Stop-off before sail-off

On the way home we stopped off for one night in St Malo and it's a shame we had so little time there. Our hotel room was right on the beach and after the long drive north we only had enough energy for a meal and breathing in the sea air from our balcony. The meal was pretty poor, but the view and the sunset was beautiful. I really really really want to go back there and spend some more time exploring the city and the beaches. One day.

Blast from the past

Alors, it's back to France again I'm afraid, I hope you don't mind! I forgot to mention that the house we stayed in is my mother-in-law's summer house and that the hubby spent his childhood summers there. On one of the days we were there we had torrential downpours and to pass the time he fished out books, toys and drawings from back in the day. The family would spend lots of time making things, something I never did as a kid... I think that's why I'm still not very good at working with my hands. Well, I'm going to make sure that spending hours making things as a family is something we in turn will do too :) Happy Friday!

Intermission

Time for a little break from the France posts. As I mentioned a couple of days ago we couldn't celebrate our anniversary on the actual day, so yesterday we treated ourselves to lunch at Moro. Last time I was there the food wasn't great but our lunch re-ignited my love for the place. But after a three-course meal I still had to go and have a fika before we went to the cinema, so we slipped into Tinderbox in Angel. I personally blame the little one (isn't it funny how you say "little baby" but "big belly"?)... Anyway, we went to see Brüno which is not for the faint-hearted! I can't say there are many films that make you want to melt into your seat or that you watch shielding your eyes; still, I laughed a lot more than I thought I would.

French letters

On the Saturday morning we drove to Ste Foy le Grande for the food market. As we were walking past the stalls selling lots of delicious fare (most of which I couldn't eat as a pregnant lady - boohoo), I wondered why I wasn't taking any pictures. I mean, there were definitely pictures to be had and all. It wasn't until we got away from the market that my eye kicked in. I got lots of funny looks from passersby; they'd look at where I was pointing the camera and walk away looking puzzled. Horses for courses I guess :) I do love the typography you get on the Continent, here in the UK they're a bit too keen to replace old signs with horrible typefaces. Shame.

Ready steady cook

You know what my favourite thing about the whole holiday was? Cooking together, three times a day. In London it's something we both see as a chore, so usually just one of us will cook a meal, sealed off in the kitchen on their lonesome. I'm going to do my best and see too it that we continue with our holiday habit, it's just so cosy (and so much quicker)!

Today is our 13 year anniversary! We'll celebrate it tomorrow though as the hubby is working today, but in the mean time I'll just say: 1-4-3 Mr Famapa, you still make me go all butterflies ;-*

Another absolutely brilliant bit of video out there on the internet:

Hibi no Neiro

My brain kinda melts at 3:40.

Poolside

So I guess you could say that the best thing about the house was the pool... especially as it was +35 celsius. Although truth be told I sat mainly in the shade and read, I was too beat to do much swimming. I still had fun watching the hubby clowning around though.

These short films by Keith Loutit are wonderful.

Bathtub IV

Mardi Gras

And then the holiday began

After a long 6 & 1/2 hour drive south we arrived at the house. Once there we cooked a simple dinner and were pleased with the peace and quiet of the place, only to discover we were sharing the house with a colony of flying ants (thousands of them crawling on the walls and the ceiling). They even managed to crawl in under the mosquito net, warming up the bed for us; gee, thanks ants! There was also a family of bats living in the bedroom but luckily they moved out after the first night. Ahhh, country life! Things got better the next day. One of my favourite moments in the house was when I knitted by the window whilst watching a thunderstorm working it's way across the horizon; who needs a TV?! Happy Friday mes amies!

Ferry interesting

We were supposed to do our France-trip by train and car hire but after being mucked around by the hire company we changed our plans; we'd take the overnight ferry to St Malo and do the drive south in our own car, a week earlier than planned. I haven't been on an overnight ferry since I was a kid and nothing much has changed since then, it was like being on a floating time warp; the perfect place for a camera warm-up!

There's definitely something in the French water :)

Le retour

We're back! I have a lot of pictures to sort through and a film (yippie!) to develop so whilst I rest up (you know how it goes, sometimes you need to recover from a holiday) I give you the sunset in St Malo from Monday night. It was a beaut!