Home for Christmas!!

After the epic plane flight home (only 40 hours door to door you know)and the obligatory spak in Melbourne from May we are back in Tas, and its WARM, and smells of gum leaves and we went to the beach at 5am (jet lag you know) and its all rather a wonderful escape from English winter......
this is the beach we could never be bothered going to as kids because just wasnt as good as Kingston beach just over the hill (not enough fish and chip shops).R's parents have had a deck put on the front of their house, quite a nice place to sit in the sun and watch the Syndey-Hobart boats coming in.
J and R are off walking from Melaleuca to New Harbour in South West Tassie, flew in by small plane yesterday and are hopefully (weather permitting) being picked up Boxing Day. A real adventure- stay posted for all sorts of great pictures. Meantime little M and I are slothing with the relatives. 3 weeks before we head back to winter! Merry Christmas to you all!

End of Term Plays, Xmas Parties and 2 days on a Plane...

Another busy week...we have been frantically trying to tidy up loose ends at work, finish the school PTA directory AND attend social functions. The first major event was the Xmas play at school. Because there is not much room in the school hall, the play runs four times - afternoon and evening on two days. I made a special effort to get a new camera before we went (to much grumbling from M)

J was initially disappointed that he didnt get a speaking part, but this was overcome once the teacher let him carry a shield...I am not certain what the significance of stripe shirted, bereted frenchmen carrying shields is, but it certainly stopped the whining! M got to be Mary, very good choice - sitting and looking dignified and grave suits her very well!
The next big event was the final Thursday Night Snooker at the Social Club for R...a very big turnout and far too many pints. Daddy wasnt feeling too hot on Friday morning.
Friday night was the big night - J's drama class end of term show, M&M&J went to see Dick Whittington pantomime after and R went to the CERF Xmas party at Queens, to be joined later by a bunch of overtired and hyper small people and their knackered mum.

Now we are in cleaning and packing frenzy before we leave tomorrow night. I think we have enough stuff to survive now, and we look like squishing everything into 2 bags (a matter of pride for big M who is able to go the US for a week carrying only a laptop bag). We are all looking forward to being warm again in just 2 days from now (hope it doesnt do the xmas snow thing in Hobart)

Drama, Guiness, shoes and zoos

We have had a very busy week!! Started with little M's drama performance as a mouse in her drama group. Very cute (pity the camera is still defunct, hope to get another soon). Then on Thursday we went to see The HMS Pinafore by the local G&S society. We had a good time, M said that the best bit was when the sailor and the girl got married at the end. The next morning big M had a mega day - caught the 6.30am flight to Dublin (which means a 4.45am start from home) and had a day at Trinity College. Unfortunately there was no time to look around so I invited myself back next year. (fortunately they seemed happy with that). We had some beers after the conference day in a nice pub, then I caught the 9.45pm flight back to Stansted, arrived home around midnight and decided that really was too long a day!!! On Saturday went to Colchester to buy shoes for the kids (sounds absurd but there is a great kids shoe shop there which does a good job fitting little M's difficult feet). So they are kitted out with boots for winter now. Wish I had boots that nice!! To do the Colchester trip we had hired a car for the weekend, so Sunday we went to Homerton Zoo, which was quite fun. They had all sorts of animals we had never seen before - including chipmunks, jaguarindi, pudu, lots of types of tamarind and a real white tiger. The tiger was HUGE, really much bigger than any other we have seen. It is primarily a breeding zoo for rare and endangered animals so had all sorts of interesting animals (of course with obligatory kookaburras and wallabies too). Kids had a great time, and a clear winters day is a good time to go to zoos - no people and the animals are out basking in what passes for the sunshine. So a good time was had by all. Off to Tilburg tomorrow morning, back Tuesday!

Blondie Rocks!

