This it it, then

It's our last full day here.
I've been quite depressed about it, not wanting to go home.
The kids are bouncing off the walls this morning after a tough night.

We want to have fun today, so we're going to Saint-Malo.
The poor cat got locked up in the annexe last night.
Son#1 has been on the computer far too long and explodes regularly, but the boys behaved remarkably well when our friends came to visit yesterday.

I wish we could stay here forever.

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Back 'home'

Le Croisic...
What a place.
On the Cote Sauvage, and savage weather it must endure in winter, but it was oh so damn wonderful during our 2 days there.
We swam in the hotel's pool, ordered pizza which we ate in the car, looking at the sunset.
The boys only went to bed at 23h00.

Today, we walked through the old town, I bought new art, a small painting.

We ate croissants and orange juice and cheeses on the quay together with fishermen and people on boats.

Then a drive to La Baule - very jetset (read Ferraris, Bentleys everywhere), but nevertheless a lovely beach with wonderful weather.
I walked along the beach while the husband took the kids into the water.

Last stop, Guerande, where I didn't take a picture, but it was a nice surprise. 
This holiday has been a wonderful surprise from beginning to end.
Back in Le Rheu, it feels like we are truly home again.
Tomorrow, friends in the area are joining us for lunch.
Wednesday, Saint-Malo & Dinan.
Thursday, Chartres.
Then home again.
Bah humbug.



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Hard work

Despite a fever and a particularly cranky mood, I've been cleaning the holiday house like hell.

I sucked up all the cobwebs between all the beams, sucked up all the Smarties the boys dropped on, under and around the couch and the rest of the entire large house, did the laundry, bought wine and put the kids to bed.

I think our home exchange host family will think I'm a Class A Freak with my perfectionist cleaning antics.

First our house, now theirs.

But I have an anxiety in me that seems to subside in the one-step-in-front-of-the-other order that cleaning and tidying bring.

I'm turning into Martha-bleeding-Stewart.

Tomorrow, sometime during the morning, we will drive south, to Le Croisic for a night.

Mentally, I'm already preparing for our return to the Nether Lands, and all the stress that awaits us there.

I have large work, health and study issues to attack and solve, and I'm not looking forward.

But.

First, to the coast.

The rest will come as it comes, as they say in Dutch.

The seaside brings fresh air, open views and peace.

Calm and Zen.

Caaaaaaaalm and Zen. 

Mom, I miss you.


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I think I'm in Love

We had a good day, despite being tired.

First, exploring Rennes.

Then to the Thabor Parc, with pavilions, exotic plants, hothouses and play area.

Home again.

What a wonderful place this is.
I wish we could exchange lives.

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Time left & then some

There is nothing like the planetarium to put life in perspective.
We'd like to go again in the Netherlands, so we can understand everything next time.
Our French borders on non-existent-rusty.

Yesterday we made a quick trip to Becherel - a small town filled with book merchants.
It was serene, except for Son#2 who melted down within 5 minutes.

I'm not sure what today will bring.
#2 and #3 sleep ATROCIOUSLY: last night again, Son#3 woke around 3h15-ish, then #2 heard tapping against his window and no-one slept after that.
It makes it difficult and possibly unwise, to plan trips a bit further away.
The bane of all parents, the fighting in cars, prove too much for tired adults.
Tirade finished.
We wanted to go to Nantes and ride large mechanical elephants through the city, but it's too far.

My fever peaks at 38,9.
I went to bed at 18h00 yesterday, unable to stay on my feet any longer.
I have a good husband: anyone who can lovingly handle 3 boys together, is a star in my book.


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Quietude & Slow Starts

We started off with building puzzles this morning.
The husband got up and cycled with Son#1 to the town close by to buy croissants and a baguette for breakfast.

A farmer is busy collecting straw bales in the fields.
It is quiet and I don't miss my life at all.

On Sunday we'll drive to Le Croisic, a smallish town on a peninsula, and spend the night there in a hotel.
A holiday within a holiday.

But first, Rennes' planetarium this afternoon.
Coffee somewhere.
Tonight some sardines on the barbecue for the husband and the gourmand, a.k.a. Son#2.
A glass of wine.
Something to read.
I could get used to this.


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Southbound

We drove to see the oldest tree in Europe which was bulgingly big, but Son#3 misbehaved among the many bearded hippies that were paying homage to it, so Son#3 and I had to go wait in the car.

Then to La Gacilly, a pretty village made famous by the Yves Rocher legacy and a photo exhibit, which was lovely.

Further south to Rochefort en Terre, but we couldn't motivate the boys to walk through yet another town, so we opted for a dinosaur park, close to Malansac.
It was truly lovely - we learned something for a change - but it ended on a bad note when Son#1 made crap comments.
Sigh.

I bought myself a cheapo amethyst in the gift shop, for no reason other than I bloodywell wanted it.

Tomorrow we will finally go to Rennes, only 10 minutes away but oh so postponed.

In 3 weeks we'll pick my mum up at the airport in Amsterdam, and I cannot wait.



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Aaaaahhhh...

The umbilical chord that connects us to Mother Internet has been restored.

We had a quiet day: Ikea for the free WiFi, the groceries and home again for wine, Breton mussels and hamburgers for the non-mussel-loving populace.

Combine harvesters scaled the landscape all around the house, and today we saw a baler.
A machine scoops up whatever straw is left, et voila, out bounces a perfectly round straw bale.

The cat brought THREE mice today: 2 dead as doornails, 1 live and particularly cute specimen that the husband saved.
The cat seemed miffed, after having put in all that effort to 'gift' us with a rodent.
I'm sure that after the wheat harvest the mouse population is having a field day (pardon the pun) with leftover grain.

I cleaned bathrooms, somehow it lessens this restlessness I constantly have, and of course, the results are immediate which is pretty darn cool.

Tonight just brings sleep my way.
We're not sure about tomorrow.


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No connection-connection

We are at the local Ikea with its free WiFi - we seem to have screwed up the internet connection at the house.
I just paid my bills (*swallow*), but life in France is good so far.

We spent the day on the beach yesterday, at St. Luniere.
Bliss.

The boys keep fighting like feral cats, the real cat, Isis, brings a dead mouse into the house every day.
We have wine and cheese and grapes.
It feels nice and simple, this life with no internet connection.


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Cat on Loan

This is Isis.

The kids love her and she seems to tolerate them, even seeking out Son#2's company for his 'cat massages'.

But I think she's a pain in the butt with her 1-a.m.-scratching-by-my-window.

The husband and I sat drinking wine in the freezing air after the boys went to bed far too late.

This morning, they only woke at 8 when Son#3 toppled down the stairs.

I hop from adrenaline rush to adrenaline rush.

Later, when the husband wakes, we'll pack a picnic and head to Rennes' Thabor Parc.
The weather is great.


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