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Published: August 10th 2017
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Monday 17 - Thursday 20 July
Archamps, France
Today is a very special day - it is my demi-birthday!! I am 6 months old today. As you will see, it was a pretty special day, but I have to tell you that I spent parts of this day in three (3) different countries (Holland, Switzerland & France), sat in my first high chair and played for the first time in a cot. How cool is that!!! I also played in a pool for a little while, but that was a bit frightening ...
Travelling on trains and planes is now quite a familiar process for me. I don't have to do much, whilst mummy and daddy do all sorts of bag juggling and paper shuffling. Today was going to be a bit different, because it is my half year birthday and I am going to be in three countries & we are going to use a car again. The morning proved to be more interesting than usual, because someone (not mentioning any names), left a brown and white spotted bag on the train platform. When we got to Schipol airport, mummy and daddy did lots of talking with officials
and looked a little white in the face. When we were lining up for customs, daddy told mummy to look at the internet (rather than wait for a phone call) ... she was a lot happier after that.
We arrived in Geneva, Switzerland and went first to the Swiss car rental and then discovered we had to go the French side of the airport as we had booked a French car. We didn't get a car seat, sod mummy had to sit in the back with me - yay!! We just managed to fit all our bags in and drove to Geneva and to a place where mummy used to work at the Japanese Delegation to the Conference on Disarmament. But there was only one person Mummy knew still working there! She was surprised and a bit sad that her friends were no longer there as they had retired or left.
There was lots of traffic in Geneva, which gave mummy and daddy a lot of time to sort out the right way to go, and to reminisce about being in Geneva together some 20 years ago. Have they been together that long? Confusing!! Mummy was a little
nervous crossing the border from Geneva into France, but no one was at the border. Mummy had successfully remembered the way to Archamp, which was to be our home for 3 days. We arrived at a lovely spot amongst wheat and corn fields below a big mountain called the Salève. Apparently mummy lived there for a few months in 2000 when she first came to Switzerland. It is a very pretty area and the family who lives there very welcoming. We met Marie-Claire first, and went for a swim in their pool. It was the first time I had been in a pool and it was a bit scary at first, but then I got used to it and began some limited splashing on the shallow step. Apparently the pool was 28 degrees, but it felt really cold to me. Then Frédéric came home from work and joined us. He welcomed us by pushing mummy in the pool ... what a big splash!!
I got to play in a cot for the first time, and then was seated in a rigid white thing at the table. I'm like a real grown-up now. I was feed more bread, whilst everyone
else put bread on long forks and dipped them into a pot of cheese. Why can't I also do this "fondue" thing. We ate outside by the wheat field and it was very pretty.
The next day we left in the afternoon for a pretty French town called Annecy on a beautiful lake. It was an hour's drive and on the way we passed an old historic bridge over the river, but we didn't stop. Annecy was pretty but there were so many people and it was so hot! First we walked through the old town but I wasn't very happy because my second tooth was coming through so my gum was sore and mummy and daddy didn't even hold me - they put me in the pram. All the parking spots were full so we had to park quite far away and hurry back before the meter ran out. Next we drove around the lake to a beach by the water. It was full of people! But we found a grassy spot and while I slept mummy and daddy took turns to swim. I woke up just before we headed back.
When we arrived at the house,
it was about 8.30pm already and there were two girls there - Anne-Sophie who mummy knew as she is the daughter of Marie-Claire and Frédéric, and her girlfriend. Mummy remembered Anne-Sophie from when she was a teenager when she lived in Switzerland so she was very surprised to see her all grown up!
Anne-Sophie came back the next day to help her father sew some things inside the plane he is building. Apparently it is an Ultra Light - ULM. It took up the whole garage! Anne-Sophie has opened up her own business designing dresses so she is good at sewing.
We all had lunch together, but first, Mummy and Daddy wanted to climb a small mountain nearby called the Salève. It was very exciting as it was the first time I sat in a backpack! I stayed awake the whole time and had so much fun! We went up and up and even climbed up through a cave! When we got to the top, we had a beautiful view down over the small town of Archamps and beyond.
On Thursday we packed our things, left a bag with Marie-Claire and Frédéric, and drove to Carouge on
the outskirts of Geneva to meet mummy's Spanish friend, Sonia. Before we left, we went to a pizzeria but I was only allowed bread 😞
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