Hints, advice and help

Dave asked me in a comment if I would give him some advice for coming to Aquitaine: I'm always happy to give some help, to a reasonable extent, so please leave your email and add some details about your trip and what you are looking for!

Playing tennis

I talk a lot about Björn lately... he started playing tennis this autumn - like his sister and father - and we went to get some extra training yesterday. Clara was tired after playing rugby at school, so the two of us took a casual stroll along the small river. To my surprise she loves rugby!!! Rugby is an important sport in the region so it's good they get to try it out at school.

Björn played tennis with his father and showed great stamina in the warm afternoon sun.....

See the sweat rolling down his chin???

Bike outing in the pine forest

Björn has been practising alot lately to be able to surprise his dad. Biking with no support wheels!! The actual pedalling was not so difficult, it was starting and stopping that needed to be worked on...

Today he was so confident we decided to go for a small outing in the nearby pine forest. The indian summer continues and we had a lovely weather for this family event... even if the trail was a bit sandy at times which proved difficult for our fresh pilot, otherwise everything was perfect... 

We sat down for a picnic by the trail, feeling alone in the world. We could hear the buzz from a fly or a bee from time to time, otherwise the forest was peace and silence. A good silence, calm and warm. I wished for a big blanket, to stretch out and gaze up on the tops of the pines and think of nothing...

(Trails like this are abundant in Landes, proper cycle lanes as well.)

Mushrooms and driving theory...

I've been silent... but trust me, it has been a very active silence! Together with my husband I am preparing to pass the theoretical driving licence test, to go ahead and get a MC drivers licence!
The children are back in school, autumn is Not At All here and still we found two giant mushrooms in our garden... and we are also preparing a surprise for my husband... schh schh...

And by the way, now I find Philadelphia cheese and Digestives in my French supermarket! Celebrated that by making a cheesecake of course....

After school beach time

I whisked the children from school and straight to the beach... isn't there something special about 'cheating' to get another swim at the beach in the after season? The beach is calmer, the sea is still warm and you're saying to yourself: is this the last swim of the year?

Surprisingly there were quite alot of people at the Moliets beach. German, Dutch... and of course, 33 degrees and sun can make anybody want to feel the sea breeze...

No pictures this time... the photos added are from another year, but the feeling is ther. Afterwards we had a mussels treat and then stayed on a while to watch the sun setting in the sea....

Pirat Party

The pirate theme for my sons' birthday was a no-brainer, as well as making a treasure hunt. But how do you make a treasure hunt with children who barely know how to read? I stole the idea from a friend: make photos of closed up details and let one picture place lead to another.... get them the bandana and the one eyed pirate look and the party is a given success!

I laughed a lot at seeing the hord of pirates look for leads to the treasure... and I felt very smug when our neighbor entered at the last stage: dressed as a pirate he was the one who held the old map that showed the exact position of the treasure...

Of course you recognise our mailbox!

This was the last lead....

... before meeting the old pirat...

... and getting the map!

Seven steps straight, ten to the left... but where is the treasure???

We found it!!!

Another hugely appreciated game: find a piece of candy in a bowl of whipped cream. Without using your hands.

After the tourists have gone

The children are off to school again. The mornings are getting chillier and there is like an air of autumn hanging over us....  I decided to pay myself a treat. A couple of hours on the beach in Moliets, all alone, just taking time to walk slowly, think of nothing...

The air was lukewarm. The beach was alot calmer but still pretty busy. Lots of German and Dutch tourists,  some elderly people. The beach guards were still there but seemed more relaxed than usual.

I went into the water and swam around for a while, mostly letting myself float on the waves. Realised that it was the first time this summer I did that: swim instead of standing close to the shore keeping an eye on the children...

What is this....

... the protections to keep the sand in place

Trying to show immense blueness of the sky...