There are many superlatives I could use to describe my wife, and she does have a myriad of talents and interests apart from being very cute. The one perennial would be that she is a true and dedicated Francophile: her love of the language and the country, its people and customs, the look, the feel, the ambiance, in fact virtually anything associated with France (including her shoe closet!). So, when she suggested that she venture off again to France with her mother for our two week winter break, how could I argue?

They have now made this trip three times over the years, the last two times, each of them travelling independently from their respective countries to meet in Hong Kong before flying onward together to Paris. It has worked really well except for a slight hiccup on the way back this year, but I'll get to that later.

Their destinations were a mix of four different cities, much how they have planned their previous successful itineraries, with TGVs whisking them between cities right into the heart of centraville. This time the plan was to fly into Paris, catch the fast train straight from the airport to Lille before spending time there, travelling onwards to Strasbourg and then to Reims. Finally, they would spend a requisite few days in gay Paris to bookend the journey.

The TGV trips were fast, efficient and very rapid, yet gave the chance once again to view the French countryside, the tiny farms and villages along the way as well as people going about their everyday lives. Lille had a big wheel that was an excellent first stop to get an overview of the city and take the first of Cassy's 700 photos! (I'm sure Valerie has more….). Lille was a delightful small city that exuded all the flair and charm that exists in most cities in France: the stunning architecture, the fastidiously cared for gardens and public spaces and a myriad of options to stimulate the intellect. They visited the Musee de Beaux Arts and found the collection quite extraordinary but perhaps an even greater discovery was the first of many "Paul's" delicatessen/boulangerie from which the girls sourced the delicate and scrumptious sandwiches and eclairs that were the theme of their trip! One amazing highlight was taking a local train for a day trip to the town of Lens, where there is a dramatically stocked and visually dazzling boutique autrement of The Louvre. It was a glacial masterpiece all on one level, taking advantage of the acres of land available in this country setting. Priceless and inspiring Roman, Greek and Egyptian artifacts vied with halls of medieval masters and Cassy's favourite impressionists for viewing time.

Another TGV, another city and Strasbourg delighted on some similar and some different levels. European Christmas markets are some of the most exciting outdoor markets anywhere in the world and Strasbourg's rivaled the very best of these. C&V wandered, shopped, marveled and tasted their way in and around the stalls, drinking in the atmosphere and sights and sounds. They journeyed on a batorama through the city's series of streams and canals (even through some locks!) where they enjoyed a different perspective of the layout of the city and its architectural gems. The Strasbourg Cathedral was leviathan in scope and size, an intimidating presence which Cass says dwarfed the Albi cathedral, which I had found the most imposing I'd ever seen. Another feature of the city was the Palais Rohan, the Alsace region's jewel of baroque style, housing an exceptional treasure trove of fine art, furniture, decorations and other.

By this stage, the girls had almost literally walked every street and lane of these two French cities, perhaps counteracting their daily feeds of goat's cheese, delicate cakes and pastries, flan, quiche and macaroons. They were saving themselves for the Champagne caves of the Reims area, to which their third TGV flew them. A bus tour to the cave of Taittinger, allowed them carte blanche to revel in the tastes and sensations of this special destination. A foppish, prissy (and of course, stylish!) gent lectured them on the art of the making, appreciating and drinking of the product and gave their group a tour of the facilities, whereupon they were left to sample ample quantities of the product! This theme persisted throughout their stay and they managed to have a few more "samples" here and there to accompany their sweet takeaways from the boulangerie!  The Reims Musee de Beaux Arts was visited and revealed itself to be of the same stellar quality of all the preceding galleries and musees. A particularly interesting and unexpected highlight was the site of the signing of the armistice to end World War Two, signed at a school in Reims with high ranking Nazis. The site is now preserved for posterity and has some powerful historical displays as well as documents and furniture in situ just as they were when the treaty was signed.

