Au revoir to Paris and hello to Melbourne….
9 weeks since we arrived this time – back to ‘our’ apartment in Passy, and how much easier this time. I knew where to buy the newspaper each morning, the guys in the local cafe knew my ‘cafe longer avec le lait a par’, and my butcher Monsieur Gilles, greeted me with a huge smile. I felt part of the community. And for Ian it meant he could take the metro to work each morning without having to read the map and the signs!!!
The weather of course has been much kinder – no frozen fingers or howling winds as you wait for the bus, but still cool enough for the scarf – the signature of any French mademoiselle (or madame).
My writing course was terrific – and hopefully will spend more time at the computer during winter in Melbourne.
I have at last found a home for my mother’s fur coat – the one she inherited from her grandmother but never worn – a full length Squirrel and so soft and warm but…..not being politically correct in Australia now, it was a real problem on what to do with it. So it will go to a French charity who will auction it for their funds for homeless people – you never know where your stuff is going to end up do you!!!
So back to Melbourne this week. David has been house sitting for us, and I am looking forward to some gardening, some golf, some mah-jong and Solo and Book Club, but especially the garden – my lovely window box in our apartment with its cheerful red and white geraniums is not quite the same.
I have just finished reading “Americans in Paris”- during the Nazi occupation – can any of us imagine what it must have been like, little food, the black market, distruct, always fear, no heating during the winters We have much to be thankful for and much to protect.
So au revoir for now – we will be back in Paris in September, so stay tuned.
A bientot
Barbara
