and the second part of our visit to Sydney

guess where !

We took a couple of ferry trips  including around to Barangaroo on Darling Harbour to see the expansion of the tourist precinct and the site of another Packer casino. Just what every city needs – two casinos opposite each other on prime waterfront property.

interesting new apartments at Barangaroo
- dwarfed by more mundane tower blocks

Barangaroo apartments

a cruise ship dwarfs everything

the old waterfront warehouses have been gentrified

The Hungry Mile - so named during the depression when men lined up here
hoping for a days work on the docks

now look at it !

 

with Paul and Margaret

And lunch at the rooftop bar at Coogee Pavilion

                           

view of Coogee beach from the Pavilion 

 

trendy rooftop bar

nothing like when my grandmother lived here

Our friends introduced us to some of the new developments including the Tramshed,  and a unique pub on Millers Point. 

The ground floor of the Hotel Palisade is a typical old fashioned Sydney pub with dark brown tiled walls ( easy to wash down) and a rowdy clientele. The three levels above have been renovated, including the addition of a roof bar with magnificent views of the harbour. As the sun set we sat back with our cocktails and mood music in the background and enjoyed the show. Sydney Harbour is fabulous.

Paul, Georgina and Flyn...sharing with everyone they know ?

what a sunset !

We are blessed with some very kind friends who took us in and shared their homes with us. Thank you to Margaret and Paul, and Georgina and Paul. Looking forward to seeing you back here with us soon.

By popular request …….

We’ve just returned from a short visit to Australia to see family and friends and, since many of our friends here in France asked for photos, here are a few just to make them envious.

We had the occasional cloudy day , but mostly it was sunny, hot and sticky.....typical Sydney summer in autumn.

school sport  - lifesaving

- and surfing

kayaks lined up at Manly wharf

We began with a four day stay in Manly with our children so we could really catch up. As Sydneysiders know, this is a popular and very touristy beachside suburb on the northern peninsula. On one side is the harbour with access to the city by ferry, and on the other side is the sea. Lots of bars and restaurants make this a haven for singles who love the sun and surf.

Thank you to James for his fabulous house through airbnb at  https://abnb.me/EVmg/ICUZR5L0IJ. We all covet your house !

and the name of the house ....DIDUBRINGABEER

At the southern end of this part of the peninsula is the smaller Shelly Beach . Very popular, a pretty spot for weddings, and has a great restaurant……dress code “shorts and thongs”,that means “flip-flops” for you english.

Shelly Beach and the view to Manly

everyone comes to the beach...even the bush turkeys

flower display at the Boathouse at Shelly Beach

We did the tour up the northern peninsula to Palm Beach (known as “Palmy” to Sydneysiders ) and the site of Home and Away for english fans. 

a "Palmy"  local....for the H&A fans

the sea carves beautiful patterns in the rock

Chris - oblivious to the beautiful surroundings

Avalon Beach

ball games

For those who don’t know Sydney, the northern peninsula has the sea and beaches on one side and Pittwater on the other. This is a large protected waterway with lots of boats. We had lunch at the Newport Arms Hotel overlooking a quiet bay, and the Beach House on Avalon beach.

a little corner of Pittwater

school sport again.....the teacher tows the class to sailing school

sailing class in the shelter of a Pittwater beach

 

breakfast at Clontarf on Middle Harbour

there is even a dog beach

For the second week we stayed on the south side of the harbour....

Well, it’s certainly been a wet January so far…..

spring on the quay

now

the boat is usually on a stand - hope it's water tight

You may have heard of the two big ‘tempêtes’ that we’ve experienced here in the past week, Carmen and then Eleanor. While we have been far enough inland to be saved from the worst, we did have winds over 110kph on new year’s day. And it has been raining. Now all that water from up country is reaching us and , despite flood control measures above Bergerac, this is the highest the river has been in our six winters in Ste Foy. 

the chateau hides behind the trees above the river in summer

now the swans can almost swim up to the front door

At the height of summer, and it was a hot one last year, the river was so low that the bed was exposed in places.

it was a dry summer

the boat ramp has disappeared

These are the tops of trees - there are rose bushes beneath them

Now we are experiencing road closures along the riverside on both sides of town and some unlucky people have flooded basements. Graham has just checked our cellar - no problem.

a bit tricky on some roads

hope they moved their wine from the cellar

people ride their bikes and walk their dogs along here, normally

today !

garden gate onto the riverside walk

the quay at Ste Foy la Grande - a sunny spot to admire the view

Just as well the town is built nice and high

usually, cars park here on market day

We have the good fortune to be fairly high above the quay so we are not worried, but the amazing sight of water up to the village carpark on the other side has brought out lots of sightseers. 

Hoping for the glorious blue sky days to return soon.

 

meilleurs voeux à tout le monde

***  and I do love this joke. It says “Yesterday, a carp was snapped at 140kph !  The suspect is still on the run. If you have any information, please contact the gendarmerie”. 

The things we do for Christmas

a little difficult to photograph lights that are 'dashing'  across the street

So, the mairie turned on the Christmas street lighting and we felt we should do our little bit to bring cheer to our street.

the only tree in the street gets attention

It's not all that common for the french to decorate the outside of their houses for christmas , so we started with a few poinsettias and a wreath on the door and then added a few simple lights.

Our french neighbour decided that he wouldn’t be outdone by the australians across the street and strung some tasteful twinkling lights across his windows – very pretty.

very tasteful at french neighbour's

We added  lights to our upstairs windows …. just something subtle.

"not too much"  we thought

 This evening , neighbour was up a ladder trying to place a full sized Christmas tree, complete with lights, above his door. Graham decided that it was time to be neighbourly and helped out, especially as it was raining and dark out there.

being neighbourly

The result ….  we are the only two houses in the street with decorations but at least we feel ‘in the festive mood’ though we have no intention of moving into the class of the Griswolds.  We are celebrating with lunch at our neighbour’s house tomorrow.

neighbour's house looking pretty festive

*** apologies for the quality of the photos, but it's cold, dark and rainy out there....

Joyeux Noêl tout le monde