We are sooo lucky to be back in Paris again…. even early morning drizzle, busy streets etc, (Yes….another purchase of a another beret hat and umbrella to keep dry with)  do not dampen our spirits for this beautiful city. Even after we walk at least 10km a day and start to get a bit niggly, it is still romantic. We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel, Le Petit Belloy, in the arty and café area of St Germain. Thank you Diane for this recommendation. Perfect !!

Paris cafes are possibly the most well-known image of the City of Light. The Paris Cafe is more than a place to sip coffee. It is an institution in Paris, it is a magnet for tourists, it is a cultural phenomenon. No trip to Paris is complete without a relaxing, long sit with some fascinating people-watching at a Paris cafe.

We also visited Montmartre again, a neighbourhood located at the summit of Paris, it is one of the city’s most poetry-drenched spots. The narrow, steep, cobblestone-paved streets, stairways, hidden gardens, cemeteries, and vineyards show that Montmartre was, until recently, a village in its own right, tucked away from the city. Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and countless other artists and writers worked their magic here. It is now an artist’s haven.

We will be sad to leave Paris !!! Although, in a petit way, Hobart comes close.

We are staying in Caen , about 2 to 3 hours from Paris on the northern coast of Normandy and the area known as the D-Day Beaches. The beaches of Normandy are located along the English Channel in France’s north-western corner.

Now follows a history lesson, so if you are not interested pass this by, but we found it very moving especially as I have just finished reading my Dad’s recently finished book in which he talks of his time fighting for our country in Papua New Guinea around the same period of the second world war …..

On June 6, 1944 – now known as D-Day – Operation Overlord, the long-awaited invasion of Northwest Europe, began with Allied landings on the coast of Normandy. The task was formidable, for the Germans had turned the coastline into an interlinked series of strongpoints, each with guns, pill boxes, barbed wire, land mines, and beach obstacles.  Following an extensive bombardment of the assault areas, the Allies launched a simultaneous landing of U.S., British, Canadian and French forces on five separate beaches code-named:

• Juno Beach (Canadian)
• Gold Beach (British)
• Omaha Beach (American)
• Utah Beach (American)
• Sword Beach ( British

It was an incredible accomplishment; the formidable Atlantic Wall had been successfully breached. By the end of D-Day, the Allies had landed more than 150,000 troops in France by sea and air, 6,000 vehicles including 900 tanks, 600 guns and about 4,000 tons of supplies and, astonishingly, had achieved complete surprise in doing it.  More soldiers and supplies were pouring ashore to continue the advance on D-Day. The victory was a turning point in World War II and led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

We also visited the Normandy American Cemetery. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 and the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of US military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.

Now more than 60 years after D-Day, the Normandy coast is peaceful with lovely seaside towns and picturesque beaches. Behind the coast is an old-fashioned farming landscape of grain fields, cattle and pastures, hedges and farmhouses. But the memories of war and D-Day are engrained in the landscape. Along the 100km D-Day invasion coast there are the
remains of German gun emplacements and bunkers, while war memorials and monuments mark where the allied forces landed on the beaches. Inland, there are monuments in almost every village and at every bend in the road, for there is barely a square yard that wasn’t fought over. Beautiful cemeteries overlook the sea and countryside.

Dinan is without doubt, one of the most attractive and best preserved small towns in Brittany that we have visited. With its 3 km long ramparts, half-timbered houses, attractive port and cobbled streets filled with art galleries and craft shops, it was certainly worth a day of our time yesterday. I know, another walled ancient town. They are everywhere in France and each one quite incredible !!!

Today we are having a lazy day. It does not get light here until after 8am so the mornings are always a slow start. We are going to our favourite restaurant in a nearby town to enjoy our last lunch in Brittany. I wonder what he is cooking today??? There are no shops or restaurants in our tiny hamlet where we are staying. It is very quiet and peaceful. Good, before we hit Paris in a few days……….

Well it is evening now, and we enjoyed a great lunch. We were not disappointed. Mal had steak and crème brulee. I opted for the set menu (whatever the chef is cooking on the day). I started with vegie soup (delicious) and then something with meat from the forest….whatever the meat was it had antlers (the waiter used hand signs for description), but it was apparently not venison, so I have no idea. It was good though !!!!

