Off tomorrow

Well, we're off to Portugal tomorrow, yippee.  I'm not sure if I can blog while away so there probably won't be any new entries until we get back.

Here's a picture from the last time we were in Lisbon.

Bye for now.

Thank heavens for padded cycling shorts!

Need I say more?

Bicycles

We popped out (okay so it's 25 minutes in the car, not really a pop) to Decathlon today.  It's one of two main sport shop chains in France with excellent choice and prices.

We've been planning on buying a bicycle for me for ages and today we finally did it.  Mia's tiny bike is much too small for her now and so we also bought a new one for her.  It's an early birthday present, and very groovy it is too, purple. 

Tarte aux Framboise et Fraise

I thought I'd show you the cake we had today with coffee.  It was lovely.....

Friday - one week to go!

Today we (me, Ben and Mia) are going to take the train into Paris and go to the english bookshop WH Smith on Rue de Rivoli.  They have a great selection of books and we're looking forward to spending the book vouchers we bought half price from Jarle's work.

Our lovely Domaine

It's easy to take for granted the fact that we live in a lovely domaine.  I forget that not everyone has a park on their doorstep to walk in.  Also the Chateau of course......  Mia and I enjoyed a little walk this morning.

Nice gargoyles, eh?

Bastille Day - 14th July - Fete National

We made a huge effort to get up early enough to get into Paris to see the 14th July parade down the Champs Elysees.  Apparently it's one of the largest military parades in the world.  They start at the Arc De Triomphe and end at Place de la Concorde where the President awaits.  We stood (along with 6 million other people) near the beginning.  There was high security.  All the metro stations along the Champs were closed.  We had to get off at Etoile and there was only one of the 6 or so exits in use so it was rather crowded.  To get onto the part of the pavement nearest the road we were frisked with metal detectors by police!  Anyway, it was quite difficult to see with so many people there but I'm glad we made the effort.

The white tanks are United Nations tanks.

We found a brasserie round the corner on Rue Balzac for a lovely lunch then we strolled a bit on the Champs before taking the metro (now running normally) back to the car and home. 

Saint Germain en Laye

We visited Saint Germain's twice weekly market today......and bought a cake.  It's a lovely town to shop in as it has cute winding streets and a good selection of shops.  Even Nicolas was open (French wine shop chain similar to Oddbins).

The view of the chateau is from the side, the least impressive view but it was a last second shot just before we went underground to the carpark.

Heron?

We saw two of these birds when we were walking around the lake nearby.  I'm pretty sure it's a heron, anyone know?

We also stopped for ice cream......

Visitor

Last night as Jarle opened the terrace doors to close the shutters, a frog hopped into the house!  I couldn't touch it with bare hands so I put on a rubber glove and picked up the little chap.  Very cute he was too.

Saturday in Paris

We drove to Neuilly and took the metro to Hotel de Ville so we could walk around the Marais area.  

It was busy everywhere!  We had lunch in a cafe on the Place des Vosges then went for a walk all the way back to Concorde.  We saw lots of strange people out the front of the Georges Pompidou centre, a dancing cow to name just one.

  Then we relaxed beside the church that I still don't know the name of beside Les Halles.  Our final destination was the WH Smith english bookshop and would you believe it the staff were on strike!!    

Ben is sitting on the head!

Mia's Blog

She is not yet seven years old but determined to have her own blog.  So here it is - see link at the side......

Paris again....

Our last few days at the cabin were relaxing and the weather was reasonable.  We drove back to Stavanger in time to collect Ben from the airport.  He had a great time in the UK with his dad. 

We visited the kitchen place one last time and hopefully all is in order this time.  We spoke to a builder too and he will do the work required before the new kitchen is fitted.  Cross fingers!!

So back to Paris and hot weather.  Well it was lovely until yesterday when it started raining, a lot. Good for the grass......

p.s. the new mini is so much fun to drive!