It was a really nice party, but it's really hard on the kids when G & I are at the table for hours on end.
Also saw Clelia and Baby Kayhla.
Photos on the big camera.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Day 13: Soiree 1 of 2
For lunch, we went to a party at Chez Mami (Mami Marcelle's house), hosted by TaTa Rosline, Tonton Pierre, and Mami. We had an aperitif of l'original triple sec with sparkling wine (need to try this at home), jambon sec et melon, veal with potatoes, haricot vert, et salad; chèvre, Comte, et Brie; rhubarb crumble et glacé vanille. Rosline's eldest daughter Marie came with her husband Stefan, and children, Clement (14), Hugo (11), & Mano (7). Louis and Marcelle had an absolute ball playing with their second cousins! And we had a ball watching the kids have so much fun!
There was a cute story they shared about Hugo: When he went back to school in the fall, they had to tell the class what they did on summer break. Everyone had gone on exotic vacations, but he hadn't. So he made up a story that he went to visit his cousins in the United States. His teacher verified the story with Clement's teacher, who asked Clement about their USA trip, and found out it wasn't true. Poor Hugo had to tell his whole class that the story was made up!
Here is a picture that Mami showed me of Papi Andre when he was young. She thinks Louis looks like him in the eyebrows. I think I see the resemblance. Do you see it?
Another photo of Papi Andre when he was young (back row).
Here are some photos from the party at lunchtime.
Friday, May 29, 2015
Day 11: Le Plage and Les Trois Marcelles
This morning we walked to the beach from Chantal's with cousin Anais. Burrrrr! It was so cold that I couldn't feel my fingers. But the kids has a blast.
Then Chantal prepared a beautiful lunch (fish en papillote with a bit of fennel and curry - yum!) on the patio that we enjoyed with Mami Marcelle, Maud, Anais, & Arsene.
We were paid an afternoon visit by Tata Marcelle and Tonton Bernard. We got a lovely photo of the 3 Marcelles.
Day 8: A visit from Alain & Sophie
We rested after our big outing to Paris yesterday. I had read about a good carousel at an art installation community center called the 104 on the outskirts of Paris on a blog called Oh Happy Day! that sounded cool, but we had too many other responsibilities. Maybe another trip, or maybe one of you will go and tell me about it!
We had a relaxing day. Baby M got to have 2 naps for a change. We got to catch up with our cousin Alain and Sophie who we haven't seen since their visit Stateside in October. Sophie filled me in on some great Paris apps which I'll post soon!
We enjoyed a nice long lunch and playing "What time is it, Mr. Wolf?" with Louis in the garden under trees with peaches and cherries, running past the raspberries and strawberries, the potatoes and lettuce, the cucumber and zucchini, rhubarb and tomatoes, the poppies and lilies of the valley and roses and irises, all in Abel's beautiful garden.
Then G was off on another business trip to Munich, and Abel and Lucette were left wondering what to do without a translator and 3 English speakers in their home!
Photos soon!
Day 7: Paris!
We This post is incomplete. Posting early for my sister!!!!
The perfect day in Paris!
We left the house around 11:30 am. The weather outside was perfect -- warm
Enough to leave the
Jackets at home but cool enough that we didn't sweat on the 20 minute walk to the train station. Somewhere in the 60s and expected to reach a high of 72. The sun felt good! It was such a nice chance from Brussels, where it was 10 degrees cooler.
First stop: L & M's first train ride!
Here's L on the platform and then in the train.
He was in complete awe of the train. G & I could not hear what we was saying,
but he was talking the entire way downabout the train, how it was working, where is was going, and who knows what else. Sometimes we would hear him say, "Bye bye, Station," and see him waving, and then, "Here we go!" G & I were looking at each other laughing the whole time.
We needed to change trains to get to the Eiffel Tower. Since we had the stroller, we took the elevator up to change trains. Or so we thought. When the elevator door opened, it wasn't sunlight and fresh air. We had accidentally taken the elevator out of the Metro. Gwenael was upset we'd have to find out way down again. But then we looked straight ahead and saw Notre Dame, and her bells were ringing. What a happy accident!
