Melbourne - Our Home on the Bay

A Word or Two on Blogging

2012-01-29T13:28:00.000+11:00

Not sure how this all began - I do know that Sue started reading blogs before on of our trips to France, maybe 2009. Many of you read "Living the Life in Saint Aignan" and "WCS - Another American in France".
We'd been reading these blogs prior to the trip and made contact with Ken and Walt. I think maybe this was when we first started blogging.
A friend helped me set it up using both Blogger and Word Press. I found Blogger the more friendly of the two but also the most frustrating at times.
As we blogged our way through France on that trip, our intention was to keep family and friends informed. Several became followers and comments occasionally would flow.
Later we started to discover further interesting blogs to read, many recommended by serial blog reader, Nadege from the west coast of the US.
On our return to Melbourne we renamed our Blog to "Melbourne - Our Home on the Bay". We started to become tourists in our own town. Sue's passion for cooking added depth to the posts which was littered with the odd story on a weekend away, house renovations and of course my occasional cycling adventure.

http://frenchtravelswithmywife.blogspot.com/
Some unashamedly self promotion - come and say hello.

A while back came "Travelling through France" which has developed into a diary of travel memoirs. Only this year - January 1 in fact, I set a task to post one photograph for every day of 2012. I was inspired by a South Australia Blogger, Dianne who has recently ran out of photos for her Blog, "All Things French". You can enjoy her other Blog though - "Adelaide and Beyond".

A few weeks ago, out of the blue, we received an award for "Melbourne - Our Home on the Bay" from fellow Blogger Jean of "A Very Grand Pressigny". Its proudly displayed on our side bar. The Liebster Blog award requires us to select another five blogs with less than 200 followers that we enjoy reading. I can see that I need to increase my blog reading as the ones I wished to pass on the award have already received it or are so popular that they have more than 200 followers.

So here are my selections for the Liebster Blog award.
1. First there is the bloke who set up our first blog, Leaping Leon's French Fancies before it became Melbourne Our Home on the Bay.
Eger Eyes posts a sometimes daily photo - he's really a bit slack but by offering this award he might just renew some enthusiasm with some comments from my fellow bloggers.

This is Eger Eye's Man Cave.

http://egereyes.wordpress.com/

2. I mentioned Dianne of Adelaide and Beyond being an inspiration of my New Year resolution to post 365 photos of France for 2012. For this and her great photos on her blog, she gets my second award. When I last looked she had 199 followers but only this morning when I looked again, she had 202 - I'll ignore this because I decided she was on my list earlier.

http://adelaideaz.blogspot.com/

And while you're at it - check out her popular "All Things French". 400 plus followers, how popular is that. Currently its in recess until her next trip to France.

http://www.frenchaz.blogspot.com/

Most of the blogs I read are well over the 200 followers so now it becomes difficult. How do they become so popular, I have to say on most days after getting home from work the first thing I do is check emails and Blogs.

3. Eminence Rouge is about the Loire town of Richelieu, a place we have visited a few times now. Cardinal Richelieu had the town built on his own plans - we've blogged our visits there in the past.

http://richelieu-eminencerouge.blogspot.com/

4. Jim McNeill's blog, a Social History in the Touraine is only a recent addition to our sidebar but a most interesting Blog. I keep going back to it through his past posts just to increase my general knowledge of this wonderful region of France.

http://jimmcneill.wordpress.com/

5. Another recent blog addition to the side bar is Sir Lord Thomas, a very quirky Blog on sixties music and lifestyle. Some of the music posts are quite obscure to say the least.

http://sirlordthomas.blogspot.com/

So that's my five selections for the Liebster Blog award - if you haven't already caught up with these blogs, then off ya pop and have a bit of a gander. Till next post, toodle pip.

Phriday Nite Philosofee

2012-01-27T22:06:00.001+11:00

Live life to the full - It's Phriday and we have a phull weekend ahead of us. Live life to the phull.

Today is Australia Day

2012-01-26T07:15:00.001+11:00

AUSSIE DAY - Jan 26

It was 1788 when the Poms sent their convicts to New Holland, well they lost their colonies in North America - something to do with tea wasn't it???? Where else could they send them. Then they remembered bloke who navigated New Holland called Jimmy Cook.

Anyway, these convicts in England were sent to Australia as punishment. "For the term of their natural life". That's right, they were banished to the sunny south with acres of land, pristine beaches, clean air and the chance to form a new life in the land of plenty - poor souls.

They made the best of it and now every year on the 26th of January we celebrate Australia Day - some call it Invasion Day - that's what our Indigenous brothers call it today and they have some just cause for that.

But then it's happened in many countries.

Look at the Americas - Spain invaded South America, the English and the French invaded North America.

The first official celebration of the First Fleet landing in Sydney Cove in 1818 - thirty years after. There were earlier unofficial celebrations by the emancipated convicts in the form of "drinking and merriment".

It was Governor Macquarie who proclaimed a holiday on this 30th year of the landing for all Government workers and they also were given a pound of fresh meat. Hence the BBQ tradition of Australia Day - I imagine but that's just my theory.

It was on the 50th Anniversary of Foundation Day that it was officially proclaimed an annual holiday for all.

1988 we all joined in to celebrate 200 years of white settlement in Australia with a re-enactment of the First Fleet arrival on Sydney Harbour.

What will most Aussies do to celebrate Australia Day - I suspect there will be many BBQ's lit, several beers consumed and the odd bottle of rouge'. Maybe a visit to the beach for a swim on a lovely summer day.

Whatever it is that we do, is mainly due to those very persecuted convicts condemned for the rest of their natural life to live in this southern land.

I might just chuck another shrimp on the Barbie - nope, I'd prefer lamb.

Hello Leonardo

2012-01-25T08:13:00.000+11:00

We woke early, had breakfast and headed for the Amboise market.
Our host, Carole recommended that we get there early as it is supposedly the largest in the area. We arrived at 8.20 am but we were too early. Store holders were only just setting up so we wandered over the road to a Patisserie.
A coffee and a little quiche each became our second breakfast for the morning. Sue said it was the best she had ever tasted.
Back to the market and before I knew it, Sue had the ingredients for the nights dinner. A rabbit, some tiny green beans and a mountain of white (albino) asparagus.

Certainly the market was on our agenda but the main reason to visit Amboise was to say "Hello to Leonardo". Ambroise was the home to Leonardo da Vinci in his final years.
The Manor House Le Clos-Luce was a present from Francois I to Leonardo as an enticement to live in France where he could live out his final years.

The grounds abound with images and models of Leonardo's amazing inventions as does the basement of the Manor. The visit took up much of our day that we missed an opportunity to see the famous Chateau d'Amboise - oh, well maybe next time.

It had been a long day and Sue was looking forward to the comfort of our cosy cottage and cooking her bunny. We returned by way of Montrichard to find some Wifi to check our emails. It was Mother's Day and the boys left messages for Sue.

The rabbit was braised in a white wine with thyme and rosemary and served with sauteed potatoes and green beans. While in Montrichard, we found a patisserie where we purchased some lemon tarts for afters.
We most probably also drank too much wine but that's not unusual when you have such a wonderful choice in the Loire. Chinon, Samur, Vouvray, all lovely wines.

It was a big day out - it wouldn't be the only one. We had some big plans to see as much as possible while in the Loire.

Impromptu Dinner and a Perfect Sunday

2012-01-22T17:47:00.000+11:00

She can't help herself - an impromptu dinner by phone call late this week to friends to join us and she makes what I call a big production.Well really not for her!!!!
Me, I can hop on the bike for a casual 100 kms with my mates - for Sue it's hop into the kitchen to entertain friends with a fabulous meal, in my opinion anyway.
But really, its about enjoying the company of like minded people. Without mentioning names (Darren. Al and Tracy - shhhhh, I didn't say that) we started the evening on the deck in the backyard with nibbles, olives, dips and the odd beer and wine - sparkles and rose. Very nice on a balmy summer evening.

The wind came up a little so we adjourned to the dining room for the mains.
Oh, by the way, my tall friend brought the most magnificent Coonawarra Cab Sav/Shiraz/Merlot blend, 2002, a very special red. My other friend, not so tall brought a delightful Rose. (how do you do that thing with the apostrophe for Rose?)

I'll let Sue as usual describe the meal as I'm now in the middle of clearing the debris - remember the rule in our household - The Cook, Never Washes.
Oh no, she's gone to bed. OK, she'll post in the morning.

Our dear son when in Morocco this Christmas sent me this wonderful tagine. Some postage bill!! It is the sort you can cook in. The brightly coloured ones have lead paint and can only be used for serving.

One of our crew only eats fish so I decided to try a fish tagine. Most of the recipes I found were very Angloish (?) so I kept looking. I love the internet. Found a moroccan based site and a recipe on it for a fish tagine with chermoula, potatoes, tomatoes and various other veg.

I didn't feel very confident as it called for the lot to be cooked over a low to medium gas flame for 1 1/2 hours! Still, in the spirit of following a recipe for the first time you use it...off we went.

I had previously seasoned the tagine, by immersing it in water for 24 hours, airdrying it, painting the unglazed surfaces with oil and leaving it in a coolish oven for an hour. We were ready to rock.

I bought some thick pieces of rockling and a few prawns from my wonderful fish man. Made a chermoula paste from the recipe and slathered it over the fish and popped it in the fridge for a couple of hours. A bit of olive oil on the base of the tagine, and then layered it with carrot batons, sliced onion, fish on top. Potato slices sprinkled with more spices then go around the edges to be overlapped with tomato slices. Remaining chermoula over the veg, salt and pepper, then slices of roasted red capsicum, olives and preserved lemon, lid on and on the heat. Fingers well and truly crossed! Popped in the prawns with 15 minutes to go. They weren't in the recipe and I couldn't imagine prawns after 1 1/2 hours! By the way the pic is before it was cooked. There was a heap of liquid after. (Just right for sopping up. Mmm)

Roasted some red onion, sweet potato and pumpkin, and later put that through cous cous with more of the capsicum and preserved lemon and lots of coriander. Made a salad of red onion slices, fresh tomato, chick peas and lots of parsley. Slices of sourdough baguette and ready to go.

When we took the top off the tagine the smell was amazing! Looked great too.

Well folks, I have to say the recipe was right. The fish was moist and delicious. Spicy, but not overwhelming flavours. I was thrilled it had all worked out so well. I now want to know Why it works. Can't just be the shape surely? Anyone know?

Anyone interested in the site with the recipe, let me know and I'll look it up again. I didn't keep it. Duh!

We finished with chocolate meringue nests with cream, strawberries and blueberries. Nice.

We have guests coming over on Wednesday night and I feel a tagine coming on! Mmm...maybe lamb with apricots and...something. It's so exciting to discover a new cooking medium that is not only easy but delivers such great results and LOOKS terrific too. OK Leon, I'll stop now. I know I tend to get a little over excited about these things.

By the way, we still have a cooking pan unwashed Mr Perfect!

My mate - the tall one said he'd bring a special bottle of red to dinner - he loves Sue's cooking and this was agreat way to show his appreciation. With a little age on it (2002), the Jamieson's Run Cab Sav/Shiraz/Merlot blend was decantered and allowed to breath for some time - It was beyond description. Sorry we couldn't share it with you.

