My mum and sister came to spend two weeks here in Hanoi, which was great. I went back to Halong bay on the same wonderfully peaceful tour we took the first time, and Dan and I also went back to Mai Chau to introduce the girls to Mme Linh, one of our favourite person in Vietnam, and to the beautiful landscapes around Mai Chau.

In between those two trips, we just hung out in Hanoi, training the girls on the Vietnamese way of things. By the time they left they could say quite a few things in Vietnamese and were even able to find their way around the Vietnamese money...



We spend most of our time in Hanoi eating traditional Vietnamese food,



and walking around the old quarter (oh so full on) and around West lake (Oh so quiet). We visited Pagodas and the Temple of Lit (first time for me, incredible as it sounds, as it's right next door to where I worked for a year).




We also went to the Water Puppet Theatre show, again a first for me. What else did we do? We enjoyed quite a few strong coffees and quality massages and facials all over the city. :)

The weather wasn't that great but we saw the sun a couple of times in the second week. They didn't mind what we call 'coldish' here, as right now in France... well, it's snowing eveywhere, and 'coldish' here, still means 20 degres Celsius of warm humidity. I can't even feel it anymore, but my mum and sister really did.

It was a good trip for them I think and we had a lot of fun. Catching up with family is always nice, when one lives so far away from them for such a long time. I left France in 2001, it's starting to be a while...

I hope the girls will come back to visit me wherever I am next, and help me remember where I come from and who I am, with everything they say and do.