Lamballe

M's 50 year old clarinet needs attention, and his teacher here recommended taking it to either Lamballe or Rennes. I've been to Rennes recently, and Lamballe is half the distance (45 minutes drive), so we chose Lamballe. M was hoping to have it back in time for his last clarinet lesson on Wednesday.

We decided to try and make a day of it, and looked online to see what was nearby that was worth going to. We decided that Lamballe itself would be the right place. We found the shop very easily, and waited while the man inspected the clarinet, then pronounced his verdict. Oh la la! Even M wasn't expecting that much - and he has to wait until July to get it back again. Not much option though, so he reluctantly left it there.

We walked down the road, and I stopped to ask a man the directions for the town centre. "c'est là" he said, pointing all around him. Ah. A river runs throught he town, with occasional tudor-style buildings. We eventually found the main square, and bought a baguette sandwich lunch, which we ate in a park and children`s play area alongside the river. Alice soon made friends with a little girl, by doing all sorts of silly things to make the little girl laugh. On the see-saw for instance, she must have used about 20 different positions - on top, behind, underneath, sitting, standing, lying, kneeling, forwards, backwards, sideways, unspide down, hanging on etc. she did the same on all the apparatus, which the little girl loved. As she walked away, Alice did a funny walk whilst the little girl laughed and waved. I couldn`t help but sigh - I recognise the behaviour well :-)

The playground is on the right in the photo, between the trees.

We made a brief detour to see what seems to be a stable full of horses who do displays - dressage type of thing. However, everything was closed.

On the drive home, we stopped off at a big hypermarché to buy the Sunday lunch ingredients - M decided he'd rather eat in for Father's Day. I found some nice summer shoes. The best thing about French shoes is that they fit my skinny feet! Anything I buy in Guernsey or the UK are like boats on me :-)

It wasn't long after getting home before there was a knock at the door. Nicolas. How Alice loves playing with Nicolas. Usually, play involves water and mud. Ugh.
They were playing quietly outside the front door, which I was thankful for whilst I busied myself inside. I thought it prudent to go and check after a while. No mud. Excellent. Beautiful purple and red water in jugs. Parfait. Lovely coloured petals all over the porch. Yeeessss.... Ah non! The roses! They both made a bowl-ful of lovely scented petals with a little water, and a jug full of coloured water. They were so pleased with themselves :-)

They then set up a "shop" outside the house (a large box served as the counter), trying to sell their special "hand-wash". At 4 o'clock there was another "cou-cou!" Little Ethan came to join them! He had to have some too of course. Alice found it difficult at times to tolerate his very young enthusiasm (for her "hand-wash" that she'd spent a long time making), but mostly they played together well. Théo also came and joined in later. I don't think they've had any customers yet (apart from me - 10 centimes each), in spite of making A4 posters and sticking them everywhere! I'll put a photo of them on my blog.