J'aime jouer au badminton - I like to play badminton!

Paul works with a Russian guy called Andre who knows a lot about both vodka and badminton.  Paul has now joined Andre's badminton group.  They meet every Sunday afternoon in one of the university gym halls and play for a couple of hours.  Paul encouraged me to join in as one of the ladies in the group has a 1-year-old who also comes along.  They're all brilliant at badminton so I was a bit too intimidated to play but managed to struggle through a doubles game while Paul watched Max.  Max enjoyed just watching the games and playing at the side for the first hour, but once he'd mastered the rules, he was keen to join in.  We walked home afterwards, stuffing ourselves with great crepes from Rue Mouffetard.  We discovered a fantastic Thai supermarket so I stocked up on all the essentials for some tasty meals.  Max loves a good curry!

'OK, who's for a game?'  Max appears to enjoy badders as much as his grandad!

My friend Rachel is having a wall built in her apartment at the moment to create a nursery beside the bedroom so naturally her house is in a mess.  She and Oscar have spent most of the last week hanging out at our place and going for walks.  It's been great for Max to have a pal around as he's taking a lot more interest in other children now.

Max and Oscar making some music.

Wheee!  Max on a swing for the first time!

I finally found a swing park with a baby swing!  It's in le parc de la Villette, a huge park at the top of the canal, just over half an hour's walk from our flat.  It has loads of smaller parks within it and a great adventure playground for children that I fancied the look of myself.  Within one of the parks is an area that's been designated for under-twos so I can see myself spending a lot of time there over the next few months!