Rainy Days

How wonderful to have heavy rain again in Brisbane! Last night my girlfriends and I were all set to go to Breakfast at Tiffany's at the Moonlight Cinema at New Farm Park, but alas! it BUCKETED down and we had to "make do" with a good bottle of red in a cosy booth at Vespa Pizza cafe instead, a crazy fun night, especially when it came time to leave - we were reminded of that wonderful final Audrey Hepburn scene in the pouring rain when she finds and holds the pussy cat.. Love this poem below about rain, and of course I LOVE this rainy pic that artist Banx took on our trip to Paris last October, looking out our Paris flat window.

The Rain by William Henry Davies
I hear leaves drinking rain;
I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
'Tis a sweet noise to hear
These green leaves drinking near.

And when the Sun comes out,
After this Rain shall stop,
A wondrous Light will fill
Each dark, round drop;
I hope the Sun shines bright;
'Twill be a lovely sight.

The Most Beautiful Gift

I received the most beautiful gift ever this Christmas - a miniature original painting by artist Banx of my most favourite bookshop in the world... the Shakespeare Book Company in Paris - a wonderful surprise Christmas gift and one that will be treasured forever.. soooo many happy memories and hours spent exploring that bookshop and neighbourhood of Paree!

Two Loves

I definitely have Two Great Loves... I wonder if that means I have a split personality? I LOVE Paris and all that European culture has to offer but I also LOVE Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland... could you get more polar opposites? In October we were walking ten hours every day in the City of Lights and last weekend we were swimming in the Pacific Ocean, feeling sand between our toes (and everywhere else!)and wanting to live at the beach forever! Mmmm, now there's a thought.. 6 months France... 6 months Coolum... I will work on that one!

A Match Made in Heaven!

Vintage Vintage Everywhere!! Vintage is taking over the world! All over Paris vintage was the 'new black'... we stumbled across vintage clothing and furniture markets constantly - check out the gorgeous divine and very cooool vintage soft "foot stools" (pictured at Canal St Martin vintage markets, Paris)! And now it's come to Brissie too! On Sunday afternoon 15th November, one of my sister's friends "Carmel" is staging a vintage fashion parade at Brisbane City Hall like Brisbane has never experienced before! Amaaaaazing vintage fashions from French fashion houses, Australian fashion houses, some never worn (due to a 70s wharfies strike at the time), all of gallery and museum quality! Carmel is donating proceeds to an extremely worthy cause, the Children's Cancer Council, for all details please see www.a match made in heaven.com.au and tickets can be booked through QTIX I can't wait!!!!!

French Chic, French Chicks

We absolutely LOVED observing the French women's innate style on the streets of Paris. Street fashion is as fascinating as that displayed in the exclusive shop windows of the boulevards. The way these chic young women just "throw" something together and it SO works! By the way, yes, this gorgeous young woman COULD actually walk in these shoes, we waited to see!

Rendezvous with Rodin

One of the highlights (one of many!) for us in Paris recently was visiting Rodin's sculpture gardens. Stunning gardens, magnificent sculptures by one of the world's most talented masters. One of the facts that remained with me when we tore ourselves away from this beautiful environment was that Rodin married his life-long companion, Rose Beuret, in the last year of both of their lives... how interesting is that.

A Date with Paris!

