Found this gem while going through pictures today. He is my husband and I ADORE him:




Now...let's see if he reads the blog...and sees the pictures. Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I realized I need to re-cap August because Brian's family came to visit so I will do that...some day! ;o)

Have a restful weekend,
Phuong

Hey Everyone!

Here are the pictures from our Family pictures and Christening! There were over 600 pictures so I narrowed it down to 120 (ouch still! I know!) of my favorites. Here is how to access them:

Click on this website:
http://www.millersalbums.com/



Click on: Besancon Family and Christening

Click on: Your Favorites Tab

You can scroll down the screen and look at all of them or you can click on "View Slideshow" in the left menu.

Hope you enjoy! And if want to order any, let me know. And please ignore my wrinkles and face fat. Apparently, they are here to stay.

Love,
P

Welcome back!

Here we are, back in Paris, and the city is all a-buzz with "la rentree." What is it exactly? August is such a huge vacation month that they actually have a word that is used to mean returning back to normal life after a huge season of vacations. So I see all sorts of correspondence such as :

• "oh gosh...just getting used to la rentree"
• "I'm booked all September with activites for la rentree"
• "Hope everyone is having a good rentree"

And I'm not making it up. The quotes are not exact but you get the just of it right? So we too are getting used to "la rentree," which to me means holding Michael at 4:00am when he's trying to go to sleep due to jet lag. Vive La Rentree! :)

Today, I was walking back from the park and I saw a mother with her 2 girls walking down the same sidewalk in front of me. One of her girls was fussing something awful and I saw her mother do the following:

• Put her daughter on the sandy part of the walk near the trees
• Pulled her daughter's panties down
• Held her daughter in a position so she could urinate on the side of the road in front of everyone to see.
  
  Her daughter was about 9-10 years old I am guessing. And I wasn't walking down a back alley or anything. This was right next to the park.

DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND THIS DISTURBING? OR IS IT JUST ME?

Bienvenue a Paris.

Love,
P

August in Paris is a huge vacation month. There is a mass exodus of Parisians to the French beaches/countryside and many cafes/boulangeries, etc are closed for many weeks or have reduced hours.

To celebrate this tradition, the "Besancon Life In France" blog will also be taking a hiatus in August!

See you in the States and come back in September! We have a trip to Venice planned then!

Much love,
B&P&M

Brian realized that Paris is dirty and noisy. There are many things he still enjoys about it. Phuong just cannot eat stinky cheeses like me so she is being a sourpuss.

After visiting Germany, we both realized how much we don't like Paris even more. Ibid, Brian realized he didn't care for Paris much either. I have not liked Paris for a while now.

In Germany, there are excellent changing facilities everywhere, the streets/public places are just SO clean, there are ELEVATORS in the metro (!!!) and it was not so crazy busy everywhere. However, German strangers are not as helpful as Parisian strangers. Parisian strangers will help me with my stroller while German ones just stare at me while I struggle.

While we were in Munich, Brian asked me: "Do you think we'll like Paris before we have to leave?" And I said, "AHA!!! YOU DON'T LIKE PARIS EITHER!"

Love,
P

P.S. Brian still has a good attitude about Paris. He just admits that it's not as clean here as elsewhere and that it is a bit busier.

P.P.S. I don't really know what ibid means. I just wanted to use it.

Last weekend, we made our first big trip since we arrived here! We set off for Munich on the new TGV with a change in Stuttgart. Our train left at 7:24 from Gare de l'Est, a good half hour from us. But we mobilized quite well and made it with time to spare. Michael like the first leg to Stuttgart because we were in this isolated compartment alone and he could play. We didn't like the purple seats though. A bit strong for our tastes.

We got to Munich, settled into our Hotel Uhland near the Theresenwiese where Oktoberfest is held and went to get a Doener Kebab. It was delicious. Doener's in France, aka the Sandwich Grec, are simply awful in comparison. And they're awful, period.

Then we headed to Marienplatz using the U-Bahn. Compared to Paris, I think they have an army of after-hours workers who go in there and clean it with a toothbrush. Of course, the network is not nearly as comprehensive, but it was fine for our purposes. We exited on the backside of the Rathaus onto a lovely little park.

