Tour de France - july 2018
We went on a major Tour de France in july: Paris, Lacanau, Ile de Re, Rennes, re-Paris, Briancon, Aix en Provence !
I was half working remotely, half on holiday, and thus could accompany Eric and the kids during most of their trip around visiting family and enjoying different parts of France.
We left Stockholm on the last Friday of june. Arlanda airport was inimagibly packed and even Swedish efficiency could not keep up with the summer exodus. But we managed ok to arrive in Paris ! We visited family over the week end - Mahe and my side of the family in Paris on the one hand, and Jacques and Lolo and Emilie and family on the other hand.
Alexandre reading a book to his 11-month old cousin Leonie.
Alexandre and I also met up with his great friend Jules, and his parents and syster in Square Saint Lambert. Happy to report that Alexandre and Jules were very happy to reconnect!
Domi spent a lot of time with Ruben and Alexandre whilst we were in Paris ; I think that they; and we, were all very pleased with this arrangement. Eric and I were even able to take an evening out to go and meet with Math and Julien.
Artworks exhibits on the Viaduc des Arts.
On Thursday july 5th, we went on a long car drive down to Lacanau, where Eric and the kids would be staying for a whole week with his mom. I spent a few days with them, enjoying the beach at the sea (good), the beach at the lake (good), and working a bit (not so good).
I then headed back up to Paris to be more settled to work over the following week. Being around Paris was also great to catch up with friends, family, and even former colleagues - Philippe and Laura, Greg and Sophie, Vincent and Laura, Aude, Domi Clem and Colin..
My nephew and niece Francois and Caroline were staying for a few days with Domi. It does not come out so much on this picture, but we were having dinner whilst the semi-final for the world cup was going on, and Francois was totally absorbed the soccer game on tv.
Over the week end, Eric drove the kids to Ile de Re, to stay for two nights at his friend's Emile, and then up to Rennes, where Ruben and Alexandre would stay for a few days with Domi, Emeline, Thomas, and their cousins. I went and joined them over the sunday. It was nice to finally get to see their new house in Rennes. They are very well settled and their garden is amazing.
And then the world cup final started and the kids settled on the sofa to watch (though I must say that Ruben and Alexandre quickly lost their interest in the game). Eric and I had a long drive back to Paris and left half-way through the game - but we got to drive through some of the partying, crowd chanting, and people taking over the streets when we arrived in Paris that night.
This meant that Eric and I had a few days sans kids (but with work for me) in Paris. It was nice going out for a walk, a restaurant, or a movie in the evenings however!
An evening around Montmartre.
Ruben and Alexandre came back with Domi from Rennes on Thursday 20th. We went to the fair in Tuileries to enjoy some rides. It was mostly Alexandre, who wanted to try everything, but Ruben was happy to ride in a car driven by Alexandre and both were elated to go on the Grande Roue.
Alexandre also tried the 'floating bubbles' but did not really enjoy it past the first two minutes of excitement. Something to do once, not more !
And then, off the Briancon, to the cool and freshness of the Alps!
We arrived right on time to watch the finals of the climbing world cup. Very impressive !
The kids did a lot of the classic and nice outings during their vacations in Briancon: going to different play areas, included the ones in Chantemerle, Villeneuve la Salle, and Eygliers ; going up the mountain with the lifts from Chantemerle and Prorel ; having a barbecue in les Ayes ; walking down to Briancon from the house ; and, of course, enjoying very much the garden et Elizabeth's house.
We also went regularly to the swimming pool, where Ruben took classes with his beloved instructor Edwige. It was fantastic to see him making a lot of progress ! He learned how to swim in the big pool with no floaters on and how to jump in the water and come back up.
I actually did not spend very many days on vacation with them, since I worked for a couple of days, we went down together to Aix en Provence (pictures coming soon!), and I soon after flew back to Stockholm... But here are some pictures of outings - thanks to Zabeth for the pictures !
And Eric took a paragliding course at the beginning of August ! Over one day, he learned the basics of taking off and then took off for actual real and big flights ! We even saw him as we were driving to visit Domi in Villeneuve la Salle.
As had happened in the past, Domi was on holiday there with Claude and his brother and wife in August, so we went and met with them. We got to visit together the lovely old village of La Salle.
Ruben borrowed the phone to shoot some close-ups of flowers.
Domi took the kids on the 'little train' that goes from the old village to the valley. We rented a paddle boat on the Lac du Pontillas, and Alexandre even tried the slide on the boat - I just had to catch him before he landed fully in the water, as the water was refreshing to say the least.
The next day, we went back to the play area near by with Zabeth, in the hope of getting to watch Eric fly by and land, but we missed him.
hej då !
I was half working remotely, half on holiday, and thus could accompany Eric and the kids during most of their trip around visiting family and enjoying different parts of France.
We left Stockholm on the last Friday of june. Arlanda airport was inimagibly packed and even Swedish efficiency could not keep up with the summer exodus. But we managed ok to arrive in Paris ! We visited family over the week end - Mahe and my side of the family in Paris on the one hand, and Jacques and Lolo and Emilie and family on the other hand.
Alexandre reading a book to his 11-month old cousin Leonie.
Alexandre and I also met up with his great friend Jules, and his parents and syster in Square Saint Lambert. Happy to report that Alexandre and Jules were very happy to reconnect!
Domi spent a lot of time with Ruben and Alexandre whilst we were in Paris ; I think that they; and we, were all very pleased with this arrangement. Eric and I were even able to take an evening out to go and meet with Math and Julien.
Artworks exhibits on the Viaduc des Arts.
On Thursday july 5th, we went on a long car drive down to Lacanau, where Eric and the kids would be staying for a whole week with his mom. I spent a few days with them, enjoying the beach at the sea (good), the beach at the lake (good), and working a bit (not so good).
My nephew and niece Francois and Caroline were staying for a few days with Domi. It does not come out so much on this picture, but we were having dinner whilst the semi-final for the world cup was going on, and Francois was totally absorbed the soccer game on tv.
An evening around Montmartre.
We arrived right on time to watch the finals of the climbing world cup. Very impressive !
We also went regularly to the swimming pool, where Ruben took classes with his beloved instructor Edwige. It was fantastic to see him making a lot of progress ! He learned how to swim in the big pool with no floaters on and how to jump in the water and come back up.
I actually did not spend very many days on vacation with them, since I worked for a couple of days, we went down together to Aix en Provence (pictures coming soon!), and I soon after flew back to Stockholm... But here are some pictures of outings - thanks to Zabeth for the pictures !
