Author: dapperdaveanddinkydi

2 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Travel

Neighbours & Fauchon

Today was a quiet day. An easy morning with just a short walk to the local Carrefour to buy some coffee pods to refill the jar waiting here for us when we arrived. Of course, we had to have a coffee on the way. No one has soy here so I’m having to drink my coffee black so I’m just having espresso. We flew over on Etihad and they had no dairy alternatives on board. Pretty slack of them, I reckon.

We live in a complex with 34 units. Would you believe that two other couples from that complex in Australia are in Paris at the moment too. We all met up on the Pont Neuf today & wandered up the street to find a restaurant. Unfortunately we didn’t pick too well. I have very pleasant memories of a wonderful bowl of onion soup that I had here in 2013. Even though my digestive system doesn’t cope well with onions or garlic now, I had onion soup for lunch but it was so disappointing. Nothing like I remembered. And I suffered after so definitely not worth it.

However it was good to meet up, have a chat and compare travel stories and the waitress was excellent which always makes for a pleasant experience.

Then David and I walked to a shop full of goodies, Fauchon – chocolates, desserts, pates, cheeses, jamon, wine etc. We bought just a few jellies and a couple of small chocolate bars but we did go to their cafe for a pot of tea & Mille feuille.

So a quiet but good day.

6 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Interesting Stuff, Travel

Oh! What a beautiful morning!

After our tasty breakfast, we caught an Uber to the Museé D’Orsay, arriving about 9:10 for a 9:30 opening. Our plan to avoid the crowds worked well and we had easy access to the display of Impressionist art on the 5th floor. This museum has an extensive & amazing collection. I think I love it more than any other. Until this week, my favourite artist has been Camille Pissarro but I think now he has to move to second place.

Monet’s range of work and the quantity that he produced blows me away. Here’s some of my favourite pieces from this museum with the first one being my pick of all the art we have seen in these three days. I’d love to have it hanging on my wall at home.

My family gave me a print of the Japanese bridge at Giverny for my birthday last year.

We learnt at Giverny that Monet loved trains and railway stations as is evidenced by his paintings of Saint-Lazare Station. Apparently he was painting there one day and wanted a certain effect so he caused the trains to be held in the station with their engines stoked so he could paint it. Pity the passengers who arrived home late!

Here’s a Pissarro painting that I really liked & one by Renoir of two beautiful girls playing piano. This made us think of our two beautiful, pianist granddaughters back in Brisbane.

We then went for a leisurely stroll across to the Musée de L’Orangerie in the Tuileries Garden, walking over the top of runners participating in the Paris Marathon.

This museum was designed and built by Monet in 1905 to house his beautiful large circular paintings representing his beloved water lilies in the four seasons. It is fabulous. He built it so that Parisians would have somewhere quiet to sit and relax. It is still very soothing today. The paintings cover the rounded walls of the circular rooms and are stunning. I don’t think my photography does them justice.

We wandered off and found lunch at a restaurant called ‘Flottes’. The staff were so friendly and were having so much fun, laughing and joking with each other, that it made it a very pleasant experience. It was obviously an old restaurant and was very busy. David ate moules et frites and I had a salmon, mango and avocado salad. For dessert David went for a little drama with crepes Suzette while I had my old favourite, rice pudding.

Walking off our lunch, we came to Galleries Lafayette. What a huge shop in an amazing building! There must be a playground in the roof as there seemed to be children jumping on some sort of jumping castle.

We couldn’t get over the queues of people lined up outside the Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores waiting to go in to spend their cash. Not us, though, it was time for home. we had had a morning filled with beauty. How lucky are we?

4 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Interesting stuff, Travel

Early morning musings

It’s so exciting to be in this beautiful old city of Paris. I look out the window & see an old skyline, not high rise just a series of different shaped ups and downs.

It’s 5am and I’ve been awake for two hours. It seems we can’t stay awake past 8:30pm which, of course, means I wake at 3 having had a really good sleep. David sleeps on. We must stay up one night until the sun sets so that we can brave the cold and go down to the street around the corner to watch the Eiffel Tour put on a show on the hour as it does every night. My almost four year old granddaughter told me yesterday that Peppa Pig went to The Eiffel Tour so I do need to send her some pictures of it, I think.

That does however mean braving the cold. This Queensland girl is not used to the cold and I don’t enjoy it much but it is manageable if I have the right gear. There I have a problem at the moment. I did some of my packing in a stressed state so I have come away with an unmatched pair of boots so, alas, they are unwearable. My joggers will have to do. The zipper on my trusty bubble coat won’t work either. Oh no! How will I manage? I was lucky though as a stall at the markets was selling bubble coats so I have a very nice new one.

