On pend la cremaillere rue Marcelin-Berthelot...

Bonjour a tous,

Nous sommes tres contents de vous annoncer que nous avons emmenage dans notre maison depuis le debut du mois et on vous propose de venir feter ca avec nous le samedi 13 decembre.

Parce que c'est aussi une fete pour Carmen, on vous propose de nous retrouver avec les enfants des 17 heures autour d'un gouter de Noël. Le concept est simple : nous aurons installes un sapin et les petites mains pourront venir accorcher une petite decoration !

Pour les plus grands, on pourra rapidement enchainer avec l'aperitif et la soiree. Si ca vous tente, on a le droit de se dire que c'est Noël pour tout le monde : chacun peut amener un petit cadeau de moins de 5 euros pour son voisin (adulte).

Notre adresse est maintenant le 33 rue Marcelin-Berthelot, toujours a Nanterre et toujours metro Nanterre Ville, sauf qu'en sortant il faut suivre la piste cyclable qui part en diagonale sur la gauche, et remonter presque toute la rue Victor-Hugo jusqu'à la rue Marcelin-Berthelot.

Merci de nous dire si vous etes dispo...

Bises a tous

Carmen, Elise et Pierre Victor

PS : Pour les bebes, on a un lit pliant et sinon, vous pouvez en apporter, on a deux chambres ou on pourra les installer au calme.

A lovely bog

Two weeks ago now, we had a pleasant time out of Paris, driving south west through the Chateaux de la Loire, but not stopping, to spend the week-end in the Marais Poitevin. This must be a sensational destination because as soon as we sat to have a salade du terroir, a battalion of pomies invaded the creperie outdoor and asked for lager.

We were meeting Daphne and Nico for the 1st time since our return, introducing in the same time our respective daughters. As in former similar experiences, we realized again that neither them nor us had really changed. It was just as if we had left them after their wedding party last month (three years ago)...



The accomodation was terrific, located in a renovated farmplace, between two channels. We hired a barque for the arvo and relied on girls for the rowing after a kind of lobbying i'd say. At night, I can say that we more or less ruined the quiet romantic atmosphere of the restaurant when the babies had dinner.

But, they are good girls and felt asleep shortly afterwards. For cultural purpose, the next day was devoted to the visit of the Maison du Marais mouillé which explains what a pain in the neck it has been to dry this f...ing land, which is flat and so close to the ocean.

For information, the poitou was english not so long ago, and today is the strategic base of the former French candidate, Royal.

Last saturday, Carmen spent the night at her grand-momy's place. So we had a chance to go out for the Fete de la musique: An exhausting walk through the city as usual but some good vibes with tango, former Rita Mitsouko singer and numerous other bands.

Now we are planning our summer with a lot of questions. Elise is for sure flying to UK visiting her Ireland mate Karine and we are thinking about having some time in the Pyrénées.

Oh les beaux jours

What a hectic pace of life we have now !!! Weeks are passing very fast but we can't do everything we want. Last Saturday, we were still meeting some friends for the first time since we came back, just because we couldn't make it before...

Anyway, nothing really boring in our days since we always start with Carmen for breakfast and finish with her again or her bath before sleeping (she is here playing whith her great grand-father). In between, Elise at the City of Nanterre and I at Beicip are fully committed to our projects. We're quite happy with it, changing often probably is in our mind.

Last month we went away for the long week-ends, driving to Correze or Normandie. Rugby also kept me very busy. I played a final last Saturday and I had the pleasure to host an English team-mate for the yearly exchange with RBS (former Natwest).

We are still planning to move in a larger place, but the river shore is much less pleasant than the Swan one. Anyway, we can still ride to work and have long nights out ; today the sunset was at around 10:00 pm.

Our plans for the summer are not yet made, still waiting for a confirmation in my job and some optimal management of the little one. But this is not a real issue as her grand-parents obviously are eager to look after her.

