Catch Up, Part 3 - Provence, France

Brian and I came back from Italy, and after a one night layover in paris, we hopped on a train and headed to explore Provence and the Cotes du Rhone area of France with Brian's Mom and Michael.

The first day, we arrived in Avignon, picked up our car, and did a wine tasting in Chateuneuf du Pape. There, we tasted 2 really good red wines, an incredible muscat, and 2 good white wines. They will deliver to Paris if you buy 3 cases (12 bottles each at 24 euro per bottle). Umm...no thank you.

We then, by chance, stumbled upon our bed and breakfast we were staying at. Luckily too because I doubt we would have seen their small sign at the end of a fence! We loved it there as it was a small farm and Michael discovered all sorts of animals. He wasn't too impressed with the chickens there:



On Saturday, we set out to Arles to explore its booming Saturday morning market. We bought loads of Herbes de Provence, table linens, and bed linens there! Now, I can see where Pottery Barn/Williams Sonoma get their inspirations from! We paused to check out the exterior of the Roman Arena and didn't quite make it to the Roman Forum. I think we had shopping on the brain.

After this, we drove around some more and did Rick Steve's Cotes du Rhone drive backwards and as inefficiently as possible. We checked out another place for a wine tasting, saw Les Baux, Saint Remy, and loads of other places and views I don't remember because I was doing my best to entertain Michael in the backseat. He's not so fun in the car.

In Les Baux, Michael took his first audiotour ever:



On Sunday, we jumped back in the car and headed to....PONT DU GARD! I have been wanting to see this structure for MONTHS. It is a HUGE roman aqueduct and is the 2nd highest Roman ruin still standing (the highest is the Colisseum). It was a fascinating to see/learn about this engineering marvel. And of course to take pictures in front of it:

After this, we headed over to Avignon to experience dinner/dusk there. Here is Brian and Michael at the Palace des Papes:

And here is our happy family in Avignon. Well, at least Mommy and Daddy are happy!

So we concluded our trip with quite a delightful dinner in Avignon. The next day, we played on the farm and explored the animals before heading back to noisy, stressful Paris. We sure enjoyed Provence with its sunny weather, relaxing atmosphere, and GREAT shopping!

We will most certainly be back there! Especially since we lost an entire memory card of pictures so we are missing TONS of family pictures. This just means we HAVE to go back. Awww...shucks!

Whew...I think that's it. I am tired. And now off to do 40 mini loads of laundry...

Love,

P

Catch Up, Part 2 - Cinque Terra, Italy

Brian's Mom came to Paris on March 15th! After a 3 hour delay in Dallas due to mechanical issues, Brian almost nearly missed his online Fantasy baseball draft! That dreaded Daylight Savings Time too didn't help!!!

After getting all settled in and relaxing a bit, Brian's mom generously took care of Michael for 4 days and 3 nights while Brian and I took off for our first vacation WITHOUT Michael!

On March 17th, we got the hell-outta-dodge and flew to Italy where we visited Pisa, hiked the Cinque Terra coast, and then shopped in Florence. It was amazing! Brian impressed me by holding up the Leaning Tower with his nose:




The 2nd day, we began what was to be a 7 hour hike through all 5 coastal towns along the Cinque Terra. We started in Riomaggiore, went through Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and ended up in Monterosso al Mare. We had an amazing time exploring these quiet villages and hiking in the semi-wilderness. Some of the trail was QUITE difficult and I thought I wasn't going to make it. But we finished in a nowhere-near-a-record time of 7 hours. Along the way, we had fun conversations, great food, and amazing pictures.

One lady even asked us if we were newlyweds! CHA-CHING! Five going on 6 years of marriage thank you very much! Here is us being in L-O-V-E! And no, I haven't been body building. It's just my ruffly shirt shoved into my sweater that makes me look beefy on top:

Here's proof of my Ruffly shirt with Vernazza in the background:

The last city in the hike was Monterosso al Mare, where we stayed. It was quiet, tranquil, and relaxing. Everything we needed! There were frogs that croaked and went to bed at 11:00pm, every night. It was so nice to hear nature instead of the constant moan of cars/buses in the background! Here we are at the end of the hike, still happy: And the view from the balcony of our hotel room:

Our dinners were filled with super fresh seafood! One night, we had something we ended up naming the Sea Rat or Sea Worm. It had the body of a shrimp and the head of a sting ray. It was weird and awful. NEVER eat anything that fits that description.

