Silent Sunday - May 31st 2015

Pround Parent Moments

Posted by Rosie

Amongst the boring everyday moments and the fights to get the homework done, there are moments that make you very proud as parents:

Like when Ben came home and said he has the lead part in the school play to be performed next year ... not bad for the only English boy in his theatre group.

And when Tom came home and announced he would be singing a solo in the same production.

Yesterday we had another proud parent moment.  It was a Bank Holiday in France and time for the large annual cross country event at Montilly-sur-Noireau.  Athletes from all over the region and of all ages come to take part in a range of cycling, running, horse and even canine events.  Last year Tom ran the 1.8kms for the first time and came ....well shall we say we had to wait a while after the winners for him to arrive and only a few followed him into the finish.  He did say that without spiked shoes he was slipping but admitted he was somewhat our of his league.  

At the start this year - Tom's in there somewhere

This year it was all a bit different and he came about 20th out of some 60 runners and was a completely different athlete.  His sprint at the end was fantastic and he left the girl he was next to way behind.

Tom's sprint finish

Tom - you did brilliantly and at this rate of improvement you'll be in the top 5 next year!  We are very proud of you.

Proud or not, I do have to admit that the stars of the day may well have been one man and his dog.  After Tom's event came the Cani-Cross which is cross country running with your dog.  Put a special harness on your dog, attach him to your waist, teach him to understand the commands right and left (or droite and gauche if you are France) then run 5 times round the course without getting dragged through the mud, distracted by the sausage and baguette stall or wrapped around a post.  This is cani-cross and the man below and his rather gorgeous dog were the stand out masters of this sport having already overtaken some of their opponents on lap 1.  Man and dog in perfect harmony.  They were a joy to watch and neither man nor beast looked even slightly puffed!  Great running and great fun to watch.

Cani-Cross

Womens Rugby World Cup 2014

England have beaten Ireland in the Semi Finals earlier this evening and Canada just (and against the odds) beat France.  Both were very exciting semi-finals.  Follow this link to find out about the event - RWCWomens.

 

So lets hope for an exciting final on Sunday in Paris at the fantastic Stade Jean Bouin. Canada and England drew in the pool stages so it should make for a good match.  And even better Tom, Ben and I, and our friend Ian, will be there - I bought tickets a few weeks ago.  So I'm really excited now.  

The Amazing Stade Jean Bouin

We get to see three matches as the teams are seeded.  The first match is between the USA and New Zealand (who have won the last three World Cups and against the odds knocked out this time round).  The second is for the third and fourth place play off between Ireland and France and finally the final. Did I say England are in that? 

I must admit having watched earlier pool matches I thought it was going to be a France v Ireland final.  How wrong can you be? Then after England beating Ireland I thought England were going to play France. But Canada played a brilliant game and overcame France to get to the final for their first time.

Having been to this stadium before I know the atmosphere will be great and a fun day will be had.

Good Luck to England

Word of the Week - Performance

Posted by Rosie

performance

pərˈfôrməns

noun

an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment.

With the school and sports years drawing to a close here in France, Simon and I have been party to a whole host of performances of one sort or another over the last week or so.

A serious and rather nervous Tom

First there was Tom's school choir and theatre show in the local cinema. Being English and trying to understand a somewhat odd story rather mumbled by young actors did make this a bit of a non-event for us. The singing was however a lot better ... if only Tom had smiled!  He said he was nervous, poor lad, this being the first time he has sung in front of so many people.

Sunday again saw Tom in the limelight.  He had qualified to represent Normandy in the 50m hurdles at Vire.  There were 3 heats and he won his in his best time to date.  Well run that lad!  However under the French system it is the fastest 7 who qualify for the final and despite winning he was 8th in speed so missed the final.  But winning in his best time was a brilliant performance!

Tom, second from right, about to win his heat

Both Monday and Thursday saw Tom performing again.  Monday was his music theory show where he sang (looking serious!) and Thursday his saxophone show ... where again he looked serious!  In fairness though, I think you always look a bit serious when playing a saxophone!  Despite the seriousness he did well at both and proved you do not need musical parents to be able to sing and play an instrument.

