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Windows on the world
  • Penny Phillips
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  • Penny Phillips

Windows on the world

Windows on the world - a sequel to our continuing adventures around the world, making memories and once again celebrating our fortunate lifestyle in places both familiar and new. Read more
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    🇫🇷 Glanges, France
    Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Our parking ticket for TWO days in Limoges!
    The Centre de Ville, LimogesGreat window dressingAnd its amazing, the Kiwi connection in LimogesOutside Les Halles Centrale, LimogesJust a nice windowInside, looking outWindows reflected in windowsThe tapas bar was doing a roaring tradeFabulous architecture and great windowsTypical old town buildings with traditional windowsMore detail hereAnd diversity hereWindows square and not so square, leaning and still intactFound the Camino shell Alice - great memoriesOn the Pilgrims bridgeThe Porcelain MuseumA history of the porcelain making process was fascinatingThe moulds that the porcelain is fired inThe large round kiln is actually two storeys highHow the heat is circulatedWhere the fire is createdChannelling Grannie's love of blue chinaA sample of porcelain dinnerware pricesThe Royal Limoge Porcelain dinner services stacked for sale

    A visit to the city of Limoges

    April 11 in France ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    We had been in the countryside for over a week and since the Indian summer had come to an end, we decided to head into Limoges and explore the city. With a population of 130,000 its big but not too big and we are able to park close to the main Marche Halle in the centre of town. We could have actually stayed there for two nights, as my helpful parking meter assistant plugged in the max €9.95, which covered 48 hours!

    The Marche was busy and very sophisticated with several little bars, one with tapas and one with oysters and champagne, as well as some diverse international food stalls, a great Morrocan food stall, and a Cambodian stall. It was the cleanest market we have ever seen. Sadly we'd indulged in an indulgent specialty biscuit at the nearby coffee shop so there was no room for more tastings.

    We walked through the old town which was mostly closed as it was the sacred lunch hour - 12noon- 2pm and meandered down to the river past some quite nice designer shops which reminded me of Bordeaux. At the bottom of the hill, below the cathedral, we came across Pont-Saint Marshall, which was the Pilgrims bridge as Limoges is directly on the path of the French Camino.

    We had 20 minutes to kill, so decided on the only open bar within a 5km radius. It was a Sports Bar, called 'The Dropkick Bar'. You could have been in any Sports bar in the world - they are all the same. Our saving grace, we were the only ones there! You could imagine it pumping on a sunny afternoon in summer as it was right on the riverfront.

    Our final destination was the Four des Casseaux,
    a museum tracing the local Porcelain making history in a 19th century factory with a large circular brick kiln. With family connections to ceramics, pottery and kilns, the museum was a great example of another refined craft, still in existence in Europe. The large gift shop had many dinner services for sale, with dinner plates averaging €36. Beautiful to look at, but I'm not sure I could ever use them for fear of breaking them.

    We made our way home before the rain set in and on Sunday morning had a phone call from Emma Lou to let us know the builders would be starting on Monday 4th May. She will be flying over to La Rochelle, where we will pick her up on our way back from the Loire Valley. Great excitement prevails.

    There was also great relief when Roger sighted Louise, one of the barn cats who had not turned up for dinner on Saturday night. Did the sly fox catch her? had she succumbed to ticks? (we had twisted 5 off young Tinks and 3 from Esme during the week), or did she decide the housesitters were not up to scratch and just leave home! No one will ever know but at least she came home.

    A clean up of our house and one last walk through the forest with my best friends, Poppy and Tinks, before Christine arrived back from the UK. With bags in the car, we set off and had an uneventful drive 2hrs 40 mins home to Les Petites Rivieres.    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Blossom trees in Oradour-sur-Glane
    A selfie just for a changeLooking up the main street of the 'new village'More blossomsLooking down the main street from the tram stop of the martyred village of Oradour-sur-GlaneThe old main street of the village, complete with the original tram linesWindows are all that's left of the building that was once a garage in Oradour-sur-GlaneLooking through the car windows of a burnt out car wreck towards the visiting French school groupA simple square window amongst the wreckage of houses and shopsWindows at the top of the stairway to nowhereA memorial on the wall of the church to the women and children of Oradour-sur-GlaneInside the church where the women and children were innocently led and trappedJust some of the bullet holes in an old WW1 memorial plaque in the churchThere were alot of abandoned sedan carsJust windowsA very poignant art show with images of some of the surviving relatives from the original villageThe sly fox out in the midday sunRoger has him in his sightsLet's get closer!Another swim in le lac fetching sticks for RogerAnd a delicious Aperol Spritz....eventually

    The futility of war - Oradour-sur-Glane

    Apr 9–10 in France ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Having lounged about like lizards for several days, we decided to venture out to the village of Oradour-sur Glane. We began with coffee, of course, in a beautiful street lined with blossom trees, where the houses and shops were alot more modern than many French villages - this, we learn later is 'the new village'.