R's birthday present finally came about last night - we went to the Blondie concert here in Cambridge!!! Most of our lives when we have been able to go to concerts we have never lived anywhere they came. It was really great - incredible performance. Deborah Harry has an amazing stage presence. They played all the old hits at great rate of knots, no mucking around between songs it was relentless. Lots of 40-50 year old men in the audience, and a lot of Blondie wannabees in various stages of decay! Was very funny in that the audience would all be encouraged to clap away, hands over heads, as one does at rock concerts, but everyone is too old to sustain the clapping like we used to - arms hurt and gentle swaying is substituted!! God knows what our generation will be like in another 10 years!! Will we nod politely along? Though of course one has to adjust the degree of emotion expressed for the fact that a) this is England and b) this is Cambridge!!! Not overly known for expressive enjoyment of anything really. Could have been different in Sydney (or even Canberra).
For their treat the kids went to a childrens theatre called Them With Tails, which was wonderful - a real treat here is the quality of children's theatre. This group is 2 young men in their late 20s who specialise in winding up small boys (my interpretation). They were great, really high energy, and really enjoyed playing with the kids incorporating it in the performance. Different from the last equally high quality thing we went to which was all about enchanting them with stories.
M has her end of year drama performance this Monday - she is going to be a mouse which she chose (costume by mum of course). The school end of year event is also coming up - bit of a contentious event in our house - J is getting to be a chorus member, which he is feeling keenly, and M is Mary, which of course being her she doesnt give 2 figs for!! At least I dont have to do the costume.

Snow today!

We cant match the snowy eastern climes, but we had our first snow today! Very pretty and very cold. Looking forward to some warmer weather for Xmas. Our snow didnt settle but its so much more pleasant than sleet. Sunny but cold forecast again for tomorrow - we are off to the theatre.

camera's broke

No picture til we get a new camera - old one gave up. R is pleased cos he gets to play gear junkie until he finds another one. Looked at first replacement car possibility today, but decided clutch and brakes didnt look good enough. We of course only want to pay pittance for something that will last the whole period - our previous car was such a bargain! Oh well, its a squashed bargain now. Its getting cold and we think going to the supermarket on the bike in the freezing dark sucks, so transport is required. Little M is better now, back at school and she has had a breakthrough on the reading front. Very proud of herself. We had an eventful Saturday, after she and I had to go to emergency dept with her having an allergic reaction to penicillin - not that severe she came up in an allover red and (apparently) itchy rash, with high fever. They were very good - highlight of her week was they gave her lunch in hospital. Must have been good it was the first she had eaten for about 5 days really, now she just wants to go there for food all the time. Funny things kids. They must be adapting cos they have decided they want to have school dinners - which they adamantly refused when we arrived as 'gross'. Admittedly quality has been improved after huge furore here on quality of school dinners, but still not great. Other than that pretty busy just getting on with life.

we've grown

The kids have been going through their dressing-ups. Well Mum has anyway in order to rationalise things a bit. These are beloved dressing ups that just may be a mite too small - the Batman suit J is wearing was made when he was about 3???? Anyway he has decided that just perhaps he could pass it on to a smaller cousin. Bit dubious. M on the other hand is casting things off to cousin E at a great rate of knots. At least one of them isnt a pack rat! Just had to go and find wombat again, he was in his bed when I tucked him in but got lost in the 15 minutes that have passed since then apparently. First of course I have to get into his room which is an obstacle course in itself. Our visitor has gone, so we are by ourselves until the next arrival next week, only for a couple of days. Its nice to see so many people though. We held a 'party' for work colleagues last Friday, which went well but was of course hard work. R cooked up a storm, everyone very impressed (as they should be). M has been in Manchester for the past few days - the train route is very scenic, a choice of routes through Leeds, or Nottingham or Doncaster. I went Doncaster and the Penines on the way over and Nottingham on the way back. Unsure which is better, one is faster but more changes the other is slower but stay on the same train. Off to Ireland in a couple of weeks then to Netherlands again for a couple of days before getting ready for the trip back to Aust. May has a fever again, low immunity after chicken pox so is home again - anyone who wants to send her a letter would be appreciated. She has 2 girls in her class with pneumonia at the moment, both of whom are her really good friends, there is some nasty infection going around which seems to weaken them a long way and hence the pneumonia. So we are taking no chances and she will stay home until really better. J is bouncing around as usual. Parent-teacher night last night. That was fun - nice teachers this year. J is fine, main issue is social skills in listening and waiting (I can believe that!!). M is also fine, mainly discussion about self confidence and her progress in small group work. She hasnt changed, still doesnt like big groups of strangers (having said that she managed to offer around the plates at the work party so she is improving a little).
All for now!!

