In Orange

On boxing day, we went to the historical town (they all are) of Orange. It's about 3 hours away in Vaucluse. There's a theatre and a Triumphal Arch from Roman times.

<-- the boys were happy with the place

day 1, we give them some kid fun to make up for all the churches and ruins they will be forced to see -->

<-- the Roman theatre in Orange, built in the 1st century AD. Seats about 10,000. I'd love to see a show there - they still put them on.

on one of the main streets -->

<-- Nice arch. Louis checks out the Romans work, celebrating wars in Gaul.

Merry Christmas

Marie bought a real pine tree, and put loads of decorations + chocolate on it. Overnight Santa put 2 bikes under it, some lego, pencils, textas, books and an Etch a sketch.

<-- the lego cars were awesome. Even losing half a fair bit didn't stop Ollie from turning the remainder into a plane, a rocket etc

After a couple of years on the balance bike, Ollie could pedal along straight away for short sections. A couple of days later, he's really smooth. -->

<-- Louis's pretty stoked to have his own machine, instead of endless hand me downs. It's a tiny bit tall yet.

Winter is here!

<-- well at least, we thought it was. It looked a bit like snow, and melted on the road. There were still plenty of people out, one lady on a bike was wearing shorts.

Some days are almost 15 deg, perfect for a ride. The seaside path is at the end of our street, and runs 10km into Nice. -->

St Laurent du Var Telethon

Saturday, Marie had a French lesson first thing in Sophia. She's enjoying that. The progress is slow.

<-- Me and the boys walked in the forest nearby. We found stock piles of dirt and gravel to play on. The boys got filthy for an hour, and I got filthy while carrying them.




In the afternoon, we went to a huge fete in St Laurent du Var. We watched old rally cars doing donuts and figure 8s in the car park. Dont worry about seat belts... even 3 year olds can have a go if they're sitting on dad's lap in the front seat. One man risked his life to hose it down, while a variety of cool old cars took turns to slide around without wiping him out. Trials motorbikes did big jumps and tricks. Fire engines and fake but real USA police cars gave joy rides with full sirens.



Then Ollie and Louis got on the dodgems. They both laughed a lot. Ollie got the idea of driving. He had the time of his life banging into people. Louis loved it until he bumped his head. He retired to the kiddie ride.

The first toilet stop was next to the line dancing and cake table. After the judo demo, and trash & treasure, we ran out of time on the jumping castle. Ollie tried out archery. Hamburgers and chips topped out the least French day so far. We missed the flying fox, trampolines, and blow up suit sumo wrestling. The kids had a great time.

Sunday was up in Vence. We visited an Australian newly from work, and his wife. She's a bit tired of retired ladies giving advice, and not being able to park anywhere. All the kids got Australian flag tattoos.

We got our long term visas, so now we can stay. The next thing is to get a social security number. By the time all that's done, it will be time to renew it again. To get integrated I'm doing a course on history and civics.

Me and the boys have colds.

<-- Someone finally shovelled out the path to work. Thank you French man!

St Paul de Vence

On Friday night, we got some lights flashing in our window. Then some red laser light. Turned out to be our neighbours getting our attention. They told us about an open day at the local gym for kids. So we went to that this morning. Ollie and Louis did some kid gym, ping pong and nerf ball tennis. It's a nice idea from the local council. In the arvo, we went to St Paul de Vence.


<-- St Paul de Vence high on a hill

no hippies, just the elderly, well dressed, and arteests -->

It's about 10mins drive. This place is beautiful, and in immaculate condition. When we get some visitors, hint, hint, this is definitely on the list.

Marie got word about French lessons, so she's excited about starting that next week.

<-- Louis sees how far he can run until Marie starts yelling

Ollie drinks from the fountains whenever we're not looking -->

Aix En Provence, Touet Sur Var

We bought some chocolate at the local gourmet show, one in the shape of a cheese wedge. It was fun watching Ollie's face go from confusion to joy tasting that one. We also got 1.3kg of cheese. The cheesemaker gave us lots of tips. With his pointy goatee and twinkly eyes, he couldn't look any more like a mouse.

<-- We had another long weekend, alright, and went to Aix En Provence. It's another beautiful old town. It's pedestrianised centre was packed with people, and had so many shops, it felt like an open air shopping centre.

something to dance to -->

This weekend we drove along the Var river, lovely. Touet Sur Var is an interesting walk and straight up. Puget-Theniers is flat enough, some nice little squares, but a tiny bit edgy.

<-- the only way is up. Getting fit in Touet.


Tomorrow, we'll watch the Nice-Cannes marathon. Three of my
coworkers are in it. I am more scared about this than they are. No special food, and alcohol seems ok.

They walked around work today no problems. They say that sitting down and getting up is hard.

By the time they reached our street, 9ks from the start, the Kenyans leave everyone else for dead. -->

Was putting on a movie the other day for Ollie. He told me "depeche toi", hurry yourself up.

