The last two weeks of my Australian stay was filled with last minute chores and hugs with dear friends. Annie and I made a delicious Easter lunch and the get together with our old group was very special.
Family meals were spent with my Pumpkin Jen and our hearts ached when we said good-bye. It felt so special to be included in their family time and see her gorgeous parents from Mildura. I miss her smiling face so much! I had a month in Melbourne which my Becky said would be too long, but the time flew and my many chores were ticked off the “to do” list one by one. The last night in Melbourne was a great get together in Mornington with those I hadn’t seen yet or very little of, and I can only Thank everyone who made the time to come and join us. It was a joyous get together! Wozza, how great to see your smiling face and Frank & Susie, I hope you were not too late to the dinner you were going to! Loading these pictures above made me realise how important it is to remember to take photos. My memory stirs with many of the faces I love and spent time with but we forgot to capture those moments.....
11th May started with the long flight back to Europe! Unfortunately there were refuelling issues with the plane and some 3 hours later we were still sitting on the tarmac. The rest was pretty uneventful, a smooth flight with great food and lots of room on fantastic Emirates airline. Arriving into Munich was blessed with the smiling face and waving arms of my father who was standing at the front of the arrival door, Margret was next to him and we all hugged, happy to see each other again. We enjoyed a truly mouth-watering Bavarian lunch and each weekend there was spent in the glorious Austrian Alps. The snow has gone now and the meadows are green as green filled with wild flowers.
I am back in France now! Spending another summer here was not a difficult decision. Brittany is close to my beloved Paris and full of chateaus, quaint villages, white beaches and dramatic cliff faces. The villages are definitely out of fairy-tale books, the fresh produce better than any food I have ever come across. Most homes have a vegetable patch to be proud of and forest walks offer wild berries. Here where I am staying now there are cherry trees and it will not be long until the apples are in abundance. What you cannot grow is available at the local market and it smells and feels like it just came out of the ground. The French are educated to grow organically and unlike in Australia it’s easily affordable. Unfortunatley I was not able to return to the cute cottage. My landlords turned out to be the most unscrupulous beings that ever walked the earth. With Becky coming to visit me and then Michelle some weeks later I was rather concerned where we would all sleep. But life is strange! Just when something awful happens and a door shuts.... another opens and warm kind people are just around the corner. People I only met ONE afternoon when visiting Jersey (Channel Islands) last year bought a gorgeous old Breton farm house last year and offered me to stay there. Its a large rambling home on 3 levels, it reeks of history and is surrounded by old gardens filled with fragrant flowers. They are planning to renovate it, but for now it is very comfortable. This photo was taken yesterday on a hot french afternoon from the front gate. My "lodgings" are the 2 attic windows on the left side up top.........quite roomy and cute with a double brass bed and patchwork quilt.
Bec's visit was very special and we spent wonderful days together. I will add a post before the end of June with super pics she is in and took. The next few weeks brings lovely Michelle here to experience the wonders of France. Can't wait to see her again too! I may be leaving France at the end of this summer to come home, but I will be back someday! That's the thing about France, once you have really experienced it, you are hooked for life! Viva la France!
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