Other than that, we feasted on fresh anchovies, freshly caught sea bass, and delicious fruits of the sea! I have never had fish so fresh!

The day after this, we headed over to Florence where Brian found some black shoes that he liked. He's been searching for MONTHS! Rick was right when he said Florence deserved a well planned day. We went to the Uffizi and Accademia and conceeded defeat after seeing the lines.

Ah well! All in all, we had a great vacation alone and were ready to be parents again when we returned to Paris! We missed our little guy!

Next: Catch Up, Part 3: Provence!

Love,

P

Catch Up, Part 1: The Dickersons Visit!

March has been a busy month with the Dickersons coming at the beginning and then Brian's mom came a week later! So after all of our fun with our family and friends, we now have time to sit down and blog it all.

Our Pinochle friends from Austin, Tom and Gina Dickerson, came to visit us at the beginning of the month. We took them to our favorite French restaurant, right around the corner from our house. We enjoyed wine with our French cuisine which included Foie gras, magret de canard, coq au vin, pigeon with truffles, and veal. It was DELECTABLE and a fun night out with NO KIDS! We are pretty happy about that:


Earlier in the day, we ran around with them to the Rodin Museum (2 pictures below) and also to Rue Cler (a market street) where we introduced them to the fine art of moldy French cheeses. Here we are in a fromagerie:

Gina, Michael and I at the Rodin Museum gardens.

After that, they went off to enjoy Paris which included a dinner night cruise, the standard museums and attractions, and even stayed at the hotel Brian and I stayed at for our honeymoon. Even more impressive, is that they were able to fit in a visit to the Normandy beaches while they were here!

We thoroughly enjoyed their company and loved to see them! When they showed up at our door, it was like "home" had just walked in.

Next up: Catch up, Part 2: Cinque Terra, Italy - Our First Vacation away from Michael.

Michael - The Hobbit

Michael has been eating like a hobbit lately. Here is his eating schedule for the past 2 days:

8:00am - Breakfast - Oatmeal
8:30am - 2nd Breakfast - Cheesy scrambled eggs, 1/4 slice of bacon, 1/4 slice of bread with butter and honey
10:30am - Snack - piece of cheese and one slice of cardboard tasting toast
12:30am - Lunch - Green beans, ground pork (tomato farci stuffing), rice, 1 strawberry, 1/4 apple, 1 slice of cheese
2:00pm - Snack - yogurt and fruit compote
4:oopm - 2nd Snack - 5 apple slices
6:30pm - Dinner - Green beans, 1/4 apple, 1 slice of cheese, 1 meat, starch, 1 cup of milk

Thank GOD. He's making up for not eating for about 10 days! Last night, his stomach was so big that it was hard when you touched it. Very similarly to his Uncle John's stomach.

Just had to share that.

Love,
P

Dickersons Devour France

Our friends Tom and Gina Dickerson came to visit on March 1st and stayed until March 6th! We had a great time with them and congratulated them on their 7th anniversary! Their itinerary was chock full of French food, French museums, and the Normandy beaches. It is always great fun to hear about Paris from a first time visitor and also to hear about places we have never been (Normandy beaches).

I am patiently awaiting Gina's pictures that she took! I will post once she does.

And for those who are wondering...the Dickersons have 2 kids (3.5 and 1.5 years old). SO all of you have no excuse to not visit. :o)

Just kidding. Kind of. :o)

Love,
P

More Molars

Well, Michael has been waking up every 3 hours for the past 2 nights. We attributed it at first to the antibiotics upsetting his stomach, but now he is in a much better mood. Lo-and-behold after peering in his mouth, I discover that he's getting his upper 2 molars in. They are JUST breaking through the gums.

Michael is back to eating like a ravenous animal. He eats something practically every hour in addition to his 3 main meals. After not eating for 2 weeks, we are relieved! With the sickness, antibiotics, and teething, it is no wonder he has not been in the best of moods!

