Saturday - Market in Uzes and Ride to a neighboring Town
Today, it only took us 15 minutes from wake up to out the door. While Wednesday's market is "small" today's market (Saturday) is "big." We didn't want to waste a moment. Sara ate three bowls of oatmeal for breakfast. Julia loves cantaloupe melon, and will probably turn orange any day now.
We thought Wednesday's was great, so when we looked out our apartment windows and saw today's we nearly sprang out of here to get outside to walk around it. It was amazing. The market spilled out of the main square and down all the side streets. Crinkly-white linen clothes blew in the breeze, both on racks for people to buy, and on people's backs as they strutted their stuff looking at all the market's offerings. 99% of the women wear skirts or dresses here. They all look nice. Simple sun dresses, that look super comfy and fit right in with the vibe of sunny Provence.
The market had everything. Clothes, art supplies, olives, pottery, linens, you name it. Nothing tacky - just good stuff. We didn't buy anything other than some dried strawberries that I couldn't resist and Sara ate in 3 seconds flat. (Julia liked them too, when she got her first taste she reached out her hand for more.) Sara wanted to buy a neat art set that made rainbows out of watercolor paints. It was 25 Euro and we decided that was a bit much, but we are here next Saturday too, so maybe we'll pick it up for her for Christmas.
Julia is such a good sport. Dan carries her up in the Kelty backpack and she doesn't make a peep all day, she just looks around non-stop. She shows genuine interest in looking at things, and will crane her head if something catches her eye.
We came back here for lunch. Dan made lunch while Sara, Julia and I played. Then we went right back out again. The market closed down around 2:00, we could have toured it all day - but they seem to be a fleeting thing. The town goes back to normal once all the market vendors pack up and leave.
In the afternoon we went to a neighboring town as a joy ride in the car. Julia slept. My favorite part about it was seeing fields of sun flowers zoom past our windows. They were smaller - like the size of two hands cupped together, and seemed to be yellow, but they also had their heads bowed down (too heavy?) so it was hard to tell. It didn't matter - they were still majestic. Driving around here is neat since there is nothing built up. No gas stations, nothing man made at all. Just things that man has done with the land, like plant rows of trees on the sides of the roads and vineyards that stretch up and over hills. It is easy to forget what year it is - or even what decade. There is a timeless look to this land that makes you melt with relaxation as you look around.
After our short trip/drive we came back to the apartment. Dan made salmon for dinner, and some potatoes, with a green salad. Then we did an evening walk. For most of the walk the girls were in the Bob-Stroller, which is nice since they can relax while Dan and I stroll and talk. But we let them out to tour a cathedral (sometimes when something interests them they practically spring out of the stroller so we have no choice but to let them out!) with some nice stained glass windows (we were the only ones inside so it felt silent and special), and Julia marched right up the steps to the altar and tugged on the iron work railing. [That was a terribly constructed sentence, but this is a journal so it is okay.]
When we got to the main square Place aux Herbes, Sara got out to dance, and danced for about 30 minutes. She names her dances. She did the France dance, for about 10 minutes. It had a lot of twirls. Julia spent the dance time trying to buckle a strap on the stroller, she loves using her hands and figuring things out. She was undeterred by it, and kept and it 'till she got it.
The day was another warm sunny one. Ideal. It is easy to see why the herbs de provence are popular, they are every where and smell so nice. Sara bought some strawberry soap in the market, and was excited to use it when she took her shower bath tonight. She felt very important buying something from a market vendor. When he handed her the white bag with her prized soap in it she took it and walked away with a spring in her step. The bag did a happy swing from side to side as our Sara held it carefully in her tightly closed hand.
Julia managed to only have 1 outfit today. Other days she has gotten so much France on her that we've changed her clothes two or three times. We like that- it shows she is active and busy exploring. She gets a tremendous kick out of waltzing around the apartment, especially going from indoors to outdoors - through the big doors that lead to the veranda. I get a kick out of watching her.
Sara is now interested in language. She asked me today how to say please in Spanish.
Quote of the day:
"This was the best day of my life. I had so much fun. Tomorrow will be another good day." --- Sara, while eating her bedtime snack of yogurt.
End of post.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday - Les Baux & St. Remy.
Friday - Les Baux & St. Remy
Woke up 7:09 AM. I guess we are adjusting to the time zone since that is about normal like back at home.
It took us until about 9AM to get out the door. Breakfast and packing up a back pack for our day trip just ate away the time.
Another bright sunny day. The mornings are cool. Sara asked for a blanket for the ride in the Bob-Stroller. (But later in the day it was very warm!).
We have our GPS loaded with the France maps now, so navigating to Les Baux was easy. About an hour drive. The fun part was trying to figure out where to park, since Les Baux is on a cliff. Once you enter the parking lot you just go around and around - and up, up, up! Dan found a spot and there was nothing but a 2 foot tall rock preventing our car (and us) from plummeting down below.
We loaded Sara and Julia into the Bob-Stroller and started the walk straight up the hill. It is a hill-top town in the Alpilles mountains. In medival times there was a castle here, and that is what everyone comes to see now-a-days (including us). The castle is now in "ruin" - they call it a "dead city" since it was once a thriving place and now no one lives there. It is amazing to walk around and imagine what it was once like.
The castle that we saw "was carved into and out of rock perched 650 feet above the valley." That is a good description. Imagine a huge flat swath of land and then a HUGE rock jetting up into the air. The rock is where the castle and medieval town are perched.
At first when you enter the castle area you don't see much. It just looks like a bunch of white boulders in a field. But soon we found ourselves at the very edge of it - and when we looked out into the valley we realized we were standing on a huge jagged rock - VERY high up into the air. It was a bit windy - we were all happy as we explored.
We heard them demonstrating a huge catapult. It was powerful enough to brake down castle walls in medeval times. Today they loaded a soccer ball onto it - and flung it into the distance with sheer brute force! Neat to see something like that in action - and not just in a movie.
The whole visit was self guided, which was nice because you could just wander around how ever you wanted.
We climbed up some steps carved out of rock to get to a view point. That may sound un-eventful. But not these steps. They were anything but flat - and they went nearly straight up. Sara held on to the iron hand rail ("why do I have to be careful Mom?") and Dan carried Julia. The view from the top made us speechless. Vineyards, trees, fields of crops, and jagged mountains in the distance. Beautiful. We had the whole top to ourselves.
Getting back down those steps was interesting. I held onto Sara's hand, not wanting to let her do them on her own since if she fell she would have gone straight down and gotten seriously hurt. So I hoped that my shoes would be okay on the limestone and held on to her tightly. We made it.
We stopped for a picnic. Pasta, fruit, vegetables from my backpack. It was sureal to do something so normal as have a picnic right by a castle from medieval times. We could see old rooms carved out of rock. We could see old cisterns. The scale was so huge - this place must have been big and magnificent.
