This photo was taken at the Chateau at Chiverney, in the Loire Valley in September 2006.

The day we chose to visit was a day that we were camping, and thus, it was raining, which made it difficult to explore the gardens and park.

The rain did let up enough at one point for us to explore the garden outside the old servants quarters where i snapped some pics of the flowers and vegetables that were growing there.

I have a small obsession with taking close-up images of flowers and the like. This is despite the fact that I don't know anything about flowers. I like this photo because the colours stand out against green, and, because my camera is so darn good at taking pics, I even got the raindrops on the leaves.

Perfect place for a picnic

In September 2006, Mr Moi and I spent a month driving around France. It was a little hair-raising for the first week or so, as we're Australian, which means we drive on the left side of the road. In France they drive on the right.

As a result of my fear, I encouraged Mr Moi to deviate from the main roads as much as possible. So we could 'enjoy the countryside', but really, so I didn't get any grey hairs.

That's how we found this picnic spot in Normandy. Driving along one day, we wanted to stop and have lunch. At a small town, we found a lane and decided to follow it, and we came across one single table by a creek, and on the other side of the road was this lovely green hill.

It's a total country-side picturesque. I was enchanted - the grass doesn't get this green in the places I've lived in Australia.

There were a couple of fat dairy cows watching us eat our lunch. It was great.