<-- 2 Mandarin trees in our driveway are chock a block full, and delicious


Cheese notes:
The best way to store cheese is to sit your wedges upright on a plate, and no wrapper, so it can breathe. Put on some clingwrap, and poke small holes in it. Keep it in a fridge if you have to, but better to stick it in a cool cellar. Some are good with nuts, some with grapes, but I can't remember which.

Carmageddon

<-- The waves looked crazy, but at this time they weren't reaching the road. The boys normally play on the big ones.

We didn't believe that rocks could make it onto the road. -->

Due to rocks on the road, the main route through here was closed. Traffic was a complete disaster all day, and got much worse at night. Luckily, Marie called, so I knew to get off and walk home.

<-- 3 lanes of hopefuls going in, but only one side street exit in about 500m.

Rainy weekend

<-- have I got a deal for you

boy in doorway checks out our boys -->

It was raining this last week. I came home in pitch black Friday night. Going down the underpass on the path with my too small light, I noticed a big puddle and hit the brakes. Too late, I was in over the axles. Walking back, I wondered how to get around, but decided the safest way was to stick on the path, as long as the water didn't go up past my thigh. So I walked on in. It was only above the knee, but cold, and not good for shoes. My ankle reflector is still in there. Ollie will be disappointed, as it was a favourite toy. Coming home today, it's still about 60cms deep. Maybe it's time to get some fishing waders so I can still ride home.

<--view from La Roquette

The weather cleared for a bit so we walked down to our beach. On Sunday, we drove a little way to La Roquette Sur Var, to get the boys to sleep after lunch, via the creepy St Martin du Var. Everyone gave us a good stare. Doesn't look like they get visitors there.



<-- Marie at the Mairie

Buildings wrapped around the boules (patonk) patch in the town square gives this place a homely feel -->

All saints long weekend - Tuesday

<-- a nice path all along the shore. Like the Bondi beach walk - packed with people.

giving the boys a break on the merry-go-round -->

Day 4 we finally went to Nice. We told everyone we were going to live there, but we're about 9km away. There's a fantastic bike path along the water all the way. Louis fell asleep after 1/2 and hour in the bike seat, and on a park bench. Hope this does not continue in his adulthood. The boys had a go on a merry go round. Louis got excited about a pizza for lunch. Stopped at a park on the way home to run off the fat.


<-- at the beach. Ollie got too close to the edge, and gave Marie a heart attack

near the port, a nice part of Nice -->

Notes:
Marie went shopping today (Wednesday) and bought 26l of water, 24l of milk, and some cheese.
Cousteron 320g: 50g is outside skin hopefully edible, very mild, delicious.

All saints long weekend - Monday

<-- it's a long way down

it's a long way up -->

Day 3 we drove to Eze, "the" perched village, in awesome condition. Narrow winding walkways, no cars, and shooting straight up on the hilltop. A beautiful cemetary and church. It was halloween, and the boys enjoyed looking at everyone's costumes.


<-- but worth it, and not much of a climb really.

All saints long weekend - Saturday/Sunday

<-- Cagnes sur mer old village

something old, something newish -->

This weekend was a 4 day weekend. We're keeping a bit quiet at the moment. Day one, we put together one of the kitchen wall cabinets from Ikea in the morning, getting excited about the kitchen now. The afternoon was at the beach at the end of our street. Louis forgot himself and had a little accident.

<-- Cagnes Sur Mer village. Hope to visit again soon! -->


Day 2 we put the kids seats on our bikes, and rode to Cagnes Sur Mer castle, an easy 1 hour ride, apart from the end bit up the hill! Another great village on a hilltop with great views. Louis slept on a park bench on the way back down, after falling asleep on the bike. Passers by yelled something to Marie as they struggled on the way up. Could be, how the hell did you lug a kid up the mountain, but we don't know.

<-- The old town centre, and the new area. We live down there in the Mexico city part of Cagnes Sur Mer.

School holidays

<-- handsome playdo woman with feet by Ollie.

Putting together the kitchen wall cabinet Saturday morning. Photo by Ollie. -->

This week has been school holidays. It rained a bit at the start, so Marie was going crazy inside. We don't know where any play gyms are yet. They did a lot of playdo, drawing, making pancakes, plus playing with cars and trains.

Last weekend

<-- like cats marking their territory

Ollie's new favourite pastime -->

We picked up 2 2nd hand couches 2 weeks ago. They're beautiful, and top quality. Now the place feels like a home. The boys love jumping between them, and rolling around in the cushions.

Last weekend we went to St Jeannet, about 20 minutes away. It has the feel of Katoomba, and not too many tourists or shops. This is somewhere we'd like to take visitors.

<-- hope to get back to St Jeannet soon

it's small, not a tourist trap. The fact that you can get a car in here, hate to say, means that people working normal jobs can live here. -->