When I went to sleep last night, I planned to use this post to rant about how angry I was at United but I'm not going to do that anymore. I will add a link to the letter I send to the head of customer relations in a few weeks because I'm pissed enough at this point that I need some remuneration.
We are in DC now. Getting here took almost 24 hours straight of travel. Happily, Lilah took two long naps on the plane so she was quite managable however she woke up at 3 and at 6 so Chris and I are still beat tired. Something really cool did happen overnight though! When she woke up at 3, she actually wanted to come in bed with us. So, the three of us slept for a few hours cuddled up together. We have never actually done that as a family and it was nice to end this phase of our trip that way. After all we spent 1008 hours together with no breaks and almost no other people and thats a pretty unique thing.
It is great to be back. We took a night in a hotel rather than going to our friends house last night so we could get to sleep a couple hours earlier. Sleeping in a King size bed again was heavenly. It's been a little unsettling to hear English spoken in an American accent as outside of Chris and a couple Skypes home I havent heard it in quite a while. I kept thinking I was hearing other people speak in my voice. Also strange is having toilet flushers on the side rather than the top. I keep reaching for the top and wondering where the flusher is :-)
Now, we are chilling in the room and waiting for the rest of the world to wake up, wishing we could go back to sleep. Heading down stairs to the breakfast room now, then let the Christmas madness begin.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Parting Glass
The day after we got home from our Chamonix adventures, we were supposed to have another play date with the twins and their grandparents. Grandparents met us at the planned location and gave us a tour of the a quaint village near where they live which is centered around an Abbye undergoing restoration. Unfortunately, we have no pictures (see comment in previous post re forgetting things). The funniest part was the ornate nativity scene that was missing Baby Jesus. Rene's sister did not seem to have any thought on where it might be.
We went back to her house and she laid out a pastry spread that could feed an entire French village and we started to nibble while we waited for the twins and their parents. And waited. And waited. Rene's sister started to make the kind of comment that only a mother can make about how they are always so busy at this time of year. Around 6pm (play date supposed to start at 4) Lilah has a category 5 meltdown. She is exhausted and there is no place to put her down there as Lilah can only sleep in a crib or pack n play (the only way she can fall asleep is to crawl to the corner press her head into the side and fall alseep with her butt in the air) so even if I lay with her, she just tries to crawl away. I took her to the car and tried to get her down there but she screamed even louder so I gave the "Its time to go NOW" honk on the car horn and we had to go. Frank and Cristelle did email to apologize and the time with Rene's sister was fun (and good practice for me as 0 English was spoken) so its all good.
The last day in France was mostly packing however I promised Lilah that if she was good we would take her to this amazingly cool indoor playgym at a competitor to McDonald's. She was very good so we headed over there mid day (45 minutes drive each way).
She had the most fun she had ever had in her entire life.
I think she played in it for two hours. These things are a parents paradise. This one was at least 6 stories of padded baby proof obstacle course. The biggest concern with the gym was the big kids who play much like they ski. They were playing this very intense game that seemed to be a combination of tag and hide n seek where everyone was "It" (played in teams) and no home base.. They were actually pretty respectful of Lilah though, taking alternate routes through the course when they saw here playing in a certain section.
More packing and cleaning on last night. Of course Lilah had a nightmare and woke up screaming just as we got into bed around midnight. Poor thing. Its times like that when I wish she could co sleep cause I would have brought her in bed with me but no go. She has to go through her process. Happily, her fuzzy butt was in the air within 20 minutes.
Ride to airport coming soon. Wish us luck for the way home...
Take Me to the Limit
Things got sticky as we tried to leave Chamonix. The clearing that occurred the day before was long gone and the blizzard had returned. Did I mention the more snow it 2 weeks than they usually get in a year issue??
Anyhoo, I get down to the front desk after doing a "final sweep" of the hotel room and Chris is deep in conversation with the Front Desk Lady. She says we cant leave unless we have chains or snow tires. It takes a while for the following things to make themselves clear and really sink in:
Three hours of panic later, a revelation from one of the maids who has come down to chat with Front Desk Lady on her coffee break. In France, they do not use the expression "SUV". So, when we described car to Front Desk Lady that term washed right over her. For some reason that I dont recall, we end up Googling the car so she can see what it looks like. "A Cat Cat!!" she cries. "What??" Well it turns out, in France an SUV is called a Cat Cat. The fact that we drove a Cat Cat changed everything. She explained that getting down the Glacier (driveway) would be the hardest part and that since we have a Cat Cat she would be willing to let us try (failure of course would be very costly to each of us).
So we went. Lilah and I waited until Chris was down the Glacier to get in. We went down the mountain behind a snow plow and the rest is history. Except for the fact that Chris left his cell phone in the hotel lobby and had a minor accident in the garage due to the stress of the situatiom. We have clearly hit our travel limits at this point. First the cost of the trip itself, plus repairing the car on top of Pregos surgery is going to completely eliminate all of our savings (which had not been truly rebuilt since the house down payment). Also, ever since then all these little things have been going wrong. I've been sleeping even worse than usual. I cut my finger with a knife pretty badly. Chris keeps forgetting things.
For our last French song, a good one. I can recall if I posted this earlier and I wanted to make sure to capture it.
Anyhoo, I get down to the front desk after doing a "final sweep" of the hotel room and Chris is deep in conversation with the Front Desk Lady. She says we cant leave unless we have chains or snow tires. It takes a while for the following things to make themselves clear and really sink in:
- Flight is in less than 72 hours, need at least 24 back at Rene's to gather our belongings and clean his house
- The weather has 0% chance of improving within 3 days
- There are no chains for our car for sale within 50 miles and leaving the garage without chains cant happen because it involves driving down a driveway that has turned into steep glacier
- It takes 48 hours to order snow tires and you would still need to take car to garage to get them installed
- Front Desk Lady's recommendation is to leave Rene's car here and take a 6 hour train ride (remember how Lilah feels regarding trains) and figure out after the snow what to do with the car. This would cost well north of $500; its cheaper to move our flight however when to move it to? "Storm could last weeks" says front desk lady. Plus there would be cost of hotel while we move our flight.
