Bikes one day, a zillion people the next

Friday we headed the a small village called Lassay. Like most of the villages its buildings are all made from stone and this one has a beautiful castle in the middle of it. It's a complete castle, not ruins which so many were left. Our plan had us spending the day here having a picnic while we wait for le Tour de France to Come past. 

The day is gloriously hot and we find a small walled garden in the castle grounds and set up camp. Cheese, wine and baguettes, it's simple and yet so beautiful. I sit listening to my girls giggle and I read my book happily. 

The caravans come past around an hour before the tour. It's like a parade of float sponsors but they are driving around 70km and throwing stuff at you to catch which seems like a fight to catch before someone else grabs it. Very amusing to watch some people become quite aggressive while making sure they grab the small magnets or sample

Packets of washing liquid. 

Once back at the cottages where I do a final clean and pack in preparation for our departure to Paris. Jaimie cooked the bbq that night which he announced was ready by sending smoke signals from the other cottage. Over here they bbq with fire not gas as we are more accustomed to. Although a temperamental heat source, the food does taste amazing with the smoky flavour. 

Saturday the alarm goes off with a blast. It's the earliest we have been up in a few weeks, but it helps get us on the road early. We make it to the hotel by lunch time and head straight into Paris. It's really hot and once we come up out of the train station at Notre dame there are people every where. I mean omg people everywhere. I would imagine from the sky we would look like ants covering a table of food. 

The sights past the people are beautiful. Unlike london the buildingsare all around the same height. Notre dame is as pretty as I remember it, taking your breath away as you look at the Windows's and carvings in the stone. We decided to then head to the Eiffel Tower on the open top bus. These buses help you seen a bit more in short amounts of time. 

The girls faces when faced with the tower is gold. Smiles covered them and awe on just how big it is up close. Again people crawling everywhere which I was starting to find very hard after spending a week in the country side to what I'm more accustomed with from home. We grabbed some lunch and looked around. We never got up the tower due to the 4 hour wait time but the girls were still happy. 

We walked around the gardens a bit and then we did something very left field. Martin and I renewed our vows to each other in a-way. We had decided before we left to write letters to each other. Letters to share how we feel about each other, to reaffirm commitments and to remind the other why they are still around. 

We picked a spot and read them in front of the girls to each other. I was so very nervous which seems crazy when Marty knows everything about me. He has seen me at my worst and still I felt very exposed reading my letter. I read it with tears streaming down my face. And I continued to cry while he read his words to me. 

We headed to meet everyone else after this and found a cute little bar in an alley way where the girls and I sang with the pianist and enjoyed cocktails, the girls feeling very special with their mock tails. We finally made it back to the hotel at 9pm and got the girls bathed while Marty gather some food. Tomorrow we fly home after what has been the best holiday we have had in a very long time. 

We have laughed, cried, played and explored together. The girls have been amazing and showed all who came into contact with them their best sides. I was so very proud of them. Their manners never disappeared and their laughs were infectious. I have enjoyed spending time with Marty's family a lot! Certain catch phrases will continue to stick and I may never pull someone's finger again without thinking of nights around the table after dinner in France. 

 Although I don't want our holiday to end, it's ending on a high which is the same way it began. So this is me signing off from daily blogging from France with love❤️

Bx 💕

The last few days

The last few days have been mellow. Sleeping late, pastries for breakfast. This has been a holiday where time has not existed and relaxing is just a reality. My girls have sleep past 10 most days this week, and once risen have been happy to be on the go slow for the rest of the day. 

The girls have played football a lot, boules, tennis to name a few games. Flowers have been picked by the baskets  with dancing and singing happening in what seems to be an enchanted garden. 

Marty and I went to a farm to try some cidre (cider) which I have to tell my cider loving friends was flipping awesome. It's just so,so good!! They also have this cherry or raspberry liqueur you can add to it for extra sweetness and also kick as its 20% proof. It was a great experience as they were also a working dairy which here is very small. They only had 170 Cows and a very small plot of land compared to our farms. Beautiful people and they also could speak English which made the experience a little easier for all of us. 

