We're all going on a summer holiday...

Finally back in London after a massive summer of work. OK, and a little fun as well. Here are some of the places I worked this summer:

It all started with a week in beautiful, sunny Portugal


Followed closely by a month on Sea Island in Georgia




Next stop was Washington DC



Back to London in time to enjoy a glorious sunny day in Green Park with friends


Before jumping on the Eurostar for a few days in Paris





So back to routine this week. The kids are back at school (hooray!!) and there is no more travel on the horizon...until at least October!

And summer is over, the days are getting shorter and the tan built up over 6 fantastic weeks in the sunshine is beginning to fade. Autumn is here and it's time to get out the warmer clothes. Seems a crime almost...

Highlights of my second year in London

 

Back for Good

OK. I know it's been an unforgivable three weeks since my last blog, but yes, I'm still alive. Just in case anyone was wondering!

I have all the usual excuses. Problems with my internet connection. Too busy at work. Too tired at the end of the day. The flu that lasted for two whole weeks. They are all true, but still I apologise for my absence.

Not that I've really done anything blog-worthy in the entire month of January, unless you count an endless stream of music classes, mealtime tantrums, freezing cold days, nights with no central heating, playdates (including one where 6-year-olds' friend actually did a poo right on the middle of the carpet!), school runs, ballet classes (for the kids, not for me!), swimming lessons (same!), etc, etc, etc...

I think I might have forgotten something. Oh yeah. My life. Forgot for a moment that I actually have one! There are some exciting things on the horizon though. My boss has been sorting out the family travel plans for the first half of this year. In two weeks, were off to France again (and I promise to post pictures this time!). Then in April, it's a trip to Morocco. Summer holidays is Portugal, followed by a trip to Washington DC and Georgia in the US. That should give me plenty of things to blog about.

As for my life in London, it's plodding along. I really feel like I live here now. I really need to get out and do some more touristy things in my own adopted city.

I really need the cold weather to stop.

Not as smart as my phone

OK. I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth...at least as far as I can remember! My main reason for not blogging has been that since my digital camera met its untimely death, I have bought a new phone. A smart phone. Smarter than its owner, obviously, since I can't figure out for the life of me how to get my pictures from my phone to my PC. So rather than disappoint my two faithful readers, I've decided to post this blog...without pictures. I hope to get them up soon but for now, you'll just need to use your imagination.

Since my last blog post, I have made my first trip overseas with a family I've worked for. The destination for this trip was to a house in Normandy, France. I was more than a little nervous before heading off on this particular trip as I had no idea what to expect and the thought of 5 hours in the car with three kids was not filling me with joy and happiness. In the end, I didn't need to feel nervous. The trip over was pretty uneventful, except for my excitement about my first trip in the Euro tunnel. The house (a HUGE understatement!) was in the beautiful village of Beauxville. The countryside was just gorgeous. Green fields, picturesque cottages and autumn colours everywhere. I even had my own room (no sharing with the children for me, praise God!) with exposed beams and a fireplace.

We made day trips out to Deauville and Trouville on the coast, ate crepes, crepes and more crepes, donned the wellies for wild raspberry picking, strolled along the sand on the coast of the English Channel, ate at delicious French restaurants, and shopped til we dropped. All in a day's work for me, really! On the last day, we all headed to Honfleur which, I'm sorry, but words cannot describe. I promise to get some pics up as soon as I can.

Since France, it's just been work, work, work. These past few weeks, I have truly appreciated the easy life I used to have when I worked part time. But even with the long hours, there's not a lot I would change. The 1-year-old boy has started to walk, give out kisses (of the slobbery, open-mouthed variety!) and tottering up to me for a cuddle when he sees me, so that makes starting and finishing in the dark worthwhile. The older two...well, it's a work in progress!

Last weekend, I actually did something I thought I'd never do again. I went back on The London Eye. The only difference was this time, I really enjoyed it! There is even photographic evidence to show the distinct lack of fear in my eyes.

I'd show it to you...if I was as smart as my phone!

Sunday Snapshot (and a little bit more!)

Today was one of those gorgeous winter-sunshine days that London turns on every now and then purely, I believe, just to prove to the rest of the world that they can have blue skies here. Still bitterly cold, though!

After church this morning, I wandered down Piccadilly to Fortnum and Mason where, if I had a spare 15 pounds, I could have purchased an oven-baked tarantula direct from Cambodia (True! I wouldn't lie to you about something like that!). Choosing to pass on the cooked creepy-crawlies, the scorpion vodka (sadly, also true!) and chocolate-coated ants (true, again!) on offer in their foodhall (think I'll stick with Harrods from now on!), I headed back out to the street, made my way past The Ritz Hotel, through Green Park, past Buckingham Palace, down The Mall and back to the tube station at Embankment.

Londoners and tourists alike were out enjoying the sunshine that you could actually feel, at the same time as the Arctic winds all the way to your bones.

It was such a great day out that I am choosing to block out all memory of my journey home, consisting of two trains and one over-crowded, slow-as-a-week-of-wet-Sundays bus, filled with noisy teenagers...

Bliss.

A Piece of Home

Assuming that it was going to be a wet day (I really need to stop listening to weather forecasts here!), I headed out to Westfield London on this lovely sunny day.