    The story of Oradour-sur-Gane is incredibly sad. Four days after the Normandy landing in June 1944, The Waffen and Panzer SS Divisions headed west, providing fanatical and stubborn resistance to the Allied advance.

    For no known reason, apart from them being the SS, the Das Reich SS Division, heading for Normandy, arrived in the peaceful village of Oradore-sur-Glane at 2 pm on 10 June. There, in three hours, they executed 643 men, women and children by machine gun fire. The women and children were herded into the church and suffocated/burnt to death. The youngest was eight days old. The men were shot, then their bodies burnt. The buildings were also set to the flames. Only one women escaped with her life, by jumping from a window of the church.

    The signs on shop doorways, and the significant number of burnt out wrecks of large old cars and trucks indicated that this was a very prosperous village in the day, and a year later, when General Charles de Gaulle visited, he decreed the ruined village should be preserved in order to bear witness for the rest of mankind to the consequences of the barbarity of war.

    It was a very moving and reflective visit, given the current precarious state of world peace.

    On Friday there was some excitement as Roger spotted a fox in the neighbouring paddock. It was a very large fox too, and it was out in the middle of the day so the binoculars came out and much observing took place.

    Later in the afternoon we took the dogs over to the lake again, in Saint Germain les belles and we managed two and three laps respectively, Roger declaring the girls needed some stick retrieval in le lac, while I power walked the final lap. Another glorious night needed an aperol spritz on the deck to celebrate and then we shared a delicious pizza, while the wet dogs just waited and waited..... patiently. All good things in France take time and food and drinks is no exception. We sat catching up on emails with the restaurant wifi for at least 40 minutes, before finally calling one of the waitresses over to ask for a drink!    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    The front lawn was covered in dandelions when we arrived
    And by the time we were leaving the moles had visited!Bluebells at the bottom of the gardenTwo black labs watching me from le terraseLooking down at our house from the top of the neighbours paddockEarly morning - that's 8.30am LOL, walkies in the paddock across the roadWith Esme to superviseLooking across to the barn - the scaffolding has been there a while we're guessing!The barn and the one working LandroverThe junk is gradually making its way under the old timber doorsA glimpse of the chaosAnd its offset by the very simple spring that flows constantlyBut the reality is much bigger!Roger in one of the outbuildings with a red Massey Ferguson tractorView from the lounge looking across to the terraceView through a windowThis is the life!Just chillingThe very beginning of the budsJust a peep of mauveAnd finally the full bloomThe wisteria is 15 years old and this is the first year it has floweredWe walked all the way up the hill to the top paddock, only to find the farmer had shut the gate!So we went along the forest path insteadThe cat whisperer does it again

    A man's barn is his castle

    Apr 7–8 in France ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    By Tuesday with a continued forecast of temps over 25 degrees, I determined it was no longer appropriate to hang around the house and terrase in my bra and knickers, so we had an expedition to the Kiabi store in North Limoges where I managed to pick up a pair of shorts for €5. We also started the day at the Tayon winery as we'd decided to purchase 6 bottles of the delightful cremant that our hostess had left for us. It must be popular, as when we pulled up, a large articulated truck arrived a little white van so synonymous with France pulled into the shed, and another well dressed couple also walked in. We were obviously in the right place.

    A stop of at Grand Frais, heralded a large fresh food store, specialising in meat, fish, bread cheese and specialty items including fresh tumeric, coriander and lemon grass which obviously met the needs of the locals. Standing in the queue at La boulangerie, chatting in English as we do, a delightful little boy, about 5 years old, looked up at me with the biggest smile. I guessed he knew some English so I said 'hullo'. He replied 'hullo' in perfect English and his smile turned into the biggest grin. I then told him he spoke very good English and he skipped out the door with his mum. Such are the simple things in life.

