Train - Bordeaux to Arcachon

We took the Bordeaux-Arcachon train last Saturday as far as Le Teich, and again today to Arcachon. Arcachon is 50 minutes by train from Bordeaux, with Le Teich about halfway between. We went to Le Parc Ornithologique du Teich last week and to the beach in Arcachon today. 

Train station in Le Teich

Arcachon is a nice beach town with lots of restaurants along the beachfront. I generally prefer a more secluded beach but for a beach in the middle of a town, it's perfect. Fiacra and Ailbhe love being at the beach. We still don't have any sand toys but they don't seem to notice. 

We buried Connell in the sand. There was talk of covering him completely, with just a straw sticking out for him to breathe through, but luckily there were no straws on hand.

Sand Daddy

 A monster emerges

Happy girl

Bought - Philips Senseo Coffeemaker

When we first came to France, all I wanted was a Canadian coffee, preferably a grande medium roast with half and half cream from Starbucks. In the past three months though, I have come round to French coffee. So much so, that after lunch each day, I would crave a French coffee. Enter a Philips Senseo Coffeemaker. I was so excited about it's arrival that Fiacra commented "Mum - all you think about is food and coffee". So not true, I often think about wine as well.

 Senseo in action

 The perfect coffee complete with crema finish

The Senseo is a single serve coffeemaker. The coffee pods are like tea bags so could go in the green bin in Canada. The coffee is delicious. I don't even add milk because the crema finish is so perfect. The current coffee situation in our house - we still have our large Canadian coffee in the morning, thanks to our Bodum, and after lunch 1 (or 2) French coffees.

Oysters

There are oyster farms all around the Bassin d'Arcachon and oysters are very popular here. Every Sunday morning, there are little stands set up in squares and in front of bakeries, selling oysters. I usually run on a Sunday morning, and so see lots of oyster stands. Each stand generally has 5 or 6 different types of oyster, depending (I think) on the region it comes from.

This morning, when Fiacra and I went for bread, we talked to the oyster guy outside the breadshop. He showed us how to open them and gave me one to taste. When I tried to buy some to take home, he insisted on giving them to us.

I love seafood and shellfish in particular but oysters aren't my favourite. Pity, since they are so accessible and now I can even open them.

What we brought home from the bakery this morning

A Week in Ireland

In honour of St. Patrick's Day, we are giving our suggestions for a week long vacation in Ireland, should anyone happen to be visiting Ireland this summer. Bear in mind, these suggestions are from someone who hasn't lived in Ireland in 15 years and someone else who has never lived there at all. We suggest flying into Dublin and flying out of Shannon.

Day 1 - Fly into Dublin, arriving early morning. Check into a hotel near the Temple Bar area. Explore Dublin on foot. Go for an afternoon pint.

Day 2 - Continue exploration of Dublin - Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, Dublin Spire, St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street (spouses of shoppers beware here), O'Connell Street Bridge (guess who suggested this one), Museum of Modern Art. Go for an afternoon pint.

Day 3 - Take a train or bus to Galway in the morning. Stay in a hotel close to Quay Street. The House Hotel is nice (we stayed there accidentally once). Wander around Galway, including Quay Street, the Cathedral, University College Galway, the Claddagh, Salthill Promenade. Go on a pub crawl in the evening (try and find someone celebrating their 40th birthday and join them)

Day 4 - Rent a car and drive to Connemara, passing through Oughterard, Maam Cross, and Clifden. Alternatively, take a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, rent bikes and bike to Dun Aengus. Alternatively, recover from pub crawl. Back to Galway for the night.

Day 5 - Drive to Dingle in County Kerry, passing through the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. Go for a late afternoon pint in Dingle.

Day 6 - Rent bikes and bike the Slea Head Loop - beautiful scenery and beaches along the way. Reward yourself with an afternoon pint back in Dingle. You won't need to go to the same pub as the day before. There are many many choices.

Day 7 - Drive to Ennis. Explore Ennis on foot. Have a final afternoon pint.

