28/4 - Moving

I've already written this entry once sitting in the lobby of the BestWestern hotel here at Kingsman (see the entry for 6/5), using this PDA, with the intention of posting it directly on the internet. Only to lose it all - so this may be even terser than other entries written on the PDA.

Saturday morning we moved from our less than salubrious hotel inSannois (famous for windmills and Cyrano de Bergerac) to Krissolua andJean-Marc's place (also in Sannois). This was great for us - closer tothe family, more time to play with baby Barbara, a very nice house(even a soccer ball in the yard for Grant), and lots of interesting conversation. Flora, the third sister of the Marika-Krissoula-Flora triumvirate also came for a visit and overnight stay.

It was nice finally meeting all three sisters, whom I consider very different in personality. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Marika and Krissoula for the generosity they have shown us on this trip; but equally as importantfor contacting Maria all those years ago and making her aware of her father's side of the family. In many ways the genesis of this trip lies in those first communications.

The "anecdote of the day" concerns our minor adventure at the swimming pool with particular regard to its dress regulations. Jean-Marc swims each Saturday arvo for 1-hour, and he invited the kids and I along. Issue was, board shorts are not allowed, nor are rash tops. Its straight speedos for the guys, and a 1 or 2-piece for the girls. Ok for Zoe and I (no, I didn't wear a bikini) but not for Grant. First we asked the cloakroom attendant. No! Then we tried the higher authority of lifeguard. No! So in our speedos and dripping wet we needed to go out into the centre's lobby to buy Grant a pair from a vending machine. Guess what - not enough money. So back to the locker-room to get money.

The real strange thing is that with all this stricture about correct wear you'd expect a very "professional" swimming environment inside. By which I mean very skilled lap swimmers, roped off lanes with different speeds, etc. Nope - just one lane roped, people "swimming"all over the place, and almost no one doing (or appearing capable of) freestyle. Makes me realise that Australia's approach to swimming skills for the populace is probably way ahead of most countries. Ohhh, and the water was extremely chlorinated - I had red stinging eyes after a single lap.

That night it was a big family dinner, with Flora providing the dessert (something she is apparently famous for). One "nice result" for the day was that the airbed I have been carrying on Maria's behalf - one of the best travelled airbeds ever I suspect (Tokyo, Santorini, Athens, Paris) -finally got used (due to the large number of people staying in the house). It would be used for the 2 following nights before an even better outcome - we left it behind in France when we flew to the US. Yay.