We sadly farewelled our family of donkeys on the west coast of Ireland and made our way to Jersey in the Channel Islands. In a place with a large disparity between rich and poor it was somewhat confronting to see more drunken carousing than at home in Australia, including Alice Springs. People were literally spilling out of pubs and cafes to have a cigarette between drinks while flash cars and old bombs alike zoomed up and down the street. The island itself is very scenic and architecturally beautiful and we managed to find a pretty good playground close to our hotel.
Our 'foreign language' experience was fulfilled on the coast of Brittany in the old walled town of Saint Malo. It was VERY touristy and I never really succeeded in ordering the kind of coffee I intended (an expensive exercise). The beach there is lovely and once again a cold wind was no deterrent to Tom and James swimming in the sea. Worsening wind meant we had to delay our trip to the Island of Sark for a day. The least said about our 'emergency' accommodation the better. The only redeeming events of the day were the successful navigation of the workings of a French laundrette in French (by moi) - though the dryers even defeated various bashings by my feisty French co-washers - and some delicious baguettes for lunch. We were ravenous by then as I couldn't entice the kids (or myself) to eat the stale crusty bread from the hotel breakfast room - nutella from a spoon can only sustain a small boy for so long...
As expected, apart from a rough ferry crossing, Sark was lovely though the number of tractors (the only motorized transport allowed) has certainly increased over the past few years. We stayed with a local family in a beautiful country house complete with a giant trampoline. A gorgeous sunny day was,of course, followed by more wind and rain, though we have made it to Guernsey, our final stop before heading home.
Over the past week I've noted the absence of French children in public - an exception being the occasional couple accompanied by a solitary well-behaved child in a restaurant. Needless to say, it's made us feel rather conspicuous at times! We were rather relieved, therefore, to see a rowdy group of French schoolchildren on the Guernsey ferry which has now led us to believe that, while they may behave better with their parents, they are generally worse than Australian children on excursion.
Other notes:
The tooth fairy has yet to find Tom who has lost his second tooth - maybe we need to stop confusing her and stay in one place for a while!
James has recovered from a bee sting (the bee stepped on his foot!)and happily ate smoked haddock for breakfast.
Tom's potato zapper didn't make it through airport security.
Further items of attrition:
1 Swiss army knife (lost, not confiscated)
1 pair of pyjama pants
A few pieces of Lego
A woollen beanie
Assorted socks (none matching)
A muslin wrap
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