Do you remember the gigoteuse that Cath made for Iris?

Apparently Alma wanted to try it out.

On Thursday we went to see the next house on the list. It was on the same road as the last one but a bit nearer Aix.

It was a very nice house, in need of a little TLC. But we really hit it off with the landlord who said he would love to rent it to us and that he wasn’t interested in our dossier which was very helpful.

Because of France’s love of la paperasse most landlords insist on a lot of paperwork before they even consider you as a candidate.

We did go and see one more house in Aix which was very nice but not in the nicest location.

So we agreed to take the house in Venelles we went for a coffee in the picturesque town square to celebrate.

Once again it was off to the south to look at some potential new homes – and this time we were actually going to go inside some of them.

First stop was a flat inside a converted chateau.

It was in Lançon-Provence. It looked nice from the outside and the views were amazing.

But once inside it was a different story. There had been a leak so part of the flat was being redecorated but the rest of it was pretty shabby. It was a no.

Next up was a lovely house in Le Puy Sainte Reparade.

It was definitely a contender. We had two more to see the next day.

Just before we arrived in Aix-en-Provence to look at some houses to rent, Hanna gave birth to Iris.

There were a few last minute complications so Iris was born by caesarean section on 9 April.

We arrived the next day so took the chance to pop round and see our latest petite niece.

She is absolutely adorable.

Swim number two today in an almost deserted piscine du Rhône.

Very nice indeed.

Here’s a clue.

Et qu’est ce qu’elle a mangé?

Elle avait mal au ventre.

I hope Alma likes this as much as my boys – and indeed I did.

So skip hire in Lyon – when you need to renovate a flat. I guess you have to do it like this – with une grue and une benne.

But there is another way- put la benne at the top of la grue – et voilà.

That should save some time!

I bought one of these:

And went for my first swim since the summer in the Piscine du Rhône.

Here’s to a few more in the coming weeks.

While in Switzerland we went to visit a couple of interesting places.

Gruyeres – the home of the cheese – is a very beautiful hill-top village where there is a lot of fondue on the menus.

We ate a cheese-based lunch and then bought some cheese and some clotted cream.

We then visited Vevey – on Lake Geneva – and the home of Nestlé.

It was also home to Charlie Chaplin in the last years of his life so Charlot is everywhere.

And there was also this:

Apparently the eight metres of stainless steel reflect the serenity of Lake Geneva.

The 27th wedding anniversary is marked by sculpture so it seemed fitting.

Especially this one – les amoureux.

To celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary we went to Montreux in Switzerland- which I had read was a romantic city break.

Of course, as it’s on the shores of Lake Geneva – au bord du lac leman – it was beautiful.

And this fellow was very much in evidence.

Queen recorded a lot of their albums here and Freddie lived in Montreux.

Montreux is in Switzerland and so there were some differences.

This is la quittance not le ticket.

And plugs look like this:

So we had to buy another adapter.