- We are screwed.
Three hours of panic later, a revelation from one of the maids who has come down to chat with Front Desk Lady on her coffee break. In France, they do not use the expression "SUV". So, when we described car to Front Desk Lady that term washed right over her. For some reason that I dont recall, we end up Googling the car so she can see what it looks like. "A Cat Cat!!" she cries. "What??" Well it turns out, in France an SUV is called a Cat Cat. The fact that we drove a Cat Cat changed everything. She explained that getting down the Glacier (driveway) would be the hardest part and that since we have a Cat Cat she would be willing to let us try (failure of course would be very costly to each of us).
So we went. Lilah and I waited until Chris was down the Glacier to get in. We went down the mountain behind a snow plow and the rest is history. Except for the fact that Chris left his cell phone in the hotel lobby and had a minor accident in the garage due to the stress of the situatiom. We have clearly hit our travel limits at this point. First the cost of the trip itself, plus repairing the car on top of Pregos surgery is going to completely eliminate all of our savings (which had not been truly rebuilt since the house down payment). Also, ever since then all these little things have been going wrong. I've been sleeping even worse than usual. I cut my finger with a knife pretty badly. Chris keeps forgetting things.
For our last French song, a good one. I can recall if I posted this earlier and I wanted to make sure to capture it.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Chamonix itself is not at a particularly high altitude. Around the same as Denver, CO if I am doing my conversions correctly. The city is a valley surrounded by mountains and if you want to ski anything above bunny slope, you have to take a gondola of some sort a few miles straight up to get to the actual ski villages. There was a very small ski area with two green runs (drag lift) and a chair lift to a red and a blue. I decided "what the hell" so this morning I picked up some skis from the hotel shop and headed over. Unfortunately, things did not go quite as planned. Problem #1: The lift was closed leaving access to only the green runs. No worries, I thought, I can work on skiing parallel.
Me in the middle in dark green with little ones to the left and right in red, PARALLEL
Me in the middle in dark green doing pizza wedge
At long last, heading up the mountain!!
There were only 20 or so people "in front" of me when I pulled up so this wait time was ridiculous. My only salvation was the snarky comments I made with the Brittish people standing near me who were also horrified at the lack of a proper queue system. After the first run, I decided to play the game as it was meant to be played. This was effective, cutting my wait time in half. However, I just couldnt get behind fighting with 5 year olds so I gave it up at lunch time.After lunch, we decided we would take the famous gondola up to the very top to see the view or take the train to see the glacier. No go. You have to be 4 years old to ride, no exceptions. So, we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out around town and shopping.
We tried to make a snow man but the snow wouldnt pack so instead, I made a snow angel.
Yesterday, we spent the morning sledding. Lilah was not thrilled with the sledding which really surprised me given how much she loves slides. She loved watching me ride though. Peals of laughter every time.
Something about the snow just rubbed her the wrong way. Hopefully next year she will like it better cause ideally we want her to learn how to ski early but Im not going to make her do something she doesnt want to do. Here, they learn how to ski before they can walk. Its quite extraordinary. After sledding we went back to our room for a long nap and then headed out to play. Bowling and Mini Golf that is. I sucked royally at bowling...
but Lilah had a great time romping around the golf course.
Tomorrow its back to Montfalcon for packing, a final play date with the twins. I am already salivating at the thought of eating an actual vegitable (have i mentioned they dont really have those here). And looking forward to seeing my PREGO!!! who is healing well and apparently is back to thinking that he is a ferocious big dog.
PS: Wait for it
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Friday, December 16, 2011
C'mon 'n Ride It (the Train)
Alas, Lilah is not a fan of the bullet train. She screamed the entire 2 hours both ways and all we could do is show the other passengers that we were trying to sooth her. My mom astutely asked if I could feel the speed in my ears and if that could have been the problem. I had felt discomfort in my ears and a little car sick even though I wasnt reading and the train was going straight so I guess there was some pressure equilibrium thing going on. At least we have the mystery solved.
While we are on the subject of trains, an interesting thing happened on our way into the Metro on the way home from Paris. Chris and I were laden with Lilah on his back, two small but heavy suitcases and a handful of shopping bags. In general it was quite manageable however there is no ADA in France so getting into the Metro involves a lot of stairs. On all the sets of stairs, I only needed to take on step onto the first stair before a man would come up to me and offer to carry my suitcase. I was obviously with Chris and I looked like crap and frazzled so there is absolutely no way they were trying to pick me up. At the same time, there was a black woman traveling alone with a baby in stroller trying to get down the same stairs and through the same skinny tickets. No one offered to help her!!! I wanted to help her but couldn't manage it as each time, by the time someone took my stuff, she was a few steps ahead of me and had already come up with a solution. I was really shocked cause I would say she needed the help more than I did as my bag was heavy but she was carrying a stroller with a baby in it by herself. I also couldnt help but wonder if it was a race thing which made me really sad. I wonder if a similar thing would happen in the US. I have often had guys offer to help me with heavy bags but never while I was walking next to someone who needed help more than me.
Anyway, tomorrow we leave for our final mini trip to the snow! Its gonna be great to see Lilah romping around.
