Off gadding about - within our gad about

No trip to Venice would be complete without a visit to Murano by vaporetto.

where you eat at a trattoria that is a 100 year old, island cooperative initiative, that boasts a lovely terrace 

The colours are just exquisite

the brickwork on the outside and the mosaic floor on the inside make this church a truly delightful structure

It's art biennale there too of course

and the glass - they even make masks

and Christmas items in October (probably there in June...)

Off gadding about (part 2)

Venice - there is no other. We all fell in love with it and dream of a return. It was misty and damp but thankfully not smelly or flooded. We saw almost no museums, just Venice itself. A treat made even more fun by imagining the people and places of Cornelia Funke's mighty fine The Thief Lord.

fresh off the boat

It's a city of romance

Everywhere you look is interesting

typical view low down on the water

perfecting her gondolier pose

captivated by the gondoliers

She is almost as tall as the campanile

and he can fly with the pigeons of St Mark's square

The children saw a number of world-famous buildings on this 'tour'

It was the art biennale too!

a bench from bicycle parts

We went up St Mark's campanile just before sunset and were rewarded/punished by its bells just 6' above our heads.

City of romance (part 2)

City of romance (part 3)

how my love spent much of the trip (but he still hasn't downloaded since August)

He told me that he would treat me to this hotel next time

Taryn had a blast too

She even went out alone and didn't get lost

Off gadding about

Ooops. Sorry. It's been a while. But there have been places to be and people to see and birthdays to fete and so on....

Let's start with our wonderful trip to northern Italy. First stop was Turin, where the highlights were:

• visiting with our lovely friends and meeting their new son, Michael
• seeing the museum that Elena co-created, full of families
• drinking the thickest, richest hot chocolate in the world (white/dark/milk/hazelnut - with whipped cream or without)
• going for a hike in the foothills of the alps
• picking out delicious food at the gourmet grocery store EATaly (get it...)
• spending a rainy afternoon entranced by the national museum of cinema
• finding a tiny shop that I discovered 3 years ago in the arcades
• eating delicious pizza

Score! at the village vide-armoire

a good haul

Turns out our village has an annual (or semi-annual) autumnal vide-armoire ("empty your wardrobe"). Not as good as a neighbouring village's where you can wander around with wine & sausages whilst you shop, but most of us tracked down a goodie or 2 - or in Sophie's case, 7! When I have a snap, I will point out the lovely jacket my sister snagged for me.

[We will be on our Italian road trip when this pops up].

'Twas great, Toulouse

Last week Auntie R stayed with the kids, whilst we got a grown-up trip to Toulouse. We had been twice before but never overnight or with our bikes. The weather was splendid and thus we walked, ran, biked, and sit and sipped in the autumnal sunshine.  We packed lots in to our 36 hours - eating in a vegetarian restaurant, staying out late for a buzzy, atmospheric drinks and dinner, and biking a portion of the Canal du Midi outside of the city.

our bikes from the hotel balcony

the main square

where one must stop for a drink

the municipal museum

Moore-esque public art

some of the pedestrianised shopping streets

Canal du midi

blurry and romantic

a final stop for moules et frites

Breaking news 2....

Sophie is cast-free!

(yes, that is is your 4 year old dress turned tunic turned shirt, Auntie Sarah, and yes, it is a bit chilly for light cotton, short-sleeves)

Breaking news.....

Jo cut her hair (and it's autumn)

Being Wednesday we walked and foraged 

spotted a field mouse (and also saw 2 deer)

yes, it rained and we got squidgy feet but we had hot chocolate to compensate

and thus ate tarte aux figues with creme fraiche tonight.

Games for all

Side-stepping the rain this Sunday, we headed to a "centre de loisirs" - or childcare centre - that was hosting a family day.

The children played a huge game of Connect 4

Soph contemplates her next move

There was archery!! And he received some great coaching, which may come in handy
because I always said I would only eat wild meat...

Like son, like father...

And we even finished the day with 2 rounds of Cluedo (yes, the British version) [On the 2nd roll of the first game, Seb made the right guess; the next game took so long we gave up!]