We have been spending a wonderful week in Brittany, Northern France. The weather has been great and our traditional stone cottage in the tiny hamlet of Ardilloux perfect. We have enjoyed exploring the area, occasional meals out and cooking meals at home. The hamlet is inhabited by non-English speaking French but are very friendly even supplying me with the fresh herbs I have needed for cooking.

We have visited many unique villages in the area. Saint-Malo on the Atlantic coast, originally built as a walled citadel guarding the mouth of  the Rance river, was for centuries home to feared pirates. They’ve all gone to Davy Jones’ Locker, though, and now it’s Brittany’s most-visited town.  Another of our favourite finds was Combourg, a village found between Rennes and St Malo ,  in north-east Brittany, in the Ille et Vilaine department. It is a  pleasant town dominated by the important Chateau de Combourg.

We have so much fun, including mistakes, like having no idea what we are eating at times (but never disappointed), how to pay for parking in certain areas and wondering if we will ever get our car back,  and accidentally forgetting and driving on the wrong side of the road. We even turned up at a restaurant today 1 hour early as we had no idea daylight savings existed here, let alone finished on Saturday !!! The restaurant was wonderful, giving us a wine and plenty of smiles, until the chef was ready to feed us. We are going back there for our last lunch in Brittany on Friday.

We visited an incredible place in Brittany France……Mont Saint Michel. My photos really do not do the place justice. If you google Mont St Michel you will see some amazing photos. Mont St Michel is a monastery built on a rock tidal island around 1 kilometre off the northern coast of France. The island itself is less than 1 km in diameter. Nowadays there is a causeway which connects the island to the mainland.

This place is characterized by the highest tides in Europe (up to 14 meters high), steep rocks, and quicksand. Its surrounding waters can move 18 km away from the island and 20 km deep into the coast. For centuries all these features made Mont Saint-Michel an impenetrable fortress.

First inhabitants of this 92-meter tall mountain, ancient Celts, didn’t have any illusions about it and called it Mont Tombe (Mountain Tomb). Back then Mont Saint-Michel wasn’t an island: it was surrounded by the forest that was later washed away by ocean waters.

While the mainland was ravaged by wars, and captured by the Vikings, the Normans, the Bretons, the British, and other nations – the island-fortress remained untouched. Mont Saint-Michel is a Benedictine abbey. It occupies an area of about 55,000 square meters and it is regarded as a unique example of a fortified medieval French monastery. The top of the Cathedral’s spire is 170 meters above the sea level!

Mont Saint-Michel is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We found a huge château in the small village of Saint Loup in France to stay in by ourselves (no other guests). The Keep was built around 1200 AD and the Chateau around 1600. It may be haunted although I have not mentioned it to Mal……. Have just found out it is haunted many times over, as this is the château that “The Black Prince incarcerated Good King John” !!!!”  The Black Prince imprisoned in the famous Keep the French King John the Good after the battle of Poitiers in 1356. The entrance of the square tower was then protected by a portcullis. Today the Keep and adjacent  buildings have been converted into seven bedrooms, sitting room, dinning-room and kitchen for guests.

Château de Saint-Loup is a gem of French architecture and a major landmark of the history of Poitou. All the rooms are restored with taste in due respect to this Grade one listed Monument, old tiled floors, lime coated walls, stain glasses, huge fireplaces in the Keep (see my photos), and classic ambiance in the 17 th c. Château apartments. Our huge room has a four-poster bed, tapestries and unique handmade and sculpted furniture. The separate extra huge lounge and library is stunning with a giant stone fireplace giving us a cosy place to spend the evening.

In the world so diverse of Hotels, Château de Saint-Loup stands out as a French aristocratic family home filled with history and authenticity, also a perfect place for an enchanted stay. It is certainly a great find on this holiday.

While saying I am certainly not a fan of the method of feeding the geese for the Foie Gras, and Mal does not enjoy it, I will be honest and say I do enjoy good Foie Gras.  Maybe that’s an influence from Yvette our wonderful French cleaner, come member of the family, whose house-keeping help we enjoyed for about  15 years, and who is also a very good cook !!!

I am amused by the many “geese” in this region.  Foie Gras shops after Foie Gras shops. Nearly more than the wine shops !!!!

