Well, this is the end.

It's been a long time between posts, I know, but I wanted to wait until the 1st of September to

wrap things up. On this day one year ago, we were walking up our uneven old steps, down the

corridor with paint flaking off the walls, and opening the door to our new teeny apartment and

our new life in Paris. To celebrate our one year anniversary, and close the Paris chapter (at least

for now) I thought I'd share my favourite things to do in Paris so that you can do them too should

you find yourself there.
 
1. Picnic by the Seine.
The problem with Paris for tourists, is that the city is so big and filled with attractions, that people

often spend their 3-4 days in Paris running around lining up to climb things or look at things, and

completely miss the point of being in Paris. Spending a lazy afternoon by the river is the best way

to really take in being in Paris. My favourite spot is on Ile St Louis, behind the Notre Dame.
 
2. The Pantheon.
This monument often gets left off the whirlwind tour of the city, but I think it's one of the most

stunning that the city has to offer. The pendulum is incredible, as is the crypt beneath the

building.
 
3. L’Ecurie restaurant.
This teeny little restaurant just near the pantheon has been around for hundreds of years... I

spent some of my most memorable evenings at this little restaurant, with rustic French food;

cheap menu options (17euros for 3 courses, order the bavette!) and the best aioli I have ever

eaten (worth the week of garlic breath afterwards.) try to eat downstairs in the cave if you can.

No windows make for a romantic candle lit dinner.
 
4. Sunday afternoon in the Marais.

This is where all the hipsters head on a Sunday, for the best vintage shops and falafel the city can

offer. It's a beautiful area to stroll around and have a drink in one of the famous cafes (les

philosophes is my favorite) and pick out the tourists from the bobo's.

5. Bike ride.
Go anywhere. Go everywhere! Just do it on a bike.

6. Lay in a park somewhere.
Just becareful to do it on the right patch of grass at the right time...French gardeners can be

vicious. Look out for signs to keep off the grass. Some of my favourites are the Luxembourg

Gardens, Parc Montesouris and Jardin des Plantes.

7. Laduree.
This one needs no justification. Go to one of the stores, and by macaroons. Buy buy buy! My

personal picks are chocolate and raspberry, while Luke favours the green apple. I force fed any

visitor we had with these little delights. I've tried a few since being home, and I hate to admit

that none have even come close.

8. Eggs & co.
Amazing egg themed cafe in the lovely St Germaine des pres area. The menu is filled with

delicious egg combinations, and the decor is too cute. Try to sit upstairs in the chicken coop.

9. Le grande epicerie.
Across the road from Le Bon Marché (which was always too expensive for me to even set foot in)

the grand epicure is a giant gourmet supermarket with everything you could hope to purchase

from dolmades to cheeses to sugar cubes in the shape of cute little love hearts. Defiantly worth a

stroll.

10. Sip mint tea at the mosque.

The mosque in Paris is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon on the open terrace. Mint tea is

delicious for only 2euros, and the sweet treats for the same price as equally amazing. I have

many fond memories sitting with sweet ladies sipping sweet tea in this place.

Thanks for a great year, Paris. Until the next adventure...

A weekend away

This weekend we went down to Dalgety for Christmas in July. Dalgety is in the
middle of nowhere in the Australia High Country, and it is a place that we
absolutely love.  

Two weeks ago we touched down in Australia, which felt weirdly foreign yet

comfortingly familiar. The people were friendly, but sounded a lot more bogan

than I remembered. The stars were bright and beautiful in the sky, but the sun

light hurt my eyes and the wide open spaces made me miss the comfort of a

narrow cobble stone street. The weather looked warm... but felt quite cold, and

the air smells different. The most comforting thing was going back to places the

most familiar to us; our parents houses, our grandparents houses, the places

where we have spent hours and hours feeling loved by family. As soon as I rolled

home from my parents on the first night we were home, and collapsed into bed

in a jetlagged daze at 730pm, everything felt normal again.

The best thing about being at home is being close to family and friends.
To me, there is nothing more important than this.

The worst thing about being home? I guess I'm not really a "worst thing" kind of

person... But I think being so far away from Paris as a city is tough. The whole

Paris experience is unforgettable, being that close to and involved with so many

different areas of life that don’t present themselves as readily in a beachside

suburb. But then that's the other best thing about being home... Being next to

the ocean! 

Luke shares my love of Australian magazine frankie

father daughter time

Lewis- how i missed him!

People keep asking us, "so are you here to stay?" with an awkward tone in

 their voice, expecting us to say "oh no, we are just stopping in, on our way 

somewhere different now." It is with a lot of joy in my heart that I can say 

now that we are home, we won't be going anyway far for too long.

Last night in Paris

What else do you do on your last night in Paris? There is only one obvious
answer- Climb the Eiffel Tower! We waited in line in the freezing cold, for an hour
and a half. We snapped at each other. We eavesdropped on all the American
tourists. We almost gave up and went home... but we stuck it out, and it was so
worth it.