I have never walked so much in my entire life as we have done so in Paris in the last week! 7 hours yesterday! Naturally there are frequent coffee stops to boost the meanderings. We left the apartment and took a route down the most incredible cobbled streets of amazing cheese shops, next to gorgeous patisseries.. You name it, I could have eaten it! One of my favourites was a stunning florist called 'Happy'! I had researched the ancient passageway arcades before leaving Oz so we headed through new fab neighbourhoods to explore those, they are a wow! Tiny exquisite shops specialising in all sorts of goodies from contemporary Art to ancient maps, the specialty shops we just loved in these arcades included a wooden cane walking stick shop, a shop selling gramophones, a cotton reel shop, and a shop selling everything you need for dolls houses, all beneath these amazing arcaded ceilings. We stopped in the passageway specialising in food, of course, for lunch (rabbit) and glass of rose wine, more sustenance before culture over load set in ha! Very funny moment at 1 point, we asked a suited gentleman to confirm a street and he replied 'I dunno luv I'm from the Gold Coast here on a conference!' We all roared laughing! When we emerged from these amazing arcades we were suddenly in the trendiest area ever! My fave shop in that neighbourhood was a stylised black shop selling only white orchids and also a baby clothes shop called 'Not so Big' . The hairdressers in these groovy parts all look like 21st century night clubs. No matter where you go in Paris every bar, cafe, brasserie, restaurant is constantly buzzing! Our body clocks have completely re-set themselves too - we ate at 1030pm after seeing the divine Paris Opera ballet 'Giselle' and had to wait for table. Needless to say that the Paris Opera House left me breathless, especially Chagall's painted ceilings! A completely full house at the ballet too - with even pull-down aisle seats. I would hate to imagine if someone called out fire! And wow are Parisians in to their ballet or what! Such an enthusiastic crowd with men in dinner suits calling out bravo after each pirouette, fantastic! Home to our gorgeous rented flat in the Anvers district (9th arrondissement) after dinner and guess what, from the lounge we can see the very top tip of the Eiffel tower! The night markets set up tomorrow night outside our apartment, more food temptations to come! Saturday night we are heading to the famous Buddha Bar and Sun is lunch in St Germain at Coco and Co with my dear Parisian girlfriend. Apparently Coco and Co is set up like a farm as they specialise in eggs! Mind you brunch is at 3pm! Rodin's sculpture gardens today as we ran out of time yesterday, oh boy when am I going to shop??! panic! This trip is all about discovering new neighbourhoods moment by moment... ah!

Cherished moments, Friendship, and Ice-cream

Isn’t it wonderful, I never got to see the film last night! J My girlfriend and I met up beforehand for a glass of wine and tapas at the lovely breezy spot where all the cruise ships dock, and we got onto our very favourite topic “Paris” and travels, and time slipped away and the film was completely forgotten. How I cherish such moments, nothing quite beats girlie chats after a busy working day. The film can wait! We have known each other since kindergarten days, so there’s always a lot to ‘workshop’! Naturally we couldn’t beat finishing off the night by taking home some delicious chocolate and crème brulee gelati! We are both lucky enough to be visiting Paris later in the year, so I was reminded of my absolutely favourite ice cream shop on Ile St Louis, the little island in the centre of Paris behind Notre Dame. The queues for their delish flavours, even in the depth of winter, extend far down the little cobbled street, but the dark chocolate (chocolat noir) and mango (mangue) flavours are my favourites. To sit and slurp one of these while 17^th century gargoyles look down menacingly from ancient buildings above, artistic performers busk on the bridge opposite, and chic Parisians rush past on their way to some fabulous long luncheon appointment, is to truly feel romantically ‘frozen’ in an era gone by. As one of my favourite authors and artists ‘Sark’ philosophises: Life is all about seeking out and exploring pleasure, lightly scooping it up and ultimately, getting lost in it.. “Let’s magnify our pleasures together, no matter what else is happening in our lives” (from her book Eat Mangoes Naked by Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) see www.planetsark.com for more of her amazing inspirational and uplifting musings and drawings.

Some time in the distant future I will visit the Ile Saint Louis ice cream café every week for a year (when I run away to France) J I do so already in my daydreams!

If, like me, you plan to run away to France at some stage in your life too, be sure to read the entertaining article published on the www.holidaygoddess.com website written by Jane de Teliga. Many of my favourite books by Aussie authors living in the City of Lights cover the subject too: like A Town Like Paris by Bryce Corbett; The Accidental Renovator by Barbara Biggs and the stunningly beautiful At My French Table by chef extraordinaire Jane Webster.

Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? (Mary Oliver, poet, 1935 - )