I don't think Cassy would contemplate visiting France without at least some days spent in her favourite spot in the world: yes, that's right, gay Paris, the ballerina on the jewelry box of the world! After again being jettisoned into town on the TGV and cleverly finding their hotel with the minimum of fuss (full credit to the navigators who did this across all the unfamiliar cities in their travels)they immediately embarked upon a whirlwind of shopping, eating, observing, travelling and admiring to pack as much as possible into their final three days. Their small but plush apartment (with a gratuitous dishwasher!) at the Citadine near Les Halles was the perfect hub to the spokes of their exploring wheel. Cassy just loves that Paris metro (I reckon it smells like an old wino's month old trousers) no matter what anyone says, and they journeyed on well-trodden paths to boutiques and stores and museums and galleries all over the city. They took a scenic cruise on a tourist boat on The Seine as the sun melted away to evening, experiencing the day and night views of all the bridges and the famous edifices lining the right and left banks. Their trip to The Louvre was undertaken under clear blue skies, but their Eiffel Tower ascent was marred by a ban on progress to the top deck owing to high winds….lucky they'd been before! It was a magic day for them, climaxing with Cassy hailing a recumbent pedicab driver for the trip back to their apartment across the other side of the river and the city: it was quite enchanting to get yet another perspective of this, no doubt even enhanced in favoritism, city.

The Musee de Arts Decoratifs was filled with wondrous objects to drool over; the coffee eclairs were as sweet and delicate as they had been all over the country, the pichets as rich and meaty and the goat's cheese as delicious and aromatic, while the Paris night light show danced and pulsed captivating the two enthralled. What whirlwind, wondrous weeks were had!

A tiny hiccup when Valerie's return seat was unrecognized by Cathay Pacific, necessitating her travelling on another airline home. The downside was not travelling together as far as Hong Kong, the upside an upgrade to business class from Bangkok to Sydney. I was so glad to welcome my girl back home, but I don't mind her spending that quality time with her Mum as they both enjoy it so, so much. It's a bonus for me when I see that sparkle in her eyes as she speaks about the wonders of the Gallic world….those French! 

This is a selection (less than a tenth!) of the photos.

Fukuoka airport prepared me for the rest of my trip. Even though the custom's officers wanted to search my bag (quite thoroughly), they bowed, smiled, apologized and curtsied to the point where I ended up thanking them for the inconvenience. The palpable couth and sophistication in this magical society enveloped and captured me again for the next 5 days.

After a night at a business hotel, some stuttering, quickly improving Japanese at the ticket office, with tickets in hand I boarded the punctual limited express to Nagasaki. I resorted to my old trick of resting a cup of tea on the windowsill and not a drop was spilled in the entire journey: just checking the quality control! Gurecki was there to meet me and we walked, trammed and sauntered our way through to his quite majestic new home and venture, The Class, an angular white post-modern combined business and home settled quite snugly in an ancient neighbourhood on the gentle slope leading to Nagasaki Temple Town. It quite delicately wedges its way onto its reverse battleaxe block and cleverly makes use of nearly all available space while leaving the occupants with a great sense of space, light and privacy: quite a neat trick in a downtown Japanese city suburb! Although I had seen pictures, my first impression and subsequent tour confirmed that this was, indeed, a beautifully designed architectural gem for both living and working. We enjoyed each other's company immensely for the next four days, splitting our time quite amicably between Nagasaki and "big sister" Fukuoka.

My host was teaching a few classes on the first afternoon, so after guiding me around the general area and pointing out some possible places of interest, he left me to explore. The restored Dejima island was a gem to anyone who knows the history of the circa 1600 Dutch traders confined to this island bolt-hole and/or readers of the wondrous historical fiction novel "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" (the dexterous imaginings of the brilliant David Mitchell). I wandered the buildings and exhibitions and was transported back to that period by some subtle and high quality inclusions…just so Japanese (by that I usually mean spare, no fuss, top quality, minimalist and thought provoking). The Dejima wharf area (which must be abuzz in summer) led me naturally to the commanding Nagasaki Art Museum, which appears as a glass galleon docked on the harbor. It is a quite stunning two block piece with a glass bridge linking the buildings spanning a small canal (it is also designed by "The Class"'s architect!). Its soaring vaults of triple height allow floods of natural light and curators carte blanche to display works creatively. The highlights were a surprising quartet on the back wall: two majestic Picassos from the 20s, a detailed Dali and a brooding Miro.

