Mt Hotham

With recent birthday dinners for two friends, it was a weekend in Hotham that I had been looking forward to since arriving home. Having just bought a car and starting work back at Royal childrens Hospital. The first weekend of September saw a large group of friends and I take to the sloaps. With a moderate amount of snow, the first afternon, I spent most of my time polishing off my snow plows and turns. With a big dinner and lots of wine, a cosy fire place and a good sleep, we hit the sloapes the next day a little harder. By the time we stopped for lunch my legs were like jelly and I perfected the art of falling over and crashing into my ski school group in the afternoon. I think that they all thought I was a bit of a spaz, but my legs were barely holding me. Giving up that afternoon, we spent the sunday at the Millowa cheese factory half way back to Melbourne eating a fabulous lunch and relaxing in the winter sunshine. My mums 1970's ski clothes were a hit with my friends and I now have a nick name apple.

Arriving back in Melbourne

It's a very unsettling feeling arriving back in the country you left five years ago. Having planned to come home for good, it was unpacking my bags and sitting in my old room at my parents place that made me think, well now what. Where do you start building your life back again after being away so long. After spending the first night with my family having dinner. There were drinks with friends in Richmond, many of whom had shared some of my european memories over the last couple of years in London.
So now, here goes, starting anew.

A Weekend in Paris

After a couple of meetings in Nice with a French guy Simon, we made casual plans to catch up in London for a weekend. The weekend's location changed to Paris, and after leaving Sicily and having my last night out in London with my friends, I jumped on the Eurostar to meet Simon. Having not spent that much time with him in Nice, I was apprehensive about how well the weekend was going to go, and was also convinced he wasn't going to turn up. After arriving on the platform to find no one waiting for me, my fear became reality for about five minutes before he came strolling in the station.....Thank god.



Now I don't think I need to tell you that it was an amazing weekend. Sat was spent strolling through the Bastille area into the heart of Paris. After a lazy lunch in a French Restaurant, and then a couple of hours lying in the Jardin de Luxembourg we headed down to the Seine for a music festival and to catch up with his cousin. Catching glimpses of the Tour de Eiffel as I crossed the bridges with my own personal sexy french guide, I couldn't help but pinch myself.
Sunday was spent exploring the Jewish Quarter, another long lunch and then quick snooze in another park and all of a sudden it was time to go. With my flight to Melb the next day, I had to head back on Sun night so we headed to the eurostar where we said our final goodbyes. A weekend I will never forget.

Leaving London

When I landed in London five years ago, I never would have thought it would be five years later that I would be finally saying goodbye.
There have been so many people who have come and gone through the years and many of them back in Aus now after their couple of years away. So saying goodbye to those staying for longer, perhaps forever is a difficult task.
My french friends for examle, who have been an incredible sourse of support, entertainment and joy for the last three years. To think it started with Laurant and Nicholas coming up to our new flat to borrow ice cube trays. The kollock as they put it was then made up of guys only, later becoming a house with three couples, Nicholas, Pauline, Sebastien and Carole and Laurant and Jo. The friendliest group of french people..(and spanish) I have ever and most probably will ever meet.


Then there is the girls Cath, Zoe and Heather. Cath being one of my closest and longest friend in London. We met handing over to each other, nursing a girl in south Kensington together. The countless coffee's, nights out, shopping days and travels we have shared will always make me smile. Travelling India together was one of my favourite experiences.

Zoe and Heather I met more recently through Meg, and again, many more coffee's, nights out were spent not forgetting the days exploring new and old areas of London together.

The Parrot girls who I worked with for the last four years will also be a group of nurses I will never forget, I am sure that their careers and lives will see them travel to Australia and I am sure to see them all again some day. Parrot ward was the most stable part of the last five years, and I am sure that a part of me will always call it home.
Meg, my oldest and one of the original travel group, will be my hardest to leave. There have been so many memories that we have shared over the last five years, travelling, living and going out together, sharing our ups and downs. I will miss her so much and can't wait to see her again soon in Melbourne, with a ring on her finger.

Sicilan Photos

Sicilian Summer Times

Ahhh, summer in Sicily, Where 10 days somehow became three weeks.
Visiting Leanne after nearly a year since the last Italian visit was fabulous. While we had sunny blue skies and temps of high thirties most of England was under water and I was very keen to avoid it. So it made sense to stay!
I arrived and Leanne's brother Michael was also visiting. I woke up on my first morning to find a market at the bottom of Leanne's flat and that my polkadot undies had flown off the balcony in the night never to be seen again. It was already hot, and the oppressive Mt Etna loomed in the background of the incredibly beautiful Taormina, Leanne's home!
Within a day we were at our first Sicilian party, with a beautiful backdrop of Mt Etna and beautiful Italian men, who wouldn't want to leave?

