Water baby #finally

It might not be perfect, but quite honestly, this was not on the cards at the start of the school year. Small Fry was not happy anywhere near water, but he's now pretty much swimming. Hoorah!

Small Fry's turn #summerspectacle

They say: small kids, small problems; big kids, big problems. But so far this year, it's been a case of: big kids equals bigger parties.

This week it was the turn of Small Fry and his end of year show. The first evening was a Soirée Bretonne (an evening of Breton food, dancing and a small show by the kids) in honour of their trip to the seaside back in April.

Each child had a small speaking part to say from memory, before the dancing and singing...small snippets here below!

And the second evening out was the whole school summer fête, which basically involved hundreds of families crowding into the tiny playground, grabbing the nearest table, stuffing it full of food and wine and then milling around catching up with everyone else while the kids ran riot. It was utterly brilliant fun. But not worthy of photos.

It also clashed with the OECD summer party, but seeing as I have been a *cough* regular attender, I gave it a miss and went to the school riot festival. El Puma didn't have a choice as he was still due to strum his guitar on stage. Bah oui.

But I made the smart move of leaving little Crevette at home with a babysitter and the rest of us were able to enjoy the hot and humid evening, the rock band, and the catching up with all and sundry. It was a great way to mark the actual end of term, even though the real end of term is still a week away. 

And we also had the final review with Small Fry's teacher. He has been an interesting and sociable addition to the class she says, and his reading is excellent (just needs to take a little more care with his writing).

I like to ride my bicycle #secondlift

It's time to say goodbye to not just people but things that have been so much a part of our lives here in Paris. As well as selling a bed or two, the table and chairs and a couple of shelves, I passed on my dear bike to the lovely Rachel - and I couldn't have imagined it going to a better home. 

It's a great bike (if a little heavy) and perfect for Paris. But I've got one waiting for me in Scotland and my 40th birthday gift is an electric one, so time to move on as they say.

I'm sure it and Rachel (and Catherine) will all be very happy together. 

Onwards and upwards! (or fastwards really)

You're so hot #Paristhisweek

It's a proper heatwave. Hotter even than where the lovely Aidan is currently in Lebanon. The city of Paris has provided rooms with air-conditioning in the town hall of each arrondissement plus installed extra fountains around the city: this one provides cold, free drinking water and a fine mist spray (very cold!).

Wednesday felt like the hottest day so far, but it might also be because we spent the most time out in the sun travelling from home to the soft play room in Courbevoie, just outside Paris. After 3 hours in there I was properly cold, and 30 seconds after we left the place and got back in the sun, the cold feeling was a distant memory.

Speaking of memories, we have made some amazing ones over the past 6 years with our besties: Wendy, Eléanor, Catherine and Rachel. Not seeing them every week is going to be one of the saddest parts about leaving Paris. So we got the polaroid camera out and took a photo that we will treasure for ever! 

At least we them we are certain it's not goodbye, just a see you later. Have a great trip to Oz guys!

Love Bites #sweetblood

Our poor Fingerling is a bug-magnet. Who can forget this swollen ear from last summer?:

This year, the heat seems to have brought them all out again, and this was her back a couple of days ago:

It was actually a little bit unclear what it could be....we thought possibly bed bugs (would have been a nightmare for the whole building), fleas, blisters linked to the herpes virus and so on. Turns out it's probably just your regular summer bugs that live in grass, trees and bushes. And as we've spent an awful lot of time in the park recently thanks to the better weather, we're all a bit worse for wear now (last count: I have 6 bites, Crevette 2, El Puma 4 and Small Fry: ZERO! That comes from sharing a room with Fingerling I reckon).

Hopefully the killer heat that is on the way will burn them out!

50 ways to say goodbye #leavingparty

It felt like it would never come. We set the date for our leaving party about 4 months ago, and I knew that when we hit June 23, I would well and truly know that we were leaving. 

Apparently so did everyone else as the kids got a great send off from their school mates and friends from the quartier. Thankfully the weather was stunning and the location great.

This has been our community of support and friends for almost 7 years and it was wonderful to be able to say a personal thank you and goodbye to so many. We will miss them.

