Banff getaway

We had the opportunity last weekend to spend some time in Banff so we quickly jumped on it! Jeff had a conference that in the past he has just driven up to for the day, but considering the fact that our children had never actually been to Banff before we thought it would be a great chance to be a tourist in our own 'backyard'.

Before we went I told the girls that people travel from all over the world to visit Banff - to which Chloë replied, "Why? It's only an hour away!".

The conference was at the Rimrock Hotel - our favourite one in Banff. The girls swam 4 times in 48 hours and now have the dry skin to prove it! We went up the gondola which was a first for all of us, and we were not prepared for the weather at the top! Brr!! It was snowy and -5C at the bottom but felt like -25C at the top, and very windy. It was funny driving back to Calgary afterwards and seeing the bare, dry ground, sunny skies and mild temperatures. Quite the change with only an hour's drive.

It's amazing how such a small weekend getaway can feel like a true vacation. We ate eggs benedict in our pj's and didn't have to make our beds... true bliss. On a side note I discovered that Chloë sleep talks which was quite humourous - especially the first night when it woke up Julia and they started having a conversation that didn't make any sense. The second night when she started I just called out to her that she was sleeping and she stopped right away - peaceful slumber for all.

Fun!

Itchy!

We have been back home now for almost 2 months and I have the worst case of traveller's itch! Not any type of horrible rash from a lake or anything like that, simply a need to get on a plane and go somewhere. I'm sure the weather doesn't help - we've been hit with horribly early snow and frigid temperatures. We went from a crazy hot September to full blown winter with not even a whiff of fall. Fall is my favourite season... crunchy yellow leaves, the smell of a firepit, walking in jeans and a sweater with soft fall sunshine keeping you warm.... Nope. It's Thanksgiving weekend and we have been doing that strange little hopping run with a high pitched squeal while running towards the vehicle everytime we venture outside.

So, to combat my restlessness I have spent the last hour on the internet searching out vacation destinations - particularily Amsterdam apartment rentals. We had so much fun with the family this summer and we had a delightful Dutch evening last night with 2 of my father-in-law's brothers who were in town visiting. A full on Dutch meal was served capped off with so much drop (black, Dutch licorice) that I thought I might explode! My niece Sarah was so cute screaming out lekker, lekker! while happily eating everything. (Lekker means 'yummy' in Dutch). I'm so happy and grateful to have been exposed to such a different culture from the one which I was raised in.

So, where will the next adventure be? We have enough airmiles for the entire family to go to Europe right now if we wanted, which of course doesn't help me with my itch! I love airmiles. So I'm off now to do more dreaming.... The Greek Isles, Northern Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland...

Stinky cheese

I bought some Oka cheese today (so good, if you've never tried it you should!) and it reminded me of a funny story that I hadn't written about. Oka cheese is stinky, there's no denying it. I happen to love stinky cheese but I can understand how some people might not be able to get around the whole scrunched up nose thing.


Anyhow... in Paris Jeff had bought a large chunk of stinky cheese. We didn't know what kind it was but it was delicious with red wine and a baguette. (Sigh.) We were packing up to leave Paris and (unbeknownst to me) Jeff was struggling in the little kitchenette with what to do with the remaining chunk of cheese - he was having a hard time throwing away a little piece of cheese heaven. On we went to the train station where we were to catch our train to Marseille. Jeff went off in search of les toilettes while the kids and I hung out with the bags. Every now and then I'd get a whiff of horribleness... I kept asking the kids if they needed to use the bathroom and they kept saying no. After 15 minutes of this I finally said, "Listen! Someone here obviously needs to use the bathroom really, really badly and I'd prefer to go before it becomes an emergency!" They still insisted they didn't need to go and tried to reverse it onto me. I opened our small carry-on bag to get a kleenex and out came the largest, smelliest burst of air I've ever experienced! And voila, there was the source of the stink - Jeff had wrapped the chunk of cheese in a piece of baguette and rolled it up in a paper towel. Paper towels do NOT do a very good job of sealing in smells. I was so relieved to have found the source of the problem yet completely irritated that everything in that small bag now spelled like the insides of a bean-eating monster! I apologized to the kids for assuming it was them and then up sidled Jeff... I told him of my discovery and he was very sad to know that his 'snack' was now in the bottom of a garbage can. I did not feel remotely bad for throwing it away. PeeeeeU!


I also forgot to relate the story of us driving back to the train station in Marseille to return our rental car and catch the train to Bruges. We had very rough maps (printed off of google) that we were planning on using to get there - they had worked for us on the way out so we were feeling pretty confident. Well, what were we thinking? A very, very old city with a population just under 2 million... with tiny windy roads that change name every block. Nope, we didn't find it - but I will give up props for getting close! We ended up buying a map at a gas station and even with the map we took a few wrong turns, but we did get a lovely backroad tour of Marseille and I saw a lot of colourful laundry!


As a final note for today I have to tell a story about Chloë. We have a restaurant in our neighbourhood called Van Gogh's. As we ate dinner there last week with my parents Chloë noticed all of the Van Gogh paintings on the walls. She excitedly pointed out the Night Cafe painting and told her grandparents how she had 'seen that place in real life!' Then she said, "You know what Mom? It was so funny, when we went to Arles and everyone kept talking about Van Gogh I thought, 'that's strange, why do they keep talking about the restaurant in our neighbourhood?' Now I know that the restaurant is named after the painter!"
We all just smiled...

Home Sweet Home

We are home and have settled back in... and what I always find strange after a trip is how the second you get back into your house it feels like you never left it. You walk around, sit on your couch, and all of a sudden it's like, "What? Haven't I been here the whole time? Was it all a dream?". So strange.


I'm happy to report that all the wine and champagne made it home safely (we were both concerned about the champagne... now my concern is opening it!) and because we had such small bags we were unpacked very quickly. It's very easy to unpack when one suitcase is full of dirty clothes (right into the hamper) and one suitcase is completely filled with candy and wine. I would recommend it!


Looking back on everything and attempting 3 weeks with only carry-on I would change only a few things. One is the pair of shorts I threw into my bag at the last minute and never wore once. I had carefully thought out our wardrobes to ensure that everything matched and could be washed together and then panicked at the last minute and included those shorts. They were a strange colour and didn't go with much and I definitely shouldn't have taken them. Also, I would've included one more litle sweater or long sleeved shirt for each of the girls. In the south of France it wasn't necessary, but for the other two weeks we often needed a little sweater in the evening. Jeff only had one and I had two but Jeff and I are much better at keeping ourselves clean! One wear of a sweater and they have hot chocolate or powdered sugar (or mussel juice!)all over themselves. Plus the habit of walking down the street and dragging your arm across store fronts makes for grungy, stretched out sleeves. We did laundry every 3 or 4 days but you have to let everything air dry so you have to plan ahead - need something this afternoon? Oops, you should've washed it yesterday!


Otherwise it worked out great. We bought most of our toiletries (shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream etc) after we arrived because we couldn't take liquids through airport security. That worked really well actually, I just had little travel sizes of those things to get us through the first day or two until we were organized enough to find a store selling what we needed. We also took a durable, flat bag that could be used on the way home if we had more stuff than we'd intended. We used it when we went to the beach or to the Parisian waterpark and it came in very handy. Last time we went to Europe we didn't have a little bag like that and we'd end up walking around or going to the beach with our stuff in grocery bags! Not cool.


Renting apartments is such a relaxing way to do things and we feel it's so nice to have a little home away from home - especially in a strange land! The only problem with apartments (especially in high season) is that you often have to rent them for a full week, usually Saturday to Saturday. This puts a little bit of a reign on travel plans though which can be both good and bad. Having a full week in Cassis was perfect, it allowed us to slow down and really experience the place. The week in Bruges was maybe a few days too long though, 4 or 5 nights would've been enough. The town itself is cute and you could spend a day or two there but after that you need to branch out. It was an easy base for exploring the beach towns, and Gent, Antwerp and Brussels are a short train ride away. I may be a tad jaded though as the weather wasn't the greatest and both Jeff and I had weird allergies while we were there. Sneezing galore! But again, it's a balance because the apartment was spacious and comfortable and we were able to spread out and relax which is important on a vacation! We were lucky enough to find apartments in both Amsterdam and Paris that had only a 3 night minimum - in big cities that's often available but in the more resort or touristy areas that isn't. (Not to say that Paris and Amsterdam aren't touristy!)


So now back to life and reality... and dreaming about our next destination.

Airport bound...

