Tuscany finally booked!!

Mary Jo’s 40th birthday present was a trip to Tuscany, but until this week, we had not been able to get it booked. On Aug 13th we take EasyJet flights from Paris Orly to Pisa where we pick up a car and head for the Chianti region in the heart of Tuscany near Greve for the week. We are staying at the Villa Vignamaggio which dates back to the 14th century. http://www.vignamaggio.com/index.html It seems perfect, and is rated #2 of 19 in the Trip Advisor Popularity Index.

The Italian chapter for the adventure is only 11 days away -- woo hoo!!

Les A-poo

Today’s family outing took us to Les Egouts (The Paris Sewers). Les Egouts is a small underground museum which practically sits under our apartment building and features exhibits on Paris’ sanitation system from its earliest days to present, plus a walk through of the sewers in action.

Although the exhibits in the museum itself were fascinating, the thought of the contents in the water rushing below my feet, coupled with the overwhelming ‘odeur” were too much for my bionic sense of smell and pooh phobia. Our "walk" turned into a run and fifteen minutes later we were out on the street. The trip home was dominated by potty humor and methane induced giggles. BTW, no smoking allowed in Les Egouts!

OK girls, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING and watch out for overhead dripping.

Guest Post

This past weeks guests, Barry & Alicia Gordon have decided to throw the BC Tour de France a curve ball, by contributing a guest post. Thanks for the kind words B&A, it was good to have you!

" Alicia and I just returned from an amazing 9 day trip taking in Paris and Barcelona. Barcelona makes a great hop using Paris as a base if anyone is thinking they might not get another chance to go there and wants to. It is very worthwhile also.

For Paris- it seems inconceivable to be able to "live" for a few days in any better location. Rupert and Mary Jo are walking distance to almost anything you could think of to see in Paris. About 7 minutes WALK from the Eiffel Tower, Napoleon's Tomb, The Military Museum, and the flame of Princess Diana. Just a few more minutes to the Rodin Museum and The Musee Dorsay which houses a ton of Impressionist Art including all the biggies from Monet and Manet, to Van Gogh and housing some of their most famous works, and even the Catacombes. Just a bit further across the beautiful Siene River, is the Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, Champs Elysees, Place Concord, and Notre Dame. A short subway will get you to Monmatre, Moulon Rouge,and the incredible cemetary which houses the graves of Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. This is by no means an exhaustive list but they are most of what we were able to see in just 4 days, without a lot of pre-planning. The stay also includes lots of visiting time with Rupert and Mary-Jo, french bread, pastry, and CHEESE. French wine, crepes, and if you hit the right day- pancakes, and Mary- Jo's fabulous dinners.

I suspect many blog watchers know all this, but if you haven't yet had the chance to see it up close, it's just hard to really imagine.

Thank-you Mary Jo and Rupert for a wonderful time."

Champagne on Pont Neuf - Check!

Last year on Rupert's Birthday, friends and family were asked to give him a piece of advice for his two years in Paris (see "Advice for Rupert" post). Tagget's suggestion "drink a bottle of Champagne on the wooden footbridge" was put into action with this week's guests, the Gordons.

Oh, how lovely it is, to sit outside with friends and a cocktail and enjoy the lights of Paris.

Mary Jo with Alicia & Barry Gordon sipping Champagne on the Pont Neuf

BC's AT the Tour de France

With much anticipation, we walked down to the Champs Elysees to watch the final laps of the Tour de France today. We made quite an effort trying to acquire the inside scoop on a good spot to stand, what time to get there etc, but came up empty. So we chose to arrive two hours early and went to the closest spot to our house (if you watched the coverage we stood right beside the awards stage).

Unfortunately two hours was not enough to secure us a spot in the front - four rows back more like it - it was packed!. The fact that we were surrounded by english speakers was probably a good indication that we had not chosen a good spot. But settled in just the same. The girls sat on ground and counted each others teeth, Rupert educated some new friends on the ins and outs of the Tour and we all waited "patiently" for the Lance and the boys to arrive.

Although the winner had already been determined yesterday, it was still very exciting when the riders arrived- the crowd cheered, cameras went up in the air and everyone struggled to catch a look. I have to admit I didn't see much, there were too many people in front of us and the riders were extremely fast, but it was great to be a part of it all!

Next year I think might choose a spot further outside the centre of town. Vive Le Tour! Rupert's Hail Mary shot of Lance and the winner Contador (yellow jersey).