Our visit came to a natural end once we toured the whole place and so we wandered back down the hill (very steep hill) through the winding streets. They were lined with shops, ice cream places, and lunch places. (The town only survives for the tourists, it isn't a real town these days.) We got a crepe, a ham sandwich on a baguette, and then - a hot dog. Sara wanted the hot dog (which surprised us!) and it was in a long bagette - with two hot dogs side by side! The four of us sat on a rock bench (everything is rock here) and ate. It felt nice.
Then it was time for cookies. Sara picked out 3 cookies, bought them with money she got from Dan, and then said, "see vu play!" (thank you!) - not sure how to spell it in French - but she sure said it! Then she carried the paper back with the cookies in it proudly out of the store. Naturally, the next thing she did was look for a place to sit and eat them. She found the perfect place - a rock step leading up to the town hall. She sat and took out the first cookie. She snapped it in half, handed part to Julia, part to Papa, and part to me - before having her own first bite. In a few minutes those cookies were gone - and savored.
We made it back to the car and took the scenic route to St. Remy de Provence. It was a 15 minute drive. The views were entirely unspoiled. Just nature. The road was largely lined with neat rows of plane trees, slanting just so slightly to the left. Then I saw my first field of sun flowers. They were bowing their brown heads towards Earth, past their prime, but it didn't take much imagination to imagine how beautiful they must have been. In the distance the ragged mountains seemed to be wrapping it all up into a hug.
St. Remy is many known as a place Van Gogh did a lot of paintings. After he cut off his ear he also went to a mental hospital here. It is still a mental hospital. We found St. Remy to be okay, but the main neat thing about it was seeing exactly where Van Gogh did his art. They had signs up - like say - #16, and then you could look on the map and see that #16 was where he painted "starry night" and in which museum that is today. We looked at many of these Van Gogh places and he must have had an eye for beauty since many were not super awe-inspiring to our eyes.
We decided to get dinner out. Our first time. The guide book said to look for a sign on the road, but gave no address. Amazingly, on a small two lane road that was the width of a single lane road Dan saw a tiny green and yellow sign for the restaurant. We went down a small lane with wide eyes. There was nothing around. Just plants on the side of the road.
Finally, we saw another sign for the restaurant once we were in the middle of no where France. We turned in. There wasn't a sole in sight. I got out of the car and asked if they were open. She said, "yeah sure!" and we parked, let the girls out of the car, and walked over to it.
The ground is all stones. No pavement. No grass. Just little stones. They are covered with natural white dirt/power. We crunched on the stones over to the outdoor seating, which was a bunch of rock slab tables with chairs around them. We picked a table in the shade. (The shade of an olive tree.) Then I looked up. There in the corner was a kid play area, complete with bicycles, push toys, tricycles, shovels, wheelbarrows. In all, there must have been 20 ride-on toys in there, and a swing and small slide.
We didn't see Sara and Julia all dinner. They were playing in the kid play area the whole time! They got so dirty - not "dirt" but white powder from the rocks. (Not a powder that was added, a natural powder that rubbed off of the rocks.) Dan and I enjoyed peace, ate lasagne and pizza. Then we ordered another lasagne and Julia ate the whole thing herself. They played nicely together, Sara eagerly pushing Julia on the toys and making Julia giggle. Julia also did a lot of independent playing, as did Sara. You could tell they needed the time - just to play and be kids.
We topped that dinner off with ice cream, and actually Sara was so interested in the toys (especially a bike and a scooter - and also just playing with the rocks themselves as if they were sand to make sandcastles) that she didn't eat a lot of the ice cream. It was probably the most Dan and I have relaxed at a family dinner in a long time! Smack dab in the middle of no where France.
On the way back to Uzes from the outdoor restaurant our GPS went beep beep beep. We thought it was a speed warning but it was the battery quitting. Soon we were driving along a winding narrow road, with nothing but scrub bushes on either side of us - with no GPS -- that isn't a big deal -- but it was funny at the time to have the GPS screen just go black! I pulled out our map and Dan remembered the route - so we drove 1 hour back home - with out any problems.
Back here we dunked both Sara and Julia in clean water/soap to get all the rock particles off them - and then to bed. It was a great day.
Favorite Quote of the day:
--"I just don't want this day to end." -- Sara, as we were leaving the castle at Les Baux.
End of Post
.
Woke up 7:09 AM. I guess we are adjusting to the time zone since that is about normal like back at home.
It took us until about 9AM to get out the door. Breakfast and packing up a back pack for our day trip just ate away the time.
Another bright sunny day. The mornings are cool. Sara asked for a blanket for the ride in the Bob-Stroller. (But later in the day it was very warm!).
We have our GPS loaded with the France maps now, so navigating to Les Baux was easy. About an hour drive. The fun part was trying to figure out where to park, since Les Baux is on a cliff. Once you enter the parking lot you just go around and around - and up, up, up! Dan found a spot and there was nothing but a 2 foot tall rock preventing our car (and us) from plummeting down below.
We loaded Sara and Julia into the Bob-Stroller and started the walk straight up the hill. It is a hill-top town in the Alpilles mountains. In medival times there was a castle here, and that is what everyone comes to see now-a-days (including us). The castle is now in "ruin" - they call it a "dead city" since it was once a thriving place and now no one lives there. It is amazing to walk around and imagine what it was once like.
The castle that we saw "was carved into and out of rock perched 650 feet above the valley." That is a good description. Imagine a huge flat swath of land and then a HUGE rock jetting up into the air. The rock is where the castle and medieval town are perched.
At first when you enter the castle area you don't see much. It just looks like a bunch of white boulders in a field. But soon we found ourselves at the very edge of it - and when we looked out into the valley we realized we were standing on a huge jagged rock - VERY high up into the air. It was a bit windy - we were all happy as we explored.
We heard them demonstrating a huge catapult. It was powerful enough to brake down castle walls in medeval times. Today they loaded a soccer ball onto it - and flung it into the distance with sheer brute force! Neat to see something like that in action - and not just in a movie.
The whole visit was self guided, which was nice because you could just wander around how ever you wanted.
We climbed up some steps carved out of rock to get to a view point. That may sound un-eventful. But not these steps. They were anything but flat - and they went nearly straight up. Sara held on to the iron hand rail ("why do I have to be careful Mom?") and Dan carried Julia. The view from the top made us speechless. Vineyards, trees, fields of crops, and jagged mountains in the distance. Beautiful. We had the whole top to ourselves.
Getting back down those steps was interesting. I held onto Sara's hand, not wanting to let her do them on her own since if she fell she would have gone straight down and gotten seriously hurt. So I hoped that my shoes would be okay on the limestone and held on to her tightly. We made it.
