It's aperol spritz season! #thisweather #allinontheact

We live in a rather Bobo quartier. Google translates this as Bourgeois Bohemian i.e. a person having both the values of the counterculture of the 1960s and the materialism of the 1980s.

And apparently an Aperol Spritz (or just A Spritz) is their drink of course. It's made up of the liquor Aperol, prosecco and fizzy water, which makes it my ideal drink.

And with temperatures in the high 20s, and the two elder ones at Spring Holiday Camp over 2 days, I couldn't help that holiday feeling from rising.

So I had my first Spritz of the 2018 season (having had zero in the 2017 season for obvious reasons). It's been a long time coming but it was worth it. And the kids got in on the (non-alcoholic) act too:

Vive the summer!

Round trip to the ends of the earth #caraisnotmyfirstchoice

After 1214km and 14 hours of driving, we now know that constant visual contact must be maintained between crevette and myself. You know how I know...It seems that is how my baby rolls.

We did all that driving as we headed to Brittany for the weekend in a rented car in order to a) collect the kids from the beach where they had been all week b) bring back boxes and boxes of both baby boy and baby girl clothes. The girlie ones we are keeping but the boy ones will contribute to the never-ending Kelling international import-export business.

Anyway, the weather was awesome and we had a wonderful time (despite learning some travel lessons about crevette)

Threesome #Thestats

Aaaand it's that 6 monthly medical check up time...

First we have Small Fry who has grown over 5cm in the last 6 months and is now 118cm tall and weighs 19kg. Basically, he's a stick. 

Next up is Fingerling clocking in at 102 cm and weighing 15kg, which is surprisingly almost the same as Small Fry at the same age (until now I thought she was pretty short).

And then there is Crevette: 57cm tall and 5.5kg in weight. And, well, we'll just have to see how she turns out...

Fingerling

Small Fry copying Crevette's usual pose (fist in mouth).

Difficult times #staycation #onechildiseasy

The kids have gone to Brittany with the grandparents for the week:

Nothing for it but for me to have a civilised breakfast on a sunny terrace in the morning:

Put some 'mommy' in mommy-and-me-time:

 And as the weather finally heats up, visit Shirley on Ile de Ré for a day:

Down on the farm #cityliving

As every year, the countryside comes to Batignolles in the shape of La Ferme Tigolo and his petting zoo.

Like every year, the baby ducklings win the show hands down.

Art Fair #GrandPalais #Girlswholunch

My dear friend Kelley-Anne has a job. And her job is working with the autistic child of a French woman. And this French woman was able to provide VIP tickets to an Art Fair at the Grand Palais.

And that dear friend Kelley-Anne invited crevette and I to join her and her bump for a pre-public opening wandering around the stands...

...and a glass of champers.

As I said, a dear friend.

An English Easter #Bat'mums

The first group of mum-friends that I made when Small Fry was just a baby, have pretty much all moved out of town and now live in the suburbs in bigger houses (I know, it makes so much sense). So when crevette came along I decided to find myself some new, local friends with kids the same age.

We are the Bat'mums i.e. the English Speaking Mums of Batignolles.

They are a great - and very social - group. Most are younger than me, just on their first or second child (before they too move out to the 'burbs), but they have helped bring about an English-speaking class for both Fingerling's and Small Fry's age groups, as well as a couple of restaurant nights-out, baby meet up groups, coffee mornings...and the Easter egg hunt at the local park.

Spring is sprung

So proud of the loot

Some of the group:

Konked out from all the fun

A tooth on the loose #he'shoping

This kid cannot wait to start losing his teeth! Being at the end of the school year, he might still have a little while to wait compared to his peers, but he checks his teeth every day just to make sure.

I don't remember losing teeth as being that much fun, but it'll certainly change that smile!

The Great Escape #daVinciintheLoire

We are using a (hire) car more and more frequently - partly because we have been too late to book the cheap train deals even though as a famille nombreuse (with 3 children) we are entitled to even greater discounts, and partly because we have so much stuff....and partly because we then can travel with family (it's tight, but feasible).

The G-Ks + Pacotio and his girlfriend Eveline

The other advantage of course is that we have some flexibility regarding our travel, and so we decided to return to Paris from Nantes via a night in the Loire and a morning at the Leonardo da Vinci museum in the Château du Clos Lucé in Amboise. da Vinci lived in the Clos Lucé, which is located 500m from the royal Château d'Amboise, for the last 3 years of his life (1516-1519). The two buildings are connected by underground passageway.

King François I of France had invited Leonardo to Amboise and provided him with Clos Lucé as a place to live and work, and they regarded each other as friends. Incidentally, da Vinci arrived with 3 of his paintings, including the Mona Lisa, which is why it is now still in France. da Vinci was eventually buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the Château d'Amboise.

The grounds hold around 40 of Leonardo da Vinci's models, including planes, wings, locks to allow boats to move along canals etc. The weather wasn't bad and the city was beautiful, which made for a lovely morning. 

...which was very important because arriving into Paris we encountered the down side of relying on a car...

Easter message #2

Easter Sunday #NotAshamed

This beautiful and incredible piece of artwork was made my by amazing friend Rachel - amazing because of her talent and amazing because of her friendship.

I was touched beyond words to receive it, and I very much felt it was appropriate for today, Easter Sunday.

What you can't see in this image is that the words Gospel are cut out of the French translation of Romans chapter 1, from which the text comes, while the letters Salvation are cut out of the words of my favourite hymn, "My hope is built...", and behind the letters spelling Salvation are little fish, with some of them cut around the words Jésu and Dieu.

A very thought-provoking, individual and personalised piece of art that speaks powerfully to me of my faith and our friendship.

A thousand thanks Rachel.

PS Happy Birthday Philip!