So, Dad was in Spain, and on a complete last minute whim, we decided to drive down to see him and our great friend Barbara. At the same time, collecting some bits and pieces Barbara was kindly donating to the French Farndons. Abbie was a bit concerned because Aimée's famous passport hadn't arrived, and we had visions of being trapped in Spain by some customs official without being able to prove her identity. Well, we bit the bullet (I acted all unconcerned and sure of the fact we would have no problems .. boosted by two or three calls to some pals around the place who claimed never to have even had to slow down at the border). It was still a bit heart-in-mouth as we approached the customs point, but sure enough we simply drove through without seeing anyone (in either direction).
The following evening and 1600km later, we got back home in Montolieu. Complete with two single beds, a fab rug for the lounge and some extra bedding (it really is incredible what you can get into a Renault Scénic), mad or what?! Aimée slept pretty much continuously ... which was lucky. It was great to see Barbara's place in Southern Spain and the sun came out for our brief stay, and it was beautiful there. Our only regret was that we hadn't really planned to be there more than the day, it would have been (in 20-20 hindsight) really nice to have the change to have a good look around the area.
At
about six weeks old, Aimée started to become a real character. She is
suddenly (it seems to me) a lot more aware of what's going on around
her and has now begun to develop an endearing smile, which she now uses occasionally
with devastating effect on both of us. Her whole face suddenly will light up
and we are trapped ... babies eh?
The passport finally arrived and .. crazy as it sounds .. is actually intended to last until she is five ! Quite how different she will look from her one-month old photo (see previous newsletter) by then is a clear sign of the bureaucratic madness involved in requiring baby passports.
You may have heard the recent scare here in the French political system when some radical far right bloke by the name of Le Pen got into the second round of the elections for President. All our French pals were pretty concerned by this, as it showed a worrying trend. Apparently around the area here, the support for Le Pen was surprisingly strong with 100 folks in the village alone voting for him. One of our friends said if he had been elected she would have seriously considered moving out of France (and for a French person to say that kinda hilights the real concern that was felt). Luckily he was systematically beaten by the encumbant President (who the majority of French folks don't think much of either apparently, but compared with Le Pen was the only option).
all good fun eh?