A month in Paris - house sitting... beautiful Bougival

The greatest reward and luxury of travel, is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted. ~ Bill Bryson

We are in France on a house sit near Paris. This is our first venture out from the home where we are staying in La Celle St Cloud, and to get to know the area, we decided to take a walk to the Seine.

As you do when you're in Paris.

So off we headed, got totally confused when the road went one way and seemed to fork off, so we decided to come home again to check google maps. Ah Ms Google Maps I love you... off we headed again, more decisively this time, our destination... Bougival Bridge.

You are leaving La Celle St Cloud.

Seems like we're headed in the right direction now. We figured if we got lost then all we needed to do was to hop on a bus to come home again.

I don't know if you have ever read Bill Bryson or not, but if you have read any of his travel books, you will be aware of the walks he does and the adventures his walks take him on. I was thinking of him on this walk, he's encouraged me to be braver in unfamiliar territory, to venture out and see where you end up. If had been on a bus or in a car, we'd have missed most of this beautiful area.

It's the little things you see on a walk, that encourage you to explore... something grabs your attention from a side street and you walk to see it, only to find a great little restaurant hidden there, with the best food you have ever eaten.

Right now most of the little shops are shuttered, closed down for the summer season for the month of August. This was one of the few shops we saw open as we passed by.

Or, perhaps you see a water fountain, a fountain older than the country you come from.

The Seine River from Bougival Bridge

We were ready for lunch but everything was shuttered that we could see, so we headed back up the road to see what we could find... memo to self, bring water on your walk next time.

We stopped off at the fruit stall and thought we'd sit for a while at the side of the road, but soon afterwards found La Basilic Rouge... hungry and ready for a stop, we headed into this calm inviting place de delight. The waiter was good natured with our lack of language and brought us delightful lunches - best salad I've ever had.

Soon it was time to head back to take Hudson for his evening walk.

A lovely street to wander up and wonder if Jules ever lived here...

Love the fire hydrants

A month house sitting in Paris... minding Hudson

We are in France to mind Hudson the Lagotto Romagnolo (Italian water dog) and his lovely home in the western suburbs of Paris while his family go off on summer vacation. We had a great flight from Venice to Orly Airport and managed to find our way to our house sit.

The houses are so lovely in the area

I don't think the person at the information counter at Orly airport understood a word of what I attempted to say in French. After being quoted 30 Euro for a taxi to our destination, we were dismayed firstly when we got into the taxi to have the taxi driver lock us in, then to see the meter reaching 90 Euro. He wasn't going to undo the doors of the taxi either till we paid our fee! It was quite an alarming way to arrive, and so different from the welcoming taxi drivers in Singapore.

Day 1: We got acquainted with Hudson. Hudson isn't too fond of new comers into his home, he tends to be snappy - so we took it very easily with him and waited for him to come to us.

We had some ball games and later in the day went for a walk around the neighbourhood.

We decided to spend the first couple of days just with him, so he could get comfortable with us as his carers. He finally started to come over for little treats and eventually even allowed me to give him some massage.

Day 2 and we all went for a walk and found our way through the Foret Domaniale -

There were tiny wild strawberries and blackberries...

and the biggest snails I've ever seen.

Home for a little brush and a relax on the deck.

In love with Venice

We decided to take the opportunity to visit Venice on our way to our house sit. It is one place I have wanted to visit for a long time, and and certainly didn't disappoint. Only trouble was, on the Lufthansa flight on our way into Venice, the flight attendant spilled boiling coffee onto Kevin and scalded him. The airline arranged for an ambulance to pick him up off the plane and we made a grand exit from the plane into emergency.

Feeling very frazzled as we make our way to our hotel... and it shows! Kevin was burned on his stomach, his leg and arm and was patched up with burn cream in emergency. I'd watched a lot of packing tips for travel prior to our journey, but nothing really prepares you for carrying not only your own bags but also those of your partner... and in the heat.

After leaving emergency there wasn't one person from the airline there to see if Kevin was OK. We were both really surprised with the lack of care for his welfare. While it was an accident, the lack of follow up after leaving the plane was appalling.

Even with the damage done, it was still so wonderful to take the water taxi into Venice. This city is truly amazing, the age, the buildings, so much to see. I thought the accident may have spoiled the visit we had so long waited for, but we were still excited and in awe of entering this beautiful town.

Passing by St Marco Square

Water taxi takes us as close as it can to our hotel

Some people warned us against going by water taxi, saying it is too expensive, and we nearly didn't take one. The cost for us to go from our hotel to the cruise line was 90 Euro. I thought it was well worth the little splurge... how many times do you visit Venice anyway?

I loved ducking under the bridges and driving along the canals, I could have stayed on this boat for hours.

It doesn't get much more Venetian than this photo

If you happen to be visiting Venice there is a dear little restaurant on the side of a canal not far from San Marco square. You can sit in the cool on cute tables while you watch gondoliers passing by serenading their passengers. It is called Ristorante Da Raffaele

Exhausted from the long flight but delighting in being in Venice.

A month in France

I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. ~ Bill Bryson

A couple of weeks ago, we were offered a month long house sit just outside Paris, France. It was so exciting to contemplate a month living near Paris that we said yes to the opportunity to travel overseas. Within a couple of weeks of the offer, we found ourselves on a plane headed for Singapore our first stop off.

Changi Airport

We wandered up to Changi airport information desk to find out about getting a transfer to our hotel. 'Taxi's are a great way to get around Singapore' a fellow traveler told us, so we hoped in the first taxi that we were directed to a Comfort/Delgro - luckily for us, I can't speak highly enough of our driver. He was so kind and explained some of the highlights of Singapore, while driving us to our boutique hotel.

Our cute hotel... Hotel Vagabond.

I can't speak highly enough of the welcome we received as well at Hotel Vagabond. The hotel is a visual delight, full of art and sculpture.

Kevin feeling relaxed and welcomed after a long flight in.

Raffles Bar - I asked if I could take a photo of someone's drink as we went by, it looked lovely sitting there. We only had one night and one day in Singapore, but we made the most of it and walked all around Little India and then took another cab to Raffles and The Gardens.

What delightful people we met in Singapore, and what a difference a kind welcome makes to tired travelers to an unfamiliar country. Simple kindness is such a wonderful thing to be on the receiving end of. It didn't seem to matter where we went in Singapore, we met the same lovely welcome.