think that Anita Anand, M.P., P.C. 57years old, the current President of the Treasury Board and former Minister of National Defence. She has done well in both senior Cabinet positions. She entered politics in 2019. She is of the Hindu Faith, her parents immigrated from Nigeria to Kentville in Nova Scotia where Anita and her sister were born. She is married to a Toronto Lawyer/ Executive John Knowlton and they have 4 kids, living in Oakville, Ont.

Our current problem is the Right wing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre who loves to identify for every extreme right group, it is his base and has taken a strong MAGA approach to Canadian politics. His party currently has a 24 point lead in opinion polls, luckily the elections are not happening now.

The theme this year

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Food, PEI, lobster, North America, Feed

In recent days I have been to briefings with tour operators and PEI Tourism to learn about what is new in PEI in terms of tourism. In 2024 the theme is FOOD, PEI is the food Island in Canada, Ontario on the other hand presents itself as Fruitland. In past years PEI promoted heavily Anne of Green Gables, however that theme has been overexploited and is somewhat tired now, it does not appear to attract the attention of the public has it did once. The other theme that is fading fast is Birthplace of Confederation, historically speaking this is not true, PEI refused to join the union in 1867 and now with the resurgence of indigenous people all over Canada, it is not a popular theme.

So food Island it is, PEI is famous for its food production and it remains our no.1 industry. Not only is seafood important like Mussels, lobster and oysters, but beef and dairy products of all kinds has a high reputation. Not only in Canada but in all of North America and the world. In North America, PEI is the NO.1 producer of fresh mussels. When the numbers in terms of export were presented to us, I was astounded, yes I knew it was important, but PEI does punch way above its weight and does very well. I buy my beef and chicken from a farmer outside of Charlottetown who has a small production, we know this person and his family and the quality is by far superior to anything bought at the supermarket. So yes, we should talk this up with our visitors.

I find that when I start talking about fresh produce and agriculture on the Island, I get instant attention, people are very interested. On the other hand people are mildly interested in the Author Lucy Maud Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables, her first book was published in 1908 some 116 years ago and the theme and presentation of the book has been wildly modified to fit a commercial/ marketing venture. It worked for many years but today it is old hat.

My neighbour just brought these beauties in from the wharf as the fishers unload. Look at this. To cook them properly you need sea water. I know a lot of people today who went to wharfs all around the Island to greet the fishers and buy directly from them.

Just saying…

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Gaza, genocide, Israel, Palestine, war

You don’t have to be nice or civil about ending a genocide. The idea that people who are actively funding a genocide have any moral authority to demand civility is ridiculous. Civil people don’t create mass graves! Civil people don’t give weapons to those
creating mass graves!

I am profoundly disturbed by the events of the last 6 months. I cannot see any good out of this violence. Is this the culmination of events since 1948? I am also worried about the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and how the world is less than interested. In the years to come, we will all live with the consequences of these wars and other negatives in our world. What is the solution or solutions to any of this? Or is this just another slice of history we have to live through?

LOBSTERS

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Canada, lobster price, PEI, Spring Season

Happy Setting Day, PEI!

200 years ago, lobsters were only available locally due to limited transportation and preservation technology. It wasn’t until the latter half of the 1800s that canning was invented, which allowed lobster meat to be packaged and shipped overseas. And that’s how lobster transformed from being considered poor man’s food!

Pictured is a PEI man putting 300 lb. of lobsters into a cooking pot circa 1959. The canning process involves cooking the live lobster whole, breaking them, extracting the meat, placing them in cans, and heating them to sterilize. Today, live Island lobster can be exported globally.

We wish our fishers a safe and prosperous season!

Photograph taken by Chris Lund (1923-1983), from Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board

We should know in the coming days what the price of lobster will be, fishers are hoping for $21 CDN per pound, it was $7. CDN last year. I think that it will probably be around $11. CDN per pound. Still more expensive than baloney at $6 per pound. Lobster fishing is an expensive business, the licence is around $1 million CDN. not counting the cost of the boat, traps and all equipment and the fact that it is a dangerous job in the open sea.

Finally…

Tags

Canada, cruise ships, lobster, mussels, Oysters, PEI, Summer, tourism

Today 26 April is Setting Day on the South shore of the Island and tomorrow on the North Shore. With the lobster Spring Season open, this means that by tomorrow morning fresh PEI lobster will be available.
It’s a big thing here in PEI and lots of people are excited by this prospect, it also means that Summer is here, trees are budding, tourist sites are reopening and the cruise ship season is starting again. This year some 96 ships are expected, that is 167,000 passengers. In terms of the best cruise ports in Canada, Charlottetown and Halifax are tied for the number 2 spot, Quebec City remains as no.1, no one is surprise by that ranking.

Some statistics at our meeting of all tour companies were mentioned, PEI produces 86 million tons of potatoes, most of it is exported all around North America for either processing or consumption, we also produce 80% of all mussels eaten all over North America and 40% of all Oysters, this is due to our clean waterways. PEI does not have any heavy industry. So if you see in restaurants in your city PEI Blue Mussels that means they were grown and harvested in PEI. In terms of cleanliness, safety, secure destination PEI is rated at 99% by our visitors, no surprise there.