When Jac shared her love of the Museé D’Orsay and Museé de l’Orangerie with us in 2013, I loved it too. And I’m very excited because we are returning to them today. I’m really looking forward to sitting on a stool at L’Orangerie and just gazing at those water lilies. Hope it’s not too busy.

I could wax lyrical about the sweetness of the strawberries and cherry tomatoes here. We think they are so much sweeter than at home. I don’t think I’m imagining it. Have a look at them. The cherry tomato bowl was full initially but I’ve been eating them like lollies. And what about this fruit loaf? Yum! French bread is amazing.

So now David has woken up so it’s time to get stuck into that yummy food.

7 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Interesting Stuff, Travel

Delicious food & beautiful art

We’ve had another fun day in our lovely Paris home which is in the attic of this beautiful old building behind which you can probably spot an iconic Paris landmark.

The Marché President Wilson are held just around the corner from our building on Wednesday & Saturday mornings and we have been hanging out to stock up on fruit, vegetables and, of course, French bread. So early this morning, in spite of a temperature around 1*, we went down and it was amazing.

So much fresh produce: meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, breads etc. All so very tempting! We can now have a delicious dinner at home of an evening and we are looking forward to it tonight. A veal steak for David and, for me, a big plate of fresh vegetables: white asparagus, zucchini, carrots, beans; all to be followed by sweet strawberries.

After we packed our goodies away, we caught an Uber to go to the Foundation of Louis Vuitton which is an amazing piece of architecture housing a collection of art works.

It is currently housing the Courtauld Collection on loan from Somerset House in London which is undergoing renovation.

The Impressionists are our favourites so we really enjoyed this exhibition of works by Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Degas and Van Gogh as well as others. We then went to the Museé Marmottan-Monet to see the largest collection of Monet anywhere in the world. It was wonderful.

Enjoying this beautiful art work in such an amazing city is a privilege. We are so very lucky.

9 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Travel

Monet’s Garden

The ennui of 28 hours of flight across the world disappeared as if by magic this morning when we wandered through the beautiful gardens of Claude Monet at Giverny.

We first visited Paris in 2013 when we celebrated my birthday at the Moulin Rouge with my daughter, Jac, and eight friends from home. What a memorable night. It was on that trip that I discovered my love for the Impressionists and their beautiful work at the Museé D’Orsay; firstly Pissarro and then Monet. Jac, with two years experience as a Contiki Tour Manager, was our guide to Paris, her favourite city and she shared her delight with us. At Museé de L’Orangerie, I was thrilled by Monet’s beautiful water lilies. I sat and contemplated those amazing paintings on the walls of the two oval rooms purpose-built by Monet for his art work. I loved them and wanted to visit his gardens to see what inspired him. But, alas, we were out of time.

We’ve returned to Paris in order to visit those gardens so, after our very early breakfast – we’d woken at 4am as you do when you are suffering from jet lag- we joined the thousands of others on the Paris metro to get to Saint-Lazare station to catch the train to Vernon & the shuttle bus to Giverny.

We weren’t disappointed. The spring flowers were out in full – tulips, daffodils, pansies, primula ……. and they were magnificent as you can see in the pictures. The water lilies were not in flower but the ponds were still beautiful and so calming even though the crowds were starting to build. I’m so glad we arrived just after opening at 9:30.

We enjoyed visiting his studio and seeing inside his home. It reminded us of our visit to the home and studio of Joaquín Sorollo in Madrid.

By this stage, we needed sustenance & warming up as, although the sun was very pleasant, the temperature was about 5 degrees. So we found hot chocolate and tarte tatin and it was delicious.

We retraced our steps to our Paris home but, before coming in, we visited the very friendly restaurant across the street for a very late lunch and then it was home for a nap. We’ve a lovely little apartment just across the river from the Eiffel Tower. It’s up in the attic on the 6th floor. Thankfully there is a lift and, even though it is tiny and antiquated, it works well. We have a great view of the Paris skyline.

It has been a wonderful first day in Paris.

2 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Interesting Stuff

Come with me on my walk this morning?

When I go out of a morning to walk beside Moreton Bay I walk mindfully, enjoying the sights and sounds along the way and I feel so lucky to be here.

This morning I took some photos so I could share my pleasure with you. I hope you enjoy it too.

We’ve had some beautiful rainy days but this morning it was so lovely to see the sun

In the distance, the structures at Brisbane Port resemble huge creature.

The ripples make such lovely patterns. (It was high tide this morning.)

Can you see the little Willy Wagtail in the two picture above? Usually there’s a whole family playing in that spot but this morning I saw only one.

I’m not the only one out enjoying the freshness of the morning.