    We stocked up with some necessities for the rest of our stay and then headed home to our four legged friends, who had safely guarded the house. There is no such thing as locked doors in this neighbourhood, but we did take our passports, tablet and laptop with us in the car!

    Our 400 year old house needs some introduction. Some would say, it is old and almost crumbling away and there could be an element of truth in this, but it is essentially very comfortable, full of character, has its quirks (exposed power outlets and dodgy light fittings) and the dining room and living room floors are not exactly level but the huge nails have been there forever, so its not going anywhere. And there are some huge old English floor rugs and homely furniture to give it a very lived in and loved appearance.

    The barn and other out buildings are a completely different story. Christine's husband, Nigel builds and restores old Landrovers - its his 'business' and he takes it very seriously, apparently. We didnt meet him as he had left earlier to make the funeral arrangements in the UK, but we had a little poke around the genuinely crumbling barn. Apart from the wood storage, which showed signs or orderliness, the rest of the spaces were absolutely full of half built Landrovers, parts of LR's and piles of miscellaneous nuts, bolts, bumper bars, windows and junk, so much so, that I would be hesitant to purchase said LR from Nigel, for fear it would collapse in a heap if it went over a bump! Each to his own I guess, but I've got to hand it to Christine for putting up with all his crap!    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Esme the pussy cat thinks she's a dog and comes walking in the fields 😂
    Reunited with her four legged friendsThe most magical start to the Easter weekendSticks in the river, a labs favourite gameSo obedient, Poppy and TinksOh no, we have to walk all the way home again....Phew, I made it. Time for a GnTBeef and herbe saussicons on the home made BBQAnd Esme loves to drink water straight from the running tap 😂How green is our valley?1.5 kms uphill to the lake. The two Poppy's kept each other companyTinks wins the long jump every timeBut they always shareEaster Sunday lunch, vin mousseux (cremant) and la planchereCheersChannelling Grannie with the old wicker washing basketSunset through the gatesEarly morning walk and breakfast on La terasseWalking through the forest with Nanny PLooking across the fields to our maison from the high roadA visit to the lake in Saint Germain-les-belles1Dirty faces - guess who found the muddy puddlePerfect reflection from the restaurant terrace, where we dinedAnd a different view

    Life in the French countryside

    Apr 4–6 in France ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Our Easter weekend continues with 'our girls'. The blue sky and sunshine settles in for the whole long weekend - imagine 28 degrees every day, and the only fires we've lit are in the home made pedestal BBQ on the deck overlooking our green hills and stream in the valley below.

    We cruise around a couple of little villages, Saint Germain-Les-Belles and Magnec-Bourg to hunt out some meat from La Boucherie and the inevitable baguette pour dejeuner. Then later we take the dogs out for their afternoon walk down the laneway and into the beautiful dandelion filled fields across the road. Its a familiar route and they happily show us the way. We're half way up the hill when we turn around and there, following us, is Esme the cat. Her legs are half the length of the black labs, and in places she's almost hidden in the lush green grass, but she is determined and obviously thinks she's really a dog. The river in the valley provides a welcome refreshing swim for the dogs and they love playing fetch, competitively with an old stick.

    There is a lot of New Zealand in this valley, steep green hills, narrow winding roads and plenty of trees, and streams, but very few cars. I think if I were generous maybe four cars per day pass our driveway. There is also a distinct lack of livestock. We haven't seen any cattle, although the area is famous for its limousin beef, and otherwise, a handful of sheep in a house paddock just about sums it up. There's a couple of donkeys in the paddock at the bottom of our garden!

    On Easter Sunday, we celebrated with a long walk uphill to a lovely lake near the village of Glanges. The dogs loved it and Roger marched silently up, without so much as a murmur. The lake proved the perfect place for swimming and fetching sticks, with Tinks taking out the long jump challenge on more than one occasion. Poppy is just a bit lazy for those sort of tricks now. We meandered home downhill and decided in honour of Easter Sunday, we should drink champagne and eat chocolate, along with a few healthy items like fromage, biscuits, fruit and Hot X Buns and croissants. By dinner time the most we could manage was a simple but delicious herb and beef saussion cooked on the hot coals of our BBQ.