We have packed our bags and have half an hour until we leave for the aiport. Amazingly enough we have fit everything into our original 4 suitcases and didn't even need the small fold up bag we brought in case of a packing emergency. However, we did throw a lot of things in the garbage to make up for the (almost) full suitcase of dutch licorice and candy, and 4 bottles of wine. Both Jeff and I tossed our jeans, Julia threw out a pair of flip flops and running shoes, and Chloe decided to part with the shoes with a missing strap. Fait accompli!


It's a rainy, grey day here in Amsterdam which always makes it easier to leave. We walked down to the grocery store (yes Christin, we bought you some things from your wish list!) and grabbed some sandwiches for lunch. Time to pack up the computer and get ready to watch multiple movies on the plane!


Tot ziens......! (Oh, and just to complete the experience we got a huge whiff of wacky tobaccy as we walked past a 'coffee shop' on the way home this morning. That sweet smell of Amsterdam...)

Sad to go....

Our last full day is done... hard to believe that 3 weeks has come and gone already. We spent the morning walking around Amsterdam and doing a little shopping. We bought some cute stuff for Julia's birthday party in a few weeks (the party decorations are so different than ours!) and although I saw a lot of cute things in the stores I was feeling too lazy to try them on.


We headed back to our apartment because the owner had told us that he could potentially take us out on his boat this afternoon. Unfortunately he had an unexpected visitor and we would've needed to wait for a few hours so we decided to decline his offer, even though it would've been great to get a private canal tour! Instead we headed out to Aalsmeer where Jeff's uncle (and family) had a market today. We spent some time perusing the merchandise and ate quite a bit of greasy food - loempias (spring roll type things), stroopwafels (yum!) and fried fish which even Chloe gobbled up. She isn't typically a fish lover (unlike her sister) so that tells you how good it was. Our other main purchase was the 'funderwear' purchased for Jeff... admittedly it was mostly us girls who wanted him to buy it. One pair of underwear is bright yellow with sunflowers on it and the other pair has a soccer ball pattern but in turquoise. Who knows if he will ever wear it but the girls had a lot of fun buying it!


Uncle Marty drove us back to his place where we had another great visit with him and Greet and then we went over to Sven and Joyce's place for dinner. Sven and Jeff were great friends back when Jeff lived in Holland when he was 18. They now have a 2 year old daughter (Luna) and have become domesticated like us.... We had a great evening visiting with them and again our kids were amazing and played happily until almost 11 pm. (They can be easily bribed with Dutch licorice...)!


Now we are home and have the task tomorrow morning of packing up our things. We had great intentions of an early night tonight but it's now almost midnight and the kids have finally gone to sleep and we are not remotely interested in packing our suitcases. So, tomorrow we'll try and jam everything into our bags and hope for the best! Can't believe the next night we will be in our own beds... how weird! Good and bad at the same time...


Oh, it may be interesting to note the casualties from the carry-on experience.... So, obviously we had limited clothes on this trip. Here is what is NOT making it home with us and is instead in the garbage can... Remember, small bags equals limited clothes which means lots and lots of wears!
Julia - one dress with two holes, one pair of sandals with the sole almost completely apart on the right foot.
Chloe - one pair of (fairly expensive!) shoes with a strap that fell off almost 2 weeks ago. Been carried around in the hopes that there will some sort of immaculate re-connection while in a suitcase.
Jeff - shirt that has seen way too many trips around the world. Very nice, but the collar started to come undone and we figured it was time to lay it to rest, it had a good life. One pair of Gap underwear, it's day had come.
Me - Pair of jeans that today (good timing!) got a giant rip in the bum! Started as a small hole but as the day progressed became increasingly large and embarassing. We were far from home with no chance of changing so I just had to go with it... yikes. At least I had on decent underwear.

So, that has made more room in our suitcases for licorice, candy, party decorations, a bottle of wine from a French vineyard and a bottle of Champagne from our friend Jennie (we intended to drink it and never did! Must celebrate at home with it- as long as it doesn't explode!!)

Beach day

This picture makes me laugh... when I took it I didn't realize that Jeff was in the background doing a very fancy soccer move! That's him in the khaki shorts looking like Pele! Johan and Bart are on the left looking on... and that is Summer hiding in a towel while Julia and Chloe strike a pose.

Another great day! It’s so strange to think that tomorrow is our last full day of this trip. In one way it seems like this has been a really long vacation (not in a bad way, just when I think back to how much we’ve done and where we’ve been), and in another sense it has flown by. I think we’ll all be ready to get home and back to ‘real life’, but it has been so fun and we’ve had so many great experiences.

I can’t say enough about how much we’ve enjoyed seeing the family again. Today was really nice – after we rolled out of bed at 9:15 am (rough, I know) we got ready and caught a tram and then train to Zaandam where Bart met us and picked us up. We then drove out to the beach at Egmond where we had a relaxing time with Ciska, Johan, Jasmijn, Liana, Bart and Summer. The kids frolicked on the beach then we had a nice lunch on a patio. Off then to Zwanenburg (the village where Jeff’s dad’s family is from) where we had a nice visit with Jeff’s aunt and uncle before heading out for bowling. Chloe literally yelped with excitement when she heard that we were going bowling and Julia was equally pumped. It was fun and there were a lot of us so we took turns bowling and chatting. The girls were so excited to have their cousins Fleur and Lieke (hope I spelled that right!) with them, as well as Summer who they have gotten to know very well now. I just love watching them communicate with each other – today they were playing hide and seek and Fleur was trying to explain the game with hand gestures and acting it out. Eventually they all got it and played happily for over an hour. Julia said she’d like to learn some more Dutch before coming next time – as of right now she can say yes, no, yummy, candy, licorice and thank you. As you can see, most of those words actually can be used together…
So now – so much to do and so little time! We thought we’d have more than enough time here but it’s gone by way too fast. We even intended on going to the Rijksmuseum but that will probably be skipped over for shopping… maybe next time. Why have culture when you can have cute jeans?

Fabulous family!

What a great day! We started off with an amazing brunch just down the street from our apartment. We had no idea what we were having, all we were looking for was a place that served coffee and toast! Instead we had some amazing food - the kids shared a huge yogurt with berries and fresh figs and granola - I ended up stealing it and eating half of it. So yummy...


We then went for a stroll in Vondel Park. (Jeff as a youngster, ahem - teenager, always thought it was 'fondle' park... which is why he was so anxious to see it???) Anyway, we did see a little fondling but not too much, and it turns out I was the only one who noticed it. It's a huge park with duck ponds and playgrounds, lots to see and do and the kids had a great time. We then had a drink at Leidesplein which is always good for people watching. I saw a large man wearing a short sleeved black mesh t-shirt underneath very dark denim overalls. Oh, and he was riding a bike with orange flip flops. Weird, but interesting!


Then, off to the family party - and what a great time! There were about 40 people there and it was held at community centre so there was a lot of room for the kids to run around and play. The picture above is of Chloe and Julia with all of their Dutch cousins who were at the party, and the girls fit right in and had a blast. We then went over to Greta and Marty's house (Jeff's aunt and uncle) where we stayed until quite late - we just arrived home at midnight with two very, very tired children... but it was so fantastic to see everyone and catch up. The kids had 'Canada loot bags' to give out to all of their cousins and that was a nice ice breaker for them - it really gave them something to look forward to when all the different kids arrived.


So now off to bed - oh, and I've been asked about the time on these postings... it's Calgary time so you can add 8 hours to know what time I'm posting them at. I guess when I set it up it keeps it on the same time zone... I've never thought to change it. Mental arithmetic for anyone who cares! Tootaloo...!

Last stop - Amsterdam!

Well here we are in the land of cheese and pannekoeken! Our final leg of this trip and I must say it's nice to be in a place where we feel so comfortable. Friends, family, and familiarity... we know the lay of the land and how everything works which is always comforting.

The train trip up was fairly uneventful aside from the fact that we had our own individual 6 seat room (a couchette?) which was fun for the kids. They set up quite the adventure park for their rubber ducks while Jeff and I got to sit back and relax with our iPods.

