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435 World Tour
  • Paisleys Abroad
  • Paisleys Abroad

435 World Tour

Exploring Europe and Asia, one family squabble at a time... Læs mere
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  • Paisleys Abroad435 World TourRejsende
    Your standard idyllic blog photo
    Wouldn't you assume this was a bike-friendly stretch?

    What really happened...

    25. september 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today, we started our weekly “croissants and pastries” breakfast at our neighbourhood boulangerie. Our daily adventure - cycling the 10km bike path along the river up to the Montpellier Zoo. It was longer than we planned, but we made it, practiced our French with the bears, giraffes, and zebras, and finished off the day with gelato on our way home. This is the story that the blog format would have you believe - sounds great, eh? Here’s what it really looked like... we had planned to go out for pastries, but were so long getting out of the house (because of all the complaining about biking today), that we ended up outside the boulangerie on a busy street, standing up beside our bikes and unceremoniously shoving Nutella beignets in our mouths. The “bike” route was a perfect cycling route, if you don’t mind frequently joining long stretches of narrow, busy streets with unforgiving two-way traffic. About half-way, Geoff got a flat, and had to take a tram back home to get it fixed. Exactly 30 seconds after he left, Dale had a major wipe-out in the gravel - screaming, tears, bloody skinned knees. Lots of fruit juice, emergency baguette, candies and a game of cards later, we were back on our way! It was especially fun to watch my two oldest children jockey for the honour of going first in our long line of five, in the middle of traffic. At the very end, the zoo is, of course, at the top of a huge hill, not suited to our heavy rental bikes. Two and a half hours later, we arrived! I could go on, but you get the picture... We are having fun, AND life with family in Montpellier looks a lot like it does in Ottawa!Læs mere

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    Helmeted casoar
    1Dales scrape

    The ropes of Montpellier

    26. september 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Montpellier can have its advantages and its disadvantages, for example, The baguette here is amazing but if you wait till the afternoon to get one, chances are you’ll be running a mile to find a bakery with a baguette left! Yesterday we went to a zoo with zebras, lions, emus you name it, they even had an animal called a helmeted casoar! (See in pictures) Sadly on the bike ride there Dale had a huge fall after a long skid in the sand. She got a huge cut and we had to play cards for 20 minuets before we could get back on our bikes. And worst of all during school we only get 3 hours a day but we have to work on Saturday! How crazy can a parents’ plan get?
    Talk with you soon,
    From yours truly, Malcolm    Læs mere

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    First try...
    Next try...I miss VODAPHONE!

    "Welcome to France..."

    30. september 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I heard this (spoken sympathetically) three times last week, from locals... here’s why - Our first travel SIM card finally ran out. We had picked it up in the Reykjavík airport, so this time, Geoff figured the train station would be a place to start... this was followed by many subsequent visits to the provider “Bouygues” where we were told “this is not our product” (despite the company name on the card). After having to activate (by phone), then register our identity (by phone), then switch providers, find a new card, show our passport and register our identity, then dial more phone numbers in a confusion sequence... we finally, several days lasted, have a French phone number and data plan... in contrast, check out what we had to do with Vodaphone in Iceland!Læs mere

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    Swim cap
    Speedo

    The Olympic Pool

    1. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Today me and Geoff went to a french olympic pool and it was huge! First you have to remove your shoes and put them in a small basket, next you go into a changing stall and change into your bathing suit (speedo) then you go through the opposite side of the changing stall to get to the locker rooms. When you put your stuff in the locker you go to a shower room and shower then you put your swim cap on and go to a hallway and when you walk through the hallway showers turn on and wash you again. Finally you get to the olympic pool but, if you go up one floor you get to a place where you can go on a large waterslide or relax in a not so very hot tub. If you go up two floors you get to a workout gym with treadmills and weights. If you go down one floor you get to a basketball court. When you are done you have to go back through the whole process and then you can leave. We live only a 15 minute walk away from the pool and it is right beside a huge library!
    Talk to you all soon,
    Cheers Malcolm    Læs mere

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    Comedie
    Mamma miaOperaCarousel at night

    Place de la Comedie

    2. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    La Place de la Comedie is a big downtown square about a two minute walk from our apartment. In the Comedie, there is a big fountain, an opera house, and lots of other shops and restaurants. Right across the street from the Comedie, there is a gelato shop called ‘Mamma Mia Gelateria’ that has really good gelato, and conveniently is on our way to the Comedie! We go to the comedie almost every day because that’s where the Monoprix (a popular French grocery store) is. There is also a carousel right outside the Monoprix, but we haven’t gone on it yet.
    Chloë    Læs mere

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    Improv tap and drum duet.
    1We tried to tango!Where's Chloe?Always a critic...this must have been during the modern dance performance.

