I know we’ve been to Paris and London recently and not a word, instead I write about what we’ve had for dinner!? It’s just we did so much and had so much fun in both these vastly different, yet equaly fabulous cities that neither of us knows where to start. But help has arrived in the form of Flickr……yippee………so much fun for me, all our photos in neat little sets for us to view. But it is a bit time consuming and the thing is Lille may not be the South of France but it does a pearla of an Autumn. So soon we hope to have lots of photos up and available, holidays, around Lille, apartment and of course foodie photos. But in the meantime I have to get outside, the sun is shining through the window at the desk here and I know a winter is close so I want to out run it while I can. I have a chore and shopping list a mile long and the thrill of buying new knitting needles. I am only a beginner knitter but mum and auntie Robyn are superb knitters and my nan was an amazing knitter, I have a pair of her socks and I swear a ray of light wouldn’t make it between her stitches. While Robyn is a yarn snob and wouldn’t let acrylic touch her hands, I appear to be a needle snob, I don’t like plastic, I want bamboo…..I can’t even knit a jumper yet mind you; I just prefer the feel and the look against the wool. Not being knitting season in Melbourne it probably seems out of sync to be talking wool. If Thea Olympia is reading, thank you for the lovely scarf you knitted me, gorgeous warm orange colours, it is perfect for this time of year in France.

The above photo is purchases from Paris, that’s the wool I’m knitting with and the mag is for planning dreaming about all our trips and those cute little jars were meant to be gifts, but somehow the harissa ended up in our fridge…whoops. It did go very nicely with the beef.

a bientot

Last night Jim cooked dinner, he is only allowed to do this on a night when he doesn’t have work the next day and at most twice a week and even then he has to plead. Whilst in France cooking is my domain, without a full time job to define me I cling to roles, hobbies and pursuits for reassurance. So when he is permitted in the kitchen he does so with much anticipation and preparation. Earlier in the day he announced he was heading to the market to buy fresh produce, I declined as it was a public holiday and didnt expect it to be on. Triumphantly he returned with an entire cut of fillet mignon, he unwrapped it, held it to the light and turned it to highlight its leanness, it’s colour and made me smell it to note its ordourlessness. He gave a discourse in the location of the cut and why this aided it’s tenderness. Someone get this bloke back to Oz! Just bung it on the barbie for crying out loud! I know he cooks, be grateful I hear you say and I am, so I admired the meat and I nodded and I asked the expected and oh so important question of what marinade he had choosen. Well being of greek heritage he is somewhat lemon obsessed so I saw that one coming, garlic, but of course, olive oil and a hint of the Portugese Peri Peri sauce Joey had sent us home with from London. When the time came for him to actually cook I decided the best accompaniment to the occassion was a bottle of wine and settled down with a glass and that lovely feeling one gets when someone else is cooking and you know the meal is going to be good.

So everyone is happy and relaxed and anticipating a gorgeous meal when BANG ……. the electricity has gone out!!! We note all other apartments have their lights on and then scurry for candles, luckily I’m a romantic and a huge fan of Ikea so tealights are ablaze in seconds. Jim has his million watt bike light at the fuse box and is looking confused as all fuses are intact and the circuit breaker is not resetting or doing whatever it is that it’s supposed do. I’ve decided nothing can be done for the evening as we are in a foriegn country and experience has taught me well that never assume the systems are the same. Call an electrician in the evening on a public holiday and have the bill sent to the agents to pass on to the landlord, in Australia yes, no worries mate. But in France, Oh la la I think not!

I first question the meat, Jim with much relief tells me it hadn’t hit the pan and with that grabs the keys!? He’s taking it along with my packet of frozen fishfingers (I dont eat them at home and I have no idea why I eat them here), as well the sushi grade tuna to the fridge at his work. I love that man and his priorities. While he’s gone I’m bubbling with excitement which I can only explain as the thrill left over form childhood experiences of when the electricity went out, as a kid I also loved thunderstorms and having to get up at 4am to beat holiday traffic on our drive to Sydney. When he returns the table is set with candles, wine and a meal of the char grilled vegetables he’d already prepared and the rice that reached absoption stage and required no futher heat to finish cooking…all’s good. Jim sulking for a bit over the loss of the fillet mignon but soon joins me in thinking its all a bit of a hoot.

The next morning we head to the real estate agents, I am not at all optimistic and am already planing to get out my trusty Trangia so we can at least cook and boil water over the next few days. The mademoiselle at the agents tells us it is not her problem and turns her back on us anticipating we will leave…..we do not. Jim rings the landlord who tells us rudely it is not his problem as we have over used the electricity…..we did not. We fear something that has caused the entire apartment to go out will not be a small job with a small bill. If we ring the electricity company we worry we will be responsible for the bill, we do not know the rental protocols in France and unlike in Australia when you sign the lease here you are not given an imformative little red booklet. The agent we found the apartment through and paid them for the privilage, says that is where our relationship with then has ended. She tells us she is not sure whose responsibility it is to pay a repairman, ours or the landlords, she wants us to leave. And early on we would of or we would of called for back up, but we are tired of asking people for help and we are tired of being screwed because we dont want to be rude or aggressive to the residents of our host country. So in French Jim tells her firmly we are not going anywhere and she can ring the landlord on our behalf. She fires back with a plethora of rapid French, Jim fires back with what he said in French but louder and I bombard her with English. She calls the landlord, half an hour later the landlord and an electrician are at our apartment, the electricity is back on and the landlord is shaking our hands with a smile and asking is there any other concerns he can address. He wishes us a bon weekend as he leaves.

So we are pleased, well except that we had to cancel our visit to Luxembourg, but what is more important is Jim is back in the kitchen tonight and the fillet mignon is back on the menu!

Ok is he not the cutest baby ever. The first photo we showed you he was just a few minutes old, here he is a few weeks I think? He looks pretty relaxed, I love the tongue action and all that hair!

Thanks for keeping us updated Harry, keep the photos coming….our love to the three of you xxx.

Haven’t got time to write much as we are BOTH getting ready for work. We are fine, thanks for the emails and phone calls, yes there are riots going on in Paris and as well some activity in Lille. But we were able to maintain our carefree tourist attitude in Paris as we were not in areas exposed to any of the rioting or warned to be cautions. The area we live in Lille is far from the area of reported activity, such as car torching, and from my understanding the situation in LIlle has not escalated to the point of requiring safety measures such as a curfew.

Will write more later

Well I’m home from work.

I am reluctant to write about the current situation in France as my understanding is limited and this is merely a postcard style site. I think when we don’t understand something fully it is best to say less and wise to read more. However we agreed to write about our time in France so I will write the little that I know. The current rioting in France is born of peoples fustration and fear with past, current and potential future migrant policies. The catalyst the deaths of two youths while being chased by the police in the infamous Paris suburb of Clinchy-sois-Bois, they were killed having attempted to climb an electric fence in a bid to escape a police check. I do not condone rioting but I cant imagine what the lives are like for these many powerless people. I feel so sad for the boys families and I thank God that the number of injuries and deaths sustained during the unrest does not match the number of cars torched.

Can we complete the big three in three weeks? London last weekend, Paris this weekend, New York the following??? Well its a big ask but we’ll see after we get back from Paris on Tuesday evening. Until then we bid you au revoir.

P.S. It’s not all play in Paris, I am actually there for a conference at CNRS “Controle des Decollements” and Claire……well she’s there for Paris.