Chapter Thirty Nine

Immediately following Menolly's birthday, Joshua and Tamara decided they had enough money to give the whole family a holiday.  They went to France, leaving Smudge, Fluff and the foals in the care of Tamara's family, and stayed at the hotel where Joshua and Tamara had spent their honeymoon (Albeit the hotel had been extensively renovated in the meantime)

 Miralys and Menolly spent their first day in France playing on the playground which had been added to the hotel, under Jo's watchful eye

 While Tamara took Midnight for some long gallops in the French countryside 

 That evening they all met up for dinner at a local cafe 

 In the morning, Miralys had a lovely early morning swim in the indoor swimming pool  

While Menolly (who hated the water) and her mother read 

 And Jo cooked breakfast for them all

 

 Joshua meanwhile had become fascinated with the French skill of nectar making and spent the first two days of the holiday up at the Nectary learning how to make nectar himself

Back at the hotel, Jo and Tamara relaxed in the hot-tub in the grounds 

While Miralys and Menolly got to know some of the local children who had come over to play 

Joshua continued practising his nectar making 

Before sitting by the fire for a while and reading a book on the subject 

Miralys and Menolly had their dinner with their grandmother 

While Joshua and Tamara ate together later once Joshua returned from the Nectary 

 On the last day of their holiday, Jo took the children to the local museum to give Joshua and Tamara some time alone

Miralys and Menolly were fascinated by the various exhibits both from France

 And from rather further afield

Back at the hotel, Joshua and Tamara were making the most of their time alone 

 They had a lovely date, something they'd not had time to do since the girls had been born 

And Joshua presented Tamara with some beautiful white roses 

Before the two of them adjourned to the hot tub together...

 And concluded their last night in France with some stargazing

As the evening drew on, Jo took the girls down to the local store to pick up some momentos of their journey 

 And dropped by the Nectary to buy Joshua a nectar machine so he could continue his new hobby at home 

Once all the shopping was done, Miralys rounded off their trip by telling her grandmother and little sister a spooky ghost story one of the local boys had told her