Our Big Adventure Part 3: More Paris.

Playgrounds, tourist sights, fountains, chocolate snacks, and the marvelous Jardin du Luxenberg.

Our Big Adventure Part 4: Goodbye Paris Hello Chez Branger.

Paris to Bordeaux in 3 hours by TGV.  Getting on and off the trains was probably hardest part of travelling with three children, one of them a baby.  Getting all our bags, children and pushchair onto the train and safely stowed in the small amount of time the busy train schedules allow was always a little stressful to say the least.  Once you're all on board though, the journey is a breeze.  Ipods help.  

The Bordeaux train station is possible not in the best part of town.  Dodgy looking youths, obvious working girls and damn near impossible to find rental car offices.  So once we found the rental car company, picked up our Peurgot, programmed the satnav to speak English and negotiated several wrong turns, we high tailed it out of there and on to the A10.  Which was scary as hell for us provincials used to driving on the wrong side of the road.

Worth the drive?  For 10 days this was our backyard in a tiny hamlet in Charentes in south west France.  

Not a bad place to hang your washing!

Our Big Adventure Around the World Part 2: Paris in the Springtime

Paris in the spring.  Sometimes it is dazzling, mostly it is cold, grey and drizzling.  Still, it's Paris!

Thoughts about Paris with kids: The toyshops are amazing, everywhere you find little playgrounds, beautiful parks, carousels and crepes (Nutella crepes mmmm).  We wandered a lot, queued very little (sorry, no trip up the Eiffel Tower, and we mistimed the Louvre - it's closed Tuesdays and May Day), I got to wear my red beret in Paris, the children ate chocolate with everything.