Sunday's Ride
After Saturday night's dinner be agreed a late morning start to roll the legs was a good idea. The day was a most pleasant summer Sunday morning with people enjoying our Bayside Playground. Walking, cycling, sitting in cafes and watching life go by.
We rode down to our local bike shop/cafe. A coffee to start the morning was agreed by the five of us and then we decided to head north towards the city along Beach Road, taking in the beautiful views of Port Phillip Bay.
As we arrived at Port Melbourne we discovered that a huge cruise ship had docked - its passengers about to enjoy a few days in Melbourne.

As you can see - just a picture perfect day. Seagulls are well fed, people take a leisurely stroll along the St Kilda pier to the cafe at the end to enjoy a meal and possibly a wine.

It burnt down in the early 2000s and the Government made good to rebuild it as it was.

Palm trees, street lamps and a cruise ship at Victoria Dock.

Station Pier Port Melbourne 2012

And 1871

As I write this the day is still in the 20s and not a cloud in the sky. The thought of fish and chips on the beach sounds very inviting.

One of those "lets do it moment" things

2012-01-20T22:22:00.000+11:00

It was one of those, "lets do it moment" things. Sue and I have been members of the MG Car Club since 1982 but the last 12 years we have been involved in other things.
The Club mag advertised the mid-week lunch run, something that started as we were changing our life. I'd retired from Club committee work after 12 years and returned to my cycling passion.
We rang a few lovely friends who were still heavily involved with the Club and I said, "Let's do it" and they agreed. We felt a little uneasy with our rest from Club activities. We need not to have been.
We renewed friendships as it was only yesterday.
Some were a little rickety and a decade had caused them a little discomfort but their passion for Mg's still burned fiercely.
It was a good day.

The MG Car Club entered our life in 1982 - we even spent our honeymoon on an MG Car Club National Meeting in Hobart, Tassie. Now that's passion......

The lunch run attracted 70 people - mostly retirees with a love of MGs.

MG's both old and new, much like the drivers.

The odd infiltrator joined us but Oh sooo gorgeous, who could say no to such a curvaceous beast.

I wonder what our weekend will bring - there's a long slow ride down along the peninsula Saturday morning, dinner at home with friends and household jobs on Sunday - must be some blog material there.
Catch ya Monday AM readers.

Thenay and New Friends met!

2012-01-18T07:17:00.000+11:00

Sue found Thenay on the Internet - it wasn't a tourist destination, in fact far from it. Many of the places are "out of the place" places.......That's what makes them so memorable.
This little cottage in a pretty much unknown village came with some extra delights. It's owners, a couple of ex-pat "Poms" (said with affection) were to become good friends. The cottage itself was a delight, clean, comfy and just a great place to come home to after a day of sightseeing.
Thenay is just a few kms from Pontlevoy and another 15 minutes down the road was Montrichard. You are in the centre of all the grand Chateaux of the Loire in Thenay.

A very unusual structure was this windmill,
never seen anything like it in my experience.
Can anyone enlighten me of its origins.

Faded signs make the drive more interesting - don't you think?
The secret is to never be in a rush.

Travel slowly and all manner of doorways open to you.

We drove out of Chartres with the expectation of calling somewhere home for the next week - the weather was a little overcast and there was a drizzle of rain. We decided we would make a lunch time stop at Macca's - I don't believe the French have succumbed to this fast food establishment but it did have WiFi and we were able to send news home.

We arrived at Thenay too early to meet our hosts so we took a drive around the village - well that didn't take long!!!! Then off to Pontlevoy and that also seemed very quiet. Somehow though these seemingly quiet villages hide some wonderful experiences not evident on first appearance.

Our cosy cottage for the next week - a central place to explore the wonders of the Loire. This we did - Amboise, Pontlevoy, Montrichard, Montresor, Loches, Chambord, Cheverny, Richelieu, Chinon and much more in the space of a week.

Some notes from the Diary.
"Arrived back at the cottage to meet Carole and Mikey, very nice English couple who love a chat (so do we). They were able to offer lots of good local info and they kindly left us two local bottles of wine.
The house is compact and just perfect for the two of us and excellent value. Spotlessly clean and thoughtfully equipped as well for someone who enjoys cooking.
As our hosts were about to leave a cat sauntered over and I said to Carole that I missed our cats. Turns out she has five. They have rellies in Australia and I mentioned that if ever she required a house and cat sitter we would be most happy to offer our services."

Our huge garden

The bedroom

Many a great meal was cooked and local wine was enjoyed here.

And after a long day out enjoying the sights that the Loire had to offer, we would relax in the living area looking out to the garden outside.

It's not a large village but it had a certain charm and a few hidden treasures that didn't present on first encounters.

Such as scenes like these - not obvious unless you left the car in the drive and walked the streets.

And I finally had the chance to unpack the bike
and enjoy riding for the first time on this trip.

Prior to leaving for this trip, Sue had been regularly reading a blog that many of you are already familiar with by two Americans living only just across the river from Carole and Mickey - we were fortunate to have the opportunity to say hello. What a small world it is.

Sue bought some mussels to cook with pasta for our first night at Thenay. We finished that off with fresh bread with a Brie Margeaux and apricot tarts and way too much wine. How good is life.

My Favorite Restaurant is Home

2012-01-15T17:57:00.000+11:00

We both love going out for dinner but on many occasions, I'm disappointed due to Sue's culinary skills at home. Then again, it's her passion, not her livelihood. It's true and I am thoroughly spoilt. Then again I think that she makes the best peanut butter sandwiches.

I'm sure we all have had the experience of eating at a restaurant that we had great expectations of and come away with a feeling of those expectations not being met. Good value is not always measured by the cost of the meal.
I've enjoyed a great pizza or pasta with friends and found that I've received good value for the dollars spent.
Then again, a restaurant of good standing has sometimes made me feel I've been ripped off.
This is never the case at home.
Tonight's meal was soooooo good. All washed down with a local Pinot Noir.

Roast pork - love that crackling, scallops on a bed of pea puree.

Sue talking
Crispy skin, roasted belly pork went well with some scallops seared quickly in a hot pan and served on a pea puree. The sweetness of the scallops and the peas went well with the salty crackle and the richness of the pork. Just in case the dish wasn't rich enough, we had chat potatoes roasted till crunchy on the outside, soft inside with garlic and rosemary. The pork was roasted on a raft of rosemary that protected it from the heat of the pan and gave a delicious smell and mild flavour. A goody.

See that little triangle bit of crackling on the end. After the photograph it was missing.
I just couldn't resist it - Oh, I am a bad boy!!!

It's not easy being green, but I do taste nice!!!

Some of these went missing as well when Sue turned her back.

New Neighbours

Yep, we have new neighbours. Our previous neighbours welcomed us to the street in 1982. The husband recently passed away at 90+ years and his wife is in a home suffering from dementia. Their son has recently organised his parents home as a rental property.

History repeats as it was us this time that welcomed our new neighbours to the street. They were quite taken back by our actions as they said that this had never happened at their previous locations.

I have to say that our reason for saying hello was that they seemed like interesting people - a little left of centre maybe. They have an interest to a period of time that relates to my childhood. Although I was born in 1950, I did have some influence from my older brother of those early Rock N Roll times.

Our neighbours although much younger than us have a passion of the time. They dress in the 50s and they have cars from the era. It will be interesting to see how the relationship with our new neighbours progress over time.

But I do like their cars.

My father had one of these when I was a young kid - well not quite like this one.
Our Chevrolet was a beige.

The third model of the Australian built Holden.

Its our son's birthday today so we are off to an Italian restaurant now - He's 24, where do those years go - yesterday he was only 12. He's off to New York, then, Canada in March and we will be empty nesters.

The other son is in England and with our youngest in Canada we will all be reuniting with them and my daughter in Paris for Sue's 60th birthday in May. Can't wait.

Know any good restaurants in Paris for the occasion that doesn't cost me a second mortgage?

CHARTRES

2012-01-10T20:26:00.000+11:00

With just an overnight stay, it's not possible to fully appreciate all the features of a town like Chartres. First and foremost is the Cathedral which is the first thing you can see on the approach to Chartres, even from a long way off.
Chartres is just a few kms shy of 100 kms from Paris to the south west with the river Eure running through the slower slopes of the town. A walk along this river reveals some great photo opportunities and some insight to early life in Chartres.
The Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site is never far from view no matter where you are in this city of 40,000.

The CATHEDRAL
Since before the 800s the site always had a place of worship on the hill. From the mid 800s to today its believed five buildings sat here. Wars and fires destroying them until the current cathedral. Built somewhere between 1194 and 1260 (I've read conflicting dates) it was lucky to survive WWII. It was mostly spared during the wars of Religion and the French Revolution although some damage did occur.
During WWII the Allies believing the Germans held the Cathedral were ordered to bomb it. A US Colonel went behind enemy lines to check if this was the case and came back to confirm that the Germans were not occupying the Cathedral as an observation post. If they had, this Gothic Cathedral may not have been there for our visit on this day.
During the war, the stained glass windows were taken down for their own protection - Sue thought these immense examples awe inspiring. Our guide book claims that there are over 150 stained glass windows within the Cathedral.

The Chartres cathedral from our hotel room window as we posted a blog back in 2009 on our little notebook specially bought for the trip.

The west side with the tallest Gothic spire (16c) to the left.
The spire to to the right is Romanesque (12c).

Both outside and inside the Cathedral has the most decorative sculptures.

A close up of Old Testament figures carved into the Royal Portal.

The Royal Portal - 1145-1155

The MARKET
Luck have it and unknown to us was that the morning before moving on, Chartres had a market on this Saturday morning. The stalls were set-up with pride and displayed the produce in such a way that it was a shame to disturb them. The market was a very local thing and we seemed to be the only tourists there.
We took the opportunity to purchase some shallots and garlic to take to our one week stay at our cottage in Thenay but more about that later.

We rose early to see the market - as you can see, we were almost the first there.

STREET SCENES
We could have wandered the streets of Chartres a lot longer than we did but we found that it was fairly quiet and many shops were closed, maybe there was some sort of holiday. Chartres was a city of many eras. You could walk the narrow laneways and under arches, beside protective walls and then emerge to modern shops. Although the Cathedral was saved during WWII, much of the city was in fact heavily bombed so both old and new architecture morph together.

I kinda like clever graffiti which in these examples, I would call street art.

This particular piece of street art captured my attention.

Chartres still retains some very fine examples of its past heritage.

The RIVER EURE
A walk along the banks of the River Eure is most relaxing on the mind. Water somehow does that. The walk presents some really great images for the camera with architecture dating back hundreds of years. Quaint hump back bridges cross the river at various intervals with the odd mill and wash house along the way.

The River Eure.

An early wash house on the banks of the river.

I wonder how many people over the centuries crossed this bridge before us.

Taken from the hump back bridge - several mills occupied positions along the river.

On reflection, an overnight stay was not enough to take in the sites and local life of Chartres but we needed to move on to our one week stay in the Loire. On a previous trip we stayed to the west at Chinon. Having planned this trip (our third) to France, Sue wanted to stay to the east of the Loire before moving on to Burgundy. Sue also wanted to visit fellow bloggers Ken and Walt, Americans who have lived in the Loire now for possibly ten years. The story goes that Sue commented on Ken's blog to say if someone taps you on the shoulder at the market and says "G'day" it would be us two Aussies. It eventuated that we share a bottle of local wine and nibbles with Ken and Walt.

