Thank you to my French uncles!

A big thank you to Martin and Eric for making our time in Provence one that we will never forget.

Lily with Martin

Lily with Eric

Flirting in Paris

The weather back in Provence was lovely after the cold in Italy - we were enjoying 16degree days and sunshine. One day Michael was even up on a ladder helping Martin and Eric pick their olives which they press to produce their own olive oil – it is divine and tastes so much better than the commercial product. Martin hosted a farewell dinner for us in Nice and prepared the yummiest lamb roast. His apartment is stunning, on one side it over looks the coast of Nice and on the other side it overlooks the mountains.

After only three days at the villa we were on the TGV to Paris. Lily behaved herself for the four hour journey mainly because there were loads of people to smile at and they were literally sitting ducks for all of her flirting.

We stayed in the Opera district which was great even though we originally wanted to stay in the Latin Quarter, but considering we were booking our hotel only 15hours before we arrived we weren’t in a position to be fussy. It was soo cold the first night but we were lucky enough to have ‘warmish’ sunny days for the rest of our stay which was great since we spent the four days strolling around showing Lily the sights although every time we got to somewhere of significance she was asleep. It was a little like the ‘sleeping tour of Paris’.

Lily at the Louvre
Lily at the Arc de Triomphe

Lily at the Eiffel Tower
The christmas lights along the Champs Elysees were absolutely amazing – we went into Zara and did more shopping (for me this time) and when we came out the whole boulevard was lit up and I was blown away at how magical it looked. I almost got killed trying to take this photo in the middle of the road!

We went to the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon but little Lily was asleep and we wanted to go back to see the lights anyway but when we arrived back there at 7pm Lily was asleep again but luckily she woke up just in time to see the flashing lights (I promise I didn’t accidentally poke her). She absolutely loved the flashing lights and was so mesmerised by them she cried when we rolled her away!

We are not sure where she learnt this cheesy grin from but she is constantly flashing those pearly whites!

You have to love facebook – a friend from Spain who I lost contact with found me on facebook only a week ago and she just happened to be in Paris working for a few weeks so we were able to meet up for lunch and a stroll around Paris. We had not seen Isabel for about five years so it was wonderful to see her.
We were able to spend a few hours at Musee D’Orsay, one of my favourite museums – I wasn’t quite sure on the Lily factor but thank goodness she enjoyed looking at all the pretty colours as much as we did.

View of Montmartre from Musee D’Orsay
I am not looking forward to joining the masses doing the christmas shopping when we get home but nothing could be as chaotic as our experience at Galleries Lafayette – complete madness! It was like being in the mosh pit at a concert but you were actually in a department store with people buying Prada, Tiffanys, Louis Vuitton (btw we were flicking through The Times newspaper and who would you expect to be the next face of Louis Vuitton? Scarlett Johannson perhaps, no, the latest advertisement features Mikhail Gorbachev!). The shoe department is like a dream come true but the hundreds of people (and the lack of enough money) meant you couldn’t really enjoy it for all it’s worth. I left with only a new hat but I was glad to get out of there, you could feel your stress levels drop when you walked out the doors.

It was so lovely to be in Paris again and it was wonderful that the winter weather allowed us time to walk the streets and since we had been there before we were able to take in more of the real Paris rather than just the famous sites. It’s getting a little sad now since we only have a few days left here in Provence then five days in London and then we are back home in time for family dinner on the 12th. In saying that we are happy to be coming home after over four months away and plus Lily is looking forward to being naked more often.

We will miss the French pop music (even though I have little idea of what they are singing, but Michael likes Vanessa Paradis’ latest song), the endless aisles of Carrefour, all of those croissants and delicious pastries, good value French wine and champagne, and of course the shopping – although we are paying for it now as we are packing. Monty is proving to be a bit of a challenge to fit into the suitcase but he has to come home!

Rain rain go away...

We've been in Venice for a few days and it is cold and wet today. This is when travelling with a babe is not easy. For those of you that haven't been to Venice there are loads of little bridges taking you over all of the canals (and there are loads of them which is why Venice is Venice) and we have to carry the stroller up and down the stairs - not fun in the rain I can assure you! Plus Lily was screaming since she couldn't see properly through the rain cover - definitely not fun! I must say it is a wonderful city to stroll around the streets and along the canals but it is not a child friendly city....and nor should it be since it would not have the charm that it does.

It has now been raining for two days and I guess it was finally time for the rain to catch up with us. Before now we have only had two days of rain since we left home over four months ago.

On our way to Venice we went to Lake Garda and stayed in Sirmione which is a cute little town on the southern end of the lake situated on a pennisula. It has the obligatory old town but since it is getting close to winter there was not much open and strolling around the town felt like walking through a ghost town - there was noone around but we were able to find a gelato place so it was all good. We much preferred the scenery of Lake Como but Lake Garda was still impressive - it reminded me of a little version of Chicago as the lake looked more like an ocean since you could not see the other side because of all of the winter mist.