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At home and pub!

A beautiful weekend, we had superb weather. The kids have been playing in the backyard - here seen with the twins with whom J shared his birthday party in our backyard. As you know we no longer have a car, so on Sunday afternoon we sometimes all cycle down to the supermarket and fill our bike panniers - they are VERY heavy when we do this, which is just as well as they can fit in over 100 pounds (currency not weight) worth of groceries - thats around half weekly expenditure. And next to the supermarket is a ...pub... called the Unicorn which has a bouncy castle on Sunday afternoons. Very Civilized, R and I think this is our next career move back in Oz. What a wonderful idea. And then May slipped in a dog turd all over her trousers - thankfully we mutually decided they were worn out anyway and we could bin them - I really didnt fancy washing dog turd out of pants that were through at the knees and too short. I am so over washing poo out of childrens clothes. So she cycled back in my jumper. Days are getting shorter, although all were in t-shirts today, but we got a beautiful sunset on the way home! School starts tomorrow.

Half term news

Been a very busy half term. Weather has been fabulous. Other than birthday capers as below the kids have been playing HARD. They went to Duxford Imperial War Museum on Tuesday, which concentrates on aeroplanes. They love it there, as does there father, I have been once and thats enough for me. To add an extra dimension to it,they of course had to go on the bus (no car still - though we have now got and cashed the insurance cheque). The bus trip turned out to be over an hour and then you have to cycle from town - its about 15-20 mins from here in the car. But they enjoyed the novelty. On Wed they went to see Wallace and Grommit which is apparently great, and then had some friends for a sleepover - which all went really well. J had tried to sleepover a couple of nights earlier at these friends place, but failed to stay the distance (again). Today its been full bore playing and then J and I went to see 'Vile Victorians' at the Theatre, an adaption of the Horrible Histories series. They are doing Victorian times at school this year. It was actually pretty good. M very peeved that she couldnt go - said for 7+ and definitely right, she would have been a bit scared by it all. Back to school on Monday, and then under 7 weeks until we leave for Oz!

Birthday news!

Well J is now 8 and we have almost recovered from the shock! He had a combined party with 2 other boys (twins) who are 8 the same week. They were all allowed to invite 5 guests each and we went to the local pool we are members of which we can get privately - its about 12x4 metres and indoor so perfect. We only allowed 3 days for invites, foolishly thinking we might get about 50% response, and all but 2 turned up!!! 16 x 8 year olds make an incredible racket - we were all deaf by the end of it, but they had a great time. That was held the day before J actual birthday, so he was a bit quiet next day, all partied out! Very much enjoyed a simple day with the aforementioned twins coming over for lunch, and then they made 'experiments' in the back yard for the rest of the day. Apparently they were creating a lifeform, out of everything they could convince me to give them from the kitchen cupboard and garden stuff. Seemed very disappointed with the disgusting gloop wouldnt arise from its bowl and walk, no matter what magic words they said. Eventually they decided the problem was they hadnt made it any bones!! J was v pleased with his presents, a dragonology book which he has devoured, a Harry Potter book (also devoured) and an introductory chemistry set - thus the rush on experimenting. So a very successful day. Meanwhile, R went climbing that day - actually I think he went for a days outing on the train!! He spent about 6 hours on trains getting somewhere that he described as being very like Linfield in Sydney (it was near Tonbridge for those who are interested) - so he wasnt too impressed. He took the camera so no shots of birthday, but here is one of the climbing - parents will be duly impressed with these priorities no doubt.

Battle of Hastings

While M and M stayed home with chicken pox, I took J and his friend Ben down to Hastings to the annual battle of hastings reenactment. A beautiful sunny day, takes about 2.5 hrs to get down to Battle Abbey in Kent (only a few miles from Hastings, and the Abbey was built after the battle, so I guess they had to call it something other than the battle of that hill with the apple tree on the road to London just outside Hastings...). The abbey is as usual a ruin, thank Henry for that (again), but quite well preserved. Reenactments are a lot of fun, there were about a hundred small boys with swords running around hitting each other, the boys had a blast. The actual reenactment was good (I forgot to get the camera out of the car so no pics), some great displays of knightly skills - chop the cabbage, hit people with the stick etc, all on horseback and on foot. There was also some falconry displays, the best bit was the black kite who decided to make a bid for freedom and just took off and kept going.

