46. A Paradigm Shift

ILE DE RÉ - FRANCE

Again the day started abruptly but this time with Fyfe bursting through the door "you said we could get up at seven thirty and it's now eight thirty!" Looked at my phone - seven thirty on the dot.  Ha, daylight saving.  Have decided not to change the clocks. Dug Iris out at nine (eight), breakfast and all that involves by ten (nine).  Had a fit when the movie tonight ran to nine (eight), Chivied the children into bed as "you are now an hour late" by nine thirty (eight thirty target met).  Reminds me of friends, years ago who promised their children they could get up to see the new year in, put all the clocks forward by two hours, children rose, celebrated midnight and then everybody was in bed by ten thirty. 

Today we biked to St-Martin-de-Ré.  The day was cool but sunny with a reasonably serious head wind on the way there.  Roman refused to use a gear lower than fourth (the gear that he likes) as, apparently, on a previous occasion, I told him the first three gears are for hills.  I attempted to explain that a head wind is like a hill that you never get to the top of, however he reasoned that that was because there is no hill, anybody can see that! #whatdodadsknowanyway?  Reciprocal the previous argument on the way home when higher gears could have been deployed downwind,

Foreground - our children
Background - St-Martin-de-Ré city walls
Middle - Rastafarian donkeys

speed limited by his desire for a comfortable cadence in fourth gear. Cue the gnashing teeth of older siblings behind Roman having to brake to keep in the imposed order of youngest to eldest, excluding me.

Once you have seen one of these port towns you have seen them all, except that they are absolutely fabulous, charming, beautiful and stylish and I intend to explore as many of them as I can. 

St-Martin-de-Ré sports the worlds only shop entirely devoted to Tintin, Mille Sabords à La Rochelle.  It was closed for lunch, for another hour when we arrived so we poked around and explored the port. Iris, being a teenager, was appalled when she realised that she had been wearing her bike helmet, sans bike, for the last half hour.  A cuttle fish would have been shamed by the speed in which she changed colour.  Told the children that they could have a café lunch (a reoccurring, tedious campaign theme) and buy whatever they wanted but it was coming out of their Mathsbuddy earnings. I dimly recall, thirty five years ago a lecturer attempting to explain the expression paradigm shift. Something about judging people without full information and then seeing things completely differently.... Well, children declared that there was no way they were wasting their money on a café and they would go without until the supermarket on the way home - an outstanding example of a paradigm shift. 

The Tintin shop duly opened and was entered with high expectations....... however everything was in French and the prices appeared to be in lira. A little keyring figurine of Tintin €25; a six inch high Milou soft toy that Roman liked €45. The shop was bustling and busy, the sales cashier was not.

Cone ice creams were next on the schedule.  I was quite excited as it has been a long time since I have only had to pay for one in order to get one.  Discussion ensued amongst the twenty first century babies when they realised that the cheapest offering was seven Mathsbuddy lessons each.  Options were considered and I suggested that a pack of four Magnum's at the Intermarche Super on the way home would be less than two Mathsbuddy lessons each and that all four could have ice creams for less than the price of one waterfront offering.... we were on the road with a minimum of fuss, Roman in fourth gear.

Roman self censoring a kiss in tonights movie Pay it Forward