'Romeo Romeo where for art thou Romeo'...no we did not shout it from Juliet's balcony on our stopover in Verona but we did have a great lunch at a little cafe in a side street and Michael finally drank a decent coffee since being away.

Lily is not rolling around so much anymore as she is trying to crawl and is attempting the commando move and manages to move forward little by little but gets more frustrated than anything. We feel a little bad since she has not really had loads of floor time over the last month since we have been on the move so much but we make up for it by sharing our bed (not so much by choice).

I think Lily is looking forward to home cooking again (or at least the French jar food) since the Italian jars leave much to be desired - it is the first time she hasn't enjoyed her food and that says a lot!

We are now on our way back to the villa and are hoping to go to Paris next week now that the French transport workers have ended their strike. Shame on President Sarkozy wanting to cut back on the endless benefits given to all government workers which is unsustainable for the future economy.

No George sightings in Bellagio

After a few days in the villa Lily was getting bored so we drove four and a half hours north to Lake Como in Italy. No, we didn't go there in search of George, although I was on the lookout (apparently his villa is in the Bellagio area). Warren and Merci recommended Bellagio as they went there last christmas and loved it. Bellagio is much smaller than Como and we think much more beautiful. The town is on a headland that divides the lake in two. Everywhere you look there is the lake and the majestic mountains. It has been pretty cold lately with temps during the day reaching about 8degrees. No blue skies but also no rain and I think the misty weather makes the scenery look much more beautiful (or is that what I am telling myself since it is soo cold!)

View from our room

It is base season now so most of the hotels, restaurants and shops were closed and you can only imagine what the town is like in the summer months. It was nice to stroll through the narrow streets in peace and quiet apart from Lily 'chatting' to us.

We took the 40minute hovercraft to Como and Lily loved the trip since she had loads of people to look at and they couldn't go anywhere! After an afternoon in Como we were glad we stayed at Bellagio instead - Como was just like another town whereas Bellagio had a small village feel to it.

These are a few of my favourite things….

Monty, cow and touchy feely animal book.
Lily now has two front teeth which certainly makes eating the end of the baguettes much easier for her! It’s great, who would have thought a piece of bread could amuse her for so long – we should have thought about it much earlier. Our strategy is to give her bread when our meals arrive and it works a treat most of the time!

France roadtrip – part 4 'The road to Provence'

We had heard so much about San Sebastian in Spain and it was only an hours drive from Hossegor so that was our next stop. The drive past the pine forests was great. I love seeing them from afar and it looking so natural but then when you drive by you notice that all of the trees have been planted in straight lines and it suddenly looks so orderly.

We worked out pretty quickly that Spain is much cheaper than France – everything from food to shoes (damn I didn’t find a pair!). The old town was really nice and the main beach was beautiful with the island in the bay.

Another place on our big list of places to go was the Pyrenees. A good starting point was Pau. It was here that Michael got his haircut and instead of a no.2 Stephane gave him a no.1 so for a few days he looked like a skinhead and I had to make him shave everyday to make it look a little better.

We had planned to stay a night at Laruns but when we arrived to the little village in the valley there was nothing open (yes, it was 2pm again) and all of the hotels had not opened for the year yet. So we went on a drive to Cauterets through Lourdes, and no we did not throw holy water on Lily. There were only two hotels and a couple of restaurants opened in Cauterets with the rest of the town opening up in December for the ski season. It was quite breathtaking with all of the mountains surrounding the village. The mountains had a little bit of snow on their peaks which made up for it being so cold.

Unfortunately with Lily we couldn’t do any walks (well we could have but she is getting too heavy to carry for long periods) so we were limited to driving instead. The winding roads took us through the mountains up towards Cirque de Gavarnie and the scenery was absolutely spectacular.
Since a few of the mountain passes were closed due to ice we took the safe option and drove the motorway to Foix. Ho hum not much to see there apart from a castle which stands guard over the town.

It was a great coincidence that my cousin Warren and his girlfriend Merci were staying near Carcassonne for the week and we just happened to be there at the same time. It was great to catch up with them since I had not seen Warren for a couple of years as he has been living in London. They took us to a great restaurant in nearby Minerve and the food was absolutely divine – I didn’t actually think we would get to take Lily to a Michelin star restaurant but she was so well behaved even though one of the waitresses paid her no attention. We stayed the night with them in LaRedonte and Warren is convinced that Lily has the Lum nose!

The old city of Carcassonne
Lily with Warren and Merci
After a lunch stop at Aigues Mortes, we spoilt ourselves on our last night of the roadtrip with a four star hotel in Arles, home to Vincent Van Gogh for a time. Unfortunately we were there on a Monday so everything was closed. We did get to see the café thought to be painted by Van Gogh in ‘Café Terrace at Night’ and I ate the best palmier since being in France.

