Parents in Paris!

If you had a choice, which one you pick? Hurricane destroyed Houston? Or 3 weeks in Paris? My parents chose 3 weeks in Paris. And luckily, their house was spared enough so that they could leave it!

We are having fun eating and running around the city! Here we are on a nice Sunday morning at the Luxembourg Gardens before heading to Chinatown for Dim Sum. Michael was JUST not in the mood for pictures:



On October 1st, we decided to explore the lovely Dordogne region of France. This southern area of France is known for truffles, strawberries, walnuts, and the controversial fois gras. We stayed at this cute rental house with 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, pool, and TONS of toys for kids. They had badminton, pingpong, and bikes! Plus movies! It was amazing. Here's a pic:


The first day, we arrived in Bordeaux and drove the 2 hours to Sarlat. Along the way, we stopped at an adorable little town called St. Emilion, which is known for wine. Shocking right? No pictures though because I left the camera in the car!

Anyways, we learned a bit about the best years for St. Emilion and stocked up on some wine to drink for now and for later. For those who are wondering, 2000 was a good year and 2001 was also excellent. Ready to drink now. Buy a 2005, the vintage of the century, and save it for at least 2 years to drink for later. The Grand Cru Premier Classe cost 280 Euro so we bought some Grand Cru instead.

We checked into our bungalow and then rested for the evening.

On our 2nd day, we explored the prehistoric caves around the area, which are famous for its cave art that is 14000 years old. No pictures either of this because cameras are NOT ALLOWED!!!! :o(

We visited 2 caves. The first was Font de Gaumes in Les Eyzies, which was amazing. It is the only original cave art open to the public. When you enter it, it is really a cave. A very small dark confined space. This German woman opted out and left about 4 steps in. The guide showed us these amazing paintings which were so faint you would never have seen them had he not pointed them out. The cro magnon man used the natural curves and indentations of the caves as part of their animals that they drew and painted with water and natural substances. It was amazing. I learned a lot more things about cave art so if you are interested (which I know you are not), you can post in comments and we can discuss more there.

The 2nd cave is the most famous, the caves of Lascaux. The original Lascaux caves were shut down due to the level of calcite that had built up on the original paintings due to human exposure. So we saw the replica, which is supposed to be amazingly accurate. It was absolutely awesome to see these HUGE animals being drawn on cave walls. At one point, the guide turned off the lights and held up a small lighter so we could see what the paintings would look like in the original lighting and it was amazing. They were painted to where they looked like they were moving if you had a flickering light. And it was indeed just that. Good ole wikipedia for pictures of cave art for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux

What was impressive too was that for the first tour, Brian and i understood almost all the French. For the 2nd one, about 50-75% of what we could hear. We were pretty happy with that!

Anyways, we ended our day at a fois gras farm where we learned about the process and how it is made. Brian got to feed some geese. Michael was not too impressed.

The geese are bought as geeslings (?) and then fed normally until 5 months old. At which point, they are force fed for about a month. Then, slaughtered for their buttery fat livers. This is then canned with salt and pepper. After which they are sterilized in hot water, which also cooks the interior of the can. Not for everyone, but we adore it.

The 3rd day, my angelic parents took care of Michael in Beynac while Brian and I canoed down the Dordogne. That definitely earned the 3 stars in Rick's book! My parents took a river cruise with Michael and Brian and I canoed for 3 hours from Vitrac to La Roque Gagaec and finally to Beynac, where my parents were. Here are some of our views:
Brian being the steering for our boat:
We only went around in circles 4 times and never got beached so I consider that to be quite successful!

We drove and enjoyed touring the French countryside. We stopped near a walnut tree and took pictures. This is my parents before we got a finger shaking at us for trying to gather up walnuts to take home!

Our last day, we went to the Saturday market in a little town named Sarlat. It is the most amazing market I've been to yet in France. It was magical.
They had LOADS of gorgeous and sweet strawberries. Tons of tins of fois gras. Bottles upon bottles of Walnut olive oil and truffle oil. And a walking band to provide the music. And that was just the food market! My parents explored the clothing market and loved every bit of THAT!

We found this funny statue of 3 geese in Sarlat. Had to take a picture of that! Family picture at that!

We spent the last day strolling around Sarlat and headed home for a calm evening full of games and movies. But then I was chasing after Michael, stepped wrong, and did something to my left foot and couldn't put any weight on it.

So instead of enjoying enchanting Sarlat at night, Brian and I went to the emergency room to make sure nothing was broken. I did this once to the same foot in college and had a fracture and had to wear a weird blue shoe for 3 weeks. So we wanted to get it checked out before we headed back to Paris and I'm running around pushing a stroller and wearing my carryon sized backpack like a pack mule. Luckily, nothing was broken and I am hobbling much better everyday!

That was it! We had fun!

P

Earmuff it

I'm standing around the other day and Michael comes running up to me and says "Fock!" I thought, oh geez, I thought I'd curbed that sort of thing. So I turn around to reprimand him and he's sitting there smiling at me holding a fork. Relief. Temporary.

Today we were on our way to throw out the trash and the road was lined with little rocks. Michael points to a rock and says fock. I say no, it's a rock. And he starts yelling like a machine gun, fock fock fock fock and pointing to the rocks. Luckily we were in the country.

But then we went on the train today and I hear him in the four seater next to me saying fock fock fock. Apparently he was trying to say 5.

It looks like we have a good deal of work ahead of us.

TV

No matter who you want to vote for, I thought this opening skit from Saturday Night Live was hilarious:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Interesting

Brian and I have been following the $700 billion bailout plan proposed by the current administration. I read an article on yahoo and thought the following quotes were interesting:

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said, "This massive bailout is not a solution. It is financial socialism and it's un-American."

"Just because God created the world in seven days doesn't mean we have to pass this bill in seven days," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

Rest of the article can be found here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

Thoughts anyone?

Conversation

Phuong:
Hey! Michael's friend Jonah is coming over. I have a craft planned for them!

Brian:
Oh yeah, what?

Phuong:
We're going to make scrapbook pages!

Brian:
Aren't there child labor laws against stuff like that?

So Sad...

We went to the park in the morning and had a REALLY sad moment.

Michael went over to this kid to give him a pine cone he had found. But the kid didn't want to take it and ran away, leaving Michael standing alone. And Michael just stood there, with his head hanging down, dejected.

We had given him some space so he could play with other children on his own so we only saw his back with his head hanging down. He stood that way for 2-3 minutes and then Brian went to check on him and saw Michael just so sad.

So sad he couldn't move. So sad he couldn't do anything but hang his head in sadness. It broke our hearts and I almost cried. He tried to play afterwards, but you could tell it wasn't the same. My heart just breaks to think of the many other moments just like this that he will have to endure. Because even as adults, we feel exactly the same way at times. When kids don't want to play with us.

And then we go home and realize there are 2 people who will always love us no matter what! Our parents! ;o) So we tried to be that for Michael and showered him with hugs and kisses. Then we fed him.

I don't think so...

Michael hit me for the first time today. Like SMACKED me. He was not sharing a toy with his friend Jonah very well, mind you it was Jonah's toy. So I explained to him what was going on and he started to fuss and then he did it...

SQUARE on the cheek. Not a tap, not a little shove. A flat out SMACK. First time EVER.