It was already 1, and we were all hungry. Luckily, Abel & Lucette had insisted we pack a picnic, so we are our sandwiches on the benches in front of Notre Dame alongside the well-fed pigeons of Paris.
Louis had fun throwing the crusts of his bread to the pigeons. He saw of the other tourists holding out food to get their pigeons in their hands Snow-White-style for a photo, so L started chasing the pigeons and got a thrill when he touched one (which G said was more like a slap upside the head).
I had imagined that we'd walk in Notre Dame, but I forgot about all the lines. It was way too long so we skipped going in. Louis was disappointed until we found the playground next to the church.
Here we are on the love lock bridge behind Notre Dame. (There are love lock bridges all over Paris now. There is one just behind Notre Dame if you're looking to do this. We opted out, since we know they just cut all the locks off anyway!)
Here we are taking a potty break at a cafe.
Then, right at the base Notre Dame on the Seine is the Batobus. Batobus is a hop-on hop-off boat that goes to about 8 major tourist sites in Paris. (Translates to boat-bus.) The line for Batobus was long. We had to wait one or two boats before we could get on. They were really nice about helping us carry the stroller on and off. What we liked about Batobus was that it was Louis's first boat ride, it was easier than navigating the metro (let alone with a stroller), and kept you oriented by allowing you so stay above ground and see where you were. We were happy to be on it, and the kids had a good time. But it was not an efficient way to get around, and it was also not an efficient way to see the Seine with all the stopping and going. If you want to see the Seine and do other things too, you are probably better off taking the classic Bateux Mouchee boat ride. Their boats had plenty of seats and room to spare, plus you get a voiceover history. The whole thing is done in about an hour. If you are not in a hurry and don't mind the tourist crowds and waiting in line every time you want to get on, then the Batobus is an okay way to combine transportation and sightseeing.
We took the Batobus to the base of the Eiffel Tower. We had to walk quite a way to find a ramp for the stroller and, in the end, just ended up carrying it up the steps anyway.
Louis saw all the tourists eating ice cream, so he had to have one. He requested chocolate. Boy was that a big mistake. Ha ha.
And look at our girl standing!
The L got involved in a multi-national game of soccer under the Eiffel Tower, and had the time of his life. We stayed quite a while letting him run and chase the ball with the little boys. He was screaming and yelling and having so much fun. When we got in bed that night, we agreed that watching Louis play soccer under the Eiffel Tower was the highlight of our day. It had nothing to do with the famous Paris landmark (although it was a lovely backdrop) and everything to do with the joy on our little boy's face.
One last stop before we headed back: the carousel under the Eiffel Tower. Louis picked the boat to ride on.
I left Paris feeling like we had the perfect day. You can't ask for much more than that on an international trip with 2 young children.
When I was putting L to bed that night, I said, "What was your favorite part of Paris today? Was it the train or the pigeons or the playground or the boat ride or playing soccer or the carousel?"
And he said, "I like staying at Abel and Lucette's. Their house is really cool."
I said, "You do? What do you like about it?"
He said, "I like all her special things."
A lucky little boy to already know that the true beauty of Paris is her people and their way of life.
❤️
Takeaways for the Traveling Mom in Paris:
- With kids, your time is limited by naps/energy levels, moods, hunger, finding potties and waiting in the line to use them, and traveling only as fast and far as little legs can go. If you want to go in Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower or the Lourve, buy VIP passes or tour packages that allow you to skip the lines. It will be well-worth your money.
- There is a small playground on the East side of Notre Dame for ages 2 to 6 with a sandbox and some ride-on toys.
- Pickpockets target tourist in train/Metro stations and at big tourist attractions like Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. The pickpockets are those you least expect like 14-year-old girls or the young boy who asked us to sign a petition for deaf children under the Eiffel Tower. Tourists distracted with children are easy targets. Be aware. Keep track of your bag. Consider minimal jewelry.And don't be afraid to wear a money belt.