Tom, right, playing saxophone

The week is however not without a performance from Ben as he will be acting in the show his school is putting on for the school fête on Sunday.  He's really looking forward to it.  We rather think we may not understand much of it!

Have you been to any performances this week?   Or have you performed in any?  Please do let us know in a comment.

Thrill Seeking in Normandy!

Posted by Rosie

One of the things we most pride ourselves on here at Eco-Gites of Lenault is offering our guests peace and quite, time to relax and get away from it all for a while.  We have no immediate neighbours (if you don't count the animals) and the nearest road is 300m away .... and it is incredibly quiet anyway!

But what if you are looking for something a bit more exciting?  What if you want to get your heart racing?  Fear not, we can oblige.  Well, not us personally but around and about there is plenty to do that will get the adrenalin pumping thorough your veins.

Horse riding 

There are 2 local riding stables where you can walk, trot or canter round the local footpaths or why not head up to the beach at Ouistreham where you'll get to gallop along the beaches?  Guests last year said it was the most invigorating ride they had ever had!

Photo from Calvados Tourism

Mountain biking 

Bring your own bike or you can hire them in Clécy and enjoy the ups and downs of our beautiful Normandy countryside.

Kayaking and Canoeing 

If water sports is your thing you can canoe or kayak on both rivers and lakes locally.  For children under 8 you can take the more gentle route of pédalos, rowing or even electric boats! 

Rock climbing

On the cliffs above Clécy there are a number of marked ascents you can do - bring your ropes etc and up you go!

Via Ferrata cliff walk and zip wire 

If you don't have your own climbing gear then why not do the cliff-side walk also at Clécy - climb up narrow ladders set into the cliff and then across the cliff face on a series of rope and plank walk getting back to ground level via a 250m zip wire.  It sets my heart racing just thinking about it but the boys, friends and Simon all had a go last Summer and said it was fantastic!

Tree top walks 

For more high walking what about a treetop walk?  There are various locations locally where routes have been set high up in the tops of the trees and those a bit lower down for younger children, so you can to feel like our ancestors up in the tree tops (with the added benefit of ropes to clip you safely on!).  A great family outing for those who like heights!

Viaduct de Souleuvre 

Here things are a bit more serious!  For everyone there is a giant toboggan run - 1km long where you can reach speeds of up to 42kms per hour.  For the more daring souls what about the 2 giant swings over 60m above the ground where you can swing from 0-120 km/phr in 3.5 seconds?  However possibly the biggest attraction at Souleuvre is bungee jumping.  For those foolish brave enough you can throw yourself off the Viaduct down to the river blow with nothing more than a giant piece of knicker elastic to save you! Would you do it?

Photo from AJ Hackett

Paragliding

Or what about what may be the ultimate thrill and what one of our guests this weekend did - paragliding at Saint Omer!  This is possibly the world's most appallingly edited video but I think you'll get an idea of what you could be doing if you had a go.  Are you brave enough to try?

If thrill seeking is what you are after then there is plenty to do in Normandy.  Some of these activities have age restrictions and others are for adults only but a lot (riding, biking, tree top walks, boating and the giant toboggan) are possible even with very young children.

Do you enjoy thrill seeking?  Have you set your heart racing doing any of these activities?  Please do let us know!  

And to book a holiday at Eco-Gites of Lenault head over to our Gite website right now!! http://www.eco-gites.eu/

How did Tom do (Part Four)?

Posted by Rosie

And here we are with the final instalment of seeing how Tom, now aged 12,has succeeded with the National Trust's list of "50 things to do before you are 11¾".  Links to Part One to Three are here, here and here.  So far he has managed 31/38.  What will his final score be?  Let's see:

39.  Catch a crab - I have plenty of memories of Tom trying to catch crabs along with plenty of dead ones handed to us on beach days. As for catching a real live one I don't think he has.  A NOPE then.

40.  Go on a nature walk at night - he has often walked at night and without any street lights here that can be very dark indeed, but he has never done a proper night nature walk so another NOPE.

Planting out marrows (Tom at back)

 41.  Plant it, grow it, eat it - oh yes - in fact if you look on the previous blog post there is both a very young Tom helping to plant his first courgette plant and a slightly bigger one harvesting pumpkins he helped to grow.  This year he has some tomato seeds to sow and grow on.