    Danser en Montpellier

    3. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Lara’s sleuthing through a growing pile of Montpellier brochures yielded this little gem...a dance fiesta and atelier at the Agora Dance Centre, an indoor/outdoor performance space deep in the heart of the Comedie. We watched several performances by amateur and professional dancers in a wide variety of styles from classical to contemporary. Throughout the evening we were invited to participate on stage for tango, hip hop and tap workshops. The threat of a day without nutella waffles buried under smarties helped encourage our children to join us in the workshops.Læs mere

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    1
    1Just another Montpellier sunrise from our balcony... (red sky in morning!)

    Weather in Montpellier

    4. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We haven’t had a drop of rain since we arrived... I fear it is coming, especially when we biked under this last night on our way through La Comedie. Montpellier is ready!
    (Actually, they are part of fundraising event for breast cancer research - I learned this when we walked by them today).Læs mere

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    Espiguette sand dunes
    1Doesn't this bring lake superior to mind?Ain't she a beaut?

    Wild beach, wilder ride...

    6. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Our first car adventure in France... to Plage Espiguette - an absolutely beautiful wild beach on the Mediterranean about 45 minutes out of town. We rented using “OUIcar” - an AirBNB type car sharing platform, so we saved a very few euros and ended up with a 20th century special - dingy and small, but we figured it would get us there and home... The day was actually amazing - with soft white sand, fun waves (I thought about Crystal Beach in Thunder Bay), excellent beach combing and sand dune climbing. It is a beach devoid of development, which means a different vibe - lots of bikes and kite-pulled dune buggies (and no constant requests for ice cream at the local beach bar). At around 18h00, we had to head home - slightly burned and very sun-tired, weighed down with shells and sand - our hair, clothes, towels, and every other place you can imagine. Sadly, our perfect day was not to be... we took a wrong turn about 10 minutes into our ride home, and that’s when the car engine started cutting out. Still 40 minutes out of town, Geoff pushed so hard on that pedal and ignition key I thought they would break, the engine finally turned as the night fell, and we finally roared in the direction of home with the big red light on the console flashing “STOP” in our faces. Malcolm offered to tell jokes to lighten the mood, but soon realized the futility of this, and contented himself with occasional body noises for a laugh. Anytime we slowed down, the engine would sputter again, and threaten to cut out -so Geoff did not slow down once for 40 minutes until forced to in a left turn lane - thankfully about 15 minutes from our house, and 5 from the drop-off for the car. Stalled on the road, now completely dark out, I called the owner. We sat amidst the honking horns (drivers not so patient having to go around). After 25 minutes, the owner arrived with his solution - he put Geoff at the wheel in neutral, and pushed the car back to his place using his own car... who needs a tow-truck in Montpellier? I walked home with the kids and we had dinner at a fashionably French hour - around 21h00. Dale sees this as a “scary” experience, Geoff sees it as a sign that our next car rental should be with an established company, I see it (now) as good practice for the many similar experiences we are bound to have in the next 9 months!Læs mere

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    Brining the thanksgiving chickens...
    Preparing the stuffing...Basting the lemon garlic chickens and boiling potatoes for the mash...Blending the cream into les jaunes d'oeuf...The stuffing au jus...Malcolm sets the table...Chloë tests her guacamole....Geoff and Dale will do the dishes...

    Thanksgiving in Montpellier

    7. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We kept up a long standing thanksgiving tradition this year, the one where we choose the most beautiful day outside for Lara to stay inside and cook up a storm. We couldn’t imagine the month of October without indulging in a giant dinner that takes a full day to prepare. Lara hatched a menu inspired by accessible French ingredients (unfortunately, these didn’t include a turkey) and performed flawlessly down to a saucy crème anglaise for our dark chocolate ice cream. Our friends Thierry and Béa and their boys Gaspar and Hector joined us for a delightful evening in our little Montpellier apartment. Happy thanksgiving everyone!
    - Geoff    Læs mere

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    It is feeding time!