    Easter Monday, and its a Public Holiday in France, but our friend, Alison who owns the restaurant by the lake is open, so we toss the dogs in the car and head into the village late in the arvo. The lake pond is quite serene and a good 1km walk around the edge keeps the dogs happy and builds up our thirst for an aperol spritz and a beer - after all its still 24 degs at 5pm - and its only the beginning of Spring. We dined on the deck with another dozen or so locals, enjoying good homemade family food, a hamburger and salmon au citron. And our brilliantly behaved black labs just sat under the table, without so much as mentioning that their dinner time (5pm) was well past. They inhaled their dry food as soon as we got home.    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Christine saved the day with her Tesco Hot X Buns!
    Our 400 year old house sit for the next 10 daysA steep walk up the hill after our walk to the lakeA fabulous coffee stop in Aigre, on the way to Les VergneDelightful Easter touches for Good Friday plus delicious indulgent chocolate mud cake and moreA beautiful flower garden at the Saint Sanien cemetry, where you're invited to pick the flowersDaffodils in full bloomThe lord of the maison, just chillingTinks and Poppy on the back terraseEsme the pussy cat looking for a drink - not the GnT!Our swarm of bees in residence - with the token windowTake away Pizzas from the vending machine in Magnac-Bourge

    Easter in the hills near Limoges

    April 3 in France

    So the Easter bunny saved the day. Her name was Christine and she is the host Mum for our sit in the hills near Limoges, not far from the village of Saint Germain-les-belles. Of English descent, Christine and her husband, Nigel have lived in their 17th century stone cottage with multiple outbuildings and stone sheds, for the past 22 years. When I asked if the English have Hot x Buns, she duly pulled 1/2 a dozen Tesco buns from the freezer and said 'Enjoy!' - and I am, and they are truly delicious, very fruity and spicy too.

    Due to a unexpected death in the family they had to travel to the UK for the funeral with only a few days notice, so here we are. Our charges are two black labs, mother, Poppy and daughter, Tinks plus a petite grey pussy cat called Esme. And then there are the two barn cats, Thelma and Louise and more recently a hive of bees, up in one corner of the roof, apparently awaiting the arrival of the Queen Bee - luckily I have my anti venom patches, after all it is the 'Year of living dangerously'. We're here for 10 days all up and we feel sure, we're going to like it.

    It was a 3 hour journey across from Les Petites Rivieres, and we had an awesome coffee stop, after the first hour at a delightful village called Aigres where Google maps suggested the 5 star 'Nana' epicere for coffee. Wow, we were blown away. A stunning cafe, beautifully decorated with some fabulous gourmet goodies and some unique local gin. After a very substantial cake and coffee experience- think the French equivalent of a chocolate mudcake and an orange and rose petals cake, we departed with a bottle of macerated Gin (where the botanicals are infused directly in the alcohol as opposed to in the still itself), and a tin of speculoos spice.

    We did have a brief loostop at a picturesque town called Saint Junien where there were spectacular flower beds and the most highly rated public toilets were located on the edge of the local cemetery in the centre of town. Parking was easy and just adjacent to the entry was a beautiful flower garden full of daffodils. There was a sign in the garden which I assumed was saying 'Please do not pick the flowers' but not so in France. Cemetery visitors were encouraged to pick the flowers and place them on their loved ones graves. So civilised and sensible. And as an aside, I guess to potentially limit the number of graves in the cemetery, we observed a total of seven pedestrian crossings as we came up the main street - a distance of less than 500 metres!

    We were warmly greeted by our host, on arrival, who promptly announced there'd been a disaster- the wifi modem had had a meltdown and was kaput. As we're located halfway down the hills in the gorgeous Les Vergne Valley, even the mobile service is pretty dodgy, but we will survive. Christine took us out to the local village where her English friend Alison runs a restaurant as part of the local camping ground, beside a very pretty lake. She has wifi and we are welcome for coffee, beers, wine and wifi at our disposal.

    Back home for GnTs in front of the fire as the temperature was dropping rapidly, and a delicious home made fish pie, along with several glasses of wine, and many tall tales of both her and Nigel's life in France and our wayward nomad life for the past 3 years. We all got on famously and then wrapped up warmly under a large winter doona and quilt cover as the temperature plummeted to 3degrees.    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    1A view of the world from our kitchen window
    The neighbour's garden is remarkably colourful even before Spring has truly sprung1The 'hipps' gardening crocsRoger outside walking the streets of Les Petites Rivieres1Our Peugeot lease car - yes another red one because they go faster!Quite a cool machine, and with the red number plates, everyone knows we're foreigners1Roger with 'Wally' the whipper snipper, about to get to workBlue skies and beautiful brown earth on my afternoon hill climbLooking into the living room and right through the French doors to our dependence in the gardenFirst punnet of fresh French strawberries - slightly mishapen 'seconds' because they were cheaperThe large overgrown drain outside the front gate - before1And after - the lawn mower lady did the final trim1The 'mower bitch' in fine formNearly finishedFirst thoughts - animal reserve, national park? Real translation. Wildlife hunting reserve!2And le cappucino avec Chantilly creme versus......Le cappucino avec mousse au lait - frothy milk. Guess which is mine!

