I had a routine with Andy, whether by email or phone, where I’d immediately greet him with ‘Hi Andy. It’s Andy.’ This amused me inordinately and Andy agreed, telling me once, ‘It never gets old’.
Way back in 2011, in fact this same month of July, I met Andy for the first time. I was trying to set up my business as an editor, having left my work in the HIV sector. I had done a course on Book Editing and Publishing. I’d gotten some initial work, editing reports for PwC. But at that point in time, I didn’t know how I’d make a living from editing, what my strengths were, what more I had to learn. I’d also never run my own business before, and while it was a huge relief to not be working in an organisation with all its potential bad management and fighting and rivalries among staff members, it was also daunting to strike out on my own.
My friend John said that he knew someone who worked as a copywriter and that we should meet up. We did. At the time, Andy had started a small business with a colleague, working for many different clients. The role that I could play was to edit and proofread what they wrote. It was a great way for me to start learning about the writing services required by mostly other small businesses. I learned that everyone needs an editor, including editors and copywriters. And that someone whose strength is writing engaging text, like Andy, may not be as concerned with the details of grammar and punctuation.
We did lots of bits of work together over the next years and soon enough, Andy was referring me onto other clients who needed a proofreader, and to clients that I was a better fit for, or he didn’t want to take on. Not all of them were great clients. One contact of ours had taken on the job of project managing a website, setting it up and creating it, for I think a guy who had a security company. But the guy was dodgy as hell. She eventually called up Andy to ask his advice. ‘I’m being stiffed and not getting paid by this guy. Do I still have to pay Andy for his work?’ And Andy replied, ‘Of course you have to pay Andy for his work’. We made up an unkind nickname for her and laughed for ages about her incompetence and general cluelessness.
What I’ll always be grateful to Andy for was how generous he was in sharing his experience. I really had no idea how to price my work, particularly, and he walked me through how he’d quote for a job, and charge for it. He was so generous with his contacts, and to this day, I’m still doing copyediting and proofreading for one of his referrals, a terrifically talented and creative design studio. He even, when I was setting up my reiki business, provided me with the tagline that is on the back of my postcards and that I use on my online profiles: ‘invite the wellness of reiki into your life with a treatment today’.
Andy was a huge talent, so clever and creative. I was in awe of the way that he could find the right voice for different clients, from the City of Sydney to the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, from restaurants and food and beverage producers to tourism campaigns. He had a particular ear for a clever Aussie way of saying something, to the point of making up words that would not be found in the dictionary.
I admired his creativity outside of his work too. Years before I had met him, I had been a big fan of a comic strip that he published in the weekly gay newspaper, ‘Mr Gisby’s Totally Gay Pet Shop’. It was ridiculously funny, warped and completely original. He did skate board deck art. I found online some of his latest work, where he’d digitally printed the covers of pulp fiction novels that exploited queer identity (‘Gay Buddies’, ‘The Bashful Lesbian’) onto old-fashioned crockery, or ‘nana plates’ as he called them. He was funny, intelligent and subversive.
I also admired the life that he had created for himself. Long before the COVID exodus from Sydney of folks moving south and north, he had decided that he and his partner would move to Tasmania, which he loved, and from where he could still keep up with his work as a much-in-demand and world-class copywriter.
And now he’s gone. I just got the news a few days ago of a horrific car crash and accident in Tasmania, that happened in the late morning, almost noon. He was injured mortally and died in the hospital sometime later. If I’m being somewhat discreet by not mentioning his full name, it’s because he himself seemed to be keeping himself offline with few digital traces. When I searched for him online after hearing the news, I saw that he’d removed himself from Facebook, but not only that, he was barely to be found. His work website and LinkedIn profile are still up, but considering all the ties he had built in his new community, and his talent as an artist, I was surprised to find so little. There are also others online with his name, even another copywriter.
I’m surprised how unsettled I feel. I knew Andy more professionally than as a friend, and we weren’t close. But, as I said, I’ll always be grateful for his generosity to me while I was setting up this career, and I’m upset that he’s no longer alive in this world, prodding and needling it with his fierce humour and clever, clever voice. I don’t write outside of my work as much as I used to, but it seems appropriate to honour this talented wordsmith with words. Hi Andy. It’s Andy. I’ll miss you. Thanks for everything.