    Montpellier aquarium

    11. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Have you ever been to an aquarium? Have you ever seen who’s hiding under the water? Well I have. Because today we biked to the Montpellier aquarium and it was AWESOME! We did a project in school about the aquarium and we each chose two different animals to learn about and find in the aquarium.we found Chloe’s arawana and arapaima my cape penguin and the tail of my pyjama shark and Malcolm’s zebra shark but his other one the nautilus wasn’t there anymore. We saw lots of cool and colourful fish. we also saw jellyfish and sea horses but my favourite part was the cape penguins.If you were there you could probably tell it was my favourite part because I stood there and watched them for a loooooooong time.
    - Dale    Læs mere

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    1
    This one is for you Pete...

    Montpellier Handball

    13. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    What a night. Me and Geoff went to a European handball game between the French league champions and the Hungarian national champs. European Handball is a mixture of ultimate, basketball and soccer. The point of the game is to score the most points in one hour by throwing the ball into the opponents net.
    See more rules in this video link.
    https://youtu.be/L0Y8qFFVPXw

    The two teams exchanged the lead multiple times and the final score was...(see pictures).

    After the game finished my bike got a flat tire so we walked to the tram station to find out that the ticket machine wouldn’t take Geoff’s credit cards and he had no cash. We only had six minutes until the next tram came so we went to a close-by bank and discovered that it had just closed for the night. We still had no tickets so we missed the tram. We were about to start walking a 1 hour 30 walk back to the apartment when Geoff had a brilliant idea. We crossed the street to the other ticket machine and luckily it worked! Sadly we had another 15 minute wait till the next tram came. We heaved our bikes onto the tram and rode the tram back to the apartment.
    Cheers Malcolm 😜    Læs mere

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    Lara's lesson: "getting to modern"
    Chloe's Picasso "girl with a ponytail"Dale's Van Gogh "starry night"Malcolm's Inspired by Chagall "i and the Village (Paris)"Malcolm's inspired by Chagall No. 2 "the thinker"Geoff's inspired by Maud Lewis "La Comedie"Dale in her own style...Chloe in her own style1Dale No. 641

    In the heart of western art country...

    16. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    France is a wonderful place to learn about the historical, philosophical and aesthetic transitions between classical and modern western art - we have seen lots of art since we hit Paris in early September. So I embarked on an “art history” lesson of sorts with the kids - taking ”the last supper” as a theme, and examining its representation by different western artists from 12th through 21st centuries - medieval and gothic, renaissance, baroque, mannerism, neoclassicism, realism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism, cubism, fauvism, surrealism, pop art, etc... it’s been done across the eras. it is a pretty interesting exercise to isolate the subject like this, and look solely at the differences in style, technique, perspective, light, and elements of historical and social context - I may have found this more fascinating than my children did... but i am ever hopeful that it will all be stored somewhere in their brains for future inspiration! Everyone then did some research on an artist of choice, and created their own versions of their artists’ work. Picasso, Van Gogh, Chagall, and Maud Lewis (Geoff stayed true to his Canadian roots). I am also including some of the kids’ art since then... they are clearly finding their own styles. Today we head out for a three day explore of Provence, with Art history on the agenda (though the sunflowers in Arles have long gone!) LaraLæs mere

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    Arène de Nimes

    Roman legacy in Laguedoc-Rousillon

    16. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Better late than never to post about our trip en Provence... we started out in Nimes - a “hit” at the Arène, one of France’s oldest and best preserved Roman coliseums. Once I got over the initial resistance to the 40€+ entrance fee (yikes!), it was a very interesting site, with a great audio guide. Did you know that the killing of defenceless prisoners by wild animals or armed men were actually unpopular events - generally not attended by most of the audience? Moreover, gladiator fighting, the real reason everyone came to the coliseum, seldom resulted in the death of a gladiator since the magistrate who organized the event would have to compensate the gladiator’s school for the loss. And... the “thumbs up/ thumbs down” is also a fiction - actually, a thumb tucked into a closed fist meant “mercy”. Hollywood fails us again! Then onto another Roman legacy in the region - the Pont du Gard - an amazing bridge supporting one of the best -preserved examples of a Roman aqueduct. Aqueducts, in bringing water from high in the hills to towns and cities, allowed for the growth of an agricultural economy, but what I find more interesting is their innovative effects on governance and growth of public spaces. Cities and towns could bring people together, around fountains or baths, and had public lavatories to support this (you understand this if you have ever been to an outdoor concert without adequate port-o-potties...). And they also had to manage a shared resource - with all the physical and social challenges of fairly allocating it... clearly I remain a public service e geek at heart! For the future traveller, note that seeing the Pont du Gard off-season, in the rain, and at the end of a long day, is not ideal. It is a beautiful area that deserves sunshine and a picnic, probably bikes or kayaks. Maybe next time... :)Læs mere

