Today Caroline and Mathias had to work, so Jeanne (Louis' girlfriend) and her father came and took us to the Parc de Floral, which is in the Bois de Vincennes and a fifteen minute drive away (it is in the middle of the park). It is a botanical garden, but with a golf course, heaps of huge and amazing playgrounds, rides, cafes and and attractions such as a butterfly house! So we took a picnic lunch and spent the day there. Louis loved playing in one of the sandpit...

Today was the public holiday, so had a relaxing morning and was going to catch up with Jette in Paris, but Mathias and Caroline suggested they take me to Versailles and the Château there for the afternoon, so did that instead. Versailles is an amazing place! The château is breathtakingly beautiful and the gardens were huge and stunning - I felt like I was in a Jane Austen book! Well I would have if there weren't so many people there (I think international touri...

This week is only a two day school week for Aurore and Louis, as they always have Wednesdays off, Thursday is a public holiday which apparently means that school on Friday is pointless, so the schools just turn it into a five day weekend (apparently many businesses close until Tuesday as well - this comes just days after Caroline and Mathias swearing to me that they don't have many public holidays in France!) It is nice feeling that we are already in pretty good ...

Sunday means my official full day off - so I spent the morning being exceptionally lazy by reading and dozing in bed, bliss! I then headed into Paris (My first experience with the metro was a success! Much more pleasant than the memories I have of being squashed and belted with briefcases as a nine year old) I met Edith, who is Caroline's sister's au pair, and is Italian (but of course speaks German, French and English as well) who is lovely (it was a big relief...

After a long Saturday with Aurore and Louis, my first week in Paris was perfectly finished with a quick and spontaneous dash into Paris for ice cream! It took only a ten minute drive to be looking up at the spectacular Notre Dame - I finally got the giddy feeling of absolute excitement at being in Paris! We ate 'the best ice cream in Paris' and it was of course absolutely delicious. We then wandered around for a while before taking the long route home via the E...