It’s been a long time since I’ve done a blog post on a restaurant, but for Dessance, I’ll make an exception. With so many exceptional restaurants in Paris, I always recommend that 
friends treat themselves to at least one very special meal while visiting (if not more!). When I had the opportunity to be in Paris in March 2023, I decided that Dessance would be my choice.
But I’m happy to report that Dessance is as good as I remembered. I had a spectacular meal. The service was perfect and charming. They allowed me to try to practice my French and only for a few words did I need to ask for a translation.
tables upstairs in a sort of alcove above the kitchen, and downstairs, there’s a lovely open sense of space with a super-high ceiling. It feels elegant but not stiff.
carpaccio, with an orange croustillant, a crisp, which was typical of the food here, almost always a textural element added, like roasted buckwheat or quinoa.
other in a graceful dance, and you can see how the dishes are assembled, and the expertise and artistry involved. Finally, the desserts. Rather than a rich and decadent dessert, say involving chocolate, I found it an interesting choice to serve such light desserts focused on fruit. The kiwi, aloe vera, sorrel and green pepper sorbet was refreshing and surprising. A soup of sorts!
fully engaged in tasting and enjoying each dish, sometimes closing my eyes and focusing on what was in my mouth! I enjoyed just soaking in the atmosphere and the experience, and counting myself so lucky to be able to eat such a wonderful meal at a wonderful restaurant in Paris.
Because I’ve been lucky enough to live in Paris twice – four months in 2014 to 2015 and three months in early 2016 – I am sometimes asked for advice. And I freely give it. From my Dad, when I was growing up, I learned a restaurant or business should come recommended. The best advice would often come from someone you know.
So my first advice about Paris may seem counter-intuitive. The thing is, in my experience, so many people have been to Paris and love Paris, that they will offer advice, a lot of it, about their absolutely MUST-do activities. And the truth is: Paris will be magical, and will be yours, so my first advice is not to worry about taking everyone’s advice. Including mine. If something catches your interest, it can be a fun adventure to seek it out. I often build my travel around various missions: certain restaurants or treats or a tour of used designer clothes stores. But cities will offer you their own gifts, especially Paris.
I’m a particular fan of the almost-free bike system in cities like Paris. It is astonishing that you can ride around freely, often in wide bike lanes, but even in traffic, it seems like Paris drivers are so used to chaos, and cyclists, and pedestrians, that you should feel safe and easy. These days I think you need to download their app, and use their app, and you can rent cycles for single trips, or for a day, or with some difficulty for three days at a time. I love riding on a Vélib in Paris. I feel utterly free. Exhilarated. Getting lost is part of the fun.
I think it’s a lovely thing to go to a humble French restaurant, the tables all close together, and the menus all nearly the same. Tripadvisor or Google Maps will give you reviews for ones near where you’re staying. A friend told me in 2023, the new trend is to go to a bouillon, a classic French bistro serving humble food at not high prices. I should have checked them out myself! If you’re in the Marais, I really like the restaurant Dessance: it’s very good value for such a gourmet meal, not the top-end of restaurants (which are so expensive) but a treat nonetheless, and you should treat yourselves to AT LEAST one lovely meal while in Paris. You can watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen; the staff are utterly charming, and the food is surprising and delicious and wonderful.
I also love the Israeli food and falafels in the Jewish streets of the Marais (Rue de Rosier), an ‘ethnic’ break from French food, but really, the only reasonable and nice non-French food in Paris (Asian food was terrible (though perhaps improving?) and other cuisines will be expensive and generic, though Moroccan or Tunisian restaurants can be pretty good. L’As du Falafel is famous.
