Hello faithful readers – all four of you!
Sorry about the lapse in blogging news of late.
I have two good excuses though:
(1) have been busy travelling/partying/getting older/eating and (2) the blogger website spat the chewy the other day when I tried to upload Berlin and Christmas news – luckily I type my blogs in word first so all is not lost, but I have to upload the photos painstakingly slowly again. Grr.
So here you go – fingers crossed it all works this time - blog explosion!
x
Monday, 28 December 2009
Thank you Mr Postman!
Mail is awesome. Seriously.
I’m sure those of you who have lived overseas can appreciate this but I literally squeee with excitement when I open my letterbox and there are items there. Obviously I get even MORE excited if said items are neither bills nor random French mail but are, in fact cards/letters/packages from Australia – and sometimes England. Yay! I love packages! And this time of year has been a veritable mail BONANZA!
Now I don’t know whether it’s Australia Post or Frenchy La Poste who is causing delays, but birthday cards and Christmas cards are still slowly trickling in, which for me is greatness as it simply prolongs the joy! So to everyone who sent a birthday card or gift or a Christmas card or gift, thank you so much! I have all the cards displayed over the bookcase and, if I may say so myself, I look very popular indeed!!
Loves it!
I’m sure those of you who have lived overseas can appreciate this but I literally squeee with excitement when I open my letterbox and there are items there. Obviously I get even MORE excited if said items are neither bills nor random French mail but are, in fact cards/letters/packages from Australia – and sometimes England. Yay! I love packages! And this time of year has been a veritable mail BONANZA!
Now I don’t know whether it’s Australia Post or Frenchy La Poste who is causing delays, but birthday cards and Christmas cards are still slowly trickling in, which for me is greatness as it simply prolongs the joy! So to everyone who sent a birthday card or gift or a Christmas card or gift, thank you so much! I have all the cards displayed over the bookcase and, if I may say so myself, I look very popular indeed!!
Loves it!
Christmas snapshots
Second Christmas away from home – hard to believe, where has that time gone?!?! Wowsers.
I was sad to have missed out on our Christmas Eve tradition of eating chocolates, drinking champagne and watching the carols at Tidy Didy’s house. One of my favourite things. I love carols, and have been playing them a lot much to everyone else’s ..um...enjoyment? I think it’s residual joy from all those years the Girls Choir sang in the Adelaide Carols by Candlelight.
Anyways, onto Christmas. After we arrived back in relatively warm and balmy Cannes (and thankfully, we weren’t delayed at all – which is incredible as planes and trains were being cancelled all over the shop due to the weather) we got into the spirit by doing some shopping in Nice and Cannes – including our most exciting purchase – a mini oven! Thanks to some very generous Christmas money from Grandma Ramsey we were able to finally get an oven – after going for a year without.
Now that I’ve used it to crank out a few roasts and cakes I can’t believe we waited so long! I was initially a bit dubious about whether it would work as well as a normal “big” oven, but thus far we have been pleasantly surprised. And it allowed us to cook our first lamb roast – again IN A YEAR – for Christmas day lunch. Not overly traditional, I know, but we went to the Australian bar in Nice, the Kookaburra, on Christmas Eve for an all you can eat and drink buffet which had prawns, ham, turkey etc etc. It was a great night, we had lots of fun and drank and ate ourselves silly.
So the menu for our lunch was: Spicy prawn cocktail, Lamb roast with all the trimmings and a gluten free chocolate cake with raspberries and vanilla bean ice cream. That, plus some Piper Heidsieck champers = blissed out fullness. Delicious.
I hope everyone’s Christmases were merry and equally as food-filled!
At the Kookaburra on Christmas Eve
This is a truly vile photo of both of us, but shows us opening our presents which Holly schlepped all the way over from Aus, so was worth recording. Sorry to have ofended your eyes. Ouch.
Guess who took this photo/sang to the lamb all morning/said 'Lamb is GOLD' about 100 times?
If your answer starts with an M and ends in 'ark'. You are spot on. He was, quite literally, like a kid on christmas morning. At least I know what to get him next year.
Holly and I have also taken to calling M "sweetmeats" as a nickname, which we find hilariously gross.
A rather empty table, but we ate enough for six.