The little cottage that we were to spend the week at is in a small village of Thenay just near Pontlevoy.
The very strange thing was that several months before leaving for the trip, we were invited to lunch with friends and we called into a book shop along the way. As I walked by the bargain bin, there was this book on a French Village - it just happened to be Pontlevoy.

Our stay in Thenay was to prove most fruitful. Not only did we gain a fondness for the Loire but we also gained a friendship with the owners of our little cottage in Thenay.

We'll tell you more next Wednesday..

I hear Sue calling me to make coffee and pour her a glass of Muscat - must go now.

A Made-Up Recipe

2012-01-08T22:29:00.000+11:00

You might have read Friday's post on our visit to the Prahran Market - well there was no cookathon Friday night as we were invited to join friends for dinner before seeing the Tintin 3D movie at the local cinema complex. So the cookathon was transferred to Saturday night but some of the enthusiasm was lost.

The pork fillet prepared with the ingredients explained below and ready for the oven.

Sue says,

"No cook-a-thon on Saturday either. I lost interest a bit. I slit the pork fillet, added sweet chilli and lime sauce, feta cheese slices, spinach and black pepper, and then refolded it over and pinned it together with a couple of toothpicks.

I made a tomato sauce by sauteing a shallot in some butter, then adding tinned tomatoes, salt, pepper, a little sugar and a healthy slurp of balsamic vinegar and cooked it down a little.

Popped the pork in a pan sloshed on the sauce and into a moderate oven for 20 minutes or so.

The pork was then sliced onto cheesy polenta with broad beans on top, it was yummy. Not much effort either which is very good. Win, win. Planning on cooking the squid tonight. Salt and pepper squid I think".

My photo doesn't do justice to Sue's cooking - We really did enjoy the flavours of this meal and the bed of polenta gave it that contrast of colour and texture.

What meal doesn't end well with coffee and port - but no cigar.

Thought I might delay the publishing of this post until Sunday night's dinner - that salt and pepper squid sounded interesting for a night in front of the telly.
And it was - Sue couldn't finish all of hers so I helped out - that's how good it was.

Since presenting Sue with an iPad 2 for Christmas, she's had a "Mac Attack" and went out and bought an Apple TV thingy that connects to your telly so you can rent or buy movies/books/music through your internet and then play them back wirelessly to the telly - well I'll be! There's even something that allows you to store all this stuff in cyberspace called "iCloud". We now have all our computers sharing music and movies.

What will they invent next - these clever folk from Apple?

FRIDAY at the MARKET

2012-01-06T18:56:00.003+11:00

Friday is another market day at the Prahran Market, one of our favorites, mainly because of their produce, not their prices. Prahran has that hard to get produce and it also has Essential Ingredients - a shop that takes much of Sue's meandering time.

A great Market is Prahran - a touch trendois but great produce.
The shoppers are interesting as much is the produce...

For me, it's that coffee stop before shopping begins. I need to fuel up so that I can successfully become Le Mule...
There's this great cafe that serves all manner of coffee styles and blends. A light snack to go with coffee and I'm ready to accommodate the demands of a frantic foodie shopper.

I'm a bit like this bloke when I go shopping with Sue.

But that first cup of coffee sparks me up and gives me the energy to follow with the shopping basket.

The Market itself proclaims to be one of our oldest, "still active" markets. Not sure if I believe this claim with earlier markets that existed but they have closed their doors. The Vic Market I would have thought to be older...

Mango's - ten bucks a box, wow!!!!

Bananas - Avocados - Rock melon (Cantaloupe), yep, it's summer.

The other reason for going to the Prahran Market is Sue's passion for the Essential Ingredients shop and her addiction for marinated baby figs - the books - the utensils - well just about everything they sell that is except chocolate. I like the chocolate.

HER favourite shop and the main reason to visit the Prahran Market.

The reason to be here - the baby figs.

Oh yes, and the cook books.

How about this meat slicer.

Would you like a new mix master?

I'm not entirely sure what she bought from the superb meat market so I'll let her tell you - I'm just looking forward to Saturday night's meal.

Now what did we buy Sue?

"Frantic food shopper?" Frantic? That's a bit harsh I would have thought. Somewhat enthusiastic perhaps...
Essential ingredients is a wonderful shop! NOT cheap. But...they have everything. Those marinated baby figs are extra yummy and a small jar is expensive but lasts a long time. They have terrific delis with wide ranges of cheeses, breads, pastas, dips - lots and lots of interesting things.
Prahran Market again is not cheap for meat. But it has a huge variety that can be hard to obtain other places and it always seems to be excellent quality and cut with care.
Today I bought squid. Jig caught in Bass Strait.
Pork fillets - female and free range from the Otway Ranges
Very pale veal slices for schnitzel
Beef mince - hmmm big deal not
Duck breasts -yummy yum - a treat given their price
Big bunches of parsley and of coriander (still with its roots on - the strongest bit)
I think that's all. I had plenty of veg and fruit in the fridge already, although the strongly scented boxes of mangoes for $10 a tray almost did me in, but I resisted.
Leon doesn't know it yet, but we are going to have a cook-a-thon this weekend. As long as it's not too hot!

Oooooh, what a lucky boy am I....

Chantilly

2012-01-03T22:24:00.000+11:00

From Senlis we drove not far to Chantilly in the same region of Oise. Chantilly is very well laid out with a beautifully manicured main street. The reason Sue wanted to see Chantilly was because of the horse connection. I have to admit that I had no idea what this horse connection was. I only knew the Big Bopper song, "Chantilly Lace and a pretty face". You learn something every day.

Chantilly opened its history to me and I was amazed. We did see the racecourse, being famous for horse racing but the stables and the chateau were something else. The great stables were built in 1721 by Louis II de Bourbon Prince de Conde. Sue wrote in our diary, "The Chateau built by the Bourbon Princes is amazing. Very beautiful and huge. Inside a large art display and many books and manuscripts. Fabulous library.
The grand stables were exactly that, almost as grand as the chateau, unfortunately they weren't open until late in the day, but I peeked to see a horse being groomed."

OMG with all these gardens, I could spend my life mowing lawns - NOT!!!

OMG - with all these books, I could live here.......

Sue, I think I can see dinner sitting on the lawns, YUM!

Not realising why everything seemed so quiet we were in for a rude awaking after leaving Chantilly for Chartres, our next overnight stay. It was the beginning of a long weekend French holiday and as we drew closer to Paris the traffic became stop/start along the Periphique. There were lots of merging traffic and sweaty palms on my side. Strange that I deal with this sort of traffic in Melbourne every day but here in France its unfamiliar with a steering wheel on the opposite side.

We made it to Chartres for our overnight stay but more about that next Wednesday.

A New Year in Ballarat and Clunes.

2012-01-01T22:03:00.002+11:00

"Let's get out of town for New Years" Sue said - I agreed whole heartily. These days, we really don't enjoy NYE parties. Besides, It's so hard to stay up till midnight these days, isn't it?
After a very pleasant drive on the back roads we made it to Ballarat for lunch and a glass of wine at one of the historic hotels.

Ballarat was founded on the Gold Rush of 1851 as was Clunes and many of the surrounding historic gold mining towns in the district. Bendigo was another that we visited and blogged on a few months back is another.
Prior to the gold rush of 1851 Ballarat was a cattle run of 10,000 acres settled by squatters. The Brothers Yuille reached the area in 1837. Their only neighbours were the indiginous population from whom Ballarat gained its name.

Sue I are thinking of selling up in the next few years - this building sparked an interest but we thought we would need to buy some togas to go with it - Sue, peel me another grape please.

Another place for sale was this first floor 3 bedroom apartment which comes with this huge balcony - can you imagine dining alfresco under a big shady umbrella and watching the world go by. It overlooks the main street of Ballarat.
Price: AUS$420,000

The area of Ballarat seems to suffer from the extremes of heat and cold. I've been here to race on the bike in mid-winter and suffered badly and on this weekend trip we are experiencing mid 30s heat. Thank God for air conditioning.
It was our aim to just get out of Melbourne for New Year's Eve and enjoy each other's company and explore some of our historic gold mining areas of Victoria.

Lake Wendouree is one of the many features of Ballarat.
Only recently the rains have filled the lake once again.

Back in 56' Lake Wendouree was the venue for the Olympic Kayak events.

On our arrival we went looking for the Tourism Office, isn't that what you do as a tourist? Across the road was the Ballarat Art Gallery - they have some amazing pieces including some fine examples of Australian Impressionist - Streeton, McCubbin amongst the list. John Brack, another favourite of mine that I have posted on before is also on the walls.

My photo is a little fuzzy but a flash was not allowed - this is the original Eureka Rebellion flag.
More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Flag

To the right - A John Brack painting - to the left in the background a Hemp man.

And a close up of the Hemp Man, but don't get too close - he smells.

Norman Lindsay was an exponent of erotica and I believe he lived around the district at one time - Creswick I believe which we travelled through on the weekend. Many of his paintings were thought to be pornographic at the time.

This photo is for Dianne in South Australia - I know Charles Conder is one of her favorites -
Follow her blog on - http://adelaideaz.blogspot.com/

Unknown to us, some friends were also in Ballarat for a birthday celebration so we caught up with them for drinks prior to popping off to dinner at a local restaurant known as Red Peppa.

Sue can tell you more on that subject;
Dinner was certainly not cheap, but was a well cooked delight of fresh, seasonal and simply prepared food.
Leon and I started with a shared tapas plate that had grilled saganaki cheese with a rhubarb (I think) preserve of some kind, mini duck pancakes, tomato bruscetta and tempura prawns. All light and perfect for a hot night.
Leon had squid ink fettucini with seafood and I had rack of lamb. He enjoyed his pasta. I really enjoyed my lamb. Four small chops cooked softly pink with a heavily reduced jus, served with yummy crisp veges and a twice cooked cheese and green bean souffle. Very, very good. All locally sourced produce cooked with care. We shared a local Ballarat red to go with it.
We weren't thinking of dessert until Leon saw a big cloud of soft meringue drift by on its way to someone else. It came with balsamic poached strawberries and he loved it. I had a piece of lemon tart which was just OK, but the lamb made up for it.

Definitely worth a visit if in Ballarat.

Breakfast in Ballarat was full of surprises - on walking into the cafe, I discovered that it was full of a huge selection of non-top 40 CDs. Initially we sat near the espresso machine which was really noisy so we moved and started chatting with a couple on the next table who were locals. That is until Sue and the lady on the next table went to the same primary school - Small world, hey!

Anyway it made for a most pleasant moment. You can meet some really interesting people with just a simple hello.

We decided on the spur of the moment to take a trip out to another gold mining town from the past - Clunes is 36 kms to the north west of Ballarat and a town I became fascinated with when I first discovered it in the early 70s. It was listed in a book by the title of Ghost Towns of Australia from memory.

I can't believe its hardly changed in those 40 plus years. It has a population of 1000 these days but during those halcyon days of the gold rush, it had 6000 by the 1880s.

Due to its authenticity, it has been used in a few movies including the Heath Ledger version of Ned Kelly and also scenes from Mad Max.

I could have taken a heap more photos of Clunes - well, I did really, so I apologise for posting this many.

