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Spring is sprung! And there is no better indication than the arrival of thousands of pairs of European Flamingos to the lake at Fuente De Piedra in Andalucia. These beautiful birds are here to find a mate and hopefully become proud parents.

They are presently engaged in the flamingo equivalent of  “Speed Dating” when they can be seen constantly circulating on the lookout for a potential partner. Their graceful parading, with complex twirls and darting off in different directions, has even led a minority of people to suppose that the Andalucian gypsies may have called their dance Flamenco after these intricate movements.

The European or Greater Flamingo (Proper name Phoenicopterus Ruber) is not as pink as people often expect. The photo, taken in mid-March, shows many birds milling around, perhaps the counterpart of “Dancing round their handbags” while 5 are landing to join the group. The colour differences are clearly visible. While standing the birds are a generally pinkish off-white with pink beaks and legs. However, the flying birds are displaying their remarkably  pink, almost crimson, wing colours, edged by contrasting black flight feathers.

We are lucky to have such an incredible display of wildlife only 5 minutes off the Malaga-Seville motorway. Only 3 breeding sites exist in Europe, our own, The Camargue in France and the intriguingly named Kulu Golu in , our own, The Camargue in France and the intriguingly named Kulu Golu in Turkey. The total European population is estimated at up to 35’000 breeding pairs, with almost 50% of these living in . The total European population is estimated at up to 35’000 breeding pairs, with almost 50% of these living in Turkey, Fuente De Piedra can boast the majority of the other half. The lake is , Fuente De Piedra can boast the majority of the other half.

The lake is Spains largest and was called Fons Divinus or Divine Spring during the Roman occupation of the largest of the Peninsula. This was because, as in Bath in in England, they believed its waters to have medicinal qualities. Depending on the warmth of the day and the brackish smell coming from the lake I would have to take their word for it!

Come and see the flamingos with  Davy, he can get you to the best spots and knows where to find the best Apres-Flamingo refreshments.

Asturias is a mystical land full of legends and myths. It is one of the regions known as Green Spain, the name given to the rugged coastal cliffs, sprawling lush green valleys and hills, and the mountainous interior of the Northern Spanish coastline exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, extending from Galicia in the west along the Bay of Biscay to the French border in the east.

For many people spring is the perfect time for getting out and about after the short dark winter days. It is a time of year for fantasy and make-believe, mystery and magic. Here, you will have a wonderful time strolling around the beautiful villages and countryside or just relaxing and listening to a few of the popular Asturian Celtic traditions and learning about the Asturian mythological characters and legends such as:

El Trasgu - a mythological figure meaning goblin or imp. It is a type of rogue or mischievous elf, small in stature with a limp that is further emphasized by its long stride. It dresses in a red cap and a suit, it has horns, a tale and a hole in its hand, through which grain escapes and which the local villager offers to provoke its anger and displeasure.

El Cuélebre - a snake. It is supposed to be an animal with the body of a serpent covered in scales with a large tale and the wings of a bat. It is believed that it lives in the Asturian woods, caves, or along the banks of rivers and its job is to protect the fairies or “xanas” and the treasures. It is believed that it feeds on people and cattle and when its worldly life comes to an end, it goes to die at the bottom of the sea.

La Xana - a fairy. It is of a female character found in Asturian mythology. She is a fairy spirit of amazing beauty and is said to live in fountains, rivers, waterfalls or forest regions with unpolluted water. She is generally described as being small and slim with long wavy or curly, blonde hair, which she constantly combs with a gold or silver comb woven from sunrays or moonbeam.

Read more about Asturias & Pedro…

Pierre has been yearning to do Sunday excursions with me, the way he used to do them with his own children.  His idea is to pack a picnic lunch and venture off in the car for a day of discovery. He prescribes getting lost. This way, he says, you will never be disappointed in what you find. Besides, in “deep” Burgundy you’re bound to stumble across something that will “blow your socks off”. You might call me easy to please, but I can tell you, last Sunday’s modest little venture did just that.                        