We stopped for a picnic. Pasta, fruit, vegetables from my backpack. It was sureal to do something so normal as have a picnic right by a castle from medieval times. We could see old rooms carved out of rock. We could see old cisterns. The scale was so huge - this place must have been big and magnificent.
Our visit came to a natural end once we toured the whole place and so we wandered back down the hill (very steep hill) through the winding streets. They were lined with shops, ice cream places, and lunch places. (The town only survives for the tourists, it isn't a real town these days.) We got a crepe, a ham sandwich on a baguette, and then - a hot dog. Sara wanted the hot dog (which surprised us!) and it was in a long bagette - with two hot dogs side by side! The four of us sat on a rock bench (everything is rock here) and ate. It felt nice.
Then it was time for cookies. Sara picked out 3 cookies, bought them with money she got from Dan, and then said, "see vu play!" (thank you!) - not sure how to spell it in French - but she sure said it! Then she carried the paper back with the cookies in it proudly out of the store. Naturally, the next thing she did was look for a place to sit and eat them. She found the perfect place - a rock step leading up to the town hall. She sat and took out the first cookie. She snapped it in half, handed part to Julia, part to Papa, and part to me - before having her own first bite. In a few minutes those cookies were gone - and savored.
We made it back to the car and took the scenic route to St. Remy de Provence. It was a 15 minute drive. The views were entirely unspoiled. Just nature. The road was largely lined with neat rows of plane trees, slanting just so slightly to the left. Then I saw my first field of sun flowers. They were bowing their brown heads towards Earth, past their prime, but it didn't take much imagination to imagine how beautiful they must have been. In the distance the ragged mountains seemed to be wrapping it all up into a hug.
St. Remy is many known as a place Van Gogh did a lot of paintings. After he cut off his ear he also went to a mental hospital here. It is still a mental hospital. We found St. Remy to be okay, but the main neat thing about it was seeing exactly where Van Gogh did his art. They had signs up - like say - #16, and then you could look on the map and see that #16 was where he painted "starry night" and in which museum that is today. We looked at many of these Van Gogh places and he must have had an eye for beauty since many were not super awe-inspiring to our eyes.
We decided to get dinner out. Our first time. The guide book said to look for a sign on the road, but gave no address. Amazingly, on a small two lane road that was the width of a single lane road Dan saw a tiny green and yellow sign for the restaurant. We went down a small lane with wide eyes. There was nothing around. Just plants on the side of the road.
Finally, we saw another sign for the restaurant once we were in the middle of no where France. We turned in. There wasn't a sole in sight. I got out of the car and asked if they were open. She said, "yeah sure!" and we parked, let the girls out of the car, and walked over to it.
The ground is all stones. No pavement. No grass. Just little stones. They are covered with natural white dirt/power. We crunched on the stones over to the outdoor seating, which was a bunch of rock slab tables with chairs around them. We picked a table in the shade. (The shade of an olive tree.) Then I looked up. There in the corner was a kid play area, complete with bicycles, push toys, tricycles, shovels, wheelbarrows. In all, there must have been 20 ride-on toys in there, and a swing and small slide.
We didn't see Sara and Julia all dinner. They were playing in the kid play area the whole time! They got so dirty - not "dirt" but white powder from the rocks. (Not a powder that was added, a natural powder that rubbed off of the rocks.) Dan and I enjoyed peace, ate lasagne and pizza. Then we ordered another lasagne and Julia ate the whole thing herself. They played nicely together, Sara eagerly pushing Julia on the toys and making Julia giggle. Julia also did a lot of independent playing, as did Sara. You could tell they needed the time - just to play and be kids.
We topped that dinner off with ice cream, and actually Sara was so interested in the toys (especially a bike and a scooter - and also just playing with the rocks themselves as if they were sand to make sandcastles) that she didn't eat a lot of the ice cream. It was probably the most Dan and I have relaxed at a family dinner in a long time! Smack dab in the middle of no where France.
On the way back to Uzes from the outdoor restaurant our GPS went beep beep beep. We thought it was a speed warning but it was the battery quitting. Soon we were driving along a winding narrow road, with nothing but scrub bushes on either side of us - with no GPS -- that isn't a big deal -- but it was funny at the time to have the GPS screen just go black! I pulled out our map and Dan remembered the route - so we drove 1 hour back home - with out any problems.
Back here we dunked both Sara and Julia in clean water/soap to get all the rock particles off them - and then to bed. It was a great day.
Favorite Quote of the day:
--"I just don't want this day to end." -- Sara, as we were leaving the castle at Les Baux.
End of Post
.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thursday - Pont du Gard
Thursday - Day trip to Pont du Gard
(Note: I know this is wordy. I'm not even re-reading what I write, I'm just typing and publishing right away. I hope it makes some sort of sense!)
How can it be Thursday? We landed Monday and it seems like we just got here. As I write this I have the huge window/doors open to the terrace. Some people must be cooking their dinner because the scent of garlic simmering in olive oil is wafting in the doorway. There are no screens here. It is either: door open, or door closed. Window open, or window closed. The first day we were here I was looking around for curtains. There are no curtains. Anywhere. If you want to block out the light you use a heavy wooden shutter. That is how everything is closed: shops, houses, windows, everything. It is actually very functional, since there are no curtains to get dirty and wood is always in style! Also, there are no bugs, so having things open is fine. I do wish the latches were easier to figure out. It sometimes takes me 5 minutes to figure out how to open a heavy wooden door. They are built to last. Oh, that garlic smells good.
We woke up at 8:45. Each day we seem to be getting up 2 hours earlier. Our first day around 12:30, then 10:30, then 8:45. I suppose that means tomorrow we'll have a nearly normal wake up time as we adjust to the 6 hour time difference. Thankfully the girls are sleeping all night - if they were not, that would be tough.
Our apartment has all cooking needs covered. There is even a wok if we wanted one. The coffee maker is tiny, and takes its own sweet time to make a pot. Dan calls it "the slowest coffee maker in existence." I think it takes about 25 minutes. The brew is mid-night dark. Perfect temperature. No need to let it cool down or blow on it, when it is done brewing, it is ready to drink. She has green ceramic cups for the coffee. Not big mugs. They probably hold 6 or 8 ounces. Just enough.
Dan made us sausage, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast. All of that was from the market Wednesday. The girls ate their food with amazing speed.
We drove to Pont du Gard today. It was about 15 minutes away. It is a Roman aqueduct built in 20 BC. 2,000 years old and still standing! (Google it for a picture.) Dan and I were there several years ago, and when Sara asked about it - I told her she was in my belly when we were there before, since I was about 20 weeks along with her back then!
The drive there was easy. No traffic lights. I don't think I've even seen one since we got here. They use "round a bouts" just circles that you enter and then leave to head in your direction. They are better than traffic lights really, no maintenance, no stopping, and the signs are clear. You do have to be on your toes though.