Michael has a strong aversion to grass and whenever he is forced to touch it, he minimizes his contact with the grass by standing like a flamingo. If he is forced to sit or be on his all-fours, he just cries. It's pretty funny.


Then we went around to the front of the Rathaus and took some pictures. My mom has a photo of me in maybe 1979 or 1980 in the same spot, so I always like to give her an update whenever I go to Munich. Now she has one of her grandson too. Maybe we can get a better one next time.

Then Phuong went shopping. Dad and son went to a little cafe in the middle of the street. Dad got a Franziskaner Weissbier. Michael got to touch the cold glass and pretend to have a drink with his dad. Only 20 more years, caveboy. I only had like 3.5 liters of beer while I was there. I can do better, I know it.

The next morning, we had lunch at the Augustiner cafe and Michael got to try a pretzel. Phuong and I shared the sausage plate. Four different types of sausage, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Delicious! We ate at 11, but the Germans were already downing their beers at 9:30. That's what I'm talking about. Michael got a pretzel to slobber on! Dad ate most of it though.
Then we went to the train station to meet the real reason Phuong came. I came to take care of the boy but I knew that. Shravi was having her bachelorette party. She's the one in the veil and is also leaving Germany in about three weeks. She was working at the Max Planck Institute on photolithography and went to grad school at tu with me. Her we are at Augustiner Biergarten with the other members of her party.

After downing ein Mass (1L, there's one in the bottom middle of the picture) of delicious Augustiner beer, I took Michael over to the playground inside the biergarten. Evidently, this palace of beer and sausage was intended for family outings. We saw a 4 year old drinking beer out of a huge beer mug that his mother was holding for him to drink out of. The Schunks later told us that the Bavarians consider beer a "food group" not a drink. AHA!

The weather was lovely and there must have been 20 kids running around and playing on the swings, slides and rocking animals. Michael had a great time. I put him on the slide and the rocking horse. He tried to imitate the older kids, but I think he needs more time in P.E. with dad to quicken his reflexes and reaction times.

We had to go back home after having a nice Kaesekrainer plate, sausages with cheese on the inside. After feeding the beast, Phuong left again. She got to go to Hofbraeuhaus with the girls and experience a true beer hall. Then she came home and didn't wake Michael. I was pleased with that.

The next morning, we went to Bonn on the train to visit the Schuncks. I stayed with them in 1997 for half a summer and came back in '99, '02, and now in '07. They remind me a lot of my family and it's nice to be able to see them every now and again. They really liked Michael and thought he was "toll", "klasse" and "prima". He's teething so he was kind of a putz, but interesting nonetheless. Reinhard came home too, to see us and to help clean out the house. They're moving after 25 years to a smaller place without stairs because Mrs. Schunck's hips and knees are ailing.

Benny, Reinhard, and Renate were all great. We were especially surprised how much Reinhard liked playing with him. We suspected Mr. and Mrs. Schunck would like him but usually 28 year old single guys think of babies as radioactive species. We think we set him back at least 5 more years from making grandchildren though. Poor Mrs. Schunck!

Mrs. Schunck made us great food and we were very happy to eat it. Phuong was happy to eat three times more than anyone else because for once she didn't have to cook. They took us into Bonn to walk around downtown and have some ice cream and a coffee. It was a nice change from the constant hustle and bustle of Paris to visit Bonn, what guidebooks would describe as a sleepy town. But it still has the infrastructure from being the former capital, so it's actually quite pleasant. They also took us to a restaurant to have Pfifferlinge mushrooms. Yummy! Here we are. Renate thinks Michael is a delight.

Benny took us up to Drachenfels, the ruins of an old fortress. All along the Rhine are castles and vineyards, and it makes for a charming sight. It is really pretty at the top and you can see the entire Rhine valley. On clear days, you can see the Cologne cathedral. Not this one. This was the type of summer day we've had all year, 65F and drizzly. Only now in Paris is the weather improving. 75 and mostly sunny today. Very nice.

Testing a code. My ghetto high school has a network similar to that of like My Space. So I created a profile and uploaded some pictures and it made a slideshow with a code I could copy/paste here. My ghetto high school reunion is SO high tech!


