May - Melbourne, Rye and France

After Easter, we had some work done at home. Double bonus – our concrete floor which was cracked and horrible is now a beautiful oak herringbone pattern and, whilst the work was done and we had no access to our kitchen and laundry, we lived at Rye.

I had a special afternoon in early May being a 40 year school reunion. Any girl who went to my old high school, Kildara, to line up with HSC (Year 12) in 1985 was invited. Our school closed in about 1992, sold off for a high rise development so there is no Past Students or Alumni. 

We had just over 30 women there. Our HSC year was only 60 odd so I was pretty happy with that turnout. Some women had flown from interstate to be there.

Turns out that, so many years later, we were all happy just to be there and see each other. No more cliques, no more “brains” or “cool” girls. Just women who shared formative years together and who were delighted to see each other again.  It was truly lovely.

Mid May we headed off on a 7 week trip so there was the usual round of errands and packing to be done. We rounded off our Covid and Flu vaccines with the Measles (ahead of our grandbaby’s arrival) and had our yearly meeting with our accountants. All riveting stuff!!

We went back to the MCG for another footy game (we lost this time) and saw a musical we had never seen before - “Hadestown.” It was very original but I need to see it again as I could not keep awake. I had donated plasma in the afternoon and raced straight into town and it was like I was knocked out. It was the first real donation from me (the very first one hadn’t worked properly) so I’ll have to see if it happens again. If so, I won’t organise to go anywhere on plasma nights!!

Mothers’ Day was lovely. Lunch out with all the kids (except M & A who are in England) and my Mum and stepdad then dinner at home with our girls, my Mother-in-law, my sister-in-law and two of my nieces. Just before we sat down to dinner, the doorbell rang and there was my other sister-in-law (who now lives on the Sunshine Coast). She came down as a surprise to all of us 😀

We flew to Nice (via stopovers in Singapore and Copenhagen). We purchased a Singapore Airlines Business Class special. Whilst the Business Class was undeniably good, the lengthy stopovers were not. We ended up travelling door to door for over 40 hours and were Zombies by the time we arrived. We found our apartment hotel which was in a good location but hadn’t been renovated since the 1970s!! and did not have a washing machine (woops – clearly forgot to check). We went for a walk along the famous Promenade des Anglais, had an early dinner and crashed.

Next morning, we were keen for French pastries and found buttery pains au chocolat and croissants. We also worked out how to buy train tickets and off we went to Menton and then Villefranche-sur-Mer. Menton was setting up its summer beach clubs but charming regardless. Villefranche had two visiting cruise ships (small ones) so the waterfront restaurants were happily full.

We decided to walk back to Nice Port despite gloomy skies. It started pouring mid-way (we hadn’t brought our rain jackets with us) so the walk was lengthened by stops to shelter!

Saturday, we trained to Antibes. Market day so a lot of people. Never seen so many multi-million dollar super yachts!!! Had a lovely French lunch in the sun in a square with buskers on the piano accordion.

Sunday we were on the train super early (6.50am) to Lyon to start our 14 day cruise. The journey was over 4 hours so, amongst other things I wrote a story about our days in Nice. GoWorld will publish it so I’ll link it when it comes out.

“New” Lyon was closed as it was Sunday but Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) was pumping. We wandered around until it was time to board and then grabbed a taxi to A-ROSA Luna. Our cabin is compact but there is enough room for us to store everything so we happily unpacked and stowed our cases.

I might leave my reflections about this cruise until the end but, suffice to say, we are really enjoying it. We are the only non German-speaking passengers onboard so the crew are looking out for us and keen to practise their English on us.

We worked out that we can have our “own” table for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the princely sum of EUR5 a day. It is a window table and no-one sits on the table beside us so we are very lucky.

The route is from Lyon north on the Saône as far as Chalon-sur-Saône then retracing our journey back through Lyon, changing to the Rhône and travelling as far south as Port St Louis then back to Lyon. The rivers are so smooth that we cannot tell if we are moving or not!

Sailaway was really special as we passed under many bridges, some so low that we had to vacate the Sundeck! Bridges aren’t the only engineering marvel we have encountered. We have sailed through many locks too. Andrew tries to explain the mechanics of a lock to me but I still don’t quite get it. It is a very cool experience to be on a ship whilst the water rises and falls around you.

We have kept up our “You can be as active as you like” philosophy on cruises and have been on several e-bike rides and many long walks. We have independently taken train trips, rented a car for a day and kayaked under the Pont du Gard.

As well as all that activity, we have eaten very well. As you do when three meals a day plus afternoon tea are laid out for you and cleaned up for you every day! I also had the lovely experience of a shoulders and neck massage – much appreciated after the bike riding.

As for the ports, the stays are long so we have had plenty of opportunity to explore at our leisure. Most of the ports were “firsts” for us so that is always exciting. A few we had visited in 2018 when we visited our son and his girlfriend (now wife) in Lyon but it was lovely to go back and spend longer.

My favourite port has been Arles – so much to see and such a charming town. Also, we accessed the Roman city of Nîmes from there (by train). We could easily spend 2-3 days more in Arles and there are many surrounding towns to see too.

My favourite activity were the bike rides…until we kayaked to, underneath and past the Pont du Gard. What a privilege it was to do this. The day was perfect – cobalt, cloudless sky, about 25 degrees. The tranquillity of paddling downstream in such a picturesque area and then marvelling at the Roman Pont du Gard was a “pinch me” day. Many photos were taken!!

As at the time of writing, there are still a couple of ports to visit and a fancy dinner with wine pairing to go. It’s a hard life!

In Writing Wins, I am very exciting to receive my first commission by a “rockstar” travel publication. Hush hush for now but I can say it it’s a hotel review in a national publication. Whoop! Whoop!! I am also very excited that a story which was commissioned way back in September has finally reached the newsstands. My first print, glossy magazine story is in June’s MiNDFOOD on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. There is no URL for this but I have a pdf to keep forever!!

I also found a new publication for some poetry and flash fiction (thanks to my writer stepdad for the recommendation).

So, for May (counting the June MiNDFOOD story since the magazine is already published and a story that ran in the NZHerald on 29 April), I have had six travel stories published (in five different publications!) and one micro fiction story this month:

• I’ve found the best free way to see any city https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/ive-found-the-best-free-way-to-see-any-city/GQMAZZYTVRENZJIJEAABLEMKXE/

• This pristine beach destination is 90 minutes from Adelaide but feels a world away https://www.mamamia.com.au/how-to-holiday-in-kangaroo-island/

• Paddling Below the Walls of Dubrovnik & 5 More Croatia Adventures https://weareexplorers.co/croatia-adventures-europe/

• Careful: a short cruise might lead to a serious addiction (second publishing) https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/short-cruise-addict?lid=kxnrtvx6xt2s&utm_source=braze_email&utm_campaign=AU_Citro_20250513_Community_Email_Free-Content_NL119&utm_content=newsletter-variant1

• He said, she said: Were the Cocos Keeling Islands relaxing for both husband and wife? https://www.joincitro.com.au/news/cocos-keeling-islands

• Paradise Found - MiNDFOOD, June edition

• Money Talks (Micro Fiction) https://preview.mailerlite.com/z6j2l0t6v1/2754541676277012715/w1e5/

Last but not least, I am excited to finish this cruise and fly to London to meet up with our son and daughter-in-law M & A who are living in Oxford. We have not seen them since January and we have not seen our grandchild “bump.” A sent us a recording of the baby’s heartbeat today. Wowser!!! We will spend two weeks with them on and off. Will be super special xx














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