We made it to our apartment and the location is fabulous (and I'm not just saying that because we are literally across the street from the Heineken brewery)! We are right in the hub of things without being in the hubub. (Jeff's quote, not mine - but I liked it so I stole it.) Its a teeny doorway that most people would walk right past without noticing - in fact it's right next to a rave bar which made me a tad nervous about the noise. In fact, it's 11:22 pm and we can't hear a thing! Obviously construction standards are very different here... Anyway, this place is actually a tall 3 story house but the owner rents out the bottom floor so it doesn't really have a traditional layout. The kitchen is very large (especially for Dutch standards) with a beautiful bathroom. What most likely used to be a solarium or indoor backyard (for lack of a better description) now has a very comfortable bed in it which the kids are currently asleep in. Our bed is near the front window and instead of a door we have one of those folding wall things to give a bit of separation. It's definitely enough space for us and the best part is that we have a beautiful little backyard and garden and it backs right onto a canal. The owner has a little boat tied up and has offered to take us for a ride sometime before we leave. Our own private canal tour!

After we arrived and settled in we scurried across the street for some food - we were totally starving due to the fact that we ate pringles for lunch. (Disclaimer - we had a late 'brunch' of croissants at 11 am on the train with coffee and juice then bought some chips on the train. Kind of forgot about lunch...) Jeff and I shared shwarma (holy garlic breath!) while the kids had some fries and bitterballen. Well, Julia had the bitterballen, Chloe wouldn't try them. They are the little deep fried balls of meat goo that are surprisingly delicious. Not health food by any stretch of the imagination.

Shortly afterwards our friend Bart came and picked us up to take us to his place for a barbeque. Bart was a groomsman in our wedding and it's always great to see him. Him and his wife Nancy and daughter Summer treated us to a fabulous night of food and great conversation. The picture above is Summer with the girls, this is at the beginning of the evening before they'd all warmed up to each other and overcame the language barrier. Within an hour they were all playing and laughing which was great to see - Barbies and skipping ropes are the universal language! Chloe and Julia both really enjoyed the scooters they had and Julia was amazingly brave with a huge gash on her leg from a spill off a scooter. A quick bandaid and she was off again!

Our girls are asleep, our laundry is drying and we are ready to head to bed and get ready for tomorrow - a big family barbeque! We're looking forward to a restful morning and then going to see everyone in Zwanenburg. Good night!

Bye bye Belgium!

Today wasn’t quite the beach day that we’d expected – when we woke up this morning it was overcast and drizzly so I guess we won’t be bathing in the sea here in Belgium. I am glad, however, that we took a day to go out and see it earlier in the week because it was definitely different than any other beach town I’ve ever seen before.

So today was instead spent here in Bruges wandering the streets and doing a little shopping. We found the cutest little café in the morning that served their coffee and hot chocolate in the most pleasing way! If we would’ve gone to this place on the first day I can guarantee we would’ve been there everyday! The hot chocolate came on a tray with a cup of steamed milk and a little bowl of chopped up rustic chocolate and another little bowl of various types of rock sugar – all different colours and shapes. The girls were delighted to be able to concoct their own perfect mug of hot chocolate! The coffees were equally pleasing on their own tray with a cookie and little mini pitcher of cream and little bowl of rock sugars. So fun! I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture!! I must’ve been enjoying it too much…

We headed home to relax after so much relaxation (hee!) and I went out to procure our lunch. It took me quite awhile because I was distracted by a belt store and then wandered aimlessly in the grocery store before finally buying one basket of strawberries and a few individual bottles of Belgian beer. Choices! I ended up getting our lunch from “The Happy House” which may cause a few eyebrows to raise but was in fact an Indonesian take-out restaurant. I came home with two orders of mini loempias (like spring rolls), fancy bami goring (noodle dish with meat) and a giant bag of kroepoks (crunchy deep fried cracker type things made with shrimp I think). It was a huge hit all around and we all chomped away happily. We rounded the meal out with the strawberries for some extra vitamins and washed it down with the bottles of grocery store beer. A girl can get used to this!

Then, some shopping! I had been coveting the cutest pair of shoes and I knew that if I didn’t at least try them on I’d be thinking about them for the next 12 years and wishing I’d bought them. So, off we went and I’m happy to report that they fit perfectly and were exactly what I wanted. I even wore them for the next hour walking around and they are awesome. Okay, they may have rubbed a tiny bit but only slightly bothered me after walking for an hour so I think that’s not bad. I also bought a new belt and sweater and could’ve probably spent all day buying things but that would’ve involved winning the lottery and also having larger suitcases. Julia bought a new pair of jeans that are so cute and to be honest I’d kind of like them for myself if they were much, much bigger. Chloe bought a new pair of snazzy black velour lounge pants and Jeff nicely walked along and carried the bag. He even patiently watched the girls pick out new blue rubber ducks (purchased with their own money). The kids are kind of in a rubber duck stage and this town seems to have a lot of them – multiple colours and outfits… strange. In fact, right now they are sitting at the table with a big bowl of water letting their ducks get some exercise and swim around a bit.

We have now finished our dinner and have packed up most of our stuff - it's amazing how much you spread out and begin to live in a place after a week. I'm happy to report that all of our things still fit into our carry-on suitcases, although admittedly it's a bit tight. We have a flat bag that expands into an extra bag if we need it - and after our next stop I'm sure we will.... there is a lot of drop (Dutch licorice) and other treats that we need to bring home for the family so I know that we will need more room for sure!

We ended tonight with a final Belgain waffle - I was too full to go for the whole nutella experience and just stuck with good ol' fashioned powdered sugar. Yum. And now... onwards to Amsterdam!

Belgian tour...

Wow, what a day! We all have very tired feet after walking for hours and hours today while exploring two new cities.

My mom left today and was headed for Luxembourg via Brussels, so we decided to join her on the train to Brussels and then explore the city. We walked through the city a bit, checked out the Manneken Pis (little boy statue peeing...) and had lunch in the Grand Place surrounded by beautiful old buildings. We then took advantage of our Eurail passes and hopped another train to Antwerp. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves as we quickly caught a train with only a minute to spare - until we realized it was one of those trains that stopped at every single little town between Brussels and Antwerp. Let's just say there are A LOT of towns and the train was very, very hot - which is why Chloe has her head out the window in the above photo!

Antwerp was interesting, we really enjoyed it. Right out of the central train station there were tons and tons of diamond shops as Antwerp is very famous for it's diamonds. It was hard not to stop and stare at a lot of them, and Julia was particularily taken with the store "Julia's Diamonds" - unfortunately (for her) it was closed. Phew! We walked for about an hour just looking at interesting buildings and squares and found ourselves in a great shopping district. If we hadn't been so hot and sweaty we probably could've spend some serious time in those stores! Instead we sat down in a shady, breezy square, had a refreshment and recharged our batteries. Off we went again and found a cute miniature castle which I meant to look up in a book and figure out what it was but I'm much too tired now to do it. On the back side of it (interestingly enough) was a Canadian plaque and memorial about the fall of 1944 when Canadian soldiers helped liberate the port of Antwerp which freed up the way to the Netherlands leading to the Allied victory. I'm not going to lie - it made my heart swell a little and I felt proud looking out over that port realizing the significance of the event it was commemorating. It's always nice to see the maple leaf...!

Onwards to dinner - which seemed like an easy enough task except that we weren't actually sure where we were trying to go. After walking for much longer than was probably necessary we ended up at a Spanish tapas restaurant which turned out to be great. Chloe discovered she loves chorizo and both kids tried things they hadn't had before which is always fun. We cabbed it back to the train station, grabbed an ice cream cone and (this time) got on the fast train back to Bruges. The kids feet and legs were beyond dirty - I have no idea how they got that way but after much scrubbing they are clean, in their pj's and in bed. Now my turn... Goodnight!

Allergies...

Today was all about horses... those beautiful creatures that cause me to sniff and sneeze. The kids have been absolutely itching to go on a horse and carriage ride here in Bruges and today was the day! My mom offered to go with them which was fabulous because I cannot be downwind of a horse for more than 12 seconds before sneezing. Jeff and I sat and had lunch while mom and the girls went on the ride, but we made one fatal error... we sat on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking where the horses came in and out - so for the last 6 hours I have been sneezing almost nonstop. Once I get that horse tickle in my nose it is almost impossible to get rid of! Haaaaachooooo! The kids loved their ride through the town and thankfully it was only Jeff and I affected by the horses. (He was so nice to get sympathy allergies with me!)

We contemplated the beer factory tour but I was exhausted (sneezing is a real workout!) so my mom took the girls to the chocolate factory and Jeff and I headed back for a nap. I must've been tired because I barely remember laying down - and when I woke up the sneezing has seriously decreased. Phew. Oh, and I finally indulged in a waffle... oh wow was it ever good. I meant to take a picture but that would've involved actually setting the waffle down to pick up my camera and once I took the first bite I couldn't stop. It was warm and made the whip cream drip everywhere... absolute heaven! I may have to take one for the team and get another one just to take a picture. (And then I wouldn't want it to go to waste so I'd eat it. Maybe get a nutella one next time?)

