Dining and Crying in Paris Today

 Last week after catching up with Stuart and Darlene from the first European tour we took with Rick Steves in 2009, we all decided we would get together and cook a meal.  So last night was the culmination of this little idea.  We decided we would do the entree and dessert as it was easier for us with the great kitchen set up we have.  Darlene and  Stuart would do the main.  Our first idea was to have the cauliflower puree we had learnt to cook at the cooking school and top it with seared scallops.  But in true Parisian form the fishmonger we went to was well all I can say he was an arse.  So after waiting quite a while, I stormed off in a huff and we had to come up with something else to top the puree with.  AH ha duck we said and so it was. I have toi say it turned out beautifully and we all really enjoyed it.

Stuart brought shrimps (I know we say prawns but the Americans still say shrimp ha ha) and he cooked the beautifully along with delicious vegies. The vegetables were cooked in an apricot glaze and it was fabulous.

We ate some cheese before dessert as you do in Paris, actually to be totally Parisian we should have had the cheese after the entree and before the dessert with a little lettuce and some very mild dressing, go figure.

To end the meal we enjoyed, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries with a tangy cream, and some meringue crumbled in it, Oh my goodness that was nice.

We had a great night with our friends from Boise Idaho and hopefully we will squeeze in another get together before we leave next week.

This morning though was a very sad time, in fact all bloody day has been miserable.  Except for a few short minutes at lunch, when we sat down next to some fellow Aussies and savoured the sound of our wonderful accents.  That was a nice break in the otherwise sad day.

 Today Ashleigh and Danielle went home to Canada and I want to swallow my tongue when I say they went home, but that's where they live now, it's where they have been for the past 12 months, long months for me, and it's where they will be for the next 12 months at least.  We had a couple of teary discussions these past 2 weeks about the consequences of the decision to live so far away for so long.  We three girls all cried together, talking about missing out on things like birthdays, Christmas and of course the new baby girl they haven't even held or touched yet. They miss Elle and Sophie, their sister and brother in law, their friends back home and of course us.  But this is the life they want for this time and it is the hardest thing ever, to let them live it.

So today as we waved goodbye to them at the customs gate, and then I held on a little longer so they couldn't leave yet, and then we waved again and again until we couldn't see them anymore, I wanted to curl up into a ball and scream.

I am sitting here now wishing I could fly home right this minute, I want to hold Elle and Sophie and Alicia and be in my own bed.  I want something that feels real instead of like some crazy never ending holiday.  I like Paris, not as much as I thought I would, I really struggle with talking to people and that is a big part of me, I talk to everyone, everywhere.  Here I can't do that.  I want Ash and Nelly to come back to Toowoomba, not Brisbane or Melbourne or Sydney.  I hope that over the next few days this all settles down, I do, but right now I am a blubbering mess and I just want my girls back.

Till Tomorrow