Mother Has Arrived!

Mother holding my homemade crepes

French manicures at "Le Institut Mireabeau"

Mumsy with a very frenchie sign

Us at Book In Bar

A Christmas day walk in the park, I was talking during the picture

Mother is such a pro at the market now!

The pensive shopper

A spot of herbal tea at Book In Bar

Just us and the books!

Mother wasted no time diving into the French way of eating..!

It was a dark and stormy night... just a few days before Christmas, and mother's flight was set to arrive from Frankfurt, Germany at the Marseille-Provence airport around 6pm. It was raining cats and dogs in the torrential fashion common to southern France...not exactly ideal flying weather.

Donning my new rain boots and peacoat, I made my way to the "gare routiere" (bus station) to catch the shuttle and make the 30 min ride to Marseille from Aix.

I arrived about an hour before mumsy's flight arrived ( it was a few minutes late due to weather) and proceeded to wait with the other anxious persons there at the gate where passengers were to be met by their respective parties.

Mumsy came barrelling through the automatic double doors, suitcases in tow, ready to embark on her adventure in the south of France! We spent the next hour riding home and trekking the 20 minutes to my house through the windy cobblestone streets that were soaked with moisture, and it continued to pour.

The last few days have been a blur of shopping, eating and talking..what mothers and daughters do best! We have been cooking up a storm (thanks to my new found Julia life), shopping at the market, picking up gifts for the family, and mum has been attempting to speak French with real live French people!

I have taken her to all my favorite spots in Aix, like Book In Bar (my favorite English bookstore), Les Thes Anglaise (my favorite tea shop), Paul ( my ultimate favorite patisserie) and we even got French manicures in France!

Mumsy has taken quite a liking to macaroons, madelines and nutella crepes.

Tomorrow we head to Geneva, Switzerland for a vacation in the frozen north that includes a cable car ride into the Swiss Alps to see the Matterhorn-trademark to Toblerone chocolate.