Williams Sisters Watch Out

The girls spent their mornings this week at Tennis camp. Despite their teachers very serious disposition, they had a great time and picked up some Tennis skills along the way.

Mini raquets, mini balls and mini players - It doesn't get much cuter than this!

Giverny

Last weekend we took a car trip with our first house guests of the summer to Giverny - Monet's house and gardens about an hour outside of Paris. Some of Monet's most famous paintings, such as his water lily and Japanese bridge paintings, were of his garden in Giverny.

The "water lily" pond was stunning, but much smaller and more enclosed by vegetation than I imagined.

The girls sketching the water lilies

Us with Sharon, Henry and M. in Monet's Gardens

With an afternoon still left on our car rental, we consulted the "points of interest" feature of our GPS and decided to check out La Roche Guyon, a chateau not far from Giverny.

The lack of the Chateau's guidebook presence meant that we basically had the place to ourselves and we were able to enjoy the grand rooms, views from the tower, and curious contents in peace.

Our unassuming walk through this typical French chateau ended with a surprise - a military bunker. It turns out that Rommel defended Normandy against the Allies in World War II from the bunker located here- La Roche Guyon was Rommel's headquarters.

The girls in front of the Chateau

Pony Camp

This week we sent our eldest, on a 5 day school trip to a Pony Camp. We had originally met the concept of sending our six year old away for 5 days with “You’ve got to be crazy!!!”. But nine months was enough for us to warm up to the idea, and when the interest was shown by our six year old - off she went.

Thirty kids from the school ranging from ages 4-6, chaperoned by teachers, headed off on the train to Mont St Sulpice, Bourgogne (Burgandy). The French must love their Pony Camps because they seem to be everywhere and the French parents at the school didn't appear to think this preschool excursion was abnormal.

Every child on the trip was assigned their own pony and were responsible for walking the Pony on a lead, brushing it, as well as learning to ride and Pony gymnastics (?). P’s pony was named Pelouche (soft toy).

It was a lonely week for us, our permitted one phone call was expectedly unsatisfactory and D was desperate for her sister.

In the end, it was a growth experience for all of us. P came home beaming ear to ear, smelling of pony. D couldn’t keep her hands off of her sister and showered her with hugs and kisses for hours and I was finally relieved of my aching heart.

Hopefully someone involved will give us some photos – I am dying to know more!

Hockey Tournament in Dunkerque

This past weekend, while Obama was hanging out in our hood, the family headed off with the Millepattes to Dunkerque, for a Hockey tournament. French hockey tournaments don't seem to differ much from the Canadian variety; cold rinks, lots of sitting around waiting for the next game, beer, Red Bull to wake you up from the beer and crowds of very smelly men. The lack of ice cleaning in between games seemed to be the only difference to Rupert. It must have been, he told ten times.

Adoring Fans trying to keep warm

In the end the Millepattes didn’t fare too well and finished the tournament with a 1-4 win/loss rate. But what could they expect from a team with guys who fall down when they take a shot at the puck. The girls and I were proud that Rupert seemed to pull his wait, especially for an old guy .

As exhausted as we were from the weekend, we pushed ourselves to stop at the Vimy Memorial on the way home from the tournament. Like our trip to the D-day beaches, seeing the terrain and the gravesites made the loss of life so much more real than any Hollywood blockbuster could. It was so sad to see the large number of nameless graves marked “known unto God”.

Not far from the cemetery is the Vimy monument – a truly awe inspiring sculpture sitting isolated in the middle of a field, on the highest point of Vimy Ridge. The girls were asleep in the car, so Rupert and I took turns walking the grounds. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see some of tunnels and look-out points, but the site of the Memorial itself was well worth the detour – we were both happy we had stopped.

Awesome!

Mimi & Paddy Visit

Wow what a week! Mimi and Paddy (my parents) were here for seven days and boy, do they really know how to pack it in. Morning to night were filled with bus tours, church visits, museums, flea markets, walking tours, shopping and best of all D’s birthday party. These seniors who appeared unaffected by jet lag or the miles and miles of walking, really brought it.

Their flight home was not so fun filled. Their cabin filled with smoke 40min outside of Paris prompted an emergency landing in London and then followed by a 4+ hour containment in the airport. Crazy!!!! We are happy, they are safe and sound at home now.

Thanks for the visit, it was great to have you!!!