We parked and walked to the Pont du Gard. It was exactly as we remembered it, though our day there was a lot different. Last time it was just Dan and I. Back then I remember hiking around and looking in the museum. This time we didn't go into the museum, we just stayed outside. We walked across it (a google search would show you what I mean) and then we spent hours climbing on the rocks below -- we played "follow the leader" , we took off our socks and shoes and waded in the water, we ate cookies under a huge ancient arch, we laid down on the sun warmed rocks and just looked at the sky. That was my favorite part. At one point I was with Sara while Dan had Julia (she was sleeping in the Kelty carrier, and it is easier to keep Julia asleep when she is not near Sara's chatter). Sara and I sat under the bridge at her request. She played with some wild flowers, concentrating on them so sweetly. I was nearby, just enjoying watching her enjoy the flowers. The big arch was overhead. And it was weird to think about safety, since that arch hasn't crumbled in 2,000 years why would it today? I also was thinking how remarkable it was that Dan and I stood under that same arch in 2008 with Sara inside me - and here she and I were - again - in the same spot - only we were having fun together! Mind boggling.
After that Sara said "let's go to an ice cream shop" and I was thinking the same thing. There are a few places to eat and snack there (since it is a World Heritage site there are quite a few people there!) so we found a place to get ice cream. She had strawberry and I had chocolate and what must have been "bubble gum" I used the "point" method to order my ice cream and the guy scooped the wrong flavor. That was okay - it was yummy. We sat outside in the afternoon sun - happily occupying wrought iron chairs and a cafe table. Dan and Julia joined us. Sara offered Julia some of her ice cream, and Julia said, "ummmmm" to show she liked it. It was a fun family moment sitting there together eating ice cream.
After that we hiked more - including up to the top of the Pont du Gard - to the very top! How cool it was to see where the water used to flow. And the water in the river below looked turquoise blue. Stunning. People were canoeing, and there were a lot of swimmers (there is a river beach) - actually there were swimmers at many points since you could bascially just go into the river where ever you wanted.
At 4:00 we were ready to go. We bought an year-pass so we could go again while we are still here (we are in Uzes for almost 2 weeks). It was very different to visit with Sara and Julia - much more fun to share it with them - I think. Though there were some people on their honeymoon and they looked like they were having a nice time too!
We stopped by a "super market" (grocery store) to get some practical food (buying fresh stuff on market day is good, but it would be hard to buy enough to last a long time. We got some diapers, fruit, meats, laundry detergent (including stain lifter, that is hard to find here!), milk (they have shelf stable milk, so it doesn't have to be in the refrigerator!), and some juice. Then we drove back here - and had the project of bringing it all up the street, up the stairs, and into this apartment. That is tough when there are no cars allowed nearby, and grocery stores don't bag your groceries. We took a few trips (with the apartment's market wheel cart for assistance) and then got it all in.
Sara and Julia raced around the apartment (it is a long set of rooms that is bordered by an outdoor veranda) while I made dinner. (Dan was parking the car.) We had pork, tomatoes, kiwi, green beans, yogurt - and the plates were clean in a blink (they are eating everything here - we must be making them very hungry!). Then Julia was in her PJs and in her crib (it took about 1 minute) and we told Sara some stories (instead of doing bed-time books) and she was off to bed too.
I went out for a walk. By myself. The shops were closing for the night. They were bringing in the bins of lavender (really). The cafe/restaurants were full (everyone eats outside, the tables are right on the square). And the lights on the plane trees were on - the white lights about the size of golf balls strung up in long looping designs up the branches. Kids were playing (how were they up so late?) and people were strolling. There were some musicians. Serenading the people eating. I took it all in like a fly on the wall - the evening air was lovely. I'm in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and it was fine. Isn't summer great? There was one table of parents and 5 girls! We are set with 2!
Our apartment is in what they term a mansion, right on the pedestrian street, so to get here you buzz your self in, and have to open a door that must weigh 200 pounds or more. I have to use my full body weight to open it. Then we walk through a court yard with a stone well to get to our stone spiral stair case. We are the first apartment at the top of the stairs. There is no trash pick up, we bought our trash out to the village collection point at the end of the street. It is just a bin with a shoot. Pretty practical really, and that was our first bag of trash since we got here.
We don't know what we are doing tomorrow - but Dan found a neat train ride that looks fun that we may try to do sometime. There is also a stone village nearby that I want to see. We'll see what time we all get up - and see what we feel like doing.
Funny Quotes:
-- "That is one old bridge" Sara said when she saw the 2,000 year old Roman bridge Pont du Gard.
--"How did they build that bridge? How do you build a train? Can you tell me please Dad?" - Sara at the Pont du Gard.
--"I hear the bells chiming! It is six o'clock - my bedtime! I better not be late!" - Sara as she heard some bells here, dong 6 times to let her know it was 6 o'clock.
--"Mama, come look at what I made. I made a copy of Uzes. Here is the whole village. Here is our apartment." -- we brought a lot of Legos for Sara/Julia to play with and Sara made a whole village with them (we are currently in Uzes, so that's what she built) - complete with streets and buildings. Kept her busy for a half hour! Sara and Julia have played Legos outside and inside (no TV, I hear they don't work here-that was for you Dad) and it is a great way for them to play and relax after the day.
End of post - perfectly timed with the bells chiming 10:00. Good night.
(Note: I know this is wordy. I'm not even re-reading what I write, I'm just typing and publishing right away. I hope it makes some sort of sense!)
How can it be Thursday? We landed Monday and it seems like we just got here. As I write this I have the huge window/doors open to the terrace. Some people must be cooking their dinner because the scent of garlic simmering in olive oil is wafting in the doorway. There are no screens here. It is either: door open, or door closed. Window open, or window closed. The first day we were here I was looking around for curtains. There are no curtains. Anywhere. If you want to block out the light you use a heavy wooden shutter. That is how everything is closed: shops, houses, windows, everything. It is actually very functional, since there are no curtains to get dirty and wood is always in style! Also, there are no bugs, so having things open is fine. I do wish the latches were easier to figure out. It sometimes takes me 5 minutes to figure out how to open a heavy wooden door. They are built to last. Oh, that garlic smells good.
We woke up at 8:45. Each day we seem to be getting up 2 hours earlier. Our first day around 12:30, then 10:30, then 8:45. I suppose that means tomorrow we'll have a nearly normal wake up time as we adjust to the 6 hour time difference. Thankfully the girls are sleeping all night - if they were not, that would be tough.
Our apartment has all cooking needs covered. There is even a wok if we wanted one. The coffee maker is tiny, and takes its own sweet time to make a pot. Dan calls it "the slowest coffee maker in existence." I think it takes about 25 minutes. The brew is mid-night dark. Perfect temperature. No need to let it cool down or blow on it, when it is done brewing, it is ready to drink. She has green ceramic cups for the coffee. Not big mugs. They probably hold 6 or 8 ounces. Just enough.
