weeks 32-35 - springtime in France

Bonjour,
Weeks of springtime, flowers and nice weather are upon us which is making days pleasant - it stays light well into the evening which is nice.
We are now into summer plans and thoughts - both friends visiting (yayy!), what will we do for the summer and what will our plans be for this fall. First bit is sorted, next two not so much.
Marco has progressed into the weeks of his internship and is making strides in meeting with people to lay out his project research. He has also made inquiries about potential further opportunity beyond his stage at Airbus - salaries definitely not at parity with Canada so this might be a deciding factor about our upcoming plans.
The girls continue to do well in school though are clearly starting to count down to year's end and with serious intent that our plans take us back to Canada. They had counted on the year and no more.
I've had bits of time with the ladies I've met through French conversation class - good to hear other perspectives on moving to Toulouse with your spouse and less of a plan for yourself.
I was very lucky to spend a weekend on my own, the first weekend of April, in Paris to watch Denise run the marathon and catch up with Florence for dinner, Darryl for champagne and visit the Musee d'Orsay on my own time.
Following this, the girls are now on holidays for two weeks - this week and next - which we are keeping low key as we leave for Scotland then England on May 7. On this note, the girls are thrilled as they are basically off from school now for a month, minus the two days they will go back just before we depart. We'll meet my dad and his wife to visit Scotland, my aunt's birthday in Kent and then they will join us here in Toulouse to visit France for a week. Adventure is close at hand.
Meantime, we've done some more local touring with French friends - this past weekend seeing a subterranean lake in a grotte near Foix plus visiting a wolf park to see - wait for it - Canadian wolves. Tres amusant.
I also just had a Monday day trip to Lyon to meet Patrick for lunch - how lovely - nous avons manger bien - as well as wandered the city together.
Wishing you warm spring weather to stay.
a la prochaine,
s