    The cycle continues

    Mar 27–Apr 2 in France ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Another laid back week has passed. On Saturday we visited the Marche where we followed the locals lead, buying a fresh croissant and a pain de raison from one of the many boulangeries, and taking it with us to the cafe to have with our coffee! We picked up the necessary veges, fruit and some Brebis cheese and then headed out to Beauvois - de Matha to visit Candice, a delightful English woman, who has an equally delightful young black pussycat called Wilson who needs looking after for a week in mid April. Sunday night we put the clocks forward which gave us an extra hour in bed, and I made the dreadful mistake of going to one of the 'chain style' bakeries for a baguette for lunch. It was abysmal at best, white, fluffy bread with no aeration, no chewy texture, and a crispy flaky crust which just went everywhere. Flashback to the average Aussie baguette. Lesson learned.

    The laidback days are still productive, and there's always plenty to do. On the sunny days, there was gardening to be done and Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to lawnmowing. A good hour and a half of incidental exercise, rewarded with a large GnT. On the subject of exercise, I have been back on my regular exercise routine every morning and am even more grateful for the constant reminder to do at least 20 squats a day, as a loo stop in a pretty average bar in Matha, heralded the familiar porcellain toilet bowl with no toilet seat. I had forgotten about these, and subsequently I am now more diligent than ever with my squats exercises.

    We had another trip to our favorite €2 shop, GIFI where I picked up the perfect gardening crocs (trademarked as Hipps in this case). I think you'll agree from the photos, they belong on my feet! We also picked up 'Wally' the whipper snipper as a useful addition to the gardening tools. There is a large drain across the street side of the house, and it was well overdue for a clean up so Roger whipped and snipped his way for the rest of the afternoon.

    We have picked up a House sit in Sur Leveuge, near Limoge for 12 days from tomorrow, Good Friday and we've got a couple of black labs and sweet little pussy cat to look after. It's another expat British family who have lived in France for 20 years so we're looking forward to a change of scenery and some long walks in the local forest and farmlands, as the house is quite remote. More in the next blogg post.

    On the subject of Easter, this is our first French experience and it's notably different. For a start, life goes on as normal on Good Friday - it is not a public holiday, except in the Alsace region (for historical reasons). We are surprised, considering the strong Catholic affiliations in France. Easter Sunday and Monday are the significant days, with a public holiday on the Monday. School holidays start in our region on Saturday and go for two weeks - they are staggered in zones across the country. But the most disappointing thing is that I cannot find a hot cross bun ANYWHERE. Many of you will know of my love of extra spicy, warm, fruity hot cross buns and some of you have even sampled my home made ones, but it's hardly justified to make them just for the two of us. Perhaps I'll make some when Emma Lou and Johhny arrive - without the crosses!
    Note - there are still aisles of chocolate in the supermarkets, and plenty of croissants, pain de raison, and pain au chocolat to choose from. Oh well it is Easter 🐰    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    A quintessential evening watching the sun set over the hills beyond
    The spoils of marche shopping including lapin (rabbit)1Lunch with hummus and kibble from the marche stall. Tabouleh from chef Roger (and our herb garden)Looking towards the maison from the little pear tree in the foregroundA larger pear tree in blossom, just buzzing with beesThe hardy herb garden has survived for three years nowThe mint is like a bushA window on our walk with bluebells and irises belowSunday breakkue on the BBQDeliciousThe farmer and his tractor appeared on the horizon one evening1Fresh whole fish from the marcheSetting the heating on the large german boiler was a challengeLooking down towards our house from the top of the hill

    A week at Les Petites Rivieres

    Mar 20–26 in France ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We were moving slowly on Friday after several long days of travelling. Woke up to a beautiful clear blue sky and not a breath of wind, temp around 5 degrees but it didn't take long to reach the high teens and this was the pattern for most of the week. I even got into my one and only pair of shorts one day. Groceries were a high priority so we headed into Intermarche at Saint Jean d'Angeley and filled a shopping trolley. Au revoir, bon journey flowed effortlessly as we left the checkout. There are some phrases you just don't forget.
    On Saturday it was Marche day so we visited our favourite stall holders and bakers for fresh bread, cheeses and a collection of fresh fruit and veg. Given the time of year, alot of the produce was not local. The oranges were from Spain, the melon from Morrocco, and the green veges from Portugal. And prices were high which was to be expected. In fact, just like Australia, the cost of living has increased significantly across the board. When we filled up the lease car we paid just over €2 or $4 a litre.