The four of us (including Monty) are back in our villa now and it is good to be back. As much as we enjoyed being on the road for four weeks it is nice to be in the one place for a while and I think Michael had had enough of being our pack horse. Yesterday at home Lily seemed to get bored so we took her to Carrefour to people watch and get supplies – she got used to being on the move and seeing loads in a day but at least here she can enjoy homecooked meals instead of jar food. I think she appreciates all of the space here since she is rolling around everywhere and trying to crawl but not really getting anywhere…yet.

Having said that we are not in Provence for long, on Sunday we head to Lake Como in Italy for a few days in Bellagio.

Also, through much deliberation we’ve agreed that at some point we need to get back to reality so we will be home on 12 December. I can’t believe it is almost time to come home…..

France roadtrip - part 3 'Death by formule menu'

After a wonderful time in Jersey it was time to head back to France. This trip reminds me of our honeymoon – getting back to the hotel after dinner and trying to work out where to head to the next day. Although of course Lily adds a whole new dimension and I won’t lie it isn’t always easy but I think she is enjoying all of the travels. She is still always smiling even when it’s 11pm and she doesn’t want to go to bed (we are generally not smiling at that point). She is a little spoilt getting her own way since we have been staying in hotels on this roadtrip and we can’t really let her cry too much so she has us eating out of the palm of her hands! Plus she has been spending way too much time in our bed but we love it!

Lily is really enjoying her three solid meals a day and her two teeth make her look grown up and it’s hard to believe that she is almost eight months old! She has such a personality and she is very used to getting a lot of attention here – I think it’s the eurasian factor. We even get stopped in Carrefour with people saying ‘magnific bebe’, ‘tre jolie’ and ‘tre belle’. If a waitress or shop assistant does not at least smile at her she follows them with her eyes staring at them with a look on her face as if to say ‘what is the matter with you? Why won’t you pay me some attention!’. It’s quite funny to watch her in action.

We had a very brief stop in Nantes for nothing more than a place to sleep and a stroll around the food markets the next morning. It was all we really could do since it was a public holiday in France – they have more public holidays than anywhere else in the world.

When we planned this trip one of the stipulations was that we stay at a beautiful old chateau and we found the perfect one in Saumur in the Loire region - Chateau de Verrieres. We stayed in the Le Papillon room which reminds me of a brilliant French movie of the same name about a little girl, an old man and of course butterflies.

One of the most wonderful things about this trip is driving through the French countryside during autumn. It is hard not to enjoy the vibrant colours of the leaves drifting off the trees – the drive through the Champagne region has been the prettiest by far.

Since we were traveling mid-season we did not expect to encounter any issues with accommodation and plus we didn’t really know where we were going to spend the next night but in some places it has not been easy to find a bed, especially when we arrived into Bordeaux at 6pm on the Friday night of a long weekend! Luckily we found a tiny room so we didn’t have to stay out of town. I was not expecting Bordeaux to be as nice as it was – it has a huge boulevard with the city set along a river and of course there are all the shops the three of us love…like Zara.

The next day we took a leisurely drive to Cap Ferret through the national park and once again found it hard to find a bed for the night. A few hotels in the smaller places are starting to close for the winter even though there are still loads of people around so we ended up in a small village on the coast for the night.

Michael caught the surfing bug when we were in Portugal and Hossegor is one of the best surfing spots in France. A combination of Michael struggling with a lower back injury and there being no surf he didn’t take a board out. But we found a great hotel with a view over the lake so we stayed for a couple of days.

We took a day trip to Biarritz on Monday. Supposedly it is the choice holiday spot for the Paris jetset now. We weren’t overly taken by the place but it has a nice main beach. Once again we managed to arrive after 2pm so found it hard to find somewhere still serving lunch. Plus all of the shops in France close between midday and 3-4pm so we had a nice stroll on along the beach. The opening/closing hours in France take a while to get used to.

Lily still had a bad cough so it was off to the doctor again in Hossegor – once again we were told she just needs to ride it out. She has been her normal happy self so I think it is bothering us more than her.

Latest stats
Weight: 8.5kgs
Length: 69cm
Head circumference: 44cm

I was concerned that she had not put on a lot of weight since she was weighed in Ireland a few months ago but the doctor assured me that she is certainly not wasting away. She certainly still has those cheeks and those beautiful chubby thighs!

We on the other hand are definitely putting on weight. It’s hard not to with all of those croissants, millefeilles and macaroons. Not to mention the formule menu for lunch and dinner! Even though you know you only want one course for lunch the restaurants all serve two or three courses for the same price as a main meal so you may as well get the menu and we’re suckered in to it everyday! We really should know better.