Bonjour! As I write this I am in France, though by the time you read it I will have landed in London.

How lucky am I?

I am here in Europe as part of my six months Academic Study Leave (also known as a sabbatical)  from my role at Curtin University. Although some days it feels like a holiday, I have been working:

First, I attended the Child and the Book Conference in Rouen where I presented a paper about juvenilia, and listened to  many other wonderful speakers talk about children’s books, and creativity and so much more.  I also made new friends from around the world.

Then, after a few days in Paris where, among other things, I went to the top floor of the Eiffel Tower, I headed south to a small village near Carcassonne, where I stayed in a French farmhouse for a writing retreat, curated and hosted by The French House Party and guided by amazing tutor, poet and all round nice person, Anne Caldwell. We wrote, talked, walked, were fed (so much wonderful food) and laughed. And, as with the conference,  I made new friends from around the world.

I have two notebooks overflowing with notes, drafts and ideas from these two events, and still two weeks of travel left. In the meantime, a poem. If you have never been to France before you might be surprised at my obsession with cheese over these past weeks. I’ve always liked cheese, but when you are in a country where cheese (good cheese!) is part of every meal, it can become a bit of a focus. In fact, at one meal I skipped the main course and happily ate bread and cheese because it was just so good.

So, in the midst of a session where I was writing some pretty heavy stuff, I found myself pausing to jot down a little ditty about my obsession.

Simple Pleasures

Stinky stilton

bonkers blue-vein

holey-moley swiss.

Oozy camembert

crumbling cheddar

easy-cheesy bliss!

(Sally Murphy, 2024)

Oddly, for all my obsession, I do not have a single photo of cheese amongst the seventy billion I have taken on my trip. So, instead, here is one of the poppy field next to the farm house taken at sunset one evening.

Here’s to cheese, and travel, and learning new things and meeting new people. And, of ceruse, here’s to poetry! Patricia is hosting Poetry Friday today, and you can see the Round Up on her blog.