We had a few interesting sojourns as Gurecki guided me around the city. A visit to his father-in-law's gravesite was preceded by us both being invited to share some traditional "omochi" (rice cake) pounding. Here's me and Gurecki! We dined in and I was served traditional Japanese breakfast one day and Gurecki's famous breakfast burritos the next. We wandered the river, past the famous and photogenic "Spectacle Bridge" all the way up to the famous Okunchi temple and the Shinto shrine beyond. We were entertained by a supremely knowledgeable and articulate man on the history of Nagasaki and the entry of foreigners into Japan's closed society: even Gurecki learned some gold! We spent an afternoon soaking at an "onsen" high on the mountain. The outdoor wet-edge pool was a touch surreal: as we sat, soaked and chatted, we overlooked the back part of the city far below and ground zero where the bomb detonated less than 70 years ago to obliterate this picturesque city.

Our trip to Fukuoka gave me another chance to survey the countryside of this delightful southern tip of the main islands. Birds huddled together in their hundreds on calm waters, fishing boats bobbed and farmers tilled away on frozen fields. We were joined by Himiko and her mother and we had an Orient Express moment in our semi divided enclave with table and reading lamp. After checking in to our functional little hotel after a bus ride from the station, we lunched together then split up to further explore. Fukuoka impressed as a bustling small city, typically overloaded with gigantic department stores spilling over with designer and brand name boutique outlets. I had to do quite a search the next day before I discovered an artisan style jewelry store to buy something for Cass. We browsed in an old fashioned speaker/turntable/vinyl record store then spent some time in a generously stocked bookstore with an incredible array of English titles of all genres.

After a few hours sipping some beers in a cozy bar we again met up with the girls for a yakitori dinner before sliding away after that to enjoy a few more beers and a real catch up. We discussed all the world's problems and, as always, solved many of them: if only we could remember those solutions the next day we'd be Koffi Annan and Ban Ki Moon! The Japanese "snack" culture is still alive and well: I didn't see any change in scenery from my early days in Tokyo and Nagano back in '86….very comforting. By this time my Japanese was just starting to click into gear again….shame I only had one more day! We ended up wandering into a wine bar/karaoke joint that we at first thought was someone's living room. It was homely! Gurecki shattered a few Stones hits with a loud, local gentleman and I consoled a small group of workers who were "emotional" late in the night as they were on a last night out together after working together for a decade or more. We had a ball!

After some killer ramen (people line up down the street for it) and another wander and look here and there, I farewelled the departing Gurecki/Obayashi clan as they trained back to Nagasaki. That evening I shopped for my sweetheart and eventually found what I was looking for. On my travels I stumbled across quite magical scenes in the parks and malls surrounding the big department stores. Here's a Santa train and also a sea of lights. During my short trip I ate my fill of sushi, sashimi, yakitori, ramen, sukiyaki, okonomiyaki etc. and caught up with my freshly blooming mate Mark, who is finally crawling out from under the psychological yoke of our old (for him) shared workplace. He reckons it takes about 6 months to shake off all the baggage: we'd better prepare!

Christmas Day was weird, weird, weird! I flew out of Japan in the morning and arrived in Taipei midafternoon before having a Christmas meal of 7/11 noodles on the street! This was the beginning of a week and a half back in Taipei without my darling: it was interesting, but a story I'll share another time. Pictures will follow soon.

There is always a plethora of strange and/or interesting sights in our travels around the city. Cassy's book club on Wednesday provided me with an opportunity to travel the neighbourhood in search of food, which in turn, led to an entirely more complicated adventure.