The three weeks were spent lying on the beach with Locals, Claudio and Sabrina. Daily rituals became eating aranchini balls on the way to visit Leanne at work, then after a couple of hard hours bathing, the best Gelati in the world, after a small break back at Leanne's apartment with Bruscetta and fresh pasta we then hit the town at Morgana bar after the sun had gone down. It was a hard life for a while. Taormina is such a beautiful town, it was difficult, to leave those beautiful people Leanne, Louisa, and Claudio behind, but my trip was winding down and coming to an end. I had to head back to London to catch up with friends before jumping on the eurostar to Paris to end 4 months of the most incredible holiday ever.

Last night in Nice

After 9 amazing weeks in Nice it's time to leave. I will miss so many things about this beautiful city. Highlights and things I will miss dearly are
My Alliance Francais friends, My gorgeous apartment, Running along the promenade, Flo at Bar de La Degustation, Classes with Sten, Bumping into Simon, Day trips to Monaco, Cannes, Eze. Drinks on the beach at night, the Market, Vieux Nice and the french bulldogs in the pet store.
My memories of my time here in Nice will always be with me.
Now onto my next adventure....Sicily.

EZE

Ohhh, this place is like a fairytale. The town is an old chateaux perched at the top of cliff looking over the sea. The streets are cobbled and tiny, leading around corners and up steps to another lookout of the mediterranean ocean. Everywhere you turned there was another ornate lantern hanging fromthe side of another corner. The church was perched at the top and was one of the quaintest churches I have seen. Such an amazing place, and the hotel in the town was that of anyones dream. Oh if I only had money!

More friends leave Nice

With the ending of another month, many of the students left Alliance Francais this week, including Robert and Christina. One of these photos is of me in class being stupid on our last day, and the other, of Robert who has been in all my classes this month and lived in the same appartement building. We had a night out for Robert on Friday night and he left on Saturday . This weekend we visited Antibes and Eze, two villages on either side of Nice. Antibes was great but Eze, the highlight of the weekend. I am definately going back to Eze with my prince charming for our honey moon.

Kris in Nice

After a quick visit to the doctor on Monday morning (in french!) Kris arrived in Nice after a brief visit to Paris. He was here for the last two days and it was fabulous to see him again and catch up in the sun after so many years spent catching up in the dreary old London weather. While I went off to class, Kris went and sat on the beach for a couple of hours to soak up the beautiful Nicoise sun. Yesterday after class, I met him on the beach again and we went for a wander in the Vieux Nice eating Gelati and then sat in the sqaure watching the world go by. Two days flew by and he left this morning back to London. I have another french test today which I am supposed to be studying for now, but I am procrastinating again.....nothing ever changes?

Meggie and Heather in Nice

Blue sky, sun and beach!
The weekend consisted of croissants, french pastries, wanders through the market, hours on the beach, walks up to the chateaux at the top of hill overlooking Nice, and a fabulous dinner in the Vieux Nice at a restaurant hidden down a little side street next to a beautiful church.
It didn't take long for Heather and Meg to unwind and join into my slow holiday walking pace....its essential in Nice to relax and take it easy, which we definately achieved!.
Thanks girls for a fabulous weekend, looking forward to seeing you again in London soon, this time I will bring the sun with me!

Nights out in Nice and Days on the beach at Monaco

This last week has just flown! With a couple of dinner's out in town and the Fete De la Musique on Thursday night, all of a sudden it was Friday and Meggie and Heather arrived for a weekend with me here in Nice. The Fete de la musique was a rather large night out in the Vieux Nice with a whole group of people from the school. A fantastic night bumping into people in the streets and sitting in my favourite bar listening to music and watching all the people walk by. Friday was a quiet day, spent skipping school for the first time and heading to Monaco for a beach afternoon. I love the beach and water there, its a fabulous place to swim. The first photo is the amazing sky in Monaco.

The other photo is from a night out last week where we started with a couple of drinks on the beach and ended up at the most seedy well known pub in Nice....somewhere I have been refusing to go until now. Needless to say there won't be any photo's of that night as the night got quite messy!

A weekend back in London

Bonjour mes amies,
What a fabulous weekend although I think I am still feeling the after effects of Friday night......Tequila anyone!
Typically, I left the beautiful sunshine of Nice and arrived to awful weather in London. After a few drinks at the Grand Union, we managed to hijack a little pink bike from the bus station Cartwheel down the road to the Notting Hill Arts Club. Fabulous night...not so fabulous morning the next day! After recovering with a wonderful breakfast/lunch on the canal, the picnic I had planned was scrapped due to... surprise, terrible weather! I managed to catch up with more friends at the pub on the Sat afternoon when the sun graced us for an hour or two. A very seedy Sat night ended with such a yummy Indian dinner with Daz and Rukiya, at my favourite Indian restaurant. mmmm I miss my Korma's.

Wow, it was Sunday already and after another fabulous breakfast/brunch with Meggie catching up on all the gossip, I had to come home to Nice. It was great to see you all again and I am looking forward to the next big night out back in London.

A night in Cannes

So its been a little quieter for me here in Nice after the departure of all my wonderful friends. Although I wish I could say the same for my liver as it took quite a beating Fri and Sat night. After a big night friday, a couple of us from the school went to Monaco on Sat morning for the day and boy was it was hot hot hot! I felt as though I was cooking in the sun so in the afternoon we headed back to Nice and Omar and I hit the town for a quiet night which ended up finishing at three again. Thank god Sunday was a quiet day, sunny and beautiful spent relaxing in a cafe in the old town.

