Bali Bliss - The Jungle

Bali is called the Island of the Gods for good reason, the energy there is like nowhere else, it sucks you in and throws you out and sometimes can bring you to a miserable low and then other times it is like a life/energy booster in itself. No surprise really when there is jungle and river to beach and cliffs, mother nature in a good mood to give this island really everything it could ever need. It is magical. Even the swarm of Auzzie touriests and Euro-trash in the island in August does not take away from what it gave to me this time around.

First stop of my trip was Andrew's and Jonathan's Civil Union in Ubud and the origin of my trip back to Bali. The ceremony was at Linda Garland's estate where I was actually also staying with Susan. It was glorious - the energy was so powerful that I felt the hairs on my arms raised the whole time, I was not the only one. . . It was also a little reunion for me with close friends . . . It was definitely what could be called London, HK and New Zealand coming together. A civil union like no other . . .

Andrew and Jonathan

Giorgio and Saloni

Me

Giorgio and Saloni

The ceremony and reception were beautiful and very sentimental. Andrew and Jonathan's attention to detail is quite something, and the Buffles napkins a treat, not to mention the outdoor screening of archives of daily life on the island from years back on film in the garden. Then the speeches of course, giggles and tears with Jackie Collins and Dynasty references, stories and true love.

Waking up at the estate is also something else, it is in the middle of the jungle, and on a river. Soul-food I think that is called. Not only was that enriching but so was the bubur ayam - an indonesian version of congee served with sambal mata, I am officially obsessed. Then the brunch back at Villa Tupai, a coordinated bbq with bloody mary's . . followed by a massage at the estate.

Burbur Ayam

Julie and Ruby (Andrew's sis and mum)

Maria and Susan

Linda the Masseuse

It was definitely hard to say good bye to our room and the estate the next day but the beach beckoned . . .

Our last stop before going to the beach . . . Babi Guling and the market. The BEST on the island. For sure.

Andrew and Jonathan, thank you for getting married guys, it opened up my heart and led me to be a hippie or at least version 2.0 for now. Inspired by your year-long travels. Congratulations Buffles.

Street Life - Paris

It seems now like a lifetime ago since Lynn and I were in Paris . . . I miss the streetlife . . .not streetlife like you would know it but probably closer to sitting at the Cafe de Flore watching the world go by . . . Forever an institution, even more now an institution what with Montana next door. It is the perfect little corner . . . always has been and hopefully always will be especially on balmy summer evenings. Then again for me, any excuse for a reunion with Cleo, my own little Miss Sunshine.

A gastronomic theatre through the backdoor . . .

Alain Ducasse's gastronomic kitchen which seen from where we were sat at his 3-star Michelin restaurant at the Plaza Athenee was like watching a theatre performance. 7 courses of delight smack in the middle of all the action. I remember thinking I wish I had not eaten that huge piece of pork at the Maison Baccarat earlier as what awaited us by the Chef was an epicurian adventure which included cockscombe among many other things.

From our room we descended up the bar for Grey Goose martinis then onto Ducasse. . . via the backdoor . . .

down the stairs . . .

to witness this . . . .

and to sit, just Lynn and I with the unwavering attention of sommeliers, a maitre de and waiters who took care of us under the watchful eye of the Chef (he's the guy without the big white hat).

the beginning

cockscombe

curtains down

the end

and back to the surface of the restaurant with our goody bags and customised menus . . . what bliss it was to climb up the stairs to bed . . . stuffed little gourmand piggies. Thank you Chef.

Louvre Privé

A private tour of the Louvre in the day time is something kind of special and quite possibly one of my favourite bits of our big French adventure by grey goose, especially when the tour guide is one of the directors in there and knows everything . . . this possibly is a case of pictures speaking much louder than words when walking down the corriders of the former palace we did not queue nor bump into anybody and mumble under our breath "augh, excusez moi."

I spent a good two hours with the hairs on my arms standing up as I walked down the corridors and let the history of the world as captured through magnificent specimens of art talk to me, and our guide explain some of the stories behind specific works. The Louvre is closed to the public on Tuesdays so this really is the day for maintenance as well as for private tours, of which there is special clearance and badges required.

maintenance

One of Fabrice's favourite works is this Italian renaissance piece for its complexity and how it tells a complete story, very early propoganda for the order of the Benedictine monks.

Another which is this Fragonard painting, to this day, art historians are still confounded as to whether the blonde was willing and just playing innocent or was coerced into an affair with handsome dark man. I agree with Fabrice and think she was completely willing and rather enjoyed herself (tuls tuls).

There are lots of animals in the works of the renaissance masters . . . here you have a parrot speaking to a cat.

Typically for us and our bad luck, the Denon gallary with La Jaconde or Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo was closed . . .so we did not get to stare at her eye to eye without a mob.

Access STRICTLY forbidden

That was ok though because I got to re-enact for a moment how it would feel like to be Queen Mary de Medici as she comes out of her secret door where she elevates herself to Goddess status through the story that Ruben's masterpieces tell, she compares herself to Mary and other powerful women in the past, immaculate works of propaganda and a collaboration between a queen and a master, Rubens.

the dark patch is where the door once was

The goddess Nike in all her glory.

Then we went to the apartment of Napoleon III (which then became the Ministry of Finance), it is funny always how in history the establishment is destroyed to only be replaced with a new establishment which ends up behaving the same way as the former establishment and aspiring to have the same things . . . all that gold and all those crystals explains it all. It was designed by Visconti and links the Palais to the Tuileries.

The apartment houses wonderful artifacts, some very exotic ones at that and has kept with all its former glory the interiors, one can almost imagine the parties that went on there.

The immensity and significance of the Louvre when you have close to a private audience with her is very powerful, it makes you feel very small and in fact agaisnt all of that work, one is pretty small.

Lynn in the sculpture garden

A visit to Mesopotamia

The juxtaposition of all that history with IM Pei's pyramid is what then sheds light on a country that understands making history relevant and housing it as such.

The sculpture garden - once a parking lot

Lynn, Fabrice and I

What is crazy is what we see, is only a slice of what the museum owns, all that work is a country in itself and a rather beautiful one at that.