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August 10th 2012
The morning of our departure from Paris was fairly frantic. We had arranged to meet our apartment hosts' representative at 9 am to exchange keys...our train for Strasbourg left at 11:30 from Gare de l'est...we knew that we could take the Metro there but not really sure about how long it would take...and cleaning/packing just seems to never end. She showed up at 9:15 and wanted to be able to leave right away because she had an appointment at 9:30...!?! Okedoke, we gave her the keys, thumped gigantor suitcase down the stairway and hung out in our favorite coffee shop for the next half hour, drinking awesome cafe au lait and filling Fifi up on CROGGHERS. We made our way to the gare with ease and found ourselves, of course, with plenty of time to spare. ... read more
August 8th 2012
Our last full day in Paris, and it was going to be a hot one. Thus far, the weather had been great - cool and sweet in Ireland, sunny and blue and warm in Paris. But a heat wave was rolling in, and we had no a/c in our apartment, so we decided to find something nice and cool to do - head to the cemetery! After finally figuring out the appropriate lines and changes to be made on the Metro, we headed out to Pere Lachaise. I had of course seen pictures of the famous graves located there, but I had no idea it was as big as it was. It is like a small city, and they have maps at the entrance so you can manouever through the streets and find famous graves and ... read more
August 6th 2012
There are many things that change when you travel with a toddler. One of my favorite changes, besides my little cuddlebug herself, is how the pace of travel slows down. There have been times in the past when Hank and I would race about a city in an effort to check off every last tourist stop on the guidebook list. It certainly gives you that travel high to be able to see all of the sights and move on to the next big thing, but you definitely have a tendency to miss the small things this way. Traveling with Fea means we have to fit in meal and naptimes, and we have to find places where she can run wild to compensate for the times when she is harnessed to me in the Ergo, and we ... read more
August 4th 2012
The day after our Tour de France outing - "Do you need a nap?" "YES!" "Do you?" "YES!" So, the decision was made to let this be a day when nothing much more than washing clothes and taking turns napping would occur. Very Necessary. So, in lieu of exciting travel commentary, I offer up the following random observations: 1) Smoking - Wow. The last time I was in Paris, the smoke was visible and palpable. Now, you rarely ever see anyone smoking and, when you do, it seems kind of illicit. 2) Coffee- You can find coffee for takeaway (a emporter!) fairly easily in Paris, maybe because everyone is in kind of a hurry, unless they happen to be sitting in front of a cafe, in which case they will not move until Kingdom Come. We ... read more
Watching the end of the Tour de France with just a few other folks
Published: August 3rd 2012Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
August 3rd 2012
The morning of the last day of the Tour de France dawned fair and lovely and HOT. Fifi and I set off on our morning adventure and first hit the kids' park in Square Paul Langevin. She mostly like standing and watching the older French girls run around in their fluffy dresses while their Papa's talked on cell phones, smoked cigarettes, and occasionally remonstrated/kissed their adorable daughters. Then Fea discovered that pigeons fly away when you chase them....!!! That occupied her time for quite a while. We next headed to my main goal that day, the Jardin des Plantes. The park houses several natural history museums, but we were mostly interested in taking the maze-like path up to the gazebo with a really nice outlook on the neighborhood. In this park, I experienced one of my ... read more
August 2nd 2012
Sooooo, I am starting to get things a little mixed up, and in my last post about Paris, I glossed over our afternoon ramble. In looking back through the pictures, however, I find that this was the afternoon that we walked through the Lourve castles, ate a picnic lunch in the Jardin des Tuileries, and walked up to the Luxor Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, peering down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees at the Arc, wondering how in the world they were going to get this area all ready for the end of the Tour de France the next day. At that point, the day before, there were a few signs up about not being able to go here or there, but that was all the preparation. Fea's very favorite thing, as you will notice ... read more
July 30th 2012
Our apartment was located in a really perfect location for exploring Paris, right in the heart of the Latin Quarter, with a metro stop about 100 meters from our front door. The bedroom was back from the front room on Rue Monge, so it was nice and quiet, dark, and cool, just perfect for Fifi naptimes. Having a kitchen when traveling with a toddler in a foreign land, I have determined, is ESSENTIAL. We quickly settled into a routine of eggs and toast and milk and yogurt made for La Bamba in the morning, with Hank popping down to the awesome coffee shop for cafe au lait for us. There was usually some crusty baguette to gnaw on as well. Mornings were time for La Feef and I to go on a short "adventure", as we ... read more
July 25th 2012
In the interests of full disclosure, I previously spent about an hour on this post, thoughtfully cultivating my ideas and double checking my spelling (there is no automatic spell check here!). And then... a slip of the wrist and the post was GONE. I love sitting up at night in our Paris flat and listening to the traffic and conversation outside the window in the Latin Quarter...but DAMN. So, deep breath, little sip of wine, and we begin anew... The last morning in Dublin was quite a bit frenzied, as we, in our comfortable surroundings with our genial hosts, had spread our bits and bobbles out rather in the manner of a small midwestern tornado. I found Fea's toothbrush at the last minute, on top of a dresser drawer in the dining area. While there may ... read more
A haon, a do, a tri, a ceathair, a cuig!
Published: July 22nd 2012Europe » Ireland » County Meath » Newgrange
July 22nd 2012
Before you go on, Dear Reader, just be warned...this was one of the funnest days ever, so if you are feeling overly cynical, get yourself a nice cuppa or a perfect Guinness and relax. Our last full day in Ireland dawned with, what else, more clouds and intermittent sprinkles, but a nice warm temperature and lots of what we call in Oregon "sucker holes." Niamh had decided that we really needed to experience the full Irish breakfast before we left, so we sat down to eggs, rashers, sausage, black pudding, roasted tomatoes, toast, marmalade, butter, coffee, and Fea's JOOSH (translation: juice). We were almost done with this amazing meal when Niamh realized she had gotten beans and mushrooms as well but forgot to cook them...I think we did JUST FINE without. Shawn, as an employee of ... read more
July 21st 2012
Hmmmm, so I guess I did not explain the title of the last post. The son of our host, Henry, and Fea's newfound 10-year old crush, is a wealth of information, vocabulary, and trivia, rivaling only Christian in his encyclopedic knowledge (he DOES have better dance moves than Dr. Doabler, however). We learned that as part of the Irish education system, students learn Irish, so Henry and Niamh spent quite a bit of time introducing us to the pronunciation and use of the language. Pretty sure the best of us at this endeavor was Fea. So, the day of the Bruce show started with a very enjoyable exercise of hanging out the laundry on the line. I hadn't done this in years and was pretty psyched to have clean clothes, smelling like an Irish breeze. We ... read more
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