A few days in France

We took the opportunity of the school break to drive to our holiday house in Bassey, France, for a 5-day escape of organising and upgrading our new house. One of the advantages of our return to The Netherlands is the (relative) closeness of Bassey, and as we don't have to book or organise anything, we can just get in the car and go.

When Piet came home from work on Tuesday we packed the car and took off, driving through the night and arriving at 5.30 am, after a 10 hour journey. Straight to bed for a couple of hours and then our holiday began. First is the inspection of the house and terrain (our apple trees with colourful pink blossom), the state of the bikes and the horses in the village, and catching up with the latest news from the neighbours. Paula had already phoned the local stable manager from Holland, and that first afternoon all 3 ladies had a ride in the country side, while Piet checked and prepared the bikes. The next 2 days the pattern was as follows: a lazy morning with some cleaning around the house and the garden and feeding and grooming of the local horses. In the afternoon the girls went to the stable, Piet on a bike ride and Mary got her noisy garden toys out to attack the long grass and our forest; everybody doing something they enjoy most. The last day we finished cutting the grass of the lawn and went on a hike to beautiful Lac Lauvitel, a splendid alpine lake nearby. There was still a lot of snow around, and very few people. At the lake were numerous marmots, just out of hibernation and not afraid of humans at all. Like all walks this one was rewarding, and we finished the day in the local pizzeria. The next (Sunday) morning we got in the car and drove all the way back again. But it was worth it for 3 1/2 days of alpine scenery and fresh air!

Our house with the apple blossom in the foreground

Mary is working in our forest with the brousailleuse

Mary and Piet taking a break near Lac Lauvitel

A marmot at Lac Lauvitel

A rainy weekend

It is our first holiday weekend, and our first taste of "real" Dutch weather. Friday, 30th of April, it was Queen's Day, celebrating the birthday of our queen (in fact of the late queen-mother, as the our queen Beatrix has a birthday in January, not a very good date for our National Day). This is a day with street celebrations everywhere, with many bands playing on the streets and especially the "Vrijmarkt (free market)", where people and children can sell anything they dragged out of their attics and basements. Unfortunately it rained during the night and in the morning, but luckily the sun came out during lunch time, saving some of it. We had a long cycle through The Hague, to drop off Paula at a friend, followed by a long-way-round return trip, passing by the Queen's residence Huis Den Bosch. We encountered a few Vrijmarkt areas on the way, mainly filled with kids trying to sell their left over toys, games and DVD's. When Piet picked up Paula at the end of the day it was clear that the rubbish collectors were on strike; the centre of The Hague looked worse than Cairo on a bad day!

What else did we do:

- Dorien has been playing at in our pond a lot, there are thousands of tadpoles swimming around. She is catching them, putting them in a jar, releasing most of them, and putting a few unfortunate ones in a bird bath (these get quickly eaten).

- Paula made a friend at school who is as passionate as she is about horses. This girl, Laura, is looking after someone else's horse, and that is where Paula went on Queen's Day. They brushed and trained this horse, Grizzley, and had a lot of fun together. Laura is living on the other side of The Hague, but next time Paula will go alone, now she has had a taste of independence and freedom that a bike is offering.....

- Piet has done his first long cycle ride in the poring rain, coming home soaked to the bone, with lifeless feet and hands. Nothing a warm shower can't solve, and he better gets used to this!

- Mary has been fighting with the new IKEA wardrobe, which is nearly finished. Putting it up required a 4-person team, and putting the drawers is is hampered by some flaws in the design... But it looks like our bedroom will be ready next week.

Dorien is catching tadpoles in the pond in our garden

Paula is jumping with Grizzly

Piet and Mary in front of the house