And men in skirts. I think Braveheart is reason enough to fall in love with Scotland. I am meeting with a friend here in Paris who is Scottish but has lived in New Zealand since she was four years old. She's coming fresh from a few weeks in Scotland, and it will be interesting to see how it felt to "go home".

I will definitely choke down an extra patisserie on your behalf,fedora. As you can imagine, it will be no hardship. I agree with you that it's the places you can mythologise in your mind a little that make the best settings. When a book is set in Melbourne or Sydney for me, I just don't feel the same magic. Although I have read a few set in Paris,and that works for me big time. Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess... Ta for best wishes!

And it's so much closer for North Americans than us Australian. It took us 24 hours of solid travel in horrible economy class to get here - most Americans can get here much more easily, cheaper and faster than that. And it's totally worth while - so much history, so beautiful, such great pastry shops!! I have always wanted to go to New Orleans, but I hear it's not the same after Katrina, even though the French Quarter was not destroyed. I love all that Cajun, Bayou stuff.

And take some piccies today. I must admit, we were much more diligent on this front last time, but this time we're just enjoying rather than recording the experience. Although we did take our video camera for a little romp last night and got some great footage of Notre Dame at night and the Shakespeare and Co bookshop in the Latin Quarter. I managed to find an ancient Mary Jo Putney Regency romance and a three-books-in-one Nora Roberts in the second hand book pile out the front. That should keep me happy until next week...

We have four weeks in Paris, then 2 whole months in Florence. We'll be using our apartment as a base to visit Venice and Rome for two nights each, and to do day trips to Sienna, Bologna, Pisa etc. I have dreamt of going to Italy for years and years. I love the food, I love the leather, and it has always been my number one destination. It's much harder to find a city to spend a lot of time in than France, though - there are so many more options to choose from. We chose Florence because it has a lot of art to look at, and it's kind of in the middle. And we had heard mixed reports about Rome - some people love it, others hate it. We figured we'd play it safe and pick Florence. Will definitely take a gondola ride with your name on it, Sassa.

On a ranch with the cowboy love of your life. Wide open spaces, horses, white picket fence around the main yard, corrals, bunk houses, activity all the time.

There's a little bit of everything up that mountain of yours, Jibby. And I like the way you're thinking in regard to Flyboy and Cowboy. Every time I check out those front covers I have to go take a cold shower. And I must admit, I am rather partial to Australian men. One in particular, who's hassling me to get dressed and start exploring again. Best regards!

I promise to enjoy the rest of my vacation. In fact,i will consider it an order from all our Cigar members! how nice that you have all my books already! I will have to come up with some alternative prizes for you...

When I was young and "borrowing" paper from kindergarten to make "books" (ie crayon drawings with the odd badly spelt word) I recklessly told my mother I would buy her a villa in Tuscany some day after I had written a best seller. She mentions it quite often these days, as you can imagine... Still working on it! I saw a great castle when I was in England about five or six years ago. It was in the Cotswolds somewhere, and it was awe inspiring. Those medieval buildings were something else. The one thing I regret here in Paris is that they pulled the Bastille down. I know it was a place of torture and pain, but apparently it had 8 huge towers and walls a hundred feet high. It would have been like having a medieval fortress in the middle of the city - fascinating! Like something out of Lord of the Rings. Oh well. Will have to make do with paintings....

We used to have a beach house when I was a kid and I tend to take the beach for granted a little. But as an adult, Chris and I won the door prize at a work Christmas party and scored a trip for two to Great Keppel Island, which is up on the Great Barrier Reef in the north east of Australia. At the time, the island had a bit of a hokey reputation for having lots of organised activities etc, and I am not a joiner, but we had a fantastic time. There's a lot to be said for lying around with nothing more pressing to do than roll off your sun lounger and into the pool. Having had this experience, I am now able to fully understand the romance of the tropical resort. And, Mr Taxman, write about them in a fulsome and accurate manner having researched the locale in depth. Shall work on uploading some images, I promise...

