The Unstopabbles
It's been a long bank holiday here, unofficially starting last Tuesday night. For me, it's been largely family orientated and I think we've managed to enjoy a huge part of it. Gone are the days when these holidays turned into a blurr of rhum and high heels under the pouring rain. And I must say I kissed those nights goodbye with both nostalgia and relief. Bye-bye hangovers and not remembering the lousy details. Hello sunny cold days in the pursuit of penguins and acrobats.

Because that is what we did. On Wednesday afternoon the three of us drove to Faunia, an animal theme park featuring penguins as the star creatures. Bruno was thrilled. His class in kindergarden is named Penguin and that is their pet, whom they craddle and speak to and put to sleep. His name is Nino. When Muffin got to see the Ninos for real, his eyes nearly popped out of his face, giggling and pointing to the water around the fake iceberg. We also saw kangaroos, meerkats and pelicans, but the next big hit was undoubtedly the area called The Farm. If you're 19 months old, nothing beats a dwarf horse, some goats, sheep, two donkeys and four Vietnam pigs.

This unstoppable family was on a roll. Poor Pablo had to work the next day, but Bruno and I were still enjoying our break so we went shopping with Grandma. We wanted to get Little M's birthday present (she turned a massive NINE years old on Sunday) and so Muffin helped me pick a Captain Jack Sparrow action doll for her at the Disney store. He tried to trick me into buying him a talkative squeezable car but i managed to drive my eyes away from his shining grin. Speaking of smiles, that very afternoon I had to go to the dentist but even that wasn't too bad.

As my mum was housesitting for the Mountain Family (in Paris), we stayed over for the night with her, thus managing to throw some babysitting in the deal. The miracle happened and I went to the cinema with Pablo. We watched Stephen Frear's 'The Queen'. I wonder what made Frears direct this film, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Boys and girls, you may now give your ovation to Lady Helen Mirren.


On Saturday we had tickets for the Cirque du Soleil with my in laws. Sadly, Pablo's father had to stay in hospital and we went without him. If you have never been to a show by Le Cirque du Soleil, my advice today is to go get tickets, wherever they're performing. I had been following them on and off for the last ten years and it was a pleasure beyond words to witness this particular 'Alegria'. The costumes, the music, the acrobats, the clowns, the arena... I loved everything about it. At the end of the spectacular show, as a girl in a magical white dress sang the very same song Martin used to play a decade ago in his Québec apartment, I could feel tears running down my cheeks and onto my skirt. It was one of those minutes.

After visiting my father in law at the hospital, I made an unexpected last minute reservation at one of my favourite Italian restaurants. We rushed off to Luna Rossa (I could kill for their rucola pizza, seriously) and then we took a beautiful walk around the renovated pedestrian area at the city center. It was so cold we couldn't hold hands.

And then yesterday, as my sister tried not to notice the pain on her back, we showed up for Little M's birthday lunch at the Mountain Family House. Chops, salad and ice cream cake. We talked about Paris in particular and large European cities in general, we discussed traditional buildings and smoke coming out of restaurant kitchens, and we gave a delighted M her pressies, which i think she liked. But next year, I think I'll skip the pirate theme.