While we are on the subject of trains, an interesting thing happened on our way into the Metro on the way home from Paris. Chris and I were laden with Lilah on his back, two small but heavy suitcases and a handful of shopping bags. In general it was quite manageable however there is no ADA in France so getting into the Metro involves a lot of stairs. On all the sets of stairs, I only needed to take on step onto the first stair before a man would come up to me and offer to carry my suitcase. I was obviously with Chris and I looked like crap and frazzled so there is absolutely no way they were trying to pick me up. At the same time, there was a black woman traveling alone with a baby in stroller trying to get down the same stairs and through the same skinny tickets. No one offered to help her!!! I wanted to help her but couldn't manage it as each time, by the time someone took my stuff, she was a few steps ahead of me and had already come up with a solution. I was really shocked cause I would say she needed the help more than I did as my bag was heavy but she was carrying a stroller with a baby in it by herself. I also couldnt help but wonder if it was a race thing which made me really sad. I wonder if a similar thing would happen in the US. I have often had guys offer to help me with heavy bags but never while I was walking next to someone who needed help more than me.
Anyway, tomorrow we leave for our final mini trip to the snow! Its gonna be great to see Lilah romping around.
Here is a pic of her doing an experiment with my mag light. Dont know why its sideways. It isnt sideways until I load it....
And since yesterday was a day at home...there's a bad song....
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
You Cant Always Get What You Want
But if you try real hard, you just might find....you get what you need!!
Rain was coming down this morning and we had no choice to make a break for it. Chris and I both bundled in water proof jackets and we put on Lilah's rain coat instead of her usual jacket since it wasnt that cold out. We then wrapped her legs in plastic bags so that they wouldnt get wet, ran to the Metro and headed to the Museum (Orsay). When we arrived at the building we looked at each other in horror as the line was around 500 people deep. We were ready to accept defeat when I suggested to Chris that the guy manning the line for handicapped people might take pity on us as there were no other people with kids in line. It was a long shot, but it actually worked so we were ferried in the side door with no wait. We purchased our tickets and headed for the entrance and in the 1 minute it took us to complete this finally step we got 4 conflicting answers as to whether 1) Lilah could ride in the frame pack and 2) The frame pack could come in to the museum at all. Chris is usually very good at holding his temper in situations like this and even he was starting to snap at the employees who were coming at us as clearly there was no consensus on the policy (most likely because only crazy people bring 1 year old's to the museum so it doesnt happen very often). Then one of them told us in English that they would give us a FREE STROLLER to use if we would just let them keep the frame pack out of the gallery. "You're gonna give us a stroller??" Chris asked. "Yes, Yes" they said. We go to the coat check were they are pointing and lo and behold there is an actual stroller loaner line (it also loaned wheel chairs, canes and those cane/chair combo things). We could barely contain our glee though also wondered why the person who sold us our tickets couldnt have simply directed us to the stroller line when she saw Chris carrying Lilah in the frame pack. Oh well. Museum was great and since we were so happy to have the stroller we actually spent a few hours looking around.
At the end of the rounds, there was a tactile exhibit with a beanbag chair that looked like an octopus. The pictures didnt come out but rest assured that Lilah was delighted to climb all over it while Mama lounged.
After the museum we headed to the Food Court at Gallery Lafayette (which we realized we had been to before). I had some of the best mediterannean food Ive ever had and Chris had his beloved sushi. After that, some shopping and some romping at home before heading out to dinner.
We looked online to find a good place to eat since we have learned that Paris is not a friendly city to eat in with a baby. The first place we tried touted its all you can eat Steak and Frites and desserts however they failed to mention that Steak and Frites was the ONLY thing on the menu. As we were both planning to order that anyway, it might have worked out however it was 25e a piece and that was just too much so instead we went to our favorite French chain restaurant. Hippopotamus. They even have high chairs, the only restuarant in all of Paris so far as I can tell. An hour later, we are finishing up and Lilah is throwing potatoes and crayons on the floor while screaming. The old guy at the table next to us starts giving me the stink eye. Dude. You are at a restaurant whose logo is a giant Hippopatamus. What do you expect??
Tomorrow we leave Paris after lunch and its been a great time although I dont think I would ever come back with a baby. Or if I did, it would be for long enough that Id have time to walk rather than take the metro and make it worth it to shop for groceries.
PS: Lilah has traded in her Mercedes for a Mini Cooper
Rain was coming down this morning and we had no choice to make a break for it. Chris and I both bundled in water proof jackets and we put on Lilah's rain coat instead of her usual jacket since it wasnt that cold out. We then wrapped her legs in plastic bags so that they wouldnt get wet, ran to the Metro and headed to the Museum (Orsay). When we arrived at the building we looked at each other in horror as the line was around 500 people deep. We were ready to accept defeat when I suggested to Chris that the guy manning the line for handicapped people might take pity on us as there were no other people with kids in line. It was a long shot, but it actually worked so we were ferried in the side door with no wait. We purchased our tickets and headed for the entrance and in the 1 minute it took us to complete this finally step we got 4 conflicting answers as to whether 1) Lilah could ride in the frame pack and 2) The frame pack could come in to the museum at all. Chris is usually very good at holding his temper in situations like this and even he was starting to snap at the employees who were coming at us as clearly there was no consensus on the policy (most likely because only crazy people bring 1 year old's to the museum so it doesnt happen very often). Then one of them told us in English that they would give us a FREE STROLLER to use if we would just let them keep the frame pack out of the gallery. "You're gonna give us a stroller??" Chris asked. "Yes, Yes" they said. We go to the coat check were they are pointing and lo and behold there is an actual stroller loaner line (it also loaned wheel chairs, canes and those cane/chair combo things). We could barely contain our glee though also wondered why the person who sold us our tickets couldnt have simply directed us to the stroller line when she saw Chris carrying Lilah in the frame pack. Oh well. Museum was great and since we were so happy to have the stroller we actually spent a few hours looking around.
