Coming full circle

When I saw some Metro station names and street names near the apartment we rented in Paris, I quickly realised that I was very close to somewhere I had lived as a child. But I can't say I actually recognized anything. And I couldn't decide if it was the year I was 5 that I'd lived there, or the three months during my Grade 2 year in Canada...

I was able to piece it together, but it was nice to have my dad visit from England to clarify it all for me. Yes indeed, just around the corner from our rental was the apartment we lived in when my brother was born. We had a little Austin Mini Cooper (grey and white) -- they were smaller than the new one that came out recently -- and we had just become a family of five. My sister and I went to the same school, but I was in kindergarten and she was in gradeschool, so we were in separate parts of the yard at recess and used to meet at the fence that separated us. I remember the name of the street where my best friend lived, and the name of the street where our doctor lived. Some of this is real memory, some is memory of family stories.

One of the fun things that happened when my dad visited is that we went to the market place when the marke was not on, as it's a great space to kick a ball with Declan or let him run around on his scooter. "There used to be a market here," said my dad. "I have a film of you standing just here holding a baguette that's as big as you are." It's really fun to have, quite inadvertently, taken my boys to places that were part of my own childhood. I hope they come back as adults and continue the circle.

Derniers jours a Paris

Well, I was going to do this one in French, but I'm on a PC and can't find the accents.

Our last two days in Paris were rather wet, but enjoyable nonetheless. We got caught in the rain a couple of times, most notably the night we had told Declan we would go to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle up close. It was raining so hard that only Jeff went, and I stayed home with Loic. This way, Declan could go in the stroller with the rain cover. We were leaving two days later, so what with packing, this was really the last chance.

As I watched the rain from the apartment, I knew that their little adventure had the potential to be delightful or disastrous, depending on whether the Tower "performed," whether Declan stayed dry, etc. Luckily, delightful won out and Declan was enchanted.

On our last morning, we went to the Rodin, which has a lovely garden, making it a more child-friendly museum than some. With this, we had accomplished all of the "essentials" on my list. Which means no Musee d'Orsay, no Picasso, but these are not for visits with small children anyway. Two museums (l'Orangerie was the other) is plenty.

In the afternoon, we went back to Place Beaubourg, watched some buskers, had some ice cream, ran inside to escape a rain shower, which allowed a quick visit to la Fnac. It was the only time we went back to anywhere, the other 8 days being filled with new things every day. The fact that we had time to go back somewhere contributed to the feeling of having seen what we set out to see.

And more still

My Father-in-law told me today that as you get older time goes faster, on that theme I think that as the vacation draws to an end you are surprised by more things.

The Dali Museum in Paris: This artist was something. Crazy? Probably. Innovative? Most certainly. Ahead of his time? By decades. And a performer on many levels? A genius on many levels more to the point.

Travel between two far points: My above mentioned Da(vi)d-in-law took the Eurostar into Paris from London today to have coffee in a cafe, tea in another, dinner at our apartment and then head back home to Oxford for the night. Aren't fast rail service and loving parents grand?!

My son, Declan, lying in bed at night watching the Eiffel Tower and calling us when it performs it's 20,000 lightbulb dance during the evening and saying how he will miss it TOO much.

Paris is wonderful.

It's all about the Eiffel Tower

Yes, other than the playgrounds closing, Paris is great for kids.

Our taxi driver to the airport in Canada, nearly four months ago, made a reference to the Eiffel Tower when we said we were going to France. Declan looked at him blankly. I realized that if he was to get anything out of the Paris visit, I would have to work on it. The Eiffel Tower seemed the best place to start, so I did. And I certainly succeeded. Every time we see it, there's a chant, in a typical child's rhythm that a musician could write out for me in "long" and "short" – "La Tour Eiffel. La Tour Eiffel." The first of the Madeline books, by Ludwig Bemelmans, was instrumental, with its drawings of Paris monuments. Who knew that we'd actually be able to see the tower from our apartment.

In the playground beside the tower, there's a lovely old-fashioned carousel, with just horses. I thought Declan would prefer the fancier one across the way, with spaceships etc., but he insisted. And it turns out this old one is hand cranked and involves a game where the carousel riders each have a stick on which they try to accumulate rings as they go around.