Find more photos like this on Eisenhower Class of 97 Reunion

I forgot to post this on July 4th, our Independence Day:

I went to my British friend's house for fun on July 4th and she offered me some tea. I told her that if she gave me any, I'd dump it in the Boston harbor and yell, "No Taxation without REPRESENTATION!"

Love,
P

One HUGE perk about living in France? Le Creuset at a HUGE DISCOUNT.

Today, I bought this Le Creuset grill pan in brown for 45Euro. This pan retails for $150 in the U.S. and it is on sale at Williams Sonoma for $100!!!! I am so excited for this savings! The reason it is on sale is because the color is no longer being made!

I am headed back for some other deals. My friend bought the 5L oval dutch oven for 45Euro. It retails for $290 at home! I am off to buy one for my father and one for my mother-in-law if she wants one! I just have to figure out how to get it back to the U.S....

Plus, the nectarines are in season right now and they are DELICIOUS. The sweetest nectarines I have ever eaten in my life.

Love,
P

I went into the boy's room to check on him this morning after he fell asleep again...and I found him asleep next to the crib railing closest to the door. He must have crawled over there yelling for me and just fell asleep where he was. Made me so sad...

Funny memory:
Yesterday, while I was cooking, Michael crawled into the living room to play with his toys. I look over there and he's on his back playing with his sippy cup (gnawing the handle, etc). The next thing I see, he's got the sippy cup spout in his mouth and is sucking away happily at the water inside! It's the sippy cup that is easy to get water out of!

So I go over there to hug him and tell him what a good job he did and I find a huge puddle of water on the floor and his back is all wet because he was just laying around in the water that leaked from the cup.

He didn't care. He was happy. So I was happy for him.

After taking 3 days to watch Swiss Family Robinson in its entirety, I think i am prepared to be a mother of 3 boys.

What Michael is Doing Right Now

Michael is getting his 5th tooth. Bottom, lower right. Our right. He is sleeping funny and eating funny so it is no surprise. Tonight, he screamed every time we put him in bed so I had to hold him until he became a lead weight. We don't normally do that but I figured he needed it for now.

He is also going through a bit of separation anxiety. Today, when the nanny was holding him, he screamed and screamed and screamed even though I was right there in front of him. So I played with him a bit with the nanny and got him good and distracted and he didn't even notice that I left for my French lesson. Funny Fat Little Baby.

Grandbaby Michael spends many a day charming the French. Today was no different as the boulangere tried to make friends with Michael. Unfortunately, Michael only wanted to buy bread and go home. Oh yes, and get a croissant for maman too. We stopped at Franprix (little supermarket) and bought about 8 lbs of fruit for our fiber intake.

Now, off to study Swiss Family Robinson so I can better prepare myself for life with 3 boys.

Love to all,
P

Yesterday, Michael and I had pretty crazy days.

I was in Zara and Michael started to fuss as usual. So I am carrying him around the store while I shop and push around the stroller. Good thing Michael is helping me as he is apt to do. He likes to push the stroller too. Anyways, I look down and I see this kid, who OBVIOUSLY has the chicken pox and is rubbing his little toy ALL OVER MIchael's stroller and Michael's toy. I AM LIVID and look around for his Mommy which, no surprise, is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. Thank GOD I was carrying Michael.

So I high-tail it to Champion where I buy anti-bacterial wipes, even though Chicken pox is a virus. I wipe down the entire stroller, throw away Michael's toy and wait for the stroller to dry. *sigh* I had to go to the pharmacy to get Brian a prescription so I asked the pharmacist about it and he said it hopefully will not be a problem. He said that the chicken pox are contagious BEFORE the pox appear so hopefully, the boy will not cause any harm to Michael. Plus, I am breastfeeding and have had the chicken pox before so that will protect Michael a little bit. Pray that he doesn't come down with a Fever or pimples!!! AAHHHH!! *&A*@(& FRENCH AND THEIR WRETCHED SICK KIDS!!!

Then, we were walking back from the pharmacy and I decide to cross the street early, even though it means I have to wait for a green walking guy. Usually, I save time and just walk to the next crosswalk instead of waiting for the nearest crosswalk to turn green. Anyways, as I am walking down the street, this huge accident happens across the street IN THE EXACT SPOT I WOULD HAVE BEEN had I NOT decided to cross the street. This car pulls out in front of the ambulance and the two end up colliding. The car ended up hitting the poll in the median. The ambulance ended up colliding into the poll and crosswalk where I undoubetdly would have been with Michael.

