Announcing ...

... our return to the mountains.

Secretly, I had hoped that I might be letting you know that a new book, 'But you are in Italy, Signora' was on the go, being shared as I was writing it from a heart-pumping Tuscan village where I could put into practice my flamboyant language skills, dive deeply into my husband's Italian ancestry and eat. Yep, that would be a big part of each day.

But, no. 

For reasons that need no explanation, I am still in Australia. 

Yet, I have serious and constant wanderlust and an ever-present need to find my next adventure. With our youngest finishing school this year, my husband and I have decided on a path forward and plumped for a return to the mountains. Not our French mountains, hélas, but the beautiful Blue Mountains, a short drive from Sydney. 

Cottage

I have dropped a few hints in recent Instagram posts but it is now officially shareable news and already I have felt closer to our French mountain lifestyle than I have in a long time. It is not just the altitude (we are at > 800m here), neither is it the low, low current daily temperatures, but the snow yesterday helped get me there. Waking and seeing it falling was not enough. A play in it was in order. I bundled up as warmly as I could, shoved my gloveless hands deep into my pockets, licked the snow from my lips as it settled momentarily and felt French again. It was chilly and I rued my hatless state (my beanies are all in France) but felt alive, energised, happy, purposeful. 

              

I can't wait to find my new mountain crew and the cottage at our new home might help facilitate this. Perhaps it will lead me to a new venture? Le Français à table (French classes over coffee) has a good ring to it. Or, a cosy space to welcome guests on an Air BnB basis (there is a double bedroom in the cottage)? Could I set up a time-out venue for writer's retreats (or other such get-togethers/conferences)? ... I'm not yet sure. 

What do you think?

I have been told that is not easy to leave comments on this blog, so drop me a line instead at cb222@me.com. Or, if you are in the mountains, I'd love you to reach out.

PS My writing journey has led me to many beautiful souls. If you have not yet had a chance to read my second memoir 'Weaving a French Life: An Australian story,' it would give me so much pleasure if you could do so through the affiliate links to Kristi and Mardi below. They take a couple more clicks to get to where you want to go, but they cost you nothing. Merci.

For print copies: Head to Kristi's blog at French Word-A-Day and scroll down until you see my book in her list of recommended reading on the RHS of the page. 

For digital copies: Head to Mardi's blog at eat. live. travel.write and scroll down until you hit the purchase link in her review.

Or, if you have not yet read 'But you are in France, Madame,' the first of my memoirs. Here is a universal link, which should take you to your current geographic location for easy purchase. 

Merci et à bientôt.

For these are a few of my favourite things.

The Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia

I couldn't sleep on Saturday night. It was a combination of being in an unknown place, in a strange bed and a lot on my mind. The insistent drumming was a soothing melody, I told myself, and not a strident get-up-now call. My mind game must have worked as when I woke several hours later, it was still raining but the cool, confident drummer had finished his act and stepped aside, replaced by a less heavy handed timpani scratcher. I lay in bed listening to the rhythm of the drops on the tin roof. 

The day before had been one of those rare days when I had been graced with multiple shining pearls of joy. The magpie, that oh-so-Australian bush warbler, was the first. He had watched me prepare my toast, but had remained on the balustrade and respectfully distant, as any good entertainer knows to do, singing - no, serenading me - as I spread first the butter and then, salivating in anticipation, the marmelade; thick, chunky, juicy.

I had already been for an early morning walk through the bush and although nature had done its trick and filled me with deep lungfuls of fresh air and a welcome calm, breakfast was a recompense of sorts.

Fast-forward to dinner and I was hungry. Fresh air, exercise and the mountains do that to me. Not eating much does it too. We had spoiled ourselves and eaten out. Uncharacteristically, I had selected both an entrée and a main course and wondered how the chef would interpret my order: home-made (not French) pâté followed by vegan pie.

Vegan pie

A difficult, quirky or confused client? Yes, I have been all of those things but, of all the menu items, those two from opposite ends of the meat-eating spectrum were what appealed. 

I devoured both courses with bursts of culinary commentary - reminiscing fondly about the first time that I had had pâté served to me. 

Then, years before, and in our BF (Before France) era, our little family unit had been special guests of a French family.

"May I take your jackets?" the most polite teenage boy of our hosts had asked the children when we arrived.

"Where?" Molly had asked, wrapping her cardigan more closely around herself.

My turn to try and exchange discomfort for delight came next when, after a heady pre-dinner Chambord and champagne, the adults sat down for dinner, peeking at each other through the flowers and over the placemats, napkins and formal dinnerware ... holding thick grey grainy slabs of something slightly unsettling, atop circles of dark bread and next to neatly cut cubes of butter and cute-as-a-button cornichons (pickles). Specially ordered from France, we were being treated to the finest of French starters and I consumed it; my pâté, smiling widely, nodding carefully and sipping frequently on my sparkling water.

