Lovely Treasures

I have just started to unpack all the treasures I bought whilst on our recent trip. When in Annecy, France we stumbled across an antique market and even though I couldn't fit a beautiful kitchen table in my suitcase I  managed to fit vintage fabric, lace and old ribbon spools.

Relaxing Now

We have arrived home from our 6 month journey. As we flew into Perth after a short vacation in Sinapore (to break up the flight from Paris) we couldn't believe how quickly the time had flown by. The taxi ride home was strange as nothing was new, we knew which way the taxi would turn, how long to wait at lights and which was our home. We walked into our home and it was like we had never left. The lovely thing is we now have some wonderful momentos to place around our home, many great pictures to frame and the joy on friends faces to watch when we hand over some treasures bought from Europe.

Sweet dreams

I unpacked my mound of fabric so tomorrow I must get started on some quilting... oh hang on there is a craft fair on in the morning and I must go with Lindy (craft and great girlfriend, perfect morning).

Crafty Paris

For our last day in Paris I dragged hubby and Lucy around the craft shops of Paris. We had a lovely day weaving in and out of fantastic shops in the Marais Quarter and then into the small arty streets of Montmatre. I found some lovely places with the help of another crafty blogger and spent a small fortune on fabric for my ever growing stash. When I packed my bag this evening I found that I have more fabric than new clothing purchases so it is going to be a very creative winter.

One of my favourite finds is a little shop across the road from our apartment called Sof Kipeut Paris. I have stashed away a few birthday pressies and bought a fantastic t-shirt. A lot of their things are made from Liberty fabric and creations from local designers - just gorgeous.

We are headed back to Perth tomorrow (with a Singapore detour) so this is my last blog from Europe... for now. 

Puppets at Jardin du Luxemborg

The highlight of today's adventure in Paris was a trip to see the famous Puppet Show in the Jardin du Luxemborg. The theatre has been around since 1933 and is a tradition here with the children to come on a Wednesday as they have no school on this day.

Lucy laughed and clapped at 'The Metamorphoses of Prince Charming'. A funny tale about a prince that was turned into a squirrel and back again to be with his love. The whole play was in french so I did my best to translate to Lucy what was happening. It didn't matter because she laughed anyway, it was really funny. A stroll along Rue de Rennes in the late afternoon and a squashed, hot train ride back to our apartment and we were all ready for bed.

Paris je t'aime

Amazing Nursery in central Paris

Barbes-Rochechouart Station Paris



Lucy's new wheels



After moving into our gorgeous new apartment, we caught the Metro into the Jardin des Tuileries and walked up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc-de-Triomphe then wandered down to the Eiffel Tower. The tower was crowded and full of people selling mini-towers in varied colours so we sat under it for a while then had a sandwich at a gorgeous cafe close by. Next we walked down 'La Seine' to the metro at Cite and discovered a fantastic gardening centre, it was such a quiet place to be for a while after the noise of Paris and the squashing we were about to experience on the metro. We came home and put our feet up with a beautiful bottle of rose... a really lovely first day in Paris.

Kilometres walked... 11.3

Pasteries eaten... 1

Clothing Purchases...1

Metro trips... 2

Sighs at beautiful spots and laughs... lost count

Pink Fiat 500 Spottings... 1

Dream to Dump

We left the beautiful Dordogne region today to catch the train to Paris. We arrived all excited at jumped in the taxi to go to our beautiful apartment we had booked (a renovated, furnished french style, with un petit jardin). We arrived to find out that there was a plumbing problem and we were taken to another apartment which in one word is a DUMP. I cried then we decided to go for a walk up to the Sacre-Coeur to view the Eiffel Tower that we couldn't see anyway. Oh well, tomorrow will be a better day and we will find somewhere nice to spend the last few days of our French Folie.

PAUL

As we are in a hotel with no cooking facilities we have been eating out in Bordeaux. For lunch we had the Tarte Du Jour in a gorgeous cafe full of chandeliers, roses and elegant french furniture. For dinner we had buffalo mozarella and rocket salad in a tiny Italian restaurant that only had 8 dishes to choose from. This morning we had gorgeous pasteries and coffee at PAUL which is a massive franchise here. I captured the bakers having their morning coffee after working hard baking our croissants.

Beautiful Bordeaux

Bordeaux Ville

Shall we have an espresso?

