more PARIS

Check out the shot of the front of the apartment that Corinne lived in in Montemarte 15 years ago; it now is derelict after being burnt out! shame as its in a really beautiful part of paris but by the photo you would never think so!!!!!!

PARIS

We caught the TGV to paris and stayed with Kaye for 4 days. We stayed in the apartment that she has rented for her stay there;A beautiful apartment in a very nice part of paris,decorated with some magnificent antiques.We had loads of fun and were lucky enough to have our own private tour guide in Corinne;She lived in Paris for 10 years so she knows it very well.We did a lot and saw a few things that werent the usual tourist things.Lola had a blast and was on fire as ur ongoing entertainment.what an amazing city with so much history and something different to see around every corner.

Kaye 2011 trip to France

Kaye is visiting us again this year.After having a funfilled trip to france in 2010 she has returned to enjoy more of the french culture, 1 year later.She has been luckier with the weather with

nice weather every day.Weve shown her a little more of this region and been to markets and a few out of the way places of interest.last saturday we went to the pyrenees into spain for lunch at a mbeautiful village with magnificent scenery and great food and wine.She leaves us tomorrow to go to paris where we will join her in a couple of weeks for a weekend

Bedroom 3

just finished converting the old garage into our 3rd bedroom.i still have to finish off the outside around the windows but the inside is completely finished.We only need to find some bedside tables.After i get the outside done i may finsh the rendering( the last wall) and install the handrail to the stairs.Thats if jez stops keeping me busy in the workshop;I dont have much time here as he is keeping me very busy.

I've just had a week out of the water with windy conditions after one of the best months in recent history.I surfed about 20-22 days in april with a few days sneaking in two sessions.I needed a rest this week as my body was exhausted as all surfers here at the moment have had their fill and more!I feel super fit but i need to get back in the water this week to maintain it.Tpmorrow morning is looking good.

Groundhog day!

Its like groundhog day here with the beautiful weather and the awesome waves continuing.School holidays continue and there are very few tourists here, with vitually no surfers!i dont know where they are but i am still surfing every morning before i go to work with world class waves nearly every session.My shoulders are burning from so much paddling;I was talking to some locals yesterday and they cant remember a period like this before with such consistant surf. I need a break!

What a week!

Magnificent weather in the south west of france this week with 30° every day.Perfect weather and perfect waves to go with it;Quite possibly the week of the year for surfers.4-6- ft and offshore all week.I surfed every morning before heading off to work and then again of an evening a few times too.I'm glad the weather has changed with an onshore wind so i can have a rest.My shoulders are sore and tired.Weve been busy at work too, we're making some fancy displays for Nixon (watches) that are destined for Selfridges in London.They are looking pretty good and its great to be making something to send to a special store like that.Lola has started her easter holidays and weve had Corinnes birthday and my Mums birthday too.we are looking forward to seeing Kaye and Barry soon nad I've nearly finished the bedroom for them.We may even make a trip to paris to spend a weekend with them in May

Work,Weather,Waves,4 YEARS

Great weather continues.We had a little hiccup with a little bad weather a couple of weeks ago and it rained yesterday.Spring is here with the birds chirping and are happy about it just like us.Plenty happening on the work front with the renovation of the garage keeping me very busy,and also plenty on offer in the workshop with Jez too.I took last week off to get a full weeks work done here and was really productive until i discovered the woodborers in the roof of the garage-bummer!-so i pulled down the entire ceiling that i had installed a couple of weeks ago so i could treat the little buggers!luckily they were only in a couple of rafters and had gone too far in the main beams.They are a huge problem in this part of the world, but also they have some good products to deal with them too- and lucky they werent termites,coz they are an even bigger problem.In between working my bum off , i have been also surfing and getting some excellent quailty waves.There were no waves for 3 weeks , but when it came on again , we have scored more amazing waves.It continually amazes me how good the waves are here and this winter has been -for someone who can sneak away midweek when the bulk of the surfing population are at work- great with more hours in the water than any other in the last 4 years since we arrived.YES --4 years already(nearly)Corinne is working part time which is good for her mental and physical state but not for our cashflow.Lola continues to rack up the excellent marks at school and is looking forward to seeing her aunty Kaye( and hopefully Barry too) in May and is devouring books(in french and in english) at a great rate.Thanks to the internet its easy to get english text books these days, and its very important, that without a good level of english lessons available at school , its something that we have to make a little more effort with buying lots of books.Even though we speak english at home she does need the extra input.One thing she hasnt lost is her typical aussie accent!