Meisterstuck centennial

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Germany, life, Meisterstück, Montblanc, Writing

In Montreal I brought with me two Mont Blanc Meisterstück bought decades ago to be serviced. The shop which is very exclusive and beautiful sells all Mont Blanc products which include watches and leader bags. Each Meisterstück writing instrument is a work of art steeped in history. A century after its introduction in 1924, the Meisterstück remains Montblanc’s most recognisable writing tool. Adored by customers and treasured by craftsmen it continues to glow as a symbol of writing culture.

I had not used mine for years and wanted it cleaned. Little did I know how easy it was to do. Simply use tepid water and dip the nib into the water and leave for 3 hours, that’s it.

I bought mine years ago at the beginning of my career, many colleagues had a Meisterstück, to sign documents and the colour of the ink is also wonderful on paper. Love the 18C gold nib. When I bought mine 40 years ago they were not as expensive as today, starting around $585. to $10,000.

The story of Montblanc origin began in 1906 when a designer from Berlin named August Eberstein, in partnership with a Hamburg banker, Alfred Nehemias, developed a range of simple-to-use fountain pens. The simplicissimus pen is a pen design which includes a built-in ink well. It wasn’t long before their company was taken over by the three men who together would set Montblanc on its journey to becoming a worldwide brand: Wilhelm Dziambor, Christian Lausen and Claus Johannes Voss.

The famous Meisterstück pen was launched in 1924, and the 149 Montblanc fountain pen model soon became a style icon of its time. By the end of the 1920s, Montblanc had become an international brand, known in over 60 countries. Some of this success can be accredited to revolutionary advertising methods, such as fitting cars with oversized fountain pens and commissioning the first advertising planes. Montblanc also branched out from pens to leather goods in a workshop based near Offenbach. In 1929, the Meisterstück nib was engraved with ‘4810’, representing the height of Mont Blanc which stands tall at 4,810 metres. Following suit, all future Meisterstück nibs were engraved with the number. Today the headquarters of Montblanc is in Hamburg. The company is now part of the Alfred Dunhill group.

Montreal

Tags

Family, flights, Food, Funeral, Montreal, St-Laurent

I returned this morning from my weekend trip to Montreal, the flight is only 90 minutes and quite easy. In Charlottetown it takes all of 2 minutes to check your luggage and go through security. Walk onto the run way and climb the stairs to the plane. Going it was a Bombardier CRJ and returning it was a De Haviland Dash 8, small planes but fine and comfortable. Air Canada provides at this time the flights to and from PEI. There will be more flights next month with Summer Tourism Season.

At the airport in Montreal I saw something I had never encountered, you know how in supermarkets now the trend is to check yourself out by scanning items with a computer, well at the airport in Montreal, you basically check yourself in, the computer asks a bunch of questions on what you have in your luggage, spits out the luggage tag, then you take your luggage to a big conveyor belt who reads the tag on your luggage and sends it off to the plane. That’s it. It only takes 2 or 3 employees to help out if you are stuck, no more going to the counter. Proceed to security and to your gate.

Montreal has bad roads, people complain but this weekend I saw how bad the streets are, pot holes everywhere, you need a strong suspension on your car and drive slowly if you do not want to lose a wheel. Construction of condo towers everywhere in the downtown core, lots of for rent signs in store windows, half empty office buildings, many restaurants are gone, Covid did a real number on the city. Though there is a lot of money, pretty obvious. Went to Reubens for smoke meat on Ste-Catherine street, as good as every, though a glass of wine is $23. better to drink coke. Also went to a very nice Bistro called Le Moliere on St-Denis Street, high class place and the food was spectacular, had oeufs mayonnaise and roast beef rare, the Baba au Rum for dessert was wow! We also went to Chalet BBQ on Sherbrooke street near the corner with Décarie Blvd. the place is celebrating 80 years in business and it is always packed. They only sell roast chicken with coleslaw and fries but it is soooo good. The decor is really old, 1944 vintage, but the food is again wow! Montreal has lots of great restaurants.

This weekend was the funeral of my aunt L. the youngest of my mother’s sisters and brother. They are all gone now and attending we were 20 of us, all cousins, people I grew up with. The church of St-Laurent was built in 1735, a very old parish, think Montreal was founded in 1642. A place full of memories for all of us, we were baptized in that church, marriage and funeral all take place in that church. The cemetery is at the back, and looking around from the family plot (my mother’s family) you see the graves of all the people of her generation, and all preceding ones, I see names of all the people my maternal grandparents knew and it struck us the current generation that they are all gone, so the next time it will be one of us. The cycle of life. Took time to visit the graves of other relatives, aunts and uncles. This parish is an example of how religion has vanished from peoples lives. The parish church is surrounded by a large college building and a seminary now a well known music school. The chapel next door has been leased to a Christian Orthodox community. The church hall is a very old stone building, rarely used now. The parish priest is alone and he is also responsible for 5 other parishes. All dying slowly. To think that just 50 years ago this was an important thriving Catholic community. The church is also famous in 1837 it was the site of the start of the revolt of the Patriotes after a speech by Louis-Joseph Papineau. The priests hid the participants in this uprising against the British in the crypt. This bloody and violent uprising led to the granting by the British authorities of responsible government in Quebec and then in Ontario.

Montreal today is not the city I knew as a kid, that is gone. I do not recognize it much. So many landmarks have totally disappeared, replaced by flashy new buildings. All the places we use to go have gone. It is jarring and says that nothing ever stays the same. Of course my memories go back 60 year, lots has happened. It was nice to see all my cousins after so many years.