We hope and wish you a very wonderful 2012 with great memories and more importantly good health.

OOOOPS, don't forget to log in to 365 pics of France or is it 366 (is it a leap year????)

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A Night on the Tiles.....

2011-12-30T12:37:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post to say that I've been doing some tiling. Been meaning to tile the small hallway between the two back bedrooms and the bathroom. Its one of those holiday jobs which takes a few days to do.
The sub straight was laid first, then I had to cut the tiles to shape. Yesterday the tiles were glued down and after New Years we will finish with grouting - I can return to work knowing one more house job is finished.

No small feat to do this tiling.

New Year is a time when we like to spend alone together and if we don't feel like staying up to midnight - we don't have to.
So!!!! We are leaving for Ballarat for the weekend (leaving our son in charge of the house and the cats).
Booked in to a hotel and a restaurant for dinner and take in the history of one of Victoria's larger regional history. Ballarat is home of the Eureka Stockade - read more on this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Rebellion

A painting depicting the pledging of the oath and the raising of the Eureka flag.

I guess the Eureka Rebellion could be likened a little to the Boston Tea Party or the French Revolution although Australia is fortunate to not have had many conflicts on home soil.

It should be a good trip to Ballarat, a city built on the riches of the gold rush as was Bendigo. We'll post on it for next Monday.

Sunday will be the second photo in the series of 365 daily photos for "TRAVELLING THROUGH FRANCE - a daily photographic memoir".

http://frenchtravelswithmywife.blogspot.com/

Riding with my Dad, the Legend

2011-12-29T20:11:00.000+11:00

Jack - The Legend

He's 90 - he's got no right to ride a bike five days a week.

His passion started at a young age, much like myself. It was in our teenage years we both became enthralled by the sport albeit him many years earlier than me obviously. He was 29 when I was born. He bought me a bike when I was two and I would ride it in a circle down the hallway into the dining room and lounge room, then back into the hallway. It was my private velodrome. Its weird but our current house has the same plan but Sue won't allow me to ride my bike in the house.

Jack - that's his name started the sport maybe at 17, he doesn't talk much about the past - says it too far back to remember but I suspect its modesty. He's a humble man.

He did tell me he once rode to Sydney from Melbourne to race in an event - performed dismally and then road back home to Melbourne - a distance of 2400 kms return. That feat on it's own makes him a Legend.
When I started racing, He supported me by helping me with my equipment, taking me to the races - he was my first coach and sponsor.

To see him still riding at the age of 90 and clocking up 100 kms per week amazes me - he is my Hero and a Legend.

Our 3rd Trip to France begins - 2009

2011-12-27T20:30:00.000+11:00

Sitting in a little cafe in North Melbourne enjoying a caffe latte and reading the Melbourne broadsheet, the Age newspaper, I saw cheap air fares to Europe. We'd not long returned from France with no thought that we would return for many years to come.

I rang Sue and told her of the cheap air fares - she said, "How can we afford to to this?" - Me being the eternal optimist said, "How can we afford not to?"

With a big fat tax return on the horizon, 12 months to save and with a little bit of luck and some hard work resulting in a few commissions, I thought we could do it. After all I did have my long service leave owing after 10 years with the same company.

"Where should we go?" I said to Sue - "Why not back to France!", "Oh yes please", she said.
Once she has a "bee in her bonnet" beware. Researching began with the force of Niagara Falls.
North of Paris - return to the Loire - drive over Burgundy to Dijon, Lyon and then drop off the car and TGV it back to Paris for a week. "Lovely", I said. "Lets do it".
She said, "But how" - I said, "We'll find a way - we're dead toooo long".

Before we knew it, we were in the queue at the airport to book in with our luggage. Sue had pre-booked our seats and to her dismay, Emirates had changed our allocated seats. Dismay and disappointment - that is until they told her that we had been upgraded to business class for the first leg of our journey.
A glass of Moet Mrs Sims and Happy Birthday, hope you have a nice flight. She did enjoy the lobster tails.

She was in heaven literally, that is until Dubai by which time we were back to cattle class. By the time we arrived at CDG Paris we were ready for bed. We'd booked a room at the airport for the first night because the leased Citroen office was located there and we felt a good night's sleep was conducive to safe driving after 26 hours in the air.

We'd just come from the airport hotel after picking up our leased Citroen and then drove to Senlis which is in the region of Oise only 40 kms from Paris.

Our first real night in France was Senlis, 40 kms north of Paris. Senlis came to my attention in a cycling novel I'd read a few years back and its history intrigued me. In the Roman Imperial times it was known as Augustomagus and there are still remains of the amphitheatre not far outside the ancient city walls.

The very first King of the Franks, Hugh Capet, eldest son of Hugh the Great was elected there in 987 AD before being crowned. Senlis was the home of subsequent French Monarchs due to its closeness to the Chantilly forests where the hunting was the main sport of the day. Chantilly would be the next stop for us on the following day.

With a population of around 17,000 Senlis wasn't going to be too difficult for me to navigate on our first day of driving on the right hand side. I always get a little nervous on the first few days.
Senlis is worth a visit for its Cathedral which was constructed between 1153 to 1191. The old city is well preserved and walking along the curved narrow cobbled streets on a spring morning was delightful.

Sue reads the maps and absorbs herself in the history of Senlis.

Senlis' Cathedral Notre Dame

We entered those huge wooden doors and as we walked down the central part of the cathedral, we turned to see the light shining through the Rose window above and the many stained glass leadlight windows.

She's every where in the north of France - Jeanne D'Arc. From Chinon to Senlis.

I could be wrong and most probably am when I guess that this may be Saint Denis who walked from Paris to Montmartre holding his head in his hands after being decapitated.

The craftsmanship of the ceilings within Senlis Cathedral are certainly worth taking time to appreciate.

Unbeknown to Sue I took her on a short drive that eventually led me to a velodrome that was described in the cycling novel I mentioned earlier - surprise, surprise. This chance appearance of velodrome sightings, strangely reoccurred many times during our time in France. And why not??? Cycling is very much of French history. As a young cyclist, I couldn't wait to hear news of Anquetil, Poulidour and later, Fignon and Hinault in the magazines that took months to arrive - today is the internet within moments of a race finish.

Yes, I know that this is a boring photo but its what brought us to Senlis. The description in the most appalling cycling novel I've read....of a team vying for an entry to the Tour de France. It was a mixture of a Sam Spade and a Hercule Poirot detective story. Yet, if I had not read this drivel, we may never had paid Senlis a visit.

Starting on January 1, we will be posting a daily picture series of French scenes for the following 365 days from our collection of the four trips to France and possibly from the impending May 2012 trip.
Log in as a follower and join us on a pictorial tour.

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It's Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T22:14:00.000+11:00

Yes, that's right, Christmas Eve and the visitors have left. The rellies have been and drank all the champagne.
It's really nice to sit on the deck on a balmy Christmas Eve night with good company, exchanging good wishes and gifts.
I'll leave you with two Festive Season songs from Aussie artists before I go to bed.
Sue and I wish you a wonderful Christmas and look forward to the New Year with some great blog reading to come from our favorite Bloggers around the world.
Hope Santa is kind to you all.

Birthday Boys as Christmas draws closer

2011-12-23T22:42:00.000+11:00

Al and KT celebrate their birthday.

Can you imagine having your birthday so close to Christmas? Two of my bike buddies celebrated anther year of life at the Sandringham Yacht Club, just a few kms down the road from home. It always reminds me of the time back in 2006 when we spent an over night stay in Menton on the border of France and Italy.

We sat on the balcony of our hotel room overlooking the Mediterranean ocean. The scenes from the Sandy Yacht Club are very much the same.


No white Christmas for us in Melbourne - Blue skies, and 26 degrees predicted for Christmas Day. As I call it a day it's still 27C now with a low of 17C in the morning.

Monaco - no, just the Sandy Yacht Club.

How come this place is not crowded on such a lovely day - maybe they are doing the last of their Christmas shopping?

Two more sleeps before Santa arrives and people enjoy the beack with their children and dogs on the beach beside the Sandringham Yacht Club.

As Christmas draws closer (two more sleeps) we think of our son Andrew who is currently in Morocco. I know that many of you out there are also a long way from family at this time. A time for phone calls and emails and maybe a call on Skype.

ONE LAST GALLERY in PARIS

2011-12-20T23:39:00.000+11:00

Yes, one last gallery before leaving Paris that I almost forgot to mention.

No antique artifacts, no memorable paintings from the Impressionists or Great Masters.

Galeries Lafayette has been on our list of return visits on each occasion that we have had the good fortune to be in Paris. I'm not big on shopping but Galeries Lafayette has one big attraction for me that brings back memories of my past.

My first full time job was with Melbourne's iconic department store, the Myer Emporium. It had a feeling, an atmosphere about it that I occasionally feel on the odd time that I might return to the Melbourne CBD and Myer. It had three cafeterias, the general public one and the Mural Hall for those special occasions. Naturally as lowly paid staff member, I would occasionally grab a pie and chips with gravy, my very favorite at the general public cafeteria - there was also a staff cafeteria.

I also have a very favorite at Galeries Lafayette - its the Atlantic Salmon with a glass of white wine. When I said that this "Gallery" doesn't have any exhibits, I wasn't quite right. It's so interesting watching the people flow in and out of the cafeteria - so many different nationalities, cultures and classes. People watching is fascinating, isn't it.

Galeries Lafayette actually was named after the street where the store was initially established - on the corner of Rue la Fayette in 1893. The 10 story building of today on Boulevard Haussmann was opened 1905 with the steel and glass dome and staircases added in 1912 if I'm to believe Wikipedia.

And after the Salmon and white wine at the cafeteria, its a trip up to the roof to look at Paris one last time before returning home to Melbourne until the next trip.

Wednesday's in France so far has covered our first 2006 trip and this 2008 trip - Although we felt that we may not return, we did in 2009 as I found a special price on flights and I had eight weeks long service leave due.
2009 took us from CDG airport to Senlis, Chantilly and then down to the Loire for a week in Thenay, near Pontlevoy and Montrichard. Leaving the Loire we ventured off to Dijon for another one week stay and a couple of days in Lyon and back to Paris for another whole week. It was a most exciting trip and the longest we had spent in France. 2010 took us back for a shorter stay but more about that sometime later.

A few Paris scenes to say goodbye. That is until the next Wednesday's in France.

MGs and Misguided Passions

2011-12-18T12:26:00.001+11:00

Sometimes we have a passion for something and we let our heart rule our head. I guess that two particular passions in my life have been cars and bikes (bicycles that is!). I should say that obviously Sue is my first passion (she's looking over my shoulder as I write).

On occasions these passions let you down and in the case of cars, this happens often. Our cars over the years have included MGs, Triumphs, Citroens, Alfa Romeos, and Peugeots, oh yes and a Mini.

Sue calls these collector's cars because when they break down, you have to go out have them collected. In the case of my MGZT190, this has happened on more than one occasion and it's really not old enough to be a Collector's car yet being born in 2005. Being a member of the MG Car Club since 1982, I thought it would be nice to continue with the Marque as my work car. Well it did a water pump last week and when one thing goes, other things need replacement - it went to an MG specialist called MG Workshop. One thing led to another and before we knew it, timing belts were replaced and then some of those computer thingies that modern cars have these days. I remember on weekends I would have my head under the bonnet, changing thermostats, spark plugs, points and sometimes even changing a gearbox. Not today!!!