He got put in time out SO fast. He was crying the whole way there and the whole time he was in the corner. He must have thought we were in a new place and so time out didn't exist.

I wasn't sure whether or not to spank him because frankly, it was a SERIOUS offense warranting a spanking. But I usually opt for time out first and that works. Spanking is something I prefer to use as a last resort. I know people have very strong views on this, but this works for us. At least for now.

However, Michael better watch it if he hits me like that again. I can GUARANTEE a spanking for next time.

UGH.

Other than that, we had a great day.

Please Pray

Please pray for all the Texans in Galveston, Houston, surrounding areas for:

• A quick and speedy recovery from Hurricane Ike
• Help where help is needed
• Repair and restoration of property and normal life as soon as possible!

I know I am not the only one with dear family members in Texas so I wish I could do anything to be there to help. All I can do is pray and call constantly to check in so I do that!

If you are thinking about Paris...

I know lots of our friends are hemming and hawing about coming to Paris or not to visit us. Or maybe I should wake up and realize that none of my friends want to come to Paris to visit us! ;o)

But here is an excerpt from a newsletter I receive from Rick Steves that I think defines why we travel and why we love it. I just had to post it because it just hits the nail on the head about why we travel. And I hope that it persuades some of our friends who don't wander out too far...to do just that.

"Dear Traveler,

The dollar is getting some strength back, but the out-of-pocket and environmental costs of flying won’t be going down anytime soon. It's natural to ask, is travel worth it?

In our empty-nest years, having traveled makes the life we've lived more interesting to gnaw on. For our children, travel stokes their youthful passions and gives them reasons to think big. And, in this election season, it's agreed that our statesmen and women gain critical understanding through travel.

I believe that to go through life without stepping outside your corner of the world is a lost opportunity. I can't remember meeting anyone who, after all the planning, expenses and challenges of turning their travel dreams into reality, didn't value the experience and consider it time and money well spent.

My parents likely won't be using their passports again — but their travel experiences have become a permanent part of their vocabulary. Just like treasured family photos and that piece of classic sheet music that's been on the piano for years, they have a sparkling chest of travel memories that can be dipped into at will…and is. "

THE POPE!

Today, we had an amazing Saturday! We woke up late and went to see the Pope give mass at Les Invalides. It was projected on a big screen TV and we made it there in the middle of the homily. Shameful...I know. Not proud of it, but at least we made it!

We got to take communion at the mass the Pope gave. They had people in white volunteer t-shirts giving communion. And with them, were more volunteers holding umbrellas over them so we could see where to go to take the communion that the Pope had blessed. That was awesome. Didn't really matter to me that I took communion from a guy in a white t-shirt that said "Volunteer" with an umbrella over his head.

Before we got there, we were handed a Magnificat. Magnificat is a small book that has about one to two weeks' worth of masses/songs/readings. You can even subscribe to it. We got one for Easter when we were in Austin and we love it. Anyways, it was a French Magnificat and on the cover, it had "Pope Benoit XVI in Paris." And inside, it had the whole service in French and it was labelled as such too with Pope Benoit XVI presiding at the Esplanade at Les Invalides. What an awesome souvenir.

We then left to have lunch at some friends of ours, the Atkins. On our walk there, they barricaded the street and we couldn't cross to get to theirs. We were pretty peeved until we saw the police cars coming...and THEN THE POPEMOBILE WITH THE POPE INSIDE!!! Pretty awesome. It was like a normal car, except with a huge cubicle on top where the pope sat inside high above!

He had his windows rolled down and was waving to us!! Less than 50 feet away. It was amazing and I wish I had had my camera. What a way for God to reward us! More pictures here:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2008/09/12/01016-20080912DIAWWW00408-la-visite-du-pape-en-france.php

After that was over, we had pizza lunch with the Atkins and our kids played. Michael loves playing with their sons so it is a good time for us to go. We found ourselves a new pinochle couple and a family to vacation with this New Years!

After seeing The Pursuit of Happiness and reading A Thousand Splendid Suns...I have realized I have absolutely nothing to complain about. And after a day like today, our lives are filled with so many blessings...that I am filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratefullness and thanks to God for all that He has blessed our lives with!

Love,
P

First French Word

Michael said his first french word to me yesterday. BOUGE. Which means, MOVE. I don't think he knows what it means yet...at least I hope!

Yesterday, he helped me make 2 batches of fresh pesto. He pulled off all the fresh basil leaves for me and measured them out. Then, he poured in all the cheese and pinenuts for me. And afterwards, he held the pepper grinder over the blender so I could grind it. I hope he loves cooking as much as Brian and I do one day!

This week we had fun. On Wednesday, we we took the Choo choo to Le Bon Marche and met Jonah and Kirsten. Jonah and Michael played with the Brio train set. But there were no trains there (GO FIGURE! AT LE BON MARCHE!!) so I bought some for him to play with there. We were going to get him some for his birthday anyways!

Then, we all went to McDonalds by our apartment. The boys took naps, and then we went to the park in the afternoon! FUN DAY!

Yesterday, Michael and I met JOnah and Kirsten at Parc Montsouris, my favorite park in Paris. We stayed there for 2.5 hours and met a nice English woman who had a son the same age as Jonah and Michael!

In the afternoon, Michael and I played ping pong on the coffee table and then we made pesto.

I can't even being to remember what I did MOnday and Tuesday!

Love,
P

No Place Like Home

We had a great time visiting home this July!! I am sure I could have spent more than 5 weeks there! ;o) Here are some highlights.

Houston
I nearly wept after seeing the "Welcome to Houston" sign. The happiness to be home as well as the relief of getting off of the plane I had been on alone with Michael for 14 hours was overwhelming! We quickly got down to the business of relaxing and visiting with Grandparents! ;o)

We spent Tuesday afternoons at Toddler Time at the library and many other hot afternoons in the pool that my mom got for Michael! He loved it!


My dad had the great idea to go to Moody Gardens so we did! It was fantastic and had plenty of things to do for an entire day. We swam in their lagoon, visited the aquarium and the rainforest, and had dinner there overlooking Galveston Bay. Michael loved the awesome splashpad that they had:

And here is Galveston bay in the background with Grandparents and Michael:Then, my good friend Renee came down from Austin to spend the weekend shopping, eating, and relaxing! My parents cooked an amazing crawfish and crab boil to welcome her into town. After which, we met an old college friend of mine, Shane, for wine at a local wine bar. On Saturday, we went shopping at the MEGA asian super store, Hong Kong, and had dim sum at Ocean's Palace. DELIGHTFUL! I sure do miss my best friend:Michael and I spent a lot of time sleeping, relaxing, and playing with Grandma and Grandpa. It was awesome to see him eating and enjoying the Asian food my mom prepared! He loved every bit of it and proves that he is, after all, half Vietnamese! Here is a picture of him with my parents near the last day:
Arlington via Conroe via The Woodlands via College Station
After our visit with my parents, Grammy picked us up and drove us to Arlington. Little did we know we were also going through Conroe, The Woodlands, AND College Station! ;o)

We went to Conroe to see the new additions on their new home and swung by The Woodlands to visit with Aunt Tina, Kayleigh, and Great Grandpa! Michael loved being in Aunt Tina's pool. Aunt Tina even got in and showed him how to kick! Michael would kick and then he'd hold his foot in the air like this:

Michael got to visit with the wise Great Grandpa:We had a great time catching up and enjoying the Houston Heat!! Then, we drove to College Station to visit Michael's Godmother, Christina. Grammy bought us A&M shirts and took pictures of us!! I am so happy to have these! A&M holds so many great memories for us. It's where I met Brian; it's where we got engaged; it's where we began our life together! Here we are at Kyle Field!!! Michael is SUPER happy about it:

Denver
Michael stayed in Arlington while I flew to Denver to visit my sister! We had an awesome time! First order of business, visiting the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory! It was amazing. Seriously! We got to taste lots of teas, and we were required to put on a hairnet before going into the factory. When my sister had forgotten her hair tie, I pulled on my knowledge of hairnets at Samsung and helped her get her hair in there and stay! Who knew smocking up would come in handy in real life? Here we are outside the tea shop: Then, she took me all over Boulder and Denver. She fed me, clothed me, and shopped with me. What more can you ask for? On Saturday morning, we went running in an awesome park in Downton Denver. Then, we had lunch with her sweet friend Wendy at a diner, which reminded me of EZ's Diner in Austin. *sniff* Then, we saw the Saturday matinee showing of The Dark Knight and had sushi afterwards. We had an awesome time and ended our trip watching chick flicks before I flew back to DFW.


One of the best moments of being a parent is seeing your child after an absence. It can be just an hour or 2-3 days! It doesn't matter because they always greet you with outstretched arms, a huge smile, and love that never stops raining in. It's amazing! I saw Michael in DFW and found out about HIS fun weekend in Dallas.


He got to go to the zoo and interact with animals:
He helped Grandpa clean the cars, which involves a hose. His favorite thing:


He got to eat PANCAKES. PANCAKES! Gotta miss Bisquick! And he spent lots of time playing fun games and enjoying his Grandparents.

AND! He got to see Dada!




Then Mommy came back! Grammy and Mommy took Michael ALL OVER DFW. We went to a Southern Living Idea House, out to lunch at Piranhas (AWESOME), and fed the fish at the Japanese gardens in Fort Worth:

Then, we visited my good friend Gina and her 2 kids, Sarah and Zef. Zef was born 10 days before Michael. We took them to the pool!




Came back, had lunch, put the kids down for a nap, and had grown up time. TRES AMUSANT!

Then, Grammy watched Michael for me one day so I could have SPA day with Gina! It was awesome. We got facials and massages. Had lunch in our bathrobes. And then got pedicures:




As if that weren't enough fun, we then flew to:




Philadelphia
Where our nuclear family was reunited with Brian at the rent a car place! Michael was ECSTATIC to see his dad!We rented a car and drove to meet the rest of the family at Uncle Wild Bill and Aunt AK's new townhome in...

Washington D.C.
We had an amazing time catching up, eating, and enjoying the ALL American life in our nations' GORGEOUS capital. We had a family picnic, went to a baseball game:And explored quickly our nation's monuments at night:
It was awesome. The whole trip was awesome!

Delaware
There is a reason why the only thing they can put on their license plate is "The First State." Not too impressed with Delaware I was! We stayed in Newark because Brian had to work a bit and the research office is there. We wandered over to Pennsylvania to do some shopping and I must say I ADORE Pennsylvania. Not too crazy about Delaware!

We had a great time anyways though hanging out with the Schleismann's. Tony worked with Brian in Paris and they have already relocated back to the States. Michael and I hung out with his wife and daughter, Joen and Nicolette, during the day and had fun watching movies, playing on the neighbor's playscape, and just relaxing. So there IS something nice about Delaware! We have a friend there now! ;o)

And then we went back to Paris. See some of the blogs below. This is all out of order and I apologize!

I think that's it. Hopefully, no more ginormously long blogposts.

WORDS!

Michael is adding more and more words everyday!!! I think he says about 2-3 new words a day! I am excited because I just am.

Choo choo

There is nothing that excites Michael more than the choo choo. He begs for it every night, especially before bedtime. Sunday, we went to the park to give mom a break. The park is less than a 10 minute walk but we decided to take the metro.

We've been on the choo choo before; it's really funny. When we descend into the metro, he says choo choo questioningly and points down the stairway. When we get down the stairs, I put him down and let him run through the turnstile yelling choo choo the whole time. Then we run down the stairs to see the choo choo. If the train going the opposite way arrives first, he looks at it with awe and says choo choo multiple times while following its path with his index finger as it enters the station. When our train comes, he points at it, and runs towards it as dad corrals him from behind while he's screaming choo choo. Then he stands in front of the door, runs on the train, pulls down the seat in the entry/exitway and scrambles up on top of it and sits properly like he's commuting. Sometimes he scoots to the edge of the seat and holds the handrail because we do it. When the train reaches the next station, he makes his all done sign and launches himself off of his seat, sometimes before the train stops and you have to catch him in mid-air. Then we climb the stairs and exit the metro.

Sunday, we rode one stop from Les Gobelins to Place d'Italie on the line 7, changed trains to the line 6 and took the train another stop to Corvisart and exited. Then when we got off, he starts waving good bye to the train. It was really cute. When we left the station, he looked up at the bridge and waited until another train came after which time we were able to proceed to the park. We went and played at the park which consisted of 45 minutes of throwing acorns, chestnuts, rocks, sticks, pine cones, and even a snail shell into a creek. Then he wanted to see more trains.

We walked to Glacière, took the escalator (his second favorite man-made structure after the train) and took the metro to Place d'Italie, switched to the line 7, got off at Les Gobelins, and got some money from the bank. Then we saw the bus, so we had to take bus 47 one stop to 123 rue Monge and the best boulangerie near us, the appropriately named Boulanger de Monge. He loved the bus and was not happy just to be on it; he had to pull down one of the aisle seats and sit on it for the ride.

Then we ran some more errands and took line 7 back hom from the Censier-Daubenton stop. This time, there were no spaces on the seats. He ran into the train car, looked around and then grabbed the pole in the middle of the car and stood there like he commuted every day. Then we arrived at Les Gobelins, he waved goodbye to the train, and we rode up the escalator as he asked, choo choo?

Sloooow reflexes

One of the days that we were on the beach in Collioure, a rubber basketball appeared on the shore. It was about the size of a tennis ball, was about 85% inflated and was really lightweight. Michael seized upon this nez discovery and Phuong and I joined him in a rousing game of throw and catch. Except he can't catch. When we would throw it to him, it would bounce off of him or land near him. Then we'd tell him to go chase the ball and he'd throw it back it to us. One time though, the ball landed in the water. The force of the tide was really small, and there were like 2 inch waves, but that was enough to make things difficult for the boy. He would chase after the ball and get up next to it, then he would come to a complete stop, then he would bend down. By this time, the waves had taken the ball just out of his reach. Persistant, he would chase the ball and repeat the process. One time he reached down and the ball went through his legs and he had to turn around and go chase it. Phuong and I watched him laughing for two minutes as he repeated the above process a good 10 times before he finally captured the ball. Then brought it back to us with a look of great joy and accomplishment on his round little face.

Le Pape a Paris

Click on the English version!
http://www.papeaparis.org/

Why I Shouldn't Come back to the States

Today, I spent Money at Old Navy with the click of a button. I didn't need to even look at my credit card information, they had saved it. I didn't need to enter in a shipping address, they had saved that too.

