So in a moment of surprising unselfishness I moved my facial to the

So, in a moment of surprising unselfishness, I moved my facial to the next day and took my daughter back to our hotel.As soon as the taxi drove through the Park’s gates we both perked up. Instead of being driven all the way to reception, we chose to run about under the garden’s vast sprinklers and get soaked. Then, we rolled down a grassy hill and, holding hands, went to sit quietly beside the aviary and watch the birds together until dinner time. Bliss.The next morning (somewhat reluctantly) we arrived for the next part of the course at the spa This time Jacqueline led the activity – painting. We all sat in a relaxingly oriental-style room, where there were mats on the floor and Japanese screens on the walls. The lighting was pale indigo and made everything look dreamy and unreal. Alexandra, stripped to her nappy, was soon daubing myself, another child and the mirrored wall with specially made yellow and blue paint.

It was a fun hour and fulfilled the proclaimed course objective of helping us to discover and observe our children at play without pressure to perform or “do” or “achieve” anything specific. I felt ridiculously charmed and flattered that my daughter chose me as her canvas. Every time she plunged soapy/paint goo into my hair I laughed and said, “Well done.” She was amazed that Mummy was not her normal growling “stop it” self.Our course ended with a pleasant, supervised swim. Jacqueline gave gentle advice on how to keep up our “contact” with the children in the pool by singing to them and turning them not outwards but towards us. Everything she said made good sense, although for me, a mum who already attends a Steiner toddler group with her daughter, there was nothing new or earth-shattering here. Really we could have done the same swim, sing and play activity on our own.Our break combined the luxury of a top-class resort with lots of special activities for a toddler and my relationship with my daughter has changed as a result It is more affectionate now, more fun. But it wasn’t the course that reawakened my joy at motherhood.

Alexandra’s Mummy simply relaxed in the effortless comfort of the Royal Park Hotel, with nothing to do but eat swim and laugh. I have realised that if I lived like an heiress full-time and had this level of comfort on every holiday, I would be the best mum in the world. So, Royal Park Evian I have already started saving; and for my daughter’s sake, I will be back next year.The FactsThe Mother and Baby Programme is for babies up to the age of nine months and the Baby Awakening Programme is for babies aged nine months and over. From 5 September, Wentworth Travel (01344 844622; ) offers six-night packages, departing Monday, returning Sunday, from £1,621, including return flights with British Airways from Heathrow, private transfers and half-board accommodation at the Royal Park Hotel in a standard room.

The itinerary includes five treatments per day for the mother and special activities for both mother and baby, including discovering music, swimming, gentle massage and fun gym.. Everybody knows the Louvre’s painting number 779 – the Mona Lisa She must be the world’s most famous example of oil on wood. Yet, does anyone really know her? Next year it will be five centuries since the artist applied his first brush strokes, but half a millennium on she remains an enigma. Where did the mystery begin? Was it something to do with her creator’s sfumato technique, the smokiness that blurs the outlines of objects? Does the lady’s famous smile betray anything? I went to hunt for clues in Tuscany. The road curved gently upwards through olive groves, cypresses and vineyards. Near the top, I found an impressive pale-pink villa, called Vignamaggio, with a stone courtyard and disused well instantly recognisable from Kenneth Branagh’s film version of Much Ado About Nothing. Nowadays, a Roman lawyer owns Vignamaggio and visitors stay in a guesthouse or rent cottages on the estate.Yes, but what about Lisa?Inside the villa, a door leads past a dining room, through what is now a billiard room, to a bedroom.