:: The Time I Went To Vue De Monde

Commercial Disclosure: Go Mighty paid several bloggers (including me) to hang out with a bunch of US bloggers and do good stuff in our cities (and further afield, for some!) Our coverage of this good stuff was up to us. You can see the bloggers and the things we did at the #goaustralia hashtag. Tourism Australia – @australia organised many of the events and experiences (for which all expenses were paid. Except I paid for Maggie’s lunch on Wednesday because I like to do that for my friends when I can!)

If you follow me on Instagram you might know that I headed to a few great Melbourne places with Maggie Mason (of Mighty Girl and Go Mighty!) last week. Maggie was ticking things off her Life List. These things had an Australian flavour… kind of like Eucalyptus Ice Cream only not as bracing. (Eucalyptus Ice Cream is a real thing!)

One of the things on Maggie’s Life List was ‘Go To Vue De Monde‘.  Luckily she chose to take ME along for the ride/walk. Here’s how it went:

Maggie and I had been in touch for a while, sporadically emailing amidst our own busy-ness (Camp Mighty for her and Blog With Pip for me.) I know now that Maggie is not really INTO email, despite being one of the original digital brat pack. She’s a texter, so her emails were quite minimalist. Once she arrived in Australia though,  things got mucho texty and we got to talk #goaustralia plans. First up, we arranged to meet in the foyer of the Sofitel and head to Vue De Monde. As you do. On a Tuesday night. OMG.

As is my habit, I’d bought a couple of books about Australian animals as a gift for Maggie (this one and another vintage one with a little record inside featuring Australian bird sounds.) Okay. That’s not exactly my habit. It’s more the PRESENT thing that’s habitual. Not the Maggie bit.  I caught the tram from my door to Maggie’s and sat in the hotel lobby with said present (wrapped in lilac tissue paper) on my lap, taking photos of my shoes. Ever the blogger.

I was thinking, ‘this is a bit weird right? Like, what if we really don’t like each other? What if we just don’t hit it off? What if it’s AWKWARD?’ Gulp. I shuffled my feet and hoped for the best.

Fortunately The Best stepped out of the lift wearing a vintage pleated chiffon dress and a hat with a feather in it. I knew everything was going to be awright. Maggie told me the LAST time she was in Australia she left with a vintage childrens’ encyclopaedia in her suitcase. I was a bit stoked as she excitedly leafed through the dorky book offering. I had been secretly worried she’d smile politely and want to wash the retro off. Relieved MUCH?!

Next, we walked down to Vue De Monde and talked about our families and our lives all the way. It was a lovely evening (Cup Day!) and it was pretty nice to just enjoy the sleepy city and get to know each other.

 

Have you ever been to Vue De Monde? It’s in a REALLY tall building on Collins St in Melbourne. You walk into lobby and there’s a coat check/reception desk with a nice person who’ll take your coat and chat about your day. She’ll then put you in the lift and send you to the 55th floor. There is no 55 button in the lift so this lady has a very important job. If she was not there you would not get to eat. It’s like the whole platform 9 3/4 thing in Harry Potter, only more delicious (although possibly equally magical.)

Once we arrived we were whooshed out of the lift by some friendly people, through the Amazing Corridor Of Expensive Wine (an actual thing!) and into the dining room, to our (very big) table. The table is set with beautiful pebbles and stones and vintage vines and lovely candles. Very swoon-y.

We were right by the window and do you know what? I really know where the Vue De Monde in Vue De Monde comes from.  You can see right out across Melbourne for miles and miles and a day, possibly into the universe. Twinkling lights are your homie at Vue De Monde. It’s a complete twinkle-fest and it is gorgeous.

But it’s not all about the view. You have company on The Twinkle-Fest: seagulls swooping in and out of the darkness catching moths like beaky gliders.  Seriously, it’s like some kind of sparkly seagull show. Extremely entertaining in a ‘mine! mine!’ way. (See them here… kind of!)

And let me tell you about the food. I taught a class on creativity on Saturday and I was telling them about the food (and the importance of new experiences to creativity) too! What I told the class was something like this:

The food at Vue De Monde is equal parts delicious/innovative/delightful. Things you do not ever expect to eat are served on things you’d never expect to nibble from by people you really want to hang out with. Staff appear and disappear leaving surprises, treats and challenges in their wake.  There’s a playful, intimate atmosphere that transports you to a more twinkly time and place. Suddenly you want to try anything, smell anything, taste anything. It’s part theatre, part treasure, part adventure. It’s sort of like you’re at the top of the Magic Faraway Tree and the Land of Degustation has rolled around. And Shannon Bennett is the clever culinary version of The Saucepan Man. If that makes sense.

Maggie and I chattered and laughed our way through so many delicious things. Charlie the Tea Sommelier looked after us, pairing all kinds of beautiful teas with each course. It was TOTALLY FANCY. I kid you not. And yet… we felt right at home. If our home was like the top of the Faraway Tree. And there was eucalyptus ice-cream. And cucumber sorbet. And tiny SPOONS. OMG.

I loved going there. The staff made us feel like rare treasures of people. Maggie and I had the best time talking about the internet , food, cute sons and stuff like that. We stayed up REALLY late and toured the kitchen and (by now empty) restaurant when we left. We peeked into the bar (you can go there and just have a fancy drink and take in the view) and were gifted a beautiful breakfast bag of brioche and honey and granola. Super special.

When I dropped Maggie off I said ‘Thanks for not being horrible!’ or something like that and she said something a bit the same. Who even KNEW blind (play)dates could be so good?! Phew.

How lucky am I to have the super special opportunity to eat at Vue De Monde? It was really amazing. A total world-class asset for Melbs. It’s a delicious gallery of amazingness/weirdness (in a GOOD way!) Would you like to go too? Or have you been?

x Pip

PS: the photo of me is by Maggie M

PPS: huge thanks to Go Mighty and Tourism Australia for spoiling us and bestowing delicious treasures!