Jacket

Last August when we were visiting Avril she insisted I buy some wool and a pattern for a little jacket. Well I have just finished. In my defence there were 700 odd stitches on the frill for each side and one row took me about an hour. Still its probably a record for me as I am still making a matinee jacket I started for Emilie 7 years ago the new baby might be lucky and get to wear it.

Chair lift

Sunday was a beautiful hot sunny day so we set off for Vianden Castle via the Battle of the Bulge Museum at Diekirk which Malcolm cannot drive past ( we will have to check if they do a frequent visitor pass). The chair lift was operating for once its a good job I am cured of my fear of heights as its quite a steep climb up to the cafe at the top where we had frites with dippy sauce before visiting the Castle.

Pam & Richard

Pam & Richard came on their second visit to Luxembourg. It was wonderful to see them and we had lots to catch up on it was so good to just chat about life and the universe......... They brought some shopping from Waitrose, Amelia had been in England for a week & had been to Boots with a long list of goodies so they brought that too what a treat. We only had the weekend so Saturday we did a whirlwind tour of the city walls the market lunch and shops with dinner at the Beerhause to end the day.

Gardening

Spring is in the air well actually I think we have gone straight from winter to summer the temperature is soaring into the 30's already. The cherry tree is in blossom and I have planted some sunflowers.The Broom is in flower. Aaron & Anna have been getting their vegetable plot ready in England and Abigail has had her garden leveled and the grass seed sown.

I.O.U.

Easter was postponed because we were away in Dijon. we had plans to have an Easter tea and egg hunt for the children but it didn't happen nor did Emilie's birthday treat of ice skating and a sleepover at our apartment. I had to giver her an i.o.u. poor child, but she did think it was funny and has put it safe for use when life permits.

Metz

Sadly our time in Etaules came to an end and we had to say goodbye. On the way home we decided to stop at Metz. The nearest we had been previously was the Ikea store. We parked under the Opera-Theatre which was very central strolled around the old town and had a coffee in the square very nice, then continued home. No doubt we will return for a longer visit.

Grill Laurie

Ghislaine and Pierre took us to The grill Laurie in Dijon for dinner. The food was very good but can you spot the sauce bottle? we all laughed when we looked at the photographs and were going to clone it out but there you go even in a french restaurant..........

Wine Tasting

Marche Aux Vins is opposite the Hospices unfortunately it was closed on our first visit so we returned quite happily to Beaune for our wine tasting ( purchasing) and a little shopping.

Neufchâteau

Nicholas joind us on our visit to Neufchâteau.Unfortunately we were too late to go inside the chateau so had a walk around the village and then set of for the chapel of the chien's with the chien. We didn't find the chapel but still enjoyed the walk.

Route des Grands Crus (past & present)

This was a road trip down memory lane for Malcolm, spot the before and after shots. He read every sign post we past with great delight and could almost taste the wine. I liked watching the horse drawn plough best.

Hospices de Beaune

Hospices de Beaune Hotel-Dieu was built in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin. From the middle ages countless sick were taken in and cared for by the sisters of the hospices. The Hotel-Dieu is today considered a jewel of medieval architecture, a "Palace for the Poor". It was the first time I had been to Beaune and I was very impressed. The beds looked comfortable but the medical equipment not.........

The wash house

We had a lovely walk to the village wash house but either the ladies of the village had a lift on a cart or they were extremely strong, as the return journey was all up hill. Perhaps they walked down and had a lift back who knows. I am not sure why it is situated so far from the village. I do know that I would not have been at all keen to do any washing.

Easter in Etaules Dijon

We had a lovely drive down to Etaules in the spring sunshine. It took us about three and a half hours including a stop for lunch. It was wonderful to see Pierre,Ghislaine and Thebault again. We couldn't believe it was nine years since we had been to Etaules . There was also a new member of the family a beautiful little dog Ariel.