Sore Bums and sore feet - Paris we have arrived

Europe is a long way from Australia, a bloody long way.  By the time we go to bed tonight it will have been 48 hours since we last properly slept.  However the pain is most definitely worth it when we look out our window at the Parisian street below.

International flights are never fun.  We left Canberra before the sun rose, made our way from Melbourne to Singapore where we spent 6 hours in transit, before the final marathon journey to Paris.  They were ok flights, just the usual issues of trying to fit very tall people into small seats.  S barely napped, we were both not at our best by the time we landed in France. Sleep deprived and sore all over.

Fairly quickly however we were through immigration and had our bags - almost too quickly really because we could only get into our accommodation at 10am and we were on the train into the city by 7.30!  But we found ourselves a cute little cafe to wait in and before we knew it we were entering our apartment.

We have booked much of the accommodation for this trip through the Airbnb website, which means we are renting apartments directly from the owners.  In this case we have rented a tiny but gorgeous apartment in a traditional building.  The lift is so tiny it barely fit me and the bags in it, S had to hoof it up the stairs, but it has everything we need and looks out onto a street of typical Parisian houses.

We were exhausted but decided to power through the jet lag and head out.  I had been informed of a good market near us.  It was somewhat disappointing (might be better on the weekend I think) but we found ourselves a gorgeous bakery to purchase some lunch and a supermarket for the other necessities.

Then it was on to being a tourist.  We jumped on the metro and headed straight to visit Notre Dame.  We got off the Metro at Pont Neuf allowing us to walk down the Ile de City taking in the sights of the river and the gorgeous architecture along the way.  The sun was out an it was really lovely and warm.
 
The crowds of tourists made it easy to find Notre Dame.  It is an amazing building.  I'm just blown away by the achievement of creating such a huge and intricate structure with the limited tools that were available to the builders.  It was of course packed with people so we didn't join the huge queue to climb the towers, we instead wandered around the inside, then the outside and further along the river.

I had heard that there was another fantastic church to visit on the Ile de City, Sainte Chapell, so we wandered back in its direction, stopping for some ice-cream - Berthillion of course.  I had raspberry and S had tiramisu.  They were both absolutely delicious and just the refreshment we needed.

There was a massive queue to get into Sainte Chapell but we joined it and about half an hour later made our way in.  It is located within the Palace du Justice so we had to be security screened etc which I'm sure is what was coursing the line of people.  We bought our tickets, headed in to the church and were just blown away.  It was quite small but the amazingly ornate decorations were just overwhelming.  We made our way around the chapel admiring the amazing work when we noticed a small spiral staircase in the corner.  Up we wound and when we made it to the top, I actually gasped.  The chapel below is only a precursor to the amazing church above.  With 15 huge magnificent stained glass window, including an awesome rose window depicting the apocalypse it is filled with beautiful light.  The incredibly high graceful ceiling is painted a deep cobalt covered with gold stars.  The church is in the process of being restored and you can imagine how amazing it must have looked when new, it was definitely worth the line up.

We rounded out the day with a wander in the Twilleries gardens.  We sat under the shady trees watching all the tourists wander by and feeling absolutely spoiled by the luxury of being there, enjoying summer on the other side of the world.

It will definitely be an early night tonight, we can both barely keep our eyes open, but we are here and the adventure is on!

Hot Chips and Vinegar

I lost weight after I finished uni.  Not seeing the connection?  Well you see the main building for my subjects was a large block in the centre of the uni.  Along with the faculty of communication, it held the student resource centre, meeting rooms and the refectory.

Every day as I left my lectures and tutorials I would be assaulted by the food scent that makes me go instantly weak a the knees.  The smell that melts any sense of resistance.  The smell of hot chips with vinegar.

And so my best laid eating plans would disappear in the face of subsidised chips smothered in vinegar.

Today I scraped together a measly salad for lunch from the fast dwindling supplies in our fridge.  It was yummy but I wasn't full, so when I stepped out of the office and caught the smell of my nemesis on the breeze I just knew what I had to have.  I may or may not have even drunk the leftover vinegar out of the bottom of the cup.

Is there a food smell that you can't resist?

Unreality

In 4 days I'm going on holiday.

That sentence just doesn't feel real.  The concept of holiday seems so distant from the daily chaos at the moment.  And yet it is going to happen.

The signs are there.  Suitcases are out of the cupboard.  Itineraries are being printed.  Arrangements are being put in place and today I bought foreign currency.

And yet, it just doesn't feel real.  I always find it amazing that disconnect we can have between what we logically know and what we emotionally feel.  I keep wondering to myself when the excitement will kick in.  Today, tomorrow, as we board the plane?