We took our MGB to MG Workshop many years ago and it was always fascinating to wander around the premises. Although MG Workshop has moved it still invites you to wander around the cars and say hello.

These days I find the bike more reliable than the MG.
Having said that, I'm discovering that the motor that drives the bike is getting slower.

The owner of MG Workshop, Andrew has a liking for BIG motors. Note the white Mustang. The Damask MGBGT is actually a V8 from the Rover of the same era. My MGZT190 is from the Rover family as well.

Why is it that most MGBs are RED?

Although some are white! Looking down the line is the MGF, and a boy racer TC.

Although the first MGB will be 50 years old in 2012, you can still get all the parts to keep your passion on the road.
Strangely its probably easier to get replacements (and cheaper) for an MGB than my six year old MGZT.

Old and not so old side by side. MGTC boy racer and an MGBGTV8.

To wander around MG Workshop is a delight in itself for an MG enthusiast.

MG Workshop - a passion for MGs since the 70s.

Speaking with Tow Truck drivers and people in the automotive trade, I've been advised that the most reliable car on the road these days is the Toyota Camry - BUT where is the Passion in that?

2011-12-13T20:40:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure if I was overly enthusiastic about visiting the Louvre - it's toooo mind boggling. So much to see and how do you fit it all in on a day visit - quite simply, you don't.
It was Sue's idea or was it her desire to see the Egyptian Antiquities exhibition. 50,000 pieces covering the Nile civilization from 4000bc to the 4th century. Yes, a morning visit should cover that!!!
It was after all only 20 rooms of displays.

Most people I'm told enter the Louvre from this level.
BUT they miss the most exciting part, well to me!

Down below you get to see the original foundations of a fortress built during the time of Phillip II in the 12 century.

A model of what was - before what is!

This is what excites me - the base of the 12 Century Fortress. WOW!

OK, we're inside now - this what you wanted to see isn't it Sue?

You guessed it - Sue is a cat lover.

What I did notice with Egyptian Antiquities was that all the statues were seated!!

I rest my case - another seated sculpture.
And more to follow.

I'd like to know what any of you out there have experienced on visits to the Louvre. We will be back next May and Sue and I would like your advise.

"Meet Me Under the Clocks"

2011-12-11T16:38:00.001+11:00

I've posted on Flinders Street Station before but I found some more history which I found fascinating on one of our cultural websites about Melbourne. We learn alot from blogging don't we?

A favorite meeting spot was under the clocks at Flinders Street Station over the years to this day.

Before the grand plan, Flinders Street Station was no more than a few timber and corrugated iron buildings. This cyclist is riding towards the first station.

But it did have a clock tower, even before 1900. The first station was called the Melbourne Terminus in the mid 1800s.

The Grand Plan and the winning entry.

A scene not long after the station was officially opened in 1910.

In 1899 it was announced by the Government that there would be a competition to design a new station for Melbourne. The above design submitted by Fawcett and Ashworth rewarded them with the 500 pound prize. Designed in the French Renaissance style the building spans two city blocks. Work began in 1900 and wasn't completed until 1909 and the official opening was the following year. Fawcett and Ashworth's original design was altered over the decade of building due to financial constraints. Today the station moves 110.000 commuters with 1500 trains passing by daily.

A Postcard of Flinders St Station,
the Yarra River and Princes Bridge heading towards St Kilda.
To the opposite side of Flinders Street Station is the Princes Bridge Station servicing the north and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

This postcard shows the great dome and the smaller ones with the tall clock tower at the end of the station building spanning the two city blocks.

Peak hour commuters in the 50s.

Very quiet here, must be Sunday in the 50/60s when Melbourne would be closed

Behind locked gates - The train strike.
Check out the art nouveau leadlight.

Flinders Street Station today at dusk.

None of the photographs for this post were taken by me - I am not that old or talented. Images come from Google.

The next "Wednesday's in France" will be most probably the last post on our 2008 trip to France. Our last museum visit was the Louvre where we focused on the Egyptian exhibits.

If you enjoy the posts of France , don't despair as we still have the 2009 and 2010 trips to go.

Musee Nationale du Moyen Age - Paris

2011-12-06T22:48:00.000+11:00

In an earlier post we mentioned that our apartment was just around the corner from the St Michel fountain so it was just a short walk along Boulevard St Michel to Boulevard St Germaine and you come across the Gallo Roman baths in full view behind the iron bar fence. At night flood lights bring the ruins to life. Along the walk you will find some great book and CD shops to browse through or maybe stop at a cafe and enjoy a coffee or wine while watching the passing crowd. The collection of Moyen or middle ages art is housed in the Musee de Cluny, a 15th Century building that incorporates the ruins of the Gallo-Roman baths.

The Gallo-Roman baths or Thermes de Cluny - from the 3rd Century.

The museum is entered by a small street behind the intersection of the two Boulevards. Entering through an arched doorway you see a serene courtyard garden and you forget that you are in the hub of the Latin Quarter.

The Building

Entering the doorways into the courtyard, you can turn your back on Paris and drift into the middle ages.

The Stained Glass

The Statues

And Wood Sculptured Scenes

The main attraction of the museum are the tapestries depicting the Lady and the Unicorn from the 15th Century - for some reason Sue decided to sit this one out, but I have to say I was taken back by the artistry and craftsmanship of these tapestries. The photos you see here were stolen from Google images as photos were not allowed and you can understand why when looking tapestries of over 500 years old. How fragile they must be and susceptible to light.

Definitely a museum worth a second visit.

Take a visit yourself at their website.

http://www.musee-moyenage.fr/ang/index.html

Did you know that Mary Tudor once lived at Cluny - here's a film clip and some music to go with your morning tea or evening port - enjoy.

Another SUNNY MELBOURNE WEEKEND

2011-12-04T21:12:00.002+11:00

Love those old time westerns, don't you?

Friday night started out with a "FILUM"night with friends - The film was the Alan Ladd western, "Shane". These friends of mine run a regular nostalgic film night maybe six times a year. It was a good start to the weekend. The same friends, well maybe 30 of us still taking in the nostalgic theme on Saturday morning had a bike ride using bikes from a past era. That was all a bit of fun.

The big event this weekend though was our son Andrew leaving for Paris and then London. He flew out Saturday night for Paris to a convention at the University of Paris where he will present a discussion paper. After five days in Paris he goes to London to meet his Tutor for the next two years. He's transferred his scholarship so England so he can study and be closer to his girlfriend who lives in Leeds studying medicine.
Maybe we will eventually visit England after this next trip to France - we'll see what the future holds.

Andrew, our travelling man about to board for his 26 hour trip to Paris
How exciting for him.

Back to Melbourne and it was time to start some back and front yard clean-up. We seem to hibernate a little in winter and the gardening does get away from us in the colder months. With the rain and the sun of spring, the garden has all this new growth with the colours of summer giving life back to the property.
Purple, crimson, red and white mix with the lush greens. So this weekend was one of weed-pulling, mowing and generally cleaning up. It's looking good....

There's not a great deal of planning that has gone into our garden over the years - It sort of evolved around us. It has a bit of a cottage feel about it. Neither of us are much of gardeners but we do like to enjoy sipping a glass of wine on a good day while "looking" at the garden.

Now that we have the outside starting to look reasonable, I think there's a list of inside jobs lurking somewhere in Sue's handbag. We've now lived in this house thirty years next year and even the renovations are needing renovating now. After raising two boys, now 26 and 23, 3 dogs and several cats, there's a few blemishes here and there that need some attention. Maybe there will be some subjects for future posts - but not too soon I'd say as the good weather is here with us now.

All in good time - life's for living - we'll get there eventually.

Musee CARNAVALET

2011-11-29T22:15:00.000+11:00

We're not quite sure why we didn't discover Musee Carnavalet on our 2006 trip - maybe we didn't know it existed or maybe it was just a time thing. This time with one whole week in a Paris apartment, we had more time to indulge ourselves with the museums of Paris.
Musee Carnavalet is located in two mansions on Rue de Sevigne in the Marais and is devoted to the history of Paris from prehistoric times. The Hotel Carnavalet was built in 1548 and the Hotel Peletier during the 17th century.
Some of the exhibits came from an archaeological dig in the Parc de Bercy in 1992 when a neolithic village was unearthed. I have to admit that my memory becomes a little hazy when looking back on the photos of Carnavalet and my other favorite museum on the Left Bank - the Musee National du Moyen Age, but that comes next week.

Statue of Louis XIV in the courtyard of Carnavalet.

The painted wall room of two centuries ago.

We've mentioned before of our passion for the Art Nouveau period of furniture, architecture and sculpture. Australia does have some fine examples but Paris, New York and Glasgow, Scotland I believe sprouted the origins. We loved the exhibits at the Musee d'Orsay but relocated the showroom of the Jeweller, Georges Fouquet absolutely enthralled us. One could imagine the wealthy wanting the beautiful pieces made by this craftsman.

The entrance to Fouquet's shop front.

His whole interior design was the work of Alphonse Mucha - I didn't realise this at the time of the visit and its only when researching for this post, I became aware of this fact. I'm a big fan of Mucha since my early art student days.
Many of Fouquet's pieces were designed by Mucha. I found some examples posted below.

What an inviting entrance to do business with Monsieur Fouquet.

Looking out from the reception area.

The crab necklace.

Two pieces designed by Alphonse Mucha and produced by Georges Fouquet.

Paintings hanging on the walls follow the history of Paris over the centuries.

Models of Medieval Paris are recreated in glassed boxes hence the reflections.

I probably could have stood for hours looking at Paris once was!

In the forecourt of Notre Dame you can discover the Gallo Roman foundations of the Parisi tribes ancient city. We saw it on our first trip. The buildings you see in this recreation no longer exist.

Well worth a visit - don't you think?

Fairfield in the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne - 100 Metre Walk

2011-11-26T18:08:00.001+11:00

Late last week I took my little point and shoot pocket Canon to Station Street, Fairfield. Its what we call a strip shopping centre. Since the advent of big shopping malls, strip shopping went on the decline.
The small traders of haberdashery, hardware and electrical stores couldn't compete any longer so these commercial precinct streets started reinventing themselves. Most now service the locals with specialty shops and restaurants servicing the many cuisines from around the world.

I won't be long, promise and I'll bring you back a treat.

On this occasion I felt the need for coffee and a light snack and so I headed for Station st. No shortage of Cafes here but there is a favorite of mine where a few years ago we would have a morning coffee before training at the indoor velodrome nearby. Degani cafe/bakery is a place to relax, read the paper and enjoy that kick start to the day.

Many of the old types of business have made way for the many restaurants and cafes offering a diversity of cuisines. There seems to be a mainly Italian influence mixed with Tibetan, Indian and Greek.

Care for a Gelato as you stroll down Station Street on a warm afternoon?

Or possibly a light lunch while looking at the world go by.

Although many a business has disappeared over the years, those offering something special have thrived. This small supermarket has served the local trade for 50 years through diversity.

I grew up in the district during the 60s when it was a working class district but today its become quite trendy with real estate prices matching the bayside area where we live today. With a population of over 5000, this small northern suburb is only 6 kms from CBD of Melbourne.

