Arivee!

I think I saw "Arivee" on a sign at Lyon airport, and assume it's French for "we're here" or something like that. Hence it's appropriateness for the title - because we are.

Given our generally easy lifestyle - this was an epic. Abby lost it by the time we got to the Eastern Distributor, which wasn't a good sign for the 30 odd hours ahead of us. But in the end, the girls were fantastic.

Abby regressed: breastmilk and biscuits were all she would eat - with the exception at one point of a whole apple which impressed the BA stewards...;

Hannah progressed: she was a massive help; although thanks to her Mum's strange relationship with Qantas she sampled the first class lounge and wasn't sure about that sort of progress - she likes the self serve in the normal lounge!

But it worked. Somehow the flights seemed relatively painless. Of course I didn't read a book or watch any movies, so it was constant - but certainly better than anticipated.

Unlike the trip to our "Gite" (no - not some moron who doesn't seem to understand, but our house for the next 2 weeks). What should have been a challenging (new car, wrong side of the road, little sleep, unknown location, vague internet maps etc etc) 1 hour drive, turned in to a 3 hour epic. A 3 hours that both Hannah and Abby announced in their own ways, was a completely unnecessary and unwelcome conclusion to the already 37 hour journey. As Em rightly pointed out, Top Gear should do a challenge that includes two screaming kids in the back seat of the car - it certainly adds a level of atmosphere and degree of difficulty.

But 2 days on - all those issues are long forgotten. We're happily ensconced in our little house; have toured the local village - Saint Laurent De Vaux - (cute, but not a lot of retail, in fact not a lot of anything); have purchased coffee and baguettes from the nearby Vaugneray; and have tackled the supermarket (I'm sure there's French word, which I'll learn in due course). Jet lag hasn't quite disappeared from the house - but we're close, and certainly feeling a lot more human than 48 hours ago.

The countryside is magnificent. Green, rolling hills as far as the eye can see. The street we're on is just a winding road that meanders up the hill, with little houses like ours every 50 metres or so. The church bell rings somewhere in the distant at fairly odd intervals - but it's a pleasant backdrop. From the right spot on the road, you get a view over Lyon - however gazing while driving on the wrong side of the road is discouraged.

Not that life is all rosy of course: current dilemmas include whether or not to put sunnies on - thus being comfortable; or keep them off - thus being able to see the laptop screen. And I haven't even started on what wine to have with dinner....

Our biggest complaint so far is lack of accessible grass - we've got mile after mile (or is it metric here? I'm not sure) of countryside that we can see, but there's nowhere for the kids to run. We're currently all perched on the concrete outside our house, with the table and chairs set up under the umbrella on a 30 something degree afternoon. Almost idyllic.

Of course there's still that "oh shit, we're in a foreign country, for 3 months, and they really do speak French and we don't" kind of feeling. But I'm sure that will fade.

(Hannah's contribution to follow:)

HANNAH

TOM

ABBY

EMILY

And a few photos here......

Arivee!