At the end of the rounds, there was a tactile exhibit with a beanbag chair that looked like an octopus. The pictures didnt come out but rest assured that Lilah was delighted to climb all over it while Mama lounged.
After the museum we headed to the Food Court at Gallery Lafayette (which we realized we had been to before). I had some of the best mediterannean food Ive ever had and Chris had his beloved sushi. After that, some shopping and some romping at home before heading out to dinner.
We looked online to find a good place to eat since we have learned that Paris is not a friendly city to eat in with a baby. The first place we tried touted its all you can eat Steak and Frites and desserts however they failed to mention that Steak and Frites was the ONLY thing on the menu. As we were both planning to order that anyway, it might have worked out however it was 25e a piece and that was just too much so instead we went to our favorite French chain restaurant. Hippopotamus. They even have high chairs, the only restuarant in all of Paris so far as I can tell. An hour later, we are finishing up and Lilah is throwing potatoes and crayons on the floor while screaming. The old guy at the table next to us starts giving me the stink eye. Dude. You are at a restaurant whose logo is a giant Hippopatamus. What do you expect??
Tomorrow we leave Paris after lunch and its been a great time although I dont think I would ever come back with a baby. Or if I did, it would be for long enough that Id have time to walk rather than take the metro and make it worth it to shop for groceries.
PS: Lilah has traded in her Mercedes for a Mini Cooper
Monday, December 12, 2011
Paris in the Rain
Right after we booked our room in Paris, we found out it was forecast to rain the entire time so we resigned ourselves to 3 days of ducking in and out of metro stops, running straight to museums and testing our parenting creativity to figure out ways to keep the baby dry. Last night there was torrential rain, so loud that the rain itself the woke me, and I figured our fate was sealed. So, I was delighted to find that the skies had emptied by morning and we had a beautiful crisp day.
Paris is a city that suits me. I love the way each neighborhood really has its own personality. I love the way the old is blended with the new. I love that you are never more than a few blocks from metro (though with Lilah it is more difficult because she has to be carried the entire time and even the nifty frame pack gets difficult after a couple hours).
Yesterday, we did some window shopping at Galleries Lafayette. We tried to look at the Holiday window displays but the entire place was packed since it was a weekend afternoon. After shopping, we went to visit Lilah's friend Pierre Elie in the 9th. His mom is a friend of mine from my New Mommy's Group and she was also going to be loaning a travel crib for LL. We thought PE might qualify as her first French boyfriend but then remembered that, having been born in the US, he was also American.
Interestingly, he does have a French citizenship as well so they were surprised when we told them that the twins we met did not have dual citizenship. It was nice to catch up with his Mommy and meet her husband. PE is also formula fed so she and I did a little celebration that our days of spending over $20 a week on formula are winding down to single digits.
Today we saw:
The Flower Market (boring, only Christmas trees for sale)
The Botanical Gardens (really nice, however not many plants or animals except in one area that was muddy from the rain and crawling with little kids on a school trip)
Luxemburg Gardens (I love that place). I could spend an entire day there walking around and stopping to read and relax. I'm gonna have to do that sometime. Also, we visited the huge playground that we read about online. It was the size of 4 playgrounds put together and had every playground thing imaginable including a zipline contraption. We had to pay 1.50 to get in and it was worth it!
Champs Elysees (All done up for Christmas).
At night they have this cute show where they have rigged a cable high in the sky where Santa's sled and the reindeer go by. Im surprised Ive never seen anywhere else do this. The kids LOVED it.
Also, we went to the Mercedes dealership to look at the concept cars since Chris loves Mercedes. We think he might not be the first in the family to get one though.
We have decided that as we are in Paris and have been in France for a while and are sick of bread and cheese (heretics, I know), we are not going to eat any French food while we are here. Last night, Chris picked up some take out from a Canadian sports bar which was very tasty and, at least my dish, surprisingly healthy. (Chris' dish not so much as it involved fries covered in gravy with two kinds of meat.) We had Chinese food for lunch which was so-so however I think they put some sort of drugs (MSG?) in the food because when we stopped off in the apartment to grab something, I went to lie down "just for a minute" and couldnt get up for an hour and a half.
Dinner was much more successful. We did some research online and found a well reviewed Indian restaurant a few metro stops away. We left the frame carrier at home and I used a scarf to create a sling and just carried Lilah the whole way. We were the only people dinning there and the proprietor was just amazing with Lilah. He encouraged us to let her romp around even overturned some things to create an obstacle course for her. He also scoured the restaurant to find things for her to play with and kept coming over to visit her. The food was great! Authentic and not gringo style at all. It was very expensive for Indian, but this is Paris so I cant complain.
Tomorrow: Depends on rain. Musee de Orsay for sure. Wish they rented strollers there. That would be the best!! I remember they used to do that at some places in the SF area but Im guessing in our litigious society, they dont anymore.
Also tomorrow. Announcement re Higgs particle. Might have to go to Science Bar (like a sports bar but with science on tv?? J/K) to hear the press conference.
Paris is a city that suits me. I love the way each neighborhood really has its own personality. I love the way the old is blended with the new. I love that you are never more than a few blocks from metro (though with Lilah it is more difficult because she has to be carried the entire time and even the nifty frame pack gets difficult after a couple hours).
Bean City on the Metro
Note the Linked Arms
Today we saw:
The Flower Market (boring, only Christmas trees for sale)
The Botanical Gardens (really nice, however not many plants or animals except in one area that was muddy from the rain and crawling with little kids on a school trip)
Huge Raven
Champs Elysees (All done up for Christmas).
Also, we went to the Mercedes dealership to look at the concept cars since Chris loves Mercedes. We think he might not be the first in the family to get one though.