What do you suppose this building could have been in the past glory days of the early 1900s. Maybe a film house or reception rooms?

Every suburb has its churches and this on sits smack dab in the middle of the shopping strip on my 100 metre walk.

Many of the homes date from the very late 1800s or early 1900s to post WWII. There are many very modern homes being build on the small blocks as the yuppies move into Fairfield.

Local cafes and bars promote the local entertainment.

Fairfield is not without its graffiti but somehow you need to go looking for it and you find little surprises like this young girl playing cards and when you look closely you see real cards as part of this street art hidden in the laneway.

And this tree that must have some symbolic value that is way beyond my comprehension - however it does look very nice!!

Did I say that Fairfield graffiti was subtle?

As I left my Station Street walk, the little black dog was still waiting patiently for his owner to come back from shopping.

For a further view of Station Street, I found this interesting website offering views of various Melbourne streets.

http://www.stationstreet.com.au/

As you know - I like to add a little music to my 100 metre walks. Do you know how difficult it is to find a musical link to "Station Street" or "Fairfield"?

I did however find a you-tube clip of a group called the "Fairfield Four" with the most beautiful gospel voices.

ENJOY

Riding on the Freeway

2011-11-25T00:18:00.002+11:00

Just a quick hint before you start reading - click on the you-tube clip at the bottm of the post first and then start reading - I did!
Thursday morning I had to call on a client in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell. Further down the road is the Monash Freeway that runs almost to my office in Tullamarine, not far from Melbourne Airport. In fact my office, I'm sure is right under the landing and take off path. It's a little unnerving to here some international airliner thundering over your office sometimes to the point that I feel I need to hide under my desk. I digress!!

So back to the Freeway - I thought this would be the quickest path back to the office - WRONG!!!
With my little pocket Canon camera sitting in one hand resting on the steering wheel, I took these shots travelling from one side of Melbourne to the other.

The on-ramp at Toorak Road is where I hit the freeway - they have these lights flashing from red to green so that only two cars at a time can gain access to the freeway in peak times. It's a good time to read "War & Peace".

Along the way there are some nice bridges with a bit of history to them.
This is not one of them.

But this one is. It joins the north of Melbourne to the south - residents of the south claim it should be pulled down so northerners can't gain access.
It's a snob thing.

The old silos had these neon signs exposing the products of Nylex Plastic Products. Nylex the company is a mere shadow of its former self but the historic boffins claim that the sign is a Melbourne icon. And so it stays!!!
I wonder what would happen if the silos needed to come down, hmmmm!!

Now this building was going up over a period of time as I used the freeway.
Would you believe that its a soccer stadium??

Just after the soccer stadium you come to the Domain Tunnel. I remember when it was initially being built. It actually runs under Melbourne's Yarra River. Sorry about the fuzziness of the photo but I didn't want to use the flash in the tunnel and besides it shows how I was feeling at this stage of driving on one of Melbourne's most boring roads.

Now this is the Bolte Bridge tha spans Melbourne Harbour. It's named after one of Melbourne's most pugnasious and bombastic Premiers. Well that's not entirely true, Bolte was in good company before and after, but that's just a personal opinion of mine about polititians.

Melbourne's great ferris wheel is now being built, no, lets say "being rebuilt" as it started sagging and bending a little after being erected and was deemed unsafe. OOOOPS!!

I'm just a little confused with this canopy over the freeway as it changes its name to the Tullamarine Freeway. To the left is a 1960 high rise development that was built by the state housing commission. Its like a filing cabinet for humans.
Not sure if the canopy over the freeway is so the residents of the filing cabinet can't see the traffic passing by or maybe its so we can't see the human filing cabinet.

Melbourne's cheese sticks - yes, that's what we call these strange yellow things sprouting from the side of the freeway as we enter the Tullamarine Freeway to Melbourne Airport.

My apolgies if I sound a little morose on this post but freeways and traffic make me feel this way - I promise to be more jovial over the weekend - Oh, the weekend. Hope yours is full of good things.

Aretha Franklin has always lifted my spirits - hope this little you-tube clip lifts yours too.

Thanks Aretha - I feel so much better now.

An afternoon @ Musee d'Orsay

2011-11-22T22:19:00.000+11:00

Musee d'Orsay sits on the banks of the Seine. From the rooftop you can see as far as Sacre Coeur.

It wasn't our first visit - the Musee d'Orsay is in a way like the Louvre. You always need a revisit because there's always something you've missed. Its just a personal opinion but I feel that d'Orsay has a living, breathing quality about it that draws me back to visit Matisse, Monet, Manet, Gauguin, Renoir, Degas, Lautrec and Cezanne. I'm certain their souls "live" there.
I'm an devotee of Impressionism and the Art Nouveau periods - always have been from art school days. The Louvre didn't give me that feeling because of it hugeness. In comparison d'Orsay is more intimate.
To me, you return to the Louvre because you need to. With d'Orsay, its because I want to!

This time we decided we would make our visit more leisurely. The d'Orsay cafe sits behind the old railway station clock. We were the first patrons who were looking forward to a mid-morning coffee.

The station clock is a feature of the old Gare d'Orsay. Imagine pulling up at the station at the turn of the century in 1900 when it was opened. The station served the South West of France until 1939 when the trains became longer and faster.
The station couldn't cope with progress and served more local traffic thereafter.

Then

And Now

A sketch of Rodin - we also enjoyed Rodin's Museum in an earlier post.

Rodin's "Gates of Hell" inspired by Dante's Inferno - Try sitting here for more than 10 minutes and you will walk away with a lifetime of images. 186 figures twisted with torment with "the Thinker" at its central theme deserve more than a passing glance.

As I look at the figures moving through the material sculptured by Rodin it makes me want to revisit Musee d'Orsay for another look when we return to Paris next year.

Sorry but my little pocket camera just does not do justice to Rodin's "Gates of Hell". Give yourself a treat and go there.

Being a big Joan of Arc fan, I had to take this photo however this sculpture as majestic as it is, can not compare with the emotion with the statue of her in full gallop on horseback at Chinon.

Many of my favorite impressionists works that I remember seeing only in my student day books, sit on the walls of Musee d'Orsay. Gauguin, Cezanne, Degas, Monet to name a few.

Art Nouveau is possibly my favorite period of furniture and architecture and to view it at Musee d'Orsay was a treat. I could imagine myself having a glass of port, smoking a cigar (I don't even smoke) and reading a good book amongst this furniture.

It's not possible to pass on the enthusiasm and delight we experienced on the two visits to Musee d'Orsay - you have to go yourself. If you can't, then pop into their website.
http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/home.html

See you next Wednesday for "Wednesday's in France"

RESTORING a LITTLE of CYCLING HISTORY

2011-11-20T15:49:00.000+11:00

As most of the readers out there, you would be aware my passion is the two wheeled man powered beast, the bicycle. Sometimes its a beast (on the good days) and at other times a lamb. It takes you places with the wind in your hair (if you have any) down hill - up hill and along the flat with friends that you enjoy a coffee or cold drink afterwards.
The bicycle has rewarded me with many wonderful experiences and gained me many friends, both locally and overseas. It's a bit like being in the Freemasons or Rotary in a way.

As I grow older, I tend to appreciate what is old rather than new. The new technology leaves me a little cold when compared to the bicycles of the past. The photograph below is a frame I've rediscovered after it went missing 40 years ago. A friend returned it to me after remembering it belonged to me only this year.

The basis of a restoration of cycle racing history.
Researching this frame's origin is all part of joy. To date I know it is an Australian built frame and did compete at the famous saucer Melbourne Motordrome track.
Most probably built by Paddy Hehir of Ixion Cycleworks, a Melbourne frame builder with an illustrious racing history in his own right, but more on that in another post.
The Motordrome was bulldozed to make way for more modern facilities for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

The bike was one that was used to pace behind the big motorbikes on the huge banked velodromes between the two world wars. This discipline of the sport was very popular all over Europe, the USA and Australia as was 6 Day bike racing.

Cyclists would reach 60 MPH tucked in behind the motor bike with the smaller diameter front wheel glued against the spinning roller at the back of the Pacer Bike.

The frame is actually in rather good condition and is currently with the enameller for a new paint job - most of the components are sitting in boxes in my garage awaiting refurbishment. The bike will be rebuild with wooden rims as they were of the era.

This is what I expect my finished bike will look like complete with wooden rims.

Looking down on the Melbourne Motordrome which was about 1/4 mile in distance.

This photo shows how steep the huge track was - the Pacer would scream around the banking with the cyclist tucked in its slipstream at speeds up to 60 mph.

I found some posters and photographs from the era - These riders were Gladiators on wheels, and so fearless.

A French postcard - note no helmets.

Our very own Hubert Opperman was a popular rider of the Melbourne Motordrome during the 1930s. He later rode the Tour de France among many other prestigious events in France.

Take a little walk with me........

2011-11-18T17:57:00.000+11:00

A short walk and a song to start the weekend.

Do you remember last week I did this short walk in Westgarth - no more than 100 metres with my little Canon pocket camera? It was titled, "Do you see what I see" and followed with a clip of that song by Melbourne group, Hunters and Collectors.
This week I stopped in Albert Park on Beaconsfield Parade and did the same thing.
It tests you to look for something to photograph in a small distance, but this area on a sunny arvo just begs to be photographed. This time our title song is actually an old blues song, "Who do you love." I always remember the line as, "Take a little walk with me Arlene" somewhere in the lyrics. That's our post title.

Strangely this arrow points to where I parked my car for my 100 metre walk for this post. The streets of Albert Park hide some fascinating architecture from Melbourne's early heritage. It deserves more time than just a short walk.

All along Beaconsfield Parade there is a continuous bike and walking path. At the time I stopped the car, it was about midday and there were very few people enjoying a top day. What a shame!

The Victoria Hotel in Albert Park was built in 1888 - there are so many lovely old and prestigious examples of historic architecture however many have also fallen under the wrecker's ball. In a 100 metre walk, I can only show you very few. Maybe another time.

The same hotel from a 1950s postcard.

Shelter from the sun

This early photo shows the hotel in the background. Although this shelter no longer exists you can see from the previous photo how the new shelter echos what existed earlier. I imagine this photo is from the late 1800s or early 1900s. Certainly Edwardian - what do you think. The terrace homes before the hotel still survive.
The large double story building across from the hotel is also long gone but its in the area where I took my photos.

The sign says it all

Barrels on the deck - fisherman and yachties enjoy the occasional beer.

Albert Park Pier

I have no idea what this is all about but its interesting. I wonder if this old pier was part of the two storey building in the earlier black and white photo.

Weathered wooden Pier

Shadows on the bike path

I remember many years ago that I discovered Tom Rush on some compilation album that I bought in some Melbourne back lane obscure record shop - he wrote some great original stuff that others recorded. This track although is an old blues cover yet it describes my walk today. Check out some other Tom Rush stuff.
Do you remember the lovely song "No Regrets" - yes, that's Tom's.

AVAAGOODWEEKEND

A BALMY NIGHT'S WALK IN PARIS

2011-11-15T22:05:00.000+11:00

We were still very excited being back in Paris for the week. As I said earlier, we were in the hub of the Left Bank and if our window was open, the sound of the street found its way to our ears. It was getting dark, we'd finished dinner and the weather was balmy. What better time to walk the streets.

