Todd and Gina's Excellent Adventure: #3

Canadians Todd and Gina Babiak are spending a year in Provence with their young daughters Avia and Esme. Todd is writing about it for the Edmonton Journal and other papers. He's a terrific writer and we're following the family's adventures on Provence Post. In this weeks column, Avia (yes, she's named for a French gas station, sort of), starts school at age 3. Click here to read it. But watch out--you might cry a little...

Photo: Classroom assistant Marie De Sousa, left, and École Maternelle teacher Amandina Doize (La maîtresse), right, with Avia at École Jules Ferry. Photo by Todd Babiak.

Todd & Gina's Excellent Adventure, Part #2

Canadian journalist Todd Babiak, his wife Gina and their two daughters, are spending a year in Provence. Todd is writing about it for newspapers back in Canada. On Sept. 20th I published his first column, the one about the stinky mattress. Here's his second, about Speedos and rules and France. Enjoy!

Todd and Gina's Excellent Adventure: Part #1

The other day I got a terrific email from Canadian journalist Todd Babiak. (Then again, how bad could any email be if it starts "Dear Julie, I love your blog"?)

It turns out that Todd, his wife Gina and their two daughters are spending a year in Provence...and Todd is writing about their adventures for a chain of daily newspapers back in Canada. I read Todd's first column and knew immediately I wanted to share it. You can read it by clicking HERE. Start with the video at the top of the page...it gives you the backstory.

Todd's column will appear weekly in Canada and, hopefully, on Provence Post as well. If you'd like to know more about Todd and his work, go to www.toddbabiak.com or email him: toddbabiak@shaw.ca.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this first installment as much as I did!

Avia (left), Esmé (middle) and Gina Babiak in the Roman ruins of Vaison-la-Romaine. Photo by Todd Babiak.