42 Australian Country HOMES
C
hance has been kind to Paul
and Bonnie Atlan. It brought
them together in the fi rst place
after Bonnie set off for Paris
as a young American model in search of
success in the City of Lights. She found it,
and also added a dashing Parisian to her
portfolio. “I was on the metro heading
home from a modelling job,” Bonnie recalls.
“Suddenly the train came to a halt and
all the passengers frantically exited the
underground seeking transport on buses
or from passing cars. It was a strike, and
I was left not knowing how I would get
home to my little studio apartment. Buses
were jammed, and too scared to ask for a
ride, I stood helplessly until I spotted a red
motorcycle that had stopped with a young
man next to it wearing a red helmet, 50
metres from where I was standing. He was
examining his bike, and looked stranded
too. I was drawn to him and just knew he
would help me.” A language barrier stood
between them, but their connection bore
through it. Paul managed to get his bike
started and drove Bonnie home. The next
day they met in a cafe for their fi rst date,
where he gave her a French and English
dictionary. “When he spoke to me in
French I couldn’t understand a word,”
Bonnie recalls. “I could imagine that he was
saying: ‘You’re beautiful, I love you’.” Within
months they were living together, and a
few years on, they welcomed the fi rst of
their three children.
Years later, after stints living in France
and California where Paul worked for aThese pages: Paul and Bonnie love exploring and have scattered memories of their travels around their
house, but they say nothing beats coming home to Berry House and their pooch, Olive. Buttercup yellow
in the kitchen was inspired by a visit to Monet’s house at Giverny in the French province of Normandy. ›