Here we go!

Everyone gets intensive Italian lessons this weekend. Thomas and I are off to Florence for an important business meeting and to see some friends. Mia is going to spend the weekend with Nano and Bomp playing in the garden and listening to Italian nursery rhymes. We've all had a busy week and are exhausted so we're having a hard time getting motivated to pack our bags. But the flight takes off early tomorrow morning so we can't put if off forever...

Off for the weekend

With the election less than 24-hours away, we're heading to the beach for some time to reflect on the future of France. And the possibility of installing a new kitchen at the Marina house. The surprisingly polite candidates (no major mud-slinging here) are now under a vow of silence until the results are announced tomorrow night. Since the "official" campagin started 2 weeks ago, each candidate has been allowed equal air time to voice their opinions. Now they're supposed to leave us in peace to make our decision before tomorrow night when the polls close. With still over 42% of the population undecided, it could go either way...

Pigtails!

First blog of the year from the terrace!

It's 9:38 pm and I'm out on the terrace after dinner. Thomas is downstairs watching a film (Mia is, of course, in bed) but the weather is too nice to go inside so I've been sitting here reading the paper.

Spring has finally arrived - with very warm temperatures. We took full advantage of it today: the Sunday market this morning, lunch on the terrace, and a bike ride to see this photographer at the old German submarine base that has since been converted into an art museum. La vie est tres belle!

Sandbox politics

The presidental elections started officially on Monday, two weeks before the first round of elections. During these two weeks the 12 candidates who were able to obtain the signatures of 500 mayors in France are now entitled to equal air time to express their views. You can check out some of the candidate's videos here if your interested.

Basically, no one knows who to vote for in this election. Thomas comes home every night with a new favorite candidate. At the playground this afternoon I heard the moms on the other side of the sandbox discussing the election and how everyone they knew would vote Sarkozy or Le Pen. I could have understood this if I had gone to one of the chic public parks where the more well-off families converge but this was at a very working class park in the center. I would have thought that these mothers (mostly French but of North African origin) would have voted for the liberal ticket but their main concerns: immigration, security, and jobs.

With still 45% of the population undecided, the candidates have a lot to prove in the next few days.

And...we're back!

The week of Primeurs is over at last and we were able to escape to Nice for the long holiday weekend with our friends. We used to see Damien, Marie-Laure and the 3 kids more frequently when we lived in Pisa but being in Bordeaux complicates things somewhat. Luckily, with 3 kids, they have all that's necessary for a toddler like Mia so we were able to travel light.

Still we learned a lot for our trip back to the States in July. First of all, apparently you should never give kids an early breakfast. For example: at the time it seemed like a good idea to give Mia her bottle before leaving for the airport. One less thing to think of, one less bottle to carry through security... It was a good idea until we sat down on the plane. Then Mia threw up. Three times. (The man across the aisle from us had a good laugh when he saw me take the sports section out of the paper to clean up, "But your husband hasn't even read it yet!') Which brings me to the second lesson I learned: always, no matter how short the flight, bring a change of clothes. Because it wasn't enough to cover me in her regurgitated breakfast, just as we were beginning our decent she also got a case of bad diarrhea. So as we were getting off the plane she was dressed in her undershirt, a very full diaper and wrapped in a second copy of the sports section to keep anything from oozing. And I wasn’t looking much better.

Oh, and the first copy of the sports section – the one full of her soiled clothes – we forgot that on the plane. I'm sure the Air France flight attendants have our name on their red list.

But we did have a great time in Nice. The kids had a fun egg hunt in the garden and were high on sugar for the rest of the day. Damien should be sending me a picture of Mia enjoying a chocolate bunny that I’ll post as soon as I can.

Now that we’re back in Bordeaux, the weather is gorgeous, the days are longer, and Mia is getting closer and closer to walking on her own. Any day now!

Stopping to smell the tulips