A city for eating, drinking, catching up with friends

A city for music, opera, theatre & dance

A city for shopping

A city for italian, french, or moroccan

It has a bit of everything

Un Petit Chateau

A table is all we need

There is a beautiful chandelier in the window

 

Isn't she beautiful

We went to visit Chateau Boursalt

It was closed

I was sad

So I crept around

A took some photos

I love this place

Flowers, Vineyards & Battles

Epernay Flower Market

Vineyards near Epernay

Memorial de Dormans

After a quick coffee and a wander through the flower market in Epernay we drove one section of the champagne trail from Epernay to Dormans. The roads wind through miles and miles of vineyards and are dottted with small villages. The villages today were void of people, open cafes or vineyards. We kept driving until we reached Dormans which has a beautiful park to enjoy walking in and even a 'pique nique', an empty chateau that you can't visit and a wonderful memorial to those that fought in the Battle of Marne (1914-1918). Tomorrow we are hoping to visit a Chateau in the area.

Happy Mothers Day

Did I have these cheeky smiles for the camera when I was 3 ?

my Mum would know...

There are some things that only Mums know.

Happy Mothers Day to my Beautiful Mum

I love you.

Moet & Chandon



The incredible caves at Moet & Chandon




Lucy size pink Moet

Today we had the lovely experience of walking under Epernay in the cool caves (28 km of them) of Moet & Chandon. The tour was fascinating and we learnt so much about champagne and can appreciate why it is so expensive. Grapes grown with care, old traditions still used and bottles turned by hand in the cellar. We sampled original and vintage and we all prefered the vintage (bien sur).


Pretty Things

Pretty Face in Reims Playground

A pretty window box in Reims

Vineyards & A Giant Robot Spider

We left the Alpes today and travelled by train to Reims, in the champagne region of France. I had a 10 minute glimpse of Paris today as we went through there on the way. Sun shining and shops waiting for me to visit at the end of the month. 
We wandered into Reims this afternoon and stumbled across a giant mechanical robot spider next to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It walks, spits and pops off ! It was fantastic to see it work, my Dad would have loved it (and most likely wanted to pull it apart and put it back together again).

French Chick

The chickens hatched at Mont Saxonnox and Lucy couldn't wait to hold one. I think we should call this one Lucy.

Stunning Chaminox



Breathtaking

Ice Cave at Montenvers 

An amazing day, a voyage to Montenvers to the amazing 'Mer de Glace'

The journey was by train to 1913m, a cable car and 350 steps down into the glacier.

Tomorrow we might tackle the cable car that goes to 3842m on Mont Blanc

Delightful Annecy

This 'tres jolie ville' has everything

Beautiful canals that wind through the village

Snow capped mountains surrrounding

A crystal clear lake

Lovely people

Antique Markets

Cobblestone streets

Tree lined parks

Gorgeous buildings &

Flowers galore

I bought

Antique Fabric and old wooden spools

Liberty fabric

A precious toy mouse for Lucy

I found

Some creative inspiration

Pont du Diable

Today we took a drive into the French Alps after following the bike steps of one of the mountain stages of the Tour de France, we came across 'les du Gorges Pont du Diable' It was a long walk down into the gorge and a very steep walk out. A truely fascinating piece of nature.

A Great Day in Les Alps

On the canal in Annecy

Yippie - I found some fabric in Annecy

Lucy & Darren compare Citron Tarte with Pistachio Macaroons

Lucy woke with a heavy cold so we relaxed in the morning, had lunch on the balcony overlooking the mountains, a coffee in Annecy (a town we will explore more of because it poured with rain when we arrived) and I found a fabric shop that sells Liberty fabric for a steal. We had Kates beautiful homemade sausages and fresh asparagus from the garden for dinner followed by a family movie night watching Toy Story 3. A lovely day.

Mont Saxonnex, France



Lucy &Alfie making pancakes



The Jeffersons House

View from the Balcony

We have arrived in Mont Saxonnex,France (800mtrs above sea level). We are surrounded by snow capped mountains, green fields full of flowers and views of valleys that go for miles. We are house sitting for an English family for a week. They have a hound dog called Max, some chickens, two cats, ducks and little chicks about to hatch. Lucy has made friends with Alfie, Jake and Amelia and we have enjoyed the company of Kate and Miles. They are off to England today so we will spend the next week looking after the animals and exploring the countryside. It is stunning here, they live in the most wonderful location.