We have decided that as we are in Paris and have been in France for a while and are sick of bread and cheese (heretics, I know), we are not going to eat any French food while we are here. Last night, Chris picked up some take out from a Canadian sports bar which was very tasty and, at least my dish, surprisingly healthy. (Chris' dish not so much as it involved fries covered in gravy with two kinds of meat.) We had Chinese food for lunch which was so-so however I think they put some sort of drugs (MSG?) in the food because when we stopped off in the apartment to grab something, I went to lie down "just for a minute" and couldnt get up for an hour and a half.
Dinner was much more successful. We did some research online and found a well reviewed Indian restaurant a few metro stops away. We left the frame carrier at home and I used a scarf to create a sling and just carried Lilah the whole way. We were the only people dinning there and the proprietor was just amazing with Lilah. He encouraged us to let her romp around even overturned some things to create an obstacle course for her. He also scoured the restaurant to find things for her to play with and kept coming over to visit her. The food was great! Authentic and not gringo style at all. It was very expensive for Indian, but this is Paris so I cant complain.
Tomorrow: Depends on rain. Musee de Orsay for sure. Wish they rented strollers there. That would be the best!! I remember they used to do that at some places in the SF area but Im guessing in our litigious society, they dont anymore.
Also tomorrow. Announcement re Higgs particle. Might have to go to Science Bar (like a sports bar but with science on tv?? J/K) to hear the press conference.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
It's A Small World
Today we spent a magical afternoon with a real French family. Except for the fact that the children are not French but rather are American, born in Texas no less! Huh??
The Mom, Christele (niece of man whose house we are staying in), had uterine cancer in her early 20's but she and her husband really wanted children of their own. They spent over 10 years researching options and working through legal issues, finally entering into an American surrogacy arrangement. Happily, the surrogate mom (Gail) got pregnant with the first round of IVF. Surrogacy is illegal in France, however it is legal to bring biological children carried via surrogate into the country. You can imagine how difficult this must have been, how many false starts, etc. As it turned out, Gail was actually their case manager at the Surrogacy agency that they were working with. She fell in love with Christele and Frank and after some thought offered to carry their children. You can also imagine that the amount of $ they spent on this was astronomical (trips to US for every blood test for example as the IVF lab in the US could not accept results from a French lab). They are quite well off (they run a company that imports paper products such as napkins, pizza boxes, etc) so they could afford it. They had a running joke with their friends once the kids were home that they went to the US to look into a pizza box deal and came home with two babies. This is because, for all that time, they didn't tell ANYONE about their plans except their closest confidants (a British couple living in France who could provide emotional support and English translations) and thus the babies were a surprise to everyone in their community.
So, their twin were born in the US and thus are US citizens. However, per Texas law, the babies became legally theirs midway through the pregnancy and they are the twins legal parents in every way. The kids are not French citizens in any way and would have to revoke their US citizenship in order to become French citizens. I asked about healthcare and social security and such. For their childhoods, the twins will be covered under their parents for healthcare, etc. After that, it will actually get complicated unless they have no periods of unemployment after university.
Christele and Frank have a continuing and loving relationship with the Gail and her husband (Dr. David-he is an ER Doc). Although not a legal requirement the two families have decided to treat the situation like an Open Adoption thus they see each other around once a year, send lots of gifts and pictures, etc. In fact, the twins very first drawing got sent to Gail back in Texas and she in turn sent a photo of herself next to the drawing which is hanging on her wall. The twins parents have that photo in their brag book of the kids! They even called Gail while we were visiting so we could say hello. It is clear that they consider her true family and it was quiet amazing to learn about their story.
Luckily they had invited Joyce, the woman who had been their confidant, as well as their English teacher to come over during our visit so we could talk without a language barrier. I explained that we had looked into Surrogacy and IVF and understood what they had to go through and how wonderful it was that they had a successful outcome. We also talked about birth stories in general, c sections, vbacs, water births, etc. Its funny how once kids come into the picture, nothing is taboo.
So here they are, two French people, living in a gorgeous house in a small village with two and a half year old twins who are biologically theirs but who are not French citizens. They have two of EVERYTHING and its pretty cute to see it all set up. Though the kids share a bedroom (that like many a nursery had a blowup mattress set up for Mama to crash on) they even had two playrooms which delighted Lilah after being cooped up for much of the past month. She celebrated her freedom by twice standing up for 10 seconds without holding onto anything and by refusing to take a nap even though she was offered Alenas (the girls name is Alena!) crib to sleep in.
Christele and Frank are two of the most generous people I have ever met who not only stuffed us full of desert, champagne and coffee but also sent us home with one of those fancy fenced in play areas ("We have two!"). They also kept asking if we needed clothes, hats, snow suits, shoes, binkies, etc. Frank even offered to follow us home since it was dark and he didnt want us to get lost (we told him no thank you since we had GPS).
All in all a terrific day. We, of course, invited them to come stay with us in El Cerrito next time they come to the US to visit Gail and I really hope they take us up on that offer. Their English speaking friends were also very interesting people and Christele's mom (Renes sister) also joined us for the day and was a doting Grandmother to be sure. She is a local celebrity as she is the Mayor of her village.
Anyway, tomorrow we head to Paris and will be visiting a friend from my New Moms group who I believe is only a few hours older than Lilah. It will be a nice reunion! Here are some photos from today.
No bad song today but here is a picture from when we were in Le Puy-En-Velay.
It says: To the person who left your garbage in front of our door. This building is not a garbage dump. Please find a different solution for your trash. Thank You. It warms my heart to have another taste of Berkeley from 6000 miles away.