- Potties in Paris - This could be a blog in its own rite. What an ordeal! The best way to go is to go a block off from the tourist attractions (to avoid tourist crowds and prices), sit down in a cafe, have a drink and use the bathroom. You can eat too, but just be prepared to sit for a while if you order food. Eating in Paris is not something that happens quickly or with a sense of urgency. When we had to go potty, we stopped at a cafe for drinks. Then we went across the street to a Carrefour for baguette sandwiches that we could eat on the go. We saved ourselves quite a bit of time and money by doing that. We put L in pull-ups to avoid accidents. I also threw the potette in my Longchamp bag so he could go anywhere he needed, as well as to have a clean place to sit when we were at a potty. We were only in Paris for a day. Honestly, if u was going to be in Paris for a week, I might map out all of the Starbucks locations as a larger stroller friendly space to use the restrooms and buy a bottle of water. We made the mistake once of getting in a short toilet line, but realized that the toilets were 1 person in and out, and they toilet would self clean after each use. It took forever!
- I did not do this, but there must be a list of handicapped accessible Metro stations in Paris. We were in one station that did not have an elevator, so they are not all handicapped accessible. (In this station, I carried M and walked L down about 50 stairs. G carried the stroller. I could not have done this if I had been alone.) If I was going to stay longer in Paris or be alone with 2 kids, I would look up a list of stations that are handicapped accessible in Paris.
- Right next to the Batobus stop under Notre Dame, there was a parked boat restaurant. I saw several local looking families with very happy children leaving as we walked past. It looked like a great place to dine with kids. It also had American stand up comedy on Saturday nights. Looked like a good place worth checking out.
- Carry cash! Many places all over France don't accept MasterCard and only accept Carte blue (a French card). We ran into this all day long. We need to look into a better Card to carry internationally.
- I looked all over online for the Paris puppet shows and found nothing... But one message board said times and details are listed in the Pariscope, so I'd check there.
- one message board said that the Marionettes in Champs du Mars (park under / at Eiffel Tower) are between Avenue Risler and Avenue Motte Piquet, close to the children's playgrounds, at 3:15 and 4:15 on Weds, Sat, Sun and during school holidays. Entry is 3.50 Euros (in 2012), only cash accepted,
Day 12: L'isle de Nantes
As a special treat for Louis, we decided to visit L'isle de Nantes. It is a display of working mechanical animals that is part art installation, part engineering. Since G is very creative and also an engineer, and L is very mechanical, I thought this would be a hit. The highlight would be the ride on the mechanical elephant, as an early birthday treat for Louis.
I was glad I looked at the website ahead of time for hours and information about buying elephant ride tickets in advance online. What I didn't see online was that you have to buy tickets at the counter for either the gallery or elephant, and then after you do that, then you can go back to the counter to buy tickets for the other. I would recommend other visitors buy elephant tickets in advance online and the arrive early enough to tour the gallery first. Note: The gallery is a guided tour as all parts are interactive.
The elephant ride was pretty cool! I wasn't sure what to expect. I imagined you might be strapped into a 5-point harness like a Six Flags ride. So we only bought tickets for G & L. When we saw it, we got tickets for M & Me to join. You board through the elephant's belly, and can ride inside the belly, outside next to his belly, and on top. I was a little worried after I boarded that the walking legs would really jostle us around on top, and I was holding Marcelle. I was relieved when the movement was completely even and flat. The legs moved, but only for viewing from the side. The forward movement was powered by a motor and wheels.
Here we are at the start of the elephant ride.
Marcelle was not afraid to go right up to the sides!
And here we are at the end. You can see the scale of how big the elephant was!
Louis was so pooped, he fell asleep in the car with his straw still in his mouth and two Madelines in his hand.
And we arrived back with visitors waiting! Marie-Ange and Denis ,and Guiguite & Roger.
They brought nice gifts for the kids. Louis got a little Lego rabbit farm with a sunflower - tres Vendee!
