September 2019.

Life in SW France, Brisbane, Oxford and Italy.

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Paulie and Stephen hosted a quick visit from Olivia's dad, Maurice, early in the month and enjoyed the company of Paulie's sister and bro-in-law, Jan and Jim later in the month.They assisted Michael at La Porte Bleue and rented out La Cachette at the end of the month. Meanwhile Olivia continued her commute to work at Redcliffe Hospital in Brisbane, James balanced work from home with meetings and travel, and Nick hung out being village worker in Italy before starting a new teaching job in Udine.

Sept 1 - a village wide Brocante (2nd hand sale) Meanwhile (some hours ahead) in Oz, Olivia chills at a new find near the city An hour behind in Oxford James pick hazel nuts from his tree Just before Stephen Skypes in for a chat
And one of his feline pals curls up. 5th - Olivia's dad, Maurice, drops in. He was in England, so why not shoot over? a walk up one of the local hills .
A tour of Corde And given he was a chef... some joint kithchen bonding. In Elena's village in Italy (Tolmezzo) Nick wonders the mountains. Elean finds work in Udine .
7th - After dropping Maurice to Blagnac airport, the duo head to Castelnau de Montmiral to feed the choir rehersing for the gig the next day. Then to Puycelsi to help set up for the concert tomorrow Followed by an evening gig at Lilly & Phil's place On returning home, the duo met a stream of folks in medieval mode walking through the street outside
. Concert day. Catering for lunch after practice downtime for the support team and then... the concert.
At Yolande's farm there is work to do. . and at home, food to eat. Paulie and Stephen work on shooting footage for birthday videos for family in Oz
Yolande has apero in the wine cellar for Storm and Daniel before they head off to Oz for some months. 13th - Jan and Jim visit after 6 weeks touring Europe. . Olivia catches up with Paulie.
Touring the village environs with Jan and Jim . Sunday market .
. . Then off to check out nearby sights that they had not seen on their 2016 visit. Puycelsi drinks
and nibbles A cycle whilst the gals head off Yolande invited them to the farm
. A revisit of the view Meanwhile James and Keno head to Germany. Keno finds downtime whilst at a conference. Here in Hamburg There was a Climate Strike, with over 100,000 people there! 😃
In Berlin James visited the memorial to LGBTQ+ people murdered during the war and the Rosa Luxemburg memorial 17th - Jan and Jim head to Corde .
. 18th - the river was low. But spirits high. Jan and Jim were pros We landed on an island and set up camp for lunch
and rest before heading back to the village . That evening Jan and Jim took Paulie and Stephen to dinner at Le Festin de Babette. Great view
...and food . The gals went looking at shops. And a 2 for 1 deal was too good to pass up Coffee
Then dinner and a walk. Paulie and Stephen took them to a Blagnac hotel on the 19th before they headed home the next morning Paulie and Stephen went to help Michael with the B & B business Whilst in Italy Nick directed runners at a fun runthrough Tolmezzo
Stephen and Paulie moved to Michael's as their pad was rented from the 27th. They could then prepare the house with no fuss But discovered that whilst at Michael's the shower screen exploded! No idea how. A rushed drive to the Brico in the morning and a replacement screen was purchased and quickly installed The duo were not the only ones making a move. A visiting circus heads off. Huge convoy that had trouble crossing the road
Nobody was sure how well it went for them. Live animal acts were certainly frowned upn by Stephen and Paulie The month wound up with the guys helping Michael manage the B & B whilst in residence there