I was sad to have missed out on our Christmas Eve tradition of eating chocolates, drinking champagne and watching the carols at Tidy Didy’s house. One of my favourite things. I love carols, and have been playing them a lot much to everyone else’s ..um...enjoyment? I think it’s residual joy from all those years the Girls Choir sang in the Adelaide Carols by Candlelight.
Anyways, onto Christmas. After we arrived back in relatively warm and balmy Cannes (and thankfully, we weren’t delayed at all – which is incredible as planes and trains were being cancelled all over the shop due to the weather) we got into the spirit by doing some shopping in Nice and Cannes – including our most exciting purchase – a mini oven! Thanks to some very generous Christmas money from Grandma Ramsey we were able to finally get an oven – after going for a year without.
Now that I’ve used it to crank out a few roasts and cakes I can’t believe we waited so long! I was initially a bit dubious about whether it would work as well as a normal “big” oven, but thus far we have been pleasantly surprised. And it allowed us to cook our first lamb roast – again IN A YEAR – for Christmas day lunch. Not overly traditional, I know, but we went to the Australian bar in Nice, the Kookaburra, on Christmas Eve for an all you can eat and drink buffet which had prawns, ham, turkey etc etc. It was a great night, we had lots of fun and drank and ate ourselves silly.
So the menu for our lunch was: Spicy prawn cocktail, Lamb roast with all the trimmings and a gluten free chocolate cake with raspberries and vanilla bean ice cream. That, plus some Piper Heidsieck champers = blissed out fullness. Delicious.
I hope everyone’s Christmases were merry and equally as food-filled!
At the Kookaburra on Christmas Eve
This is a truly vile photo of both of us, but shows us opening our presents which Holly schlepped all the way over from Aus, so was worth recording. Sorry to have ofended your eyes. Ouch.
Guess who took this photo/sang to the lamb all morning/said 'Lamb is GOLD' about 100 times?If your answer starts with an M and ends in 'ark'. You are spot on. He was, quite literally, like a kid on christmas morning. At least I know what to get him next year.
Holly and I have also taken to calling M "sweetmeats" as a nickname, which we find hilariously gross.
A rather empty table, but we ate enough for six. Joyeux Noel! xx
Friday, 25 December 2009
From Paris to Berlin and a little birthday in between.... – did you see what I did there?? Ha ha. So lame.
Well, it’s been an awesome few weeks with no time to update ye olde blog in between trips and eating truly alarming quantities of chocolate.
Holly and I had an amazing time “Together in Paris” – with mucho quoting from various Disney films and giggling as we wandered around the city of luurve. Despite Holly’s delayed flight – which meant she got in a day later than planned, we still had plenty of time to see and do and EAT all that we wanted to.
Since we’ve both been there before we eschewed the traditional Eiffel Tower/Louvre/Versailles combo and tried to spend a chunk of time in various areas getting to see them in a bit more detail. To this end we cruised around the fabulous and fascinating Latin Quarter, stomped and shopped up a storm around Opera and the Galleries Lafayette and Printemps – including two trips to La Maison du Chocolate for sinfully delicious chocolate treats and Ladureé for the BEST macaroons in France.
We also swung by Tiffany’s and I picked up my birthday present from M and Barb and Pete, which is gorgeous, and so special. We did a really fun and informative walking tour of Montmartre and generally soaked up the sights, ate heaps and had an absolute ball. So great. Sadly I have no photos to share as we used Holly’s camera, and she didn’t bring the cord and Sony products are stupid and you can only use their adaptors so.... no photos to share. Hopefully soon.
After Paris, Holly popped over to London to see Beags and then came back to France. We had some fun days visiting the local region and then off to Berlin. To freeze.
We got in late Thursday night and had planned to do a full day walking tour on the Friday – the same one Claire and I did last year that I loved (with the tour guide that I had something of a giant crush on). When we got up in the morning it was snowing and oh, bloody freezing, and the guy at the desk said “you are the bravest people I’ve ever met” which I think was actually code for “you guys are f-ing mental!”
The tour was brilliant, (different tour guide this time though which, really, all for the best since M probably wouldn’t have taken the sight of me salivating over his...er...historical knowledge.... all that well...ha) I’d so highly recommend these tours to anyone visiting Berlin, but I’d suggest a slightly warmer day than -13. Because it was so cold it HURT. We were wearing about as many clothes as one can and still be able to move freely, but still, so freakin cold. I was so jealous of the kids we saw walking (or better yet, being carried) in full padded suits that virtually turn them into starfish, but look so cosy. If only they made them in XXXXXXL.... Holly and Mark both claimed they were suffering from the early stages of hypothermia. Which we successfully cured over some schnitzels and a few bottles of red that night. And a few snickers bars for Holly.
