La dernière ligne droite

Now that we're officially on the home straight (literally) I'm starting to panic about all the things I haven't achieved since we arrived. 

My biggest regret is that I haven't learnt nearly as much French as I could have.  I had such good intentions of watching French TV, reading newspapers and books, speaking as much as I possibly could...and in truth I didn't. At the end of a long day, the temptation of watching English TV online was too much. The iPad proved a good distraction from reading, and I've surprised myself with how much I could achieve without uttering a word. Baby brain and lack of sleep haven't helped either. 

And I really have no motivation to step it up now!

We've compiled a to-do list for our last few weeks of places to go and things that we want to see and do, so hopefully we can get through as much of that as possible.

Lily's French life continues to improve which is making me a bit sad about leaving.  She's really settled in with the French girls at school and is getting to experience so much good stuff here. It's just such a great place for teenage girls to live! They all take part in at least one sport and innumerable outdoor activities. No distractions of hanging around shopping malls and parks.  This weekend she went kayaking and sailing on the lake with her class mates. I also need to try and find a way of her keeping up her French level, as it would be such a shame for her to forget. She has definitely achieved the most out of all of us.

Anyway, all of these negative feelings are overshadowed by the excitement of coming home. Six weeks today folks!

Token picture of the chuckle brothers

Les actualités

The big news here in France is............we're leaving next month!

Stu has handed his notice in as he has a new job back in the UK so will be heading back first. Me and the kids are staying a little while longer so Lily can finish up at school.

I'm totally in two minds about coming back which I didn't expect.  I thought I'd be desperate to go home, but I'm actually a bit despondent. We've had a great time and really feel that we've finally settled into a routine here. 

This is especially true for Lily who has turned a corner at school the past couple of months.  She has ditched the obnoxious Canadian who was holding her back from making friends with the French girls and now spends all of her time with them instead, hardly speaking English at all.  I'm proud beyond belief. 

There are so many things I'm going to miss...the mountains, the lakes, the sunshine, the scenery, the cakes, the neighbours, the new friends I've made, the wine, the bread, the convenience of living in mainland Europe...

But then there are so many things I'm not going to miss...the rubbish drivers, the effort I have to put in to make even the smallest of conversations, the shops never being open when I need them...

And then there's the things I can't wait to get back to...my friends, my house (the big kitchen in particular), work (never thought I would ever think that, but looking after those boys all day every day is a killer!), the convenience of having everything I could possibly need on my doorstep...

So we fully intend of making the most of our final couple of months here! More trips out, more camping, more cakes and of course more blog updates!

Martigues

Camping trip #2 took place last weekend with happy camper Lily on board as well.  The weather in Savioe had taken a turn for the worse with constant rain so we decided to do as birds to and head south to find the sun.
Five hours from starting out, we arrived at Camping Marius at La Couronne, Martigues, where there was plenty of much-needed sun.

Expert tent erection

Anyone need a tent peg?

We spent two nights here exploring the area, sunbathing and playing on the beach. Again, the boys LOVED it. I think there's going to be lots of camping trips for us in the years to come.

Fortunately the facilities at this campsite were excellent as the boys spent an awful lot of time covered in sand and general dirt. I don't know what it is about them but they seem to attract grub as soon as they've been washed. We really really appreciated the bath when we got back!

The second night we ate out at the most random restaurant/disco/karaoke bar ever, but totally what we needed. Max was able to run round like a loon and pester little girls without us having to worry about disturbing other diners.

Just like his dad...

Lily had her first ever Moules Frites with a glass of wine like the Froggies do, which she loved. 

And me and Stu drank enough wine, beer and liquers to ensure a good night's sleep.





Vallon pont d'Arc

Oh dear, my promised update is now over a week late. I have definitely lost all momentum with this blog.

Anyway, after the visitors left and Lily headed off for a holiday with her dad, me and the boys took a trip to the Ardeche Valley to try and get some use out our tent.

Our three hour journey turned into a four hour journey due to a shut bridge and the longest diversion in the world, but we all managed to stay in good spirits until we arrived at Vallon Pont d'Arc.

The Ardeche gorges are beautiful. We stayed right on the water's edge surrounded by limestone cliffs and lush greenery.

The arch is a 60m high natural bridge caused by the water eroding the limestone (I think...) and is pretty impressive.  Also pretty impressive was the dinner we had at the Auberge du Pont d'Arc, where I ate the freshest trout caught in the gorge that day. Mmmmm.

Max and Luke absolutely LOVE sleeping in the tent.  Luke actually sleeps better in the tent than he does in his cot, so our night was fairly painless (I'd ensure to drink plenty of wine, Pastis and lager to help me sleep). I did feel a bit sorry for our fellow campers though as the boys were up shouting at the crack of dawn.

We had such a good time that we thought we would do it all again the following week.....

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!