once again it's been a while, so I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the sun. If you are interested in the weather here in France take a look at this english language version on http://woozor.co.uk/free-10-days-weather-forecast/weather-forecast-of-pau-in-france_62_6468_en.html We are situated between Nancy and Mulhouse so apparently its 3 degrees outside. Pau looks like a better place to be right now at 10 degrees.

The Christmas lights went on today so we took a quick tour of the centre ville after taking the kids to the movies; Harry Potter by the way and no, I understood 'rien' although the kids were absolutely rivited.

The snow started to fall as we left the cinema, the night comes early now and it was all really very magical.

We've been a bit quiet here. Suffering from various aliaments, the latest of which has been the grippe (flu). One by one we have fallen. And school has seemed like one giant control lately. A control is a test, and it's usually out of 20, and Amby has an average of 3 per week. When we get it right (all the homework comes home, homework book is written out correctly etc) then she gets great marks. When we get it wrong, the marks are not so good!

I do feel like I am not just back at school but a military camp. I am regularly 'told off' by teachers for various things. I just found out today that my wonderful son has been banned from using forks at lunchtime as he has been waving them about in peoples faces. Back on spoons and feeding like a baby!

A wonderful highlight was meeting up with Cheryl in Paris. Never have the word gay old Paris been more true; we hired a luxury appartment situated in the Marais (4th arrondissement, Rive droite), very close to the Pompidou Centre and full of life and colour . I say luxury but we did have 4 flights of stairs. The staircase was stunning; old wood and odd corners and doors tucked away in the strangest places. It felt like a fairy tale, albeit a short one.

It was wonderful seeing Cheryl and hearing the news from 'back home'. There is a great deal of nostalgia in meeting like this, the memories are refreshed and we readjust to each other, we fit back into the groove, so to speak.

The Palace de Versaille was grand but brief, too many tourists throttling the corridors ; a mauvaise descision on my part meant we spent ages (hours?) lining up for entrance tickets and there was a Japanese modern art display which annoying populated spaces and meant I had to twist and duck to get photos without their presence.

I have had to regularly check my spelling as I am losing my english. I dont know if any of you have read the books 'A year in the merde' and Merde actually' by Stephen Clarke but if you have I feel like his friend Jake with his unfortunate way of saying one word which means something entirely different. Merci beaucoup becomes merci beau cul (thank you nice bottom) and so on...

Anyway, back to Paris and a few photos...