    Sunday was a day at home, some quiet gardening, because starting up the chainsaw is actually illegal on a Sunday - its a family day, no chores, just family time, which we're quite happy to honour.

    On Monday, we finally made it to the far side of town to revisit our favourite grocery/ department store E.Leclerc. It was obviously not the 'specials day' as the place was deserted, so we wandered leisurely ip and down the aisles and departed with one small bag of groceries, and a baguette, of course. I ordered a cappucino quite seamlessly in French 'sans creme' and the resulting 'mousse de lait' was just perfect. For Roger, 'un espresso' was hardly a challenge.

    The rest of the week was spent on some garden chores in the beautiful sunshine, plenty of chainsawing of long dry logs to keep the fire burning for the cold nights, and a regular pre GnT walk around the neighbourhood. I would pound the streets up and down the hills for 40 mins and meet Roger at a predetermined corner for the last 20 min stroll home.

    Of notable excitement was the eventually setting of the large German boiler timers to heat the main house radiators, as they're predicting 2 degrees overnight later in the week. A couple of hours morning and night will keep us going until the fire warms the space.

    And the herb garden we planted 2 years ago is absolutely flourishing, but the basil had died off so we replaced that and can look forward to some pesto as spring arrives. So our first week was somewhat productive even with plenty of nice long sleepins, while we waiting for the temperatures to rise.    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Croissants and a Pain de raison, in keeping with tradition on our first morning in Paris
    Windows - the old and the new (Montparnesse Tower)View out our bedroom window - the guy on the balcony was having a cigaretteView from our bathroom window into the delightful courtyardHotel Mistral courtyardWindows reflected in windowsThe typical Parisian window sceneThis window was in a Surgeons officeView down Le Passage L'ancre, Paris's oldest passage, home to artists and creatorsZeus, the infamous horse that featured in the opening ceremony of the 2024 OlympicsZeus in actionZeus and the redheadJust one example of the displays in the Musee des Art et Metiers - a decimal clockAnother quirky display- Aders plane, the plane that didn't flyFocaults pendulum - confirmation that the world rotates on its axisThe spectacular display continued into the Church of St Martin- des- ChampsCocktails at the Bar Nouveau1The words tell the storySpring has arrived in ParisA clock, just for old times sakeThe Lion of BelfortWindows with character and spring blossomWindows with contrast2Sunset over the hills - our view on arrival at Les Petites Rivieres

    Paris, J'adore

    Mar 18–19 in France ⋅ 🌬 20 °C

    Awaking somewhat refreshed, I popped across to Montparnesse station to pick up some croissants from Yann Couvetre my favourite Parisian bakery. These provided the initial sustenance to plan our Parisian adventure for the day. It was picture perfect weather, and after a quick metro ride across to the Right Bank, we were able to meander through the streets to my favourite perfumery, Fragonard, not forgetting coffee and champagne enroute at one of the many cafes. From L'Opera we headed east toward Rue Montogueill, a famous 'foodie' street in the 2nd Arrondisement, where the infamous welcome to Paris beverage, an Aperol Spritz was enjoyed with a caesar salad. Roger had the Parisian take on Fish and chips served with an abundance of tartare sauce and naturally, a chablis to keep up the fluids.

    Some culture followed, with a visit to Musee des Artscet metiers. The reviews did not do it justice and to top it off, there was special display of the original Zeus, a life size model horse made of alluminium and beaten steel, that literally 'galloped' down the Seine at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Inside the Musee, founded in 1794 is a fascinating collection of technological innovation. From scientific instruments to energy, communication, construction and transport this recently refurbished musee is a one of a kind repository of scientific and technical knowledge. It also houses Focults Pedulum, 1851, which provided evidence of the earths daily rotation around it's axis.

