Inspired in Milan & Paris

This blog is a little late and is the last of our photographs - it has been difficult to pick a few good photographs after taking so many.

As we travelled to Milan the fires in Australia getting worse Tony and I were certainly recognised as Australians everywhere we went. It seemed surreal, walking in Snow and thinking about places that we know so well burning in Australia.

When our children were small we wanted them to see as much of Australia as possible so we were quite familiar with lots of the towns that were in trouble. Our Son and Daughter in law are both volunteer fire fighters so the dangerous conditions were certainly on our minds. Sorry off topic!

We spent New Years Eve in Milan and wow that was something else. In this Italian city they celebrate all day, all night and the next day. Live music everywhere, people singing and dancing in the streets and piazzas and drinking was enjoyed but not noticeable. The buildings are incredible, massive numbers of people but surprisingly clean and accessible.

Of course when you travel something has to go wrong, a train strike prevented us from travelling to Paris by train so we had to fly, (luckily I was not travelling with a group dancers!).

Paris was amazing as it always is, we have been to Paris before so it was good explore. We simply put one foot in front of the other and kept walking all day. We went in a different direction each day and on the last day went spend the day at the Louvre. The Shop windows were absolutely amazing, I love the Palais Garniér, the home of the Paris Opera Ballet. They have recently put bee-hives on the roof tops of the Theatre to help recover the bee population in France and La-Fayette, a shopping centre behind the Theatre had their shop windows decorated with Bees at Christmas. I was stunned at the artistry, the designs, the music and the detail. Watching the children taking photos, videos and dancing was better than any movie - it is funny to hear them chattering in French.