First of all, let me introduce Pierre. Besides being a retired accountant and mineralogist, he is a self-made master of paleography (science of deciphering ancient documents) who volunteers his time at the Departmental Archives in Dijon. The first time we met, he was holding the original 14^th century marriage contract between Philip the Bold (1^st Duke of Burgundy) and Marguerite of Flandres. It was carefully written on a crinkled browned roll of parchment with impressive wax seals dangling at the bottom. The writing was beautiful, gothic, calligraphic, but I couldn’t decipher a single word. Pierre of course could read the entire contract without a vocal glitch. After listening to his reading, I signed up for his paleography class.                         

Sunday (March 9^th):  I admit to having set up a rendezvous with the mayor of St. Thibault, a village of 142 inhabitants in the Auxois in the northwestern part of the Côte d’Or (one of the four departments of the region of Burugndy). St Thibault is an oddity I had always wanted to discover. This unassuming village, typical of the very rural Auxois area, guards the remains of an impressive 13^th century cathedral-like parish church. From a substantial distance no one can overlook the sight of the great majestic gothic choir rising like a beacon out of the gentle rolling green landscape.                        

Pierre and I met Madame Laibe, the Mayor at the mayor’s office where she was enjoying the last hours of her 19-year term. It was the day for municipal elections all over France, and because she (78 years old) was occupied with the polls, she delegated her husband to guide us through the church, but not without insisting that we glance at the town “Terrier”, a worn leather-bound collection of survey maps dating from before the French Revolution.                         

Monsieur Laibe, began his presentation of the church with the story of Thibault, the saint, whose life is generously represented in scenes sculpted into the 14^th century altarpiece.  Nothing special to say about Thibault except that he renounced his noble birth to become a hermetic monk. However what ensued is worth mention. After Thbault’s death, his brother retrieved the corpse and apparently divided it into pieces, or relics, which he spread around France. How the right tibia (which Monsieur Laibe had the kindness to show us) ended up in the little Burgundian village of St Thibault is likely to remain a mystery forever.  If the cult of St Thibault, attracting hordes of pilgrims, was famous for centuries, today the saint’s name moves no one.                        

In the side chapel of the church is a large wooden reliquary. Pierre immediately recognized the coat of arms of Epoisses engraved on a floor stone. Epoisses is village about 10 km away with a magnificent privately owned medieval chateau. It is also the home of  my favorite French cheese that goes by the same name.                        

“Shall we go there now?” I asked Pierre when M. Laibe finished the guided tour. Pierre looked at his watch. “No, let’s get lost.” And so we did.                         

We wandered through a part of the Auxois known as “La Montagne” which is unbelievably rich with castles and hamlets, abbeys and communal ovens….  At this time of year, without the lush foliage, there are a thousand things that catch your eye that would be otherwise hidden.                        

We followed the Burgundy Canal for miles, and I learned that anyone can rent a ”petit” barge for a day or a week from a tiny little port in the Canal.                         

Well, rather than go on and on, why don’t you simply come to Burgundy and do an outing with Pierre and me.    

Read more about Sherry in Burgundy…

Most seasoned travellers should already be familiar with the incredible efforts of the mighty Roman Empire to build military supply roads to the very corners of their conquered territories. Despite the fact that many of their roads were built before the birth of Jesus Christ, they ran all the way from Rome to the wild and windswept border of England and Scotland!

Although, of course, those country names, being German because they end in “land”, had to wait until the arrival of the English around 425 AD to be introduced.

In British/Roman times the southern part of the main island of Britain was known as Albion and the northern part as Caledonia. At much the same time, here in Spain, probably the “Jewel in the Crown” of the Roman Empire, they built 34 principle roads.

The most famous, and at around 1500 km (940 miles) the longest, was the Via Augusta which ran from Cadiz, then called Gadir, to the Pyrenees and onwards into Gaul, now France.  

