Normandy

Last weekend we went to Jonathan and Cecile's house in Normandy. Their house is a classic Norman long house with the white-and-timbered exterior that is similar to the Tudor houses in the UK. They have a huge garden with apple trees - and moles. Several new mounds of earth popped up while we were there.

As usual, Jonathan laid on excellent food and wine.

Late summer

As you may know, we've had a shocker of a summer so it was nice to be able to go to the park at Chateau de Vincennes on a sunny Sunday.



It's harder than it used to be to have a nap in the sunshine:





We finally got around to washing Bunny, and when Georgia discovered her drying she did her best to effect a rescue.

Trying out new foods

There is another backlog of photos because Georgia has been frustratingly photogenic. I'm going to have to tell her to slow down the rate of production of cuteness.

Today, some shots of her experiments with new foods. She will try just about anything.

First up, a lemon:



Une baguette tradition (and we don't want any emails about her sitting on the bench...)



Grapes:



And champagne (just kidding, it's water):

Walking !

Yesterday, on Andy's birthday, Georgia took her first few steps. Andy plonked her down on her feet in the playground and Georgia took a few stuttering steps towards her. She had a look of amazement and a grin on her face, so she knows she did something special. She has repeated the trick several times since.

Meanwhile, her confidence continues to climb. We thought we could get away with not seriously baby-proofing the apartment before we leave, but judging by the video below Georgia has other ideas.

In things

Hossegor

We spent a terrific week in Hossegor, South West France. Hossegor is a famous surf beach and the town is full of brand name surf shops and millions of teenagers. It's not the typical cute French village, but the beach is enormous and composed of golden sand. This is the part of the world that d'Artagnan, the friend of the three musketeers, hails from.

Barbara and Colin joined us for the first half of the week (and cousin Toby and Mel popped in for the first night too).

Basically, the week involved lazing around at the beach, barbequeing and drinking rosé wine. Georgia was a bit wary of the sand and the water at first, but warmed to it after a few days.

Here's the three ladies looking resplendent on the beach:


Great Auntie Barbara demonstrating sand chateaus:


Great Uncle Colin telling stories:


Here is where we stayed:


Babewatch: the beach had a new lifeguard for a while:

Where else in France would you get a beach this empty?

She's going through a phase of victory salutes:

Villeneuve sur lot

Andy and Georgia joined Great Auntie Barbara and Great Uncle Colin for a few days at their gite in Villeneuve sur lot, which is a little south of the Dordogne.

August at home

We've got a backlog of photos that we will clear in the next few days. First up, some domestic shots from a couple of weeks ago.