    Soaked in knowledge, a short walk took us to Bar Nouveau. Rated 17th in the top 50 bars in Paris, 2025, it was definitely unique. There were only a dozen seats around a marble bar with mirrored walls and strategic art nouveau decorative trim to set the scene. The barman was friendly, the cocktail list limited, but innovative and the charming young Frenchman from Bordeaux, dressed in an immaculate dark suit who sat beside me spoke English remarkably well and kept us in conversation. He looked like he should be a lawyer or an accountant, but it turns out he's actually a barman and has recently moved to Paris to take up a new position at one of the smart hotels. We may just need to visit there on a future Parisian adventure.

    By now with our step count at close to 17000, we headed for the metro, and a return to our Hotel. A GnT and wine at the nearest bar sufficed for dinner and another early night.

    On Thursday we enjoyed a delightful Parisian style buffet breakfast at our Hotel. It including some eggs and sausages plus all the usual pastries, fruit, yoghurt and cereal. With the backpacks packed, I enjoyed a walk through the 14th ar in the sunshine before collecting Roger, and backpacks uplifted, we wandered over to Montparnesse station. We had time for coffee and then endured the guessing game of 'which platform' our train for Bordeaux would depart! Platform 9 flashes up and there is a mad rush for the train. Safely on board with the luggage stored, we enjoyed a speedy trip (just 2 hrs 15 mins) through the French Countryside to Bordeaux. We jumped into a taxi and made our way to the lease car pickup near the airport where we were met by our friend, Diedra, who had handed over our original lease car in 2024.

    A quick review of the paperwork, and we were on our way up the A10 to Les Petites Rivieres, arriving just hours later. A flick of a switch put the power on and we lit the fire to warm us up and dry out the house, which had thankfully survived the huge rains of the past three months. Sleep came easily and early!    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Finally boarded and ready to go
    A late night cocktail at the onboard barA window on the worldApproaching Dubai just before we started circlingSunrise over DubaiSafely on the groundPeople on the ground received these messages as we were circling aboveOk to landWindows in Dubai airportPlenty of departures still on the boardPlenty of A380's lined up at the TerminalFarewell to Dubai and a salute to the tenacity of the officials keeping everyone safeCheers for a safe passage to ParisWindowsThe bar staff keeping the children entertained with Mocktails2Bags arrived safelyFamiliar landmarks on our way into ParisTraffic mayhem at the Arc de TriumpheLe Tour Eiffel in all its gloryLe creperie at sunsetCrossing Pont Alexandre III at sunsetSome fresh air and a snackLooking out the windows into a typical Parisian sceneOur friendly travel agent was so inspired, we featured on her socialsAI's interpretation was pretty acurate

    Flying through a war zone

    Mar 17–18 in the United Arab Emirates ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We boarded EK407 for Paris, on Monday evening. Enjoyed another champagne with a light snack and then donned the complimentary PJs and settled in to a movie. The business class section was probably only 75% full and from the boarding queue for economy, I would guess they were probably only at 50% capacity. Apart from a fairly persistent bouncing around with air turbulence, we both got a reasonable amount of sleep before sunrise and our emininent arrival at Dubai airport.

    As we approached Dubai, after originally declaring 'cleared for landing', the captain came on the PA and announced we were resuming a holding pattern as Dubai airport had just been closed. There was no panic, barely even a whisper, it was as if airports always opened and closed regularly, but I guess we both wondered just what lay ahead. We heard two booms and felt the shudders, even at 20,000 feet, as the missiles were intercepted, but shortly afterwards welcomed the Captains advise that we were cleared for landing and once more on approach to Dubai Airport. It was absolutely fascinating as we had free WIFI on board so could actually track EK 407 in real time.
    We made a safe landing albeit a little late, to find that life was going on as normal in the airport, albeit with less than half the usual numbers of tourists, inside one of the world's largest terminals. Everyone was calm and no doubt grateful they had jobs to go to and a very competent defence force to keep them and their visitors safe. As our flight to Paris had been delayed we were grateful for a hot shower and snack in the lounge before boarding around 11.30am. The flight had lots of French families on board, and several babies but you would never had known it if you hadnt seen them in the departure lounge. Ironically as we taxied for takeoff, they were playing ' I still call Australia home' - a poignant reminder for a couple of nomads!

    We joined the French families at the bar where the very obliging bar man was making the children mocktails and us oldies then curled up for some more sleep and woke up to stunning late afternoon sunshine on approach to Paris.