 Climbing up the stairs, I was hoping to get up to the second level and find that
the tourists had dissipated and left a few romantic spots to sit so that we could
take as much time as we wanted, to talk about the year that has been, discuss
our favourite moments, the best bits, the worst parts, and anything else in
between. Unfortunately the Americans were out in force, and I thought that the
reflection would have to wait for another time... But I guess I was wrong about
that too.

 We found a spot looking out over the city. At 11pm, the lights started to twinkle.
Everybody watching on the Champs de Mars and on the Tower itself started to
clap and cheer. And I burst into tears.

I spent the next hour actually sobbing my heart out... Looking out over the city
and picking out the various momuments; Les Invalides, Notre Dame, Le
Pantheon, we were able to  pinpoint exact moments in the year, times we have
spent together, with friends and family. We considered where in the all those that
we love would be, and what they might be doing. We remembered where we
spent lots of our time, riding our bikes across the river, past notre dame, up
towards the pantheon. Once the tears started coming, they just kept flowing! The
tourists kept their distance, obviously thinking we were going through a painful
proposal-gone-awry moment. I felt like this time for me, was almost a grieving
time... a moment to detatch myself from a city so alive in me that I felt like a
little part of my was dying in leaving it behind. Sounds a bit morbib... but it's the
only way I can describe it. There is just so much in this city... so much history, so
much love, so much culture. It has engrained itself into me this year, and to
leave it meant leaving that part of me behind too. This time for me atop the most
famous tower in the world, was necessary for me to leave the city behind,
knowing that Paris will always be there, always being Paris, no matter where we
find ourselves in the world.
Paris, Je t'aime.

Saying Goodbye

 Lukes last frog fight was held two nights before we left. What better way to say
goodbye to our Parisian family that with a big of healthy competition? The
majority of friends that we made in Paris were from this little, vibrant and
growing coffee community, centered around the monthly Frog Fight.

 Whilst he wasn't victorious, (Peta the Melbournian beat him in the second round)
we had such a lovely night saying goodbye to our dear friends.

The event was held at the Moulin Rouge, which was a pretty cool way to end an
era here in Paris. We continued well into the night to a few local bars, witnessed
pole dancing in the Metro, giggling, drank punch, cried a little, and said farewell
to an excellent group of people, who made our year complete. I felt so much part
of a special community, that leaving at the end of the frog fight was one of the
most sentimental moments that I have had. Thomas, Marie, Olivier, Ian, Arash,
Cara, Terry, Whitney, Davinia, Chris, Eme, Dave, Maddison, Brit, Zoe, and anyone
else I have forgotten... Nous t'aimons toujours.

SURPRISE!

Well, the surprise was a success. Now that we have been home for one week, I
can let you all in on the secret plan, and apologize for my vagueness the last
little while. About 6 months ago, i hatched a genius plan to surprise my little
sister, and trick her into thinking we were coming home 2 weeks later than we
were. We arrived at a family lunch to celebrate my mum's birthday, and shocked
the life out of her. It was awesome. We walked into the restaurant where she was
sitting with her back to the door. Mum said "Look George there is someone here
to see you!" She didn't even bother to put down her phone and turn around,
before I got right up close to her face and said "Hello." There was screaming,
jumping, cuddling, shaking, and tearing up. It was such a hilarious moment, and
I was so relieved to be home, and to have pulled off such a plan filled with bluff
following double bluff to keep it all under wraps. Dad caught it all on video too,
so that will be coming soon (once dad and I unite our limited technological skills
to make it happen.)

Au Revoir

Leaving Paris is bittersweet. The past few days have felt so surreal,  gradually untangling ourselves
emotionally from this place, from the people, from our friends, from the places
that have become so familiar to us. People have asked us how we feel to be
going home, and I am yet to come up with a decent response that doesn't border
on psychotic or bipolar. Part of me is so happy to be returning to the life we
have at home, but the other part can't believe that everything we love about
this place will be so far from our reach.

At the final frog fight last night (photos to come), we were reminded by a dear friend of ours
that acquaintances are easy to make, but good friends are hard to find. We have found so many
good friends here, people we have been blessed to know, people who freel like family to us now.
To leave them is heartbreaking, but also exciting to know we are returning to Australia with such a
network of love across the globe, so many promises to visit and "if you are ever in (insert home
town here) then you will always have a place to stay!" offers, which go beyond just the offering
of a couch to sleep on, but extend to a global friendship that is borderless and timeless. I really
hope that the little group of coffee geeks made up mostly of anglophones that we have nestled
into will stay with us for life.

