31st May 2007
We had Carissa staying with us this week for 2 nights. Our good friend from Brissie was in town for the beginning of her trip around Europe. It was great to catch up with her and on Thursday night we enjoyed dinner at Strada with Alicia, Graham, Dana and Tamara – it was also a nice opportunity to celebrate our engagement!
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26th May 2007
Last weekend Doug and I made a ‘last minute’ trip to Paris! It has been 8 years since I’d been there last and I had completely forgotten what an amazing city it is (also helped being there in Spring as opposed to Winter).
We had our first trip on the Eurostar, a great way to travel. No checking in hours before hand, no waiting for take off, more space and we board 2 stops away from our flat and arrive in central Paris – very convenient. We then figured out the Metro and found our hotel in Pont Dauphine (just up the road from the Arc de Triumph). The hotel was another small luxury hotel, an incredibly stunning old palace with large ornate gates, a huge fountain in the centre of the drive, wide marble winding stair cases, a bar in the library where the two story high ceilings are covered in books with wrought iron stairs which lead to the top levels of books …. We were upgraded to a suite with French doors leading to little balcony’s where pots full of geraniums filled the bathroom and bedroom with colour.. I will never, ever forget this place.
That day we relaxed with our complimentary red wine and strawberry’s. Later we walked to the Trocadero where we sat in a café overlooking the square and ate lunch. Then we moved on to the Eiffel Tower where we took some great photos on a perfect spring day. We walked through the park of Champs de Mars. Caught the Metro to Concorde and the bottom of the Champs Elysee, here we bumped into Roger Federer who was heading into his hotel (French open week). We strolled up the Champs Elysee then went back to our beautiful hotel for more wine and relaxing.
Later that evening we got dressed up in our best frocks and were taken by Taxi via the Arc de Triumph, the Concorde and Notre Dame! Here we were dropped off at the restaurant that Doug had organised through the concierge at the hotel. It was an amazing restaurant, a huge sandstone fire place was the centrepiece of the room, it was down a little cobbled lane in the Latin Quarter of Paris, a tiny little inconspicuous black door marked the entrance. We would never have found the place without some inside knowledge.
So all this set the absolute perfect setting for Doug to propose. We were both nervous, I kinda knew it was coming. He started a beautiful speech and was promptly interrupted by the waitress asking us if we wanted dessert! So, he started again and I couldn’t stop smiling (it was incredibly sweet and romantic), he said some beautiful things about us and then of course popped the question, I had planned to say something sweet about how much he means to me but all I could blurt out was a big ‘yes’ … a few tears later and a struggle with the ring we were engaged!!! After dinner we strolled along the Seine and past Notre Dame … we went back to the hotel to call all the family and enjoy some champagne in the library bar.
On Sunday we enjoyed breakfast in the hotel then headed to the Lourve, it was a rainy Parisian day so we headed back to our luxury hotel and then later headed up to Montmarte and the Sacre Couer. The rain cleared and the sunset over Paris from the top of Montmarte was stunning! After enjoying a quiet moment in the Sacre Couer we found a Lonely Planet recommended bistro in a quiet back street. It was such a romantic spot and completely perfect, filled with local Parisians and serving ‘to die for’ desserts!!
The next day we scrambled over to the Eiffel Tower again and queued for 2 hours in the rain, we raced around the top and took some shots of Paris from above. Then caught a taxi to the Guard de nord station for the return Eurostar trip. That evening we celebrated our engagement with Verve Cliquot and Indian with Debby and Darryl!
19th May 2007
A couple of weeks ago we ventured over the river to Bethnal Green where Alicia and her housemates live. After 7 months there they were having a housewarming. It was great to catch up with some of the old gang and particularly great to see Michael (uni friend who now lives in Adelaide) who was passing through London on business.
18 May, 2007
As a member of the FH social committee I recently took on the challenge of hosting a wine tasting evening in the office library. Our wine expert, Finola, was really informative and excellent at placating us rowdy FH staff. Several partners also attended the evening and it turned into a great evening full of laughter and hopefully a little wine education.
It didn’t look good for Finola when we started with a table full of food, we were strictly instructed to not eat until after the tasting – she relented at half time between the whites and reds. Kevin proudly announcing that he hates red wine and when we rated them he said he would pay £3.99 at Tesco for one, was not a good sign.
However, we did enjoy the theme – comparing two wines from several grape varieties but from different regions. I found a great new white from the same makers as my old favourite ‘Oyster Bay’, apparently the wine maker moved to a new winery and now makes ‘Ned’ (still in Marlborough) … amazing how the flavour and quality went with him as apparently around when I stopped enjoying Oyster Bay corresponds to when he stopped making wine there.
In all it was a great night. We stayed long after Finola left – eating our food and finishing off all the bottles!
Looking back now I thought Doug was exceptionally happy and affectionate that evening – I later learnt he had my diamond ring in his pocket the whole time, he had picked it up that morning!!! Lucky I drank so much wine … I also learnt that he had hidden it in our camera bag, I actually looked there in one of my sneaky attempts to track it down – lucky I was in a hurry.
