So usually after a party you end up nibbling party food and cake for about a week, but after Mathilda's birthday we had a rather tighter schedule to stick to, as we were off to France a not much more than a day later. We mostly spent the day packing and tidying up, eating cake and tucking things in the freezer, and then snuggled off to bed as soon as we could, to max out on sleep before a very early start the next day.
We got dressed rather bleary-eyed at about 2:30am, but soon woke up when we stepped out of the front door into a mad howling gale and driving rain. We were then buffeted all the way round the M25 to Gatwick and then once in the car park, had to load Mathilda into her pushchair, struggle on our coats and bags and traipse across miles of car park to the bus stop, all in pitch darkness and the continuing raging storm.
Mathilda was completely unphased by the whole thing and sat quite happily in her chair sucking her fingers, while I suffered a sort of hysteria attack and got the giggles so hard I could hardly breathe.
Anyway, we made it to Bordeaux in one piece and just in time for lunch with my grandparents, and then wiffled south down through the vines and tiny crumbly villages until we got to my parents house, where the first thing we did was to stretch our legs and take in the gorgeousness of our surroundings!
I picked a teeny posy of violets to welcome the house and then had to keep going over every five minutes to sniff their sweet scent.
Although it wasn't brilliantly warm, it certainly was nicer than what we'd left behind in England, and even warm enough to sit outside with bare legs!
Mathilda had such a lovely time spending all day, every day with her Daddy, hurrah for holidays!
We spent most of our time in the garden, and the chillier days were a perfect excuse for Mathilda to wear the gorgeous jumper my mum knitted for her first birthday. It is beautiful! I amused myself making daisy chains for my little chubby fairy, I can't wait to teach her to make them herself!
Then all too soon it was time for Ed to go back to work, and although we were lucky enough to be staying on a bit longer, we waved a rather sad goodbye and almost wished we were going home with him too...
We celebrated his last day with an enormous piece of steak cooked over a fire of home grown wood and a huge pile of homemade chips.
The weather perked up a bit after the first week and we were treated to gorgeously warm sunny days, clear blue skies and the heady scent of the lavender bushes in the sunshine.
Mathilda loved playing in the grass, discovering mud, poking beetles, playing with sticks, picking all the daisies and tasting interesting looking things...
We took a couple of picnics in the field - ambling through the orchard and down the whispering avenue of dancing silver birch to a clearing ringed with crabapples. It's all hidden away and secretive and feels like you have quite suddenly been whisked away to the middle of nowhere.
Mathilda came over all sleepy and had to have a rest while we set up the picnic things.
Although a bit chilly to start with, once the sun came out it was roasting!
We had bread and cheese and hard boiled eggs with mayonnaise, radishes and a beetroot salad, and delicious creme brulees and tiny wafer biscuits to finish; all very French and very delicious!
We went wandering down the lane one evening and Mathilda picked buttercups and held them tightly in her fat little hands.
When we got back and had put her to bed we were treated to the most beautiful sunset which lit up the trees in an amber glow against the grey clouds.
'Red sky at night; shepherd's delight' rang true and the next day was perfect! Clear blue skies and something around 25 degrees in the sunshine, perfect for starting my tan and warm enough for Mathilda to play in the garden in the shade.
It was even warm enough for post-bath cuddles in the evening sunshine!
We had a few days of beautiful weather which culminated in a mad changeable day, with moments of bright sunshine broken by threatening clouds rolling in, bringing rain and hail and ominous rumbling thunder.
It was a bare legs and galoshes sort of day, full of sudden rushes indoors to shelter from the rain. It built to a spectacular storm that night and we sat in the warm darkness and watched the lightening dance across the sky.
We went home refreshed and ready to get back to normal life again, taking our souvenirs with us - a gentle tan for me, a Gallic shrug for Mathilda...
