More updates..

Phew, it's getting hard work keeping up to date, but we have internet again and a rest day planned for today by the pool, so will get sorted out...!

The 18th we decided to get a couple more Chateau's under our belts, so we headed for Chambord, which is truly beautiful. We decided though not to go inside and instead we hired a crazy pedal car that took all six of us, and went for a fantastic spin around the grounds with views of the Chateau and then a picnic lunch to finish. After Chambord we headed to Cheverny, Warren and I had been here before too, but we thought it was a good one for the kids as it was the model for Marlinspike Hall (Tintin) and has an amazing pack of english pointer/ French foxhounds that are kept in a big kennel for hunting. The Chateau itself was also pretty lovely and the kids all got a quiz to do on the way round, so that got their brains working.

On the Monday the 19th we had a a big drive day to get to our lovely spot near Bordeaux. the drive was pretty OK, the French toll motorways make driving big distances pretty painless. We got here about half two and the kids were in the pool within half an hour. We got stocked up on food and Charline and Pierre came for dinner. It was lovely to see Charline again and to meet Pierre. They are a great couple.

Yesterday was a biggie, we went into Bordeaux to pick Charline up, went to Pierre's clinic for a look see - he is a surgical specialist, so his practice has a CT and a radiotherapy unit crammed underneath a beautiful old building.

Then we headed for Arcachon for a climb on europe's largest sand dune - amazing!! It was very cool, we had a picnic lunch at the top and tried to fly a kite with mixed success. We headed down off the dune mid afternoon and had an ice cream and coffee stop before taking a boat tour of the Arcachon basin. Very lovely - we all caught the sun, saw the oyster farms and got a good view of the Dune from the seaward side.

We had rather a tortuous drive back with stops to buy Fruits de Mer and loads of Bordeaux traffic. The kids did really well as they didn't eat until after 8:30 and then got plonked in front of a DVD while we ate after. Needless to say, wednesday has been voted a day for lounging at the gite by the pool.

Lyn