Xmas 2012 in France with family. First impressions

The 2.5 hour wait at Kuala Lumpur, for our connecting flight to Paris, is stressful... I barely sleep but the girls manage a nice balance between sleep and on-board entertainment; as adaptable as ever those two (we are soooo lucky!). Our first impression at Roissy CDG is pleasant, at 6:30 am on the 19 Dec 2012 the customs and immigration staff are welcoming, polite, relaxed and even laugh a little ! Things are easy and clear, everything is well sign posted and organised... We get to the TGV station with the free airport shuttle; again nice and easy. It's cold, not freezing cold, but still we are thankful for the warm clothe we carried in our suitcases. The first local croissant and pain au chocolat are a treat! But the railway station is crowded, we can't find a seat in the "salle d'attente" and have to resort to a less comfortable bench in a draft. We are not shocked that everyone speaks French, it's a good feeling of returning to "normality". The TGV is a bit of a disappointment, not as flash and high tech as I remembered... just a fast train. But it's bang on time and as fast as ever. At Le Mans, we first slept and then met up with Benoit's cousin who procured our car for us; a "grand picasso C4". A good family car that is perfect for travelling through France and Europe but scary to drive in Paris... Insuring the car for the following day trip was a little bit of a challenge but we managed it. Of course we had our first good family diner to be followed by many others... Then, Benoit drove the 800 Kms to Perpignan, on the 21st, with us four and Réjane to celebrate Xmas. The grannies (Réjane and Marthe) and Jean-Louis had a great time with their gran-daughters while we re-adjusted easily to the environment. People were all nice, talkative, they seemed relaxed and happy!!! Not the grumpy froggies we had braced ourselves for... What a relief. We stayed in Canet-Plage until the 27th and had time to go for a picnic on the beach (I join proof below), to visit a medieval cloister and village (an architecture which we had missed so much in NZ), to go shopping for the girls (La FNAC was as crowded as the Eden park during the RWC), to eat, drink, eat and drink and eat and drink and... On Xmas day we were even graced with the presence of my aunt, uncle and cousin Jean-Pierre (from Barcelona) and had food and presents galore.

Back in Le Mans, Santa was still hyper active but we had time to eat, drink, eat and drink and eat and drink and... The girls met up with their gran-cousins Megane, Julien and Dylan; nearly teenagers, how exciting! They had a lot of success interpreting Maori and English songs. The integration had started and was on the right track...

On Dec 29th in the morning we readied ourselves to go back to our tiny, empty, apartment in Paris but with a view of the Eiffel tower (our selling point for the girls)... We called our best friends to let them know to expect us very, very soon now... That's when we got the worst possible news from one of our closest friend: their eldest son (22 years old) had died a few hours ago, in his sleep, from a heart failure. We tried to keep our spirits up in front of the girls but we went back "home" with a heavy heart, a knot in the stomach and the deepest anxiety in empathy with our friends pain and loss. 29 December, what a sad day.