Return to 'real life'

After a 33 hour flying marathon we safely returned into the depths of Melbourne winter. Sad face. Arriving at Melbourne airport at the surreal hour of 1.30am, it was strangely comforting to chat to the big Aussie border control blokes in customs. Got to love an Aussie accent.
Lovely surprise to see Mum and Dad waiting up for us with a wood fire, food in the cupboard and our beloved Boy Dog smiling away and being his naughty jumpy self.
After only 10 hours sleep since Saturday, James and I dragged our sorry jet lagged carcasses to work today. Got to start paying off the ginormous debt we have created. Freya went to school but clearly not because she was desperate for school work. Seeing her friends was the big draw card which is normal when you have pined away for 5 weeks missing them. Jessie's friends arrived in droves, landing on her bed and filling the house with excitement. It's hard not to feel the winter blues descending so I'm thinking a trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco might just be in order. Stay tuned.

Texture, taste and time

When I was back in Australia I promised my fam that I would eat snails and frogs legs.
I was so excited about this until we rocked up to 'Chez Clement', a Parisian restaurant, and realized what I'd gotten my self into.
If you're wondering about whether I backed out or not. Well, I didn't.

Latin Quarter and Paris at night

Our last full day in Paris started with Jessie walking down the the local boulangerie to pick up some croissants for breakfast. There are no less than three boulangerie in our block alone, so it's hard to choose which one to visit (and not a Bakers' Delight in sight).
Back on the Metro we found our way to the Latin Quarter for some hard core shopping time. Jessie visited the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company which was full of young and old hipsters. Lunch involved more snails for James but thankfully no more intestines. Home for a siesta before a big night out on the Cityrama tourist bus. If you ever want to stick out like a sore thumb in Paris, hop on one of their open double decker red or yellow tourist buses. Very uncool but definitely the best way to see Paris at night. With classical music piped through our head phones we drove through the streets of night time Paris admiring the beautifully lit buildings and monuments. Perfect way to end our visit.

James and The Pig Colon

James ate a French pig's colon. Not intentionally. The same evening Jessie tried the escargots, James ventured out and ordered a roasted pork dish with mashed potatoes. Sounded harmless.
The dish arrived. It smelt 'funny'. James took a mouthful. Hmmm. Poking a fork laden with a glob he suggested I tried some. I did, but knew something wasn't right. A strong aroma and taste of manure mixed with cow shed mixed with animal faeces!!!!!
James tried a few more mouthfuls then proceeded to dissect the remaining lump. Chunks of what appeared to be rubbery aorta like pieces rolled into a tube were apparent. He left the remaining portion.
We returned to our apartment. James disappeared. I found him a few hours later lying on the bed awake. He said it was 'the sausage'. I encouraged him to save himself a night of intense nausea and rid himself of 'the evil sausage'. There was no way round it. Off he went and proceeded to vomit up his French cuisine. 5 minutes later, looking much better with a spring in his step he was cured.
Our research the following morning uncovered a horrifying truth. He had eaten a French Andouilette, a French delicacy adored by those who aren't repelled by ingesting pig's poo. It is made with the lower intestine of a pig which gives it it's unique fecal odor. Nice. Here are some pictures...

Le Louvre and The Tireds

Our mammoth exploration into Le Louvre after four and a half weeks of constant travel resulted in meltdown. All four of us totally spent. We limped back to our apartment and collapsed. Must
be time to come home.

The Dog Blog

In honor of our beloved boy dog back home, I thought a blog about the European approach to dogs would be fun to write. If you are not a dog person I recommend you switch off now.
As in Australia, dogs come in all shapes and sizes but there are some differences too.
We have seen a surprising number of Schnitzel Von Crumbs (dauschounds), golden retrievers (in the south of France they were very popular), and French Bulldogs (definitely the status breed) but mainly lots of 'no breed' dogs, small of stature, longish fur. When I asked a man in a cafe what breed his puppy was he said, 'I don't know, he's just A Dog!' and in a way, this sums up the European approach to their pooches.
I have noticed many dogs have docked tails, a practice which has been banned in Australia for some years and sadly, many dogs that are not neutered. Surprisingly I haven't seen any stray dogs. I wonder what the state of their pounds is, given the high number of un neutered animals.
We have seen a few pet shops and grooming salons.
But the most interesting thing is that dogs are so welcome in Europe in public places. In France you can take your dog almost anywhere including most tourist attractions. It is not uncommon to see a small dog being carried by its owner around the interior of a castle for example. We saw many dogs being carried around in baskets when we visited the food markets.
Dog owners are relaxed, allowing their dogs to roam around in public off lead. Most dogs appear to have good recall and are happy to follow their owners around. They are also relaxed around each other indicating they have been well socialized.
We have seen a few beggars with puppies. No doubt the presence of a puppy attracts a few extra euro from passing tourists, particularly teenage girls (I talking about you Jess).
Dog poo is everywhere, although less in Paris.
Here are some photos of a few dogs we have seen in our travels.

Jessie and the Escargots

You may enjoy seeing Jessie eating one of her long awaited French dishes as much as we enjoyed watching her eat them. Only frog's legs to go...

Paris Day Three

James birthday called for a big day. So we left our apartment at 7.30am and headed off via the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. An impressive structure built in the 1880's, it was a great experience just to be standing under it. After waiting an hour in the queue we realized we were in the wrong queue and raced over to the other queue for those silly enough to climb the Eiffel Tower by stairs. We made it to the 2nd level then took the escalator to the top. I'm not sure if I was feeling dizzy or it actually was moving, but it was a wonderful and weird experience being up that high. My initial reaction was to throw myself on the floor sobbing with fear. I'm not good with heights.
Afterwards we took a cruise down The Seine, stopping off at Notre Dame, then headed off to the The Louvre to buy tickets for our visit the next day. If that wasn't fun enough we boarded the boat again and headed for the Champs Élysées for a walk up the avenue reaching the Arc de Triomphe. Of course we had to climb that too, so 284 steps later we had a birds eye view of crazy Parisians driving around the Arc. A few close calls were witnessed including people on bicycles, 3 wheeled vans, buses, trucks, taxis. Footsore and exhausted we stopped at a restaurant for James' birthday dinner. Jessie ordered her long awaited escargots but gagged at the first one. So lucky James finished them off. Dragging ourselves home via the crowded Metro we collapsed into bed ready for another day in Paris.