We stayed overnight at the YHA and did a beach crawl back up the south coast this morning - Winchelsea Beach (rocks)
Romney Sands at Dungeness - rocks.

and finally the beach at Dymchurch - sand!! We had to wait for the tide to go out so looked at the local Martello towers, built to repel Napoleon. After a while on the beach the sun came out and so did the local donkey handlers, so the boys had a donkey ride to cap off their weekend. Both pretty tired and starting to bait each other by the time we got back to Cambridge, I think we made it just in time to avoid a major fight in the car!

And chicken pox!!

Finally after years of intensive deliberate exposure to other kids with chicken pox little M has finally caught it! She is pretty good natured about it, but devastated that she is not allowed to go to school. (J had it as a baby.) Never great timing, but we were all going to Hastings for the 1066 reenactment this weekend - now the girls will be staying home!! J is taking one of his friends, its his birthday treat. I am sure they will have a great time. We have had a hectic week, R has been on a training course for being a School Governor - yes he is an upright citizen now. One of my graduate students has arrived for a month to finish off her thesis (free babysitting hurrah). We have had glorious weather the past month, its even been over 20 degrees! Balmy, we are waiting for the snap change that will inevitably come this time of year - leaves are all yellowing and falling from the trees. I can understand how people get depressed as winter starts to set in, it does feel a long way to spring. Thankfully we have a trip to Oz planned in the middle of it. It will be half term shortly, which means a week off for the kids. No real plans, just some stuff around here and perhaps into London. Kids are enjoying just having life around here currently. Life is good. The picture is of our street, we are the first house on the left of the picture, which is the end of the row so actually has a side yard. Sorry its late evening so a bit dark. We seem to be having a picture hiatus at the moment, will promise to reform and take more photos!

Skater kids and Indian summer

Glorious day today, we had evening in the park after school and it felt like it was still summer. But its not going to last long now, the leaves are starting to turn. A couple of photos of the kids on their skates, getting pretty good now, J can even jump (he also tries to encourage R to jump, but whenever he tries he lands painfully so he has learnt not to be egged on by his son, long may it last). R arrived back this evening, so life returns to normal, whatever that is! J has developed an interest in guitar, so here he is!

An Epic Party Adventure

Foolishly little M had accepted a party invitation for Sunday. Big M had of course completely neglected the fact that we no longer have a car and R would be away.. meaning it would have to be approached on cycle. No problem... but to avoid the busy main road and potential loss of life and limb we had to go via the approved cycleways, which was a LONG way round. The kids did really well, but it was an hours cycling to get there. The party was at one of those indoor kids gyms, so then they played madly for 2 hours.... and then it was time to cycle home again. And of course we had seen a great park on the way so we stopped there for 45 minutes (it was good had a skate ramp that you could use as a slide once you figured out how to get up it - the kids not me - and a flying fox which even I had a go on). So we left home at 10am and got back at 3pm. Thankfully it was cold but clear. Rain would have been the last straw. Needless to say all collapsed on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Though J and I made cheese and bacon rolls for his lunch the next day which he greatly enjoyed, but they were apparently best straight out of the oven (as they often are!) Next time I will look at the map more closely!!!! R is back tomorrow - hurrah! All my work comrades are laughing at my perpetual state of exhaustion - actually I think it was going swimming on Sat then mega epic party ride on Sunday has done me in. Clearly not got the stamina for full time parenthood!! I do know I have the easy job!!

Rain and Bones

Rain! About time, I needed a rest day. Went sightseeing today, big drive out to Hradek Kralovie to the East of Praha, in the driving rain. The curse of the driving tourist is roadworks and diversions - and we had some doozies today. We got there in the end though. Lovely 'little' town on a river, the old town was obviously walled at some point, it is up on pronounced rise in otherwise flat ground.
Matt and Jen were very restrained while we navigated around, M & I would have been yelling at each other! Had lunch at HK, walked around the town square (in rain) then headed off to Kutna Hora to see the bone church and cathedral. Once you get off the highway the roads get a lot smaller and the travel times blow out. Not quite as bad as UK though.

