It was Christmas in 3 countries for the clan, Olivia's birthday, and a whole lot of fun in France for Paulie and Stephen. They finished off the year on a quest to Menton on the Côte d'Azur where the guys wanted to get some sun and visit the French retreat for New Zealand writer, Kathleen Mansfield. That part of the trip is chronicled in the 2019 album.
1December comes and the Christmas light sare turned on
24th - a roadtrip with Yolande past Castres to collect an 18th century cherry wood sideboard. A few slow bits given the Gilet Jeaunes (Yellow Vest) protests
3Picnic time
4.
5A visit to a quarry
6Which now also has various stone installations
7Then work to do at home. Reseal the bath
8Shutters to paint - a lot of summer sun has done some damage
9Rustproof and then paint the ugly grey bannister
10That timber under the stairs redone. Rails to go black
11Some exercise
12.
13Time for Michael and Rachel to socialise before opening Bacchus for business
147th - Olivia's birthday. Remotely shared
15Gifts arrive
16Mater Hospital colleagues have a little birthday break
17And friends drop in
18As do family
19.
20And then a Turnbull/Dunlop outing
21A foggy walk. The day before Paulie had seen a deer. Time to spot another
22So Stephen crept silently for a few metres with camera in hand. BUT... they were not the only one looking for the deer. Whn Stephen turned a corner a rifle was aimed at him! Like Paulie, Stephen now wears high visability gear when in the forest.
2311th - Paulie and Michale take a spin to Lalbenque where the truffle market is on.
24Eager customers are ready to go...
25And the local cafe has a truffle menu. At over 1000€ a kilo, no woder it's a costly feed
26An apero at Yolande's.
27.
28A Bordeaux red to accompany the melted cheese (and then a statin hit at home to cope with all of that cheese)
29Dog sitting again! Kizzy enjoys the festive decor
30Stephen enjoys Paulie's experiments with a gâteau anglais recipe
31A quick lunch at Yolande's farm has Kizzy's interest
32Finding it hard to get a comfortable seat inside
33It's opening day as Bacchus soon so the team go over spreadsheet version 17, revision 2.
3415th - Back in Oz Olivia joins family for Genevieve Dunlop's first birthday
35Proud parents
36Excited (but not sure why) birthday girl
3718th - Stephen heads to Barcelona for a quick visit
38Two nights with Elena and Nick. The biggest selection of ham any supermercado outside of Spain has seen.
39Whilst Stephen is away, Paulie finishes off a gift
40And she takes to the countryside on her cycle.
41The sunshine and scenery is striking
42As Christmas approaches in Brisbane, Olivia hosts a dinner with Physio pals
43Next door to Paulie and Stephen, it is also clear that Christmas cometh.
44The day before christmas day, a chat is in order
45An invitation to Christams dinner (like most of Europe, held on the 24th) means adding the Antopodean touch of Pavlova. The lengthy hand beating of egg whites is a meditative matter.
46To Yolande's for dinner
47Only candles will do (if closley monitored)
48Then time for a great feed
49topped off with a successful treat
50Christams morning in Oz. As per usual Rosie "wants" to send her love.
51Then it's time to chat to Australia who are well into Christamas day celebrations. Shari is hosting.
52.
53.
54.
55And then a chat with Jan and Jim on the Sunshine Coast is in order
56Shari, Olivia and the girls made it up there for more festivities as well.
57Paulie and Stephen set out on their Christmas morning to a Christmas lunch with Michael and Co.
58A lovely walk there through the village
59With Bacchus closed for the day Michael can put his feet up with artist pal Alan...
60And his business partner Chris who just arrived from his Geneva digs.
61.
62Paulie sat outside for Christmas evening chat to Brisbane
63.
64Stephen wished the lads in Oxford a Merry Yule
65No! It's the decanter, not the wine glass
66Then it's to work.
67Boxing Day.. time to work off those calories with a walk through the hills to our local cave
68Through the moss covered forest
69Then in one end...
70.. and out the other
71.
72.
73It is dark inside and a nice bat hang out
74video- Paulie has gotten the hang of spelunking splendour
75Especially when the view is so cool at the large opening
76While the oldies were up in their hills, Elena and Nick climbed the Italian alps.
7727th - A quest begins and we borrowed (and cleaned) Storm's van as we set out to ...
78... Sète. It's time for some sun and warmth
79.
80An active fishing town
81.
82A quick refreshing glass of local wine
83Pretty, but not warm enough
84And then on to Nime. We were there some years earlier with James and Olivia
85And the Roman ruins are worth revisiting
86.
87But our real quest? To get get another 4 hours south east to Menton. Achieved! That adventure is chronicled in 2019.