    Safely on the ground with our passports stamped for entry into France we were wisked away by a very competent chauffeur down the motorways towards Paris. It was a relatively slow trip since it was early evening peak hour traffic, but as a result, we ended up passing familiar landmarks such as the Arc de Triumphe and travelling across Pont Alexandre III, with a view of Le Tour Eiffel just as the sun was setting.

    We arrived at our delightful boutique Parisian Hotel Mistral just on dusk and after shedding our luggage, we wandered out in to the local neighbourhood seeking a GnT and vin rouge, with a simple goats cheese salad as well as some fresh air. Paris was humming and the restaurants and bars were pumping. There's no hurry here, no pressure to leave so they can accommodate another sitting and increase their evening takings, and definitely no pressure to have another drink. We did not last long and returned by 9.30pm to crawl into a real bed for a good nights sleep.

    Thankyou to Emirates for giving us the confidence to follow our dreams for another year in the French countryside. Cheers Penny and Roger    Read more

  • Penny PhillipsWindows on the worldTraveler
    Sunset from the balcony at our Whitfield retreat
    The full moon rising over the Coral Sea with Cairns city in the foregroundA bit later in the night, the clouds came inLizards, don't come in small sizes in Cairns. This guy just sauntered along the pool deckFriday 13th, was auspiciously good, as it turned outThe boys enjoying a nice red - past tense!Dinner in Port Douglas with Harriet and Michael to celebrate Ollie's 18th birthdayLunch in Mission Beach to celebrate Truus' 77th birthdayBags packed and in the carLuggage down to 13kg each in the new backpacksLooking through the window - Cairns tropical landscape seen from the Qantas loungeAnd the rain arrived just as we were leavingFarewell Cairns until the next timeAnd we're on our wayThe multi coloured backpack could not be missed and was first of the planeNana was pleased to see us and had whipped up her specialty - lasagneLeaving Brisbane and flying over Moreton IslandNothing was guaranteed, right down to the last minuteSetting off from Hawthorn - farewell from the grandchildrenThrough the limo window in the pouring rain en route to TullamarineBags away - just for the recordAnd champagne was in order

    L'annee de vie dangereuse

    Mar 14–16 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    2026, the year of living dangerously. This year, France beckons again, with another 12 month long stay visa and a lease car arranged for pickup from Bordeaux. Les Petites Rivieres is our base as the kitchen/dining room extension is planned to commence in April/May and we will be Emma Lou and Johnny's 'eyes on the ground' for the duration.

    We waited with intrepidation as flights through the UAE resumed, following the USA's attack on Iran on February 28th. It came out of the blue and certainly put the world on edge with Smart Traveller alerts to avoid the area due to missile attacks throughout the Middle East.
    All the advice pointed to holding tight until such time as the airline actually cancelled the flight, as insurance was invalid 'in the case of war and tempest'.
    So that's exactly what we did and eventually, on Friday 13th March, we received the expected cancellation email for our flight from Brisbane to Paris on 17th March. So with permission to explore other options, we spoke to our lovely travel agent, Amanda, and having established that Emirates had scheduled flights from Melbourne to Paris, we duly booked our departure, a day earlier with just a 1hr changeover time in Dubai, and were able to secure an additional night in Paris at the boutique Hotel Mistral.

    First stop on the itinerary was Brisbane and we left Cairns as planned, carrying only 13kgs each in our new back packs, on Saturday 14th March just before a massive rain event caused major flooding in the region. We made our way to Buderim and spent a couple of nights with Nana, who at 98 years old, is slowing down and noticeably more fragile than she was on our last visit in early December. She loved the company, especially at mealtimes, and enjoyed reminiscing with Roger over times gone by. Still as sharp as a tack, conquering crosswords and word puzzles ad nauseum, she doesn't miss much, except the company of family and friends, although this is ultimately very tiring for her.

    Second stop was Melbourne and we were winning once again, getting exit row seats on an earlier Virgin flight which gave us extra time with the grandchildren in Melbourne. As expected there was disbelief when Nanny P and Poppy opened the front door as Will and Holly came home from a school and we had fun catching up with all the school and sport news along with lots of cuddles. And then, as the heavens opened, our chauffeured transport arrived and took us safely to Terminal 2, Melbourne airport, where we could finally relax with champagne of course.    Read more

    Trip start
    March 14, 2026
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