On the day of my birthday we visited the shopping district, some wicked Christmas markets and had a fabulous, delicious German dinner at a great restaurant nearby our hostel and then a few cocktails. I have been very spoilt for my big 3-0. The beautiful necklace from Tiffanys I mentioned above and the most stunning diamond studs and money towards Bali from my family. I am so bling-ed out it isn’t even funny. For someone who doesn’t wear that much jewellery normally, I am rocking some serious jewels.
The next day was a visit to some sights and museums, including the interesting but chaotic Checkpoint Charlie museum, the Reichstag (which was cool, but we lined up outside for an hour, nearly dying, only to realise that the viewing platform/dome is completely open to the weather – so we were freezing at altitude!! Bad decision.) And that evening a train trip out to Spandau to visit the most amazing – and very traditional – Christmas Markets – they were huge. Unfortunately it was honestly so cold that a lot of what we wanted to do was restricted by our ability to withstand the temperature – we did A LOT of ducking in and out of shops/bars/cafes to thaw out! But overall we had mucho fun. Holly and Mark bicker like siblings and talk nonsense and crack each other up and it’s just so much fun having her here. So happy!
A view from our back balcony as storm clouds roll in - not related at all to the above post, but kinda cool!
At the Christmas markets in Cannes with the Ho-head
Hols in St Paul de Vence
After opening my presents - Tiffanys necklace and diamond stud earrings.
With my crusty old bonds hoodie, but that's how I roll.
Real christmas tree!
At our hostel in Berlin about to brave the outdoor for our tour
No, not freezing cold at all......
The Reichstag
Brandenburg Gate
Particularly rosy-cheeked!
Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.
A lengthy debate over Art versus Fitting memorial went on for a long time the following night between M and I - I think Holly wanted to shoot us, or herself, but we're both passionate/stubborn mules.
The wall
East side/West side yo.
Gendarmarkt - and Christmas markets
Berliner Dom Cathedral - the final stop on the tour. Time to defrost!
Next day - more Christmas Markets
Currywurst and Gluhwein - delicious and, more importantly, WARM
My birthday dinner - 30 years old.
Jesus.
United Buddy Bears on display in Hauptbahnhof railway station - with the Australian one of course!
At the top of the Reichstag. Hating the cold.
Christmas markets at Spandau - so pretty but just so f-ing cold.
aww. Sisterly love.
Holly and I had an amazing time “Together in Paris” – with mucho quoting from various Disney films and giggling as we wandered around the city of luurve. Despite Holly’s delayed flight – which meant she got in a day later than planned, we still had plenty of time to see and do and EAT all that we wanted to.
Since we’ve both been there before we eschewed the traditional Eiffel Tower/Louvre/Versailles combo and tried to spend a chunk of time in various areas getting to see them in a bit more detail. To this end we cruised around the fabulous and fascinating Latin Quarter, stomped and shopped up a storm around Opera and the Galleries Lafayette and Printemps – including two trips to La Maison du Chocolate for sinfully delicious chocolate treats and Ladureé for the BEST macaroons in France.
We also swung by Tiffany’s and I picked up my birthday present from M and Barb and Pete, which is gorgeous, and so special. We did a really fun and informative walking tour of Montmartre and generally soaked up the sights, ate heaps and had an absolute ball. So great. Sadly I have no photos to share as we used Holly’s camera, and she didn’t bring the cord and Sony products are stupid and you can only use their adaptors so.... no photos to share. Hopefully soon.
After Paris, Holly popped over to London to see Beags and then came back to France. We had some fun days visiting the local region and then off to Berlin. To freeze.
We got in late Thursday night and had planned to do a full day walking tour on the Friday – the same one Claire and I did last year that I loved (with the tour guide that I had something of a giant crush on). When we got up in the morning it was snowing and oh, bloody freezing, and the guy at the desk said “you are the bravest people I’ve ever met” which I think was actually code for “you guys are f-ing mental!”
