The pool

The pool is frickin' freezing. Thank god it's hot here! Today Dylan took his first dive off the diving board.

The Village of Les BAUX de Provence

WOW this place was almost unreal. And unfortunately I didn't get a good picture because the old camera that Lea had lent us is now on the fritz. What is the deal with my bad luck with cameras?!! Perched on a limestone hilltop of Les Alpilles mountains, is yet another medieval village that claims to be the birth place of the troubadour Courts of Love. Our book describes it as "the most dramatic fortress site in Provence". Sean wants to come back a ride his bike up to the village. I saw some impressive looking intimate hotel/resorts where I could lay by the pool instead.

http://www.lacabrodor.com/index_uk.html

http://www.benvengudo.com/

the bike trip perhaps: http://www.mapmyride.com/s/routes/view/road-cycling-map/france/arles/33415656

St Remy and my first complaint about the French

The Village of St Remy has an open market twice a week. It is filled with posh shops and art galleries, as well as nice restaurants. We had a great lunch and then walked around until we found a spot with some AMAZING desserts in the window. When we asked for a table (of which there were many) for dessert and coffee the hostess said we could not sit down for dessert and further explained in French while waving her hand at us that they would only serve dessert after eating a meal at the restaurant and that we should leave...WTF?! Absolutely irritating. Other than that! St. Remi was nice and there was a random guy walking around with a fox.

The day of dread

The day we were not looking forward to has come: Sean leaving to go home for work :(

The kids were super tearful last night but I think I managed to spoil them enough this morning and we plan to celebrate Mimi's birthday this evening with a special cake from the bakery. (Hopefully we can Skype and sing happy birthday to her and let her blow out the candle!)

Pont du Gard and night out in Nimes

After spending the morning at the Pont du Gard (fun) and drive home with Sloane screaming (very annoying), Sean and I went outon the town (Thursday night in Nimes is market night with vendors selling anything andeverything you can imagine from jewelry to soaps, books and crafts). We went heavy on the libations. We may as well blame Sloane because she is an easy target. The bull head is legendary because the bull fighter skillfully removed both ears before finishing him off...

Gordes

We picked the grey and rainy day to visit one of the coolest villages. Neither of us had a rain jacket or even an umbrella but we got lucky and the rain was light and it cleared up after a nice lunch. The best part of the day was not bringing any of our kids, particularly since it was over an hour away. Mimi would be proud we made the pilgrimage to one of her favorite villages and it is clear where she received inspiration for "Finer Things" with all the quaint shops.

Also by the way, our babysitter has lent us her old camera so we have her to thank for the photos!

our path of destruction (and visit to Avignon)

We may as well keep a tally of the things we are breaking at this point...Reese broke a bowl on day one and a juice glass about a week ago. Dylan dropped my lap top but besides a small dent on the side it continues to work -thankfuckingod. Sloane broke a small dish/bowl. I broke a coffee mug. And in our defense, we are used to working with wood floors = much more forgiving than tile! Finally, as I was snapping pictures of Sloane, she batted the camera out of my hand and VOILA, my new camera is gone. A pause or maybe even a moment of silence might be necessary...

So as we explored Avignon today, we were able to capture it via my iPhone.

Cicadas

When the sun is out here, there is an ever present buzzing sound of the cicadas. I promise you have never heard them as loud as they are in France. The locals have told us that it is the male of the species calling to the woman. The first few days with the jet lag it made me anxious, now it makes me happy. On Sean's return from the Pyrannes, he said as soon as he got on the A-9 (the main freeway through our area), he could hear them calling. The picture is of one we found in the pool. Everywhere you go you can buy artwork and souvenirs representing them.

The CANDY museum

We are about 20 minutes from the Haribo Factory and Museum. Sloane isn't welcome back. I also don't think I could stand another visit with Dylan or Reese. We will definitely be visiting a dentist as soon as we get home!

They have a "jumping" park conveniently located next door -trampolines, trapezes, and jumpy houses which made for a peaceful ride home.

Les Halles

Les Halles is the Whole Foods of Nimes...slightly better selection maybe? just as expensive.

and there is a bar in the middle of it, so I guess it has Whole Foods by a landslide.

I added pictures from Sean and my trip Sunday morning.

exploring Nimes with Nonny

Took Nonny to see the arena and the streets of Nimes. We ate crepes and drank wine, Reese particularly liked the rose'. She is starting to look and act like a local...

The pub had the Tour on so we got to see a second of it. Then I mistakenly peeked in a shoe store and an hour later and two pairs of boots later, and me loosing my cool (I admit I lost my patience when my mom tried on the same pair of boots four different times) we were rushing back to the house to meet one of our hosts for champagne. He talked and talked..in French. The words I understood were George Bush, Sarkozi, Obama...Apparently he likes America and American's very much, phew! He didn't like Chirac's stance on Iraq but believes that America and France have a long history as friends and we will overcome this mistake. He was very troubled to see on the news, American's pouring out French champagne in protest...I told him I would never pour out French champagne!

Nonny left yesterday and we were all sad to see her go!

Sloane is on thin ice

Sloane has not been sleeping well since Sean left poor girl. Though my sympathy is running out! Sure, she acts all cute and sweet and hams it up for the camera but when you put her in a bed...Dylan named her the baby of torture!

Sean in the Pyrannes

Even through a short bout of food poisoning, Sean is pedaling his way through the Pyrannes. The elevation in the picture is @7000 feet. He said some of the most unbelieveable scenary he has experienced; and he's making friends (see sheep with huge balls!)

Aigues-Mortes

Today we left Sloane at home and headed to the coast to see the beach. It should have taken about 40 minutes but I took the side road with a round-a-bout every 1/2 mile. Dylan wanted to throw up by the time we got there. We missed the turn for the two beaches that were recommended and ended up at one that was the French equivilent of the Santa Monica boardwalk with some really ugly apartment buildings that must have been built in the 70's. The water was warm and there were no waves and you could wade out really far so the kids swam for a while.

On our way home we saw the turn for the nice beach and we would probably try that next time..Our babysitter suggested casually that we stop at a village called Aigues-Mortes and it was such a cool surprise. It is a walled village built around 1300 with streets lined with shop after shop of adorable things. We found a "sweet" shop and we all went crazy and bought cookies, caramels, chocolates...

They had the prettiest carousel I have ever seen that the kids were so excited about. The whole experience was incredible!

and uckily we found the faster road home!

Pont du Gard

The Pont du Gard is a remnants of a Roman aquaduct...for those who care: they started building it in 19 BC. The is bridge is part of an aqueduct which transported water from spring near Uzes to Romen Names. An underground channel bridges and tunnels were engineered to carry the 4.4 million gallons of water daily. The three tiered structure was the tallest structure of the Roman empire.

You can walk across a bridge/road that was built in the 1700's, hike on trails, kayak and swim under it.

On the way home we stopped for Pizza...