There's No Place Like Home

While we were in France deprived of our typical 500 channels of TV, I downloaded The Wizard of Oz for the kids. It came in handy as Reese spent the last two days in Paris crying that she didn't want to leave and that she was going to miss everything about France. I reminded her that there was "no place like home" and it was more than true.

Even the psychotic episode Sloane had on the flight from DC to SF (which involved her punching both Sean and I in the face and biting me in the arm) and the incident involving me falling over the stroller while getting off the escalator at the baggage claim (while holding Sloane) did not deter our excitement over walking in the front door of our house! The kids were ecstatic to discover their rooms and toys. Sean and I were ecstatic for them to find their rooms and toys, and most importantly, our bed with all 8 pillows.

The trip can not be summed up except to say that we are all so lucky to have shared the experience and can't wait for our next adventure!

Paris

The other dreaded trip was so easy! Kids were great on the train and I packed well enough to walk from train to taxi with kids...luckily no frickin' elevator! And besides a minor incident which involved Sloane, almost running into the street while I was paying the taxi (so minor!), we made it to the hotel and Sean was there for HUGE hugs from all 3, or actually I should I say 4 of us!

The Hotel Brighton is perfect with a two room suite for us and nice breakfast (hooray room service!). We are across the street from the Tuileries Garden which has a whole amusement park as well as playgrounds and something called the Louvre...plenty of space for running and baby tantrums (see photo)

http://www.parisdigest.com/takingarest/parcdestuileries.htm

We are having such a great time in Paris; details to follow...Sean ran too far as usual in 100 degree heat, all three kids cried through the 30 minutes we spent at the Louvre (Reese had a fever) and we made it to the Eiffel Tower after a tour bus ride through Paris (absolutely the MOST touristy thing Sean and I have EVER done).

Lucky for me we are only a block from Colette, Zadig and Voltaire, Rue de Saint Honore...

Sending my love to California -only two more days until we see you again!!

Goodbye Nimes!

Nimes has been such a wonderful place for all of us for the past 6 weeks! too much to tally!

Tomorrow we have a whole crew coming to the train station to send us off..and thank god because we have all the same shite (car seat, stroller, two large roller bags, and about 15 carry-ons) and no Daddy to help with the bags!

Wish me luck. I am hoping someone might take pity on me and help me get all three kids and all of our shite OFF the train, through the train station, and into a taxi at the Paris train station! I am sure there will be plenty to laugh at. We are all so excited as Sean is meeting us at the hotel! He flies from London tomorrow morning! 1 more sleep to Paris and Daddy!

Montpelier

With only three days left to go out of 42, we finally made it to Montpelier, a beautiful city that is only a 30 minutes drive from Nimes, though it took us over an hour -oops! You could tell that it would be a nice place to visit in about two years; If you go there now there is crazy road construction going on and it takes fricking forever to get through town. With Anja and all the kids in tow we had enough time to eat some ice cream and find a bakery and then get back in the car. Dylan was striking poses for the camera!

French Pharmacies

Ok I have another reason to love French pharmacies! Besides the fact that they stock all the products that you typically would only see at the esthetician's when getting a facial, times a thousand (Le Roche Posay, Decleor, and Nuxe...Phyto, Klorane, and Kerastase), they also have the important things you might need in an emergency like the French version of Benadryl when you wake up in the morning with tiny spots all over your neck, arms and legs! This morning I woke up with an allergic reaction to something (probably something I ate?) and went straight to the pharmacy and was fixed up with some kind of antihistamine that dissolves under your tongue. Who knows what caused the reaction?! Last night was Jaques birthday so I went to a party at their house. Along with eating some amazing food, we also tasted wine from almost every region of France and finished with champagne...very fun night...maybe too much fun as I kind of look like a leopard!

San Francisco meets France!

Kerry had the sweet idea of having the French family over for a glass of wine..Xavier, Marie-Claire, Lea, Alice and Luis Teyssaire met the Honey's and the Glen's! They tasted some California wine and Cowgirl Creamery cheese :) LOVE this picture!

Dylan Reese and Sloane

my heart melts at how amazingly well these three have gotten along for almost 6 weeks without any play dates, just each other...