The Mom, Christele (niece of man whose house we are staying in), had uterine cancer in her early 20's but she and her husband really wanted children of their own. They spent over 10 years researching options and working through legal issues, finally entering into an American surrogacy arrangement. Happily, the surrogate mom (Gail) got pregnant with the first round of IVF. Surrogacy is illegal in France, however it is legal to bring biological children carried via surrogate into the country. You can imagine how difficult this must have been, how many false starts, etc. As it turned out, Gail was actually their case manager at the Surrogacy agency that they were working with. She fell in love with Christele and Frank and after some thought offered to carry their children. You can also imagine that the amount of $ they spent on this was astronomical (trips to US for every blood test for example as the IVF lab in the US could not accept results from a French lab). They are quite well off (they run a company that imports paper products such as napkins, pizza boxes, etc) so they could afford it. They had a running joke with their friends once the kids were home that they went to the US to look into a pizza box deal and came home with two babies. This is because, for all that time, they didn't tell ANYONE about their plans except their closest confidants (a British couple living in France who could provide emotional support and English translations) and thus the babies were a surprise to everyone in their community.
So, their twin were born in the US and thus are US citizens. However, per Texas law, the babies became legally theirs midway through the pregnancy and they are the twins legal parents in every way. The kids are not French citizens in any way and would have to revoke their US citizenship in order to become French citizens. I asked about healthcare and social security and such. For their childhoods, the twins will be covered under their parents for healthcare, etc. After that, it will actually get complicated unless they have no periods of unemployment after university.
Christele and Frank have a continuing and loving relationship with the Gail and her husband (Dr. David-he is an ER Doc). Although not a legal requirement the two families have decided to treat the situation like an Open Adoption thus they see each other around once a year, send lots of gifts and pictures, etc. In fact, the twins very first drawing got sent to Gail back in Texas and she in turn sent a photo of herself next to the drawing which is hanging on her wall. The twins parents have that photo in their brag book of the kids! They even called Gail while we were visiting so we could say hello. It is clear that they consider her true family and it was quiet amazing to learn about their story.
Luckily they had invited Joyce, the woman who had been their confidant, as well as their English teacher to come over during our visit so we could talk without a language barrier. I explained that we had looked into Surrogacy and IVF and understood what they had to go through and how wonderful it was that they had a successful outcome. We also talked about birth stories in general, c sections, vbacs, water births, etc. Its funny how once kids come into the picture, nothing is taboo.
So here they are, two French people, living in a gorgeous house in a small village with two and a half year old twins who are biologically theirs but who are not French citizens. They have two of EVERYTHING and its pretty cute to see it all set up. Though the kids share a bedroom (that like many a nursery had a blowup mattress set up for Mama to crash on) they even had two playrooms which delighted Lilah after being cooped up for much of the past month. She celebrated her freedom by twice standing up for 10 seconds without holding onto anything and by refusing to take a nap even though she was offered Alenas (the girls name is Alena!) crib to sleep in.
Christele and Frank are two of the most generous people I have ever met who not only stuffed us full of desert, champagne and coffee but also sent us home with one of those fancy fenced in play areas ("We have two!"). They also kept asking if we needed clothes, hats, snow suits, shoes, binkies, etc. Frank even offered to follow us home since it was dark and he didnt want us to get lost (we told him no thank you since we had GPS).
All in all a terrific day. We, of course, invited them to come stay with us in El Cerrito next time they come to the US to visit Gail and I really hope they take us up on that offer. Their English speaking friends were also very interesting people and Christele's mom (Renes sister) also joined us for the day and was a doting Grandmother to be sure. She is a local celebrity as she is the Mayor of her village.
Anyway, tomorrow we head to Paris and will be visiting a friend from my New Moms group who I believe is only a few hours older than Lilah. It will be a nice reunion! Here are some photos from today.
Lilah's first French boyfriend (is actually American)
We will need to get her a tunnel when we get home. Kid loves them!
Love the matching leather chairs!
Twins are double the cuteness
No bad song today but here is a picture from when we were in Le Puy-En-Velay.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
When You're Strange
In the afternoon of yesterday, something in my brain clicked and the inside of me "got" what living here is about. It happened while grocery shopping while marveling at how all the grocery stores here have an ENTIRE AISLE dedicated to yogurt with the opposite side of it dedicated to applesauce and pudding. I was about to drop any old packet of mini yogurts into my cart when I realized that I didn't have to take any old brand. I could comprehend enough French to pick one that had the flavors I liked and did not include any sugar (important since Lilah eats yogurt as her primary source of Mommy's Dr Ordered Attempt to Fatten her up Since she is too Skinny) and that there wouldn't be so damn many choices if different parents didn't want different things so I could choose the exact one that I wanted for Lilah. After selecting Lilah's yogurt, we cruised around the grocery store, figuring out without too much trouble (okay with quite a lot of trouble) the French equivalents of baking soda (comes in packets like yeast) and brown sugar (called cane sugar, not moist like in the US) so that we could bake chocolate chip cookies.
Here is a picture from one of the grocery stores we go to. That is 5 different kinds of shopping carts to choose from (including one child sized). They also have the kind with the fisher price style car for the kid to sit in which we used today but I forgot to take pics of. You cant really see it but they have a system like the old Park n Shop where you need to put in a 50c piece to get a cart of the stack and it is returned to you when you return the cart.
As much as we are starting to feel more comfortable, the locals still find us very interesting and perhaps a little off putting. Although Lilah gets a lot of adoring looks, people dont seem to know what to make of our calling to each other over the aisles and holding up cute baby outfits for the other to see from across the store. We have, however, had two people approach us in the town of St Marcellin (the nearby town with the cool playground). Both were non French natives living in France who told us that despite living here for many years, ours was the first time they had ever heard American English spoken in the city.