So we borrowed a polaroid camera and took a few shots for us and them of our kids with their kids as a little souvenir of our friendships (stunning idea thank you very much). Here's just a few of them.

Au jardin d'enfants #féerie

Today was the latest and final school show at our beloved jardin d'enfants. The theme this year was a world tour (the school's theme for the year) at the Moulin Rouge (a great excuse to use a variety of costumes I reckon).

Fingerling was a star of course, but because the 2 minute video of her dance is too heavy for this blog, I've posted it on youtube at this link:

https://youtu.be/vCWYq1u_zvk

And here is a picture of her all dressed up Moulin Rouge-style:

Crevette seems to be going the same way and got in on the act also:

And the final rousing number:

As it's the end of term and the school year (our last in Paris), everything comes at once, at this morning we watched Fingerling star in another production, this time her dance recital. It was another pretty long video so I've only posted a photo of the seconds before the final bow:

She's in the blue t-shirt right in the middle)

Which meant another celebratory restaurant (of course, why not?) and a post-lunch siesta in the scorching temperatures:

Countdown to the final 2 weeks!

Turn on a dime #Futurelooksgood

Sometimes, you can pinpoint the exact time your life changed.

Last Monday, we became the owners of 5bis rue Massenet in Nantes.

I first visited the house waaaay back in 2008 probably, when it was still Mamie's...and if you'd told me then that we would one day own it and live in it ourselves, I would never ever in a million years have believed you.

But like I said, sometimes you can pinpoint exactly when your life changed!

So thank you to Mamie, Moon and El Puma's two brothers for this opportunity.

Unfortunately, with only 2 bedrooms the house wouldn't be fit for purpose for a family of 5, so we are starting by renovating it. That means two things: first, that both El Puma and I are making frequent trips to Nantes for demolition/clearing/admin (him) and me, more for the design side of things: 

It will all take some time, which is why we have decided to return to my house in Scotland for the next academic year. Our last day in Paris will be the 31st of July and we'll be based in Stirling until July 2020. 

So I guess that's why they say: watch this space!

Mama's taken' us to the zoo #andwedidstayallday #knackered

I signed up for a day trip with Fingerling's school...to the zoo. And loved it. And I'm not really one for zoos, nor really one for spending a day with lots of little kiddies.

But we had a great time.

We've been to Thoiry zoo before, but this time we were up high in a bus for the drive around the Safari park...and we were surrounded by 55 absolUTEly excited kids.

Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. 

The lions were definitely the best, lying over the glass tunnel (presumably the coldest place to lie in the 30 degree heat).

And I enjoyed the teaching/herding bit more than I thought I would too. 

One thing I will never understand is why the kids got duck paté in their lunchboxes, along with cream, an apple, crisps and a potato and ham salad. What happened to good old fashioned cheese sandwiches?

After the afternoon walking around the rest of the zoo, let's just say, we all slept well.

Walk like an Egyptian #schooltheme #Eleanor'sbirthdayparty

Rain, Rain, go away, come again another day #inowyouwill #definitelyinscotland

What a rubbish early 'summer' season we are having! It's just rain, rain, rain at the moment. Not that it's cold, which kind of makes everything very muggy, heavy, sticky and yucky. But it's also created some cool storms, thankfully not as bad as last year, but noisy anyway....

 ...and good opportunities to get wellie boots and brollies out. Good practice for somewhere eh?!

Whistle while you work #especiallywhilethekidsdothework

Since our lovely kiwi friends were here and their 2 boys cooked us a meal, we've set Small Fry to being our slave. Just kidding, but we are starting to get the kids into cooking, cleaning and other chores. Don't know why I didn't do this earlier.

First up this Monday morning (Pentecost holiday) were pancakes and fruit. I could get used to this.

Then we got some help selecting a fridge while the eldest two were taken to a museum with our family friend.

And then of course it was time to do a little cleaning:

Ah, this is the life.

Baby discovers chocolate #andcake

I was wondering why it was so quiet. Came around the corner to find her munching quite happily on an old easter egg she'd found in a corner somewhere!

Well, a birthday party is a birthday party