Camping

I've been in a little rut because we just spent five days in Annecy, well Talloires actually, even better, and I have the montagne blues! We all miss living in the mountains. It all worked into a mini break because Seb had a few clients to see during the week in Annecy so he had a hotel for a few days and we tagged along. So while he shmoozed in a sweaty usine, we slept in and basked in the luxe of a real bath and buffet breakfasts. During the day I sat by the lake with the kids and drew in my sketchbook and pillaged from the English book library in the hotel. We decided it would be fun to stay the weekend as well and heck why not Monday too, but since we weren’t paying for the luxe after Friday we moved from the three star hotel into camping for three days. I thought it would be rough to switch but really it wasn’t that bad.

We bought a new tent, one of those amazing pop out tents that Doc introduced me and Little S to when she came to visit. The boys camped in Little S’s bedroom, had a great time, and ever since then S has talked about tents. We bought the Family Sized version with actual rooms and which you can stand up in, which is awesome if you've spent years of camping all bent over as we have, agh misery! After we bought it I talked to my friend Dee and she gasped "you'll be in hell trying to refold it!" because she has a mini one and hers has given her some serious grief over the past year and she’s had to return to Decathalon to get them to show her how to do it. So we stressed a lot the whole weekend and joked that maybe we’d end up leaving it on the site or kill each other trying to refold it. But in the end it really wasn’t hard at all as long as you're two people and if you follow the instructions to a T. I have a theory that the bigger version of these tents are actually easier to manipulate.



Since we had three rooms in the tent Little S had his own room, Charlotte hers with the Graco set up and then we slept in the middle of the tent. The only snag was Charlotte because she was a little freaked out being in a weird place and she cried each time she went to bed, no wait she wailed each time she went to bed. Since on two of the nights it was late we couldn’t let her go on crying (at the risk of facing the angry camping mob), we had to resort to those silly things that people do to get their kids to sleep like driving around in the car and rocking her (and feeding her Cheezits). One night she refused to sleep at all so we just stuck her in between us which was nightmarish because if there’s anything worse than sleeping with Charlotte it’s sleeping with Charlotte in a tent. In hindsight we realise we should have stuck her in the tent a lot earlier and let her cry it out while people were having dinner.



Even if this all sounds awful it wasn’t at all because we had such a good time otherwise. There’s nothing like waking up in the mountains and cooking and eating outside. The kids loved it so much that they didn’t want to leave. They ran around half naked and rolled in the grass, and I loved it too because I thought they were experiencing the childhood I had, total freedom and liberty to be outside in the open air. During the day we hiked and swam in the lake and at least one evening we drove up to Montmin with our friends who came for one night and had a nice apéro on a picnic blanket with a view of what heaven must look like (if you’re really very good).



We’re thinking of taking off again this Summer on a much longer trip now that we have all the gear (nearly 500 euros worth of camping stuff!) and a list of all the things we forgot (a lighter, hammer, dishsoap). I think we’ll probably stick to the mountains so maybe we’ll go back to the alps and then on to Italy for a half week. If anybody knows of any good spots let me know in the comments and if you'd like some addresses of good places in France I'm all about sharing so drop me a mail.

It's the journey

I've been needing a vacation and Seb has to take some time off of work. It's kind of a forced vacation thing his company is trying on for size so they don't have to fire masses of loyal employees.

Rather than spend four days arguing over tiles in the house or the leak in the toilet that keeps coming back, we decided to hit the road. I love roadtrips. I hate those dvd players glued to the backseats of cars. Agh they make me crazy. Kids are supposed to ask "are we there yet?" a hundred times. It's a rite of passage. Yes roadtrips are where family memories are created.

To save money we waited until Seb had to take one of his trips to Toulouse. He had the choice of flying or driving but sweet, crazy husband chose driving seven hours with two kids and a wife this time rather than relaxing on an airplane 45 minutes. He's brave and he's wonderful. We based ourself in Toulouse for three days using Holiday Inn points (thanks to all that time in the hotel last year!) and then we used days off to drive around the Haute Garonne region. It's a beautiful region and I couldn't stop taking photos. I took well over 500 photos and then mooned over them the entire trip reviewing and reviewing in the car "ahhh, ahhhh, ahhhh" until Seb made me put the camera away becaue he was so tired of hearing the click of the shutter and the oohing and ahhing.