I swear I HEARD the accident, looked immediately to my right, and saw the wreck occur, RIGHT where I would have been standing with Michael.

I thanked God over and over yesterday for making me cross the street for whatever reason. It would have been Michael and I in that wreck too and we wouldn't have had any car protecting us. It makes me sick to my stomach to think what could have been. And it makes me be even more aware as I walk around. I stay far away from the curb and am even more aware of the cars going by.

You never know when an accident will happen. I know accidents happen in America too, but I wouldn't be on the street walking around very often like I am here in Paris. I'd be in a car, with airbags and my son would be protected in his carseat. Instead, we are walking around, hoping that God keeps those crazy Parisians from harming us. I know God means well, but those Parisians sure don't like listening to Him.

Love, P

Yesterday, Michael and I had pretty crazy days.

I was in Zara and Michael started to fuss as usual. So I am carrying him around the store while I shop and push around the stroller. Good thing Michael is helping me as he is apt to do. He likes to push the stroller too. Anyways, I look down and I see this kid, who OBVIOUSLY has the chicken pox and is rubbing his little toy ALL OVER MIchael's stroller and Michael's toy. I AM LIVID and look around for his Mommy which, no surprise, is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. Thank GOD I was carrying Michael.

So I high-tail it to Champion where I buy anti-bacterial wipes, even though Chicken pox is a virus. I wipe down the entire stroller, throw away Michael's toy and wait for the stroller to dry. *sigh* I had to go to the pharmacy to get Brian a prescription so I asked the pharmacist about it and he said it hopefully will not be a problem. He said that the chicken pox are contagious BEFORE the pox appear so hopefully, the boy will not cause any harm to Michael. Plus, I am breastfeeding and have had the chicken pox before so that will protect Michael a little bit. Pray that he doesn't come down with a Fever or pimples!!! AAHHHH!! *&A*@(& FRENCH AND THEIR WRETCHED SICK KIDS!!!

Then, we were walking back from the pharmacy and I decide to cross the street early, even though it means I have to wait for a green walking guy. Usually, I save time and just walk to the next crosswalk instead of waiting for the nearest crosswalk to turn green.

Anyways, as I am walking down the street, this huge accident happens across the street IN THE EXACT SPOT I WOULD HAVE BEEN had I NOT decided to cross the street. This car pulls out in front of the ambulance and the two end up colliding. The car ended up hitting the poll in the median. The ambulance ended up colliding into the poll and crosswalk where I undoubetdly would have been with Michael.

I swear I HEARD the accident, looked immediately to my right, and saw the wreck occur, RIGHT where I would have been standing with Michael.

I thanked God over and over yesterday for making me cross the street for whatever reason. It would have been Michael and I in that wreck too and we wouldn't have had any car protecting us. It makes me sick to my stomach to think what could have been. And it makes me be even more aware as I walk around. I stay far away from the curb and am even more aware of the cars going by. You never know when an accident will happen.

I know accidents happen in America too, but I wouldn't be on the street walking around very often like I am here in Paris. I'd be in a car, with airbags and my son would be protected in his carseat. Instead, we are walking around, hoping that God keeps those crazy Parisians from harming us. I know God means well, but those Parisians sure don't like listening to Him.

Love,
P

I come home from work today, hug my woman, and play with Michael a bit. Then I have to go to the bathroom so I place the boy on the floor outside. As I'm going to the bathroom, I feel a tugging on my boxers and look down and see Michael behind me on his knees grabbing my shorts. Then he proceeds to pull himself to a standing position on our hard tile floor. Phuong had to come rescue him from himself because I couldn't get to him in the position I was in without him pulling my shorts all the way down and cracking his skull on the ground.