Dan made us sausage, eggs, and potatoes for breakfast. All of that was from the market Wednesday. The girls ate their food with amazing speed.
We drove to Pont du Gard today. It was about 15 minutes away. It is a Roman aqueduct built in 20 BC. 2,000 years old and still standing! (Google it for a picture.) Dan and I were there several years ago, and when Sara asked about it - I told her she was in my belly when we were there before, since I was about 20 weeks along with her back then!
The drive there was easy. No traffic lights. I don't think I've even seen one since we got here. They use "round a bouts" just circles that you enter and then leave to head in your direction. They are better than traffic lights really, no maintenance, no stopping, and the signs are clear. You do have to be on your toes though.
We parked and walked to the Pont du Gard. It was exactly as we remembered it, though our day there was a lot different. Last time it was just Dan and I. Back then I remember hiking around and looking in the museum. This time we didn't go into the museum, we just stayed outside. We walked across it (a google search would show you what I mean) and then we spent hours climbing on the rocks below -- we played "follow the leader" , we took off our socks and shoes and waded in the water, we ate cookies under a huge ancient arch, we laid down on the sun warmed rocks and just looked at the sky. That was my favorite part. At one point I was with Sara while Dan had Julia (she was sleeping in the Kelty carrier, and it is easier to keep Julia asleep when she is not near Sara's chatter). Sara and I sat under the bridge at her request. She played with some wild flowers, concentrating on them so sweetly. I was nearby, just enjoying watching her enjoy the flowers. The big arch was overhead. And it was weird to think about safety, since that arch hasn't crumbled in 2,000 years why would it today? I also was thinking how remarkable it was that Dan and I stood under that same arch in 2008 with Sara inside me - and here she and I were - again - in the same spot - only we were having fun together! Mind boggling.
After that Sara said "let's go to an ice cream shop" and I was thinking the same thing. There are a few places to eat and snack there (since it is a World Heritage site there are quite a few people there!) so we found a place to get ice cream. She had strawberry and I had chocolate and what must have been "bubble gum" I used the "point" method to order my ice cream and the guy scooped the wrong flavor. That was okay - it was yummy. We sat outside in the afternoon sun - happily occupying wrought iron chairs and a cafe table. Dan and Julia joined us. Sara offered Julia some of her ice cream, and Julia said, "ummmmm" to show she liked it. It was a fun family moment sitting there together eating ice cream.
After that we hiked more - including up to the top of the Pont du Gard - to the very top! How cool it was to see where the water used to flow. And the water in the river below looked turquoise blue. Stunning. People were canoeing, and there were a lot of swimmers (there is a river beach) - actually there were swimmers at many points since you could bascially just go into the river where ever you wanted.
At 4:00 we were ready to go. We bought an year-pass so we could go again while we are still here (we are in Uzes for almost 2 weeks). It was very different to visit with Sara and Julia - much more fun to share it with them - I think. Though there were some people on their honeymoon and they looked like they were having a nice time too!
We stopped by a "super market" (grocery store) to get some practical food (buying fresh stuff on market day is good, but it would be hard to buy enough to last a long time. We got some diapers, fruit, meats, laundry detergent (including stain lifter, that is hard to find here!), milk (they have shelf stable milk, so it doesn't have to be in the refrigerator!), and some juice. Then we drove back here - and had the project of bringing it all up the street, up the stairs, and into this apartment. That is tough when there are no cars allowed nearby, and grocery stores don't bag your groceries. We took a few trips (with the apartment's market wheel cart for assistance) and then got it all in.
Sara and Julia raced around the apartment (it is a long set of rooms that is bordered by an outdoor veranda) while I made dinner. (Dan was parking the car.) We had pork, tomatoes, kiwi, green beans, yogurt - and the plates were clean in a blink (they are eating everything here - we must be making them very hungry!). Then Julia was in her PJs and in her crib (it took about 1 minute) and we told Sara some stories (instead of doing bed-time books) and she was off to bed too.
I went out for a walk. By myself. The shops were closing for the night. They were bringing in the bins of lavender (really). The cafe/restaurants were full (everyone eats outside, the tables are right on the square). And the lights on the plane trees were on - the white lights about the size of golf balls strung up in long looping designs up the branches. Kids were playing (how were they up so late?) and people were strolling. There were some musicians. Serenading the people eating. I took it all in like a fly on the wall - the evening air was lovely. I'm in shorts and a short sleeve shirt and it was fine. Isn't summer great? There was one table of parents and 5 girls! We are set with 2!
Our apartment is in what they term a mansion, right on the pedestrian street, so to get here you buzz your self in, and have to open a door that must weigh 200 pounds or more. I have to use my full body weight to open it. Then we walk through a court yard with a stone well to get to our stone spiral stair case. We are the first apartment at the top of the stairs. There is no trash pick up, we bought our trash out to the village collection point at the end of the street. It is just a bin with a shoot. Pretty practical really, and that was our first bag of trash since we got here.
We don't know what we are doing tomorrow - but Dan found a neat train ride that looks fun that we may try to do sometime. There is also a stone village nearby that I want to see. We'll see what time we all get up - and see what we feel like doing.
Funny Quotes:
-- "That is one old bridge" Sara said when she saw the 2,000 year old Roman bridge Pont du Gard.
--"How did they build that bridge? How do you build a train? Can you tell me please Dad?" - Sara at the Pont du Gard.
--"I hear the bells chiming! It is six o'clock - my bedtime! I better not be late!" - Sara as she heard some bells here, dong 6 times to let her know it was 6 o'clock.
--"Mama, come look at what I made. I made a copy of Uzes. Here is the whole village. Here is our apartment." -- we brought a lot of Legos for Sara/Julia to play with and Sara made a whole village with them (we are currently in Uzes, so that's what she built) - complete with streets and buildings. Kept her busy for a half hour! Sara and Julia have played Legos outside and inside (no TV, I hear they don't work here-that was for you Dad) and it is a great way for them to play and relax after the day.
End of post - perfectly timed with the bells chiming 10:00. Good night.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Wednesday - market day
Wednesday - Market day in Uzes
Woke up around 10:45 AM. We all slept that long, which is great to all be on a similar schedule.
The first thing I heard was a 3 piece band outside our window. It was market day. I couldn't wait to look out the window and see it. Sure enough, once we got the huge windows open (they are twice as tall as I am, and twice as heavy too) we could see the market hub-bub. People were strolling with market baskets. The band was giving a festive back drop and some people were parked at a cafe with a cup of coffee that they planned to drink for an hour before moving. They just sit and watch the world go by - similar to what I was doing from my window perch - just a story above the action.