We had considered making today a beach day as the weather forecast called for hot temperatures but although it was nice and warm it was quite cloudy and not really beach weather. The beach air probably would've been good for my nose in retrospect... but now we're planning for the beach on Friday. Hopefully the weather cooperates with our plan!

Now we are just hanging out before dinner (where we will eat far away from the horses!) I must apologize for yesterday's rant about the plumbers... when reading it over today I see that it came off a little harsher than I meant. Not to say that it wasn't irritating... but it's all fixed now and the world is good.

Tot ziens!

I heart Bruges (unoriginal?)

Last night I made a disclaimer about the time and being tired.... yet tonight it's close to 1:30 am and I feel I can't make the same excuse... so I'll post a photo.

This is us on a canal boat tour of Bruges - very touristy but then again, we are... tourists. It was actually quite nice and not a waste of time at all, plus the weather was perfect!

We started the day off slowly - irritatingly enough the people in the apartment below us were complaining of a leak in their ceiling from (potentially) our shower/toilet. We hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary but we agreed to stay in between 10 and 12 today so a plumber could come and check. We thought perhaps that Belgians actually adhered to this timeline so we patiently waitied when in fact it was 12:05 and they hadn't shown up so we decided to leave. Do we really wait around all day for a plumber regarding a problem that really isn't ours??? Plus, we are here on vacation, are we supposed to sit in an apartment all day waiting for someone to come and fix a leaky pipe? That isn't ours? (Turns out that tonight after dinner we get home and there's a note that a plumber will be showing up tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.... we'll see I guess.) Kind of irritating to be involved in this to begin with - but we'll be good citizens and wait I guess. Urgh.

Okay, sorry, I digressed. We left and met my mom, Jennie and Nathan for a canal boat tour. It was nice and then we had lunch at a cute restaurant overlooking the canal. My mom and Nathan fought (briefly) over who would pay the bill and Nathan won when he made an evasive move and pretended to go to the bathroom. Well done.

We followed that up by a walk up the bell tower (663 steps). It was very narrow and with people going up and down at the same time it made for a slightly harrowing experience. I'm not sure if it was worth it or not but it was something that needed to happen - with the requisite picture taken at the top. We headed down at 3:59 pm thankfully because we heard the bell starting to ring at 4 pm and it was LOUD! If we would've been at the top next to the actual bell at that time we all would've needed hearing aids afterwards.

After an afternoon rest we headed out to dinner. We walked the back streets for probably half an hour debating the merits of different places before finally deciding on a restaurant. It turned out to be great in the end and I'll spare the details. (No I won't... we had a shrimp and garlic appetizer followed by amazing steak with bernaise sauce. Yum.)

My mom nicely offered to watch the girls tonight while Jeff and I went out on the town with Jennie and Nathan. Disclaimer - it's a Tuesday night in sleepy Bruges. We found a little pub that managed to stay open untl midnight and we sampled a few local brews. The converation was funny (I may have cried my mascara off) and we quietly stumbled home afterwards. I was dying for a Belgian waffle but the town was literally asleep aside from a french fry stand in the main square. I made due with a glass of water at home instead. (I struggle on...)

It was a great day with good friends and family. Smiles all around...!

Good times!

I will start this off with a disclaimer that it's almost 12:30 a.m so I'm much too tired to get the pictures off my camera and post one - but suffice it to say that if I put one up it would be a great picture of Jeff, myself, my mom, the girls, and our good friends Jennie and Nathan enjoying a dinner al fresco in Bruges.

We started the day out slowly... Jeff seemed to attract the undesired attention of mosquitoes during the night and woke up covered it bites - so after a trip for extra B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids we headed out. (Trust me, it really works!) We took a 15 minute train ride out to the coast to check out the Belgian surf... we plan on heading out to the beach in a few days when the temperature is expected to be in the high 20's/low 30's, so today was a fact finding mission on where to go and what to do when we get there. We had a nice lunch overlooking the beach where Julia proclaimed, "I want a huge bucket of mussels!" while Chloe indulged in a large Belgian waffle. (Yes, healthy I know...) I had a croque Hawaii which I would never, ever recommend. I have no idea why I even ordered it - everyone was ready except for me so I kind of panicked. It was ham squished between two pieces of white toast with two canned pineapple rings on top. They were covered in two slices of processed white cheese with two strawberries poked into the middle of the pineapple rings (kind of looked like weird breasts...). Anyway, it was weird and sort of strangely good for the first two bites and then just kind of sick. But, the raspberry beer was good (phew!). There are over 250 kinds of Belgian beer and I am only on #5...

We got back to our place to rest a bit before the arrival of Jennie and Nathan. Jennie is one of my best friends who I don't see enough due to the fact that she lives in England... which is obviously a little out of the way. I last saw her in January for a little Toronto getaway so it was great that her and Nathan could meet up with us while we were on this side of the globe. They game over for drinks and snacks before dinner and we had a great visit - turned into a weird late night trivia game (questions made up as we went along) - who knew the capital of Chad and Surinam? Thank goodness for google... We tried beer #6 which is why I'm too tired to post a photo.

We look forward to hanging out for the day tomorrow with Jennie and Nathan - my mom has some crafts and games to do with the kids while we go on a beer factory tour and test out beers #6 and 7 - should be fun!

A Day in Bruges

You may wonder why there is a picture of a Playmobil family gracing this post but that is because this afternoon my camera was usurped for a fashion shoot - which caused my battery to run out. I noticed the dead battery only when I took my camera out to take some photos of who knows what (but I'm sure it would've been amazing...). So, these fine playmobil characters deserve a top billing instead of a boring church or canal or something mundane like that. Apparently the young girl in purple has consumed a bit too much (delicious) Belgian beer because she looks a bit tipsy!

As for the other photo - Jeff ordered the giant beer (and it really was giant!) while I stuck with the more moderate half litre size... talk about filling! What's interesting to note is that each different style of beer has their own size and shape of glass to highlight the characteristic of the beer. Can you imagine the logistical nightmare of storing all of these different glasses??

Okay, aside from beer we had a really nice day here in Bruges. We met my mom after breakfast and just wandered the town for awhile before stopping for lunch. We ate next to the world's largest (in our personal opinion) garage sale/flea market. I guess when people usually live in small apartments they don't get the opportunity to have a regular garage sale so everyone was just out selling their stuff - seriously just garage sale stuff. Like an old puzzle, a doll with one leg, used dirty shoes...! At first we were intrigued and then just kind of grossest out. There was so much stuff, and so overpriced! Why would I but an old dirty doll for 4 euros? Weird.

My mom had discovered a great playground so led us there much to the kid's delight. This was a serious playground - huge and very, very busy. The kids happily played for quite awhile and left only under the condition that we'd return at some point. By this time we were all tired because we had become accustomed to sitting on a beach not walking around! So, we headed home and had a nice rest (which is when the playmobil photo shoot occured).

Dinner was in Market Square where I decided to try some Belgian specialties even though I didn't really feel like it. I had some pate and toast to start which was surprisingly good and was accompanied by a bunch of baby picked onions which Julia discovered and ate almost all of. She also ate half of Jeff's mussels... she has expensive taste! I then had some kind of creamed chicken stew which was pretty good, but honestly nothing like the amazing food we had in the south of France. The beer, however, was delicious. We went on a chocolate hunt after dinner but because it's Sunday night everything was closed - luckily in the afternoon we'd already tried some (each choosing one delicious choice from behind the counter) so we were at least partially satiated! Tomorrow I'm sure we'll make up for lost time!

I'll give a quick rundown of Bruges and it's history for anyone whose interested. (If you aren't, stop reading now!) In the 14th century Bruges was huge and had a population close to London (around 35000) - it's size due to the fact that it was a major port in the trade between northern and southern Europe. Unfortunately (for Bruges) in the 16th century the harbour silted up and the town basically died... only to be resurrected by the tourism industry in the 19th century. (It's now a 15 minute train ride from the coast.) It's quite the interesting town in that there are some really old buildings and monuments juxtaposed with quite modern buildings. I saw a building built to look really old (I may have guessed the 1700's) but it had the year 1967 stamped over it's door! Then tonight as we were walking my mom noticed an old building marked 1489! Crazy. You can tell that WW1 took a major toll on this area because there are numerous monuments with the names of the dead - and there are A LOT of names, for a town that at the time wasn't very big.

