Road trip!

Today Em and I headed off on the road trip that Sue and her class were going on. We went to some town up a massive hill called Cordes-sue-Ciel, which has been around since 1222 (according to the post card). It seemed to be about a mile UP of cobbled stones, which was great to push a pushchair up.

Sue and her classmates went off for a lecture, leaving Em and I to explore the town. I found out that it's a wonderful tourist spot in the summer and quite "ferme" in the colder months. No tea shop or cafe were open, only a store that sold post cards.

Undeterred, Em and I walked around, took in the amazing panoramic views and really just tried to kill time.

In the afternoon, we went to a town called Albi (the racist dragon?). We dined on moules et frites and then headed off to an industrial estate where Sue and class had another lecture. THANKFULLY, there was a supermarket nearby where I managed - somehow - to kill about 90 minutes of the two hours I had to wait (Em fared much better as she slept for most of the trip around the aisles).

All in all, not the best use of a day on mine or Em's end, but we did get to see some pretty sites, and I got to bond with my daughter, more out of time-killing and trying to stay warm than any actual bonding exercise.

We'll see what Thursday has to offer.

Out and about in Toulouse

While Mummy's been busy in lectures learning about French HR and trade unions, Daddy and Emily chose Monday afternoon to walk the mean streets of Toulouse.

We walked around most of "centreville" finding many interesting squares (or Place as they're called here), and walking down to the river (where this photo was taken). It was a lovely sunny (if not windy) afternoon after a tumultuous rainy morning.

Last night we went to an Italian restaurant and Emily nodded off on the walk there. She slept through the whole meal (even though we asked for "la chaise pour le bebe") and she slept through further drinks at a faux British pub (where daddy was able to watch English footie on the telly).

Mummy and Daddy weren't 100% lucky as Em decided on the walk back around 11pm that nap time was over and the evening was to begin. Thankfully, she was only awake for about an hour and fell asleep with mummy and daddy. As she didn't really sleep yesterday I'm thinking that her evening siesta was to make up for nothing in the morming and afternoon.

Today Mummy has the afternoon off so - if it's nice - we're going to have a look at the double decker carousel.

Bonjour from Toulouse!

We made it to Toulouse, having avoided the hell of the British train system today.

Emily was awesome in the airport and on the plane. She repeatedly tried to eat both her shoes and her socks, removing them and stuffing them in her mouth. We repeatedly tried to make her at least wear socks, as barefoot children in the airport look a bit ... odd.

From tomorrow I will be the "free babysitter" while Sue attends school classes in the hotel.

This evening we are going foraging for food, not forgetting that we are carting round an 8.5 month old child in a push chair.

I don't know how child / handicap friendly the French are, but judging by Toulouse Airport, things are going to be interesting for the next five days.