Other than grocery shopping and a failed attempt at visiting a McDonald's playland (playland was outdoors and it was pouring rain today), we spent today doing almost nothing. I slept in since Chris was kind enough to take Lima for the morning, then when she took her morning nap I made the aforementioned cookies (quite a feat with no measuring devices). Later, to make up for the cookies, I managed to keep my heart rate up for a full 45 minutes by playing my Work Out mix on iTunes and repeating the basic Zumba steps I taught myself from YouTube.
Speaking of Music, todays Song of the Day is not so bad.
We have figured out our agenda for the rest of the trip! Tomorrow and Friday: Lyon. Saturday: Playdate with Renes twin grandniece and grandnephew. Sunday through Tuesday: Paris. Weekend after that: Chamonix. Then pack and back to DC. Really looking forward to some of the cool playgrounds in Paris and romping in the snow in Chamonix! Here is a lovely picture of Lilah in a French dress on a little rocking chair at the Riviera Villa.
Here is a picture from one of the grocery stores we go to. That is 5 different kinds of shopping carts to choose from (including one child sized). They also have the kind with the fisher price style car for the kid to sit in which we used today but I forgot to take pics of. You cant really see it but they have a system like the old Park n Shop where you need to put in a 50c piece to get a cart of the stack and it is returned to you when you return the cart.
As much as we are starting to feel more comfortable, the locals still find us very interesting and perhaps a little off putting. Although Lilah gets a lot of adoring looks, people dont seem to know what to make of our calling to each other over the aisles and holding up cute baby outfits for the other to see from across the store. We have, however, had two people approach us in the town of St Marcellin (the nearby town with the cool playground). Both were non French natives living in France who told us that despite living here for many years, ours was the first time they had ever heard American English spoken in the city.
Other than grocery shopping and a failed attempt at visiting a McDonald's playland (playland was outdoors and it was pouring rain today), we spent today doing almost nothing. I slept in since Chris was kind enough to take Lima for the morning, then when she took her morning nap I made the aforementioned cookies (quite a feat with no measuring devices). Later, to make up for the cookies, I managed to keep my heart rate up for a full 45 minutes by playing my Work Out mix on iTunes and repeating the basic Zumba steps I taught myself from YouTube.
Speaking of Music, todays Song of the Day is not so bad.
Danza Kuduro
We have figured out our agenda for the rest of the trip! Tomorrow and Friday: Lyon. Saturday: Playdate with Renes twin grandniece and grandnephew. Sunday through Tuesday: Paris. Weekend after that: Chamonix. Then pack and back to DC. Really looking forward to some of the cool playgrounds in Paris and romping in the snow in Chamonix! Here is a lovely picture of Lilah in a French dress on a little rocking chair at the Riviera Villa.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Way That You Love Me
Looking around here, I think that Paula was full of it, cause the French Riviera is gorgeous. It is kind of a combination of Positano, San Diego, Kauai, and maybe some Miami though I have never been there so I cant be sure.
The water is perfect blue and very clear and calm. The region is dripping with wealth, with huge yachts in the harbor (which you too can charter for only 45,000 euro a week), fancy apartments/hotels along the beach and huge villas in the neighboring hills. In Cannes it felt a little over the top. Like everyone was trying to hard. I think it would be absolute madness during the summer, not just during the film festival. I read that most of the beaches are private, which at first I didn't understand, but when we got there it made more sense. There is a long promenade along the water however it is higher than beach level. The majority of the entry points with stairs down to the beach are privately owned so no pay, no beach. Luckily, since its off season, no one cared.
At night, there is a huge carnival mid way set up along the Promenade. I am not sure if it is just for the holidays or if it is always there. They had some crazy Fun Houses that Im sure Lilah would have loved to romp in if she could do them alone, but with the big kids running amok it was out of the question.
To my surprise, Cannes does not seem to be a young persons town. Most of the people were families with kids or older (50+) people just chillin' out (or trying to reclaim their youth). Almost no one there between the ages of 20 and 35 as far as I could see. Playgrounds are quite plentiful in this region, unlike Home Base where they are few and far between.
Today we went to Monaco and like any country with Royals, the people are pretty obsessed with their doings. Apparently, Prince Albert II got married earlier this year and there was all this memorabillia for sale. Monaco actually felt a lot more low key than Cannes but also even wealthier, like the people who live there dont even realize how wealthy they are.
Wealthy or not, they had an amazing aquarium which Lilah loved. They had tank after tank of some of the most exotic tropical fish Ive ever seen. These pics are less exotic but had good displays for babies...
Oddly enough, the aqaurium was also where the wedding dress and grooms uniform were on display as well as bottles of wine from the reception, copies of the invitations etc.
After the aquarium we went to a Christmas market which was quite charming but a little weird because it was all Christmasy in look but along side it were yachts and it was over 60 degrees out.
Today on our adventure we took the train rather than driving and though it added a couple hours and more than a couple Euro to our expense, it was well worth it because Lilah could romp around during travel time rather than be cooped in her car seat. It also meant she could see me which meant no separation anxiety and no need for me to get car sick sitting in the back with her. The people in Monaco really loved Lilah. Especially the waiter at lunch who fell head over heels for her. He even brought her some biscuits to munch on.
Tomorrow we head back to home base, but I am hoping to stop at some Turkish Baths on the way.
No car today=no bad song!
Cannes at Sunset
At night, there is a huge carnival mid way set up along the Promenade. I am not sure if it is just for the holidays or if it is always there. They had some crazy Fun Houses that Im sure Lilah would have loved to romp in if she could do them alone, but with the big kids running amok it was out of the question.
To my surprise, Cannes does not seem to be a young persons town. Most of the people were families with kids or older (50+) people just chillin' out (or trying to reclaim their youth). Almost no one there between the ages of 20 and 35 as far as I could see. Playgrounds are quite plentiful in this region, unlike Home Base where they are few and far between.