Seriously, I clicked on "Check Out" and then "Place Order." And poof, there went some money!

For this very reason, I believe I need to stay here. It is MUCH harder for me to spend money when I have to ask someone in French if they know if this bat halloween costume is going to get marked down.

Yes, I do realize that I still was able to spend the money while in France due to something called "the internet." But I firmly believe I would be spending much MORE money if I was living in the States.

By the way, Brian wants me to change the pictures I put up for Southwest of France blogpost. He says they aren't our favorites and he's right.

Love,
P

Bandaids and Toot

Michael learned the word toot (for fart) in like six hours; this is approximately 6 weeks faster than every other word he's learned except for peepee, kaka (dookie), and choo choo. Whenever I toot real loud, he looks at me and happily says Toot!! We were at the airport in Perpignan looking at the (one) airplane on the tarmac, and he turns to me and says 'toot, toot', and I thought to myself, I didn't do anything. Then it just stunk. Turns out he'd let two fluffies right underneath me. Thanks, boy.

Today, Michael was eating breakfast and Phuong noticed that he had two cuts on his ring and middle fingers. He's been eating a lot of oranges of late, and the acid's been burning his fingers and making him cry. To combat this, Phuong decided to put a bandaid on his finger, but he wouldn't let her do it. I think it was partially because she was trying to put a bandaid as wide as his entire finger onto his cut. So we found a peewee bandaid and I held his hand out while Phuong put on the bandaid. But it still irked him so to make him feel better, P asked him if he wanted us to wear bandaids too. Well of course it did. So now Phuong and I are wearing black Pirate bandaids on our ring fingers. He feels much better and so does his finger. I don't know how we'll fare at market this morning; we probably we will forbidden to touch any fruit for fear of transferring our pirate diseases.

Southwest France is Amazing!

We just got back from our first real VACATION as a family! I say vacation because it was relaxing and fun (for the most part!). Our other adventures tend to be trips and a bit stressful, but we think we have finally got this travel thing down. Only took about a year! If you want tips on how to travel with kids in Europe, drop us a line.

Family pictures and trip overview is at the end. Various odds and ends at the beginning of this blog. I know it is organized poorly but I don't know how else to organize this! This is a really long blogpost...reader beware...

We flew from Paris to Toulouse. Then back to Paris from Perpignan.

We spent 10 days in the south of France puttering around. Here is the map of our route:

We discovered that we will never own (nor rent for that matter) an Opal ever again! On the 2nd day of our 10 day trip, this little yellow light came on that showed a wrench in the middle of a car. We decided that it just means you need a wrench to fix the car and kept on driving.

We were discovering a region of France called Languedoc-Roussillon, which is known for Cathar castle ruins, mountains, and my favorite belly/thigh enhancing dish called Cassoulet. It is a stew of white beans, sausage, confit de canard, fatty porc that is cooked slowly. It's like Van Kamps pork and beans, but good and without ketchup (B's note).

Most mornings started around 10:30am after breakfast, etc was done. Then, we'd go somewhere. Usually just one place. Then, be back at our hotel around 5pm. In our first hotel in Caunes-Minervois, the time we got back actually mattered. The hotel had a 3 car garage that they fit 5 cars in. Many days, we felt like Austin Powers did when he got stuck in that car between 2 walls.

One morning, we had trouble getting out. This Frenchman who drove a Jeep Grand Gherokee (which is like driving a Hummer in France) helped us get out. We got a bit antsy wondering if we would fit between 2 cars to leave and he comes over, looks at it and is like "you've got PLENTY of space, like 2 cms on each side." Glad it's a rental.

No matter where we went though, the British were there. It was incredible. The place was overrun with them! An interesting thing about our 10 day vacation was that we only encountered about 3-4 Americans while we there. And we only saw 1 Rick Steves book. Usually, whenever we go on vacation, there are tons of Americans and lots of Rick Steves books around. But not this time. It was our first real Europe Through the Back Door Experience. We heard a lot of French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and British English. It was strange also to be only 1 of 3 Asian people in Collioure.

So anyways, here is the summary of our trip. As usual, many more pictures are available on our smugmug album. For those who are REALLY bored.

Love,
P



Trip Overview

Wednesday, August 20th
Flew from Paris to Toulouse. Picked up our rental car and drove to Carrefour (like Sam's) where we bought groceries, diapers, and privisions for Michael. Drove to Caunes-Minervois to try to check in, but our hotel owner was taking a nap until 5:30pm and it was only 3pm. Drove to Lastours and hiked/toured the castles there. A king built one castle for each of his 4 sons so none of them would feel favored. With 4 sons, it makes you wonder...was that king a BESANCON?!?!?! Family picture, bien sur:



Drove back to Caunes-Minervois and checked in. Had an awesome dinner in the courtyard of our hotel, which was in a 15th century house.


Thursday, August 21st

In the morning, we had breakfast in the courtyard of our amazing hotel. This is the same courtyard where we had dinner and feasted on Cassoulet! Here we are in the middle right:
Drove to Carcassonne. Toured the castle ramparts. Came home. Michael's worst day, but to his defense, we planned it quite poorly for him.



Friday, August 22nd
Drove to Abbeye de Fontfroide. Loved it! We took the French tour and Brian understood almost all of it and I understood about 60%! We are gettin' somewhere in this language! The abbey was everything you would imagine to be:

Here we are in the gardens outside the Abbey:
Drove to a tiny town carved out of a canyon called Minerve. Walked through the tiny quaint town and had ice cream. Drove back to Caunes-Minervois. Bought a picnic and 'explored' Caunes-Minervois. Took Michael to play area and he had fun throwing rocks into streams. Per usual.

Saturday, August 23rd

Drove to Albi. Michael rode the caroussel and we checked out the market. Bought quick picnic there and gave Michael lunch outside the cathedral. Toured the cathedral and choir. Michael fell asleep so Brian and I ran quickly over to a nearby cafe recommended by Rick Steves called La Tartine. Had an awesome relaxing 1.5 hour lunch as Michael slept. Went to the Toulouse-Lautrec Museum. Drove back to Carcassonne to get night time pics of the Old City and see the place floodlit from Pont Vieux. Michael rode the carrousel first! Here is a night time shot:

And us inside Carcassonne's walls with the floodlights providing light for the picture:

Did that, stopped at Quick Burger (like McD's) at 10pm for dinner. Michael was already asleep and had dinner earlier.

Sunday, August 24th
Checked out of our 15th century hotel and explored the abbeye in Caunes-Minervois. Definitely worth the no mention in Rick Steves. Drove to Collioure. Decided our vacation was in "neutral" and shifted into "PARK" for the relaxing beach part of our vacation! We spent time enjoying the beach, hiking around the hills nearby, exploring the small town, eating ice cream, and riding the caroussel with Michael. We bought 10 tickets for him for 10 euro and it barely lasted the 5 days we were there.

We loved it and much prefer it to Nice and the French Riviera. We were told the Mediterranean towns would be PACKED this time of year because of the nice hot weather. And it probably would have been in Nice! But in Collioure, we had plenty of space to lay out and enjoy ourselves. Nice is like hanging out with the crowds who shop at Neiman Marcus. Collioure is like hanging out with the crowds who shop at Dillards.