Last night I went to Cannes after school to meet Zoran (AF student last month).
The sky was an incredible colour when we got to the top of the hill overlooking Cannes, and it was a little quieter there without the festival so we took the oportinity to eat in the most well known restaurant for seafood and ordered a huge seafood platter. Zoran couldn't help himself and as I was taking the photo decided to start eating!
The freshest seafood I have eaten considering one of my clams came with a incy wincy crab. Thank god I spotted him as a couple of minutes after I had put him on my plate, I looked down and he had started making a run for it.... C'est vivre! (alive)

Adrian and Jess in Nice

With the arrival of fantastic superfriends all the way from Aus, Sat night was spent in the old town eating and drinking and catching up on all the goss from Melbourne. After a very french breakfast, croissants and OJ on Sun, we wandered through the market, along the promenade in the sunshine and then hit Monaco for a bit of yaght, boat, eye goggling!!! The sun was out, my friends were in town and we were in Monaco, life just gets better and better. With yesterday being Mothers day here in France, we seemed to have the town all to ourselves and after wandering through the massive big kick arse boats, walking on the grand prix circut, we found a little beach and sat and chilled. Last night we hit the old town for another meal and then Adj and Jess hit the road this morning for Tuscany! What a fabulous weekend.

Elena and Cassandra leave Nice

This week my best Nice friends have left, Elena on Thurs to Berlin and then Cassandra to Geneva on Sat. I will miss them dearly and they have made my time in Nice an amazing experience. Good luck girls for all your adventures, hope to see you soon.

Villefranche and Elena's 21st Birthday

After such an incredible week, It's going to be hard to top the last two entries. However, Friday saw the coming of age for my Costa Rican friend Elena, hard to believe she is so young! So.....we had a little fete! avec a pavlova...what's a celebration without an Aussie Pav! A few of us from school, met up at my place for a couple of drinks and then hit the old town for a few more. Not the largest 21st I have been to, but very special.

After a quiet Sat, Cassandra, David and I went to a very pretty neighbouring village called Villefranche. There was a very beautiful beach with smaller more comfortable pebbles than Nice, and apart from the tourists annoying English and American accents, it was a very nice afternoon. The water was perfect and it was great to get a good swim in. We were determined to steer clear of Monaco this weekend as the Grand Prix was on...apparently it's impossible to get into the town.
This is Cassandra and Elena's last week in Nice (Boo hoo), so we are enjoying the mornings together, having dinner together tomorrow night and then more drinkies on Fri night. What will I do without them, they have made my Nice experience unforgettable!

Cannes Film Festival

On Tues night, a couple of us from Alliance Francais went to Cannes after school. Lucky enough to arrive just as the stars were walking up the red carpet, I managed to climb up someones ladder and hang on for dear life as I snapped away at french celebrities and then Voila....all of a sudden I realise one of them is Toni Colette, how excited was I to see a fellow Aussie. A little later, we heard this shouting from everyone around us 'tcharon tcharon'...it was Sharon Stone, so funny to hear all the frenchies calling her name! I managed to get a few snapps of her and then...my favourite..Misha Barton. By the time I saw Misha, I had hoisted myself up even further, was pushing the photographer in front of me's shirt out of the way and I managed to get some great shots.
But wait for it, about half an hour later, further down the promenade we saw Claudia Shiffer doing a live broadcast for TV. Oh my god she is so beautiful, she literally took my breath away.
The evening was topped off with a fabulous meal in the old town, which is so beautiful, and a quick tour of the town before we jumped on the last train back to Nice. Oh what a night!

The 60th Cannes Film Festival
The three of us (Zoran, Elena and I) strutting our stuff on the red carpet!

French Bulldogs

These are the ugliest and the cutest dogs I think I have met. I am blessed with a pet store on the walk into the vieux Nice and every day, there are the cutest puppies in the window trying to attack each other, playing and performing for the people walking by. The french bulldogs have ears like bats and very squashed faces, and are a popular dog here in Nice. They are always the first dogs to dissapear and are always up the front of the pet shop at eye level.
I don't know if I will manage to escape France without purchasing a cute puppy for my travels. Although I have to keep reminding myself that 1. Dad will kill me if I return with a dog and 2. Dog's arn't good backpackers, and do not hold YHA hostel memberships.

Check these cuties out!

A Day on the Riviera!

Cassandra and I were supposed to be heading to Cannes for the afternoon when I recieved an invitation from Nicholas to spend the afternoon on the yaght...mmmm what to do!
Cassandra didn't need convincing and so instead of mingling with the stars in Cannes, we pretended like we were stars on our own yaght....oh this is the life, How will I ever be able to come back home.
Nicholas, Benoix, Francois, Amelie, Cassandra and I spent a fantastic afternoon moored off Antibes swimming to the beach and then relaxing in the sun. Francois even let me drive the boat on the way back, so much fun!
A couple of drinks back in the old town of Nice topped off a perfect day.