Hello from France, where I am delighted to report that I’ve arrived for a three-week holiday after the most hellish journey. Before I start waxing lyrical about the loveliness of being here and the fun to be had I think it’s only fair that I have a Real Talk post about the journey itself, in… Continue reading Tantrums and tray tables: chaos at 12,000m

Hattie decided to take a shift behind the wheel: This character then offered to have a go: At the next stop both co-pilots needed to refuel: Joe couldn’t believe the sight of the locals: And Hattie did a spot of teething on the Merc’s steering wheel: We all made it to the Chunnel in one… Continue reading Driving across France

Today is our last day at Pat and Richard’s house: tomorrow, Pat, Hattie, Joe and I start driving north to cross the Channel by way of the Chunnel – we’ll stay en-route tomorrow night, and arrive in England on Sunday. And then Tristan is back with is on Monday! Yay! My plan of sleeping in… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 30e journee

We’ve had a couple of quiet days at home, which have done me the world of good – particularly as I’ve been given some respite on the child care front and have even managed to take a couple of naps. I’ve needed them: Hattie and Joe continue to keep me up for most of the… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 29e journee

I was in the middle of writing an unvarnished account of my time here in France – which is more like a tour of duty at this point – but I’ve had second thoughts. So here are some recent pictures instead. Joe out for lunch: Two happy babies yesterday morning: Two big babies sitting up… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 27e journee

The French adventure continues! On Friday we returned to Brantôme so I could check out their weekly market (having sucked the marrow of Riberac’s Friday market after a couple of visits). It was very nice – Brantôme is a great deal more picturesque than Riberac, for starters – and the stalls were good. Pat bought… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 25e journee

Hello everybody! Just a quick post with photos from the last couple of days. We’ve mainly stuck close to home, which has been relaxing. Hattie, Joe and I are sleeping much better and are in good spirits for the most part, although little Joe was under the weather today: he’s got a nasty cough, and… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 22e journee

It’s been another chilled out day with my two tiny sidekicks (albeit after another night of hourly wake-ups from young Hattie, for whom this kind of thing may have become a habit…) We did have one major screaming Hattie meltdown before her midday nap, for no apparent reason. She ended up needing me to pat… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 15e journee

Here’s the thing about having baby twins: 99% it’s pretty awesome. Busy, and knackering, and relentless, but fun. You get double the cute baby smiles, double the sweet feeding moments, and double the excitement when your precious child suddenly learns how to do something for the first time. However, that other one per cent… oh… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 14e journee

Well, the best Daddy in the world has left for his three weeks of European-based work. Here he is this morning, fitting in some last minute hands-on father duty before Pat drove him to Bordeaux airport. I’m not going to lie: the prospect of 21 Tristan-less days and nights is horrendous. It would suck even… Continue reading Les jumeaux en France: 12e journee