Trust me, I will suck the life out of Paris for my book, and I will probably set another one over here, too, to make the most of thist trip - just need to come up with a plot. A minor inconvenience! I would love to do real research in a French restaurant kitchen or something like that and have a clash of two cultures in the kitchen or something fun... The book I'm about to start is about two ex-pat Australians who meet up in Paris, so it's not as exotic as it might be, but the action takes place in Paris and a little bit in Melbourne, too.

Being Australian, I have only seen snow about three times in my life. We have to drive for miles and climb a mountain before we get some white stuff happening down here. I tried to learn to ski once, and hated it, so I haven't had a lot of incentive to hunt snow down. But I can totally get into the whole isolated in the cabin, sharing one bed, and maybe a big copper hip bath in front of the fireplace kind of scenario.... Mmmm mm

Give them a couple snowmobiles and they can get lost in the middle of nowhere:) Now I would love that!!

It's gorgeous, isn't it? Lyrical, cheeky, sexy - it's got it all going on as far as I'm concerned. Best of all, I can mostly understand what Irish people are saying to me, which is always very exciting!!! One of the first historical romances I ever read was Dorothy Daniel's The Cormac Legend, which was set in Ireland during the potato famine. It was a great romance, I have to tell you. I keep meaning to try and source a second hand copy from somewhere - but I'm a little worried it won't live up to my memory of it...

There is nothing the French cannot do with butter, flour and sugar. They are masters. Thank God for all the walking we do every day, that's all I can say. I would seriously have to be wheeled onto the plane on a forklift otherwise. As for the cabin in the woods... Does it have hot and cold running water? Central heating? Gourmet kitchen? Because I don't do camping - even camping-by-stealth, which the whole log cabin can sometimes be. What can I say? I'm lazy, I get cold easily, and I like my creature comforts... But I guess as long as the hero and heroine were enjoying themselves, I could go along for the ride. the things we do for romance. Sigh.

Pure white sand, azure water, palm trees, drinks with umbrellas in them... What's not to love about a tropical setting? Researching the Caribbean for my Mediterannean Nights book, Island Heat, was the travel equivalent of staring at a chocolate cake all day, knowing you can never have a taste. But it's always great to go to these places between the pages of a book. That's why it's called escapism, right?

Lois,you've got your itiniery ready to go. I have not been to Egypt, but I have "done" London for two weeks - it's a little too concrete-y and dirty for me. I had to come home every day and wash my face to get rid of the grime on it. Having said that, I saw some great stuff and it's definitely worth a visit. Paris, however, is just so damned livable. All the fruit and veges are seasonal - if it's not fresh, you can't get it - and supermarkets are small and very limited in stock. It means we tend to shop every few days, and only buy fresh ingredients and basics. No "fake" food here, that's for sure, and I find I really appreciate that once I get used to making sauces etc from scratch again. It's like living in a little village, with all the benefits of a major city thriving around you. And the Metro!!! I have not waited more than 2 minutes for train since we got here, and you can get anywhere from anywhere - it's genius. If they had the same thing in Melbourne, no one would own a car. Enough raving. Time to eat my fresh strawberries with green tea and grapefruit sorbet...

I've got two days booked in Venice in early November, Maureen. I shall take piccies and report back for you. I am cautiously optimistic - my mother in law equivalent (I'm not married but might as well be) has a double set of books on architecture and art in Venice - I have drooled over them for several days while we planned our trip. My only slight hesitations are that I really hate the smell of fish or damp - apparently a hazard in Venice. But I am prepared to tough it out for all the novelty and beauty and history.

Rolling in snow. Hmmm. I'm assuming this is sans-clothing,fresh from the sauna, yes? The whole hot-cold thing. Perhaps one day I will be brave enough. Thanks for giving me something to think about, Minna.

My partner's sister just came back from a long visit to NYC. She adores it. We actually toyed with spending three months there rather than over here in Europe. But it was really hard to find a decent apartment in an area that people "in the know" could give the seal of approval to. It's definitely on our must see list. As for the Dingle, I will add it to my list of places to explore. And I'm so with you on the 'burbs. I know most of us live there, but sometimes the rows of houses and the quiet and neat lawns and the barking dogs make me want to do something crazy. Like go live in Europe for three months.