So, although we didn't really do anything too 'touristy' today we enjoyed walking around and soaking up the atmosphere. The people are friendly and the town is quaint - not a bad way to spend a Sunday!

We made it!

Well we made it to Bruges (Brugge, depending on what language you're speaking) and although we haven't seen much of it yet it looks like it's a cute little place. We took a 5.5 hour train ride from Marseille to Bruxelles then quickly caught the 1 hour train to Bruges. Made it with about 3 minutes to spare! I thought the train trip would seem long but it actually went by very quickly which was a pleasant surprise.

My mom is here in Bruges (no, it's not a concidence!) and so we met up with her tonight when we arrived. It's always strange to see a piece of home when you've been away from it, but it was great to see her and the kids were very excited. We probably overwhelmed her a bit with all of our pictures and stories and everyone talking all at once! She'll be here for the next 5 days which will be nice, and we have the benefit of her arriving a day before us so she knows the lay of the land already.

Our apartment is really nice, very modern with a much nicer dishwasher than we have at home! They stocked the fridge with breakfast things and some frozen pizzas so we wouldn't have to go out and find food which was nice, especially since we didn't get into the apartment until after 9 pm. After sitting in a train all day I didn't feel like making the kids sit in a restaurant even though we were all hungry. Pizza and apples for dinner!

Time for bed and ready for a new adventure tomorrow!

PS - The picture is on our last night is Cassis in front of the lighthouse after eating the most amazing dinner! Fried, fresh mozarella on a beautiful salad followed by some little pockets of pasta heaven. Washed down by local wine... sigh. I'll miss that place!

Last day in France, sniff sniff....

Today is our final full day here and although I’ll be sad to leave I’m sort of melting in this heat and slightly cooler temperatures will be a welcome respite. I must say I have the best tan I’ve ever had and I’m giving full credit to this soft, amazing Mediterranean sun. We spent the morning on a calanque boat tour which was slightly longer than we would’ve preferred. It was an hour and a half and after the first half hour we’d pretty much seen all we needed to – it was HOT! Crazy French people were taking pictures as though they’d never seen a cliff before – if they hadn’t had digital cameras I’m sure they would’ve spent hundreds of dollars (euros!) just developing the darn cliff photos. We snapped a few key shots and then sat back and relaxed. The colour of the Mediterranean was dark indigo blue against a cloudless, pale blue sky and it was just so simple and beautiful. The occasional sailboat in the distance… it’s not hard to see why people flock here. Plus, this is the only warm, beach-y place that Julia (our fair, sensitive skinned girl…) hasn’t got a heat rash! Mexico, Florida, Hawaii… everywhere else she gets one within the first few days and this temperature is much, much hotter than those places. Definitely a reason to come back!
Lunch today was so fresh – the fish we ate was probably swimming around with its little friends learning about riptides and such and then POOF it appeared on our plate lightly salted and served with lemon. Perfectly cooked too, I might add. And the sorbet… heaven in a little dish! We chose lemon, cassis (why not, we’re here!), and a chocolate mocha. The lemon was so tart that you sort of cried a bit when you ate it but for some reason kept digging your spoon back in, while the cassis was so exactly perfect with little tiny berries in it. So, so good, and so real.
Tomorrow we will check out of our place here and drive to Marseille to return our rental car and catch a train to Brugges (via Brussels). Supposedly our place there has an internet connection which should eliminate my need for ‘cut and paste’ posts! I’m really enjoying posting these trivial, day to day events because I know without doing this I would’ve already forgotten many of the little things we’ve done.
So now we’ll spend our last few hours on the beach, drink a little more wine, eat a little more cheese, crème brulee, baguettes… then pack up and head north for Belgium. Beer, chocolate and waffles!
Au revoir

PS - Just had to add this - we are on the beach and somehow Jeff found a wi-fi hot spot and we are literally basking in the sun drinking a French beer while checking our email! The girls have built themselves a rock bed and are lounging in the surf... (the beach we are on has very fine pebbles instead of sand). We are sitting next to a family that I'm guessing is Romanian or something like that because their bathing suits look like they could've been worn by Nadia Comenci (sp?) in the 1980 Olympics. So interesting... I keep waiting for them to start flipping around!

PPS - No picture posting today because I'm on the beach and too lazy. Pardonez-moi!


Thursday, July 30, 2009
Well, our relaxing Wednesday made Jeff and I a little ‘rouge’ so we decided to make Thursday a ‘tourist’ day (one involving driving instead of beaching…). We hopped in the car and headed east to Nice. The drive went smoothly (thanks again to the French autoroutes) aside from a very irritating detour in Toulon that added at least a half hour to our drive and a huge headache due to crazy traffic! Once through that it was smooth sailing and we arrived in Nice with no complications aside from trying to find a darn parking spot! We ate lunch on the beach and it was beautiful but insanely hot – I actually started to feel a bit sick and had to leave the table to go and stand in the cool sea water. Later, when chatting with the waiter, he mentioned that today was extremely hot (38C) so it made me feel like less of a Canadian wimp as he repeatedly wiped his brow. Nice was interesting, and I’m glad we saw it, but it felt just like Paris but with a beach. Big city, expensive, lots and lots of fancy hotels and overpriced restaurants but still beautiful and fun. I much prefer where we are staying – it’s a smaller scale and much more quaint, and it you actually get a feel for where you are. It’s like we’re locals! We are using our French as much as we can and the kids are great at saying merci whenever they are given something. I actually had a little conversation with the strange old man living below us today. He started rambling away in rapid fire French when we walked in and I had to say that I could speak it but only a little. He slowed down and mentioned that we were sometimes too loud (perhaps because of the skipping rope used the previous day?) so could we please be mindful of him downstairs. I don’t think we’ve been very loud at all honestly, but this old man was wearing nothing but short shorts with weird leggings underneath so who’s to say what he feels is normal….
After lunch we took the kids to a playground we had seen while circling the city looking for parking. They were very excited to finally be able to climb and slide (only pity was the lack of swings) so we spent a very pleasant hour there – it was in the shade with a nice breeze so it was very manageable. We ended up sitting next to a couple from Pennsylvania who heard us speak and were excited to have someone else to converse with in English. They too had travelled with their kids a lot so it was fun to have someone to swap stories with. We finally had to leave when we realized poor Julia was bright red and requesting some cold water! Oops.
We had intended on stopping in St. Tropez on the way back (for no other reason to check on the status of P. Diddy’s yacht and do some people watching!) but we were hot and tired and made the executive decision to just get back home and relax. We had a quick snack and hit the beach, at 7 pm, which was kind of strange. We stayed for at least an hour and it stayed hot and sunny the whole time. I can’t get enough of this Mediterranean lifestyle! After getting back to our place and cleaning up we finally went out for dinner at 9 pm, very different than at home! The kids have been beyond amazing at restaurants as Jeff and I eat 2 or 3 courses each night… I have special little toys that they can only have in restaurants so they don’t mind being there at all! The benefit to these late nights is that they sleep in until 9 each morning… very civilized indeed.
I’m typing this on our bed hoping that I’ll be able to connect to the internet sometime tomorrow. Today on the beach I had my iPod and went and stood under an awning close to the restaurant where we’ve had lunch before and used their free Wi-Fi. It totally worked and I was able to check my email which was fun, although I may have looked strange pacing the outside length of the restaurant in my bikini trying to look inconspicuous. (Can’t say enough about my iPod Touch – love it!) Oh, and an aside about the beach – I think this is the most relaxed I’ve ever been. There seriously doesn’t seem to be any body consciousness here, just a bunch of people hanging out in the sun relaxing. Old ladies in string bikinis, pregnant ladies letting it all hang out, French men with big beer bellies and teeny speedos… it’s all good! I think this may be my favourite place I’ve ever visited… seriously.

Still in love with France!!