Day 8 - Fly home.

Quay Street in Galway

 Tigh Neachtains  - best pub in Galway

Ce N'est Pas Grave

I hear this expression a surprising amount, almost on a daily basis. It means "it doesn't matter", "it's not a big deal". It's always said quite sincerely.

I heard it today at the grocery store, when I had left the stroller completely blocking the aisle while I looked for the particular baby food I wanted (Finian has decided to eat at last): "Oh I'm sorry for blocking your way". "Ce n'est pas grave".

I heard it yesterday when I picked Ailbhe up from school and her teacher explained patiently to me that Ailbhe had lice: "LICE - are you sure", "Oui, mais ce n'est pas grave".

I heard it a few days ago when Ailbhe scooted straight into a perfectly dressed, elderly French lady: "I am so sorry for the multiple breaks your brittle bones have just received". "Ce n'est pas grave".

We're currently in lice crisis mode. Pour moi, c'est grave.

Off to the Beach

It was raining this morning and the forecast for the day was showers, but we decided to go to the Bassin d'Arcachon as we had planned. The Bassin d'Arcachon is an almost fully enclosed bay on the Atlantic Ocean. You can drive, bike, or hike, right around the bay, it's about 80km. There are beaches, oyster ports, towns, and villages all along the way.

Bassin d'Arcachon

We went first to the Dune du Pilat, the biggest sand dune in Europe. When we got there, Ailbhe asked if we had packed her swimsuit. I said we hadn't as it was March and it was raining. She then declared "Well I won't leave the car unless I'm wearing my swimsuit!" Fiacra, Finian, and I left Daddy to do battle.

As soon as we got close to the dune, Fiacra started to run, and rather than taking the established slightly less steep route, he just went straight up the side. It was very steep. I have acrophobia and hadn't realized that it could be triggered by just watching your kids on the edge of a sand dune. Amazingly, Connell had won the battle and arrived with Ailbhe, so he followed Fiacra, while Ailbhe, Finian, and I took the less steep but still very unnerving route.

Fiacra, on his way up the Dune du Pilat

Fiacra on the dune

Ailbhe on the dune

It's much more fun to run down

We drove a few kilometers along the coast to Pereire Beach. The rain had passed over and it was a lovely afternoon. We stayed at the beach for over two hours. We had no sand toys, just a plastic bag to collect shells. The kids were very reluctant to leave and want to go back to the sand dunes and the beach again soon.

 Pereire Beach

Collecting shells

Unbelievable - kids on the beach in their underwear in March, what are their parents thinking? Oh actually, it's okay, one of them has a helmet on

Ailbhe is very happy with the picture she has drawn in the sand

Ailbhe's picture of the 5 of us in a car

Life of Leisure

What a year I am having. It is so nice to not be working. I am not packing up our house, packing to leave the country, doing renovations, preparing for renovations or doing yard work. I am just hanging out, often just with Finian, but also with Fiacra and Ailbhe on Wednesdays and all five of us on the weekends.

My day today - walked Fiacra to school this morning, came home and put Finian down for a nap, cleaned the kids room, played with Finian, walked to the grocery store and then by the school to collect Fiacra for lunch. Had lunch with Fiacra and Finian, spent an hour trying to forecast the winner of hypothetical battles between Darth Vader, Obi Won, a viking, a cop and a robber, all of whom could be armed in many different ways and could call for help from various sources. I managed to pick wrong almost every time. Walked Fiacra back to school, continued to the coffeeshop, had a coffee, looked in the bookstore, bought two books for the kids, came home and put Finian down for a nap, started this post, played with Finian, and walked to the school again to collect Fiacra.

Pretty leisurely, and that's fine by me.

Tomorrow is Friday. Fiacra and Ailbhe will both be staying at school for lunch. After lunch, Ailbhe's school is going to go to the opera. Connell and I will go out for lunch. I'm looking forward to it. We are going to rent a car for the weekend and go to the beach.