The tour was brilliant, (different tour guide this time though which, really, all for the best since M probably wouldn’t have taken the sight of me salivating over his...er...historical knowledge.... all that well...ha) I’d so highly recommend these tours to anyone visiting Berlin, but I’d suggest a slightly warmer day than -13. Because it was so cold it HURT. We were wearing about as many clothes as one can and still be able to move freely, but still, so freakin cold. I was so jealous of the kids we saw walking (or better yet, being carried) in full padded suits that virtually turn them into starfish, but look so cosy. If only they made them in XXXXXXL.... Holly and Mark both claimed they were suffering from the early stages of hypothermia. Which we successfully cured over some schnitzels and a few bottles of red that night. And a few snickers bars for Holly.
On the day of my birthday we visited the shopping district, some wicked Christmas markets and had a fabulous, delicious German dinner at a great restaurant nearby our hostel and then a few cocktails. I have been very spoilt for my big 3-0. The beautiful necklace from Tiffanys I mentioned above and the most stunning diamond studs and money towards Bali from my family. I am so bling-ed out it isn’t even funny. For someone who doesn’t wear that much jewellery normally, I am rocking some serious jewels.
The next day was a visit to some sights and museums, including the interesting but chaotic Checkpoint Charlie museum, the Reichstag (which was cool, but we lined up outside for an hour, nearly dying, only to realise that the viewing platform/dome is completely open to the weather – so we were freezing at altitude!! Bad decision.) And that evening a train trip out to Spandau to visit the most amazing – and very traditional – Christmas Markets – they were huge. Unfortunately it was honestly so cold that a lot of what we wanted to do was restricted by our ability to withstand the temperature – we did A LOT of ducking in and out of shops/bars/cafes to thaw out! But overall we had mucho fun. Holly and Mark bicker like siblings and talk nonsense and crack each other up and it’s just so much fun having her here. So happy!
A view from our back balcony as storm clouds roll in - not related at all to the above post, but kinda cool!
At the Christmas markets in Cannes with the Ho-head
Hols in St Paul de Vence
After opening my presents - Tiffanys necklace and diamond stud earrings.
With my crusty old bonds hoodie, but that's how I roll.
Real christmas tree!
At our hostel in Berlin about to brave the outdoor for our tour
No, not freezing cold at all......
The Reichstag
Brandenburg Gate
Particularly rosy-cheeked!
Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe.
A lengthy debate over Art versus Fitting memorial went on for a long time the following night between M and I - I think Holly wanted to shoot us, or herself, but we're both passionate/stubborn mules.
The wall
East side/West side yo.
Gendarmarkt - and Christmas markets
Berliner Dom Cathedral - the final stop on the tour. Time to defrost!
Next day - more Christmas Markets
Currywurst and Gluhwein - delicious and, more importantly, WARM
My birthday dinner - 30 years old.
Jesus.
United Buddy Bears on display in Hauptbahnhof railway station - with the Australian one of course!
At the top of the Reichstag. Hating the cold.
Christmas markets at Spandau - so pretty but just so f-ing cold.
aww. Sisterly love.
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Paris with the Ho-head
Well, the day has finally rolled around and not a moment too soon!
I'm off tomorrow morning to gay Paris to meet up with Holly.
Except that Malaysian Airlines cancelled her flight, so she is now leaving a day later and won't get to Paris until Monday, so I'm spending tomorrow afternoon and evening all alone in the big city....I'll have to wander around the Lourve, eat macaroons and drink Hot Chocolate from Angelinas to comfort myself.....yep. Solid Plan.
Anyways, despite that delightful little speedbump, and the fact that my ipod shat itself when I was trying to update it, which is so typical when I am about to embark on 6 hours worth of train rides, Arggh!! - BUT I am on my way and I Couldn't. Be. More. Excited.
Au Revoir toute le monde!
I'm off tomorrow morning to gay Paris to meet up with Holly.
Except that Malaysian Airlines cancelled her flight, so she is now leaving a day later and won't get to Paris until Monday, so I'm spending tomorrow afternoon and evening all alone in the big city....I'll have to wander around the Lourve, eat macaroons and drink Hot Chocolate from Angelinas to comfort myself.....yep. Solid Plan.
Anyways, despite that delightful little speedbump, and the fact that my ipod shat itself when I was trying to update it, which is so typical when I am about to embark on 6 hours worth of train rides, Arggh!! - BUT I am on my way and I Couldn't. Be. More. Excited.
