Farewell Celebrations

Well our friends and family did us proud and gave us a good send off!

We had a great party the Saturday night before with a close group of friends - Harry & Judy, Peter, Cecily, Marta, Alison & Brian, Phillipa & Dale, Kate & Ray giving us appropriate clothing to be acceptable and inconspicuous in France and an edict to continue the brunch culture and introduce the French to our warped sense of humour! We now feel fully Frenchified, with our own French top, scarf, beret & moustache (+ French and Italian Flags) - see attached photos.
In addition, Pam decided that adherence to her Jewish dietary laws was not conducive to experiencing in full the culinary and gastronomic delights of France & Italy, so she tested out the theory with her first prawn - see the result in the attached photos!

This was followed on the Monday (a public holiday in Melb) with an open bbq for all our friends and family in the Edinburgh Gardens in 40 deg heat. Our last Aussie BBQ for a while!!! Still it turned out a lovely day and lots of people came which was nice. See photos.
A highlight was meeting a lovely young French lady (a resident of the nearby area) returning home to France after her 2 year visa to Australia ran out - we have swapped emails and will be keeping in touch, I hope.

We also had several nice dinners or coffees with friends over the previous month which was really nice and a great way to catch up.

Thanks to everyone and hope you stay in touch while we are away.

Finally thanks to Heather, Denise and Cecily who joined Pam's mum, brother Mark & sister in law Jun) who joined us at the airport - it was lovely. Thanks also to all of you who rang us at the airport to wish us well.

We now feel suitably "sent off"!