Ou Est Le Metro?

"I feel so small," said Dylan, as he gazed up through the centre of the Eiffel Tower. Day one in Paris, and we had already covered a lot of ground in Montmarte, taken two metros, eaten lunch in a brasserie and walked up the Champs de Mars (where Dylan took a go-kart for a spin). But seeing the Eiffel Tower up close was definitely his highlight to date. We followed that up with a ride on a carousel and a boat trip down the Seine, before we collapsed in an exhausted heap in our Montmarte apartment.

Seeing Paris through Dylan's eyes was a rewarding experience. Suddenly we had the perfect excuse to get excited over the tourist haunts, eat endless pain au chocolat and crepes, and buy souvenirs of that famous tower. And, despite the cold winter weather and our lack of french language (I resorted to buying as many croissants as the french number that popped into my head), it was a reasonably child-friendly city. The many parks were filled with adventure playgrounds and unique kids activities - our favourite was pushing a toy sailboat around a fountain in the Tuilerries - and the Pompidou musuem offered a chance to run amuck surrounded by modern art.

The kids loved the food - apart from getting to eat chocolate for breakfast, the cafes and brasseries always offered a variety of frites, poulet, croque monsieur and of course crepes. And of course the metro, bendy buses and overground trains were the biggest hit of all with our two trainspotting boys.

"Look at that tiny village," exclaimed Dylan as our bus passed over the top of the famous Montmartre Cemetary. Definitely a fresh perspective on the mausoleums!

The only thing we would do differently is avoid Euro-Disneyland during French school holidays - the lasseiz-faire attitude to queue maintenance meant at least an hours wait for most rides, and most of them were not suitable for Sam in any case. But they got to see Mickey and friends, ride "it's a small world", a space rocket and the carousel, and see the princess parade through Sleeping Beauty's castle. Dylan, of course, loved it all - especially the Buzz Lightyear gift shop.

We were so lucky to stay with our friends Anais and Graham - although we worry we may have put them off having kids of their own. They treated us to a fantastic raclette feast with their friends ("don't drink any water or you may die!") and also a night out at a delicious local bistro while they babysat. We also had a lovely brunch with Pim, Victoria and their two gorgeous girls -baby Charlotte just 3 weeks old - which was a rare chance for Dylan and Sam to play with someone their own age.

Dylan's first "really foreign" country, and he loved it - I suspect the travelling gene may have been well and truly inherited!

Aga Love

There is one thing I will definitely miss when we eventually move home again, and that is the Aga.

It almost makes me wish it was miserably cold in Sydney for 10 months of the year, just so I could justify shipping one back with us. Almost.

Last night I spent a few educational hours at the Derby Aga Shop's cooking workshop. A mix of Aga inheritors (like me), brand new nervous Aga owners (who had just spent the equivalent of a new car on an oven) and die-hard Aga fanatics, we learned how to cook a fried egg directly on the hotplate and many other Aga miracles. James, a freelance Aga instructor (now, who even knew such a career existed?), had us enthralled with a foolproof way of cooking fluffy basmati rice - in the simmering oven - and a fat free full English breakfast. And we all enjoyed tasting the results - freshly baked bread, a leg of lamb, pizza, apricot brioche pudding... and the list goes on...

And as a result I am even more devoted than ever - and the proud owner of a Aga baking tray and rack that will never fit into my oven in Sydney, but I am sure will pay for itself with 6 months of roast dinners and full English breakfasts.

When I first started looking at country cottages with Aga ovens, I thought they looked quaint, but that I would never actually use it for cooking - far too dangerous and uncontrollable. An enormous cast iron stove with two small ovens and two enormous lidded iron hobs, no dials or controls... hardly state-of-the-art! And it is on all the time, running on kerosene - weird.

Now I love it for it's ability to create warmth in the kitchen (and heat our hot water system at the same time), miraculous laundry drying capabilities (stack wet washing on top of the hobs, rotate every now and then, and no need for a dryer!) and the way it cooks a baked potato to perfection. The kids love sitting around it in the various nooks and crannies - and it is surprisingly not dangerous with little ones (as long as they don't try to climb inside).

And although they look small, the ovens are a tardis within - I could fit 8 pans in them if I needed to, or actually had that many pans. Very simple - top oven very hot (for grilling and roasting), bottom oven not very hot (for simmering and stewing). Left hob very hot (for boiling), right hob not so hot (for simmering). And you never have to wait for it to heat up.

Here's a handy valentines hint from James - run a hot bath for your loved one, and pop a towel in the simmering oven for when they get out. Apparently if you want to get lucky, it is a sure-fire winner - are you reading this, Jason?

Getting an Aga is like taking up a hobby or collecting frogs - your friends will never run out of ideas for birthday presents, as there is an array of expensive kitchen accessories and Aga-branded domestic goddess apparel.

As I type a beef casserole is spending the day in the simmering oven. Bon appetite!

Night sledding with sheep

As the snow fell heavily this morning, I listened to BBC Derby radio for the list of school closures. Sure enough, just as we about to leave, Dylan's school came up and within seconds he happily exchanged his school uniform for his robin (as in batman &...) outfit.

Our wonderful new nanny, Vanessa, also couldn't make it through the snow as it had started in her area much earlier that morning. So I faced a day snowbound with the kids... instead of childfree shopping and errands in Derby as planned. Oh well.