Walking down our small narrow street, we came to the Saint Germaine fountain and lingered for a short time to take in the ambience. People were happy, friendly and enjoing the night air.

Terrible photo but it was a little pocket Canon - still it was nice on the night.

The Seine just seems to be the place for lovers (old or young) to walk hand in hand.
We did!!!

We never get bored with a visit to Notre Dame and at night - WOW!

We were in the company of others enjoying Paris and Notre Dame on a perfect night.

How lovely Notre Dame looks at night.

And then we walked the Latin Quarter for some true entertainment - what a perfect first night back in Paris.

Some Daggy Dancing

We planned to explore Paris with more vigor this time. Previously in 2006, we only touched on Paris with a few days either side of our rural France meandering. This time we had a whole week. I had a chance to catch up with a cycling friend, we had an opportunity to explore the museums, the cafes, the markets and just suck in the Parisian ambience. Little did we know that we were to return (at the time of writing) for several more visits.

Over the next week - we visit three of the major Paris Museums before returning to Melbourne - Our Home by the Bay

A Melbourne Weekend - just a casual kick back.

2011-11-13T21:09:00.000+11:00

A BIT OF A KICKBACK WEEKEND

These days its not often we get together as a family on a Saturday night. It just so happened that Andrew was celebrating his 26th birthday Friday and he decided to stay the weekend. Mitch decided to hang about as well. Andrew takes off to Paris next month and then pops off to Leeds in England to live for the next two years. Mitch is considering a three month stay in Canada sometime next year and of course we will be in France next May. My daughter lives on the Gold Coast so we will be scattered about a bit next year.
Both boys have played together in two bands in recent years and released a CD with some air-play locally. Their travels will put the band in recess I guess but I can see they will have music with them where ever they are.

Saturday night was one of those impromptu barbies that Sue just seems to make happen. I usually cook but the boys seem to enjoy a beer while pushing the meat around on the hotplate so Sue and I sat back to watch our two grown boys chat away and we wondered where the years have gone so quickly.

Roasted tomatoes with sweet chilli sauce coming up.

Sue says, " I just love these baby beets" They went into a salad with rocket, feta cheese and a sherry vinegar dressing.

Fortunately I got out of cleaning these.

The Boys in the Band - but not for long.
Off in different directions around the world and the band lies dormant for the time being. Mitch to the left and Andrew to the right.

Pork spare ribs, satay chicken skewers with asparagus, potato salad, with rocket, baby beet and those yummy tomatoes, all washed down with a lightish red from Chinon.

Had a bottle of this last weekend and enjoyed it so much, so went back for another.

And then there was desert - strawberries, mango, banana and grapes with a touch of mint and ice cream.

SUNDAY BLUES

We had an invitation from one of my cycling buddies who in another life plays bass guitar in a blues band. He's been asking us to come to say hello and enjoy their music for awhile now and we seem to have something else happening. Fortunately he didn't give up on me and so this weekend we had the chance to listen to the band. Junior Wells, Slim Harpo, Muddy Waters influence the band and I'm glad we finally had the opportunity to kick back with a few drinks and tap the foot.

Posters on a Pub Wall.

As a 12 year old I listened to my older brother's Elvis Presley 45s. Heartbreak Hotel, Jailhouse Rock and Hound Dog were among some of the early songs I remember. When I was 17, I heard Hound Dog by a local Blues Band like I'd never heard it before - it was by Big Mama Thornton and recorded much before the Elvis version. The same band was playing a lot of Chicago Electric Blues and that's when my record collection went through a growth spurt.
Anyway, my friend's invitation to come see the band brought back a lot of teenage memories - glad I made the effort to drive to the other side of town to see them.

The boys do their thing - "Messin with the Kid" was their first song.

A couple of Coronas did help to get the foot tapping.

Not great quality but it was 1952 and 4 years before the Elvis version. Big Mama's Hound Dog.

Have to go now - Sue needs my help with dinner - Salmon, yummmmmm!

See you next Wednesday in France.

Do You See What I See?????

2011-11-11T17:24:00.001+11:00

Friday, I'm on my way home from work and I thought, "What can I blog". I was driving from Preston, through Northcote to Westgarth. It occurred to me that when we sit our mobile metal cocoons, we really miss absorbing our surroundings.

As I arrived at Westgarth, I parked the car and decided I was going to walk no more than 100 metres from the car with my pocket camera. These are some of the things that I might not have seen by driving through.
The little shopping strip is a bit left of centre with a great movie house and some good little coffee places.
It's a little Retro, its a little Vegetarian - in short its different and slightly weird but interesting.

Rudely Interrupted - Miserable Bastards - Tuesday's in November at the Toff. All part of the Melbourne entertainment culture. There's always something happening.

Above the verandas always fascinate me - some are left drab but retain their originality while others are decorated like this fruit and health food shop.
Of course there are other aspects of this that intrigue me.

Quite an unusual want ad, don't you think? And he I was with my camera already.

I've featured the Westgarth Theatre before. The run various movie festivals here such as Woody Allen films or The Blues Brothers over whole weekends.

Or maybe you might like a colorful 1940/50s frock for the weekend.

After you've donned your retro frock, you can slip into the Morrie.

Or pop over the road and have a Latte while sitting on cute little metal chairs.

OMG, these humans are so shallow - really!
All I need is a nice little spot to enjoy the sun.
That's the life for a dog.

Amongst the wires and poles, these gossamer wings appeared. Why were they here I wonder.

"Do you see, what I see" is a song written by Aussie Band, Hunters and Collectors. I think it fits the theme of this impromptu photo shoot. Might do this again next Friday.

2011-11-09T22:45:00.000+11:00

It was Wednesday - I'd posted Wednesdays in France when we heard that storms were approaching Melbourne. We followed the course of the storm on the BOM internet chart - it looked like the heavens were about to open. And they did!!!

The sky looked peaceful but it was the calm before the storm.

I'd actually seen a few birds enjoying drifting on the thermals created by the impending storm but this Magpie sat with prepidation on the power wires outside our house.

The the sky darkened with the afternoon spring sun was trying to penetrate the dark clouds.

Those dark clouds are hanging out just over Port Phillip Bay on Mentone Beach.

And closing in - low fluffy clouds moved at a faster rate below those dark angry ones.

Then the rains came - it was estimated that some areas of the state would have up to 100 mm or 4 inches rainfall.

Our cars were dumped upon and then the hail came, fortunately without damage.

So much rainfall makes it difficult for the guttering to cope with such a downfall. Our down pipe started spurting because of blocked drains further down. Another weekend job to put on my never ending list of things to do.

OUR PARIS APARTMENT

2011-11-08T21:44:00.000+11:00

We arrived back in Paris after dropping the car off in Saint Cloud on the Periphery - not an easy task after getting lost several times and passing the drop-off point maybe two or three times. Tommy our GPS was totally useless, he must have been having a bad hair day.
Finally after finding the right location after several frantic phone calls, the depot guided us in like a plane in a fog. After dropping off the car we packed all our gear into a taxi for our trip to our apartment in Saint Andre des Arts which runs off Rue Danton intersecting with Saint Michel Boulevard. On the junction of these two was the Fontaine Saint Michel which we were familiar with. I discovered Gilbert Jeune with its great choice of books, a restaurant in the Place Saint Andre des Arts called Chez Clement. We ate there once or twice during our time - it was OK and close.
The Metro Station was at the end of the street. Everything was within walking distance - Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, St Severin, Musee de Cluny. Although the centre of tourism, we enjoyed the atmosphere at that point in time - with subsequent visits to France, we have found our tastes have changed.

Looking down from our apartment to Rue Saint Andre des Arts. The view actually added to our amusement on many occasions.

We enjoyed the Left Bank on our first trip to Paris in 2006 and decided to return, this time for a whole week. The apartment was small (cosy) on the top floor with the bedroom located on a mezzanine. It had what we imagined as a real bohemian Paris feel about it. Being in the hub of the Left Bank and I guess very touristy, it was noisy with lots happening at night but very exciting. A late night walk put you in company with many other like minded people. You felt entirely safe.

Down the street to Place Saint Andre de Arts.

The view directly across from our window. I wonder who lives there and what their life is like. Are they locals or tourists like us?

Yes, it was at times extremely noisy unless you closed the double glazed windows but somehow we enjoyed the sound of Paris drifting into our apartment. A certain noise would send us to the window to look down into the street to be part of the atmosphere. One night the Irish bar no more than 30 metres down the street was packed the night of the Football Finals.

The Kitchen.

The stairway to our mezzanine bedroom.

Our bedroom and Internet access - very comfy.

Looking down on our living area - just enough space for two.

We unloaded our taxi and transported our bags and my bike to the top floor of our apartment and started unpacking - then horror, the reality that I couldn't find my mobile phone hit me. Where could I have misplaced it and then I realised it could only be in one place, the side pocket of our leased Citroen. A quick phone call confirmed my suspicion. We arranged to pick it up the following day which in itself was a very pleasant adventure. Its amazing how a moment of panic can bring a wonderful experience and memory, but I'll let Sue tell you.

SUE TELLS THE STORY of meeting lady with shopping trolley. (remember - she talks in green)
Not the following day at all, but immediately, while we felt we had some hope of getting it back. Also in the car was the change we had amassed to pay tolls on the way. All our coins were chucked in the centre console compartment. Oh well, easy come, easy go. Leon pay attention! Oh OK, me too.
We were fairly new to Paris, but managed to find our way to the correct train to get to St Cloud and puzzle our way to the place we had left the car and eventually retrieve the phone. It was easier than it had been to find the spot in the car a few hours earlier.
We found a nearby cafe and began to relax over coffee prior to getting back to the 6eme.
I quickly noticed a few older ladies walking past us, all in the same direction with trolleys! As I informed Leon, this could only mean one thing...MARKET! Sorry, but I was very excited. I picked my mark carefully. A lady with a trolley. Lurking quietly until she passed me I stuck out my foot and tripped her up. Nah...I didn't really. I did ask her, in appalling French where the market was. She happily grabbed me by the arm and we began what was to be first of several forced marches in Paris as a consequence of asking directions.
It was a large street market, and while I tried to remain aware that all we bought had to be carried the length of Paris...well you get the drift.
At the fruit market I decided I needed a lettuce, but I couldn't for the life of me think of the word. I tried salad, which I figured had to be close, but the guy serving was playing dumb. Please note the word "playing"
In the end he invited me to play charades and I indicated a nice group of frisee lettuces. At which he said,"frisee" Duh...called the same here. I said as much, and he replied in perfect English that yes, he knew that. I laughed said that I hope he had enjoyed himself, and he said, yes, he had and proceeded to not charge me for the lettuce and threw in some herbs as well. Made me wish we were staying way out there. I was happy to later discover that market stall holders were as friendly and often as funny all over Paris.

Pink bikes - Why I wonder? Can anyone tell me?

Our Metro station took us on our many travels during our week in Paris.

Our stay in Saint Andre des Arts allowed us to see many of the most extraordinary museums on the left bank. OOPS, she's back again - sorry folks.
As well as getting used to being rained on in the kitchen as the upstairs shower leaked into the kitchen. Also was fun climbing on a chair in order to reach the oven which was right under the roof.

In the following weeks we'll take you strolling through the Museums that we visited - hope you can join us.

