Dublin! (with a stop in Paris)

I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with some good friends in Dublin for a gathering the first weekend of October organized through the website we all frequent. I had found out about the trip in 2014 and immediately asked Carlos if I could go - it had been ages since I had seen some of them, and I had always wanted to go to Dublin. Fortunately everything worked out, and I was able to get cheap tickets through Aer Lingus. And since some of my friends were going to be flying via Paris, a few of us arranged to meet and stay there and then fly out together.

View of Paris (and Eiffel Tower!) from Tour Montparnasse.
It was neat to see the Paris skyline with the Eiffel Tower
instead of from it.

St Sulpice. The last time I had been they were renovating
the façade - it was so nice to see it without tarps and
scaffolding!

Luxembourg Gardens

The Panthéon. Sadly we arrived
minutes after the last entry slot. Oh
well, there's always next time!

Instead, we went just a few streets over to Eglise St Etienne-
Du-Mont. Beautiful stonework and stained glass!

Shrine to relics of St Geneviève

For a random visit, it was pretty spectacular!

A funky building not far from Notre
Dame

Windy!

Couldn't resist.

Panoramic view in Trinity College courtyard

One of the buildings at Trinity College

No pictures of the Book of Kells,
but the Trinity College Library
made up for that!

What an amazing room. The smell of old books, the sense of
being somewhere that knowlege was almost tangible...
an amazing place!

Selling cockles and mussles with
Molly Malone

Oh, Dublin

The famous Temple Bar

Anyone remember this Guinness ad?

Free pints! We also did the Guinness
tasting workshop, which I enjoyed.
It was neat to learn the right way to
drink Guinness to be able to enjoy
it properly

Yum. Best pint I ever tasted. They
do say that Guiness tastes better in
Dublin - I definitely enjoyed it.

The White House? Where the Irish President lives

Ha'Penny Bridge

Floor tiles in St Patrick's Cathedral

Beautiful

Banners and hatchments of the Knights of Saint Patrick,
an order founded in 1783

The brass lectern shows an eagle atop
a globe. Is it sad I immediately thought
of Dumbledore's lectern in the Great Hall?

I had a great time in Dublin, though I wish I could have had more time to visit other sights AND spend time with my friends. Fortunately there are direct flights from Bordeaux to Dublin, so perhaps I'll be able to go back again sometime and explore some more!

September

We had quite a mix of weather conditions in the month of September, as you will see by the photos below. Overall it was a much warmer month than usual, which meant lots of time outdoors. Aimy had a lot of fun at school, though the teacher was a bit concerned about her language skills and suggested that she have a little bit of extra help twice a week after the October holidays. The idea didn't bother us, since she loves school and her teacher. Alixe tried to stay in Aimy's classroom a few times - I think she'll be happy to start school herself next year.

Hot enough to get out the pool!

Mid-month we had a very windy few days and extreme
tides, so we went to check out the beach.

Low tide and foam, looking up at
the hotel on the dune

Foam and clouds

More warm and sunny days

Aimy loves getting her feet wet

Eating leafy greens! A dream come
true.

Lots of giggles

Another windy day at the beach...
my little Audrey Hepburn out for
a stroll

Back to School

Summer went by so quickly and suddenly it was time to go back to school. It was hard to get a good picture of Aimy on September 1st, since she was so excited about going back that she couldn't keep still! Her new teacher is very nice and understanding about some of the slight language difficulties Aimy had at the beginning of the school year, and my little munchkin was always happy to go to her new class with her new teacher and some of her old classmates.

Back to school outfit!

All smiles

With her shirt on over the dress

First rainy day of the school year and
super proud to be wearing her new
coat (and to be carrying my umbrella)

First activity at school

Aimy's coat peg. She made the
label herself!

While Aimy was at school,
Princess Alixe and I got to play...

... and sometimes work too! Nice to have
someone else do the dishes for a change.

Summer's End

Here are a few more photos from the end of the summer!

At the playgrond near Carlos's school

More fun times at the beach

Ready to run my first 10K!

Aaand finishing! 10km on sand and pavement. I hadn't trained
as much as I should have but I still had a blast... and
turned around and signed up for another race!

Princess Aimy

And since Aimy believes in duality,
her sister, 'Prince' Alixe.