And lastly I saw and smelt my favourite coffee shop. I was good, though, and resisted the temptation to go in. But will I be able to do that tomorrow? I’m not sure but I do know that I will once again feel very lucky to live in such a lovely place.

Leave a comment Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi My favourite reads

Pachinko and Pompey

How are these two words connected? How can a Japanese recreational arcade game and a famous Australian general be linked? Is it merely alliteration? No – it’s because they are the key words to remind me of my favourite books from 2018.

I spent some time in hospital early in the year and a very kind friend brought me Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. It’s a delightful, sad family saga set in Korea and Japan during the 20th century. I had next to no knowledge of the history between Korea and Japan in that time frame but I learnt much whilst reading Pachinko. I absolutely loved the book and passed it around amongst my family and friends who all reviewed it favourably. Some members of my book club were not so impressed saying that it lost focus in the second half of the story. I reread it prior to our discussion at book club and I found it to be just as enjoyable the second time.

Pompey Elliott In His Own Words by Ross McMullin is also historical but it is the story of Pompey Elliott, one of Australia’s great fighting generals during World War I. Ross McMullin has researched Pompey’s life through his own writings; his diaries, his letters and his wartime correspondence and has published his writings in chronological order. We went to a talk by Ross at the 2018 Brisbane Writer’s Festival about this book and were hooked. We had to buy it. It’s a gripping read. We see inside the thoughts and feelings of this compassionate man who fought for his men through numerous controversies even though it affected his opportunities for promotion. He grieved when his men were sacrificed and we see that particularly in letters to his wife. (She kept and preserved all his letters to her and their two children.) He tried to be a father to his children even though he was thousands of miles away in horrific situations. The letters to the kids are poignant.

Two great books! I recommend them to you.

PS I’m doing a WordPress free online course at the moment and it gives a daily challenge. I haven’t managed them all but this one is to post a regular monthly or weekly post. So I reckon I’ll write about the best books I’ve read each month but I thought I had to start with these two great books I read last year. I hope you enjoy reading about what I’ve been reading.

6 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi 50s & 60s, Food

After the ball ……..

Last week I was chatting with my hairdresser, Penny, of Penelope Jane Hair Boutique, at Gumdale as she cut my very short, greying hair and gave me a general tidy-up. She mentioned that her team had been invited to a ball and it took me back ……………….

When I was a young teacher in Nanango I had a wonderful time at the local balls which were held a few times a year in the South Burnett District in the lovely old community halls, Tara’s Hall in Nanango and others in Kumbia, Wooroolin and Tingoora – these were all small country towns nearby.

What a business it was though to prepare for these Friday Night balls! As soon as school was out I’d rush to the hairdressers to have my hair done. After it was shampooed it would be wound tightly on rollers – and, of course, I had long hair in those days so that it could be put up. Then I would sit under the drier which would pump hot air onto the rollers and it would be very uncomfortable and burning hot. I remember trying to slide my glasses in over my ears so that I could read a magazine to pass the 40 minutes or so that it took to dry. What a relief it was when it was finally dry! Then the rollers would be removed, my hair would be brushed out and the hairdresser would attack it with a teasing comb – making backward and forward movements so that the hair knotted and gained body. She would then mould it into the required position, putting about 100 pins into it to hold it in place. she would curl little strands of hair near my ears around her finger to make a little ringlet on each side. Then copious amounts of hair spray would be sprayed on so that my hairdo would last the night out no matter how boisterous my dancing became. The whole process would have taken at least three hours!

At Nanango Rural Youth Debutante Ball 1969 with Joy Perrett, Belle of the Ball. My hair isn’t “up” but it does contain many pins and lots of hairspray.

The balls were great fun and it was just fun in those days – I don’t remember any alcohol. I do remember the large teapots of sweet milky tea and horrible sweet coffee made from coffee essence being brought around to fill our china cups and the wonderful array of freshly made sandwiches and home made cakes. Supper was always delicious.

But when I got home about 1:30am, it was annoying. I could’t sleep with all those pins in my hair, so no matter how tired I was, I had to take my hair out. Brushing out the teasing was a painful process too.

Now my visits to the hairdressers are very pleasant. I’m offered tea, coffee or water and then I take my seat on the lovely massage chair which massages my whole body whilst one of the team shampoos my hair and gives me a wonderful scalp massage – such bliss – I wish it could go on for hours. Then my trim and blow dry takes no time at all and I’m out of there, looking and feeling great. Even if I was going to a ball, my visit to the hairdresser would be just the same – no need for all that carry-on.

How things have changed!

2 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Family history

Cruising with Oceania Cruises

We love cruising with Oceania! The food is amazing and the crews are so helpful and so friendly – always up for a joke – and they call you by name which is just so nice.