42.  Go wild swimming - rather more times than I care to remember - Tom seems to have an affinity for water!

43.  Go rafting - he has done plenty of water based things but never gone rafting so another NOPE.

44.  Light a fire without matches - and a NOPE here.  I am not sure he has even laid and lit the woodburner although Ben often does this.

45.  Find your way with a map and compass - he has had a go at orienteering so a yes this time.

Extreme bouldering at Clécy Via Ferrata

46.  Try bouldering - this is one of his favourite activities.  A walk once around nearby Clécy that was supposed to be along the river bank had us all scrambling up the boulders at the base of the rock climbing cliffs with Tom and Ben scampering ahead like mountain goats and a friend and I struggling to keep up in less than suitable shoes!  There are also plenty of places to go bouldering near Sally, his aunt in Derbyshire.

47.  Cook on a campfire - I am only just getting Tom vaguely interested in cooking in a kitchen.  He has never cooked on a campfire but does  like to be in control of the BBQ when that is lit.  I still think that is a NOPE though.

Just before abseiling back down!

48.  Try abseiling - this he has done.  Having started out a nervous rock climber he now has much more confidence and abseils back down quite happily after he has reached the top of the wall.  He also loves the treetop and cliff side walks you can do around here, especially the one called Via Ferrata at Clécy with a 250m rope slide at the end.

49. Find a geocache - this is another thing he has never done but something we would like to do this year - he enjoys map reading and a puzzle and there are a few geocahes around here. Still counts as a NOPE though!

50.  Canoe down a river - yes.  There's a blog about it here!

****************

Right he was on 31.  Let me count up:

Drum roll please ..... and Tom's final score is 39/50 .

I think that is a score he can be very proud of.  We never set out to complete the list and in fact only first read it about a year ago.  However I think it is a good list to try and achieve with a broad enough range of things to do that all ages can get involved.  Have you been ticking things off?  Do let me know how you are getting on.

Ski 2014 - Les Deux Alpes

I took the boys to Les Deux Alpes for our annual ski holiday and we had a great week, without any major mishaps.  One of the reasons, apart we all liked Les Deux Alpes, was that the boys wanted to go back on the Ice Gliders (Les Deux Alpes 2011). 

After last years end to the holiday (La Tania 2013) we were all a little concerned about how Ben would be going back skiing. So we went down to the Alps to get a day of skiing in before the boys lessons started. We hit the slopes and within seconds two boys were flying off down the piste.  As for concerns - well it was around the point when Ben says let's do this jump, let's go down here, let's go off piste that I thought to myself what was I meant to be concerned about?

So apart from Ben losing his ski pass on the first day the only major break we had was the corkscrew in the apartment snapping - what a disaster!  The weather was sun all week, apart from the final day.  The snow was good, although the lower slopes were a little slushy in the afternoon.  We all had lessons.  Mine were mostly off-piste which I thoroughly enjoyed, with a good group of like minded skiers.  Tom passed his gold badge but unfortunately Ben did not pass his bronze, but the important thing was he had a good week skiing.

And for Tom suddenly things clicked for him on the last day. Body in correct position, facing down hill, parallel. He really looked good - I was over the moon. He still needs to have more up and down motion (as does his father) but it was a great overnight improvement.

The boys missed the Ice Gliders as they had problems with the batteries holding the charge, which was a shame.  Otherwise we had a successful week - well apart from the corkscrew!

Ben's Back .... Skiing

Posted by Rosie

Just over a year ago I received a phone call from Simon who was skiing in the Alps with Tom and Ben.  It is the sort of phone call no parent ever wants to receive.

"I am in Courcheval Medical Centre and errrmmm - Ben may have broken his back."

That was the point that the bottom dropped out of my world.  In the microseconds after he said that I was already planning who could care for the animals, whether I would be better driving, flying or taking the train to the hospital and would it be possible to convert our 200 year old farmhouse into a wheelchair friendly abode.  Because that is what your brain does when you hear that sort of a sentence.

"However," he carried on "it shouldn't be as bad as it sounds.  If it is broken it is only a hairline fracture and he'll be fine."