ARLES

Dylan, Reese and I had a great visit to Arles with Soledad, Clara and Lea. It is only a 30 minutes drive from Nimes. Now I know where to find all of the American tourists in Provence! It wasn't too crowded despite the amazing photography exhibit that is going on. Arles, which sits on the Rhone river is the home town of Christian Lacroix, where Van Gogh painted many of his famous paintings, has a Roman colliseum and the grossest toilet Reese and I have been in while is France. And that is saying a lot because the public toilets here are pretty bad! After saying "Emergency! I have to pee!" We went to the public toilet off of the square next to the church and Reese said, "I can hold it!"

It was pretty hot and so Dylan and Reese cooled off in the fountain. yuck. Pretty sure there were pigeon feathers in there as they splashed water on their faces...

Bakeries

You HAVE to go get your baguette every morning. By noon they are all gone and Dylan will be really pissed if there isn't any baguette in the house.

The bakery here takes the place of Starbucks/Peet's. We have all tried everything, fancy cakes, simple madeline- cakes, fruit tartes, eclairs, croissants, pain au chocolate, brioche au sucre, fugaise, petite baguettes, pain complete (wheat bread)...boot camp here I come.

figuring it out

So, our mistake...When we wanted to eat dessert in Saint Re'my, (by the way, how do I make an accent mark when typing?? Since I do not know how I am using the apostrophe) Anyway, for JUST dessert we should have gone to a Salon de The'. At a Salon de The' you can have a salad or other simple meals OR just have dessert, or a coffee. But you CANNOT get a coffee "to go" anywhere. At a restaurant, however, you have at least two, or more typically three, courses.

No, no Starbucks anywhere in Provence. It might be considered a personal affront to the French people to walk around with a coffee. When we were skyping with Sean on Friday evening (Friday morning for him) he was sitting there with his disposable coffee cup and lid and I was really jealous! Especially this morning, Soledad and Jaques picked me up at 9 am to go to the antiques fair in Barjac. We all slept until 8:30 so I was rushing to get ready and make my coffee. I took my coffee cup in the car and they were kind of laughing at me.

I was explaining to them that most Americans that I know get heir coffee in a "to go" cup and take it with them in the car, shopping or on a walk. It is so weird that it is a foreign concept here!

Barjac was another beautiful village and the antiques fair < http://www.souffledevent.com/website-english/Barjac.eng.htm > was a an endless "flea market". Very fun but nothing seemed worth adding to our luggage that I will be carrying along with Dylan, Reese, Sloane and all of our crap on the train to Paris (this Friday!).

Park in Nimes

The Jardins de la Fontaine is a huge beautiful park in Nimes created in the 18th century around ancient Roman shrines and the natural spring that provided water for the whole city. The most beautiful shrine is Le Temple de Diane. The kids like the playground that is mercifully shaded.

This weekend Nimes had their annual fountain show..projected images, lights, along to music. Only in Europe would I let Dylan and Reese stay up for a 10:45p.m. showing. Luckily it was worth it. Dylan said something like "This is the best thing I have EVER seen EVER!"

Here are a bunch of pictures from our different visits and I will try and see if any of thee video clips I took are worth posting.

UZES

My favorite village so far. I have now visited three times -with my mom, Sean and the kids, with Anja and the kids, and yesterday by myself! Even alone it was fun and I was able to do more shopping...

camp mom

It really doesn't matter where you are, if your kids are not in school or going to camp over the summer it is a lesson in patience as a parent. I am trying to be the best camp counselor/teacher in swimming, nature and science, art, and history (even throwing in some fields trips) AND I have an assistant! ....but I think my kids would say that I suck and they prefer to play Angry Bird or watch The Smurfs. At least Sloane has learned a new trick! But I will warn you that you will get dizzy if you watch the whole thing!

French doors

Besides the bakeries, the open markets and pharmacies, my other random obsession is doors.

10 sleeps until Paris and Daddy

So goes the daily countdown of Dylan and Reese. And as excited as I am about that part of the adventure, I am counting the days left to see what I can fit in! We have skyped with Sean which has been so great for all of us and it only took us about three years of Sean traveling internationally for us to finally Skype with him while he is home and we are in France!

Sloane talks to him as if he is right there and blows kisses.

Yesterday I went to the village of Castillion du Gard. It was very beautiful but tiny and only a couple shops. I did however see one of the best sights so far in Europe (see photo)