Letters to Camondo #BookClub in Paris

It was organised months ago. I just never thought I would make it.

For book club we read Letters to Camondo, a short, intellectual, and at times gripping read. And so the suggestion was made that Book Club also visit the Musée de Camondo in the 8th arr. in Paris, on which the book is partly based.

Well we moved to Nantes, plans were made, and all of a sudden I found myself back in the city I'd called home for 10 years.

And quite honestly, I got all the best bits. 

I mean apart from the masks, but that's the world at the moment.

 

Back home, in other news, things are going well!

God's Number #7

They say 7 is the age of reason. It's certainly the age that a child can now be reasoned with. And compared to 3, 4 years ago, Fingerling is at a FANTASTIC age. She's blossoming creatively, is smart, social and beautiful. A star in the making.

Although I was a bit worried about how we'd celebrate her birthday just 3 weeks after the start of term. But I needn't have concerned myself. There she was, at the centre of 5 friends (and their marshmallow fight, which we quickly had to put an end to, mostly to save the cat from making himself sick).

And with the September weather the way it is, a garden party it was.

 

 

 

The cake was fully her request.

And then we spent the weekend celebrating her birthday with family in Brittany, and catching the beautifully autumnal evenings at the beach.

Seven. Got to be one of the best ages right? God's number for a reason!

Circle of Life #20/09

The 20th of September is a special day for both sides of the family, marking the Circle of Life in a hugely poignant way - the birthday of one dear Toots, and the passing of Mamie.

 

C'est la vie #Nantes

C'est la vie, they say. That's life. And this is life in Nantes:

We have discovered:

a) bike paths along the river 

b) the best Waffle place in Nantes (even if it's the only one we've found so far)

c) that crevette doesn't like school beforehand, but does like it afterwards. And getting the school mascot home (Zatou) for the first weekend helped a lot.

Crossing the Erdre on the free weekend boat and then going for waffles. Some for Zatou too.

And some things will never change:

Cake on Wednesdays:

Online music lessons:

Intricate engineering:

And a visit to Clairville, where Moon's grandmother lives. Unfortunately now, being taken over by nature.

The thin line of #success

It's been a week. A whole week.

And for the kids it's been a great week for one, a mediocre week for the next, and a declining enthusiasm for the third (by age, so maybe there's something to be said for starting a new school when you're a bit older).

Small Fry loves everything about his new school. Fingerling has taken her time but is making friends. And little crevette has had a 'bravo' from her teacher each day, but this morning she was reluctant to go and hasn't yet spoken in class. She has such an infectious laugh that I hope it shines through soon.

It's a mahoosive school - over 2000 pupils ranging from age 3 to 21 so the mornings look a bit like this:

Whereas my morning now looks like this:

Just kidding!

But the cat is all:

But I took some time off work before school began on Thursday and spent an enjoyable few days getting the kids and house (a little bit more) sorted.

Enjoying the terrace.

Visiting Mamie:

Keeping some traditions alive:

And getting ready for school:

I'm off to celebrate the end of our first full week. Clothes are still strewn all over the place, but I'm still calling it a success. And success means W.I.N.E.

Summer Days Drifting Away #TellMeMore

We have arrived in France. And not just for a holiday this time.

Thankfully Oma travelled with us to help carry our two items of hand luggage (each! #AirFrance) and then stayed to take on the back-breaking work of weeding our veggie patch. 

5 days later and we had our first visitors, helping us turn our walls from white to grey and generally keeping the kids entertained while we unpacked box after box after box. We are basically unpacking everything on to the floor, as there's really nowhere to put any of it. But out of a box is a step in the right direction, mentally at least.

But we arrived in early August, and early August in France means....holidays. It really, really does. 10 whole weeks of them for our kids this year. So we holidayed. First up was the Puy de Fou, which is basically a theme park revolving around 26 shows based on life from the Vikings via the Romans to the Middle Ages. You have time to manage about 5 or 6 shows plus some lunch, and for all that it's the most visited theme park in France after Disneyland Paris. 

After Oma left, it was the annual pilgrimage to the end of the world (Brittany), where El Puma and Small Fry watched some live footie (that's been a while), and we had some wonderful times with family, especially cousins. 

Moon's birthday:

 

 

And sailing. Sailing is a must.

One thing that even our French friends talk to us about regarding our move to Nantes, is that Nantes is only an hour from the sea (granted, at one time we were about 60m from a river leading to the sea in Stirling, but here the sea is warm enough to be swum in, fairly regularly). So from one beach to another...this time on our way back to Nantes from Brittany with friends from Paris who holiday in La Baule every year:

I mean, we had to fill the 10 weeks some way...

And as we are still discovering our new city, we started off with the really touristy things, like the Machines de l'Ile, which converted the old docks in to a cultural and futuristic technological centre. And we did it with more touristy Parisian friends.

So, 10 weeks. 10 W-E-E-K-S of holidays. And today is the return to school. 

Which is suddenly why I have the time to post.