Checked into our pretty basic 2 star hotel. Sheets smelled of mildew, but the view was incredible.

Should have asked them to change the sheets the first day. Walked around Collioure and discovered we could only wander down 2 streets a day of the town to make sure we didn't do it all in one day. Had ice cream at least once. Ate dinner at La Copacabana and was thankful we had a table with a direct exit outside. Michael was AWFUL. I had to go do time out with him 5 times for screaming in the restaurant.

Monday, August 25th
Laid out on the beach all day. Upset because it was cloudy. Resolve to change plans to be on the beach if clear skies prevail. Had ice cream at least once. Love this picture of Michael running into the ocean with Collioure in the backdrop:

Brian and I bought a great little picnic for ourselves. Put Michael to bed early and had a bottle of wine, fresh chevre, baguette, and lomo sausauge on our balcony while watching the sun set over Collioure. Amazing. This is the sunset we were looking at:


Tuesday, August 26th
Drove to Queribus and Perypeteuse. Hiked to both chateaus on top of mountains. Queribus was not too bad. A lady in a full hot pink jumpsuit was able to do it. Here is us on the ascent:



Perypeteuse was not too bad to the 1st part of the chateau. Saw a bunch of birds of prey. Had fun exploring the nooks and crannies. Here is Michael, hiking! Looks like an "Endurance" poster to me!
And father and sone enjoying the ruins:


Downright scary to the 2nd part. Very steep and slippery rocks. German kids and German senior citizens whizzing by us left and right with their walking sticks. Very funny French people. While on the way up, there was a group of 5 older French people. We heard one lady say, "Well, at least if one of us slips, we all go down together!" Then, we hear a guy in the back yelling, "DOMINO!!!!" Awesome. Made it to the top. It was worth it. One the way down, another French girl told me "J'ai super peur." I am super scared. Me too. Her boyfriend, Brian and Michael got down the stairs with no problems while me and this French girl helped each other get down. We met our men at the bottom since they left us to fend for ourselves.

Went back to Collioure. On the way, stopped at McDonalds for dinner for all of us. Less stress option with Michael


Wednesday, August 27th
Bad day for our whole family. Brian and I both grumpy for various reasons. Michael grumpy for God only knows why. We attempted to hike in the morning to Ft. St. Elmo but I was tired from yesterday's massive hike and we turned around to go home. Went to beach in the hottest part of the day and Michael only wanted to ride the caroussel and play on the playground in stead of the beach itself. Wandered around the old town and found out there was only 1 street left we hadn't seen. Saved it for later. On the upside, we had ice cream more than once. And the hotel changed our sheets so our bed was much better.


Thursday, August 28th
Awesome, relaxing day. Brian and I had an excellent breakfast at a cafe overlooking the beach while Michael ate and played in the grass around us. Went to the royal castle. Glad Rick steves did not recommend it. Had lunch at La Marinade and Michael was EXCELLENT. He ate his lunch, did not make much noise, and played with another little boy when he was finished eating and we were finishing up. Our lunch was delicious. Brian had fresh sardines (hand fileted and fresh caught) and a salad. I had slow cooked veal. Went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Enjoyed pizza on some steps overlooking the beach. Had ice cream at least once. Enjoyed a beverage while Michael took an early evening nap. Wonderful, relaxing, and amazing.


Friday, August 29th
Woke up, flew back to Paris via Perpignan. Airport only had 5 departing flights all day. 2 went back to Paris. 3 went to Great Britain.


I think this is the longest post EVER.

Navigation Skills

Well, we just got back from our trip to Caunes-Minervois and Collioure and I must say that Phuong did an excellent job of navigating! We had to find all these castles perched on mountain cliffs and villages built into the side of canyons and she got us everywhere despite my attempts to steer off the priority road and go where I wanted. The maps all had different labels than the real roads near Collioure and Perpignan, and we still had no problems!

We saw in the paper that the Tour de France is supposed to go through Perpignan next year, so we may have to go back in July.

Shhh...Daddy is sleeping

Brian was sleepy today so I decided to put it to good use by making him put Michael to sleep.

Brian is sleeping in the glider while I am putting on Michael's diapers and such. Michael looks over, sees Brian sleeping and says to me, "Shhh..." while doing the Shhh sign with his index finger to his lips.

Guess I better be more considerate to B since Michael is apparently on his side.
P

Crashing Eva and Tony Parker's Wedding Site

We rented a car this weekend. We've made a many trip to IKEA but have also snuck in some day trips from Paris as well.

Today, visited Vaux-le-Vicomte, the chateau where Eva Langoria wed Tony Parker in 2007. Now, I am sure it will not only be remembered for staging this blessed occasion. Or at least we hope. We arrived at around 1:30 in time for lunch and started touring at 2:30.

We had a super late start, on purpose. Then, we decided to drive 2 hours out of the way to avoid a 40 minute traffic delay. On our little detour, there was IKEA, so we broke hard, exited and bought things. Then, back on the road only to end up at a roundabout where Brian decided not to follow his navigator's advice. Thus, we ended up on a very small road to a very small town where the map had a blast symbol to show what might be a bridge to the other side of the river. Many laughs later, we were cracking up at all the events that transpired to have us wandering around France along a river somewhere. And then to notice that we could have just waited the 40 minutes in traffic and been just fine.

Anyways, we toured the inside of the chateau, which was quite weathered compared to Versailles. It's almost as if Louis XIV also said, "Don't make this chateau nice EVER again." after building Versailles. Short history lesson: This chateau was built by Louis XIV's finance minister. After Louis XIV visited this chateau, which was more splendid than the piddly little hunting lodge Versailles, he arrested the owner, took his architect and garden designer. The architect and garden designer was then commissioned to work on the opulent Versailles that we see today. Scandalous. The long history here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaux-le-Vicomte

So after seeing the inside , we rented golf carts and went cruising all over the grounds. Here are some family pictures:
Andre Le Notre's gardens:

We then drove home in a much more direct fashion. And now Michael and Brian fell asleep together at 10:30pm.

Yesterday, we went to Giverny, which is home to Monet's house and his gardens. If you have seen pictures of Monet's water lilies, this is what inspired them. Here is a family picture there too! Brian and Michael were super good sports by letting me wander the gardens and take pictures. I don't know...it was just one of those things I had to see.

Then, you guessed it! IKEA!

Friday, we wandered around Paris. A lot. We walked all day long pretty much! Michael got to play in a playground near Saint Germain des Pres. Here is my favorite picture of that day.

More pictures of everything in our smugmug album as always! Now, to go and download pics from our America trip!

Love,

P

Pull my finger

I've been teaching Michael his body parts and bodily functions lately. He's been really gassy of late and tooting a lot so I've taught him toot. He can't say it but knows what it means. Today, I was doing some situps on the floor while Phuong was putting his creams on before bed and he runs over and sits on my belly per usual. But then I let out a nice fart, which reverberated off of the wood floors and he laughed and laughed. Then he made his sign for 'more', and I was like look here boy, I'm spent, I've got nothing else, "all done". When that didn't work, he made the sign "just 1 more" with his index finger so I did some more exercises and worked up a good one a bit later. He was a bit aways from me so I held out my finger and when he pulled it, I shot that one off the parquet. He couldn't stop laughing and held out the 1 more sign again but unfortunately I was not up for the challenge and we had to chase each other in a circle and one of us got tickled repeatedly.

