Le Paques

Sorry that this blog has lost its momentum lately. I have just been too busy to update!  So over the next few days I endeavour to catch up, although it will be coming in chunks.

So, Easter.  Sandra arrived on Easter Saturday with Esme and Ruby in tow.  Lily had been stupidly excited for the week before their arrival and was possibly about to explode on the way to the airport.  Unfortunately the weather turned a bit rubbish for them being here, but they managed to camp out in the garden three nights, spend a day at a theme park, a day in town and lots of exploring.

The classic Savoyard chocolate fondue

We had an Easter egg hunt in the garden, which kept them entertained for about 20 minutes and the boys really enjoyed having a chocolate-centred diet for a couple of days:

Stu had to work away for a couple of days so me, Sandra and the littlies went out for some nice long lunches and trips to the park and soft-play. And I really appreciated the break I got having an extra pair of hands at bath and bed time!

Me and Stu were able to venture out for drinks in Chambery one night and located the Irish bar that seems obligatory in all European cities. O'Cardinals is possibly the most un-Irish Irish bar ever, with most of the Frenchies shunning the Guinness in favour of a café and a saucisson.  The thing I find the most puzzling about pubs and bars in France is that they don't take your money off you straight away like they do in England. They happily leave a tab open for you at the bar, trusting that you'll pay when you're done. I just really can't imagine that strategy going down too well in the Bigg Market.

There's just no rowdiness in the pubs either, it's a totally different culture to back home. People literally go for a couple of drinks and stop there, although with the prices of drinks it's pretty understandable.

So on the whole it was a nice Easter week, which me Stu and the boys finished off with a night in the Ardeche valley camping. Will update about this tomorrow!

Le printemps

The best thing about Savoie in my opinion is that the seasons are all as they should be; summer is super hot, autumn is fresh and beautiful, the less said about winter the better and now we have entered spring.

Spring is definitely my favourite. The temperature is perfect, the birds are singing, there's a sweet smell in the air and every night the flowers in the garden seem to grow about two inches. If you stand under the tree outside the house, all you can hear is the buzzing of the bees collecting the pollen from the blossom. I truly am full of the joys of spring!

I am really going to miss having a garden when we leave this place. Catherine and Eric really live the good life. They have a huge vegetable patch, which keeps them in fruit and vegetables, a walnut tree which provides them with nuts and walnut oil, an outdoor bread oven for baking bread and a number of beehives for producing honey. They also make loads of home brewed liqueurs, which have a tendency to blow your socks off.

One day...

Catherine's beehives

Stu has been making the most of the good weather and exploring the mountain bike trails behind our house.

At the top of the Col de l'Epine

A bee hotel!

Lukey is on the mend at last, although is surviving on a diet of fromage frais and biscuits. His chunky little thighs have definitely slimmed down a bit :-( 

Tomorrow Sandra arrives for the week, bringing Esme and Ruby with her. Should be fun!

Bricothé

For the past few months I have been attending weekly bricothé with my French mammy friends.

bricothé is a made up word (I think)...brico from bricolage the French word for DIY and thé the French word for tea. It also rhymes with tricoter, the French word for knit.

Basically we get together every week at someone's house to drink rooibos tea, eat homemade cake and do crafty things, while the children all play nicely together.

Now I am not sure if this is what all French mammies are like, but these ladies are seriously talented. I'll stumble in with the two boys hanging off me and they'll be effortlessly knocking up cushion covers on the sewing machine, making jewellery, knitting and stitching things that look like mini Bayeux tapestries.

I have yet to actually make anything at one of these sessions due to being highly uncrafty but I am really inspired and might get involved a bit more when Luke doesn't require constant help out of places he is stuck in.

However there's been no bricothé this week or last for us as Luke has been unwell, first with a nasty cold and now with a nasty stomach bug which has produced some of the most foul nappies I have ever seen (and after three babies, I have seen a hell of a lot). He has hardly eaten for a week and is sleeping worse than ever before. The doc prescribed him a whole load of stuff yesterday though, so hopefully he will be on the mend soon.

Speaking of nappies, Max is officially out of them during the day, hooray!