Today we went to Monaco and like any country with Royals, the people are pretty obsessed with their doings. Apparently, Prince Albert II got married earlier this year and there was all this memorabillia for sale. Monaco actually felt a lot more low key than Cannes but also even wealthier, like the people who live there dont even realize how wealthy they are.
Wealthy or not, they had an amazing aquarium which Lilah loved. They had tank after tank of some of the most exotic tropical fish Ive ever seen. These pics are less exotic but had good displays for babies...
Oddly enough, the aqaurium was also where the wedding dress and grooms uniform were on display as well as bottles of wine from the reception, copies of the invitations etc.
After the aquarium we went to a Christmas market which was quite charming but a little weird because it was all Christmasy in look but along side it were yachts and it was over 60 degrees out.
Today on our adventure we took the train rather than driving and though it added a couple hours and more than a couple Euro to our expense, it was well worth it because Lilah could romp around during travel time rather than be cooped in her car seat. It also meant she could see me which meant no separation anxiety and no need for me to get car sick sitting in the back with her. The people in Monaco really loved Lilah. Especially the waiter at lunch who fell head over heels for her. He even brought her some biscuits to munch on.
Tomorrow we head back to home base, but I am hoping to stop at some Turkish Baths on the way.
No car today=no bad song!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
I'm Lovin' It
I take back (almost) everything bad thing I have ever said about McDonalds. Or, at least I am beginning to see them in a new light. Yes, the food is not what I aspire to feed my kid, or myself for that matter. Yes, their chickens are probably not free range. But, wifi is free and Playland/Ronaldland (depending on where you are) can be a mothers saving grace. Case in point, today's 4-story, padded, netted, totally baby proof (save for the older kids not observing rules of personal space) wonderland where Lilah could play for an entire hour, free from the play pen without being told "No" once!! She rolled around. She climbed some padded stairs. She pulled up on the netting. She flirted with a 4 year old. It was perhaps the most fun we have had in a month. The Ronaldland even had stadium seating with cabaret style tables (though the parents of the other kids where nowhere to be seen, hence my need for hyper-vigilance in making sure that none of the older kids, including her new boyfriend, accidentally kicked her in the face.)
Today we drove through some stunning countryside over the Rhone Alps toward the sea (Cannes). For much of the ride, there was a river to our left which at times flowed swiftly and at times was a tiny stream flowing down a barren rock bed. I think the range was actually named for the river. There are many picturesque little mountain towns, most of which were shuttered and we wondered if they sustain simply based on summer traffic or if there is a Winter season that we are a few weeks early for. The switchbacks were intensely difficult and all along the way were signs talking about chains which we dont have so it better not snow this week. Google Maps said the drive would take 4:45 however it took closer to 6.5 hours (7.5 including lunch). We were going below speed limit for much of the time, partially because we couldnt imagine actually driving faster on those turns and partially because Lilahs separation anxiety forced me into the back seat and I didnt want to get carsick on top of everything else. I'm glad we got through the worst of it before dark, although it gets so dark here that we might have blissfully missed the cliffs.
The villa is everything it was promised to be and the owners son is here. The family is Brittish and it was nice to have a real English conversation with a new person. He used to ski on the British national team, but hurt his back so now he is training to be a stockbroker in Monaco. He is thinking of becoming a trader for an I Bank but isnt sure given all the uncertainty in the industry. I am really looking forward to spending some time here, not only because it is beautiful but also because there are a lot of ex pats here and with that a lot of activities for Baby. There is a playgroup Monday morning which I might go to.
Might because it is at 9am and we have been having truly epic battles every night at bedtime. The past 6 nights have been tough. Tonight esspecially because she wouldnt even play in her crib until she got tired and seeing us in the room did nothing to ease her. We finally gave her Tylenol and thanks to a reminder from a friend, used to Ergo to rock her to sleep, then transfered her to the crib. Never have I loved the sound of her snoring more than right now.
I'll have some pics tomorrow!
Today we drove through some stunning countryside over the Rhone Alps toward the sea (Cannes). For much of the ride, there was a river to our left which at times flowed swiftly and at times was a tiny stream flowing down a barren rock bed. I think the range was actually named for the river. There are many picturesque little mountain towns, most of which were shuttered and we wondered if they sustain simply based on summer traffic or if there is a Winter season that we are a few weeks early for. The switchbacks were intensely difficult and all along the way were signs talking about chains which we dont have so it better not snow this week. Google Maps said the drive would take 4:45 however it took closer to 6.5 hours (7.5 including lunch). We were going below speed limit for much of the time, partially because we couldnt imagine actually driving faster on those turns and partially because Lilahs separation anxiety forced me into the back seat and I didnt want to get carsick on top of everything else. I'm glad we got through the worst of it before dark, although it gets so dark here that we might have blissfully missed the cliffs.
The villa is everything it was promised to be and the owners son is here. The family is Brittish and it was nice to have a real English conversation with a new person. He used to ski on the British national team, but hurt his back so now he is training to be a stockbroker in Monaco. He is thinking of becoming a trader for an I Bank but isnt sure given all the uncertainty in the industry. I am really looking forward to spending some time here, not only because it is beautiful but also because there are a lot of ex pats here and with that a lot of activities for Baby. There is a playgroup Monday morning which I might go to.
Might because it is at 9am and we have been having truly epic battles every night at bedtime. The past 6 nights have been tough. Tonight esspecially because she wouldnt even play in her crib until she got tired and seeing us in the room did nothing to ease her. We finally gave her Tylenol and thanks to a reminder from a friend, used to Ergo to rock her to sleep, then transfered her to the crib. Never have I loved the sound of her snoring more than right now.
I'll have some pics tomorrow!
Friday, December 2, 2011
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