Homecoming

We've finally left Paris, closing a special period of our lives. Mind you, they didn't let us go easily what with the train drivers and air traffic controllers on strike.

We have arrived safely in Auckland. Over the next few days I will post some of the backlog of photos. Here are a few to remind you what madamoiselle looks like:

At (the old) home:


At the playground at Square Trousseau:


In Morocco (more to come later):


... and trying out Fran's beautiful new dress for size:

The last post (for a while)...

Tomorrow is my last day at work, which means I have to give the computer back. So, this will be the last blog for a while - probably until we get back to kiwiland around 22 November.

Here's Georgia emailing her friends:




... and being naughty, throwing dirt around...


... and posing in front of "papa's bottles"...



... and playing with her newest toy:

Rugby ball

On Saturday night we watched the rugby in the giant kiwi rugby ball on the Champs de Mars. They laid on some good kiwi wine and beautiful food prepared by Peter Gordon of London's Providores and Tapa Room - green lipped mussels, Clevedon oysters, hapuka, venison ... everything except a meat pie. Inside they show a spectacular multimedia display that covers the entire interior, through 360 degrees. It's promoting the next world cup and NZ in general.



The French also put up the big screens outside for the peasants. Before the game the Champs was totally packed. Afterwards, this was the scene:

I guess it was bound to happen if we let her play in the food drawer and turned our backs...



Here she is running her own bath:

Black and blue

Well, one member of the family was happy with the rugby result.



We went to the park at Bercy where there was a market and fête. It was nice except it was full of french people wearing rugby jerseys being unbearably pleased with themselves.





We've just watched the evening news. The first 18 minutes were devoted to the rugby. Anyone would think they had won the world cup rather than a quarter-final. But bravo les bleus, we'll have to support the French for the rest of the tournament.

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