We are glad he is getting through with this now before Grammy comes! Now, if he can only stay well for 2 more weeks!!!! Everyone...think (and pray!)..."No chicken pox...no cough...no sickness!"

Michael did something cute that we have been meaning to blog about.

About 2 sundays ago, Brian was getting ready to go to the market. Michael saw Brian getting ready and immediately went to get his sweater. He tried his hardest to get his left arm in and finally gave up. He went and grabbed his hat next and brought it to Brian, only to find out (quite sadly) that he was not going to be going with Brian. 10 minutes after a round of tears, Michael settled down for his nap, which was the reason he couldn't go but he didn't know that.

Right now, it is a really fun age for us. Michael is understanding so much and picking up on things all the time. And the best part about it is, Michael really loves us and loves hanging out with us. We know it won't last forever, so we are enjoying it as much as we possibly can.

Love,
P

Sick Kid = YUCK!

Well, we had the head injury, went skiing, and since then no posts? What's up?

Well, we came back from skiing and then I got sick. And then Michael got sick. And then we had to go to the doctor to get antibiotics. And then there was the diarrhea/vomiting/bad diaper rash reaction from the antibiotics. Michael, not me. And then there was the returning back to the doctor for a new antibiotic. And now...there is the getting better.

So now...nearly 3 weeks later, I have time to post. Having a really sick kid is new territory for me! Michael was really whiny on the antibiotics for the first 2-3 days and all he wanted was to be held and he didn't want to eat. Now, things are looking up...finally!

How long will it last? I don't know! I am trying to keep him healthy until his Grammy comes and we come back from Avignon. So i am doing my best to keep him away from sick kids/etc!

Well...today, we had playgroup and sure enough, one kid has a cough. Then come to find out the same kid might be carrying around the chicken pox because her mom has been trying to get her infected with it to get it over with.

GREAT...Michael's got the vaccine, but who knows if he'll be ok. SIGH. NO KIDS NEXT WEEK!

Love,
P

Bourg Saint Maurice

Skiing...the only time when, as an adult, you are allowed to wear a slippery nylon onesie (with our without suspenders) in public. Or pants that come up way above your belly button. In fact, it is expected and makes you look like you are totally cool.

This weekend, we went skiing in a little town called Bourg Saint Maurice in the French Alps. We stayed at Brian's co-worker's (Mathieu) chalet. It was what you might call, country rustic! But charming nonetheless.

Friday
I went to ski school for 2 hours and after almost killing my instructor on a blue slope (at one point, he was yelling "Jesus Christ!" while catching me), he advised that I needed 4 more hours of ski school and then just to play a little bit on the protected area. In other words, I failed ski school. So we took a family picture at Les Arcs 1600 (height) to make myself fell better:


While I was at ski school, Brian watched Michael and introduced him to snow as well as sliding down a snow hill on your butt. Both of them liked that. However, it was hard work on Brian.
Saturday
We dropped Michael off at a family friend's of Mathieu's and went off to Sainte-Foy, which we liked much better! They had a great mini slope for beginners which had a little motorized walkway next to it to get you back to the top once you skiied to the bottom. Plus they had a green slope!

It was beautiful there, not very crowded and had lots of Brits eating hotdogs. Here's a view of one of the ski trails in the station:

And here's a picture of Mathieu before he took Brian on a red slope. This resulted in Brian banging up his thumb a little bit, taking a tumble, and losing his skis. Apparently, there was a fork in the trail and as Brian was veering right quite quickly, Mathieu yelled "GO LEFT!". And voila, after a bit too much momentum later, Brian is still alive.

Sunday
We attempted to take Michael back to the same station because it had a fun luge and lots of kiddie things. But as luck would have it, he was extremely cranky and not at all in the mood for the luge or snow. I am not going to go into details about how it was the lowpoint of our trip...but it convinced us that next time we go skiing, we are getting him into the day care at the resort ASAP.

Monday
Departure day. We are sad to go, but a little happy as Michael has not been the most agreeable this trip. All our friends warned us that travelling with a toddler was much harder than travelling with a baby and we didn't understand. Now, we are getting a taste of why!