2011-11-06T19:40:00.001+11:00

What a great weekend in Melbourne - the sun gods were shining on us.

Melbourne gave us 30 degrees this weekend. It went quickly, in a blur really. It seems Friday night to this very moment have been in fast motion and its back to work tomorrow.

It started with a boys/girls night out. The boys decided to watch a promo video of a cycling event in Tuscany called L-Eroica, an event that takes you along the "Bianca Strada" the white gravel roads of Tuscany. It's a 200 km event for classic bikes. Oh yes, and by classic riders. I'm told that riders over 60 and from overseas will be allowed an entry regardless.

Naturally we ate pizza and drank Italian beer and Vino. Two of our members may be doing the event next year and as we are in France, I won't be one of them but maybe 2014. Love to go back to Tuscany.

And the girls - well they had drinks somewhere else.

Saturday morning we were greeted by an almost windless, cloudless sunny morning - having seen the DVD Friday night we were inspired for our usual Saturday morning ride. The bayside views at this time of morning are something we will never tire of.

I found this on the shelf of our local wine merchant and since we are returning to Chinon next year, I thought it might just be a nice drop- it was.

We'd invited friends for a night BBQ in our backyard and conversation came to comparing our travels. Our guests Kim and Michael are seasoned travellers and unknown to us, they had also stayed at Menton on the border of France/Italy. We drank a Rose and that's when I mentioned that we sat on a balcony of a Menton hotel overlooking the Mediterranean. Those views of our Port Phillip Bay always remind me of the same view albeit the colours between the two hemispheres do differ.
It was an early Sunday morning start for our friends at the BBQ as they and I were to ride in the "Nongs".
That's the Dandenong Ranges - now I'm not much of a hill climber but I do love the Nongs. It's lush with rain forests and lovely winding roads that encourage cycling, motor cycling and motoring. There's tea houses, cafes and lots of antique - knick-knack stores to take up your time for a Sunday outing.

The Puffing Billy wanders through the Dandenongs - now for tourists but this narrow gauge railway served the locals and transported timber, etc in the early part of last century.

The forests of the Dandenongs are no more than an hours drive from Melbourne CBD.

For us - well me, it was lots of pain with gradients to 12%. I even saw one hill with a sign telling me the rise was 30% - OUCH!!!

22 of us headed out - superbly trained elite athletes - Ha!! We arrived back happy but exhausted from the constant inclines of the Dandenong Ranges.

The start of the ride with zero kms on the computer - 3 hours later it read 68 kms.

The Dandenongs has many lovely old homes from the rich of the early 1900s. They are hidden behind high hedges. It also has some of the most nurtured and cared for gardens.
Some of the photos you see here are not mine as my colleagues wouldn't take the time to be tourists - they were on a mission to smash each other over the inclines of the Dandenongs.

sorry that this photo is a little fuzzy but so was I at our midway stop at the bakery.

Maybe Sue and I will return in the car or even stay a weekend in a B and B to bring you a more interesting post soon.

From September to October, the Dandenong residents open their gardens to the public.

The legs of a very tired "old" warrior cyclist enjoyed a few hours of being horizontal on Sunday arvo. Although it was a lovely ride - I will wait till next year's event and hopefully have recovered.

Several of the above photos were taken from the internet to illustrate this blog.

The Size of Things

2011-11-05T07:02:00.000+11:00

How big is Australia - If your talking size - check out the maps of other countries overlayed on Australia.
If you're talking population, then we are only small.
The USA maybe slightly larger in size than Australia, marginally and has a population of 312m.
France has 65m, Germany 81m, Spain 46m, and the UK has 62m.
Judging by the map, you could put all of Europe and the UK into Australia and that combined is a population of 564m people - Australia's current population is 22m.
We do like to spread out on the couch. We get a little edgy in crowds. We like our own space.

HONFLEUR

2011-11-01T22:33:00.002+11:00

Our drive to Honfleur was uneventful along the Normandy coast. We stopped a few times; in fact we needed an injection of caffeine early on, still raining though. As we ventured further on, the sun decided to pay us a visit. Maybe it was that we were close to what seemed like an up market tourist resort on the coast. The twin towns of Deauville and Trouville could have been any seaside location throughout the world, well even in Australia.

I’ve seen similar architecture in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and the Gold Coast. The usual multi-story hotel and apartment complexes. OK, let’s move on, we didn’t come to France to see what we see at home.

We were greeted by the Honfleur harbour as we negotiated the cobbled stoned laneways to our home for the next three nights.

But Honfleur, Oh what a magical place as we drove into the old part of town. It was like entering another century. Searching for our B and B wasn’t too difficult with our GPS Tommy, but entering the narrow, cobbled laneways took some negotiating, and the feeling that we were going to love our three night stay was very strong.

These doors were the entrance to our accommodation - very quaint!

And this was the stairway to our little Hobbit house.

Oh, yes an opportunity to rest Sue thought but I assembled my bike to explore the roads of Honfleur. My most vivid memory was of descending into a nearby village with a typical older French gentleman sitting on a bench in a beret and a walking cane. As I rode by he yelled "Allez, Allez". Memories like those you take home with you to tell your cycling mates forever.

Looking out of our Hobbit house, we observed the other little homes in this enclave of little places of serenity.

We’d booked our time at Honfleur in a B and B called La Cour Saint Catherine. It seemed to be a little village within a village. You entered these large wooden gated to a hidden sanctuary. Our rooms gave us the impression of a Hobbit’s home. A small stairway rose to a doorway that even we of challenged stature needed to duck before entering. It looked so comfy that before I could bring our bags in, Sue was snoring on the bed.

Architecture in Normandy is so different from Provence, Languedoc, Dordogne and the Loire. We'd travelled so far, seen so many things. Each new region had unique characteristics. Normandy had its own personality

Churches and Cathedrals don't look like this in our earlier travels - this one was unique.

I don't think you could ever become bored with walking the streets and laneways of Honfleur. Each corner offers a new experience.

Honfleur sits on an estuary of the Seine and is one of France's early defensive and fishing harbours of the 15th century. Buildings surrounding the old harbour rise six and seven stories high, yet when walking along the street directly behind these buildings, they seem to be maybe two or three stories high due to the incline of the terrain.

These buildings rise five to six levels yet on the other side they are only two or three levels due to the incline of the land.

This cafe ran jazz and blues nights - we ate twice at a resturaunt directly opposite and had the same courses because they were so great. Lamb Shanks yummy, it was just like home in winter.

It is said that one should stop to small the roses occasionally - Well Sue decided that Honfluer had the best smelling weeds and a very nice Faux Florist shop.

My very favourite heroine, Jean d'Arc said hello.

The half wooden houses in Normandy make great photographic material.

To say we fell in love with Honfleur is an understatement and after visiting you can understand why it became a venue for some of France’s most celebrated impressionists.
Pissaro, Renoir and Cezanne are among the many that brought their easels to Honfleur.
Even in modern times this charming harbour village still draws artists as we experienced during our walks.

Honfleur claims as their sons, landscape painter Eugene Boudin and composer Erik Sate.

Having just arrived in Honfleur in the mid afternoon and Sue having a little nap, we didn’t get to explore our surroundings till late afternoon and our main objective was to find an interesting restaurant for dinner.

Who doesn't love a rooftop garden. These thatch roof houses had the most beautiful gardens both on and above the ground.

I just love a creative Deux Chevaux, Don't you?

We had a lovely little snack at Beaumont en Auge and met a very talkative lady who had told us that she had left her husband and was enjoying life in Beaumont riding horses and running a cafe. Why would she tell us this stuff, but we were happy to listen and add her conversation to our travel memories.

Over our days in Honfleur we took a few drives into the country side and also across to Le Havre. The city being a major French port, was bombed badly during the war and now is quite a modern city. We walked the beachside and enjoyed lunch at a side street cafe but it didn't hold the interest that Honfleur offered. Our time was drawing to a close in France. We had travelled from Paris to Provence, Languedoc, the Midi Pyrenees, The Tarn, and the Dordogne before moving on to the Loire and Normandy. It was time to return to Paris for a week in an apartment in the 6th. Another week would see us back home in Melbourne.

WHERE'S my BROADBAND gone AGAIN??

2011-10-31T11:19:00.000+11:00

Yes, that's right, the broadband is all used up and I'm on dial up speed until tomorrow. This quick note comes from the office.

I will return for Wednesday's in France to tell you about our few days spent in Honfleur.
I'm currently sitting at my desk at work watching the planes land and take off from Melbourne airport and thinking that next May is not far off and we will be landing in Paris for a month in France.

Tomorrow in Melbourne is the Horse race that Australia stops for, "The Melbourne Cup". Here in Victoria we have a day off work and many people venture to the track for a day out while many gather with friends in the backyard for a BBQ while watching the race on TV.

I must get back to work now, we'll catch up on Wednesday.

Saturday Satire

2011-10-29T06:46:00.000+11:00

Clarke and Dawes are one (that's two really isn't it) of my favorite political satirists. No dress ups here, you have to imagine who and what they are on about. This little clip is about the plight of our farmers and the strength of the Australian dollar and how it affects their economy.

This weekend in Melbourne is starting out with a lot of moisture in the air - bloody down pour is closer to the mark. The garden had quite a watering last night. Not a lot planned for this weekend so it will be interesting to see what we post for Monday.

Food for Thought Friday

2011-10-27T22:55:00.000+11:00

I drive home mostly on freeways - and each time, I pass by La-La who gives me this friendly gesture. He's right you know and I know why he continues to spread his message. I see so many accidents waiting to happen with the hours I spend on the road.

On this particular evening on the way home, the traffic was almost at stand-still which was probably due to a little altercation further up the road. But it did give me a chance to get up close and personal to La-La.
He offers some good advise and you can see that he's quite emotional about it all.
Maybe, just maybe he might have been an accident victim at one time.
Let's all Drive Safe as La-La urges.

Melbourne - Our Home on the Bay

A Word or Two on Blogging

Phriday Nite Philosofee

Today is Australia Day

Hello Leonardo

Impromptu Dinner and a Perfect Sunday

One of those "lets do it moment" things

Thenay and New Friends met!

My Favorite Restaurant is Home

CHARTRES

A Made-Up Recipe

FRIDAY at the MARKET

Chantilly

A New Year in Ballarat and Clunes.

A Night on the Tiles.....

Riding with my Dad, the Legend

Our 3rd Trip to France begins - 2009

It's Christmas Eve

Birthday Boys as Christmas draws closer

ONE LAST GALLERY in PARIS

MGs and Misguided Passions

"Meet Me Under the Clocks"

Musee Nationale du Moyen Age - Paris

Another SUNNY MELBOURNE WEEKEND﻿

Musee CARNAVALET

Fairfield in the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne - 100 Metre Walk

Riding on the Freeway

An afternoon @ Musee d'Orsay

RESTORING a LITTLE of CYCLING HISTORY

Take a little walk with me........

A BALMY NIGHT'S WALK IN PARIS

A Melbourne Weekend - just a casual kick back.

Do You See What I See?????

OUR PARIS APARTMENT

The Size of Things

HONFLEUR

WHERE'S my BROADBAND gone AGAIN??

Saturday Satire

Food for Thought Friday

Another SUNNY MELBOURNE WEEKEND