Eat Burger was my destination, but finding it chock-a-block I decided to catch the MRT down to KGB. I found a similar hectic crowd at KGB, but managed to squeeze in at the end of a long table and enjoy my "Kiwi Mate" (see pic 1). On the way back to the station I snapped a quick shot of another of Taipei's ubiquitous roast chicken restaurants. As you can see, the whole bird is presented in the window and consumed at the tables!

The recent re-configuration of the metro lines saw me getting on the wrong train home! I felt like a real tourist when I had to go many stops out of my way to change to a line going back to the central Taipei station. From there I had to navigate through again to the Tamsui line: a 20 minute trip turned into nearly an hour!

Wol and I had a few of the interestingly named "White Beer"s on Friday night. Nelson Mandela's death has been a huge topic on the news this week and we couldn't help wondering what the great man might make of this branding.

Cass needed to visit her "bag man" downtown on the weekend, so we MRTed down to Chungshan station and wandered the backstreets to the shop. Order firmly placed, we contemplated sourcing some dinner downtown (stumbling upon the strangely named "Fatty Burger") before deciding to get off in Shilin and visit the elegant "Toro's", where we ordered the 6 course set with the ribeye steak....mouthwatering! We caught yet another train to stop off at Wendel's to get some bread before wandering home in the twinkling hustle of Saturday night in the big city.

Photos: Last day with my kids,KGB menu, strung-up chickens,sexual harassment on the trains, white beer and the less than enticing "Fatty Burger"!

I'm off to Nagasaki to see my old mate Gurecki next week while Cassy will visit Paris, Reims, Lille and Strasbourg with her Mum.....have a great holiday break one and all!

The sun leaked vapidly into the "girls' room" on the weekend, so different from the lavish flooding spills which usually heat and lighten the spot in winter. The sun's different winter angle has encouraged Cass to place Eugene's old basket in just the right spot to catch all the warmth, and Virg'nMary have absolutely lapped it up. When the insipid rays meekly filtered in on Saturday, Virgil came out to see Cass, led her into the room jumping, rubbing and meowing till she flopped into the basket, rolled around cutely and looked longingly at the window and Cassy in turns. The message was pretty plain: "Can you turn the sun on, please?" I decided that the cat was pretty stupid, but Cassy disagreed, now elevating her to one of the great cat intellects of our time... I'm yet to be convinced!

Memories of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader flooded back on the weekend when we went downtown to celebrate Shaun's birthday. Wal had decided to surprise him with a light sabre (of Star War's fame) of his very own. I'd been privy to the whole saga in the lead-up to the presentation. Each sabre is hand-made by some self-styled Star Wars' guru who lives in a tiny black hole of an apartment in the eastern Nangang districts of the city. He insisted that Wal pick it up in person, but only after he'd successfully answered a survey of questions on the franchise, which would deem him to be a worthy recipient of the sabre or not! Suffice to say, he passed the tests and the sabre is really something to behold. It makes all the requisite buzzes and hums, responding to movement and touch. The monastic Jabba the Hut wannabe even has mock battles using the sabres with his band of nerdy disciples on the weekends......I can imagine we'll all relent and get one soon!

Shaun has had some trouble lately, which I won't go into detail here, but suffice to say, he and his family have had an awkward and annoying time and I think they're pretty much "over it", so the party was really quite a welcome treat. We ended up having a really enjoyable time. The W Hotel was the venue, the Kitchen Table the restaurant and bar. It had a sleek, contempoarary presentation and the acid yellow colour scheme extended right through to the stylish individual bathrooms! The food was buffet style but of the most exquisite quality and freshness. Roast meats, French casseroles and grilled vegetables nestled alongside Asian cooked specialities, fresh seafood of bursting freshness, and melt-in-your-mouth sashimi and sushi. The desserts and accompaniements were of similar quality and although it was expensive, considering the quality of the food and the decor, not outrageous.