By 11:00 we were outside. We got the kids dressed quickly and bolted to the door. We heard the market was the morning only so we didn't want to waste a moment.
The market completely covered the main square "Place aux Herbes" right down the street. They had everything. Olives, meats, cheese, flowers, cookies, bread, you name it. We walked around looking at everything. Then we started buying. We got some long thin green beans, a cantaloupe melon, 750 grams of ham off the bone, 1 cucumber, 3 tomatoes, 1 bunch of lettuce. We also got some cookies, that were eaten right away under the shade of a tree. "Mama, I like to eat things right away, lets go find a table and eat these" Sara said, soon after picking out the cookies.
We lingered in the market. Loved it. Even the fountain in the center looked festive. We bought some eggs too. My backpack was heavy. We went back to the apartment to offload.
We feasted for lunch. Our market pickings gave us fresh stuff to make in the kitchen and eat on our veranda. Sara and Julia cleaned thier plates. "Can I have more of everything?" Sara asked. She ate and ate.
After that we relaxed in the sun outside for a while and then went back outside for more walking. We didn't have a goal in mind, though there was a playground on the map that we found, and also a Roman bridge to see. Sara and Julia laughed and played at the play ground. They did the slide a dozzen times each - including where Julia went down to Sara catching her. Great sister fun.
By the time dinner rolled around we got back to the apartment and I made some potatoes with herbs, steamed green beans, sliced ham, a fluffy green salad with tomatoes and herb dressing, and sliced cantalope. It was ready fast - all the ingredients were from the market. We felt very much a part of Provencal life!
In the evening we did another stroll, saw a neighborhood soccer game, got some pastries (Sara picked out an eclair and a puff pastry) and got back here. The girls went to bed around 7PM I think. It is 9 now, and I'm heading that way too.
There have been several funny moments - it is great to share a glance with Dan as if to say "Sara is so funny" and/or "Julia is so sweet" - we are having fun.
It was another great weather day. Sunny. Blue sky. Shorts and T shirt weather - with a hat for the sun! No humidity, no bugs, slight breeze, perfect for strolling.
Funny quotes:
-"When Papa grows up, he is going to be a great cook!" - after lunch.
-"Wow! That is incredible! Thanks Dad!" - when Dan gave Sara all his coins from his pocket so we could by some pastries at the bakery. She thought the coins looked like a treasure--like it was so much money! (It was probably 5 euro in coin.) She got it out of his hand in one try - probably 20 coins! She is an expert at extracting money from her Dad.
End of Post.
Woke up around 10:45 AM. We all slept that long, which is great to all be on a similar schedule.
The first thing I heard was a 3 piece band outside our window. It was market day. I couldn't wait to look out the window and see it. Sure enough, once we got the huge windows open (they are twice as tall as I am, and twice as heavy too) we could see the market hub-bub. People were strolling with market baskets. The band was giving a festive back drop and some people were parked at a cafe with a cup of coffee that they planned to drink for an hour before moving. They just sit and watch the world go by - similar to what I was doing from my window perch - just a story above the action.
By 11:00 we were outside. We got the kids dressed quickly and bolted to the door. We heard the market was the morning only so we didn't want to waste a moment.
The market completely covered the main square "Place aux Herbes" right down the street. They had everything. Olives, meats, cheese, flowers, cookies, bread, you name it. We walked around looking at everything. Then we started buying. We got some long thin green beans, a cantaloupe melon, 750 grams of ham off the bone, 1 cucumber, 3 tomatoes, 1 bunch of lettuce. We also got some cookies, that were eaten right away under the shade of a tree. "Mama, I like to eat things right away, lets go find a table and eat these" Sara said, soon after picking out the cookies.
We lingered in the market. Loved it. Even the fountain in the center looked festive. We bought some eggs too. My backpack was heavy. We went back to the apartment to offload.
We feasted for lunch. Our market pickings gave us fresh stuff to make in the kitchen and eat on our veranda. Sara and Julia cleaned thier plates. "Can I have more of everything?" Sara asked. She ate and ate.
After that we relaxed in the sun outside for a while and then went back outside for more walking. We didn't have a goal in mind, though there was a playground on the map that we found, and also a Roman bridge to see. Sara and Julia laughed and played at the play ground. They did the slide a dozzen times each - including where Julia went down to Sara catching her. Great sister fun.
By the time dinner rolled around we got back to the apartment and I made some potatoes with herbs, steamed green beans, sliced ham, a fluffy green salad with tomatoes and herb dressing, and sliced cantalope. It was ready fast - all the ingredients were from the market. We felt very much a part of Provencal life!
In the evening we did another stroll, saw a neighborhood soccer game, got some pastries (Sara picked out an eclair and a puff pastry) and got back here. The girls went to bed around 7PM I think. It is 9 now, and I'm heading that way too.
There have been several funny moments - it is great to share a glance with Dan as if to say "Sara is so funny" and/or "Julia is so sweet" - we are having fun.
It was another great weather day. Sunny. Blue sky. Shorts and T shirt weather - with a hat for the sun! No humidity, no bugs, slight breeze, perfect for strolling.
Funny quotes:
-"When Papa grows up, he is going to be a great cook!" - after lunch.
-"Wow! That is incredible! Thanks Dad!" - when Dan gave Sara all his coins from his pocket so we could by some pastries at the bakery. She thought the coins looked like a treasure--like it was so much money! (It was probably 5 euro in coin.) She got it out of his hand in one try - probably 20 coins! She is an expert at extracting money from her Dad.
End of Post.
Tuesday - first full (non-travel) day
Tuesday - up at noon.
We all felt great when we woke up naturally. Around noon. We opened the windows to see the cute street below, with the strolling people, and shops (we are in an apartment in the center of town - in the area where they don't allow cars, so right out our windows we can look down at people in cafes and in shops).
We went out and found lunch. A great place. We sat outside. They had no high chair for Julia so I used our portable one I had in my backpack. They gave Julia and Sara kid silver wear (with penguins on it), which they loved. Actually that silver wear kept Julia busy playing for about 10 minutes!
Our appetizer was fantastic fresh tomato and mozzarella salad with olive oil and salt drenched with herbs on the side. It was wonderful. Then we had 2 house hamburgers (which had gherkin picks, cheese, etc on it) and Sara ate one too. There was also gravy of some sort and onions on our burgers. It may sound American - but it was very French! The girls ate great and were happy as we ate. I got to sit back and relax and enjoy the street scene while we ate. Sara was given a red drink (similar to cool-aid) that she was happy with. We forgot how to ask for free tap water, so we got a bottle of water - but now we remember to just ask for a carafe of water and they bring you one. With out asking just that way, they will bring a bottle of water that you pay for. That is okay I suppose, but at 4.50 euro for water we'd rather spend it on something else! The servers at the restaurant were very nice and gave Sara some strawberry icecream for dessert. It made her day (or maybe her year).