The ossuary in Kutna Hora is amazing (those who follow the Portmans blog will already know about it), they had about 30,000 plague victims who went there to die and another 10,000 or so vicitims of the Hussite wars 'buried' in the grounds. Apparently the bones were originally stacked outside but the monks made huge piles of them in the church, then later the Schwarzenburgs,
who owned the area, got the best woodcarver in Czech to redecorate. Totally amazing, I think it tops the head of John the Baptist in Amiens and the Hand of sir whatsit in Norwich! All these towns were obviously incredibly wealthy in the past, silver was mined throughout the area apparently.
Tomorrow it will be a quiet day poking around Praha.

On the home front

While R is off sunning himself in Prague, we are battling on in (non) sunny Cambridge. Kids v concerned to be left to tender mercies of mother alone ('Are you sure you can cope Mum?') but now refusing to talk on phone to father - this makes me feel better as they always refuse to talk to me when I am away. We are all having fun. Done the round of gymnastics on Thursday which seems to be going down well and drama on Friday. Drama teacher asked me what we fed J on as he has too much energy, buoncing off the walls and tho full of good ideas is easily led astray!! He loves this teacher, I think she is really great with them, Little M has really really benefited from this class. Its the highlight of the week for them and the thing voted least likely to want to give up. J had been playing in the mud at school and was delighted to be christened 'The Mud Magnet' by the drama teacher - I think that is a name that will be around for a while. Trouble is now he wants to live up to it! Today we went swimming and then did some crafty type stuff - J is right into puppetry after making puppets last term at school. We are all enjoying having a bit more living space. Tomorrow is a big day as May has a party to attend on the other side of town and we will be riding our bikes over - I think that will take care of the entire day!

Roviste

More good weather and great climbing (Matt leading of course). We headed up to Roviste in a hire car today, about 1.5 hours driving. No problems until we got to the end of the narrow dirt road and couldnt figure out where the cliff was...you get that if you cant read the guide book! Turned out we were in the right place anyway (had to ask directions) and set off for a punishing 10min walk to the cliff. Granite cliff about 20-30m mostly, bolts every 2m on most climbs. We did 4 routes (except me who only did 3, didnt want to overdo it! Dinner at a micro brewery in town here and then Jen and I took the tram up to the castle and walked back into the city over the Charles bridge, very picturesque. If the weather holds we are off to another area called Boren tomorrow.

Prague

Daddy gets the weekend off to go climbing! I am in Prague for a few days with the Portmen. In spite of the threatening weather made Matt head out the the cliff this morning to Srbsko,
beatiful little village by a river. Walked along the river bank beside lovely limestone faces for a mile or so and climbed in an old quarry. Lots of ring bolts, short routes (20-30m) and solid rock. It got a bit greasy as the rain squalls came through, but the sun shone in between. After 4 routes (enough for geriatrics) we headed back to the pub and indulged in food and beer - they practically give it away here (compared to England).

Not so easy to crawl back up to the station and catch the train after 3 pints each! The railway system is a bit rickety...trains are fine but the staions and platforms would cause a few passenger saftery concerns!

We hope to head south in a hire car tomorrow to a granite crag called Roviste...with any luck the weather wont be any worse than today and we get a few climbs in. It is supposed to get wet after tomorrow, so then it will be sight seeing time!

Another house...

Mummy is home! After a marathon effort of 3 weeks away M returns from her US junket...I slept in this morning. We have almost managed to get everything packed away somewhere, at lease there are no boxes lying around now (none with anything but packing paper in them anyway). The new place is working out very well, the kids get to see their friends after school a lot more often and they even drop by at weekends from time to time. The corner shop is close enough for the kids to walk up and get milk and bread by themselves! Nice quiet streets, lots of people we know and every second kid is at the same school as them. We havent been able to use the garden much yet, the lawn was resown just before moved in, but it should be ready soon.

and off we go again...

Tomorrow is last day at the Fund. Gave a seminar here today which went pretty well.
Shopped til I dropped, well worked til I dropped then went shopping for a change of scenery - the US is so much cheaper than the UK (and did anyone mention the decline in the $ - US that is not AUD). And it was sale time, though I did manage to avoid buying any shoes cos I dont reeeeeeeaaaaally need them (even though I did want them!). Thats shopping for the next 3 years for me anyway. US is a great place to clothes shop cos unlike the UK everything comes in MEGA sizes and makes one feel almost petite!! Well at least normal.
Next stage of the latest adventure is off to Princeton, where it is forecast to rain for most of the time. Oh well, apparently there is not that much to see other than the University. I will let you know. We apparently have internet back on at the new house now - so hopefully R will get to putting up some more pictures soon.
Looking forward to being home soon.