I hope everyone gets to visit this part of France one day. You don't know France until you travel. It's so amazingly diverse that you can't just say "I like French people!" or "I don't like France." or make such sweeping generalisations because you can't imagine how different each corner of the hexagon can be from the other.

These are some of the photos in montage format because I couldn't possibly pick one or two photos. Click on the images to make them bigger.

We started out in Toulouse. Brick walls and light blue wrought iron. I loved the city! It was especially beautiful at night when I would run out to get our dinner while Seb babysat the kids.

We spent the second day in the medevial city of Carcassonne. I've always wanted to visit this city. It's like stepping back in time. We got to go in the winter when it isn't so busy and we really had the place pretty much to ourselves which is what you want in a place like this (so you don't feel like you're at Disneyworld).

After Carcasonne we decided to take a tour around the area and stumbled upon some nice trails. We took a walk which lead us to a windmill (apparently they get LOTS of wind in this region--windmills are everywhere). The forest was wonderful with pines and rocky terrain like a true mediterranean forest. At the top we had a great view and Little S loved seeing the windmill which reminded him of The Island of Sodor from his Thomas the Train books. We also went driving in the mountains nearby and saw snow which was funny because I didn't really think of this as a ski region but it is.

Finally we ended our third day at Rocamadour which is another famous medieval city that's apparently just as famous as Carcassonne (ask a French person--it's what Seb said but I'd never heard of it). It's main attraction is its history as a famous religious pilgrimage site. I think I liked Rocamadour even more than Carcassonne because it was smaller and more intimate and that's more my style. It wasn't quite as glossy as Carcassonne either and I liked that parts of it were crumbled and looked abandoned. That view approaching the city is just amazing, whew! It's well worth visiting a full day if you're in to medieval cities and churches.

We vowed to do more travelling as a family and more road trips. Most of our fun was in the crazy drive there and back.

Hotel kids

I haven't talked about my kids much lately. All of us squinched in this tiny hotel room living out of suitcases doesn't leave much room for anything but arranging and rearranging things. We are still enjoying each other's company though. Life is still full of little delights.

My babe is now nine months old. Her adorable smile welcomes me into my morning every day with fat cheeks pushed up to reveal four lovely corn teeth planted in rows, two on top and two on the bottom. It makes my heart melt each morning to see this sweet child and see her reach out to grab my nose or mouth and laugh and squeal with delight. Nevermind that it's six am. She is trying each day to crawl more and more. She rocks and see-saws and scoots about. We are excited for her but at the same time it's a new step that makes me realize she won't be a baby much longer. She's on her way now to discovering another world.

Little S is beautiful and intense, full of mischief and wonderment at his discovery of the outside world. He has learned this month about apples growing on trees, moles in the garden, and his "birthday time" which he talks about all the time like a small prince whose birthday is celebrated with a fete du village where everyone has the day off. "We'll do that for my birthday time" he says matter of factly. "Everyone will sleep in this room for my birthday time" he says pointing to a group of dusty beds in the upstairs bedrooms of the new house.

He is going through some strange phases which I think have something to do with the new house and moving. He refuses to use the bathroom anymore and although he went through a weird period in Mexico where he went outside a lot to poop, now he refuses to even do that. Now he simply dances around holding his hand over his butt. He usually isn't very successful at holding everything in for a full day and he usually isn't feeling very well as a result. And last night a new thing. He's started putting things up his nose. He stuck a piece of balled up foil up his nose and sucked in hard. Luckily Seb got it out with the help of a straw!

Bonjour Paris!

We're finally here in Paris. We're Parisiens!

We arrived on Friday after a really long flight. There was a theme to our travels--mishaps and misunderstandings! It made everything memorable to say the least.

First of all we had a lot of carry ons because we were carrying our valuables. No problem on the dinky flight from Florida to D.C. but of course Air France insisted we check the extra one on the big flight. It was ridiculous and I argued because technically we had no diaper bag and with a baby you're allowed that extra carry on, but they insisted that our diaper bag was more like a suitcase so we had no choice but to comply because we were already the last ones to board. Of course Seb in his grumpy haste accidentally gave them the bag with the baby diapers because he'd mixed up the carry ons. Luckily I had one diaper in my purse but it was still a soppy flight with just one change in over seven hours.