Today we ventured to a town 20kms away that has a massive lake with beach area. The girls swam and played on the equipment. They went on peddle karts and peddle boats. They had a ball and really didn't want to go home. I have packed most of our bags in preparation of our departure to Paris on Saturday morning. 

Tomorrow we are heading to a village to catch a glimpse of the Tour de France. Should be interesting since I'm not into sports at all but I'm sure the atmosphere will be amazing. 

* I apologise for my lack of photos as I have gotten a new,very flash camera which I can't download photos until I get back. I promise I will share them soon. Bx

Mont Saint Michel

Today we travelled to an abbey that was built on an island just off the North west coast of France, that building started in 709! You can only visit during certain times when the tide is low. When the tide is high the island is completely cut off from the main land. It is seriously awe inspiring sight which actually caused me to have a physical response. Tears sprung to my eyes, I actually was a little embarrassed by it. 

It was a steep climb to the abbey, which to my amazement is still a working abbey. Lots of shops and restaurants are dotted in the streets on the way up to the most spectacular sight I have seen in a very long time. The stone work alone is crazy and the view out to sea seems to never end. 

The abbey has a protective forté built around it, almost making it look like a castle from a distance. I can understand the forté as this abbey would have been left very exposed to attack from other countries back in the day where the constant fight for ownership of land seem to rule most people's lives. 

It was amazing place to experience and have the kids try to fathum the scale of this building and just how hard it would have been to build with no machinery to lift the solid stone. 

Emerson made friends with a Japanese couple. Emerson doesn't let any language barrier stop her making friends. The lady watched her write in the guest book and asked if she could borrow the pen and preceded to draw Emerson's face in literally three strokes. It was amazing and you could see Emerson's face in the picture 100%. 

We ventured down slowly and made our way back to the car by catching a horse drawn buggy. After a long day we barbecued for dinner and the girls again played until the sun finally fell low in the sky for he darkness to come. Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day which is much needed. 

Ferry, cheese and play

Friday saw us catch the ferry across the ditch to France. It was a beautiful 4 hour crossing that saw us sitting on the top deck in the glorious sun shine. It was so nice to just sit and read my book while taking in just how busy the channel is. Boats everywhere!

The sight of the French coast line is impressive. The shear cliff faces and the French provincial buildings. It doesn't take long and we are on the move. Four hours later we are arriving at ceauce 

"le haute fresnay", the place we will call home for the next week. 

The girls are over the moon to be running around on the lush green grass that is surrounded by trees with the sound of the running stream in the background. Time is almost a foreign entity in this part of the world. Dinners haven't happened before 8pm since we arrived and you know what ........ It works. It's relaxed and it makes life nice. 

We have our own house and the girls all have their own space without falling over each other and their suitcases. 

Bedtime for the girls came at about 10.30, maybe later?! In saying that they never woke the next day until after 10 for the twins and the older 2 were after 11am! My kids are awesome sometimes. 

So today we had a casual stroll through the local village, a walk around a beautiful pond that had wildlife everywhere. Frogs, fish, lizards and even otters!!! Then we headed toward a bigger village  Bagnoles de l'orne for lunch. The place was bustling with people, more a tourist destination. We had some lovely lunch, maybe a couple of mojitos were drank, hehe. Then we went for a walk around the town and ended going on a pedalling boat. The girls loved it. A few minor accidents happened with Miss Emerson, but she is a little trooper and got on with her day!

As I sit in the garden after eating lots of cheese, bread and meat for dinner. I'm relaxed, so very relaxed. Words can't describe how gorgeous this country is. I'm off now to play with the girls until it's time for bed. Tomorrow we head to a castle in the sea.

On the move again.

Today we said a big goodbye to family we have been staying with. We have had a great week staying with these lovely people. I have laughed like no ones business to the point tears have fallen for my eyes. The girls didn't seem to want to leave. 

We hit the road and headed south. Our destination would be Eastbourne. A southern coastal town of England. It was a pretty drive, the scenery is just bountiful and green. Although the traffic on some roads left me freaking out a little as the speed limit is much higher on roads. For example we were doing 80 on a road in Australia you would do 50 on, begs a few questions. 