It had previously been called the Via Hercules but in some very early roadworks, between the years 8 BC to 2BC, it was renovated on the instructions of the Emperor Augustus and subsequently renamed in his honour. There is no information to suggest any major traffic disruption at the time so perhaps the Romans could be persuaded to come back and supervise all roadworks!

The impressive Roman road in the photograph is the Tietar Valley, in the Gredos Mountains, south of Madrid and is at least 1500 years old. Some geographers believe that the Roman roads in Spain remained the best available routes of communication right up until the 1920s!

Certainly King Carlos III felt the same; around 1750 he had many of them repaved rather than build new roads. When the Romans relinquished control of Spain, around 409 AD, they left some 21’000 km (13’125 miles) of major roads. If we accept that these were the motorways of their day, by contrast, China had only 45’400 km (28’375 miles) of motorway in 2007!

There are Roman roads all around us in Southern Spain. Do you know where? If not do you want to go looking with someone who does?  

Read more about Davy…

The really exciting news is that we, my wife and three kids (daughter Julie 21, sons Sam, 12 and Simon, 9) decided to move to Canada for a year or so. I am working at a local wine shop, and meeting lots of new people. Even though Kelowna, B.C. is beautiful, we still miss our house and St. Quentin, France.  

You might ask yourself why anyone would want to move away from such a fabulous part of the world. Well, all I can say is that I love a bit of adventure from time to time. 

Lets get back to St. Quentin:  A great small community of people from all over the world that have taken a liking to the laid back, sunny way of life here. A mix of retired French and assorted northern Europeans with a smattering of Brits, a few Americans and two Canadians. And of course all the St. Quentinois who’ve been here forever. For them we won’t qualify as locals for at least another two generations. But in spite of this everyone seems to get along very well.  

Interested in a little adventure your-self? Or can you think of anyone who might be interested in spending a year or less in Provence; renting our house? If so, please follow the link below or forward it on to them. Thank you.

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p179376

This lovely stone house is located in St-Quentin-la-Poterie, a Provencal potters village. I am sure you will enjoy your stay in St. Quentin as much as we do. Also know that I am happy to share everything there is to share about our house and the “ville and its people”. Get in touch… looking forward.   

Slainte, Joe McLean  

It was a rainy, windy, nasty day in Hamburg. I stumbled across Lange Reihe while waiting for my Parisian colleague and host Veronique de Longevialle. Shoes wet, socks wet, pants drenched, and umbrella in hands fighting the gusts. I could not believe my eyes when I looked up for a tiny moment: Did I see a Starbucks at the corner over there? No wait – it is Balzac Coffee! And the perfect place for taking refuge - for a little while anyway. 

While waiting for my Caramel Machiatto I learned about Balzac Coffee and founder Diana Olsen. She is armed with a degree in French Literature and immersed herself in authentic French Culture. She lived in Paris, Toronto, and San Francisco, where she studied at the West Coast Specialty Coffee Training Institute and earned the designation of “Roast Master”.  

Then she returned to Hamburg. Inspired by French poet Honoré de Balzac, she opened her first local café bar in May 1998 “from a Hamburgian to Hamburgians” as advertised on a banner.  “Espresso coffee chains" were pretty much unknown in Europe before 1998. So Balzac Coffee began to connect traditional urban coffee culture with the practical and progressive "TO-GO"- mentality. Neat. 

Balzac Coffee micro-roasts the finest selection of Arabica Organic and Fair Trade coffee beans from all points of the globe. It is for real coffee lovers who are looking for more than just an everyday cup. A place for coffee connoisseurs …”umhhh umhhh good”! 

Today, the local chain of Balzac Coffee operates 19 shops in Hamburg, and has expanded to other cities like Lübeck, Berlin and Hannover, and soon to be Cologne. Nor did Olsen forget about her time in Toronto; she opened the first of three Canadian coffee shops in Stratford, Ontario, in 2003.  

Starbucks? Yes, the label appears on five shops in Hamburg. But Hamburg is very happy with Balzac. I was reminded by a determined man waiting in line behind me, overhearing our conversation, “But this is not Starbucks – this is Balzac Coffee!” Local!