Alex and Long Ears

Summer has made a few friends here but has had a little trouble playing with French children. She gets frustrated not being able to communicate with them and looks forward to playing with her friends who speak English. This includes Sammy, who is the daughter of one of the Craig's friends.



We are taking care of Sammy's guinea pig (Alex) and rabbit (Long Ears) this week while the French schools are on another two week vacation and Sammy and her family are in the UK.

Paris with Gran and Grandad

We introduced European life to my parents by spending a few days in Paris. We arrived after a three hour high-speed train ride, which entailed a lot of Dramamine and Samantha being entertained by a Dora Sudoko sticker book.

We did a lot of walking and touring the Paris subway system (much of the time with our heavy suitcases and stroller). While David attended a conference for work, the rest of us went to see the Eiffel Tower. It was very cold and windy that day, and we were even caught in a few hailstorms. The Eiffel Tower hadn't changed much since David and I were there on our honeymoon (LONG lines of tourists and school groups waiting to ascend, hoardes of gypsy-type women asking for money, and guards with machine-guns patrolling the grounds), so Samantha and I decided to forgo the long lines and chase pigeons instead.



Samantha was impressed with the tower, and every few days since our trip stands up real tall (usually after climbing onto something she shouldn't) and says, "Tower, Eiffel Tower!"



Summer's favorite thing by far since we've been in France was going to the top of the tower with my parents. She was in awe of it's size and insisted that she could see Austin from the top, which she described as a dark rain cloud in the distance. Summer also took to Parisian shopping and suckered my parents into buying her various souvenirs, including a Paris totebag, a coin purse with "Paris" spelled out in rhinestones, an Eiffel Tower statue, and several postcards.

My parents got to see the other tourist hotspots (Louvre, Notre Dame, Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe), and David and I enjoyed kid-free dinners while my parents stayed with the girls. We enjoyed our time there but were glad to return to our much-quieter village in Barraux.

The day before my parents flew home, I drove them to Turin, Italy, which was only a few hours away. Despite being told to just "follow the signs", we found the city relatively easily but had a nightmare of a time leaving the city due to construction and lack of a good map. Upon arrival, we parked in what I decided was a "scary" part of the city but found a welcoming restaurant, where we enjoyed delicious pizza, pasta, and a very friendly waiter who was not shy in showing off his knowledge of the English language (January, February, March...). Our comparison between what we've seen of France and Italy was this: France is much prettier and cleaner, has better road signs, and much more considerate drivers. Still, growing up in Texas where you can drive twelve hours and still be in Texas, we were intrigued by the opportunity to visit three countries in just a few hours. After Turin, I drove my parents to Geneva, where they spent the night before flying home early the next morning. Much to my mother's dismay, I drove home alone on a road I'd never been on, with one headlight working, and a dead cell phone battery. I was fine. :)

Swapping Visitors

I took my sister back to the Geneva airport today and killed a couple of hours waiting for Allison's parents to arrive at the same airport. I spent a little bit of time down by the lake including checking out the flower clock, which looks pretty much the same as when Allison and I saw it nine years ago on our honeymoon.



While driving around, I also saw these cool mirrors that help you avoid certain death when making a blind turn out of a fortified neighborhood.



Although I wasn't used to them, and it took a bit to figure out that the cars weren't driving on the right side of the road.

Skiing

Today Sharon, Summer, and I went skiing. We drove an hour and a half to Courchevel, which is a famous ski area nearby. We had a local guide, Anton, who I work with and is lucky enough to live nearby. I was a bit nervous since I hadn't skied in six years, but he pointed out that a lot of rich people come to Courchevel and they usually aren't great skiers, so the slopes aren't too tough. Summer had never skied before, and I was rusty, but we made it down one long run with her skiis between mine.



Afterwards she either wanted to ski down all by herself or sled, so Sharon and I traded turns watching her sled. At the end of the day, I was glad to make it off of the slopes without getting hurt.

David's sister is here this week, and we've all enjoyed having her here. She brought us many goodies (Cheerios, Chex, 10+ cans of black beans!!, rice krispie treats, and more!)! We took her to Chambery, Grenoble, our village in Barraux, and Vizille (where a stick kept Summer entertained for an hour).



Most of those trips centered around grabbing something quick for lunch and taking the girls to a park, but the weather was great (sunny and in the low 60s), so we couldn't complain. We spent a lot of time in the car, and Summer is still complaining of motion sickness, but her doctor said to give her half of a Dramamine, and that seems to be helping (but not always).



The highlight of the week was visiting Mt. Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. We visited and ate lunch in Chamonix, which is the skiing village near the mountain.



From there, we took the Aiguille du Midi cable car, which takes you up in two stages to 3842m and is the closest you can get to the top of Mt. Blanc without climbing!!



