A lovely birthday week

Been a busy week with Hannah and my birthdays.  Thank you to all those who posted messages on facebook and txt and skyped us, lovely to hear from you all.  Hannah had a lovely day on Wednesday and got some lovely presents and cards.  We gave her a scooter which she is great at riding although I think I will need to get one too to keep up with her!  The children's school has a half day on Wednesdays which worked out well as we went and collected Jasper and Penelope at 12.30 (in my new little car).  We had pizza for lunch - which is challenging to cook in our convection microwave but it was okay.  It was a beautiful day so we went to the hotel swimming pool for the afternoon which was lovely and then played out on the lawn with all the other kids staying at the apartments.  For dinner we went to MacDonalds and learned that unlike in NZ the French don't make up burgers in GF bread even when you bring your own.  So when we took it to the table we just put the fillings into our own bread anyway.  Had a lovely evening out and Hannah had a lovely day.

Hannah opening her presents.

For my birthday I had booked for Hannah and I to go on a walking tour of Toulouse.  We dropped Jasper and Penelope off at school and then joined the throngs of early morning commuters on the motorway.  We got into town nice and early so James dropped us off and headed to work and Hannah and I went and sat in the Capitol square and had a very expensive coffee and juice.  We met up with Penny our guide and three others and started our walk.  We had a great time and it was so nice to learn a bit more about Toulouse's history and also to find out a bit more about the buildings.  The walk was 2 hours and 3km long so by the end Hannah was a bit tired.

The plan was for James to drive in and meet us for lunch and after eventually him finding a park we met in a restaurant above the Victor Hugo market.  James and Hannah had steak and chips of course and I had duck salad followed by Paella then a strawberry pie.  You might notice in the photo that the mussels are much smaller then ones in New Zealand!

After lunch James took Hannah home and I was left in the city for some much needed time out.  It was so lovely to just wander around the shops and quite a few were having sales which was great!  I managed to pick myself up a few bargains.   I even managed to find my way back to some of the shops that Penny had pointed out that morning on our walking tour.

So that James didn't have to come back in and get me I decided to try out the Toulouse public transport system.  I managed to find my way to the train station got a ticket and then found out by asking that I was actually catching a bus!  Made it to the bus stop in time and even though it was slow due to the traffic got dropped off just round the corner from our house so nice and handy.  James had cooked dinner which was a nice treat, so a lovely day.

This morning Hannah and I went and met the Principal of the International School as she is taking our application to the school Board this afternoon.  So hopefully we will hear that she can go and she can start in a week or so.  Will let you all know!