We have cruised on three of their beautiful ships, the Regatta and the Sirena (two of the smaller ones taking 684 passengers) and the Marina which can take 1250 passengers and has 750 crew to take care of you.

Our first Oceania experience was cruising the Baltic on the Marina in 2016. Previous to this, we had done several river cruises and cruised the Mediterranean on the Queen Elizabeth in 2012. We wanted to cruise the Baltic and we were looking for a cruise that visited the ports of Riga in Latvia and Klapedia in Lithuania because David’s family migrated to Australia from that area around 1888. How lucky were we that the ship we found on that route was the Marina? We had a wonderful time. The crew were so much fun and they made us feel that they were enjoying the cruise as much as we were.

In February 2017 we cruised on the Sirena from Papeete in Tahiti to Sydney in Australia. Unfortunately we encountered some unpleasant weather but the crew were very helpful and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the cruise.

Last year, our cruise to Alaska on Regatta ended very prematurely because I became ill and was taken off the ship at Ketchikan & flown by air ambulance to Bellingham in Washington State. The lovely doctor and nurse on the ship looked after me so well as did all of the medical staff and ambulance staff that took care of me. Even the passengers on the ship were amazing. I was bleeding internally and may have needed a blood transfusion so the doctor put out a call for passengers prepared to give the right type of blood to come to the surgery and, even though it was 9:30 on a Friday night, many people came and donated their blood. I found this very humbling. If you read this blog and you were one of those people, I thank you very sincerely.

You’ve probably heard or seen Oceania’s claim to “The Finest Cuisine at Sea” and you may be wondering if it’s true. Well, as I mentioned earlier most of our ocean cruises have been with Oceania so we can’t really confirm the truth of that claim. But what we can tell you is that we love the food and the total dining experience. We love that there is no extra charge for eating in the speciality restaurants. We love that we can go on line a few weeks before a cruise and book our nights in those speciality restaurants. We love that you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Grand Dining Room any time you please during the hours it is open. We love that you can sit anywhere and choose to share your table with friends or with strangers or sit by yourselves and have a romantic dinner for two. We love that they cater to people with particular dietary needs without fuss.

Lobster in Polo Grill
Dessert in Red Ginger

Unless we have an early excursion, we love to have a long leisurely breakfast in the Grand Dining Room where David loves to order the grilled lamb chops. We love the grilled lobster served in the Polo Grill. What I really love is anything on the menu in Red Ginger, the Asian Restaurant. The decor is red and black and the food is simply amazing. That’s my favourite! We tend to have lunch in the Waves Grill so that we can have a smaller snack rather than a big meal but there are so many delicious choices in the buffet that we do still have a larger lunch that we planned. This is why we have never made it to afternoon tea which is highly recommended by others. On Oceania, Barista’s serves great Illy flat whites and all tea, coffee and soft drinks are included.

On 19th April we will be back on the Marina for a 14 day cruise from Southhampton to Barcelona. We’ve booked our restaurants and sorted out our port days and are counting the days – but before that we have seven lovely days in Paris. How lucky are we?

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Yoga Retreat Springbrook

I was so lucky last weekend to spend two nights and a couple of lovely days at the Theosophical Retreat Centre in the Springbrook National Park in the hinterland of Queensland’s Gold Coast. Less than two hours from Brisbane this place seems a million miles away, nestled into the rainforest.

I loved the trees, the birdsong and the peace of nature

My daughter, Sally Waters, is a yoga teacher and each February she runs a retreat here. This year has been the first that I have been able to go, but like all the other participants, I’ll do everything I can to make sure I can go each year.

Sally facilitated a wonderful program which included yoga, of course, waterfall walks, swimming in a cold mountain pool, dance and tree qi gong. Marg was our chef for the weekend and the food was amazing – vegetarian but so so delicious and you should have tasted the beautiful desserts – no stinting or fasting here, unless you wanted to, of course and, believe me, nobody did. There was rest time, when I read my book: “Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty, a great read about nine people at a health retreat for nine days. I enjoyed the book but their retreat bore no resemblance to ours, I’m pleased to say.

The accommodation at the retreat centre is basic but comfortable. I heard no complaints. There’s a great dining room, a covered outside eating area and individual rooms with mainly shared facilities as well as a great hall for yoga and activities.

We were a group of twelve and another couple joined us for the day on Saturday – we weren’t all strangers but we did get to know each other over the 48 hours and we formed a very supportive group. Sal has a lot of energy and loves movement especially to music and she inspired us all with that energy. I’ve even got my yoga mat out each morning since I came home – let’s hope I can keep that up.

I enjoyed the peace and stillness of the mountains, the company, the movement – I enjoyed it all and I’m looking forward to next year.

Sally & I at the top of the waterfall