On the weekend we headed out to the National Park at Kurnell, to do the coastal walk from Kurnell to Cronulla. It was lovely, albeit we did a bit of an incorrect detour via the Caltex refineries. This section of the walk wasn't as scenic as the coast, but interesting none the less!
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Attended the guided tour of Last Drinks - One More Round at the Australia Hotel, that used to be located where the MLC Centre currently is. It was also nice to hear about Sydney's original Laneway - in the heart of the CBD. For all details go to http://thelastdrinksproject.com/ Baby BlanketIt took a few dedicated good friends to inspire me to start working on my range for children! Each year our friends arrange a charity event, politely requesting family and friends to provide gorgeous gifts or events, to be auctioned and raffled to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This was my inspiration! I have made a Baby Blanket, that can be used as a blanket on the cot, or as a play blanket on the floor. This is the first of the items I will be selling and making to order.
The Blanket is handmade, and the fabrics are taken from my collection of Designer Guild fabrics, which I purchased while in London earlier this year. in the photo below the Baby Blanket is displayed upon an old garden chair that I sanded back, repainted and decoupaged. These are also available to order, but they are a work in progress! Two chairs have a Paris street map on them, the other has a Rome street map. Currently only the one in the photo is finished and ready to go. (for more details and photos of the Baby Blanket, click here.) A beautiful weekend which included Everglades on Saturday afternoon, then a serious walk through the Blue Mountains on Sunday morning, from Leura to the Conservatory Hut at Wentworth Falls. Everglades House and GardensGrand Cliff Top Walk to Wentworth Falls via Empress FallsEmpress FallsSight-seeing in Sydney look the form of a Sunday hike through one of Sydney's National Parks this weekend. With the arrival of Spring, and a crisp sunny morning saw us drive out to Mt Ku-ring-gai, to visit the beauty of the native plants in the National Park in the north of Sydney.
The walk we took starts behind Mt Ku-ring-gai train station, down to Appletree Bay, and back again. We drove to West Head, to look out over the harbour towards the Barrenjoey Lighthouse and Palm Beach. This particular blog is a work in progress. I have been racing after people and their dogs in the metro today (see rear end shot of beagle in a crowd below). I haven't yet seen a poodle, but many other types of dog abound. Photos below are from Marche aux Puce and the right bank of Paris.
Saint-Eustache, Musee Les Artes Decoratifs, Tuleries, Passage Grand Cerf then off to CDG airport6/23/2012 We exited Les Halles metro by the wrong exit (of course) loking for Eglise Saint-Eustache. There is never a simple way to find the correct exit, especially when exiting the Les Halles - Chatelet section of the Paris Metro.
We found overselves walking around the currently unattractive re-development of Les Halles, heading towards Saint-Eustache. This is a lovely 16th cent. gothic church tucked behind the modern shopping centre of Les Halles. Musee des Art Decoratifs contained a very sweet exhibition of the french children's comic character Babar the elephant, along with georgous art nouveau and art deco exhibits (including rooms from parfumist Jeanne Lanvin's apartment). We stopped off in the Tuleries gardens, to enjoy a bit of people watching as well as admire the view of the garden beds leading to the facade of the Louvre close to the Seine. The sky had started to grey over and rain was soon to start pouring down. So for lunch my sister located this fabulous little biodynamic cafe, Boco, close to Opera. We ducked in to discover a self-serve style cafe. It was our first meal whose main focus wasn't steak frites! We headed off to the Passage du Grand Cerf near Etienne Marcel for a bit of gift shopping, as well as another opportunity to get out of the rain. I then departed Paris that evening from Charles de Gaulle airport at 10.05pm, heading home to Sydney. The sun finally arrived today, and we went out to the burbs to enjoy it! We visited Musee Nissim de Camondo, an incredibly lavish belle epoque style house left to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, and then wandered over to Musee Jacquemart-Andre for morning tea in decadent surroundings.
We then headed over to the other side of town to visit Musee Rodin, had a late lunch at one of the food market areas of Paris, Rue Cler, then did a quick saunter around Palais Royale, before heading back to the apartment for a res. We then headed out to Montparnasse, to be a true tourist again, and look the lift to level 56 of the Tour Montparnasse. I gave my neck a rest on this day, so my camera wasn't with me. Photos below of the cafe at Jacquemart and photos from Tour Montparnasse of smoggy Paris! Rather a boring start to the day, putting the washing through the machine, and then off to metro stop Charles de Gaulle Etoile, via a confusing labyrinthian underground space that is the Auber-Opera & Havre Caumartin metro stops combined, to meet a friend to catch the Hop on Hop off Bus. Phew, what a long sentence! Side visits on this day were a visit to le Petit Palais for morning tea in their lovely cafe and lots of photographs, a walk along the left bank of the Seine past the book and poster seller stalls, through the Latin quarter and then a quick look through St Severin, before heading back to climb aboard the bus again at Notre Dame. Le Petit PalaisLe Grand Palais (closed on Tues, so interior shots to come - if I have time!)Back to the Hop on Hop off BusThere was a huge thunderstorm last night/early morning in Paris. We had a bit of leak in our ceiling (there are at least 3 storeys above us!) due to the severity. The day arrived rather cooler than yesterday, and I headed out to have an early morning wander and visit a boulangerie.
Having breakfasted on a lovely Parisian croissant and black coffee, I braved the nine to fivers by catching the metro to Madeleine. I had an enjoyable wander around the area visiting Fauchon to buy some macarons and have a quick look at their lovely displays of food, and I then headed to Mache aux Puces with friends. We had a lovely time meandering the lanes of the antique markets. Items I was interested in were out of my price range.( My idea was to recoup the initial cost of items by revamping and selling them back home.) I fancied some lovely 1940's light fittings but they were 50 euros too much. We dined at restaurant Paul Bert, where the meals were more than substantial and we very much recommend this as a place to visit when visiting the Marche aux Puces. (images below.) After taking quite a few photos, and being rather overwhelmed by all the gorgeous items available (with a few purchases) we then moved on to the Pompidou Centre to see a few paintings from the permanent exhibit 1905 to 1960 as well as visit the Studio of Brancusi. From Pompidou we made our way over to the left bank and visited St Chapelle, which is an entirely desirable church to visit. The gendarmes flirted with the young american girls, as we went through the security check in the Palais de Justice, before entering La Chapelle. I now realise I am definitely over the hill, as no one flirted with me! C'est la vie! It happens to us all, except those of us who turn to (not to be mentioned) methods of altering the ageing process. |
AuthorLover of travel, design, food, culture (and our two toy poodles). Archives
February 2015
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