For the transatlantic portion there was some sort of mix up where our seats were canceled and we ended up separated for the entire flight, all three of us at opposite ends of the plane! Eventually they got Little S together with Seb but we never did get to sit together or get a bulkhead seat for the baby so she was literally a lap baby the whole seven hours which made eating or drinking impossible. We were so relieved to get to Paris and get out of the plane! Then we realized much to our horror that our seven bags never made the flight and Air France had no idea where they were. We spent two days in an airport hotel standing by waiting and biting our nails because of the things we threw in our luggage the days before leaving like jewelry and childhood photos, flying by the seat of our pants--dumb mistake. Finally they found six of the bags and eventually the seventh, but whew! what a time to lose our bags! Everything important we owned was on that flight.

Even our plans for where to stay this week have been confusing. The original idea was for me and the kids to stay with the in-laws for the first week back but when we visited them yesterday mother in law had a fit about our cat and said it was rude of us not to tell her we were coming with it so now we're back at the hotel. I can see her point about the cat but life is short and given the choice of spending a week with my grandkids with or without a cat I wouldn't care one way or another about a germy cat. Especially since our cat is old and fat and sleeps all day. Anyway, better to have her be honest right away than live with the tension of it all week.

So yes, one short week in Paris before we leave on vacation in Haute-Savoie with all of our bags. Life is definitely crazy right now!

The easy job

When we traveled on the plane with Charlotte this time we brought the car seat which is part of our travel system. On two of our three flights they let us bring it directly on board and I was hands free for most of the flight (clean finger stuck in baby's mouth for sucking clears ears for take-off btw). While I was sitting there reading magazines and watching her sleep Seb got the difficult job of keeping the Little S man in his seat. What a luxury for me to have no responsibilities!

I look sadistic in that photo but I was just exhausted. It's a known fact that you will not sleep a wink on the eve of your permanent departure from one country to another. Our flight was at 7 am. How brutal it was getting two kids up and ready at 4:30am!

Leaving for home

In a few short days we'll be heading to the airport for a long awaited visit home. I have two homes actually, Florida's west coast where I grew up and Southeast France where I also grew up, that is if you count growing up as anything that happens after age thirty. I have that awful expat phenomenon where I don't ever feel entirely at home in either place, and there is a giant, gaping hole left in my heart whenever I leave either place for the other for any length of time. I suppose the only solution is to grow very wealthy and have a leisurely life in both locales, staying six months out of the year in each and switching languages and cultures as easily as most people do their shoes. We should all be so lucky to enjoy such a life.



Leaving this Thursday will probably leave me very teary eyed because Seb will be left behind for the first six weeks. We are really quite attached as a couple don't get me wrong, but it's not the leaving of each other that will be difficult. It's going to be the first time our family unit will be apart for more than a few days and I think it will be a difficult burden for us to bear as new parents. Babies change so rapidly at this point in their little lives, I think that Seb will miss a great deal of baby S's milestones. These are moments that can never be recaptured and I know this will leave him dealing with the inevitable pangs of jealousy and more than his fair share of hurt. I can't really blame him because I'd be scratching at the walls if anyone separated me from baby S at this point. Well, after the first three days that is; envisioning self sipping pina colada with toes painted a pearly pink while stretched out on a breezy, azure shoreline.

Otherwise I'm testing out baby handling for the various international airports we'll be maneuvering. Can I actually carry a sack full of diapers and sundries, a very large purse stuffed with chocolate and Savoyard pottery, a baby and fold a stroller all with only two arms? My obsessing has led to several bickering matches between Seb and me, "are you crazy! I can't put my son on the floor of the airport! It's dirty and disgusting and someone could kidnap him!" "It's dirty" of course being the first of my concerns, kidnapping being second. Seb has had to remind me to try to relax on several points. I'm just thankful he's not the one traveling alone with baby S. I think he'd probably come tumbling out on the baggage carousel at the final destination, unscathed and babbling and chewing on a luggage tag. Seb would just collect him and stroll on out to meet me not a care in the world. Meanwhile I've already imagined the profiles of several of my potential seatmates, all of them unshaven men wearing very large heeled shoes and shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

Now for the checklists if you'll excuse me while I go off and obsess some more: children's Doliprane, birth certificate, passport numbers, emergency telephone numbers, frozen baby food, disposable diapers, earplugs (several sets for the entire plane), very cute baby outfits (to "market" baby S to my advantage), and the list goes on . . .

If you care to add anything I'm all ears.
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