We arrive a little later than planned but still take the girls to the beach as promised. The girls faces when they got to the top of the path and came face to face with a pebble beach was cute. They seemed a little confused at first until the lure of the water took over. 

It wasn't freezing but it wasn't warm either. In saying that they still played in it for over 45 minutes. Maya collected pebbles she is hoping customs won't take off her for her little friend Zack, who she knows has a rock collection. 

I stood and watched, taking it all in and also thinking how each place has beauty. For what the beach was it was stunning. Not like our crystal clear water and white sand at home but for the beautiful colours in the pebbles, the cool retaining walls that travel into the ocean every 50 metres and for the beautiful white pier where the point meets the cliffs. 

Tomorrow we head to France and I have to say our week in England has been one I will never forget. 

Last day in Newark

It's Thursday here. Tomorrow we head for the South Coast of England. We are pretty shattered from the week that was, so today was very casual. We head into town to have a look at the first national civil war museum. It was very interesting and also a little sad that our world has been fighting really for centuries. At least our soldiers today are given some respect for their bravery and sacrifice. The soldiers of long ago were just a means to an end. 

The girls found this place very interesting and they even had period costumes to try on. The girls of course loved this. Made me giggle how into it they got. I watched them and felt the need to put on one too. They had replica guns, so that made the job of getting martin to dress up easier if I said a gun was involved. The costumes were so heavy and so hot. I don't know how they would have worn them day in, day out.

We went and had a casual pub lunch just off the square. We probably relaxed to much as by the time we got back to our car we had a parking ticket. Very very strict over here as we were only 20 minutes late. 

We then headed to a water park. Slides, wave pool and all the other fun kid things. The girls needed a little bit of time to blow off steam as they have actually been pretty well behaved all week. Which surprises me as they would have to be tired. The sun sets here at 10.45pm and rises at 4am. It's actually doing my head in more than the kids as they can remain asleep. I also have a cold which isn't helping the sleep thing, really bad timing!

I have loved being here though. Seeing marty's family. Laughing constantly with them and having the girls get to know other family is super cool. For them to meet cousins close to their age, that they didn't really comprehend existed. 

Next stop South Coast in preparation for the ferry to France!

A final goodbye to grandad bear

Today we said a final goodbye to grandad bear. We scattered his ashes along the river Trent. It was something I had never taken part in but was very humbling. A fish even jumped out of the water next to us as we're doing it. The girls found this hard as it was like going through the funeral all over again. It was hard to see their pain again and it was hard to settle them. It crushed Marty all over again to go through it to. 

Watching a man in pain is for me one of the hardest thing to do. My children I know a cuddle and a kiss will settle them but a man is different. It's a complex emotion that is not always shown and very rarely shared. It breaks my heart to see him in pain. 

Marty lives with the guilt of not being able to say goodbye. Of not being able to say sorry for the argument that caused 9 months of silence between us all. I live with it to, I mean I was the one who was having a mental break down and said nothing for a very long time. Yet this is also what we have to learn to deal with. Nothing can be undone and time can't be rewritten. So we have to find a way to move forward. 

Marty was very upset by today but also found closure in it aswell. He said goodbye and he also made a pack with himself. To be open and honest about his love for his children and to be the man he knows his dad would be proud of. 

Poppa bears heart will always hold the scare of his loss. This scare also helps him remember how he wants to be for his babies and me. We love him with all that we have and he never not tells us his feelings for us. Poppa bear is our strength more than he realises. 

Harry Potter and the Squires clan

Today we went to Warner studios in Watford where most of Harry Potter was filmed. All of the Movie props and major sets have been moved to studio J and K. For lack of better words it was out of this world amazing. Since Maya was 2 1/2 she has watched these films. Marty has read all the books and since then my girls have been in love with these films ever since. We had even worn out three DVDs in the process. 

We almost didn't get to go in as it was fully sold out. The lady behind the counter took one look at the girls. Realised where we were from and said "stuff it im going to over ride the system and issuer you some tickets". I couldn't believe how nice she was and she made our day. 

Once your inside it is mind blowing. The sets. The props. The designs. The models of sets. The creature designs. All in all the girls, Martin and I absolutely loved ever minute of it. It was something the girls would never have been able to experience at home so I'm glad we took them.