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    Roussillon

    17. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    A few days ago we went to the town Roussillon, in Provence, and saw lots and lots of ochre rock formations and buildings. Ochre is a kind of clay, but when we saw it, it was bright orange, and dark red! All the buildings in Roussillon were obviously built out of mostly ochre, cause they were orange too! Something I noticed about the ochre sand was that it was super soft, and that it made your hands all orange! In Roussillon we went on a small hike called ‘Le sentier des ochres’ where we saw lots more ochre rock formations. After the hike, we were going to get ice cream, but all the ice cream stores there were closed, so we went to two other towns, and got the same result. We ended up going for ice cream the next day, in Arles, and we got to the store the day before they closed for the year, so they were almost all out of everything!
    Chloë    Læs mere

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    Sur le Pont...
    Making a living in front of Palais des PapesRocher des Dom gardens

    Sur le Pont d'Avignon

    17. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    In Avignon, we found a beautiful garden inside the medieval walls of the city, and Chloë and I danced and sang on the Avignon bridge (much to her hidden delight which looked a lot like embarrassment...). In fact, the original 16th century tune is quite different than the one we learn in Canada as children, but we stuck to our own version. We also came across a teenaged basketball tournament in front of the Palais des Papes, in the center of town. I really do love how Europe uses its public spaces!Læs mere

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    He has been a beary good friend
    For scale, check out stair railings way in the background!

    Grotte des Demoiselles

    19. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today we went to a giant cave with stalactites and stalagmites. I learned that stalactites come down from above and stalagmites rise from below. On the tour in the cave we saw both stalactites and stalagmites, we saw columns (when they join together) and we saw many other rock formations. The cave was discovered when a shepherd fell down a hole in the top of the cave while looking for his sheep. In the cave we saw creatures including a stuffed bear which represented an ancient bear skeleton that was discovered in the cave, and a transparent dromedary shaped rock formation! Did you know that to get to some of the parts of the cave the early explorers had to climb through a hole that was 70cm by 45cm wide! We got to look at a huge part of the cave that was 100 meters long and 50 meters high. At the end, the tour guide played Au Clair de la Lune on some small stalactites and used a hollow rock for a drum. Talk to you later,
    Malcolm😎🤓😜🤩🤗    Læs mere

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    Getting our fix of fall colours!Mill on the Vis river.The Moulin de Foux (a medieval flour mill) at the bottom of the valleyIn my defence... it was a bit scary!

    Cirques de Navacelles

    19. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    I had to do some geology research about the formation of a cirque to prepare for this day. A cirque is an amphitheater shaped bowl carved out of the side of a mountain by water and ice. We were able to get a good view of the cirque from the Blandas lookouts on the opposite side of the valley. Nestled in the bottom of the cirque is the tiny commune of Saint-Maurice-Navacelles. Today we hiked down into the valley to the remains of a medieval stone mill that was powered by the Vis river. The hike followed steep paths that fell off precipitously down into the valley (Chloë observed that in Canada these trails would be completely fenced in). We walked under enormous cliff faces, through green pastures and past several lizards. France is riddled with natural phenomena that are protected and preserved. The tourism bureau is well organized at harnessing the economic resources of the foreign visitor. We were delighted to discover that visiting this beautiful site was free! The other point worth mentioning is that the drive to get to the cirque area is hair raising. We climbed to the lookouts poking along at about 10k/hour on a single lane highway cut out of the side of the valley - hoping desperately at each hairpin curve there wouldn’t be another car coming in the opposite direction. Much to the amusement of her children, Lara spent most of the drive curled up in a ball to avoid looking over the edge of the cliff on her side.
    - Geoff    Læs mere

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    CookiesLasagnaChloë's awesome guacamole...Meringues!Geoff's baguettes/french 'pains'Squeezing out little macaron poops.Halloween macarons

