Centre de Loisirs, doctors and ambulances
As we no longer have the luxury of Alex having most of the summer off ("Too much to be done on the house! Got to get on with it before the winter!") and we no longer have any local friends to swap play dates with (still so miss that), the kids are going to have to go to the Centre de Loisirs for a few days over the HUGE summer holiday as I will still have work to do, plus they will drive us mad if they are at home all the time. The French are very well geared up for this though with most towns and even some villages running play schemes which apparently vary as to how good they are. I went to find out about our local one yesterday and it looks quite good - run in a big house outside of town with grounds and a pool etc and lots of nice-sounding activities - so hopefully they will like it. Remarkably good value compared to the UK too - they don't even charge extra for lunch or the trips they do. I think if I had got my child benefit sorted out (which I haven't quite) it might be even cheaper.
The woman in the office was very helpful and gave me some forms to fill in (of course) along with a long list of bits of paper I need to be able to sign the children up. These included a note from the doctor to say they are fit to go and have had their vaccinations and what basically amounts to public liability insurance. This is apparently standard in France with household cover but as our cover is with a UK company we don't have it so I have had to buy it. Fortunately it is quite cheap but we are all now insured should be do anything....in fact I'm not really sure exactly what it insures but the woman in the insurance office seemed quite incredulous that we didn't have it.
That done, we went to the doctors. It was my first time there and I was quite prepared for a barrage of questions about where the kids had had their jabs and when and probably needing officially translated proof etc but actually he just shook us all by the hand, asked me if they had had all their vaccinations etc, checked Livi's grommets, walked us to the door and didn't even charge us! Really nice.
So I was delighted at how much admin I had achieved so quickly and easily on my little trip into town - I'd even remembered puzzle books to keep the kids quiet at the docs. Only problem was - before we'd left Alex had started the car to put the aircon on for us as it had been left out in the sun (isn't that sweet?) before I got in and drove into town. It was only when I tried to lock the car I realised I didn't have my key. So this is a slight failing of these magic keys which aren't really keys (which otherwise I have to say I think are brilliant) - you can drive away without actually having one with you. I'd also managed to forget my phone, which I almost never do, and don't know Alex's mobile, or the home number, off by heart. Even if I did he was mowing the lawn this afternoon so probably wouldn't have heard the phone. So I asked the woman in the insurance office if she had a number for a taxi and she gave me the name and number of one the local ambulance drivers.
It turns out the ambulance service does taxis too. So we walked to their office and came back in one of their ambulances, which gave Alex quite a shock.
