11st - A farewell dinner for Ben & Tash who moved to New Zealand later in the month. Half the crew looked asleep so Michael was asked to take another shot.
2Some practice doing selfies was, and still is, required.
37th - Swedish friends Ingrid and Jan arrived for a few nights.
48th - It was time to show off Paulie & Stephen's turf. Jan came across to Bordeaux to join Ingrid from a fishing trip in Cornwall. Ingrid had finished the Marathon des Châteaux du Médoc with a pal. A regular marathoner, she is also a wine buff and her car was full of purchases to drive back to Sweden with
5.
6Penne
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8Puycelsi
9Bruniquel
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11Back in Adelaide Olivia joined colleagues celebrating World Physio day
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139th - a walk up the hills around the village
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15Then it was time to introduce Ingrid to local wine from L'appellation Gaillac. The guys took them on a 20 minute drive to Domain de Barry where Cyprien introduced them to Braucol - an ancient, local grape. It is also known as Fer Servadou.
16On the way back to the village they quickly checked out the Templar's commanderie de Vaour
1710th - part of AthoTurnbull tour was to Albi via Cordes-sur-Ciel. (Photo under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 1.0 Generic by Adrien Béron )
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22Then on to Albi where the Cathedral was first stop
23And then a walk around the Bishops Palace
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27The cloisters at Sainte-Cécile
28Jan & Ingrid made dinner to wind up the day
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31Parfait!
3213th - With guests en route home to Gothenburg, Stephen had time to assist Yolande by being trainee Farrier for Rubens
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35Other chores at the farm were completed
36Rubens gave Stephen a cuddle to show that all was forgiven
3719th - Paulie and Stephen flew to England late on the 15th to spend some time with the Oxford duo. However, Paulie & Stephen isolated themselves in their loft hideout for a few nights as they had flu symptoms (COVID tests were OK)
38The guys were feeling better
39Recreating a moment on Brasenose Lane near Radcliffe Square from 32 years, 8 months prior
40January 1994. The recreation was one man down, but the 2026 walk was certainly in happier times.
41Then it was off to the Oxford Canal Festival near Jericho
42The festival included dog trials
43Best food catcher, Best Trick, Best dressed etc.
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46Then Paulie and Stephen made dinner whilst James practiced with his new camera and made a cooking show segment
4720th - into town to visit the UK's oldest botanic Gardens across from Magdalen College.
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55An evening game of table tennis In Florence Park. A video of the action is on the "AthoCinema" page of this website.
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5821st - Paulie headed into town to collect a few books and at last got a front seat on the upstairs section of the bus .
59Meanwhile it was feet up time in Adelaide...
60... after a feet-in-action time with Hannah
61These two are clearly drawn to the sea. They continued their sailing course during the month. A short video snippet of their skills is on the AthoCinema page.
62And in Brisbane Nick unpacked boxes back at mother Elizabeth's and found some classics like the book Grandpa gave him one birthday
63And he continued his sous chef apprenticeship under Chef de Cuisine Jess.
64Jess and Nick head to GOMA's "Make, Believe, Magic: The Worlds of The Jim Henson Company" that opened on September 12
65Who can forget Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie?
66Let alone the Cookie Monster
67And a selection of characters from various films
68Very Dali-esque
6922nd - Paulie and Stephen visited Pete's mother for lunch at the "Boot and Slipper" in her new hometown of Amersham
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72Talking about niece Sharie's husband Pete, he had just arrived on his bike from Brisbane in Broome. On the way there Pete had made a pitstop in Adelaide and stayed a night wth Olivia and Cam
73A big focus on fishing with Pal Halina's son Seb who swaps between Emergency Medicine posts there and on the Northern NSW coast (near different fish).
74Paulie's nephew Stef is as keen a fisherman as Seb. He flew over to join them
7523rd -It was time to head back to France. Paulie claims she didn't realise that she sat down next to the "Whispering Angels" rosé supply. Oh yeah!
76Dutch friends Flip and Susan were at La Cachette (for the 10th year), so the guys housesat in Gers when they arrived back in France
77The lads who own the property were doing a great job renovating the house.
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7924th - as the sun rose, it was time to do the real work -releasing or checking on the beasties. 2 dogs, 2 cats, 10 chickens, 3 geese, two ducks, and two birds.
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84Three chicks needed extra bonding and time.
85Then it was off to collect ingredients for the day's meals.
86.
87email catch up time
8825th - another slow start to the day
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90Franklin tried to wake up Miss Mouse
91And the moon shone brightly as the day came to a close
9227th -Olivia and Cam had flown up to the central NSW coast for "The Mingara One Run Fest" half marathon
93And both lived to tell the tale
94Back on the farm... canine bonding time.
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98As well as Poultry Pal time
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101And shower time attracted a visit from one of the cats.
102This building had some lovely old mud brick work
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10429th - back in St Antonin in time to cook a Bœuf bourguignon for 8 to celebrate Storm's birthday at La Porte Bleue
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106Stephen clearly didn't get the memo about dressing in red
107Mashed spuds and dishing up time. Seven hours of slow cooking worked a treat
10830th - In Adelaide spring time had sprung as the their peach tree flowered
109Cam's Dad Robbie was in town for work and joined the guys for a bit of Adelaide history as Shaun Micallef (one time Adelaide lad and lawyer. Now comedian) launched his new book
110So ended a full (and clearly learned) month in the Antipodes and Europe as Paulie as Stephen geared up for their last month in France for 2026
