provence garden cafe @ west parade, eastwood

To point out the obvious, it's so cold! We had a few days of warm weather (one of which I could've mistaken for spring), but once again, it's gone back to being yucky and cold - the sort of weather I find difficult to wake up to, let alone be motivated to do much else.

One thing I've been quite unmotivated about is going outside to take walks. With the weather being so cold, I'm quite content to stay indoors and watch TV, put on a movie, or do a bit of baking. Anything but go outside and brave the cold. J thinks otherwise (he's taken up running) and for the past two weeks, he's dragged me outside to go for walks in the hope of training me up to a run. I tell him I run at the gym but he thinks I should go run on the footpath.

Anyway, long story cut short, the walks have come with incentives. On our first walk, J let me stop for a coffee at Provence Garden Cafe on West Parade in Eastwood. This place used to be a nursery but a Chinese couple have taken over and maintained both a nursery selling bonzais and a small cafe by the side.

A much needed coffee and a slice of the banana cake recommended by the waitress (I'm pretty sure they bake the banana cake themselves - it's not too sweet and tastes great!)

They have magazines! Unfortunately, none that could keep J entertained for long. I could've easily spent my afternoon there pouring over magazines.

Anyway, coffee and cake aside, J got me one of these off Catch of the Day. It keeps me toasty!

Provence Garden Cafe serve up both breakfast and lunch. I'm not sure about dinner as the whole place is lit up by natural light and close to 5pm, it's pretty much all dark. The waitresses there are particularly attentive and friendly. Aside from the occasional buzz of traffic, it's actually quite a nice place to stop by for a coffee and meal (it's away from the main throng of Eastwood) and people are just slowly finding out about the place so it's not too crowded. Despite walking by it everyday from the station, it actually took me awhile to realise that a cafe had opened up there so keep an eye out for it if you're in the area, you might miss it if you don't look carefully.