Wednesday is market day in Cassis – what a treat! We spent the morning walking through the stalls of fresh produce, linens, and beautiful Italian clothes for about 1/10th the price you’d pay at home. I could’ve spent hours but the size of our bags, our wallets, and the ability of the other 3 members of my family to peruse for long kept me from spending the day there. The girls each got a new dress and I got a skirt and we all bought some beautiful strawberries, peaches, raspberries, cheese and ($20 worth!) of amazing olives. I want to bring it all home!! It just feels so real, not fake and cold like shopping at Safeway – so unconnected to the food you’re buying.
Our plan for the rest of the day is beach, read a book, eat some cheese… relax. After yesterday’s intensity we need a little rest. (Sorry, you’ll have to read to the end to find out about yesterday!)
Until next time…


Monday, July 27, 2009
It feels strange writing already because I only posted a few hours ago while we had lunch in that great Wi-Fi spot. We ordered huge 3 course meals to justify the amount of time we were spending there (we both wanted to use the computer!) and it took me hours to digest all that food! Not that I complained when I finally reached the crème caramel and café crème…
We spent the morning at the beach with the rocks – I swear the girls are future geologists because they are so fascinated by them and want to bring them all home. We have limited them to one a day and it must be smaller than the palm of their hand. At the end of the week we’re hoping they’ll narrow it down to their one favourite… seems like a tough choice at this point. After the (previously mentioned) lunch we got in the car and decided to check out the magnificent calanques in the area. Cassis is famous for the giant cliffs surrounding it – we drove to the top of the largest one (which I am currently looking at out of our large living room window) which has a height of 555m (1850 ft). You can literally walk right up to the edge of it – nothing stopping you from just continuing over the edge! Chloe remarked that luckily it’s water underneath so at least if you fell it would be soft…. We tried to explain that because of surface tension and hydrogen bonds in fact it wouldn’t feel remotely soft but she just couldn’t grasp the concept. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed around here it’s that it’s a ‘live at your own risk’ type of place. Definitely Darwin’s survival of the fittest… if you walk off the edge of a giant cliff or drive off the side of the road (with no side rails, very narrow, 500m drop below) then perhaps you shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It’s a little shocking at first having been raised with high fences, lots of signs, and clearly the thought that we aren’t smart enough to know our own limits… kind of enlightening actually. (The family picture is us perched on the edge - photo taken by a Dutch man of a Canadian family on a cliff in France!)

We continued on to the small Medieval town of Castellet. What a cute, quaint little place! The town is exactly as you’d imagine it to be – tall walls surrounding it and lots of little narrow streets inside. Above the doors the dates all are around the early 1600’s and the stonework is that traditional masonry with a lot of perfectly fitting stones, most without mortar. I honestly can’t figure out how they did that back then when I wouldn’t be able to do that now with all the help of Home Depot on my side. And to make it last for almost 400 years… wow. The town had a lot of soap shops which pleased Chloe to no end – for some reason that kid loves soap! She dropped one on the ground and kind of broke its corner so we bought it – thankfully it was only 1.50 euro and it smelled really nice so now we have a nice little souvenir from that place.
During our trip out to Castellet we were pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of the French Autoroute… a toll road that cost 1.20 euro (almost $2 Cdn) but allowed you to go 130 km/hr on 3 or 4 lanes. Of course this was heaven for Jeff and we thought these people to be very civilized!
PS – Although the name Cassis makes one think of Kir de Cassis (shout out to Andrew!) or crème de Cassis we haven’t once noticed these things on a menu. You can order Kir but not Kir de Cassis. Perhaps this is like not being able to order “Canadian Bacon” in Canada? Or Salisbury Steak in Salisbury? (This is another story for another time, but caused Jeff quite a bit of disappointment in Salisbury many moons ago…)
PPS – I am now adding something at the end of the day… we just returned from dinner and another rock scaling expedition. The lack of playgrounds mean that the kids have had to make do with the things around them. For instance, instead of monkey bars they use the hand railings up and down the steep staircases to flip themselves around, and the giant rocks by the lighthouse as climbing apparatuses (apparati?). Even though they’ve supposedly burned off tons of energy they have somehow managed to arrive back here at the apartment super hyper and literally bouncing off of the walls. Perhaps we shouldn’t have stopped at the bonbon cart??

Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What a day! We had set aside Tuesday to drive east to the many cities and sights that Jeff and I were interested in visiting. We left right after breakfast and headed to Arles – the city that inspired Vincent Van Gogh. We parked our car and within a minute found a delightful flower garden that caught our attention; Julia quickly took the camera and snapped about 20 different pictures of the flowers and fountain. As we were leaving the garden Jeff noticed a bunch of Van Gogh cards and pictures for sale and being a true detective soon determined that this was the setting for one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings of the Arles Sanitorium. It looks exactly the same! As we continued walking we also came across the café that he pained at night – sorry for all of you fans but I can’t recall the exact name of the painting. Something like ‘Café at Night’ and it too looks just like the painting, I actually recognized it right away before I even saw the signs. Arles is also well known for Les Arenes – an amphitheatre built in 90 AD which could seat 20 000 people. (Picture the Roman Colliseum but on a smaller scale.) It was impressive and interesting and we soaked up the atmosphere by eating lunch in it’s shadow. The picture above is one of the upper walkways of the Arene - Julia striking a serious pose!

Then back into the car and onto the autoroute! We drove past Nimes (home of denim – the cloth ‘ de Nimes’) and on to the Pont de Gard. Talk about huge and amazing! This aqueduct was 30 miles long and built to carry water from the nearest spring to the city of Nimes (which had a huge arena they would fill with water for naval battles!). This stop involved a lot of walking in very hot, intense sun. We had brought our bathing suits and the kids put them to good use in the river underneath the bridge – they swam like the Romans did! When we finally returned to the car we discovered why we were so hot – the temperature was 39 C with very little shade… thank goodness for the gelato stand.

Onwards we went to Avignon which is famous for it’s 14th century papal palace. Pope Clement V fled Rome and set up house in Avignon where for the next 70 years the papacy was based. It also has a bridge that goes nowhere – the Pont d’Avignon was built in 1185, had 22 arches and spanned half a mile. It was abandoned in the 1600’s (apparently the people didn’t feel like paying the toll anymore) so now it has just a few arches and looks strange! We also happened to visit Avignon during a theatre festival and it was a crazy, wild, fun place! At first we thought that maybe the inhabitants were just kooky and wore strange clothes but after seeing too many clowns, fake nuns, camouflaged soldiers and Charlie Chaplins we knew that something else must be at play. There were many little plays being performed so to get you to go to them the actors would do crazy things and then give you a little flyer saying when their show was. We grabbed an outside table at a café and just watched the craziness! Like the magician who did the easiest tricks but pretended they were hard – like hiding a rubber chicken in his cape and magically making it appear simply by pulling it out. He was so funny that I was literally crying! Or the 8 piece band that played fabulous music but had the strangest clothes on… what an adventure! The kids would want me to mention the giant 2 storey carousel they rode on in the main square – that was definitely the highlight of their time in Avignon.

At this point we were considering heading back – it was 7 pm and we were all a little hungry but couldn’t find a restaurant that appealed to us. It was very hot and crowded and nothing seemed very relaxing so we got back into the car and headed south – to Aix en Provence. That turned out to be a great spot to stop for dinner and we enjoyed a great meal in a calm, quiet (albeit very busy!) restaurant. The waiter was great and gave the girls glow bracelets when it became dark – and it was definitely dark because we didn’t even start eating until 9:30 pm. We finally made it back to our apartment, had the kids wash the roman dirt off their feet before collapsing into bed just before midnight. Perfectly tired and content!

PS - By the end of our journey we'd paid approximately $30 in tolls - we saved hours by travelling on the toll roads and never would've been able to cover that distance without it. Well worth the price!

Finally - internet!!

Well, it has been awhile since my last post because apparently people in this town don't do anything on Sundays, including checking their email! We thought our apartment had Wi-Fi but it doesn't... luckily we have found a great restaurant right on the beach that has free internet! Of course we are eating an expensive lunch to have this ability but for now it is worth it. Maybe tomorrow we'll hover under an awning and steal it instead!

So, while I didn't have the ability to post I still blogged into a word document - thank you 'cut and paste'! Find a comfy spot, get a drink, go to the bathroom because you are about to read a long, long post! I will sit back, look at the water, sip my glass of wine and relax while you do all the work....

