#PrayforParis

The week started with celebrating my birthday! I love birthdays and surprises and so I was up early with my family opening up presents! I was so spoilt and blessed with presents, phone calls and messages throughout the day. We spent the day in Cape Town at the Waterfront. One of my favourite places! The Christmas tree is so huge and stunning - just imagine it at night full of twinkle lights! 

My husband met us for lunch at Melissa's - their food is so deliscious. 

Beautiful Table Mountain! 

 My daughter had a photo shoot as part of her birthday present at Boulders beach. We love this beach with its crystal clear water, huge boulders  and the cute little penguins. 

It was a little chilly in the early morning so we didn't have a swim! 

 I made 11 little poppies for Remembrance Day on 11 November. We remember those in World War 1 - 1918! I followed a video tutorial by Bella Coco to make these little poppies.  http://www.bellacoco.co.uk/  

I just love these words and think that everyday we need to reflect and remember how blessed we are! I used my watercolour paints to paint this little design - added one of my little crochet flowers with a button and attached it to a small white hoop. It is a little extra gift for a friend for Christmas. Yes I am busy with my Christmas list! 

There was time to relax in the sunshine with our beautiful weimaraner! 

Saturday morning I woke to the devastating news of the attacks in Paris. I couldn't hold back tears as I watched the news reports in horror.  Some of theses attacks took place near where we had visited only 6 weeks ago! We all felt the pain and sadness! 

" later that night 

i held an atlas in my lap

ran my fingers across the whole world 

and whispered

where does it hurt?

it answered

everywhere

everywhere

everywhere"

- Warsan Shire 

 As we walked on Kommetjie beach in the late afternoon sunshine  and soaked in the beauty of this place we call home - I was reminded  - "Count your Blessings" - everyday! 

Have a wonderful week! 

Shirley xx 

Countryside and the coast... Provence to St Tropez!

We arrived in Avignon which is a beautiful picturesque french country town and hired a car! My husband had to navigate his way around driving on the opposite side of the road and opposite side of car! 

 We drove to a gorgeous little town called Gourdes. 

Crepes and cafe au lait are a must when in France!     

These ancient buildings with their blue shutters are so beautiful.

 We stopped off in the town of Arles which dates back to 800 B.C! The magnificent Amphitheartre was but in 90 A.D. and was capable of seating over 20 0000 spectators. It was built to provide entertainment  in the form of chariot  races and hand to hand battles. Today it draws large crowds for bullfighting and plays and concerts in summer! 

 Crepes for lunch! My favourite lunch  with cafe au lait!

 

We stayed in Avignon. Beautiful boutiques and old buildings and lots of art and museums. I loved  stumbling  upon a puppeteer in the street! 

The Palais des Papes is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe! This building was the papal residence for Christianity in the 14 th century. Today it is a tourist attraction. It was so interesting walking around this ancient building and discovering old frescoes and reading fascinating facts about its history and the many Popes.

I was so excited when I found this beautiful "French Weimaraner! He was so similar to my weimaraner back home! 

Le Pont du Gard was my husbands highlight. This magnificent Roman aqueduct is in a town nearby Avignon. It spans the Gardon river valley and is 275 metres long, 49 metres high, 6 metres wide at the base and 3 metres wide at the top. It has a total of 53 arches. It was built around 50- 60 A.D. It is now a Unesco World Heritage site - truly amazing experience to walk around this structure. 

Creme brulee of course! French food is - magnificent!

 There was always time to stop and relax, chat and have a cafe au lait! 

 We then drove down to the coast of France and stopped at St Tropez! It was so busy and the weather was beautiful so everyone was out in their luxurious boats on the Mediterranean! 

 

We were told by friends to carry on along the coast to a beautiful seaside town called Cassis. Here we spent the afternoon in our costumes soaking up the warm sun. This was my favourite spot on the Med! The water was a little cold - similar to Cape Town water! 

 

 We then headed back to our hotel to meet our friend James who had also joined us for a few days in Avignon. This was the sunset from the  terrace of his room looking over the rooftops of Avignon. So beautiful! 

 My favourite place in the french countryside - Roussillon! There are many shades of ochre on the houses of the village, taken from the palette of the old ochre quarry in the valley nearby. It is on a ridge of steep red cliff and at the top as you make your way up the narrow winding streets you get a wonderful panoramic view across the valley to the Grand Luberon, the slopes of Mount Ventoux and the picturesque town of Vaucluse.

 

These colours are just beautiful. 

Chatting with James and trying to find a creperie and cafe au lait! Or maybe a glass or two of wine!! 

 We took the fast train back to Paris for one last night and day before flying home! After supper we headed to explore Centre Pompidou.It is an amazing art museum with a beautiful restaurant on the roof with a look out deck. Here we watched the sunset and the Eiffel Tower  light up in all her gold glory!  

"La vie est belle." ( Life is beautiful) 

Our last day in Paris we walked along the Seine and over the Love Lock bridges and did our last shopping and sipped our cafe au lait. How blessed we are and to have such a wonderful holiday together. Forever grateful for Paris and France and all her beauty and charm!  

xxx

3,2,1... Paris!

I have been crocheting the last squares on my granny blanket and all 192 squares are now complete! I am now busy with the border which I hope to finish before I leave for ....Paris! Yes! I fly to Paris on Thursday!! 

I am so excited and busy packing for my dream  adventure! My husband and I are flying to Paris in 3 days!! It has been a dream of mine to travel to Paris! We celebrate 21 years of marriage this month and what an adventure just the two of us are going to have! We are spending a few days in Paris and then we take the train to Provence in the French countryside. We then hire a car and drive through the little towns and make our way down to the coast! I will be away for 2 weeks but when I am back I will post all the pictures of our Paris adventures!

 The beautiful whales are here and we spotted them near Glencairn and watched as they played in the ocean.

It was another beautiful spring day so we took the opportunity to walk on the boardwalk to the Kommetjie lighthouse. All the spring daisies are flowering and it is so pretty.

We decided to spend Sunday together at Kirstenbosch Gardens. We took an picnic lunch and found a shady spot under the trees as it was such a hot spring day! 

 

 The spring flowers are absolutely beautiful and we had such a fun relaxing time together with the girls before my husband and I fly off to France this week! 

 

I surprised my girls with a gift before I leave! I bought each of them a fish eye lens which they can  attach to their phones. They had great fun taking pictures at sunset on Kommetjie beach last night.

 

What adventures are you planning? Where do you dream of travelling to? 

Shirley xx