Anyways, we took pictures on the deck of Mathieu's chalet:
And then had lunch in town and then left to go back to Paris!

We stuffed ourselves FULL of the specialties of Savoie (the region). They are known for their amazing cheese. 3 nights in a row, we ate raclette cheese. This is where you buy a huge half wheel of cheese, place it under a heat lamp and melt the top layer of the cheese. You take a knife and scrape off this top layer onto some boiled potatoes. Repeat. Eat it with a charcuterie (cold meat cuts like prosciuitto and smoked ham), salad, and mini pickles. DIVINE. Who doesn't like potatoes smothered in hot cheese??? WHO???

Another specialty was something called tartiflette. Which involves...you guessed it...cheese and potatoes! It is potatoes baked with lardon (bacon), sour cream, onions, and a regional cheese called reblochon. Cholesterol heaven.

So...the couple we went with spent the entire week in bed sleeping because they were sick with the flu. While they were losing weight, we were putting it on with our melted cheese, potatoes, and bread.

Mmm....I think it was a succesful vacation.

Love,

P

Head Injury

Michael was running, tripped, and ran his head into the foot of my bed. I picked him up and there was blood. Not a lot, but enough to freak me out. So my friend helped me get an ambulance, and I went to the hospital. They said it looked like a superficial wound and to keep an eye on him. If he vomits or cries a lot or has a headache or change in behavior to bring him back to check for bleeding in brain. EEK. But so far, he is acting normally. Keep your fingers crossed! Only 40 more hours of monitoring to go!
He has some adhesive strips on his forehead and over that, a Bob the Builder bandaid.
P

What's it like to have the best husband? It's like waking up and seeing sunlight shine through flower petals. Warm and loved. Here's to you, B.

Too much hair

Phuong didn't tell you that Michael had to get his hair cut because he looked like this:

First Haircut!

Michael had his first haircut today at Sergio Bossi:


Dad came too! Thanks to Dad's "straight across the forehead" haircut, it still looks like Michael had a bowl haircut. Thank goodness today was FREE! ;o)

Michael started picking his nose about 4-5 days ago. Today, he stuck his finger too far up his nose and started to wince, but he kept doing it a couple more times to make sure it didn't feel good. Probably didn't help that he probably shoved some banana bits up there as well.

Michael has added "uh-oh" to his vocabulary too!

I think Bors is gonna be upset when he grows up and realizes we didn't keep a blog for him.

Love,
P

Michael has had a semi interesting month. He started talking! Duck came, then next Dad. But he loves Dad. When Brian comes home, as soon as he hears the lock turn, he runs to the door yelling DaDa Daddada REALLY loudly. He's basically screaming it around the house.

Michael helps out around the house A LOT. I would possibly venture even to say more so than Brian! ;o) Examples:

• He spilled some water in our room, went into the kitchen, grabbed a towel off the hanger, came back and cleaned it up.
• He helps load/unload the washer/dryer.
• He brings me shoes left in the foyer to be put away in the closet (this includes Brian's HUGE shoes).
• He helps to push the vacuum.
• When he sees me mopping, he grabs his washcloth and gets on the floor to help.
• When we come home, he knows the stroller needs to be put away. I found out when I turned around one day and saw the stroller coming right at me towards the closet. But since Michael is smaller, I didn't see him so it just looked like a magical moving stroller.

For an instant today, Michael was QUIET. Like so quiet you gotta go look and make sure he's still alive. So I went to find him and discovered him at the window in our living room watching the rain. He saw the drops falling onto the puddles in our balcony and spent 5-10 minutes just watching. He went from window to window just staring. And when I tried to bend down to look with him, he just pushed me away because he wanted to watch for himself.

THAT was worth a picture, but by the time I grabbed my camera/new lens it was over.

Love,
P

Brian is in the Kitchen

I was at Starbucks about a week ago getting a giant american-sized cup of coffee. I placed my order, and they asked for my name, so I said Brian. And the girl behind the counter, about 20, says, "Where's Brian? Brian is in the kitchen." I gave her a quizzical look so she explained to me that in the English textbooks the French use, when they learn about rooms of the house, Brian is in the kitchen.