Which was good thing because the place was very quiet. I have missed mall shopping since being in the UK and there is a lot to be said for being able to do all your shopping under one roof. High Street shopping was a novelty for me when I first arrived and after battling Oxford Street on one-too-many manic Sunday afternoons, being back in familiar surrounds was a treat.

Although the shops are different, I could have been at any Westfield back home, and that is something I need right now. Not that I have had too much homesickness, but just little things have set me off lately. It started about 2 weeks ago when my skype connection cut out in the middle of calling home for my niece's 11th birthday, then one night this week, while cooking sausages I discovered that simple tongs are just something that the greater British public does not seem to feel a need for. See? Little things.

But that seems to have passed now and I'm sure it will hit me again later on. Just one of the "joys" of being an expat, I guess.

It was nice to be out of suburbia too. I feel like I have been stuck here the last couple of weeks, up to my elbows in baked beans on toast, school runs, birthday parties and play-dates.

I feel much refreshed after my little piece of home today (I wish I had some Tim Tams, though!) and may just head back into the city tomorrow. Must remember to check TFL for travel updates and line closures after I foolishly jumped on my usual bus today, without checking online first, and found my line closed...on a Saturday! I made it eventually, after a very long bus trip, and if that's the worst that happens to me on public transport in London, I figure I'm doing OK.

An Australian in Paris

I'm back in London after my weekend in Paris, with some awesome memories...and very sore feet.

Well, after my brief post of our first day in Paris, Hannah and I headed back out to take some pictures of the Arch de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and Eiffel Tower all lit up at night. Just amazing. We eventually found a Franprix supermarket to stock up on some supplies for the following day, as it was going to be a big one.


Saturday morning started with a trip to a local market just around the corner from our hotel, where, after chickening out of buying some "fromage" and a baguette (I was afraid I would say the wrong thing!), we purchased a croissant and then went into Starbucks, where Hannah ordered her coffee in French and I asked for the loo, in French. It has to be said that I was very proud of myself!

The first stop of the day was to the Metro station, where we managed to buy a day ticket for the train with the help of the customer service lady who did not speak a word of English, but we managed to understand each other OK, and we were soon on our way to Montmartre.



Seeing the Sacre Coeur was just like being on the set of Amelie, one of my all-time favourite movies. We climbed up all the steps and had a good look around. The weather was absolutely perfect, but very windy, and the views of Paris were breathtaking. Hannah suggested we take a tour of the crypt, and I agreed. It would be good to see underneath the church. How stupid I was. After attempting to read the sign, written in French, that mentioned something that looked to me like "300 steps" we purchased our tickets and went through the turnstile, of which there was no return. I remember thinking it was strange for there to be 300 steps down under the church. That seemed like a very long way to me.


Once through the turnstile, I was faced with a spiral staircase...leading UP! Oh, yes! We were taking the stairs all the way to the top of the dome and yes indeed, there were 300 steps, if not more! The stairs didn't really bother me, but it was very narrow and winding, smelling very strongly of a toilet, and I began to feel really dizzy. Although the views that I saw when I made it to the top made the whole thing seem worth it. See for yourself:






After Montmartre, we headed out to the cemetery at Pere Lachaise, which is where Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison from The Doors and Marcel Marceau are buried. It was the most beautiful cemetery I have ever been to...and I have been to lots. I love to wander through cemeteries, even though most people I know think that is strange. Hannah, luckily, was not one of those.










After spending the morning in the cemetery, we grabbed some lunch at The Cat Cafe across the road, where the staff did not speak a word of English, but again, with the help of my trusty phrase book, we managed OK.

Back on the Metro, which is a very efficient, if somewhat smelly and hot experience, and off to Notre Dame. This cathedral was incredible.





After Notre Dame, it started to rain, the first and only time over the whole weekend, and we walked along the Seine to Pont Neuf and then back on the Metro to Champs Elysees, to buy our tickets for the Lourve on Sunday. My feet had just about fallen off by this point!







Back at the hotel to put up my feet for a while and then we headed out to a French restaurant for dinner...at 8pm! That may not sound strange to you but as a nanny who eats with the kids at 5.30pm each night, eating at 8pm was a luxury!

Our waiter, thank God, spoke very good English and offered to translate the whole menu for us! At one point, he was explaining a dish and could not think of the word in English, so he pointed to where his kidneys would be on his body, which, if I had liked kidneys, would have made me change my mind about ordering it. There's something just a little disconcerting about being shown a potential menu item on the human body! But the food was delicious and, in case you're wondering, it was Cote Vignes in the 16th Arrondissment. There's a free plug!

The only downside of the evening was we had decided to dress up and I had my high heeled boots on and could barely walk, and we went the wrong way down the street and turned a three minute walk into a 10 minute hike!

Sunday was another beautiful day and we went to the Lourve. I have no words to describe that place. I could have spent days in there and never been bored. We got there early which was great because we got to see the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa without the crowds. After the Lourve, we walked to the Metro through Jardins des Tulieries and sat by the pond in the sunshine. I didn't want to leave.

















But the Eurostar waits for no man (or woman) and I had to say farewell to Paris.



Before I came, I never had any great desire to go there, but now, I know it is a place to which I will definitely return.