Au Revoir Paris - Jusqu'à la Prochaine Fois

Our last excursion in Paris on Monday evening was an open top bus tour to see the city lights. As It wasn't dark until around 9:30pm it made for a late night out. It wasn't a flash tour but it enabled us to see some flash landmarks.

The cameras got some exercise catching images of landmarks and sites that were illuminated. I hope you can recognise some of them.

Waiting for the bus at sunset

.

Seated and ready for takeoff

Before it got dark

.

After ten days on the road ...

... we are nearing the end of our Scottish journey with The Back-Roads Touring Company. Our guide has kindly marked our map, the blackline shows our route.

Into the Arctic

Today we enjoyed a spectacular scenic day's sailing, it was a relaxing way to see some sights in northern Norway.

And off we go

Our destination was the Svartisen Glaciers, it took us several hours, during which we saw stunning vistas, to reach our destination. 

I grabbed us a spot at a table just to the left of these sailors

We passed a few small settlements

Some people were out in their boats

Eventually we spotted Vikingen Island the first site on our tour

Vikingen Island in the Nordland County of Norway sits on the line of the Arctic Circle. On passing the Island with its Arctic Circle marker at 66°33' we were sailing in the Land of the Midnight Sun. This was a cause of excitement for many of our fellow sailors who hadn't before been this far north. 

Vikingen Island with the Arctic Circle Marker

A closeup of the Artic Circle marker

From Abscond to Unsettled

I had expected to read more books last month as I was home all month. I suspect family history activities got in the way. 

As we are off travelling shortly and will not have too much time to read I am pleased that I am ahead of the game in the Goodreads Reading Challenge

2025 Reading Challenge

2025

READING

CHALLENGE

books completed

15 books ahead of schedule

64/100 (64%)

View Challenge

I must have been in a generous mood last month as I awarded rare (for me) five stars to two titles on the list, The Paris Novel and The Diamond Eye. 

Once again my month provided an eclectic mix of biography, history, fiction, murders and kids' books. Family was a theme in several of the works.  I particularly enjoyed Unsettled as it made me think and reflect on Australian history and made me ponder on any interactions that may have occurred between my white and indigenous ancestors.  Balcony over Jerusalem by John Lyons, a news journalist who keeps popping up on the ABC, providing me with a perspective on the ongoing situation in the Middle East. My four Libby accounts provided most of the eBooks I read in June.

BTW I also read a few that aren't yet listed on Goodreads.

Wine on Wednesday

We have been known to have a tipple with dinner, not just on a Wednesday, but whenever we feel like a drop.

Most of the wines we consume at home come via Qantas Wine. Others find their way to our door via a local  grog shop or with a generous visitor. We are partial to bubbles, dry whites and rose. On occasion we may be tempted with a glass of red. We have been known to accompany a meal in a restaurant or cruise ship with wine. Family celebrations are often accompanied by a glass or two of bubbly.

I often take photos of the bottles we empty so that we can seek them out at a later date. Following are a some snaps of  wine we have sampled this year. 

Birthday Bubbles

Dinner at the Toronto Hotel

Pre-flight Bubbles - Sydney

Californian Rose in Japan

On Board Regent Seven Seas Explorer

Bubbles by the Backyard

Celebrating with cousins - Hamilton Island

Sparkling Rose, Hamilton Island