The outdoor bar area was our destination after dinner and although it was stunning and luxurious, with wet edge lap pools, day beds and lounges, neon lit chairs and table accents, it was quite cool in a literal sense! While the outdoor space heaters fought valiantly to ward off the chill, the breeze whipped through at regular intervals with Cassy declaring me quite gallant for draping my jacket around her as she stood shivering! The drinks came at a King's ransom, so it definitely won't be a regular destination. However, as we enjoyed the 10th floor facilities high above the madding hordes of this bustling Asian metropolis, gazing up to the 33rd floor bar soaring above and out to the Chrysler building copy and Taipei 101 beyond, we marveled at how slick and trendy our city was becoming. The evolution which started as a trickle ten or more years back has become a dizzying avalanche as the citizenry demand more and better and slicker and brighter as they keep up with the advancing Asian economic juggernaut.

We were far more mundane during the weekend days as we enjoyed the reemergence of a menacing Mitchell Johnson and his capable Australian team mates as they demolished the English squad once again to go two nil up in the current Ashes cricket series. What joy it is to revel in the Englishmen's collective pain!

Photos: Virg n Mary put up with a wilting sunlight and shots from the night out at the W Hotel (including the newly engaged Wal and Annie!)

We're always quite willing to affiliate ourselves with the Americans when special holidays roll around. This long weekend was no exception, and although we didn't immerse ourselves in any gluttonous turkey/pumpkin pie fests this year, we certainly basked in the time off allocated to those who work for American companies round the world.

In some ways, a four day weekend is a bit of a momentum killer and although we loved the time off, it was difficult to get back into our daily work routine today. As the days become shorter and the temperatures fall away, our daily pattern becomes just that little harder. Due to our very early start at school (we start teaching the kiddies at 7.45) we're up at 5.30 each day. It's dark for quite some considerable time in the morning these days and if we stay on for a meeting we're often walking home in the dark as well. As I mentioned last week, our daily walking commute is mostly enjoyable, but occasionally as the wind whips around us on a grey morning or dusky evening, it's less so!

Taipei continues to astound and delight us! We can now catch a Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) train from our local stop all the way through to Taipei 101 without changing! The city has been working steadily and furiously for some years underground to burrow through some of the most densely populated areas of the city to re-configure the MRT system. Through some logistical ballet of the most intricate kind, they have managed to seamlessly integrate this new line opening without the slightest hiccup, glitch or delay to normal transport in the city. It really is an engineering and planning miracle. Now, Taipei's largest city park, Daan, the Anhe road restaurant district as well as the 101 shopping precinct are all just 30 minutes away. The new line has also cleverly linked a number of others meaning some of our other popular destinations now involve just one change instead of two.

Suffice to say, we visited 101 and wandered the glittering hallways en route to Page One bookshop. Cass didn't get her book club book she was after, but we got some Tim Winton volumes for both Gurecki and friend from school, Jaami, who kindly lent us his carpark when Cass was wheelchair-bound. We then decided to get some Youbikes and have a little ride round the area. They were as easy to hire as I've previously described and we rode around for a bit before parking the bikes in the park outside and lunching at Longtable in the Xinyi district. We Youbiked back to the 101 station before heading home.

We spent the rest of the weekend doing all sorts of other interesting things, including excursions out to the movies, lots of eating out, either lunches or dinners and taking advantage of the beautiful late autumn/early winter days strolling round the neighbourhood and beyond. Mercifully, no monkeys were spotted on the 1000 steps and Taipei 101 was appreciated from a different perspective, almost like an inkwash Chinese watercolour style.

Photos: Cass at the local French deli/coffee shop buying some quiche ( the French guy who runs it is an excellent cook!), Astro Boy retains his popularity as Virgil suns herself in a spot by the door. Taipei 101 is now the second tallest building in the world but claims it is, "Mankind's Greatest Engineering Achievment". Cass poses beside a sculpture made from the replaced elevator cables: apparently long enough to reach around the island! The building still inspires awe from ground level, Youbike station and shots from the 1000 steps and Tienmu Gudao trail up top.