Winter Colour: Blue and Red

My oh my! I haven't done a colourful collage for quite some time!
Check out previous editions here.

This time round? Blue and Red; primary colours in perfect harmony, forever and ever. Amen.

Blue velvet dress and red patent shoes? Yes please! Love the Nosferatu-esque shadow too.

Channelling Alice.

Love the volume of this dress, and of course, the colour scheme.

Wish I snapped up this ASOS skirt. Street styling in Paris.

Lily Donaldson is quite the babe!

LOVE the winter drama!

Camouflage chic.

Layering done right (but I think she's crazy for braving bare legs!)

Red? Check. Stripes? Check. Florals? Check. Sequin Cat likes? Check.

Click on images for links.


Like? You should definitely subscribe to bright and bold Wear Colo(u)r and the lady with magnificent taste, Genevieve Rose.

For some of MY favourite blue and red looks, clicky: Picnic with Paul, Class Photo, Back in the hothouse, What Alice did, Sunday Lunch, Blue Sunday, A bit of rockabilly, Primary Colours, Lynx, At the Cricket...

Daily Outfit: How to Salvage your Saturday

After perhaps too many red wines, Saturday morning was rather uncomfortable.

It's all too easy to lay around and watch DVDs but I thought I'd make the most of the mild autumn we're having (had? Sad face) and take a stroll to the beautiful jardin public and read my book. In the rain, it turned out.

Oh well, at least I got some fresh air, exercise and mental stimulation. Just what you need to salvage your Saturday.

Daily Outfit: Red Riding Hood

The locals have taken to calling me "le Petit Chaperon Rouge" whenever I walk by.


I don't think I'm into it.

Daily Outfit: Red Wine, Red Skirt

I'm not doing too badly with my No Excuses November, am I?! Granted, it has been Daily Outfit heavy..... but I like to share with you what I'm wearing (and I'm sure I'll be generous in sharing what I've been eating too - yum!)

Apologies for the evening shot and flash: late night drinking red wine (who could've told!)

I love this tuxedo shirt but the synthetic fabric doesn't breathe at all, which is not so pleasant for bike riding.

Fromage Friday

Are you just as cheese crazy as I am?! I thought so.

Here we go, the first post in a new series celebrating just how high my calcium levels are since coming to France. Seriously, sometimes I am force-fed chèvre.

I have dinner with my fellow English-teaching colleague most Wednesdays. On our first week she pulled out this amazing (Italian) blue.

I love that you can buy decent camembert for cheap from the supermarket.

And that you're given specific instructions on when to eat it to get the right depth of flavour for your palate!

So good.

Cheese is the perfect accompaniment to wine for a few drinks with friends on a Monday night.

This meal is my vegetarian go-to for restauranting in France: Salade de chèvre (goat's cheese salad, toast, assortment of crudités)

You'd better believe I bought that ashy one on the left. So creamy. Perfect for breakfast with crusty baguette (if I can tear myself away from the equally delicious garlic cheese spread).

My friend ordered the cheese plate at a bar the other night and this pitiful excuse came out. We had to laugh.

Salade de chèvre again! (and the amazing Rosie)

Warm goat's cheese and honey on the crustiest sliced bread. Oh my.

The cheese platter to rival all others. I was spoiled this night!

As you can see, my bones are clearly getting all the calcium they require. Unfortunately I think my thighs are also "benefiting" from this good-eating...



Until next Fromage Friday!

Daily Outfit: Singing in the Rain

I felt like such a cliché in my polka dot trench as I stepped out to pick up a fresh baguette.

This day marked my official "induction day" also into the messiness of the French school system. Also, jeans!

Daily Outfit: The start of something New

It's a new month, so I thought I'd start fresh after much reflection.


Introducing: No Excuses November!

For one whole month (eek!) I am going to post here every day, come what may. This might end up a bit tricky, given that I'm travelling, entertaining and generally being a jet-setter. But! No Excuses!


Wish me well for this new venture.


To get us started: a beautiful sunny day and an outside outfit shot! Unless I can find a handy photographer I doubt these'll be happening often.

Happy Hallow/Toussaints!