I find no greater delight in Paris than the pastries. If you see a sign that says a boulangerie has won a prize for best croissant or baguette, go in and buy one! They’re crazy good. My trip in 2023, I discovered a new pastry, le pain de seigle feuilleté: it’s made from rye flour and tastes like a croissant with many layers but in the form of bread. I chased down mine at Les Copains du Faubourg (as recommended by the New York Times) but the bakery near my AirBNB (La Parisienne St Germain) also had them, so, even though a friend from Paris said she’d never heard of it, maybe it’s a new trend?
I think it’s really important to try a pastry from a shop that will be glowing and sparkling and looking like they sell jewellery or expensive watches instead of just pastries! Splurge (because when’s the next time you’ll be in Paris?). I am ALWAYS telling my friends to go to Aux Merveilleux de Fred (there are branches all over Paris, look on Google). Based on a traditional recipe from Northern France, they’ve shrunk a cake to individual portions, basically a meringue filled with cream, and covered in chocolate flakes. They’re unbelievable. Don’t go for the small ones: the proportions are wrong. Have a proper big sized one. Please.
Still, there are astonishing pastry shops on Rue du Bac, and all over Paris. Macarons were a bit thing for a period, especially from Ladurée and Pierre Hermé, and I mean, you should certainly try one, but do also try a fancier pastry. Or two. Or three. On my last trip, I discovered the Pierre Hermé are also renowned for their pastries, in additions to their macarons. I tried two varieties, and my god, they were incredible. Actually, as weight control, I skipped lunch one day … and had a pastry instead. The description on this one said: The 2000 feuilles presents a harmony of textures: caramelized puff pastry and crushed hazelnuts contrast with the creaminess of its praline mousseline cream.
A favourite meal in Paris is a hole in the wall (the space is literally called ‘Le trou dans le mur’) where the wall happens to be the back of a really great wine shop, La Cave des Abbesses (it’s below Sacre Coeur, not far from Montmartre). You order une planche (a platter, a plank?) of cheese and meat, and my god, it’s the best cheese and charcuterie EVER. Wash it down with aperitifs or a wide selection of reasonably priced French wine. I can’t recommend this enough.
favourite Paris food writers, David Lebovitz, recommended a sandwich from Le Petit Vendôme, centrally located a stone’s throw from Opéra. You have to sit at the counter, rather than at a table to order a sandwich, but my god it was good. I’d wager that it was *perfect*.
My favourite thing to do in Paris is to ride around on a Vélib, the almost free biking system. I wondered how much it had changed in seven years, as I’d heard a lot had changed. New operators. Competition from other bike schemes, more chaotically organised where people leave the bikes in random places. Electric scooters too, which I’m too afraid to try. And e-bikes. The current Vélib system has e-bikes.
a ‘découverte’ card. It was only EUR 5 and required photos to stick to the card. Why hadn’t I brought those extra photos I kept for just such an occasion? There are actually photo booths all over Paris, and the train stations, so I made some photos for EUR 10, went and bought the proper card from the fellow (who sort of indicated, ‘oh, that’s what you wanted’) and then discovered that you really don’t need the photos on the card, and the photo doesn’t fit in any case. I cut it down to size and stuck in on anyways.
But sorry for all these details. The experience on the bikes was as good as ever. There are more bike paths than I remember, many of them wide, and busy with cyclists (and some scooters). What surprised me was that with so many Vélibs in use at all times, the biggest problem was not finding a Vélib but finding an empty spot to put the Vélibs back at the stations. Even though they seem to have a new system where you can put a Vélib back in a station when it’s full, by locking itself to something else, the one time I needed to try it, I couldn’t figure it out.
It was exhilarating and terrifying as you are often in busy traffic and super close to the cars. But the thing is, Parisian drivers seem to be use to all this chaos, and there are so many other bikes on the road. So, you just try your best, and cars move around you, and you around cars. The only time I saw people raise their voices was to prevent accidents, when a pedestrian or car or bike were really too close and about to collide.
took me five days before a young colleague told me she’d had the same problem and you have to press ‘3’ on the dashboard to give it some juice, otherwise it stays in ‘1’. I only got to try a proper ebike once after that. Strangely, it was on a bike that someone had left at a station unlocked and still running (on their account), but they’d already set it on ‘3’ and what a difference it made. It was fast and quite fun.