365/156 Colourful

This is just lovely.. following on from yesterday's prompt, my cousin Sarah who reads the blog sent me this picture.. for sure the better viewpoint of 'White Gate'...and she wrote..

Love it, how bad is that - we get excited over a "gate". My memories of the gate, every Easter Sunday Grandad Ted would man the gate when the gardens are open for St. Levan Church funds. He would chat to people as they walked down cove and then back up again for a cream tea...

(her Grandad Ted was my Dad's best man and best friend, they joined the Navy together, despite both of them having valid reasons not to... and used to go courting together with Mum & Val... who worked together in town)

Cheating somewhat for the prompt today, but these colourful fruits at a stall we passed in Paris a few years back made me think about all the lovely foods on offer at the moment with the Jubilee parties going on.. mmm, I love raspberries..

JB has made Colin a cake this afternoon for his birthday tomorrow.. ahh, and the Queen gave us a day extra to celebrate!

April in Paris...

You know how men always buy you something brilliant for Christmas when all you have bought them is a(nother) new navy jumper and a book or two?

Well last Christmas I was determined to surprise Col for once, to buy him something unexpected and to say thanks for all his love and care over the past year... so I booked us flights to Paris for this weekend..the weekend of our 17th Wedding Anniversary... yes, I know it's not a special year but I decided that the best way to get a break these days is to 'book it!.. and half the enjoyment is the looking forward to it.

(I just looked it up and Modern folklore offers 'Furniture' as the 17th anniversary gift theme...well the French do have a lot of it... and bed is a piece of furniture and what better place to be in Paris on votre anniversaire!)

So after a little debate last week about whether or not we would actually be able to go, (Col's mum was not so well) off we set, early from Exeter on Thursday morning, three lovely days together.... eating, drinking, taking in the sights, boat trips and sooo much walking,...then home this morning Sunday... wow, the time went fast!

We stayed at a lovely hotel, the Garden Elysee off Rue Kleber, a stone's throw from the Champs Elysee and the Eiffel Tower. The breakfast was just great and the staff really friendly. I am soo rubbish at speaking French, I understand lot of what I read and remember quite a bit from my failed 'O' level but I am so typically English and bail out as soon as I know the person I am speaking to will understand my Franglais! And as for Col, he practiced what he preached to Kate and interspaced most smiles with a 'Bonjour' or a 'Pour Favor' to wind me up when only I was in cringing earshot!

(Loyal to the last though, he's telling everyone how great I was!)

Took some great little pics, always scrapping in mind, and thought I should add a few here in case the pages are a while in coming...