The start of it all.

Caroline, Louis and Sacha arrived in Angers on September 2nd, 2011. Caroline was trailing an enormous suitcase, because Louis and Sacha are going to stay here until Christmas! She will come and visit them every other weekend, but during the week they will be going to school at St Agnès, about 20 minute's walk away. It was very hot, and we enjoyed a barbecue in the garden. Matthew and Lolita came round to join us.
The weekend was very busy, getting identity photos taken, marking names on all the school things (so much to pack into those new satchels!) and finding homes for all the clothes. Monday morning came round very quickly, and we arrived at school in plenty of time to have a word with the teachers. Sacha was very nervous, and a little tearful.

 Here he is with his teacher, Catherine Prieul:
The headmaster gave us a rousing talk, and the new foreign pupils were welcomed in English and Spanish! The school has several foreign pupils: there is an Australian family, a little Texan boy in Louis' class, a Brazilian family, and a Spanish family. The school is proud of its international status. Louis' teacher speaks fluent English and German, and Louis will be learning a few words of German this year.

Here is Louis with his teacher, Mme Bonnot.
Louis has taken to his new class like a duck to water, and Mme Bonnot says that he is a lovely child, very motivated to learn, and asking when there is something that he doesn't understand. Sacha is much less confident, and it will take him a little while to start enjoying himself, I'm afraid. But his teacher is lovely, and lets him join his brother from time to time when he is feeling tearful. That cheers him up immediately. They stay to school lunches: I don't know how much they eat, but they eat everything that I give them at home (except broccoli)

Today, Wednesday, there is no school. I went out to start queueing at 8 a.m.to sign them on at the swimming pool, and understood that I should have come half an hour earlier! The queue extended half way round the car park. I staggered home at 10a.m., after having managed to sign them on for Wednesday morning swimming lessons. But not in our local pool, there was only one space left. (Grrrrr.) We will have to go to a pool that is near the town centre. We did shopping in the morning, then in the afternoon took the new tram all the way to the terminus. Then we came back, and got off at the park where they had a good play in the playground. We walked home, over the railway line, and had snails for supper. And waffles. And oranges.  Between us, François and I got them showered, hair washed, and into bed, for the story.