Changes....

Greetings from sunny Washington DC! I am in DC for a couple of weeks doing some work. Its quite hot here still, certainly a change from Cambridge. Its been a busy couple of weeks, thus no postings. SO here is a quick update. The last few days of August were spent moving to our new lodgings, a Victorian terrace. That was quite good except we find we are suffering a surfeit of chairs - there is a lounge chair in EVERY room which we find a bit difficult. Constantly tripping over them. We are getting to know our new landlords though so hopefully we can suggest that some culling is in order! If it works out we may be able to stay in this place the rest of our time in Cambridge, although they are having renovations done which mean we would need to move out for 6 months the second half of next year. Cross that bridge when we come to it - and see how long we can put up with so many chairs! But now we have more room and all our stuff has arrived today. R says the living room is FULL of boxes so not only do we have surfeit of chairs but also surfeit of boxes. Who knows where it is all going - probably to the tip!!
So just after our move I flew off to DC, which was fine, and I am here for a while. Not much exciting going on. I bought myself a new laptop which is very nice, like that a lot ( a Sony VGN-T370 for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing). Now I am trying to sort out a difficult data problem here. Things always take longer than you anticipate!
Been down to some of the Smithsonian museums (http://www.si.edu), which are always good. Yesterday went hiking along the Potomac with our Cambridge landlords who live here (small world). Saw some great kayaking on the Great Falls, and the rock looks great. Found a few pictures on climbing in the area - 5.7-5.12 apparently, really appealing area, be great fun to spend a few days on the rock - but not going to happen this time!
Off to New York middle of next week, a symposium at Princeton a couple of days visiting data providers in New York and then home. It will be nice to get back and just sit for a while!! At the moment I think we side with the kids - could we just go home and sit in our nice stable house for a while (which doesnt have 3000 chairs).

Omaha Beach, Amiens and Home

Portmans wanted to go to the Omaha beach museum (so did I) so we drove up to Omaha beach in driving rain...there is a little museum in every town oddly enough so working out which one we thought we were going to was quite tricky. Tipped down when were getting out of the car and all got pretty wet. M&M didnt want to go to the museum so they wandered down towards the beach in the rain...when we came out we found them holed up in a seafood restaurant finishing off some of the nicest mussels I have ever tasted. Note that there are no photos from this day...just too wet!

Headed back to the cottage and spent the afternoon tidying up and packing. Weather cleared up a little (of course) once we were back packing and cleaning.
Headed off early on Saturday - lost the key to the cottage about 5 mins before we left, so after frantic search decided to leave a note and 5 euros! Raining of course, but stopped at Honfleurs at the mouth of the Seine for coffee and petrol. A very pretty little port town, but very busy. From here we made a big push to Amiens where we spent the night. Amiens has an impressive cathedral with the head of John the Baptist, tastefully displayed on a gold plate. Apparently if was half inched from Byzantium by a French knight and brought back to Amiens. According to sources we could find on the web JtB had just 3 heads, all of which are held in churches and mosques!
Other than the heads, Amiens is an interesting town, wish we had longer to spend there. The bit along river is a bit like Venice or Amsterdam - lots of really old houses along canals. They have a very interesting botanic gardens which you can only see by boat, but we were too late to see it. More police per square inch than anywhere else we have been.
Dropping the car off in Lille on Sunday morning presented more than the expected difficulties, they have an extensive one way and pedestrian only system in the city centre which meant that even thought we knew where we wanted to go we couldnt actually get there! Eventually reduced to asking directions at a service station (not as easy as it sounds when the locals dont speak your language).
Uneventful trip back to Cambridge and a boring couple of days of rain for the Portmans as we started getting ready for the move this weekend. R is heading over to Prague at the end of September to go climbing with the Portmans, M is heading to US for a couple of weeks after the school holidays and we move on Saturday. Renee is visiting (just to help us move?) for a few days.