It's 9:45 pm and the sun is still shining. Our little boy enjoyed his elephant ride today. Tonight, I say "Bonne Nuit" from Chez Chantal with a glass of blackberry liqueur in my hand...
Takeaways for the Traceling mom at isle de Nantes:
- For someone else visiting, I'd recommend seeing the gallery first, then doing the elephant ride, which has very limited times.
- there's a good parking garage for L'isle.
- more later
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Day 6: Road trip - Brussels to Paris
Louis requested his birthday espresso machine at breakfast and I caved.
11 am - said good-byes to our lovely air bnb hosts, Caroline & Guido & our charming apartment at Lombardstraat 81. Here is Louis in the backyard.
The two lowest windows on the peach building were ours.
12 pm - We crossed the border into France, just like that! No border patrol, no fanfare, just a little sign.
Two more hours to go til Abel & Lucette's!
As we were saying goodbye to Caroline, I told her we took many of her restaurant recommendations, including Chez Francois. She said they always go there for celebrations and special occasions. I realized that Wedneday, the day we were was the anniversary of the day we met 11 years ago. We were celebrating and we didn't even know it. Happy anniversary to us!
We got in to Abel & Lucette's around 5. Louis was sleeping so we finally woke him at 6. Lucette had prepared soup, fish, and potatoes for Marcelle.
Lucette served port as an aperitif, a quiche with chives, grated carrot & tomato salade (I learned she uses a minionette so we need to try that), veal with a mushroom sauce and steamed potatoes and salad with a St. Emilion Bordeaux, a huge cheese plate (Roquefort, Morbier, a Sheep's Milk cheese and 1 new ones I didn't get the names of), finished with strawberries from Abel's garden. Louis ate 3 or 4 plates of strawberries. Abel & Lucette couldn't believe how fast he inhaled them. Lucette is such a good cook. Dinner was deeee-lish!
Friday, May 22, 2015
Day 5: Chez Charli, Brussels Park Playground, & the Jazz Marathon
At 6 am, I woke with L laying next to me in bed, wide awake, and holding his new airlplane.
Since we were up early, today would be the day for fresh croissants and bread for the bakery! I went .5 mile to Chez Charli, for the best bread the city has to offer. All of the breads are home-baked in the shop with all organic, natural ingredients. I got 4 pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), 4 croissants, and 2 sticks of the 5 cereal bread. I showed up just after the doors open at 7:30.
I have to say, the city may be just as creepy at 7:15 am as it is at 10 pm. I passed some seriously creepy people to get to this bakery. The things you will do for bread!
Was it worth it? Were the pain au chocolat divine? Yes, yes they totally, totally were.
But, poor Marcelle! I'm afraid we've ruined her. Her first chocolate is from a fine chocolatier in Brussels (Neuhaus) and her first pain au chocolate is from the best bakery in the city. I mean, when you start with the best, where do you go from there? No chocolate or croissant will ever live up to her standards.
G got home at noon, much earlier than expected.
We ate in and finally left the apartment after naps at 3:30 or 4 for Parque de Brussels. It was great!
There is a playground in the upper Northwest corner close to the corner of Rue de la Loi and Rue Royale.
The park had multiple swings for different ages, a giant sandbox, teeter totter, multiples slides and play structures. The kids had a ball, and Louis made friends with a 4-year-old little Koren boy who spoke English fluently from watching English TV!
The park was full of beautiful statues everywhere.
The park is next to the palace.
All of the architecture here is stunning. We passed the Musical Instrument Musuem which is a really cool building.
Pretty gardens...
Looking down over the Garden at Monte des Artes and across the city.
The we went home, ate, and played chocolate shop.
And finally, we dropped in for a bit of jaZ at the Grande Place. I really cannot think of a cooler venue to go hear music, surrounded by all these old beautiful buildings. If I had known about this jazz festival, we would NOT be leaving tomorrow. It goes on all weekend. They have multiple outdoor venues and tons of indoor venues (like 70?), shuttles taking people all over the city, live music EVERYWHERE! This is like my dream - well, with a babysitter. Saturday and Sunday, they have special events and performances for the kids.
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