Okay, so I went to Paris - but then what?

Forgive me bloggers for it has been WEEKS since my last communication and my readership has reduced to one or two blood relatives who check in to see whether I'm still alive as I probably haven't returned calls or answered emails either.

Fear not, I am still here. I'm just reeling from my new self-imposed lifestyle whereby I go off to paid work four days per week (up from 2 1/2 days) and spend the other un-paid days trying desperately to clean up the general detritus of life.

After a lovely, albeit work, week in Paris and surrounds I flew home and re-packed my bag for a week long family holiday in Port Macquarie. Port is a seaside town five hours drive from Sydney which for WA readers would most resemble Busselton but with amenities more akin to Bunbury.

Port has a seawall (see above pic) on which it is traditional to paint a message on the rocks. Sanctioned graffitti.

Port also has the world's only dedicated Koala hospital. They take in about 300 sick Koalas each year for rehabilitation and release back into the wild. The photo above is of Barry. He is a Koala with attitude. I would love to reach out and give him a cuddle if it weren't for his large black claws. The world's oldest Koala, Birthday Girl, is one of the few permanent residents here - she is nearly 24 years old.

We had a lovely relaxing week away. On the way home we stopped by Bluey's Beach. Again for WA residents, think a big version of Bunker's Bay. We stopped for lunch at a cafe that served a decent cup of tea. Love a cafe that cares about tea drinkers - I got a pot, a reasonable cup and a totally cute little bottle of milk.

The last week of the holidays was spent enduring a comedy of errors whereby all my carefully planned holiday camps were thrown into disarray when the kids both fell sick and couldn't go. Having a four-day management meeting and Firegazer going interstate I found myself on the phone at 6.30am some mornings desperately trying to find anyone who could babysit the kids at home. Really, at one point you simply had to have a pulse to qualify.

We survived and then finished off the holidays with a trip to see Just Macbeth at the Opera House. Have you taken your kids to this Andy Griffiths take on Shakespeare? If not, do so. This is the second time we've seen it and still think its one of the funniest plays we've been to in ages. Target age: 10. Funny to everyone.

On the renovation front we are still evaluating new quotes. They are all still horrendous.

So now you're up to date. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Paris in photos

Images from my two days and nights in Paris.

Images from my 2 1/2 days at our seminar just outside Paris.

Adventure in not quite Shanghai

This is the view of Terminal 2 of Shanghai International Airport from the bus terminal at Terminal 1. Temperature 38 degrees and humidity like standing in drizzle.

A trick for new players. If your flight arrives at Terminal 1 and you need to depart from Terminal 2 there is no international transfer process. You must go through immigration and customs and get a temporary 24 hour visa and then walk 15 minutes to Terminal 2 where you check into your next flight and go through immigration control, again.

Was there a sign/note/person to explain this? No. One is supposed to work this out. And if you've ever travelled through China you will know that Chinese Military personnel don't smile a lot.

But that wasn't the adventure.

When I checked in to Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris on Friday I was told that my bags would be checked through to Sydney. I even had a sticker on my ETicket to confirm this.

So you will understand that when I cleared immigration at Shanghai I didn't bother to go to the luggage carousel but walked straight through and made the 15 minute journey to Terminal 2. Just clearing immigration and schlepping to T2 took 1 1/2 hours.

However when I went to the Qantas counter at T2 they informed me that I was given the wrong information and I quote "This is China, of course we don't send your bags directly to Sydney". Oh crap. So I schlep back to T1 (I wish to point out here that it is 38 degrees and with all the walking with a laptop, duty free bag, handbag and high heels I am feeling a little less refreshed than when I left Paris).

At T1 I have to locate a policeman and explain why it was I neglected to collect my luggage the first time round. After a conversation in broken English in which I was trying to sound sweet and innocent and not at all dodgy I finally went back through immigration to collect my bag which was on a cart about to be sent off to god.knows.where.

Finally, with bags in hand and trolley located I walk as quickly as I can to T2 rueing my decision to stay in my work dress and heels for the flight. Total time elapsed from the plane landing - 2 hours before I made it to the airline lounge. I don't have time for a shower and feel pity for the poor soul who has to sit next to me for the next 11 hours to Sydney.

Je fait du velo aujourdhui

near Paris, 1 July 12.22 am

Dear Peeps, I am writing this instead of joining my colleagues on the dancefloor. Not really interested in dance floors where colleagues are concerned I must say.

So today we had the usual seminar things - workshops and the like - and then this afternoon we indulged in the national sport of France - cycling. Ninety of us left the hotel on bikes for an 8km ride around nearby villages. We were organised into teams of 8 or 9 and asked to complete a course, do a bike riding agility test and find clues etc. You get the idea - teambuilding stuff. I am pleased to report that as the only Australian I felt I represented my country well by being the quickest female through the agility course!

After the bike ride we were advised that our next event was kayaking. Those of us who wanted to race our kayaks were asked to raise our hand. In a rash moment a Swedish colleague and I decided to go in the race. We thought it would be about 100m so we put together a game plan to try to beat all the others. It turns out that the race was 5km... after the first 100m we were completely spent. Nevertheless we were the first all-female team to finish.

I just know that between the bike riding and the kayaking I will barely be able to walk, talk or hold a pen tomorrow.

Half a day left of the seminar tomorrow and then I will be back out to Charles de Gaulle Airport for an Air France flight to asia and then back to Sydney by Sunday morning.

Would I like to stay a little longer? Of course. I think I'll have to work on a family holiday here next European summer...

Soldes and other stories

near Paris, 30 June, 10.24pm

If I was able to upload my photos I would show you the queues outside Chanel, Tod's, Gucci and other designer stores on Rue St Honore. Tomorrow is the official start of the summer sales in Paris but today was the unofficial start. So for Simon's benefit - no I didn't indulge. for Firegazer's benefit - don't worry the credit cards are safe. Unfortunately the stores didn't open until 10 and some not until 11am and I had a taxi to catch to our seminar outside Paris.

My original plan today was to visit the Musee D'Orsay however even at 9am for a 9.30am opening the queues were too long to guarantee a decent viewing before I had to leave today. Instead I continued to walk along the Rive Gauche until Pont Alexandre III, then up past the Petit Palais (YSL retrospective on, but again wasn't opening until 10am) over the Champs Elysee and up to Rue St Honore for a bit of window shopping. There was a considerable police presence including plain clothed security officers from the bridge right up to the Palais d'Elysee so I wonder if the President was expected to arrive or leave? The security presence was significant enough to signal that I shouldn't loiter to find out.

I followed Rue St Honore past the Madeleine until Place Vendome and then took a right down to the Tuilleries and then up to Le Louvre and back to the hotel.

If I had more time I would simply walk all the back and side streets around Paris. But I had a taxi to catch to our seminar venue outside Paris.

Our seminar is all very United Nations with a representative or two from every country that is part of our Company complete with headsets and translators. I have never listened to presentations translated through headsets before - it is quite tiring. Tomorrow, however, we will be divided into same-language groups. The seminar is largely in French and English but for many of the participants they have to choose the best of the two languages for them even though they are natural Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish or Russian speakers. The most impressive are the Swedes who speak perfect English AND French in addition to Swedish.

I really must improve my French...