New Word

Michael has recently become fascinated with trains. He started calling them "choo choo" even though they're not steam powered. Every time he sees stairs descending into the metro system, he says choo-choo and cries if we don't go down to look at the trains. When we're waiting for the train to come, he gets really excited and says choo-choo until the train comes to a stop. If you even say the word choo-choo, he'll say it about 15 times in a row. Today he saw a real train on the way to Giverny and an animal farm which got him really excited.

We went to IKEA this evening to get some baby security items and he found the toy train. We had to pull him off of it and bought him one for his birthday. It's not as nice as a Brio but it only cost 11 Euro and he loved this one anyway.

Tuesday we're going to the Jardin d'Acclimatation north of the Bois de Boulogne. They have one of those mini trains like at Hermann Park in Houston so I imagine I'll be out 30 Euro in train tickets. Maybe he'll be happy just to look at it longingly from afar.

Shadow

Michael discovered his shadow while in Virginia at Aunt AK and Uncle Bill's house!

Saturday morning, July 26th, I took Michael for a walk around the townhouse area and it was there...behind their garage, that he found his shadow! Since then, he spies it from time to time and is quite impressed that it is there.

Today, he waved hello to it and kept on going.

Henry James Young

On Friday, I took care of both Oliver and Michael all day long while my friend, Laura, was having a home birth to welcome her son!

Henry James Young was born August 8, 2008 (yup, that would be 08.08.2008) at 8:00pm!

She didn't plan for it to be that way, but what a way to come into the world! So congratulations to them and their family!

Love,
P

La Rentree

Last year, I wrote about a funny phenomenon here called "La Rentree," which is a term used for going back to normal life after 1-2 months of vacation. It applies to both adults and children alike. Think of it as "Back to School," but for everyone!

However, last year, La Rentree was something I experienced by observation. It certainly didn't apply to me. That "Back to School" feeling of new school supplies, seeing old friends again, and re-counting about a relaxing summer vacation well spent...well, that was just for the French apparently!

But this year, most surprisingly, it isn't. It applies to me too. I was welcomed by text messages on my phone, e-mails in my inbox, and voice messages asking if I was back and how my summer vacation went. When can we get the kids together? Are you going to be at Square Rene Legall this week?

So what does this mean exactly? It might mean that I am starting to make friends here. It might mean that while I eat my umpteenth croissant for the day, that I enjoy it here and miss things from here.

It just might mean...that we have made ourselves a home and didn't even realize it. Or maybe it was just me who didn't.

Love,
P

"Michael, we can't go to the park because they are closing it up. Mean men with whistles make us leave. If we stay there, we get locked in. Do you want to sleep at the park tonight?"

"eey"

What a Waste

Eventually, as a stay at home mom...you encounter someone who says "What a waste" to your decision to be a stay at home mom.

Thankfully, that someone said it to Brian and not me. An intern at Brian's work told him "What a Waste" it was for me to be at home instead of working.

Brian just gave her a funny look, which is much more civil than what I would have done to that girl. I believe the term is called "ripped her a new one."

Love,
P

On Friday, Michael learned how to put his pointer finger to his lips and go "shh." Like people do at the library.

Today, we went shopping at La Defense. Michael played in a lot of toy stores and rode the indoor train. Then, we peeked into Jardin d'Aclimatation. Went shopping on the Champs Elysees and had a playdate at my friend Su's house. It was a full day!

Michael loves trucks, trains, buses, motorcycles, bikes, right now. He points to them all over the street and asks us what they are over and over again!

On Wednesday, it was so pretty that I decided to be adventurous and take Michael to a cafe for lunch with me. I packed him a lunch, ordered mine...and 15 minutes later, we were back at home! Amazing how fast you can eat when you have a toddler trying to run away.

Love,
P

Funny Day

We are having funny days. Today is one of them!

**Warning, very long post about random things that you might not be interested in.**

In Paris, we have these poles on the sidewalk. They are about 3 feet high and are used to prevent cars/ motorcycles from getting on the sidewalk. Michael has decided these poles are good for humping. He'll see a pole, scream in excitement, run up to it and hump it. We have to pry him off.

There is a small silver ball at the park, anchored into the play area. It is about 1 foot in diameter and bounces up and down on it's anchor. Yup, Michael has started humping that too.

Michael was listening to Dave Matthews and GOT DOWN to it. I mean, he was bobbing back and forth, swaying left and right, bending his knees and booty bumpin' it. I mean, gettin' down. So Brian and I danced with him and we were all going to town and lovin' it. What an awesome family moment.

Today, I was mopping in the kitchen. Michael saw me and stopped. The last time I was mopping, he ran in, slipped, his feet went out from underneath him and he landed flat on his back. I need a "piso mojado" sign.

Interesting how he remembers that 2 months later! I told him to crawl, so he did! However, when I was finished, he got to the kitchen and hit the deck again. So I told him it was ok. He stood up, but took these teeny tiny careful steps to make sure it wasn't wet.

While Michael was waiting for me to finish mopping, I find him standing next to our radiator, leaning up against the door with one foot crossed over the other. Just standing there. Waiting. I asked him, "Are you waiting for Mommy to finish mopping?"

"eey."

Michael-talk for "yes."

We went to 3 parks today before bedtime. Yup. 3. THat's one thing I LOVE about Paris. I can walk to 3 different parks in less than 10 minutes.

We went to a new park today. Michael grabbed a handful of sand. Left the sandpit. Opened the gate, walked about 50 yards past the front of this fountain, took a left, went up 2 long steps, up a ramp, took antoher left, went up 3 more long steps and threw his handful into the backside of the fountain. He looks at me, does his sign for "more." And I say, "Sure."

6 times and 20 minutes later, we are finally "All done."

Today, I gave him a pain au raisin that was about the size of his head.

That's it.

Love,
P

Bienvenue a Paris!

We are back! And surprisingly...happy about it!

I've been eating here like I did in the USA. Like I wasn't going to be back ever. I've been stuffing my face full of pastries, eclairs, croissants, and other French things! So I guess I do miss it here and like it.

SHOCKING.

Will catch up on the US trip etc. One day. When we're not up at god-awful hours dealing with jet-lagged Michael!

Love,
P

Starbucks

I went to Starbucks today. There's one on the way to Montparnasse Station, and I've been walking from home to work lately since it's so nice out so I stop in to have a bit of Americana. Blueberry muffin and ginormous coffee. Today, as I went in, I saw the same two girls leaving that I've seen walking from there and holding Starbucks cups for the last week. They're as American as they come. Then there were four dudes in the front of the store. When I was leaving, the waitress was talking to them in poor English. Also American. I saw another woman in the back of the shop. She might have been American and she was about 50 with dyed blond hair so I'm giving her at least a 87% chance of being American. So that's 8 people and at least 87% of them American.

