Edwin has been working for two days now and is absolutely loving it. He is inspired, challenged by the work and sees a good future career wise in this job. Thank God for that. 


The girls and I have been settling in to our new lives. We are staying in the Teneo Apparthotels in Talence, which are next to a huge 12 screen cinema.  Apart from the hideous stench of smoke in our room when we arrived, we are pretty impressed by the set up here. So, there is beautiful lobby and lift up to the first floor. In our apartment, there is a hallway with big sliding wardrobe and just off the hallway to the left, is a bathroom with shower and sink and a separate toilet. I am a little dismayed at the lack of bath for little Nina, but on the plus side, it is all really clean and pretty new.

Bathing Nina in the bathroom sink

The hall leads into the lounge and dining area, which is probably around 20 square metres and nice and light. There is a round table and five chairs. The sofa is sofa bed - not the most comfortable looking thing I've seen, but new all the same. A flat screen Tv and internet connection are a promising sight in the far corner. The window at the end covers the length of the room and has a good view of the world outside, the tram and an comings and goings of all the locals.

Out the front of the building and down some stairs, there is a boulangerie, which sells the best pâtisserie and bread that I have ever tasted. This is so convenient, but as we hope to be heading for a Paleo diet lifestyle change soon, I am glad we are going to be leaving it behind at some point!

The apartments and boulangerie 

There is a park just down the road - pretty small, but when you've had no access to pavements for nearly a year, even a small park is amazing! 

Well, like with any new place, it is going to take time to get used to the surroundings. Once all the little anomalies, like crossing the tram lines and dodging the cyclists, all becomes normal, I'm sure we'll feel a lot more settled.