But whenever it happens - in 4 days I'm going on holiday.

P.S. I will be blogging as time and internet access allows while we are away and you can also follow me on twitter at @LisaRobey

A Random Act of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness.  I'm so glad someone came up with a term for those actions that add such kindness to our lives and that come completely unexpectedly.

Today S and I set about doing a big winter clean up of the garden.  While I weeded and tidied the garden, S attacked the massive bottlebrush that is just outside our fence.  It had grown so that it was blocking access from our gate and was shading the clothes line.  I had planned on taking out a few small branches, but S prunes with enthusiasm and before I knew it there was a giant pile of branches on the ground.  The result is brilliant, fantastic access and clear winter sunshine to the clothesline, however I was starting to wonder what on earth we were going to do with the cuttings.

Just then our new neighbour, who we hadn't even met yet, stopped by.  He too was doing pruning and offered to take all our branches with his trailer load to the tip.  In no time at all our cuttings were loaded on his ute and gone.

His help made my day.  It was just so lovely for him to stop and help people he didn't even know and it made our day so much easier.  It was a real highlight of a lovely weekend.

Gift Wrapping

I come from a family that believes in gift wrapping.  As in we believe that a gift not only needs to be wrapped, it needs to look truly gorgeous, as though the wrapping is the embodiment of the gift within.

Christmas is hilarious.  My Mum, sister and I actually discuss our gift wrapping colours to ensure a coordinated (yet distinctly different to denote who wrapped it) array under the tree.  You wouldn't want clashing colours after all.  And we are keen on complicated decorations of ribbon with knots that need scissors to undo.  Then there was the Christmas that my sister decorated the presents with Lindor balls and our until then extremely well behaved dog ate them all and ripped the presents.

As a result I have a giant box of papers, ribbons and cards from which to choose and I have to say, I love the process of wrapping.  Choosing something beautiful to make a gorgeous gift to present is a real joy for me.  Last night I wrapped up a present for a friend's baby shower this weekend, and I have to say, I did myself proud.  I particularly love the little face looking out the top.

Maybe this is why I like giving presents so much - the wrapping!

Are you a fan of over the top wrapping?  Or is a gift bag more your style?

Surprise catch up

I was wandering along today, feet on the ground, head somewhere in the upper atmosphere, when I heard "hello you".  It was a good friend of mine headed in the other direction.  We stopped, had a chat for 5 minutes and went on our way.

I catch up with my friends regularly, but today's little catch up was one of those spontaneous moments and conversations that bring such light into a day.  I could show her the cute toy I had bought for a baby shower, she could fill me in on what she has been up to.

Living in a city, even a relatively small one like Canberra it is surprising how often you can go out without running into anyone you know. That 5 minute chat today made me feel so much more connected to my community and I continued on my way, head much more on planet earth. 

Have you had a spontaneous catch up - even a 5 minute one like me - recently?

Pasta Carbonara

Isn't it disappointing when different parts of your body don't agree?  Like when your head says "these shoes look amazing" and your feet say "no, no, no, ow, ow, ow".  Or when your mouth says "yummy - more please" but your stomach says "stop or I am going to make you feel nauseous for the next few hours".

The of the things that has always caused major conflict between my tastebuds and stomach is pasta carbonara.  Generally I have a pretty cast iron stomach but very rich and fatty things can set it off and pasta carbonara has long been one of those culprits.  So I had resigned myself to stealing a little bite and no more when someone else ordered it.

Then S introduced me to his carbonara recipe.  It is full of the creamy, cheesy, bacony goodness that makes carbonara so delicious, but the addition of red wine vinegar adds an acidic note that cuts through the fat and parsley adds a freshness.  It is supremely delicious and I can eat a giant bowlful without ill effect!

Pasta Carbonara
serves 2

3-4 rashers of bacon chopped (you can see from the photo S likes big pieces, but whatever size is fine)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese grated
1/3 cup romano cheese grated
1/3 cup cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 egg yolks beaten
a couple of tablespoons of chopped parsley
pepper to taste

250g pasta of your choice - we usually have spaghetti

Put your water on to boil.  Add spaghetti and cook till al dente.

In the meantime fry the bacon till crispy.  When the pasta has just a couple of minutes to go, add the red wine vinegar to the pan (be careful not to get a faceful of vinegar when it starts to evaporate) along with the cream and two cheeses.  Mix until cheese is melted and the sauce is combined.

Drain the spaghetti and return to the pot.  Add the egg yolk and mix through the hot pasta, then add the rest of the sauce and the parsley.  Mix through and serve immediately topped with pepper to taste.

It goes very nicely with a crisp white wine.

Enjoy!