Paris

Spent a glorious weekend at a beautiful apartment in Paris.  Found on airbnb, it must have the best view of the Eiffel Tower you can possibly get short of standing in the Champs de Mars.

The couple have a fantastic eye for positioning the modern and the ancient and their home showcases modern and street art as well as ancient Persian pieces.  Glass walls along two sides of the apartment allow unparelled views of La Tour as well Les Invalides - our kiddos could not believe their luck at being able to gaze adoringly at the sparkling Eiffel Tower from their bedroom at night - not to mention that the owners children, also 6 and 4, had left their 'french and therefore much more interesting' toys for our two to play with.

On Avenue de Suffren, the locale is perfect for evening picnics in les Champs (dodging the lunging joggers), food shopping on Rue Cler or taking the Batobus along the Seine.

We had yet another perfect lunch at our favourite bistro - Le Petit Pontoise on rue Pontoise.  It's on a forgettable wee street on the left bank near the Jardin des Plantes.  Yet it's full of Parisiens in the know and savvy diners.  Their 'poulet fermier' with jus and pommes puree might just be the most delicious and most simple dish I have ever eaten.

Already planning the next trip and have just noticed that Air France have returns to Paris from Edi for £133 - which is surely a bargain too good to miss!

Take a seat

It's a scandal (with a small 's') that many hire companies will not 100% guarantee child car seats for your journey when travelling.  But it's not like you can drive away legally with the kids jumping around like frogs in the back.  Worrying about the lack of seats always make me rush through the airport in a quivering funk to the car hire counter, only to find a stream of other parents there with the same idea.  Surely it should be made a legal requirement to provide a child a seat - it's bad enough negotiating the traffic in Paris, Rome, or Athens without worrying about your nearest and dearest falling out of the window of a moving car.  I was once contacted by a journalist about a feature he was writing on this, sadly though, the effect of this campaign seems to be a resounding nul points.  Must try harder.