Brain - you can stand down for a while.

It turns out that he had indeed fractured 2 vertebrae in his middle back.  He had gone on to the side of the piste but where he had skied the day before quite safely but a mild spell overnight had melted the snow leaving a large hole that he skied into.  No-one knows exactly what happened but we suspect he went in head first and his legs went over his head putting too much strain on his spine. A freak accident that was no-one's fault.  And according to a friend who is a specialist in children's spines, it is VERY rare for them to fracture.

He returned home safely 2 days later, albeit sore and for the next 6 weeks was only allowed to sit for very short periods.  The rest of the time he had to stand or lie down.  Exercise of any sort was kept to a minimum.  Only after the 6 weeks and when he was given the all clear after a scan was he allowed to restart gentle activity.   He still wasn't allowed to join in with the roller-skating that the school had as their main PE activity in the summer term and trampolining was off  the agenda until the summer holidays.

Simon, Tom and Ben heading to the slopes - March 2014

Now I am glad to say he is none the worse for the injury.  And where is he as I type?  He's back in the Alps with Simon and Tom on their annual skiing holiday.  Should we have stopped him going in case he fell again and sustained another injury?  No, of course not. He wanted to go (although he did admit to being a bit nervous) and they are having a great time.  He will have learnt to read the slopes and weather conditions better and he may well be a better skier because of it.  As for me - I am also slightly nervous but I know I cannot stop him doing something that he (and Tom and Simon) absolutely adore.

If you want to see what other kids have been up to this week (hopefully no more injuries), click on the Let Kids be Kids Link below. 

Tom's Cross!

Posted by Rosie

No - Tom isn't cross but he has just completed a cross-country event that the French simply call "Cross".  November 11th is  Bank holiday in France and every year on this date there is a large cross country event at Montilly, half way between Condé-sur-Noireau and Flers.  Tom went a couple of years ago when he ran about 800m with the youngest runners.  This time he was with the older group of children born in 2001 and 2002 and the race had increased to 1.8km.  However he has already done this length twice recently, first at school and second at a school event last week so was not worried.

Tom near the finish

Tom is a good runner but not as good as some of those competing and he wasn't quite up there with the winners. Nor was he last though and he finished in a very respectable 8 minutes.  He kept a very constant pace throughout and said he thoroughly enjoyed it.  We now probably now need to look into getting him some better cross country running shoes as he was slipping in the wet conditions underfoot in his ordinary trainers and reckoned he could have done better with the right footwear.

Canicross competitors raring to go

Cross-country running was not the only discipline taking place at Montilly yesterday.  There was also a cross-country walk, mountain biking, cross-country horse and carriage driving and Canicross.  Canicross is something I had seen once before on TV (possibly Countryfile) but yesterday we got to see if for real.  Basically it is cross country running with your dog.  Your dog is attached to you with a harness and you run together shouting right and left to your dog as required. Any dog can take part so long as it is willing to run at a similar pace to you and can learn the basic commands of left and right .... oh and not get in a scrap with another dog at the start which did happen briefly yesterday!

Terrier (although not the third placed one)

About 30 runners and dogs took off to run 5.4km - 3 times round the course that Tom had just finished.  They all took it quite seriously although after the first time round the course they were very spread out and there was definite cases of dogs who felt this was just a gentle stroll whilst there owners got slower!  In the lead was one very fit couple, a man running with a large Pointer type dog and boy could they cover the ground.  When they finished, far in front of the rest of the pack, they had lapped many of the other competitors.  Second the third were however much closer to each other and proved size was no handicap in canicross.  To be honest we didn't take too much notice of second place because we were busy watching the third placed runners .... a man and his very short-legged Jack Russell who was tearing along at a tremendous rate.  Goodness knows how many more paces that little fella had to have done compared to the much bigger first placed dog but I reckon on a level playing ground he'd easily beaten the Pointer. 

And in answer to the question some of you may now ask - No, I don't think we'll be taking up canicross with either Poppy or Saari - they do enjoy a bit of a run if they are playing or chasing something but running just because you ask them to is not something they do.  And as for teaching them left from right I rather suspect we would we on a hiding to nothing!