Siena and schooling

Successful visit to Siena and after seeing the sixth school (these things need good consideration!!), we've decided on the International School of Siena — the best school we saw by far — and both Bea and Ili said it was their favourite so that is a very positive start. Stayed at the lovely Borgo Argenina for the weekend and had a beautiful four hour walk around the area. Good finish to our searching.

Tin Tin's island

The inspiration for Tin Tin's island was close by, so had a stop on route to Italy to explore the coast a bit, and then further down the coast on the Corniche (spent time here as a child Ili's age — big thanks to Mum and Dad xx) we had to stop for a swim in the Med! Cold but beautiful!

Night on the French Riviere

Stayed a night in a quirky villa (where they filmed some of Natalie Portman's "Planetarium" movie) right on the sea near Saint-Raphaël. Very interesting history to the place (we met the Grandma) and it was like stepping back in time to a French Riviera heyday before the glitz, glamour and oversized boats. After being in the car for most of the morning, Bea and Ili were happy to explore the rocky beach. The little island that you can see in some of the pics was the inspiration for Tin Tin's island in the story books.

Garden time at the France House - 14 - 24 April

A busy week in France getting the garden back to normal after the winter, and searching for more than Easter Eggs buried in the garden! All of them found. We were blessed with wonderful weather all week so lots of outdoor time for the kiddies with plenty of butterflies, cuckoos and lizards.

 

Uzes overnighter

Spring holiday time and we had an overnight stop in the lovely Uzes on the way to the France house. Uzes is always a bit of a culinary treat but there was lots of running in the morning for Bea and Papa.