Saturday, July 25th, 2009
Wow, not having Wi-Fi sucks! I am forced to sit here typing into a blank word document with the hopes that sometime I can cut and paste it into my blog. If I don’t write tonight I’ll forget about today! Well, not forget entirely but it’s the little things that make the difference and make the experience what it is, isn’t it?
We woke up early this morning to check out of our Paris apartment. Usually 9:30 doesn’t seem so early except for the fact that the people above us had a rockin’ party that started at 10:30 pm and went until almost 6 in the morning! I don’t know what they were doing but it must’ve been amazing because there were obviously A LOT of people and a lot of moving around. Poor Julia woke up around 1 am and couldn’t go back to sleep because of the noise – we all were a little tired this morning!
We caught the high speed train from Paris down to Marseille and the 3 hours went by incredibly fast. Jeff and I noticed a bunch of cool little castles perched upon mountaintops but the girls were way too busy playing to notice. Usually you try and find something to occupy yourself but before we knew it we checked the clock and were only 20 minutes away – just enough time to finish our chocolate mousse and coffee and pack everything up. When we arrived it was HOT! Paris had been unseasonably cool and wet so the introduction to the South of France and the Mediterranean climate was quite the change! We found the rental car agency and then proceeded to walk about 3 blocks to get to the car – very different than any North American city we’ve ever been to! The car is actually great – aside from the fact that it’s baby blue and kind of a weird body style we are all very comfortable in it and Jeff’s head doesn’t even touch the ceiling. The kids love the fact that there are actually little trays attached to the back of the seats just like an airplane – the parents like that too because that means they will be more easily occupied during the upcoming day trips we have planned!
Cassis was an easy drive from Marseille – less than an hour for sure although we forgot to look at the clock when we left. Getting out of Marseille was tricky – lots of traffic and people and the roads weren’t well marked. But, we did it with minimal stress and ended up in the right place! Cassis, on the other hand, was not easy to navigate. We had some google maps we’d printed out from home which proved to be grossly inadequate when we arrived. We spent quite awhile driving in circles on very narrow roads before finally finding our apartment – which, by the way, is great. (Aside from the lack of internet access!) We walked down to the beach which was very different – rocky instead of sandy which excited Chloe but made my feet hurt! She can’t wait to get there tomorrow. Poor Julia was hot and sweaty – she has the same problem of me with a lack of heat dispersal in these types of climates. Luckily I can recognize it and squirt her with water when she needs it.
So, we’ve moved in, unpacked, and made ourselves at home. The little port is so cute with lots of restaurants and people watching. We had a fabulous dinner of tapas which we all enjoyed and then took a stroll for some gelato. Horrible, I know. So, now we’re off to bed as soon as I finish this delicious glass of local wine sitting to the right of my keyboard…

Sunday, July 26, 2009
Another day in paradise… seriously this place is amazing. I’ve been to many beach towns before but there is something so different about this place. The sun is HOT, but soft too, if that makes sense. Plus I’ve never seen so many dark, dark, dark people before. Not that they were born dark – au contraire – they have been laying in the sun for years with baby oil. Not good – actually kind of gross. A lot of old ladies with saggy brown boobs (topless) on the beach (cue – Something About Mary). This tanning is a serious business here! The beach we had the pleasure of visiting today is about a 5 minute walk from our apartment and is quite small and unusual. It is made entirely of rocks, no sand at all. The kind of rocks that I would classify as river rocks (being roundish and smooth), yet extremely painful to walk on! Hard to look cool walking to the water with a grimace on your face… but I still tried. There is another beach a little farther away that is sand and also filled with much younger, and less brown, people. We’ll be checking that one out soon too.
After spending the morning at the beach we went for a delicious lunch where I thought I should enjoy a salade Nicoise (when in Rome…), and enjoy it I did. Jeff and I also marveled (and were not entirely sad) that a carafe of wine is actually cheaper than water. Ah, the good life! We lazed around for the afternoon reading books on the balcony then went out exploring. All 3 of us girls bought some cute tank tops because we did not bring enough clothes for this super hot weather. A girl cannot wear the same tank top everyday! (Plus, who can resist this cute stuff??) We also picked up some pamphlets to try and figure how we best want to spend this next week, but just lazing around also seems so delightful! So now the girls are drawing, Jeff is reading, I’m typing (about to switch to reading) and the next big job of the evening is searching out a restaurant for dinner. Oh, and try and find a darn internet café!

Posted this today...

**If you have made it all the way to the end then a big congratulations is in order!! Hope everyone is doing well, we are having an amazing time!

PS - I didn't write last night about the great bonbon cart we found. The kids are very excited, and I won't deny that it made my heart skip a little too. All different kinds of gummies in various shapes and sizes.... yum!

PPS - we also spent a long time last night climbing on giant boulders by the lighthouse here. I swear we have raised little mountaingoats!

Died and gone to heaven...

Forgive me if this post comes out a little confused, but tonight we ate the most amazing creme brulee - the kind of dessert that makes your eyes roll back in your head and a little moan escape your lips that you instantly are embarassed about... that kind of good. What always amazes me is the lack of embellishment - just a simply terracotta pot on a plate. No mint, no raspberries, no fancy drizzle around the edge to make it look fancy. Just good. This, my friends, is why I love Paris!

This morning the kids made up for lost time by sleeping until 11 a.m. Actually, Julia slept until then and we had to pry Chloe out of bed a few minutes later. They took great delight in eating breakfast for lunch - Jeff and I were hungry and antsy by that time and again he proved himself a great forager by going out and procuring us the makings of a fabulous Parisian petit dejuner. Fresh croissants, baguette, butter, jam, juice and coffee. No complaints from this end! Forgive me if I talk too much about food but really, the food enchances the experience, non?

After prying ourselves away from our accomodations we hit the Louvre (that's the picture you're seeing above.) Now, looking at various Italian paintings from the 17th century and ancient greek sculptures doesn't exactly pique the interest of the average 5 and 7 year olds, but it certainly did when we made it into a scavenger hunt. The four of us each chose a postcard from the gift shop and then set out to find our paintings. I won't bore you with the details of the paintings aside from saying that Jeff took the easy route and chose the Mona Lisa.... (admittedly if he hadn't taken it I would've!). So, off we went in search of our paintings. We quickly found the Mona Lisa (not hard to do, just follow the crowd) and happily enough found Julia's giant, wall-sized painting in the same room. Score! I then pretended to be in the Amazing Race and used my super-sized brain to decipher the clues and find Chloe's painting not far away. (Sorry, I should be more humble, I know.) Her painting had a head made out of vegetables and was painted in the mid 1500's... anyone know what it is? So, to make this exciting story into a sad one I'll finish it by saying that we never did find my painting. We looked until the kids were on the verge of a mutiny... to placate them we took them to look at Napoleon's apartments and his furniture. Right, they loved it. (Note sarcasm). But, Jeff and I found it fascinating while feeding them gummy candies to keep them interested.

After spending hours at the Louvre we thought the kids would love to take the train out to Versailles and look at more paintings, old furniture and gold. Well, the train ride was the most exciting part because we arrived at Versailles 10 minutes before closing so we couldn't go inside. None of us were really that disappointed - we took a picture to prove we were there and to make the kids want to actually pay attention in grade 8 social studies class when they learn about the French Revolution. Who knows if it will pay off. Julia was certain that she saw a secret gate we could sneak through so we followed her through it and promptly ended up in a back alley - but the back alleys in Versaille are much 'fancier' than ours so it took a few minutes for her to realize that we weren't actually in the courtyard but instead in front of a tobacco shop and tavern. This ended our trip out to Versaille... still worth the train ride because what else is there to do other than explore?

So now we're all nursing tired feet and ready to move on from here tomorrow. At dinner tonight Jeff and I were discussing the fact that it already seems like we've had a whole vacation while in fact we still have 3 more apartments to stay in and 2.5 weeks to go! Next stop - Cassis! Paris has been rainy and on the cool side, while the weather report for Cassis is hot, hot, hot. Bring on the beach!

Bon nuit!

A week in a day!

Today I think we completed a Paris triathalon, or maybe even a decathalon. We packed more into one day then I think some people do in a week here! We started off the day with amazing coffee, croissants and fresh pressed juice then headed to Aquaboulevard - a huge indoor water park. We went 2 years ago and I swear it's the only reason the girls wanted to come back to Paris! We swam and went on the slides for about 2 hours then made the day even better (according to 2 small children) when we had lunch at Hippopotamus. Chloe's favourite animal is the hippopotamus and this restaurant has quite the theme going... including pencil crayons bearing their name and irritating plastic toothpick things in the shape of hippopotamuses (hippopotami?) that I'm sure we'll find spread out amongst our things for the remainder of the trip. I must say my steak, green beans and red wine were quite delicious despite the fact I was staring at a hippo head the whole time.