I thought that was pretty funny. When I learned German, Elke was drinking erdbeerboule, Jens was playing chess and other assorted, oddly-named Germans were doing their daily activities. So I guess I have a weird English name that French people find amusing.

So I went to work the Monday after and was recounting this story to Augustin, the dude who works in my office. I told him the background of the story and then said how the girl asked me, "Where's Brian?" And without missing a beat, he replies "Brian is in the kitchen!"

Then I was down in Grenoble today for a meeting. During lunch, one of the French guys, about 35, was telling me how had expected me to be French because my name is Besancon (a very French name and name of a city)but was surprised to find out I was american. I said, well my name's Brian, that should be a clue that I'm not French, I mean, I'm in the kitchen. And he shoots back immediately, "and sometimes you open the windows."

Apparently I walk around the house doing normal day to day stuff. I wonder what other kind of stuff I do around the house. I know it doesn't have anything to do with being a handyman.

Ice Skating

We woke up early this morning to find Michael had vomited in his crib. Go over to his blog to see what happened throughout the day. At first, we thought it was a one time kind of deal so we went ahead and went ice skating at Hotel De Ville

They have a little section where you can get a seat for the baby and skate around with him in this separate kids section. But that section was set aside for skate school so they weren't offering that until the afternoon. At which point, the wait in line would probably be around 2 hours. Nope, not doing that.

They gave us these little like crampons to put on michael's shoes so he could go on the ice. But they were too large so we gave up! Brian and I took turns holding Michael so we could skate.

I didn't fall down!!! But then again, I didn't venture very far away from the wall very often. I did however do 3 complete loops without holding onto the wall!

Afterwards, we went to the International mass at Notre Dame, which means they read one of the readings in English and then do one set of prayers in English. It was, sadly, a little bit of a let down.

Notre Dame is this great, beautiful, famous church...but because it is so famous, experiencing Mass there is interrupted by tourists circulating along the outer ring, tourists standing in front of you and taking a picture while you are reading one of the readings, etc. So instead of enjoying church, listening to the homily, enjoying the choir sing, you are being constantly distracted. It's great that the church is so celebrated and holds so much interest and people come from all over to see it. But it makes worshipping there a little bit of a different experience than can be expected.

Afterwards, we got a crepe on the way to lunch. Had lunch, Michael got sick, so we then headed straight home.

P

Throw Up

Well, Michael isn't feeling well. We woke up to find that he threw up all in his crib. :o( After I fed him breakfast, he threw up a little bit more. Just a little though...not his whole breakfast and he threw up right after he pushed his finger too far into his mouth.

So we chalked it up to 1)dinner not settleing well and 2) Michael gagging himself.

But then we were at lunch. I gave him a banana and some Gerber stars...then some water. And he threw up. And then he didn't want to eat anything anymore. And he really hasn't wanted to eat anything all day.

I am giving him the French equivalent of Pedialyte and keeping him hydrated. We gave him 3 bites of banana for dinner and that's it. Will start with rice cereal again tomorrow. Calling Dr. Cohen in the afternoon when he gets to work.

So he's not feeling well. Any advice?

Food

For people who LOVE food and cooking:

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/

Happy tasting,
P

A Little Smatch

We found the French equivalent of Kit Kat.

It's called SMATCH.

Sounds a little dirty doesn't it?
P

Babysitting Exchange

Gotta love this babysitting exchange! Michael has played with his friend George for the last 2 afternoons! George is about 20 months old and they get along great. They chase each other around the house, share snacks, and steal toys from one another! Today, George fed Michael some Cheerios!

Well, yesterday, we dropped Michael off with George's parents and they watched the two boys while we went out. Today, we watched the boys while THEY went out! It was great! The boys have fun playing and run themselves ragged/hungry/thirsty. And we each get some free time! Gotta love the co-op.

Gonna do it in January too on the weekends with our British family friends and with George's family too!
WHOOP!
P

So Michael is getting 4 new teeth now. 2 on the top next to his current 4 and 2 on the bottom next to his current 4.

Which means that Michael was cutting his new teeth when we were Ferberizing him to sleep in his crib.

Parents of the Year award goes to....The Besancons!


NOT.

P