We also had the pleasure to welcome Jenna Scurto and her friend Lisa, who friendly let us a post on our last blog. She used to be my host in the US a long time ago when I was at high school and went in Chicago for the summer. Staying in London for a few weeks, they were passing thru Paris. What a pleasure to speak English. Now, I am surrounded by South American (again) and I have no choice but learning Spanish (quiero estudiar espagnol).

Perthpikas will maybe be one day in Spanish?!

Pierre

PS: For the 14', I barrack for the Tahs'

Spring in Nanterre

The winter is not yet gone. Snow was still lying on cars and roofs today. Elise and I are looking forward to drop our jackets and keep wearing sunnies all day long.

Last week, we went to the Musée de la Marine at Trocadéro. An exhibition is setting there, describing the voyage of Monsieur de la Pérouse who visited Australia, following Captain Cook's trip report.

This was also an opportunity to have a drink at the 'foyer' of the Chaillot playhouse, which features a gorgeous scenic room.

Next month will be the period of the long weekends in France, so we'll be travelling around visiting probably Elise's friend, Karine, who she met at the time she was living in Dublin.

We also went last month in Bourgogne, close to Beaunes, for a friendly weekend with my former workmate Guillaume Vinay, who welcomed us with his family like prestigious guests.

This region offers a lovely drive and we enjoyed our route.

Nowadays we are committed to seeking a new place where we could raise our tiny wallaby. Carmen does not walk yet but she is extremely good at bending knees before leaping towards her parents hair.

Her nanny is terrific and we are very happy to get Carmen back at night with her lovely smile, showing her three teeth!


But Carmen isn't the youngest of the family anymore. Two weeks ago, her two little cousins were born; two little boys, Emile and Adam. So, we spent some very nice days with our family...

Downsouth

Last week-end, we have been visiting my dad to Montpellier. On the friday morning, I took the RER train to Gare de LYON and its TGVs: the famous fast train that drives you from Paris to the mediteranean sea in 3 hours time.

Elise joined us later in the day, after work. The saturday was spent visiting Aigues Mortes, a middle-age city which has been the basis of first crusades. On the main square, we had some seafood and lazy time under the sun, then some driveabout in the Camargue.


The next day, we drove through the vineyards to Minerve, another heritage place not far from Beziers. The weather was cooler and a bit windy but we had good time landwalking. Elise and Carmen left on the night and I stayed a bit longer in the region to proceed some professional interviews.





I only came back to Nanterre today after being in Nimes and Aix en Provence. Elise is very happy commiting again with the Nanterre Info: the council's newspaper. Some elections are coming and so the current topics are very hot!!!

I'm now playing rugby with the CASO team, which was my former club before flying to Oz. We are missing a baby-sitter to go out a bit more and attend fantastic events such as Australian Day.
Looking forward to having some news from you guys. See ya

Pierre

Back home

Perthpikas is back, composed in English especially for our mates downunder :)
So we are now back in France and back in Nanterre (next to Paris). After a lovely Christmas with all our family, we spent most of our time, getting everything organised in our house and in our new French life. Carmen is going to a nanny as I (Elise) am going back to work on Monday :(((
We've also met most of our friends, introducing our new family member to eachother as many of them had a baby in the past two years.
And we are now visiting Paris, almost as tourists. Here we were next to The Louvre. It was the first time Carmen went to Paris. We've tried the pram in the subway but... Paris has changed quite a lot within two years: bikes are now everywhere. As Carmen went to her nanny for the whole day today, Pierre and I spent the day discovering Paris from a new point of view. Velib' as it is called... Bikes are available at every street corner and for one euro, we can cycle half an hour. It is getting quite popular in several places in Europe and it is a very good way to cross the city. Of course in Perth, it has been common for a very long time but in the "old Europe", we are discovering something new!!!



Here Pierre was the lovely king of the family after having found the charm in the "Galette des rois" to celebrate the epiphany. Carmen was proud of her father, trying to taste the Galette. She is now eating pumpkin and carotts!