Back to the apartment and then we went for a long walk around "town." We are content and happy. We followed the walking tour from the Tourist Information desk, which had 15 sites, and our apartment was #3 on the walking tour, since we are in a "mansion" that they find notable enough to be on the walking tour. Other people stop here just to look at it! (Our apartment is a modern slice of the mansion, that we are renting from the owner.)
On the walk we went everywhere. We popped into a cathedral, saw some men playing boules, climbed up to a view spot, saw an ancient well, strolled leafy lanes, wandered down side streets-- in other words -- we just enjoyed being in Uzes - a cute town in Provence, France.
We ate dinner outside on our veranda. It is a lovely area with a tile floor, lemon trees, and other plants. A lot of plants. Dinner was pleasant and then we put the girls to bed.
It is 8:10 PM and very light out - I'm outside with Dan on the veranda. The weather was gorgeous today.
Tomorrow is "market" day, a big deal around here. Can't wait.
End of this post.
Monday - After the train, to the car, to Uzes
Still Monday, but now after the train.
We got off the train at Avignon. From there we got our rental car. It was easy. Our car is a small van. Much smaller than an American mini van (which is good). It fit everything and our girls were comfortable. It takes Diesel fuel. We will have the car 'till september 16th (if I remember correctly).
The drive to Uzes was 1 hour. It was gorgeous. We passed fields of vineyards. France is so pretty. The last time we were here was when I was pregnant with Sara. We came to Uzes back then, and liked it so we decided so spend some time here this trip too.
We circled the Uzes ring road 3 times. It is hard to spot what you are looking for when you don't really know what you are looking for. On each circle we saw more and more, and finally spotted our cross-streets where we were supposed to unload. (The village core is car-free, so we couldn't just drive to our apartment.) Dan found a parking spot on the street and I ran to the tourist office to call our contact for our apartment.
It took about 10 more minutes and we were climbing the steps to our apartment. That was easy. It was 4:10 PM - still the same day we arrived in Paris - but now were were in our own space for the first time we left Reston. Everyone was happy to take their shoes off and relax.
We relaxed for about 10 minutes. Then we went out for a walk. Sara skipped. Sara sang. She sang "we have never been here before…" with other lyrics I don't remember. She was on the top of the world. Dan and I kept smiling at her. It was a fun family time to stroll the tree canopied squares of Uzes with out a care in the world. Other people were happy too. Kids played in the squares (car free), parents sipped coffee in cafes. The Europeans know how to relax. It made every bit of the travel worth it to be here.
Back in the apartment after our walk Julia wandered around touching everything. It if was made of glass or other breakable material she touched it. I followed right behind her, moving everything she touched to a safe spot - thus kid proofing the apartment. I must have moved 12 vases, 6 trays of cups, 1 tea set, 10 glass paperweights, and 4 candle holders. I stashed them into drawers, far away from where little hands can find them.
While Julia toured the apartment, Sara played Legos, and Dan made dinner. It was pasta. Then we put the kids to bed. Sara slept great. Julia woke up a few hours later and was awake for an hour (I was up with her) then we all slept 'till noon the next day.
End of this post.
Aug 26 - After the flight
Monday Morning - after landing at 6:30 AM
The early hour at the airport still meant a busy airport. After walking through long corridors, some with moving walk-ways, we made it to the huge hub-bub of the area near passport control.
People were every where. No one seemed to be awake. Even the employees, who looked like they'd rather be enjoying a cup of coffee rather than standing at their post.
I spotted a bathroom. I took Julia in, leaving Dan with Sara and all our stuff. That turned out to be a good thing since an airport employee spotted Dan with Sara and gave him a "fast pass" that sent us in a totally different direction than all the other people. Our "fast pass" line had no people - a big improvement over the other line that was so bogged down with people you couldn't even see the line. We just breezed through the "fast" line with our pass. The guy stamped our 4 passports.
Then it was off to baggage.
We followed the signs. Turning corners. Walking down corridors. Taking elevators. Walking more. Sara and Julia were quiet. They were probably a bit sleepy and going with the flow. They were looking around non-stop. Taking it all in. Then we made it to baggage claim. Got our bags. Good. Our bags were easy to spot (they were the 50 pound ones in the huge duffle bags). Then we headed to the train station.
Sara said she was thirsty. So our first few Euros went to some water and Orange Juice. Both girls drank as if they hadn't seen liquid before. Julia took so many sips that she had to gasp for air afterwards. Then she drank more. Not sure why, we gave them stuff on the airplane but they drank as if they had just crossed a desert and hadn't seen water for days.
Our next hurdle was to get to the train station.
The trains station was easy to find - a huge sign said "TRAINS" on the wall. I guess so many people asked over the years where to go for the train station that they just put up that one-word sign. It was effective. But only I saw the sign, soon after we bought the water for Sara/Julia, Dan asked me "do you know where we get the train?" So I pointed to the huge sign.
It wasn't easy to actually get to the train station. We had to take a shuttle train to get to the train station, and it was kind of confusing to know which stop to get off at. But we figured it out. There were also a zillion escalators, which we couldn't use with our stroller, so we were hunting for elevators, which were often slow- and also out of the way - which meant a bit more walking. We didn't mind. It is just part of traveling.
Sara loved the shuttle ride to the train station. Julia did too. They were both looking around in all directions. Julia liked pointing at things - and waving at people who smiled at her.
Once we finished with that shuttle we were in the train station. There were SO many people there. Sara was now asking for food, so we found a little cafe and got a long baguette sandwhich and something else that I don't even remember.
I bought our train tickets months ago. So all we had to do was wait for the train. We found an outdoor platform, which we made our home for about an hour.
When it was 10 minutes to our train, they announced it would be on platform 4. We had to get all our stuff down a long escalator, which was the direction everyone else was going too. It was a challenge. We couldn't just do it in one trip--and hold onto our kids. We had to break it up. Dan took our back packs and the Kelty down first and left them at the base of the escalator. I stayed up top with Sara and Julia. When he came back up he went back down with our 2 duffle bags. Then I went down with Sara. She likes to hold my hand on escalators, so when I started down and we were separated by a few inches she had to race to get my hand. Then we calmly descended into the station down to the train tracks. Almost done, I was down with our luggage and Sara, and Dan was up top of the long escalator with Julia and the huge folded stroller. Next thing I knew Julia was in the arms of a train station employee. Then Dan followed behind with the stroller. Whew! It took 3 adults to get everything down that escalator, but we made it.
Now that we were down by the tracks, we just had to be sure we were standing in the right place. The loading area was long. If we got on the train at the wrong spot, it would take forever to get to our seats if we had to walk through the train with all our stuff. Dan spotted a map of the train, and so since we knew our seat numbers we knew to walk to section A. We were in section G, so we were thankful to do all that walking on the train platform - where walking was pretty easy.