A tourist in Paris

Three months in Collioure and I felt like a resident. Only ten days spent in Saint-Tropez but I still got to know the butcher, went to the Marche three times and said hi to the staff at the time share and had them say hi to me . Four days in Nantes made me feel like I had family in France. But Paris, truly here I am a tourist. Five and a bit days into a ten day stay and I'm not sure I've been to the same place twice. We've tried different places for croissants, we might have a winner now, and every day has been a different direction on the Metro. Ok I have been to my two Metro stations more than once and the local dep as well, but, so many people go in and out I'm not recognized from the masses. My conclusion......if you are going to be a tourist this is a good city for it! Each day we head out after breakfast and return for a late supper and we will never see all there is to see. Even if we stayed for three months I doubt everything could be little more than glimpsed at. No, I will leave France feeling as though I have lived here and Paris as if I have had a holiday there. Even the Saint-Chapelle, small by most standards, would take months to take in all the stained glass stories. It is a city full of wonders which is no surprise since people have been living here for two thousand years. Myy only wonder is when will I visit it again and try to see more; it took eight years since my last visit and will probably be that much again. Perhaps we should live longer or have cheaper air fares...oh, and less work and more time to do all this stuff.

Liberté, Egalité, Fermé

En quatre jours, nous avons réussi à voir la Tour Eiffel, l'Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, le Louvre (de l'extérieur), Notre Dame, la Sainte Chapelle, les Invalides, le jardin des Tuileries, le Champ de Mars, le Centre Pompidou et la place Beaubourg. Nous avons marché un peu partout, pris le métro un peu partout aussi.

Mais bien sûr, pour faire tout cela avec un garçon de 4 ans, il faut des jardins d'enfants. Il faut pouvoir s'arrêter (souvent!) et jouer. J'ajoute que notre horaire est un peu décalé en raison du séjour à l'hôtel, à Nantes, où il fallait pouvoir sortir au restaurant le soir.

Alors voilà que deux fois, déjà, nous nous sommes rendus à un jardin d'enfant, après l'avoir promis pendant des heures pour fair patienter Declan, pour le trouver fermé! Oui, ils ferment bel et bien leurs jardins bien avant le coucher du soleil (19h30 en avril). (Et encore faut-il comprendre l'affiche compliquée des heures d'ouverture.) Quiconque est parent sait à quel point il faut faire des excuses quand on a promis quelque chose qu'on ne peut ensuite livrer.

Paris, view from our apartment

Yes, we can see the Eiffel Tower from our apartment. Every night it "sparkles" on the hour. Declan loves it.

Always fun

This morning we took a day trip to Chartres. I had heard of the cathedral there but knew very little about it other than it being known for its distinctive blue stained glass and mis-matched bell towers. Like many things experienced without expectations it turned out to be a great day. From the train station the church's steeples can be seen. Not so impressive, thought I at the time. Once arriving at the cathedral though I changed gears quickly. Chartres Cathedral is stunning inside, outside, sideways and every other angle you could possibly see it by. There were even some nuns wandering around just to add to the scene.

Later we took a drink in the old square, which was also beautiful, and we shocked our waiter by refusing the change from the bill. We haven't tipped much in France since it's not the norm, but have become accustomed to giving something in tourist areas where we figure waiters are either used to it or require it. Today, when the waiter brought my change and I said ca va, merci after the paper money was handed over his mouth dropped and he said, "you don't want your money?". No thanks said I and off he went to tell his co-workers about the either wealthy or crazy people at the little table under the tree. It was charming after the urban life Paris offers.

To top off the fun, the train home was full of the nuns we saw in the town and we were right in the middle of them. The train was crowded so Loïc and I were left to our own devices to entertain the sisters, one of whom is a sports fan from NY city. When the train arrived back in Paris all the sisters came by to squeeze Loïc and say bye. Somebody is sure to be in trouble and it's not me. I just hope I don't happen to be holding Loïc when a god throws a lightening bolt at him for flirting with all his devoted servants.

Nantes

My family on my mother's side comes from Nantes. We spent four days there, combining visiting family and seeing the city, which I have never seen as an adult. It was fun. There's a chateau, which happened to have an excellent exhibition entitled something like L'Archéologie marine des épaves de l'Atlantique. It was extremely well done, with a great section for kids where Declan was able to dress up as a pirate.

The botanical gardens are beautiful, with some 300-year-old greenhouses.

There was also a war ship from the 1950s that one could take a tour of. Lo and behold, my cousin (once removed) has been involved in the association that runs the boat for some 20 years and does the tour. So we had our own private tour, which was also great. And a special treat for Declan, who got to sit in the captain's chair etc.

There's also a sort of park of fantastical machines, the most notable of which is an enormous elephant that you can ride. (One of the pics is Declan looking at the elephant.) As Jeff pointed out, it makes sense to have these in the town where Jules Verne was born.

And let's not forget a rainy picnic on the steps of the big theatre on Place Graslin, near our hotel. After all, we were in Brittany and did get rained on at least once a day.