How our tastes and outlook have changed. And, how grateful I am for each and every morsel. 

Of course, being in the Blue Mountains, there was a quick stop at The French Shoppe to sign books. 

And now, channeling my best Julie Andrews ...

'But you are in France, Madame' for sale

Rain drops on rooftops and thick, luscious marmelade 

Warbling minstrels and wind sighing escapades

Time to savour the delights on my plate

These are a few of my favourite states.

PS  'Sound of Music' another favourite thing.

PPS Not heading to the Blue Mountains near Sydney in Australia any time soon?

Here is a link to purchase the first of my books. Wherever you are in the world, it should take you to a purchase option in your country.

A bientôt.

A shimmering jewel in its mountain clasp

It is very nearly ten years since we first arrived in Annecy. We will celebrate the day hopefully with a family gathering, but definitely with a touch of nostalgia as we are not the same family anymore. I don't mean that in any sort of outlandish, sensational way. Time does what it wants and children of 6, 9 and 12 need their parents in very different ways to children of, well, you can do the maths.

But, the maternal emotion of that memory can wait for another post.

Today, I remember instead the magic of seeing what was to be our new home for the first time. Even through the fog of tiredness brought about by the long journey across the world hot on the heels of the mammoth job of packing up our entire Australian lives, the Annecy lake sparkled; an inverted diamond in its mountain clasp.

I remember asking whether one day I would take the beauty for granted, not notice the mountains, or care not whether the light on the water was starkly reflective or announcing the cacophony of an approaching storm.

"No," was always the answer, accompanied with a look sometimes quizzical, sometimes stern.

They were right. The beauty of this lake and mountains will not fade like that of this ageing mother.

Nonetheless, like mother and child, we took time to get to know and love each other. We walked, climbed, skied, photographed, swam, water-skied...played together and the bond became stronger, even though we knew instinctively that one of us was always going to have the upper hand. As such, the climb to the top of the highest mountain around the lake, La Tournette, took on a bit of a mythical turn in my mind.

I made it this summer. And the photos of that day are the ones that I want to share with you.

Would I do it again? (am I talking of our original journey to France or the climb, I ask myself)
Yes. I know now that I can . That bit of fear that accompanied me would still be there, but it would not be the fear of the unknown, just a healthy, cautious instinct relating to my own capabilities.

Ten years, though. A reminder to just do it. As clichéd as it is, maybe this post will make you re-think a goal, a dream, a possibility...I hope so.

For the first part of our French adventure, as re-counted in 'But you are in France, Madame' (print or e-book) click here.

And, if you do click and purchase - thank-you.

Finally, I am linking today with #AllAboutFrance - another opportunity to travel vicariously, prepare for your next French holiday or just enjoy reading All About France.

Cows and alarm clocks

A couple of days ago, my husband was out walking in the mountains behind our house late in the afternoon when he heard the gentle clanging of cow bells. Instinctively, he looked for his phone. No, not to take a photo - he did that later, but to turn off his alarm clock. I had to laugh when he recounted the story to me. To explain...when returning to Australia after living in France and looking for a more pleasant wake-up sound than a jarring 'beep, beep, beep',  he took a sound bite of cow bells and set it as his morning alarm. Even in sight of the large beasts, his sub-conscious did a jolt to another time and response and nearly tricked him into hitting the 'slumber' button.

Back home and tidying up in the garden, he stripped some ivy off one of the verandah posts and uncovered a cow bell that we had hung there and which, over time, had been completely hidden from view. It seemed like the house was offering us a little 'welcome back to France' present. 

The cows had been a part of our French adventure from the very beginning. Stumbling into an October "Descente des Alpages', in our first year there, we had watched the slowly moving creatures, weighed down by their enormous bells, parade through the streets of Annecy, alongside highly excited geese, necks proudly stretched upright to allow us better viewing of their beautiful bows, groups of disorderly goats reminiscent of the cheeky but loveable souls that can always be found in any school class and pretty donkeys wearing straw hats and flowers. It had been a lucky mistake to be in the middle of it all and, thereafter, the sound of the cows and their bells, which woke us in the mornings and accompanied myself and the children on our daily walks to school, claimed a high ranking in our favourite sounds of the French Alps.

To read more of my family's French adventures, please click here to get your copy of 'But you are in France, Madame'. A Kindle Countdown deal for Amazon UK and USA account holders has just begun.

Hello to readers on Faraway Files. This is my first link-up. I hope it works!