My Latest Favorite Picture

Haircut

I got a haircut yesterday; my hair's pretty short despite that I told her it had been cut too short last time. I went in to get it cut because I didn't want to wait until after I got back from the US to get one because then it'd be all shaggy, and I don't want to waste an hour of my time in the US getting a haircut either. Also, it's perfect because then I can get a haircut in a month before we go to the hot and sunny south. These are the kinds of things you have to worry about when you can only get your hair cut on Saturdays because you arrive home from work after all the shops close. Problem is, the rest of the 2 million Parisians do the same thing so Saturdays move slowly, especially if you do grocery delivery, or so I heard. We're lucky that P can go mid-week.

I was chatting with the haircutter; she was kind of dumb, but I think it represents how a lot of people here think. She asks me if people earn more as haircutters in the US than in France. I didn't know what to say, but she thought wages here were lower. She claimed the reason is that people are forced by the government to work only 35 hours a week and to work during certain times. I can see how this might limit your earning potential as a haircutter, dependent on the number of people you can squeeze in per hour of work. And if you're forced to work when everyone else works, there might not be as many clients as you'd hope for. Anyway, the conversation turned towards presidents and she then claims that Sarkozy is terrible and that Mitterand was a great president! Mitterand was the communist who introduced the 35 hour week and the largesse of the state currently plaguing the French economy. Even though he's a bit crazy and inconsistent on every issue, Sarkozy is actually trying to change this law (and help out people like my haircutter). This woman really wants Ron Paul as her president, but she just doesn't know it.

The second crazy thing she said was when she asked me how I liked our new president. I was like what are you talking about. She says, you know the new president, the guy that beat Hillary. Wow! I'm glad that wasn't the presidential race. I had to inform her that Obama still has to beat McCain in November.

Along the same lines as the workweek comments, I see every few months an article in the news about the French government seizing tons of cigarettes that have been smuggled through the Spanish border. Why are they brought in? Ridiculously high taxes on cigarettes make it worth buying those on the "black market". French people, who smoke all the time, continue to vote "left" for people that condemn freer markets, although by buying these cigarettes, they are saying they don't approve of these policies.

Dog at work

This exercise is more for me than anything.

Today we were eating lunch at the on site cafeteria and a dog came running in. He was very happy and was running underneath the tables and when people got up to leave he would chase after them and try to get some scraps. I don't know why he would want some scraps since we had beef kidneys, salmon and stuffed rabbit chunk. I got the rabbit, which was pretty good.

Aujourd'hui nous mangions à la cantine et un chien est venu. Il était très content et il courait sous les tables. Quand les autres personnes s'enlevait de partir, il les suit en espérant de recevoir des bribes. Je ne sais pas pourquoi il voudrait des bribes puisqu'on a mangé des rognons de bœuf, du saumon et paupiette de lapin. J'ai pris la paupiette de lapin qui était vachement bonne.

Heute als wir gegessen haben, ist ein Hund in die Kantine gekommen. Er war wirklich froh und er ist unter die Tischen gerennen. Wann die Leute zu weggehen aufgestanden sind, hat er ihnen mit der Höffnung den Abfall zu kriegen gefolgt. Ich habe keine Ahnung, warum er den Abfall wollten, weil wir die Niere, den Lachs et die Kaninchensroulade gegessen haben. Die letzte habe ich gegessen, die ziemlich gut war.

Another Gem in Berlin

An American, and Englishman, a German and a Frenchman are sitting in a bar. The Englishman says "the French are always talking about some regulation in 1942 regarding pressure vessels." The American thinks 'so that is why the French capitulated so easily - so they could quickly solve their pressure vessel issues', but says aloud, "That's all the French had to think about in 1942, there wasn't anything more important?". The Frenchman and the German tensed up real good but luckily the old Englishman made a funny joke and the meeting the next day was very productive.


Brooks was telling me that in school, the French aren't taught about America's role in liberating them from the Germans. They must think that de Gaulle swam the channel with a band of merry men eating cheese and wearing berets and scarves who subsequently wiped out the Germans and their tanks while Ike was trading high fives, drinking brandy and smoking cigars with Churchill over a game of snooker.

Sunshine in Paris 2

Since Phuong left, with the exception of today, the weather has been gorgeous. Long days where it's light out until 10:30pm, days full of sunshine and blue skies, relatively cool temperatures in the mid to upper 70's. This is what I remembered European summer being like in Germany. Last summer was awful here, it was cold and overcast. I remember when my family came to visit in early August, we went to Besancon and were greeted by drizzly weather with temperatures in the lower 50's.

I.Love.Home

There's nothing better than seeing your child in the home you grew up in, eating the food you grew up on, and enjoying the life you remember as a child yourself.

Oh how I miss home.

Love,
P

We Made It

We.made.it. Barely.

Michael was perfect the whole flight to Houston. He slept for 3 hours out of the 11 and never really fussed. He was incredible! Good thing too since I was flying with him internationally BY MYSELF!

After 11 hours in the air, we were redirected to San Antonio because there was a storm over Houston and we didn't have enough gas to wait it out.

So we refueled, but then had to wait because other planes were refueling near us and so we couldn't start our engines.

Then, we were cleared to go. But a girl on our flight had an asthma attack so the doctors came on board.

Finally, we arrived in Houston and went through the billions of lines at customs and inspections.

4 hours late. Better late than never.

I almost cried when I saw the sign "Welcome to Houston" and my parents.

It feels great to be back in Texas.

Love,
P

Must Eat Chips

Do you prefer...

tortilla chips with a bit of lime...

or baked cheetos?
If you're Michael, you'd say, "Both."

Sunshine? IN Paris??? WHAT???

Summer has finally arrived and we have beautiful sunshine and hot weather! Today, Brian slept in and Michael and I went to get breakfast. After hanging around the house, we went to the park with Michael where he had a great time as usual.

For Father's Day, I gave Brian a ping pong playing set so we tested it out today! Michael LOVED it and would chase around the ping pong balls for us when they wouldn't quite make the table. Which was often because I was playing.

Anyways, one of the times that Michael went to get the ball, he ran STRAIGHT into the ping pong table (that is CONCRETE) and hit it headfirst. EEK. No blood, but it did leave a mark.

We decided it was safer to let Michael sit on the table and we played around him. That was super fun because I would hit the ball to him and he would throw it back to me. It was great!

Then, a 2.5 year old girl took an interest in Michael. She chased him all around and tried to hug him and hold his hand. He wasn't too interested though! It was amusing to say the least because she WOULD NOT leave him alone. Even when Michael got off the playground to walk around, she ran after him. Aggressive!

Then, Michael napped in his stroller and Brian and I enjoyed a quiet lunch at our favorite local cafe, L'Entracte.

In the afternoon, Michael squealed with delight as Brian and I kicked the soccer ball around the house in a very nice game of keepaway. Of course, we did let him catch it quite often so he would still play but it was so fun to spend family time.

So that was the theme of the day! FAMILY TIME! It is good because we will be apart soon and we needed this time to be together!

This week, the sitter is coming and Brian and I are going to go eat and play ping pong at the park. I am so excited.

Love,
P

Oh...My...GOD

I found Dr. Pepper at my local grocery store. The one I go to all the time and get delivery from. It was in the "International Food" section and was underneath all the British stuff.

It cost 1.02 euro a can (about $1.50) but I bought one anyways. I haven't opened it yet. Waiting for a special occasion where I will be eating lots of fried foods.

Love,
P

All Done

Yesterday, Michael woke up from his nap. He was on the couch so I kissed him and said Good morning! I went to the hallway to get his clothes and I turn around. He's standing right next to me doing his sign for "All Done" as wildly as possible.