I spent this evening being led around a 13th Century monastery and making smalltalk with French children dressed up in spooky costumes.

Our brilliant tour guide (and friend) is singlehandedly building the nativity scene in his local church over the next two months.
Last year his work drew in 12, 000 visitors!

After yet another amazing meal, I started the singalongs on the ride home through the French countryside under a full moon. I love my life.

Wednesday Wrap-up

This week has been a wild one! I feel like I've done all the things (but haven't, really).

So aside from enjoying much too much Bordeaux wine (oh yes!), here's what's been happening:

• School. A little. Say, two hours/day. Brilliant. And some of those classes are science. In French. Yes!


• Open mic night at a rock n' roll bar, supporting my fellow teacher who's decided to try his hand at the guitar. This support ends up being my friends and I drinking a lot of Belgian beer. Yum.


• Partying in theme bars. Bordeaux is great for this! On Friday I went to a medieval monk's bar with friends, but have checked out pirate bars, wine bars, and a board game bar in the last few weeks






• Lunching at a seafood restaurant that did not have a single dish for this poor vegetarian. Everyone raves about French cuisine, yes? On Saturday I ate bread and a boiled potato. True story.


• Saturday's pitiful lunch was more than compensated by the AMAZING Dune du Pilat! Standing on the top of Europe's highest sand dune, with the sea on one side and forest on the other. Incredible.







• Caught an eight hour train East through the most charming French countryside. So, so green. Lucky lady.


• Welcomed into my friend's parents' house in Lyon and fed simple French fare. Merci.







• I spent Monday in my own company, exploring the city and was reminded just how much I like travelling alone (and how long it's been since I've done it - 2009?). Best things included spending hours in the Parc de la tête d'Or, smelling roses, watching animals and breathing deep in the greenhouses. I also loved my easy lunch of warm chèvre and honey on thick crusty bread and a glass of Côte du Rhone. I may have also had a slice of blueberry tart. Sunset was spent in the old Roman amphitheatre at hillside Fourvière, looking out over the city. Magic.







• The week's still not over! Tuesday I packed my bags again and caught a train out to a tiny little town, where I was picked up by a Brother and escorted to the Hermitage for a historic pilgrimage. The welcome I've received here has been most generous, and I am really appreciating the serenity of these beautiful grounds. I am looking forward to my next few days here, before heading back to Bordeaux and.... welcoming my parents to town!

Just a minute in October

Can you believe this month is over?! And that there are only two months left until the end of 2012? Smokey crispbreads!


Reading... a little, since borrowing a spread from my local library (holla Bibliothèque de poche de Bordeaux!) I really enjoyed Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City this month, amongst other titles.

Listening... to tunes incessantly in the bathroom. I'm also singing and humming when out and about too!

Wishing... the weather didn't have to change. I was so happy having a mild, sunny autumn.

I wish the nice weather would linger a little longer.

Watching... Season one of Twin Peaks (I know!) I borrowed it from my local on DVD and look forward to coming home in the evening and watching an episode. This is what happens when you don't have a TV, I guess. I'm okay with that.

Buying... all the winter gear. I spent a whole lot as a lump sum which hurt, but consequently now have: coat, hat, scarf, boots, shoes. Might have to pick up some woollen stockings but aside from that, I think I'm set. Bring it!

Wanting... air fares not to be so expensive so I can travel everywhere I want, all the time. Christmas break is coming up!

Missing... my family, of course, but also the easy Adelaide way of life. These little pangs don't last long though, as things are most wondrous where I am. Lucky.

Cooking... ricotta, pumpkin and spinach lasagna, to general acclaim. Thank you.

Old and new friends on the incredible Dune du Pilat

Making... new friends and loving it. Building my community here.

Loving... receiving parcels in the post, texting friends back home, taking a science class in French (!), all the amazing food and wine I'm sampling, going on weekend adventures, becoming a local - at the bakery where I buy my baguette and at the wine bar (oops), quiz nights, playing piano, walks through the parks, bike riding, the school canteen, exploring adorable cafés, staying up late, making friends with colleagues, seeing live music, feeling alive every day.


It's been a good month.