Falaise

An adventure to Falaise, which was southeast of where we were staying. Falaise was the birthplace of William the Conqueror and has a very impressive castle. The castle has two keeps, one of which was built for Eleanor of Aquitaine. The castle has been renovated with an audio visual display inside, which I liked, but R wasnt so keen on. He likes his ruins as ruins. The castle is really impressive, sits on a big rock near the river. Really huge walls, very naturally defended. The town was really lovely, lots of beautiful little streets. Another very warm day so back to the pool for more swimming!

And a rest day...

Too much activity is bad for you, so we had a day of rest. Well I did anyway, and the other adults went to Viller Bocage (home of good bread and excellent vegetables). We found all the people in Normandy really friendly and patient with letting us try our pretty poor French on them, even though it was quickly apparent they were all very fluent in English. But we had lots of fun (and unlike in Dordogne I didnt have to say 'Je suis Australienne' before anyone would talk to us). The kids and I hung out round the pool and the villa for the entire day, reading and playing. So here are some shots of the ambience! A note for anyone contemplating this type of excursion, the farmhouse we stayed in we chose from the web, but the final price we found on the owners website was about half of that we first saw on one of the agent service websites. Once you find your place its always worth searching for that place independently!

Granville

Having abandoned Mt St Michel as being incredibly crowded (as well as beautiful) and it being quite hot we nipped up the coast to Granville. Just on a whim, I had read somewhere it was supposed to be nice. It was certainly popular - took us ages to find a car park, but then of course we found the virtually empty one just down the road!! A walk around the point through the old part of town to the beautiful beach.... a lovely few hours in the warm water toasting ourselves. Trying not to disgrace ourselves by getting too sunburnt.




The tide goes in and out a long way here - see the Mt St Michel pictures below - and so as the afternoon wore on there was progressively less sand. We beat a retreat back up the hill through the wall and into the old town. Really beautiful old streets for wandering around. The old Norman church was fascinating, lots of bits and pieces regarding fishing, with one of the side altars containing a small fishing boat. It is a really heavy old building, with small windows, and these things must be very solid as often the churches were the only things that withstood the bombings. There were bunkers right behind the church - R thinks probably Napoleonic maybe a magazine. Lots of more modern bunkers right up on the point. Incredible views each way up and down the coast. Then back to the villa for an evening beer and more food!

The kids say....

The best thing about our trip to France was Mont St Michel according to the kids. We really liked the crowds, the spiral towers and looking at the little gardens as we were going up the stairs. We also liked the HUGE beach we could see. We saw a bicycle riding on the beach and he made tracks. His front wheel got stuck, and J thinks that might be where the quicksand was. Someone had drawn Mickey Mouse face in the sand and we could see it from the towers. They spelt it Mecky Muss.



Parking was easy, but there was lots of traffic already by the relatively early morning we arrived!! You had to park in the bit the tide wouldnt come in on - we were there at dead low tide.

Bayeux Tapestry and the beach!

Today was a public holiday, which turned out to be really good because there were no crowds at the Bayeux tapestry, or maybe there just arent crowds there anyway. This is the photo of the museum building. The tapestry was fantastic, an incredible thing to see in real life. Even the kids were impressed. One trick was that only by a quick read of the brochure did we realise that the tapestry was at the END of the museum tour - and we didnt think the kids would last the total museum, so only did the tapestry. Really good exhibit, they provide a audio tour which works well, which the kids liked. Little M was very impressed with Queen Mathilde - which turned out to be a recurring theme later in the week. We saw the horse with an arrow in it (a Dun gee - terrible family joke propogated by DD).

After that we wandered over the the Bayeux church, which was amazing, and the Assumption Day service was in full swing so we couldnt explore fully.

Went on from Bayeux to Arromanche, saw the remains of the false harbour. When you see the sea wall there you wonder how they managed to get anything up those walls. There are lots of bits and pieces left around the beachside from the war years. R was in his element looking at old cannons, tanks, and barricades. The beach itself was lovely, kids thought it was fantastic. A lot to recommend it as a day out! Next time I want to stay in the room with the turret! The kids had icecreams and as you can see the weather was beautiful. A nice drive back through the countryside and fresh blackberries with meringue for tea. A hard life.