I guess he was afraid I'd leave him there to sleep some more so he got up, went to find me, and tell me that he's "All Done" with his nap.

Still not saying much this one! But he understands plenty!

He doesn't understand much in French though. This lady told him to give her a kiss in French and he didn't understand until I told him in English, "Give the nice lady a kiss!". Same with when she told him to "Donne a maman." He didn't understand that until I said, "Come here and give it to me!" *sigh* Need to get him into French halte garderie (part time day care, 1-2 half days a week...don't worry, it's not much, but it's some!)

Love,
P

Delicious Apple, Pear, and Cranberry Crisp

Today, we went to a picnic hosted by my French tutor at our favorite park in Paris: Parc Montsouris. Since it only sunshines like 30 days out of the year, we enjoyed ourselves immensely all afternoon.

Brian played boules (french version of shuffleboard with balls and on gravel...so maybe it's not like shuffleboard at all). Michael ran around barefoot in the grass. We relaxed in the shade with friends! It was a nice afternoon.

Anyways, I made this Apple, Pear, and Cranberry Crisp, courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa on FoodTV. It was a hit. The older French ladies kept telling me how delicious it was and asked me what I put in there. And they're French so just saying these things to "be nice" isn't something they do! AnD, they each had 2 helpings. So here is the recipe if you are interested:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_112626,00.html

It's got an interesting mixture of fruit flavors and was quite nice.

Enjoy!

Love,
P

Nice is...NICE!

Ok, honestly? I really did not think anyone was looking at our blog anymore except my mother-in-law so I kind of just stopped posting because well, we talk to her fairly often! And she checks in with us and looks at our pictures!


But I found out that there are some people who still read, and that makes me so happy! We want to keep in touch with everyone back home and love to hear from you guys so away we go!


June 14th-17th we packed up and headed for the beach in southern France in a town called Nice. The water is just GORGEOUS. A cool shade of aquamarine:



It was a bit chilly with the high temperature of the day at 75 and the water was quite a bit cooler than that! Around 66, like Barton Springs! But when it's not 100 degrees out and sunny, that water is a bit "nipply," if you will. Either way, we did our best to go swimming!

The beach in Nice is VERY ROCKY. Like so rocky you have to wear shoes. Like so rocky that Brian's big toe is now a little roughed up and it hurts him still. And the waves were HUGE! (editors note: like 3 feet tall - BMB). Couple that with a slow-to-warm-up-and-timid-son (and sun for that matter too) and that just spells sunbathing time.

So we got the heck out of Nice and headed to Antibes where the sandy beaches and super calm water were much better! Yes, Brian is wearing a speedo; yes, we are all a bit flabby and VERY white; and YES, there were people sunbathing and swimming topless. Brian was already doing it so I decided to too. For about 15 minutes and then I lost my nerve, despite only strangers being around.
Michael loved it there and loved picking up rocks to throw into the ocean. I think he would have gone further into the water but it was a bit cold and I don't blame him. Here's my favorite shot from the beach:
And I love these B&Ws.


It was a pretty relaxing vacation all around! Salade Nicoise is just a salad with tuna and fishy sardines so we weren't too impressed! But here's a quick wrap-up of our trip:


Saturday: Arrived by 2pm. Brian took a nap while I took Michael to Monoprix to buy food and swim diapers. 5pm - took a walk on the Promenade des Anglais. 7pm - Dinner at L'Ovale where we feasted on cassoulet (slow cooked duck with white beans) and shared a bottle of delicious red wine. Micheal napped!!! From like 6:30 - 8pm so we had to wake him up. He didn't go to bed until 11pm that night!

Sunday: Went to the beach for most of the morning, had lunch and went back to the hotel around 2pm. Showered, rested, then went out to explore Place Massena and Vieux Nice (old Nice). Walked along the Promenade des Anglais again and let Michael ride the caroussel 3x and then play in a fountain. Had dinner at a very nice restaurant called La Maison du Marie. It was a place that was a bit too nice to hold a squirming toddler and to quiet him from screaming "Caca" all during dinner. Caca is the French word for POOP.

Monday: Took the train to Antibes and sunbathed/swam all morning. Came back to Nice around 4pm. Showered, took naps, and then back to walking around Vieux Nice! Attempted to get to the top of Nice via an elevator. However, it was not available due to repairs and the stairs looked rather intimidating. So we walked along the coastline and had dinner 'on the run' and back to sleep at 9pm!

Tuesday: Felt well rested enough to take the stairs to the top of Nice where the Chateau was. Got some nice pics, then walked back down the ramp that is not advertised! Explored the morning produce market and went to the train station an hour early, much to Brian's chagrin.

Good thing we did because Nice trains were on STRIKE! Our train to Marseille (where we would connect to another train to Paris) was cancelled. So we had to exchange our tickets right? Should be easy but the registers were closed too. There was only 2 people working really and they were swamped of course. We used one of the automated machines. We were behind a girl who made us all wait while she called someone to go through all of her travel options and decide which tickets to buy. Then at the end of her transaction, we find out she's an SNCF (train) PERSON!!!! WHAT THE?!?!

Finally, at our turn, the automated machine wouldn't take our ticket to exchange so we had to buy 2 new sets of tickets, which were twice as expensive and would take an hour longer to get to Paris!

On our train, we somehow made it to Marseille in time to catch our original connection and thankfully made it back to Paris at our originally designated time.

Gosh, that was longer than my whole summary! It was nuts. Vive le France...I guess.

See you guys at home soon! Can't wait to come to the USA!

Love,
P

The Lone Stat

Michael had his pediatrician visit today for a vaccination. The only number I could understand was 11.3 kg for weight. Not bad for Michael! 2.5 months with a 2.2 lb gain!

Love,
P

Time Out?

While I was cooking in the kitchen today, Michael wandered over to the chimney and smiled at me. I said, "Michael, if you touch that chimney, you go into timeout."

I turn back to cooking, and about 10 seconds later, I hear a door close in my apartment. It is quiet. Too quiet.

So I find Michael, in his room, on a self-inflicted timeout. When Michael gets a timeout, he gets put in his room and we shut the door. He didn't even touch the chimney, but I guess he understood the words "timeout."

Sooo...it makes you wonder...is he so good and put himself in timeout? Or is it that he actually likes timeout and doesn't mind to go, even if he didn't do anything wrong?

Hmmm....either way, don't think TimeOut is going to work in his room anymore! And I had a heckuva time trying to explain to him that he didn't do anything wrong so he didn't need to go into timeout after all.

Love,
P

Coincidence...or NOT?

Today, Michael ran up to me and said: "Caca"

Which is the French word for Poop.

I smelled his diaper and sure enough, there was poop there.

Could he already know this earlY? Surely not! Maybe I should go buy a little potty...

Love,
P

Thunder

I saw a flash of light from the sky. And then I heard thunder.

This was the first time I've seen/heard both in Paris. It rains almost every day in the winter (which is about 9 months out of the year). And we've been here for 17 months and have never had a thunderstorm.

But let me not be premature...we don't have a thunderstorm yet. I just saw one flash and heard one clap. So that may have been it.

Tidbit-Life in Paris

Oooh! There goes another mini flash of light!