We have been staying in the beautiful region of the Dordogne in southern France for the past couple of days. It is an area made up of some of the most unique villages I have ever seen. We stayed in Sarlat-La-Caneda, and whether we explored the bastide town of Domme, the beautiful river side villages of Baynac and La Roque Gageac, the magical cliff side town of Rocamadour,  Mal’s favourite little village on the hill, Belves, or the numerous chateaux of the “one hundred years war”, we were close.

After a morning of exploring the villages including many more stairs, today we decided at about 2pm to give the traditional French way of eating a go. Very small breakfast, huge lunch (3 courses) and small dinner (none for us). We found a small restaurant on the hill in Rocque Gageac and ordered their set menu (in French….very adventurous for Mal !!!!), and really enjoyed it. They start with a generous salad first, (we had Les Nems de Canard, sauce Sangria ….ate the lot), then Mal had the chicken dish we hope (Les Brochettes de blanc de volaille au miel et moutarde a la ancienne) and I enjoyed Le Confit de Canard ( Yummy….but could not eat it all…. I wonder why), and then we finished with La Tarte au Pommes. Will do more walking later today, but actually feel ok. I think the salad to start is a great idea.

Hope you enjoy my photos of the villages……

We have just got back into a wifi area and it sounds like Australia is already experiencing devastating bushfires early in the season. We feel for the families that have lost their homes. We live in a bushfire area now and are always conscious of the dangers.

We have just finished a week canal boating down the Canal De Garonne in southern France. It is a French canal dating from the 19th century which connects Toulouse to Castets-en-Dorthe. The remainder of the route to Bordeaux uses the Garonne River. It is the continuation of the Canal du Midi which connects the Mediterranean with Toulouse.

Whilst it was relaxing most of the time, we also managed to enter 30 locks which with my lack of huge skills took some concentration. As Mal and I had the boat to ourselves we took turns in one of us staying on the boat and pulling the rod to open the lock while still trying to drive the boat and then getting the boat into the lock without hitting the bridge !!! While this was attempting to happen the other was on the bank running up to close the lock when the boat came into the lock and then grabbing the ropes before the current in the lock had other more drastic things in mind. Overall things went well and no major damage occurred to the boat, although I have stiffness in muscles I did not think I had. (I hope this makes sense to those reading this). Believe me, it was not always easy!!

During the week we visited some very old towns along the way, enjoying some meals in hidden little French restaurants. Other days we visited local boulangers (bakers) for bagettes, boucheries (butchers for meat) and with local fruit and vegies made some tasty meals on our canal boat “Nazareth”.

We have arrived in Agen, France and board our Canal Boat tomorrow for a week of cruising some of the canals of France. We checked out our “baby “canal boat earlier this morning and personally, I am pleased it is not too big, as I am the first mate. I have my leather gloves ready for all the work manoeuvring the boat around the locks and waterways for the fussy captain !!! We will be without internet for a week, so will hopefully have some photos of our boat trip in a weeks time.

Agen is situated halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse, and is probably best known for its prunes. There is much more to this charming small city: gothic arches, a daily covered market, narrow medieval alleys, and a canal and river. The people of Agen are infinitely friendly, and avid rugby fans. Go Aussie !!!

Interestingly, the world-famous Agen prunes are not actually from Agen, but from nearby villages. They came to be connected with Agen because they were distributed from this city.

Until next week, hope you enjoy these photos of Agen.

It is 12 midnight…. should be going to sleep before we head to France tomorrow, but as we actually have Wi-Fi, which is a rarity,  I will do a post on where we are tonight…… one of our favourite spots from our 3rd trip (last trip) here, Finale Ligure on the Italian Riviera.

It is a small village (although it has grown from our last visit), on  the Italian Riviera west of Genoa and north of Portofino.

Known for its white sand beaches and its views, Finale Ligure is located directly adjacent to the Rock of Caprazoppa, a steep limestone mountain on the southwest, and much of the town extends up hill slopes. The town has a lively commercial district. The boardwalk is lined with palm trees and many restaurants. The town of Finale Ligure is nominally divided into three “boroughs”. Finale Ligure Marina (Finalmarina) is the main seaside part of the town, most frequented by tourists, while Finale Pia (Finalpia) is the traditional centre of the town, where a Benedictine abbey still stands. Finalborgo, the third borough and located further inland, consists of an old walled medieval town.