Today the three of us set out for Reims, a small town northeast of Paris that is a nice base for exploring the champagne region of France. We didn't explore by any means but had a good time in Reims. We left Paris around 10h35 which was good because that meant that we got to feed Michael on the train. We switched trains in Epernay so he had milk on the Paris to Epernay train and we stuffed him full of solids on the short commuter train from Epernay to Reims. I also got to change his soggy diaper in the train and the air hand dryer came on all hot and loud and made Michael cry. Anyway, here is the boy with his dad at the Reims train station. He's not terribly impressed but it was a nice, clean station with elevators. Not that I don't like carrying the stroller up and down the stairs.

Since we now work around the boy, we decided to go to Martel's Champagne Caves. The tour was kind of silly. We got to see their old bottling instruments and learn about how champagne was made and bottled. The boy liked to touch everything and not even the Bjorn could stop him.

After the museum of old instruments, we went up and got to sample 4 different champagnes for only 7 Euro per person. So only 14 euro total for the both of us! At the Mumm and Taittinger caves, it cost 7 Euro per type of tasting. Here's the old English folk that were on our tour. There were also two Swedes to our right who were very amusing. Here's our guide. He was good at pouring the champagne.

After drinking four glasses of champagne, Phuong fed the boy at the sparkling bathrooms, the best in France. She only had 1/2 glass of champagne equivalent, which must mean that I had 6 1/2 glasses. Good thing I had an hour to sleep while Phuong was feeding the beast. Unfortunately I had to stay awake and guard our stuff.

Then we headed into town to see Reims' grand cathedral. It' s been the coronation site for 26 French kings. I think Sarkozy went there when he got elected this past May. It was very large and the square in front of it was under construction. It has something like 2000 statues arranged around the west portal (the doors at the bottom of this picture). You can climb the towers but Phuong told me no.

There was a lot of stained glass inside, but these windows are somewhat distinct. Marc Chagall designed them in 1974 and they are in his fluid style. Quite a bit different from the traditional stained glass you'd find at Chartres. I think I would have liked this one better if Malcolm Miller, the old English dude who does the tours at Chartres, were there. He's very knowledgeable and witty and enhances the visit tremendously.

Reims actually had a nice city center with a couple of large pedestrian only areas. We were running a bit late but Phuong had time to run into Kookai to take a look at their clothing sales. France only has sales in January and July, so it's pretty much of a madhouse. The boy and I were not as excited as P was. Here's the entrance to a square with lots of cafes and restaurants and a few shops. I think everyone who lived in or was visiting Reims was hanging out here. P's looking lovely.

We headed back the same day using the new TGV that connects Paris to Strasbourg in 2 hours. Our particular train was delayed about 1 hour and 15 minutes by some accident due to a signal malfunction or something. We found out up close and personal how fast the TGV trains go because they did not stop at our station. When the first one went through, it was incredibly loud and Michael started crying but we calmed him down quickly. The next four trains that whizzed through, we covered his little ears.

We finally got onto our train after it was due to arrive in Paris. Michael was well behaved on the train but wanted to touch everything. Here he is looking out of the window at 120mph. At the end of the ride he was sitting on the table and a woman from Hong Kong was playing with him, but since he's scared of strangers sometimes, he just stared at her for like ten minutes. But finally he started playing with her and the Spaniards next to us. Quite the charmer this one.

Nope, he just ran his head into the bathtub and cried.

In his Cage

We have to put the boy in his playpen every now and then so we can do something. Michael doesn't really care for it. He tries to climb up the side to look at us, but usually he stops in the middle and looks at us longingly through the mesh windows.

And then he eats the mesh windows.

Recently, Phuong was letting him play near the vacuum, the Rowenta Dymbo, so she could eat and he was pressing the on/off button but couldn't depress it completely to turn it on. It would rev up just a bit every time he touched it but not too loudly. Then he turned the stupid thing on completely, and it was really loud. He started bawling and Phuong said when she tried to pick him up, he was trembling.

That is the end (hopefully) of a bad run of luck for the boy. This morning, I was playing a game with him that he likes where I click my teeth real fast. Then he stuck his miniature little pinky finger in my mouth and I bit it. He cried like the little baby he is. Before lunch today, he had an attack of separation anxiety when we left and bawled for us to hug him goodbye. Two days ago, he fell off the couch and did a faceplant on the parquet. Then during his bath, he burned his little midget hand on a stream of hot water. He's really hastening his development!