There were incredible views of the French and Italian Alps.



It was somewhat stressful chasing Samantha around, as one of us always had a tight grip on the hood of her jacket. Summer enjoyed playing in the snow, although she had a difficult time adjusting to the altitude at the summit and basically fell asleep in David's arms. On the way down we were first in line for the cable car and got a prime spot at the front (but Allison got crowded out of the way by a creepy old lady).



On the way back, we stopped by Annecy again where David played with the girls in the park while I took Sharon into town to find dinner. The park is right next to a large lake, which comes in handy when you roll over a pile of dog crap with the stoller.

International Women's Day

I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks, as we have our first round of visitors coming to France! A few of David's colleagues were in town this past week, including Trey and his wife Joy who live near around the corner from us in Austin. The girls know Joy well, so we were all excited to spend two days this past week sightseeing with her. My favorite day by far was last Thursday, when David took the day off from work so that Joy and I could go by ourselves to Annecy, an hour drive away. We've been told that Annecy is the "French Venice" because of the canals that run through the city.



While Joy and I did visit the tourist hotspots (Le Palais de l'Isle and Le Château d'Annecy), we spent most of our time shopping. I brought very few clothes with me to France and needed to get a few things, so Joy and I enjoyed finding some bargains. It was a much more relaxing day than the day before with the girls, and it was nice spending the day with someone who speaks English!! When we got home that night, David teased us because he discovered that it was "Women's Day" (whatever that is?!?), so we celebrated it in style with a full day of shopping and gabbing! :)

A rainy forecast kept us away from Milan this weekend. Instead, we decided to go south to Avignon and the surrounding area in Provence. A co-worker recommended a ferme auberge there and made a reservation for us. Allison hurt her back on Friday, and was having trouble getting comfortable on Saturday morning. Much to her disappointment, we decided that I should take the girls by myself. This gave her the best chance to rest her back, and to not disappoint Summer, who was very excited (even though she still thought we were going to Italy). I was unsure how things would go on my first trip alone with the girls.

On the trip down, we stopped at a crocodile farm.



After a few wrong turns, we ended up at our ferme auberge.



From what I can tell, a ferme auberge is like a farm plus a bed and breakfast (well more like a "dinner, bed, and breakfast"). You come there for a fabulous French dinner and then spend the night because you're too full to drive home. (We weren't brave enough to try sitting through the meal with both girls even when Allison was planning on going, so instead we ate pizza in a piazza in downtown Avignon.)

The girls' favorite thing there was all of the animals. Summer loved to chase the rabbits.



They also had ducks, chickens, and geese, which I guess are the source of their wonderful meals, and a horse, which they are probably saving for a special occasion.

We were all worn out and slept well on Saturday night except Summer and I both woke up a few times after confusing farm animal noises for Samantha crying. Even though we went to bed late, the girls woke up early as always.



We had a small breakfast with the only other occupants, a nice, older French couple. They didn't speak any English, but I spoke enough French to keep things from being awkward, and for them to demonstrate that in some places in France, you drink coffee out of a huge cereal bowl. They enjoyed the girls. Samantha can only say a couple of things in French, but "au revoir" is one of them and it always leaves people smiling.

We had a lot planned on Sunday, so we got an early start and headed to Fontaine de Vaucluse, where we went on a small walk to see the spring that emerges from the base of a mountain. It's been rainy in Grenoble for a couple of weeks, but the weather today in Provence was perfect, and we all enjoyed just walking around taking in the sites.



The girls were ready to get home to mom, so we drove through our other destinations, including Gordes. When I first saw this small city built on a hill, it took my breath away. This picture doesn't do it justice.



Overall, the girls had a lot of fun and held up well despite spending so much time in the car. They got along well except for a couple of times when they were very tired. It wasn't too bad having them both--although coordinating trips to the bathroom was never easy.

We all missed Allison and can't wait to bring her back down there.

Happy Birthday, David!

David is the first one in our family to celebrate a birthday here in France. Samantha and I will also have birthdays here, but Summer is very disappointed that she won't be able to, as her birthday is in August. As a compromise, we had a 4 1/2 birthday party for her on February 10. She was very excited, as we had a few presents, party hats, and a pastry with a candle for her to blow out. She seemed to think that this was just as important and fun as a regular birthday, and we played along with her the entire time.

David didn't seem to be quite as excited for his birthday as Summer was, but I guess turning 31 isn't near as fun as saying you are four and a half. The girls and I went to the local bakery and picked out a raspberry cake, a fresh loaf of bread (une flute), and various other pastries. I also made him a roast with vegetables, and we decorated the house with balloons and Dora decorations that we found at the grocery store. All in all, David had a nice birthday, and we are preparing for Samantha's second birthday next month.