Aside from leaving these relationships, we are leaving a place that feels like
home, with all of the little comforts that come with that. The knowledge ghat on
Sunday mornings the line for the boulangerie will be at least 20 people long,
the buskers who frequent the same places playing the same songs, the homeless
man on our metro station who sleeps sitting up in his chair, the old lady who
has probably lived on our street all her life with her disheveled wig and huge
fur coat, who is seen everyday with a different stranger she has asked to help
her up the stairs, the metro adds that are always cleverly vandalized by
anarchistic socialist French people intent on destroying global capitalism, boulangers who smile
at you in the street, people who don't smile ever, etc etc.

Standing on the Eiffel Tower tonight overlooking the city, I felt like I had to almost grieve the
loss of a dear friend, not because any one has or is dying, but because I have fallen so in love with
 this place that to leave is such a loss to my heart. The lovely thing about Paris is, that it will always be Paris,
and it will always be right here, within reach.

An Italian Escape

Our last adventure in Europe before packing up and leaving- a trip to Italy.
Originally we planned to leave Paris for the majority of June. I wanted to get
back to Spain (I have been twice now, but not to any major cities and not with
Luke) and we also wanted to get to Italy. It seemed silly to us to live so close to
such an amazingly rich culture and not go and experience it for ourselves!
Thanks to Ryan air, we booked 8 euro flights to Milan and therefore indulged in
hiring a car to get around- we still came in under budget for our transport costs!

First stop was Venice- the most incredible city I have ever seen! Stepping off the
train and seeing a boat go by was so surreal- as was the whole experience. We
spent the afternoon with a map in hand, navigating our way through the less
touristy areas of the city, preferring the back way to the main tourist attractions
than following the guided tours. It was the best afternoon I have had in a long
time- I loved being with Luke in this beautiful city, wandering around, sometimes
lost without realising it, taking photos, being in awe that such a place even
exists.

The next day we drove to Florence-  we were staying just meters from the Duomo, an

incredible church made totally of white pink and green marble. We wandered around the city,

visited the usual touristy places and then crossed Pont de Vecchio to find a secluded pizzeria

recommended to us by a friend who lived in Florence. It was the best pizza we’d ever had!

The humble margarita was incredible, as was the proscuitto and rocket.

We crossed back over the bridge after taking in the sunset, and then had the best gelato of

our lives at another little place recommended to us by the same friend, this really took the

hard work out of being a tourist.

The next day was the sort that makes marriages great- a day of compromise and

cooperation. Leather hand bag shopping in the morning (again, something that has been on

my list for the whole year- buy a decent new hand bag that doesn’t break in a few week (as

all vintage ones tend to do)). After many stops, many tries, many sales tactics, and much

pressure to buy, I finally found the perfect one-and for a bargain price!

That afternoon we drove through the Tuscan countryside, stopped at a little family run

restaurant and had fantastic pasta and risotto. We kept on going until we reached out

destination, and indeed the purpose of the entire Italy trip; the La marzocco factory! Italians

seem to be a race of artisans; they make a lot of great things, from Ferraris, to handbags to

gelato, to coffee machines. The latter is what we had come to see.

The staff at the factory were so delightful, they took us on a tour of the coffee machine

museum and of the factory floor. I myself am not that into coffee machines, but Luke was

beside himself with joy.

Next stop: Cinque Terre! Riomaggiore to be exact. These  are 5 incredible villages that are

literally built into the cliff overlooking the Mediterranean, and have been on my list ever since

some friends travelled Europe and said that Cinque Terre was their favourite place. I hadn’t

heard of it until then, and I am glad that they told me about it, because it was breathtaking!

Driving up through the mountains and then popping over the top of the cliff was incredible, to

see the coastline as it was and then to see these beautiful colourful building literally built into

the side of the cliff!

We did the famous via dell armour walk between Riomaggiore and Manalora. We tried three

times to find the walking track that linked Manarola with the three remaining towns, and failed

3 times to find said walking track. Walking in the heat, uphill, with no purpose was getting me

down – surely it was time to replenish the carbs? We turned in on the idea of a huge hike,

and instead enjoyed the best pasta I’ve ever had- with mussels and clams. Luke also had an

amazing meal of pasta with basil pesto- so simple but absolutely amazing, and so cheap too!

We haven’t had a meal that good, that satisfying, and that well priced in a long long time. To

follow, I had gelato even better than in Florence, and cheaper again! 1 euro for 1 scoop-

that’s unheard of! We lazed the afternoon away by the Mediterranean, swimming, reading,

and enjoying pretending to be Italian.

Saturday was spent driving to Pisa. I remember learning about the learning tower back in

primary school, and similar to the pantheon in Athens, the little girl inside me was desperate

to see it and compare it to the imagine I had of it in my mind. It was worth the extra drive-

even though it is smaller than we expected, it is in a really beautiful little area, and is quite

amazing to look at. It really is leaning! We took the obligatory tourist photos, had our last

taste of Italian pizza and pasta, and headed back to Paris. One lesson that I relearned sticks

out in my mind- we really do make a good team of adventurers.