France Wk 3: 25th June - 2nd July; French Assimilation, Coffee Ladies, Bobby Bingo

Yet another busy week. Firstly, we decided that we were going to take the quirky, furnished house. Woohoo! The countdown began until move in date! Tick-tock indeed. The rest of the week was full on with all sorts of trips out and chores to get done. On Sunday morning we went to a local market. It was so nice, just wandering around and immersing ourselves in proper French culture. This wasn't a tourist market, this was proper locals, out of a Sunday morning, spending time with their family and getting some provisions in before lunchtime and everything closing for the rest of the day. True assimilation though; Iain even got his hair cut at the mobile barbers.

For some reason, the owners wanted to take Iain's photo after they'd cut his hair. We weren't sure if it was because he is a "Section" boy. 

Spot me! In here, being all French. Haw-he-haw-he-haw. 

On Tuesday morning we went for coffee at the amazing Hortense in Lescar. Surprisingly, they even had some gf treats and apparently, they do gf bread on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I was blown away by their retro furniture. It was a real Red-Couch-esque treasure-trove.

Just a pic of the wee one looking adorable while he's asleep. 

On Wednesday, we decided to have our first trip to the swimming pool. It's a pretty impressive swimming centre, with an outdoor heated pool which is open all year round, and different, fancy pools inside for various water based training. It is a wee bit of a palaver though as you can't just rock up on poolside with your buggy like I used to do at the Aquatic Centre in NP. I had to park William's buggy in a separate room before going into the changing rooms. You're not allowed to wear outdoor shoes in the changing rooms, and you must shower before entering the pool. Not to mention the amount of budgie smugglers on show. A requirement in all French swimming pools, and, may I add, completely unnecessary in my opinion. All these rules and regs, along with their rubbish opening times, and lack of child minding facilities, make it all a bit inaccessible. It's little wonder the French aren't really known for their prolific swimmers.

Once again, William's been up to all sorts of nonsense this week. Play dates at Julie's with Ollie, and Luca, and out for dinner with us. He's just great fun!

This train set was a big draw for William. 

On Saturday, we picked up our club car. We were a bit surprised to get a Berlingo! It does look like a tradie van, but we're actually no that bothered. It's a good size with heaps of room for airport runs, and the sliding doors make it really easy to get William in and out when you're in narrow car parking spots. It'll do fine. :)

Actual photo to follow!

On Sunday, we were invited round to the Mowen's house to farewell one of the Kiwi families who were moving on. It was lovely to be asked round and feel like people are really making an effort to welcome us into the ex-pat group. We're lurking in the background here!

LM.