A train pulled into the station. Sara wanted to get on it. It wasn't our train, and it took some convincing that every train wasn't our train! You just can't hop on the first train you see! We had to wait for "our" train.
When our train arrived we got all the stuff on. It was similar to the escalator where I held Julia while Dan hoisted up the car seats, bags, backpacks, Kelty and stroller -- onto the train. He got on and the train left the station. We had to juggle our stuff to our seats.
Our seats were a family seat area, which means we had 4 seats facing each other and a table in the middle. Very nice. We were asleep once we hit our seats, and we slept a lot on the 3 hour train ride. It was the high speed TVG "bullet" train. It was smooth, and fast, but you could still enjoy the scenery - which was astoundingly gorgeous in the morning light. Fields of green - punctuated by skinny trees rising to the sky. Sara slept on Dan's lap, Julia slept in her car seat. Everyone was happy.
That train ride revived us - and our adventure was beginning!
End of this post.
Sunday - Aug 25 travel day (flight)
Sunday August 25 - Leave home
Are we finally ready? After gathering stuff to pack for over a week (and laying it out) we were running around the house right up 'till 3:00 PM when our taxi arrived to take us to the airport.
A few days ago we congratulated ourselves on how little stuff we had packed. There was so much extra space in our bags! But last minute our stuff ballooned, and our two duffel bags each weighed 49.5 lbs when the limit is 50 lbs. We better not buy anything!
Sara had a special shirt to wear on the airplane. It was brown with sparkle gold lettering that said, "I'm off to see the world" it even had the Eifel Tower on it!
At 3:00 we loaded up the taxi. Two duffle bags, two car seats, 2 kids, 2 parents, 2 backpacks, 1 stroller, 1 Kelty carrier. We didn't have space to move our elbows in the taxi, but it all fit. Whew.
It was a clear sunny day. Perfect for air travel. Check in and security were easy. Especially security - since Dan has pre-checked status and there is a special line for that. And he took both kids through with him! I had to go in the regular line, which had about 10 people in it. Julia looked so cute wandering around the security area. She just smiles and goes where ever her feet take her.
By the time we got a chicken burrito for the plane it was time to board. Our seats were good. The first row behind First Class, bulkhead. We didn't have any seats in front of us - so no one to lean back and crush us. We also had "economy plus" with is nice since there are a few extra precious inches of space.
I jammed our stuff into our overhead bin, which some lady had already nearly filled up. I wish people would use their own bins and also the space under the seat in front of them. Some people make it a sport to get all their stuff into whatever bin is around and then contentedly sit back and watch other people hunt for a spot to put their stuff.
Sara was saying, "why aren't we going yet? It is taking me a long time to wait." Not to worry. The plane got going at 5:45 PM, just about on schedule.
Are we finally ready? After gathering stuff to pack for over a week (and laying it out) we were running around the house right up 'till 3:00 PM when our taxi arrived to take us to the airport.
A few days ago we congratulated ourselves on how little stuff we had packed. There was so much extra space in our bags! But last minute our stuff ballooned, and our two duffel bags each weighed 49.5 lbs when the limit is 50 lbs. We better not buy anything!
Sara had a special shirt to wear on the airplane. It was brown with sparkle gold lettering that said, "I'm off to see the world" it even had the Eifel Tower on it!
At 3:00 we loaded up the taxi. Two duffle bags, two car seats, 2 kids, 2 parents, 2 backpacks, 1 stroller, 1 Kelty carrier. We didn't have space to move our elbows in the taxi, but it all fit. Whew.
It was a clear sunny day. Perfect for air travel. Check in and security were easy. Especially security - since Dan has pre-checked status and there is a special line for that. And he took both kids through with him! I had to go in the regular line, which had about 10 people in it. Julia looked so cute wandering around the security area. She just smiles and goes where ever her feet take her.
By the time we got a chicken burrito for the plane it was time to board. Our seats were good. The first row behind First Class, bulkhead. We didn't have any seats in front of us - so no one to lean back and crush us. We also had "economy plus" with is nice since there are a few extra precious inches of space.
I jammed our stuff into our overhead bin, which some lady had already nearly filled up. I wish people would use their own bins and also the space under the seat in front of them. Some people make it a sport to get all their stuff into whatever bin is around and then contentedly sit back and watch other people hunt for a spot to put their stuff.
Sara was saying, "why aren't we going yet? It is taking me a long time to wait." Not to worry. The plane got going at 5:45 PM, just about on schedule.
We had the three middle seats, so Sara was in-between Dan and I in her car seat (and Dan and I each had an aisle). We didn't buy Julia a seat so she was on my lap for part of the time and also Dan's. She cried a little, which is understandable. She also slept a lot. When she slept on me she was sprawled out on my lap on her back with her head tucked near my arm as a pillow. I didn't move a muscle for fear of disturbing her. She woke up when they made an announcement. She was displeased at being awake. I lifted her up and over Sara into Dan's awaiting arms. He took a turn holding her while I slept. When I woke up Julia was snoozing so cutely in Dan's arms.
Sara did well on the flight. She asked to go to the bathroom 3 times, which was a good chance to get up and stretch my legs.
"Why is this bathroom so small?" she asked. Then she plugged her ears remembering how loud the flush is on airplanes. Then she always RAN up the aisle back to her seat.
Sara had a kid meal on the airplane (arranged ahead). It was chicken and french fries, with a side of apple sauce. I had beef stew and Dan didn't get to eat since Julia was on his lap at the time.
The flight was about 8 hours. Half way in Sara asked "are we there yet? Why do we have to cross the Atlantic ocean?" She watched a Scooby Doo movie on her seat's screen. Her biggest 'problem' was that the head phones (or "ear muffs" as she calls them) kept falling off her ears. She was good the whole flight.
Sara's best sleeping was at the tail end of the flight. She slept the last hour or so, and was asleep as people were getting off the airplane. We woke her up and got off the plane.
We were among the first off since we were in the front of the airplane. (And we were ready to get off, with all our stuff packed up, which makes a big difference to not be scrambling to pack up as people are trying to squeeze past.)
The airport was just waking up. 6:30 local time. The sky was white with pink smeared on the horizon. The whole jet way was windows. We looked at the view as we sleep walked up into the airport terminal. Sara and Julia were quiet, almost contemplative as they looked around. Other travelers were just walking. Dan and I were juggling two kids, two backpacks, two car seats, and a stroller. We wouldn't have traded for their ease. We were all together and we were all happy.
PARIS!
Made it. Great. 12:30 midnight to our bodies; 6:30 AM local time.
Welcome to Paris Sara and Julia!
End of this post.
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