Travelling with a child, a baby and three months worth of "stuff"

Leaving the south, we headed to the opposite end of the country — almost as far as we could go. Our travel day went something like this:

7am Get up, entertain Loïc.
8am Get Declan up. Eat breakfast, do a final cleaning.
9am Check out, load car — 8 pieces of luggage ranging from small to very large, one stroller, one baby, one 4-year-old.
10am Hit the road.
1pm Arrive in Montpellier with no clue how to get to the train station.
1:30pm Arrive at train station, return rented car, get luggage cart, load luggage cart, clean up mess from 3-hour car ride with children.
1:55pm Get luggage cart on elevator to get to other platform; run with cart to train; load luggage, kids, stroller on train.
2pm Sigh as train pulls out and head for the bar car!
4pm Unload all stuff and children from train.
4-5pm An hour in Lyon train station.
5pm Repeat luggage-loading scenario.
5:02pm Repeat bar car scenario.
9:25pm Arrive in Nantes; repeat luggage unloading; find taxi; load luggage etc.; get to hotel; unload luggage; go up to first floor (second to North Americans) in 3 or 4 trips due to small size of elevator.
10pm Be pleasantly surprised at the size of the room, get children to bed, be very grateful for half bottle of wine held back and collapse.

San Remo

Yes, we took a day trip to Italy — just 'cause we could!

The weather was glorious. We got in the car, drove 2 or 3 hours along spectacular highways, and ended up in a little seaside town, San Remo, complete with fun fair for Declan. When you don't have access to a change table, a car trunk will do just fine!

We walked a bit, had a pizza lunch, took in some sun, went to the fair and went home. Oh, and had an amazing coffee (espresso, of course) and gelato.

Last days in Saint-Tropez

Well I'm back-tracking a bit here... about a week or 10 days. Just to say that Saint-Tropez does have a beach. And friendly seagulls that come right to the balcony, hoping for a nibble.

Joyeuses Pâques

Voici nos œufs de Pâques. Comme vous pouvez le voir, Collioure nous manque toujours. (L'œuf est peint par Jeff, bien sûr!) Et voilà Jeff qui rencontre une crevette pour la première fois. Au marché il a rencontré un homard vivant assez impressionnant.

Saint-Tropez

Comparing five days in Saint-Tropez with three months in Collioure is like comparing your children. It's automatic and instinctive but you really shouldn't.

The view from our apartment here is stunning (see pic) and the weather has been gorgeous -- in spite of forecasts to the contrary. We have a car, here, which is lots of fun as the roads are incredibly scenic while being extremely manageable (unlike, for example, Crete, where they were beautiful but terrifying).

Today we had an impromptu afternoon at the beach, which was lovely. Yesterday we went to Aix-en-Provence, where Declan rode an old-fashioned Carousel.

Unfortunately, we don't have Internet access in the apartment, so the blogging will be minimal.

As you can see, however, the fun continues.

Goodnight Moon

Il pleut sur la ville comme il pleure dans mon cœur…

It's been raining all week and it's hard to tell whether it makes it sadder to leave, or whether it simply feels appropriate. It's the same weather we arrived to, though a few degrees warmer now.

And I walked in the drizzle, saying goodbye to the piers, the cafés, the cobbled streets, the forts, the castle…

We're hoping for one more sunny day for a coffee by the seaside, but we'll happily settle for a coffee in the Templiers bar, surrounded by original fauvist pieces.

Wow

L'école en France, ou plutôt la maternelle, continue à nous émerveiller. Declan et moi nous promenions ce soir et je l'entends dire « …ne laissant que sa pipe au milieu d'une flaque d'eau; ne laissant que sa pipe et son vieux chapeau ». J'ai bien reconnu le poème et je lui ai demandé où il l'avait appris. Ce n'est pas rien de faire réciter quelquechose à un enfant timide de 4 ou 5 ans. Dès qu'on a l'air de s'intéresser, ils deviennent tout embarassés.

Mais ce soir, il m'a bien récité tout le poème, que voici pour ceux qui ne le connaissent pas.

Chanson pour les enfants l’hiver,
de Jacques Prévert

Dans la nuit de l’hiver
Galope un grand homme blanc
Dans la nuit de l’hiver
Galope un grand homme blanc
C’est un bonhomme de neige
Avec une pipe en bois,
Un grand bonhomme de neige
Poursuivi par le froid.
Il arrive au village.
Voyant de la lumière
Le voilà rassuré.
Dans une petite maison
Il entre sans frapper ;
Et pour se réchauffer,
S’assoit sur le poêle rouge,
Et d’un coup disparaît.
Ne laissant que sa pipe
Au milieu d’une flaque d’eau,
Ne laissant que sa pipe,
Et puis son vieux chapeau.