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When I sent the invite for this year’s Halloween party in mid-september, it felt like I was jumping the gun. I am by nature a pretty optimistic person, and when the powers-to-be predicted the easing of lockdown restrictions in Sydney  for October 23, I swung into planning mode for our annual Halloween dinner. All my guests must have been living on the same hope as I did, because everyone accepted the invite… Read More

Welcome to our first Halloween party! Yep, it has taken that many years for us to succumb to the Halloween madness, always finding an excuse: French people don’t celebrate it, our generation didn’t grow up with it, treat or tricking makes no sense on a boat, don’t like scary things anyway…then we had kids, we spent some time in the USA during fall season, and lately social media is swamped with Halloween… Read More

Recently, friends of ours, Polly and Pete came to Sydney for a short visit. The main purpose was to attend the Vivid Lights festival and participate in a photographic workshop, as well as catching up. We go back a very long time ( 25 years?) and both Polly and I love eating out as much as entertaining at home. So while we briefly debated which new restaurant to try in the city,… Read More

April and May are big birthday months in our extended family. I have at least 5 dates to remember in April, including my own. May is no less busy, with 4 occasions to celebrate. Starting with Anne’s birthday last week. As usual, she had 2 feasts: one on the actual birthday, with the family and another on the friday night with her friends. Turning 14 means she’s now a teenager, with well… Read More

Do you have an Easter family tradition? Beside lamb for Easter Sunday lunch and some chocolate eggs, I can’t remember my parents made much of Easter when I was growing up in France. We did enjoy the 3-day long weekend though, and the spring holidays that it coincided with. Ahh, les vacances de Paques… Fast forward to my arrival in Australia, and discovering that the Easter weekend spans over 4 days with… Read More