The long drive...

signposted and straightforward until you hit the DIVERSION - TRAVAUX...we only had to reverse back up a slip road once before we got onto the autoroute in the right direction. Around here if you get on the wrong road you end up in the wrong country! But pretty easy nonetheless (we didnt end up divorced so it cant be too bad).


Went to the Australian memorial at Villers Bretonneux and then on to Normandy. We discovered why the cottage was empty for this week...big French holiday this weekend and huge traffic jams, no one who knows any better was going to France this weekend. Enormous traffic jams crossing the Seine and in Normandy around Caen.
All worth it once we found the cottage beautiful old stone farmhouse (really creaky stairs) in the middle of nowhere. Had cats and a pool so the kids were happy.
Sunday was a rest day and we walked to the local village for croissants and had a quiet day.

Across the channel (1)

First adventure was to get across the channel - having carefully shopped around for all the best deals we were almost sunk when National Rail wanted to charge us 186 pounds for the Cambridge-London tickets - more than it cost us to get to France!! But after missing a few trains we found the right combination and got it to a mere snip at 80 pounds return (for 7 of us thats not so bad - scarey right). Survived that OK, then after a pleasant Eurostar crossing complete with English sporting louts in our carriage who demolished at least 4 bottles of whisky and umpteem beer cans on the crossing we arrived at Lille. Very easy car pick up and then found our hotel - R even managed to ask for directions at the local hardware store to find it. The hotel decor was excellent! Note madam reclining on the best lounges we have ever seen. We really want some for our next decorating drive. But it was a great hotel for families as the rooms were centred around a courtyard with bar where the adults could sit while the children were sleeping. Great arrangment and of course quite a few families there as a result.

London in summer

Big M has been doing numerous trips to London this trip to get a visa organised for a forthcoming trip to the US. On Monday little M came too and was very well behaved - we had lunch in a restaurant, bought some 'stuff' on Oxford St and then came home. So on Thursday J and little M both decided to come. We picked up our documents then went to Kensington Gardens to go to the Lady Diana playground. Of course we got lost and took the very long way round the gardens - big M was a bit concerned we were off the beaten path when semi-naked men in pairs kept scattering out of the long grass in front of us, hurriedly reclothing!! The kids didnt seem to notice at all. Or thought this was quite usual behaviour for a London park I guess. We got to the playground which really was quite fun - very overpopulated with nannies and darlings when we arrived, and gradual change of shift to parents and children later in the day. There was a huge pirate ship which J thought was wonderful. And a storytelling session. Of course little M stubbed her toe and had to be bandaided in the first aid centre, which she thought was wonderful (best ever Mum). Then we had to make the decision to beat rush hour or not, and they opted to stay. So we went for a paddle boat ride on the Serpentine, only half hour as otherwise main paddler (big M) might expire. Of course the world nearly ended when J lost his hat in the water (Ben gave me that hat - I cant lose it!), but big and little M performed a miraculous hat resuce using superior boating skills. All very funny for big M, but very serious for J who said afterwards 'you and M were really good - but I was a bit hopeless wasnt I' nough said! Then home again on the late train and straight to bed - still tired!! Meanwhile R went to see the illuminated manuscripts currently on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum, fantastic by all accounts. There are a number of books currently unbound for restoration that are on display. We are packing for Normandy this weekend, and big M is off to Netherlands first to see a colleague. Then when we get back we move to the new (larger) house.

Summer punting!

M is safely back from Oz, and we all had a pleasant work summer party on Saturday. R had his first try and punting, and of course wasnt too bad at it at all (too much time in boats). So we are now all set for punting with visitors without it costing an arm and a leg. Though I think R had tired legs afterwards! Kids are on school holidays now, and enjoying themselves. Both pretty tired though. They are embarked on a reading 'medal' program at the local library - if they read 6 books by the end of holidays they get a medal and certificate. J has already done 2 books by day 2! He will probably want extra medals knowing him. Little M has read her first book too. Holiday plans are afoot, big M off to Netherlands for a couple of days, then all to France before we move to our new accommodation in late August. Then our furniture will arrive - hurrah! And of course a special photo of little M skating to match the Portmans!! She goes quite fast now, preferred outfit pink skirt and shirt of course!


Skate queen.