    Kids in the Kitchen

    28. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    One of the nice things about being in one place for an extended period of time is being able to accumulate ingredients and make good use of the kitchen. The kids have been very helpful at planning, preparing and cleaning up meals. They have also taken some interest in extending their repertoire beyond microwave kraft dinner. Chloë made a lasagna for tonight’s dinner and earlier on she repeated her chocolate mousse from the summer. Malcolm tried his hand at a French baguette and meringues, and Dale has made some traditional macarons. It is nice to have the time to do these things together, we were rarely able to manage it at home between work and school and activities.
    - Geoff    Læs mere

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    Question box

    29. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    If you have any questions about our trip so far then you can leave a comment with your questions in it and we will try to answer as soon as possible.
    Malcolm🤩🤡👻👻👻🎃😻🤟🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

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    1Chloë's painting
    2In roussillionMalcolms drawingPont de gardDale's drawingOf a door

    Art project

    29. oktober 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    For an art project, we all had to pick a picture we’d taken on our trip in Provence, and recreate it. These are Malcolm’s, Dale’s and my projects.
    By Chloë

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    Pic Saint-Loup
    Check out this giant hand growing out of the ground!A chapel at the top of the mountain.

    Pic Saint-Loup

    1. november 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Pic Saint-Loup is an inviting mountain about 30 minutes north of Montpellier. We scored this gorgeous afternoon to hike with Thierry and Béa’s family up and down the mountain. The views, while beautiful, did remind me how much more exploring there is to do around France. It is with mixed feelings that we prepare for our last week in Montpellier and set our sights on Barcelona and Chiang Mai.Læs mere

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    These are our jack o lanterns
    Drawing challengeMalcolm's fortune gamePhoto boothNot so fun for everyone...Dale's halloween macaronsChloë's yummy black catsMaster of disguiseOnce again...Bobbing for apples

    Hallllloweeeeeen!!!

    5. november 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    In France, they celebrate Halloween, as in sell decorations, and have parties, but people usually don’t go trick or treating like they do in Canada, so we decided to have our own Halloween carnival!
    🇫🇷🎃 👻 🇨🇦
    Everyone ran an activity or two, and everyone (Dale was there for most of it) went around to play the games. We even found pumpkin-like things to carve, and roast the seeds. 🎃
    The activities were: photo booth (run by me) with props 📸 👓👄,
    a speed drawing contest 🖍✏️ , (also run by Me), Malcolm made a weird fortune booth where you tell the magic potion a number, and you win a prize (candy) for the number you say 🍬 🍭 🔮
    and a cribbage gambling game 🎰
    Dale ran a funny trick or treat game for our stuffies, and dad ran bobbing for apples. 🍎 🍏
    (See the pictures below)
    Overall it was a fun night!
    -Chloë    Læs mere

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    Paul Crouzet Primary School

    8. november 2018, Frankrig ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Yesterday, Malcolm and Geoff left the apartment at 0700h (7am) for the small town of Prades Le Les which is an hour-and-a-half long bike ride away. We met with Mme Nathalie Nagot, a primary teacher from Paul Crouzet Elementary School. Mme Nagot teaches a CM2 class (4th grade) with 27 students. She teaches all the subjects to her class except for science and social studies. The children are beginning to learn English, which they enjoy. We learned that the kids are at school from 9am to 5pm with a two and a quarter hour break from 12:00 to 2:15 and two 15 minute recesses, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. On Wednesday, they don’t go to school, they do activities like sports or clubs at a community centre or they stay at home. Their school year consists of six weeks of classes followed by two weeks of holiday, with a longer holiday in July and August. We did a presentation about Canada for the kids and showed them what schools are like in Canada. The classroom looked similar to our classrooms, maybe a little smaller, and the children sit in rows. When the teacher is looking for ideas, she asks a student with their hand up to answer, then that student chooses another student in the class to answer and so on. The school has a cafeteria but no gymnasium. Gym classes are held at a nearby field. The schoolyard is quite small compared to our schoolyards in Canada, but the children seem to enjoy it. After the school visit, Malcolm and Geoff ate cake and baguette and biked home to Montpellier.
    - Malcolm and Geoff    Læs mere

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    Pickled onions for dinner!

    8. november 2018, Frankrig ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    We had a fun evening tonight with our upstairs neighbours Laurent and Vivette and their 5yo twin girls. They arrived bearing delicious beer and pickled snacks and a traditional baguette from our favourite Montpellier bakery. Sad to only have met recently, and us with only two days left in Montpellier. Lovely to have tiny children running around the apartment. Maybe they will all come visit us in Ottawa one day.Læs mere

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