Au Revoir toute le monde!
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Très amusant
On Saturday night, after our hike, we were invited to the boys’ place upstairs to watch the France versus New Zealand Rugby game and have a few drinks.
Initially we were a bit conflicted over where our loyalties should lie, but given neither of us have been to NZ , and we were in a room full of people who seemed pretty serious about the outcome of the match...and would probably ask us to leave if we went against France, the choice was simple. Vive le France!
The game was fine – but listening to our friends was far more entertaining. Most of this group speak really phenomenally great English, but often in casual and non-directly at us conversation, they will, naturally, speak in French, which is great as it’s good practice for us and – except when they go about a million miles an hour – we can mostly keep up. However, for me, the French language is not suited to screaming at a sporting match. Oh la la la la (yes, they do say this) doesn’t quite equate to “are you fucking kidding me?!?!! The ref is blind, white fucking maggot” etc etc. But it is very amusing to listen to.
What gave me the most giggles that night though is this. When you picture male, French beauty you probably think something along the lines of this:
Initially we were a bit conflicted over where our loyalties should lie, but given neither of us have been to NZ , and we were in a room full of people who seemed pretty serious about the outcome of the match...and would probably ask us to leave if we went against France, the choice was simple. Vive le France!
The game was fine – but listening to our friends was far more entertaining. Most of this group speak really phenomenally great English, but often in casual and non-directly at us conversation, they will, naturally, speak in French, which is great as it’s good practice for us and – except when they go about a million miles an hour – we can mostly keep up. However, for me, the French language is not suited to screaming at a sporting match. Oh la la la la (yes, they do say this) doesn’t quite equate to “are you fucking kidding me?!?!! The ref is blind, white fucking maggot” etc etc. But it is very amusing to listen to.
What gave me the most giggles that night though is this. When you picture male, French beauty you probably think something along the lines of this:
yeah? Strong, sophisticated....
Probably not so much this: His name is Sébastien Chabal and he is a French Rugby player. And model. A rugby player*slash*model. Yes, you read right. Model.
Ages ago I remember seeing these advertisements on billboards: And I kept thinking they were a joke! A bit like the “I love Lamb” ads that were on TV a while ago. But no. Very serious. Apparently this is what a “real” French man looks like. Ha ha.
Although...... I can see a bit of the appeal here...... I do like a bit of thug-loving in my man, it’s true. Barry Hall. Mark Riccutio. Yum. But I think David Beckham works better for spruiking fragrance. I think this guy would smell like....well, I’m not sure what exactly, maybe grown men’s blood, sweat and tears, but it wouldn’t be teen spirit, that’s for sure. Admit it, if you saw Chabal in a dark alley, your first thought would not be “model” it would be “and I’m going to need a new pair of underwear.....” So overall, this had me snickering into my glass of rosé all evening. That, and the fact that New Zealand smashed France and M kept whispering in my ear “cheese-eating surrender monkeys”.
So I guess we were supporting New Zealand after all!
We went on a little hike last Saturday.
It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day: clear blue skies, warm (well, not once we were up in the Alps, no) but just stunning. And it was a good thing we went on the Saturday, as on Sunday it pissed down no-stop.
It was just a simple 4 hour wander. Still too much up-hill for my general liking, but the view, as always, was spectacular. We could see all the way to Corsica from our picnic lunch spot, which was very cool. We also encountered an unexpected herd of sheep on our way down blocking the path. There were some though that we weren’t sure if they were sheep or goats – so I imaginatively titled them ‘scroats’. Hee hee. I have the sense of humour of an 11 year old boy. Yep. And throughout the whole walk, I didn’t even grumble once! An early Christmas miracle!!
It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day: clear blue skies, warm (well, not once we were up in the Alps, no) but just stunning. And it was a good thing we went on the Saturday, as on Sunday it pissed down no-stop.
It was just a simple 4 hour wander. Still too much up-hill for my general liking, but the view, as always, was spectacular. We could see all the way to Corsica from our picnic lunch spot, which was very cool. We also encountered an unexpected herd of sheep on our way down blocking the path. There were some though that we weren’t sure if they were sheep or goats – so I imaginatively titled them ‘scroats’. Hee hee. I have the sense of humour of an 11 year old boy. Yep. And throughout the whole walk, I didn’t even grumble once! An early Christmas miracle!!
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