A quick play outside confirmed that driving to Ashbourne for a playdate was impossible - the snow was already ankle deep along our country lane, untouched by ploughs or grit. Sam enjoyed himself for a while, until he fell accidentally into a face first snowangel, and remembered he didn't like snow as it is cold, wet and mushy. I had just enough time to build a small snowman for him, while Dylan valiantly scraped the snow off my car in a bid to prove we really could drive to his friend (big) Sam's house.

As the snow eased later that afternoon, we did manage to make the journey to town, where (big) Sam's sleds and toy snowploughs made Dylan's first snowplay experience much more enjoyable. He quickly prefected the art of throwing snowballs (at mum, mostly) while a reluctant (little) Sam was pulled around on a sled by his new girlfriend Lola.

On our way home we bought Dylan his own red plastic sled, but it was quite dark by the time we returned. Jason showed his "sledging" skills (as they call it here - honest) by hurtling himself down the slopes of the field next door. The last time the sheep moved that fast was during our Australia Day fireworks display!

It was beautiful driving beneath the snow covered branches and alongside the white fringed hedges, but I am crossing my fingers that school will be reopened tomorrow - as well as out Australia Day re-enactment assembly, we have a school disco to look forward to tomorrow evening! Dylan will of course be dressed as superman... and we are all having dinner at "big" Sam's house afterwards - the social highlight of my week! And I think I have had enough fun playing Ludo and snowplough emergency re-enactments with Dylan for now...

Culture Swap

Now that we have been here two months (already?) I have had a chance to reflect on the things we love, and are not so wild about, in our new homeland...

Things we like

• Free child care (nursery) for all 3 and 4 year olds – fantastic for early childhood education, shame it doesn’t apply to us as Sam is not quite old enough…
  
• Free medical prescriptions for all children on the NHS (and all doctors visits are bulk billed - grown ups too)


• Cheap flights - we are heading to Paris in two weeks time, at a cost of £30 each from Nottingham airport


• Playgrounds and kids menus at the country pubs


• Healthy kids meals and an abundance of organic food at the supermarket


• And on the subject of England's amazing supermarkets, a special mention for Ocado - delivers Waitrose (yummy gourmet) supermarket food to my fridge door, in colour coded bags so I know what is destined for freezer, fridge and pantry - all in a one hour timeslot

Things we have to live with

• English plumbing - although this house has been beautifully renovated, our en suite shower only runs scalding hot or freezing cold, and the main shower is more of a trickle. It’s a coin toss as to which is worse first thing in the morning


• Life without lattes... even if a Hopscotch Cafe was across the road, we would have to pay $5AUD for a very average cappuccino


• The price of petrol - £60 to fill the tank… ouch (that's AUD150 for a small sedan)


• The BT help desk - even though the problem is BTs, you have to pay by the minute for an Indian call centre to discuss it with you. Slowly.


• Mud - a problem specific to rural life, and the ruin of all my nice shoes

It's a toss up

• Driving on country roads - whizzing along the hills and dales at 50 mph is exhilarating. Getting stuck behind a tractor, not so great


• Although we miss the beaches... and sunshine, we are discovering enough things to do with kids to keep us busy for the next 26 weekends... including a fabulous steam train ride last Saturday, with Thomas pulling us back (pictured)


• Learning a new language - when you are invited around for tea, that means dinner (not bikkies and a cuppa). When you are invited over for dinner, that means lunch... And don't ask for zucchinis or eggplants in the supermarket (that's courgette and aubergine to you)

Tie me kangaroo down, sport

Ashbourne Hilltop Infants School is still recovering from Australia Day madness... Dylan's teacher has asked me if I could come in next week for a repeat performance for their Foundation Assembly!

Dylan was thrilled with the entire day (except the bit where an exhausted Jason and Sara sneaked out of his school for a quiet lunch). Hilltop Harry, our inflatable kangaroo friend, drove into school with us and caused quite a stir as soon as he emerged from the car.

Dylan's classmates were very enthusiastic in their discussion of Australian animals and listened patiently while I read them a story (Rosie & Mack head Outback). They were then rewarded with a clip on koala each (thanks, Dad), fairy bread and lamingtons. Fairy bread was a revelation to them - they have hundreds and thousands here but the idea of putting it on buttered white bread appears to be uniquely Australian.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Assembly, thanks to Mrs Pedlar (the music teacher). We managed to get the entire school (120 children under 7) singing "Kookaburra sits in the old gumtree" - in rounds. Mrs Pedlar then launched into an impromptu rendition of "tie me kangaroo down, sport" on the guitar, accompanied by a volunteer 2nd grader on wobbleboard (actually a piece of white cardboard) and Mrs Winbow (nursery teacher) on didgeridoo (a real one).

Jason, Dylan and I then did the rounds of the older classrooms, who had some very good questions for us to answer (do they have toy shops in Australia? what do you eat? is it very hot all the time?) Dylan was very confident in his answers (especially the questions about toys, his speciality)

When I picked Dylan up again this afternoon, his friends all farewelled him with a "g'day mate" in their best aussie accents, and his teacher handed me a huge bag of anzac biscuits, that the class had learned to bake that afternoon.

That night, we let a few fireworks off in the garden (they are legal here) - to the sound of bolting, terrified sheep and horses. There is something about being abroad that makes you feel "more Australian" - and it was wonderful that Dylan's school went to so much trouble to help us celebrate it.

One of Dylan's classmates has asked if he can celebrate "Germany Day" - but I wonder what his version of Hilltop Harry the inflatable kangaroo will be?