French Friday – Versailles Orangerie

17 Jun 201617 Jun 2016

This vast paterre garden is seen in its full glory in the Autumn when all of the citrus trees are out in the avenues between the paterre beds. As most…

The Wiped Away World

19 Apr 201619 Apr 2016

Flash Fiction on a Tuesday and a break from the poetic...   The sails of the windmill turned and, Marie, crouching behind the flour sacks, waited. The cries beyond the…

Short Story – Larrkardiy (boab)

9 Jan 20169 Jan 2016

  Prologue For the Aboriginal people Larrkardiy always had a special strength and power. The dreamtime stories tell that this power had made the trees so arrogant that at last God…

French Friday – Arc de Triomphe

4 Dec 20154 Dec 2015

  Let your goodness pour Like sunshine through a doorway making darkness light Thankfully the French and the majority of international tourists do not care to rise early. This means that…

French Friday – Hôtel de Ville

23 Oct 201523 Oct 2015

The wonderful Hôtel de Ville. I remember seeing it for the first time. Coming from Perth, Western Australia where the majority of the buildings are either modern or mid-Victorian at…

Stravinsky Fountain – Paris

15 Sep 201515 Sep 2015

Writing 101 suggests using a quote for today's prompts. Who more sensible to quote than Salvador Dali? "Since I don't smoke, I decided to grow a mustache - it is…

In Vino Veritas

9 Sep 20159 Sep 2015

The empty bottles Cry, "In vino veritas!" At my happiness How many regrets, how many dreams have passed along the Rue Mouffetard? Surely a way that has existed for thousands…

Jeudi Joyeuse

3 Sep 201521 Sep 2015

For sheer decorative bravura you cannot but admire the spectacular balconies and stained glass dome of the Galleries Lafayette, Paris. The Art Nouveau splendour is a joy to behold and…

Mondayitis Man-Crush

31 Aug 201531 Aug 2015

I was chatting but yesterday with a most erudite historian who happened to mention “Rupert of the Rhine.” “Rupert of the Rhine?” says I, intrigued by the name. Rupert of…

On the Dol

4 Aug 201525 Aug 2015

On the Dol Grandmamma and Grandpapa Lowenbrau, Mother, Little Wendy, Great Aunt Eunice and the “Danger twins” were stranded in Dol when Grandmamma's petticoats became inextricably enmeshed in the chain…

TJ’s Household Haiku Challenge – Brolly

1 Aug 20151 Aug 2015

Marie Antoinette Ne'er gave thought in the sunshine How to dress for storms The Object: Enraptured with Versailles for the first time, I succumbed to the temptation to buy souvenirs. This…

Weird Fruit of a Humid Climate

30 Jul 201530 Jul 2015

Visiting the Cu Chi tunnels was a strange and very sad experience while visiting Vietnam. It was also extraordinarily surreal as we started the tour with a 30 minute ancient…

Paris – Nevers on a Sunday

20 Jul 201520 Jul 2015

If you are facing Henry IV's bronze statue on the Pont Neuf and look accross the bridge to the left you will see this building with its striking Art Deco frieze…

Who is Papa Bouilloire?

19 Jun 201519 Jun 2015

Who is Papa Bouilloire Papa Bouilloire (Pa Kettle) was born when I travelled to France with my beloved Kitty and Miss P. one Autumn. Although Paris is perfect in every…

Papa Bouilloire Chapter The End

13 Jun 201513 Jun 2015

Papa Bouilloire Goes to Oxford – Chapter The End I tottered down the cobblestones back to Magdalen expecting that the old Sainsbury bags appending from my arms would burst at…