We stayed at the small 4 storied hotel named Hotel Garbone on our last visit, and we were pleasantly surprised to see it still standing and still run by “Giovanni”………. a boutique hotel opposite the Mediterranean ocean.  A different room this time, but still cute, clean and with a stunning view.

We visited the incredible place of Venice, once again together. We were here about 20 years ago, for our first holiday away together. It was romantic then, and is still as romantic now.

Venice is a city in north-eastern Italy, sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city, in its entirety, is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon. A must see on everyone’s “bucket list”.

It was here in Venice, on our first visit, that Mal met my Mum and Dad for the first time nearly 20 years ago. With its narrow lanes, continual bars, restaurants, no cars, interesting shops (I could fill 10 suitcases….I wish ) it is a place to be seen to be believed !

We rented an apartment for a week around the corner from San Marco Piazza with the intent of cooking a few of our own meals…no such thing, the restaurants were too inviting. We also enjoyed a day out visiting the famous Murano Island and it’s glassblowers. That proved a bit costly !!!! All in all, we have absolutely loved Venice , and fallen in love with its beauty again.

We spent a beautiful and relaxing week in Lake Como.

Lake Como , is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 square kilometres , making it the third largest lake in Italy. At over 400 metres (1,300 feet) deep, it is one of the deepest lakes in Europe, and the bottom of the lake is more than 200 metres (660 ft) below sea-level. We could probably be safe in our boat here !

Lake Como has been a popular retreat for aristocrats and wealthy people since Roman times, and a very popular tourist attraction with many artistic and cultural gems. It has many villas and palaces. Many famous people have or have had homes on the shores of Lake Como, such as Madonna, George Clooney (he was out when we visited ), Versace and Sylvester Stallone. Lake Como is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe, and we can now understand why.!!!

We had a beautiful room, that after walking the 120 stairs to reach it (really hard after doing it a couple of times a day…. after all the other stairs….1000’s), was perfectly place on what seemed like the top of the lake! We could hear the church bells nearby ring on the half hour, day and night, and at siesta time, hear the jolly little Italian man singing happily away while he worked in the bar below us. We were lucky to catch up with one of my sisters Diane, and brother-in-law Dennis, for dinner one night during their trip in Italy.

I am spending a week here at La Villa Hotel ……A  hidden gem set in a stunning location  surrounded by vineyards,
rolling Piemontese countryside, and framed by the Alps beyond.  Built in 1600, La Villa has been transformed into a stylish and
chic retreat  with a unique atmosphere – more like staying with friends than in a boutique hotel.

Piedmont is the birthplace of the Slow Food Movement and is renowned throughout the world for the quality of its food, the huge range of cheeses and hams, the flavours of its  chocolate and coffee and, above all, its wines and famous white truffle. PLUS SO MUCH MORE !!!!

I am having so much fun, cooking, exploring the local markets for food to cook, the back alleys for interesting shops and getting lost. The Italians are so helpful and friendly.

I will keep this post short as I am about to have a massage…… life’s tough.

Where do I start ?????

After a very long and tiring trip over ….Hobart to Melbourne to Singapore to Dubai to FINALLY Milan Italy I arrived. I have lost 8 hours somewhere but am catching up.

I have had an incredible experience since, thanks to the wonderful organization from Chris and Nicola from La Villa (my accommodation owners), Valli Little (well-known for association with Delicious Magazine and her cooking expertise, and absolutely beautiful person) and MartinTeplitzky (chef and son of well-respected  Gretta Anna Teplitzky)….  what can I say.

We have been wined and dined in style with the occasional entertainment freely supplied by the group of approximately 20 of us……not always suitable to publicize on this blog.

I am only into day 2 of a 7 day experience. Last night we enjoyed a 5 course dinner prepared by chef Charlie Mozley with wine pairing by local wine maker (and female) Chiara Boschis. I really enjoyed talking to someone so passionate about something she believes in. She reminded me of Mal and his boats except in this case it was wine.  Today we visited the town of Acqui Terme to explore the Fresh Produce Market buying supplies for the cooking today. We certainly are not hungry or thirsty !!!!!