We thought we hadn't had enough exercise so we climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe to check out the view. Despite the fact that it had been raining on and off all day we took our chances and thankfully it was only spitting when we were at the top. It was a great view and I'm really glad we did it - we intended on doing it last time but the weather didn't cooperate. The girls then thought it would be a great idea to head off to the Eiffel Tower and climb it as well even though (admittedly) our legs were all a wee bit fatigued at this point. The lines weren't bad so we decided to be wild and crazy and actually pay for the elevator this time! (Last time there was a 2 hour wait so we just walked up it instead, today it was a 45 min wait.) So, we were right at the very top and it was a beautiful view, although I'll admit to having a massive amount of goosebumps - it was cold, windy, and kind of rainy! Despite the weather the girls insisted on having a ice cream cone which I thought was insane... Jeff and I had coffee instead. Nothing says 'trooper' like a kid with a hoodie pulled up licking an ice cream cone! We are staying about 5 minutes from the Eiffel Tower so we headed for home to get some warmer clothes on. Thinking that we hadn't exercised enough Jeff and the girls did a quick 100 m sprint for some insane reason - it was not my idea.

As we walked out the door for dinner a torrential downpour started - so much rain that we actually huddled under an awning for 10 minutes hoping it would pass. When our hunger outweighed our need to stay dry we bravely entered the rain and I ruined my good hair day. This lead us to a nice restaurant where after finishing dinner Julia fell asleep on her seat... at 10 pm. I neglected to mention that the girls slept for only 6 hours last night before undertaking this marathon and were amazing the whole day. I also forgot to mention the 9 metro rides we took as well as the many, many kilometres we walked today... they are amazing kids! They collapsed in their beds without a complaint and I am about to join them in slumberland... Jeff has already beaten me there.

Time to rest my weary feet and recharge for tomorrow!

PS - I don't know why the two pictures went under each other like that, I tried to change it and it wouldn't let me so I just left it. If you find this esthetically unpleasing I apologize... just close your eyes.

Arrived!!

Well, it's a rainy night in Paris but still beautiful! We are so happy to be here, and our little apartment is perfect. This picture was taken out of our living room window and just behind the giant tree in the picture is the Eiffel Tower - you'll just have to take my word for it! Because of the rain (and over-tired but super hyper children) we sent Jeff out foraging for our bedtime snack. I have to give him huge credit for the delicious red wine, stinky cheese, fresh baguette and perfect blueberries! What a perfect first meal in Paris...

The flights were great, aside from the fact that I think I slept a grand total of 7 minutes. I looked around at the other sleeping members of my family and was thankful that there would be at least one adult with a fully functioning brain upon arrival. Surprisingly enough my brain is still working! Thank goodness I take a lot of omega-3's!

British Airways was great, Chloe was beyond excited to get the little pack with the socks, eye mask, blanket and toothbrush. She felt we were first class and we were only among the regular folks! It was almost more exciting than the taxi ride to the airport - she was so pumped to be riding in a car 'in Canada' without a carseat! Both kids slept great on the plane, I, on the other hand, watched 3 chick flicks to pass the time. None of them will win Oscars but it saved me from renting them!

So, the rain has slowed down and we are going to go for a bedtime stroll. I can't believe we are all still awake right now! Beautiful, beautiful.... Bon nuit!

Ready... Set.... Go!

Only 2.5 hours until the taxi picks us up and we are off! I am actually amazed at how much stuff you can fit into 4 rolling carry-on bags, we even have a little room to spare! It is a nice feeling to know that we can just walk off the plane and go, instead of standing around the irritating baggage carousel. I have spent the day doing all the little things that seem to pile up at the end - like returning 27 library books (all of them accounted for!) and shopping at the dollar store to find the perfect pencil case. Now in this final few hours I am going to play with my new camera to see if I can figure out how to put pictures on here while we are away.

The itinerary;
July 21st: depart Calgary for Paris (via London)
July 22-25: Paris
July 25 - Aug 1: Cassis, France
Aug 1 - 8: Bruges, Belgium
Aug 8 - 12: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Aug 12: Depart Amsterdam for Calgary (via London)

Stay tuned!

shoes

It seems to me that the problem with only taking carry-on is shoes... shoes... shoes. Which ones do you take? What if you get a blister, or worse - bored of them? Jeff and I backpacked in Europe 12 years ago with a pair of running shoes and a pair of sandals each. Then one day you want to actually look nice and so you clean yourself up a bit and put on your... runners? Ugh. We have a picture of me up on a stage in Salzburg, Austria dancing in a Sound of Music performance wearing schleppy jeans, a t-shirt and my dreaded running shoes. Of course why I was up on stage to begin with is another story (I don't dance, or sing, or act... it was not a pretty sight, and I was not at all pleased to be there). Anyway, that's not the point, the point is that I am trying very hard to avoid looking, and more importantly feeling, like a poorly dressed tourist. So, with only a carry-on each this task has started to consume me - and the shoes are receiving the brunt (sp?) of my thought.

Adding to this is the fact that we have a 7 year old who is a shoeaholic. I didn't know it could start at such a young age but it's been ongoing for years. Two years ago in Paris we spent hours and hours searching for her 'Paris Shoes'. Thankfully we did eventually find them (we were lead to them by a beam of light and singing angels, I swear) and she wore those gold ballet flats until they fell apart. So, of course she has many pairs of shoes she wants to take - shiny silver shoes, her faux suede ankle boots (!!), and her newly purchased (after saving her allowance for well over a month) little ballet flats with a fancy button. Sigh. Of course not many of these shoes are actually good for walking but hey, that's not what she's after! I'm sure we'll reach a compromise of some sort and luckily for her she is very small and her clothes don't take up much room in that suitcase of hers. I wonder if we'll return home from this trip with any extra shoes?

So, I will move away from shoes for awhile to discuss the other stuff - like the rental car. That was interesting, because when I went to rent it I was met with the descriptions and names of many European cars that I have no idea about. I'm not really good with cars to begin with - honestly I don't really care too much about them as long as they are decent looking, no rust, safe... etc. But, on the other hand I have a very tall husband who does care about them. Not just about what they look like, how fast they go, etc, but if he will in fact fit in them. So, I try. But, I have no idea about the different models of car that Renault makes. So how do I know which one to rent?? I even went the extra mile and googled some of them but... ugh... so boring. So, I rented one that had a pretty picture and hopefully his head doesn't smush up again the ceiling of the car! This could be interesting, or I could be a hero - we'll see.

So now the only thing looming over my head is the procurement of euros. When we get off the plane in Paris we are supposed to give the remainder of our balance of the rent in cold, hard cash. I have known this for weeks, if not months, but I keep forgetting to go to the bank to get it. Last time we went I actually had to order it and it took awhile, so this procrastination isn't necessarily a very good thing. So now that I have sent it out into the universe (and cyberspace) I am motivated enough to go to the bank tomorrow! Hurray for me! (But will this blog hold me to it?? That is the important question...)

One week to go...

Two more weeks!

Today marks the two-week until departure date! I spent yesterday afternoon going through all of the paperwork for our trip and making sure everything is in order. Our Eurail passes, ticket confirmations, apartment rentals all look good. In fact, just moments ago paypal made life easier by taking our money and sending it to Belgium as our final payment for our apartment in Bruges. The only thing I haven't done (yet have thought about many times) is arrange for the rental car we'll need while in the south of France. Perhaps now that I've actually written it I'll go and do that as soon as I log out of this.

I have spent way too much time obsessing about what to pack. We will be taking only carry-on sized bags with us which means absolutely everything we take must count! No frivilous ball gowns on this trip! Because we will be traveling by train a lot (as well as needing to fit our suitcases into a small, European sized trunk) we are trying to minimize our 'stuff'. Plus, everywhere we'll be staying has washing facilities so it won't be a problem (aside from being bored of wearing the same things!) Even things like reading materials need to be thought about. We are only bringing novels that both Jeff and I want to read so that we don't lug too many books around. The kids have some books on their iPods too which is nice, but the rate that Chloe plows through her chapter books means that she'll have to keep reading the same ones over and over due to space constrictions!

Off to do more thinking...

Slowly but surely...

Well, time keeps slowly ticking along and as it does I'm getting more and more antsy to get to Europe again! Maybe it's because I love the cheese, wine, coffee.... sigh. Oh, and the culture is pretty cool too! I just took out some books from the library on Belgium, considering I've been 'through' Belgium many times and have never actually set foot in it I figured it would be good to know what we're getting into. So far what has struck me is beer and chocolate - and those are both good things so how can we go wrong??

So I just did the mental arithmetic and we depart in 44 days. Nice! Last week we received an email from the website that we rented our Paris apartment through informing us that the company we'd rented from is now bankrupt. What could've been a horrible situation is actually great and the apartment they offered us instead is even better - and cheaper! Scrolling through the pictures just got us antsy to actually get there...

Soon, very soon!

Setting up

Okay, just set this up and am trying to figure it out!! I need to make a post so that I can see how it looks on the page. Here's to happy posting!