Bad Day

Today we start with the end.

How did we end up having a sit down dinner at the Golden Arches in the middle of the French countryside?  I will regale you...The day started out nicely enough.  All three of us slept well, albeit in separate beds due to each of our unique preferences in bed softness and differing needs for protective siding.  We left the house at a reasonable hour and headed back to Grenoble to check out the boulles (cable car bubbles) and Bastille.

Not taken by us\//\

We had a nice time taking in the sites and exploring the caves and then easily found a reasonably priced restaurant that was so full (of locals) we had to wait for a table.  Yum!!  But, this is where the day started to unravel.  They didn't have any high chairs and by the end of the meal, it was clear that we somehow had to procure one of those high chairs that clips to the table in the next 24 hours (that's when we leave for our first road trip).  We go into town and begin a wild goose chase, first looking for parking without a time limit where we can fit our SUV and then looking for a store that carries one.  A few of the boutique shops mentioned a mega store on the outskirts of town and we decide to go there.  However, we had no internet access to look it up because, despite Grenoble touting its free city wide wireless, it doesn't actually work and the "Internet Cafe" seems to be a thing of the pre smart phone past.  Back at the car (30+ min walk), we discover Lilah has produced a Giant Blowout which thankfully didn't make it to her outer layer which she really needed because sometime between Saturday morning and today it became winter and it is freezing out here. Still no wireless.

We decide to point the car west (home) and hope for the best.  Soon later, we see a GIANT Carrefour and pull off.  They have every baby product known to man, except a clip on high chair.  They also had these little guns that you clip to your cart (like you use for a registry) so that you can essentially pay as you go.  But, they only take Carrefour card and MasterCard, neither of which we have.  So, we have to wait in line with the other "loosers".  Ordinarily, I would have said Fuck It, but Sleep Sack with Pooh Bear and and Owl in Girl Colors!!!!

So, cute sleep sack, check!!  High Chair???  Lilah is on the verge of a very major melt down and we are close to calling it when Chris realizes that there was an Orange store in the mall with the Carrefour and that he can use their wireless to look up the location of the baby store, which as it turns out is 2 minutes away and reminds me a lot of Tot Tank in Alameda.  We arrive 15 minutes before closing time and lo and behold they have 4 different models of clip on high chair to choose from.  We select the mid-priced model which is still quite expensive, even with a good exchange rate and, after letting Lilah play for a little in the reading area, go back to the car, while chased by the sales lady who informed us that Chris had left his sunglasses at the counter.  

About 5 minutes later, Lilah let go of the major meltdown that she had been holding in. There was no safe place to pull over so I crawled in the back seat, dove into the trunk to find the parts to make her a bottle, delt with the hysterics that came from my insistence on taking off her brand new white sweater before having the bottle and handed it over.  She sucked it down in a hot minute and then had the nerve to smile at me with her very best "I AM CUTE" smile.

And, that is why, when Chris asked if we could have dinner at McDonalds, I had no reservations about saying Yes.  Of course we waited 20 minutes for our order before going up to check, were told it was on its way, waited 10 more minutes, went back up, finally got the only person in the joint who spoke English well enough to say that our credit card was rejected (this has been happening off and on) and had to repost the order.  Oh, and while we were eating a "waiter" tripped, spilling a coke cup onto my chair which thankfully pooled before it actually got to my butt.  I was so tired that though I noticed the trip, I didn't realize my chair was compromised until the "busgirl" came to clean it up.  Yes, McDonald's in nowhere France have "waiters" and "busgirls".  The world is so flat it is inverted.

So, as I mentioned above, Friday morning we leave for our first major jaunt.  Through Switzerland, a little Germany, and all the way around France.  Originally, we were going to spend a couple weeks here "Doing as the Romans Do" however this place we are staying, although gorgeous, is really remote.  As in 10 minute drive to get to the 1 horse town that actually has a little bakery, etc in it.  And the language barrier is much more difficult to overcome than I anticipated.  And, I really need to be around people.  In fact, at home I have a rule that I must have a minimum of one "extra-familial" interaction per day.  We keep going on these really long car trips and end up doing touristy stuff anyway.  So, we are going to embrace our touristy side and spend a couple weeks seeing a whole bunch of stuff.  If it ends up feeling too rushed, we can slow it down.  But if it goes as planned, Lilah should have a few more stamps in her passport by Thanksgiving. 

Also, thus far, it seems that, with the exception of their love of pastries (which I totally understand), the "Romans" (read French) do things pretty much the same as we do in the US.  The biggest differences that I have noticed are 1) Lots of AEDs in public spaces sponsored by the government (for example, there was one at that Castle the other day). I wouldnt have noticed these if I hadnt taken CPR with AED right before we left.  I have never seen one on a street corner in the US.  2) Less Money spent on making ones home look pretty or on cars, more money spent on clothes, shoes etc.  The stuff here is really nice, but Id say its more $$ than comparable stuff at home and I can also guess it is because the market will bear it.  For example, the clothes at Carrefour (like Target) are around the same price as things are at Gymboree when they are not on sale. 

Tomorrow, we pack, clean and go back to Cote for the outdoor market.  And give Lilah some time to play in her French style playpen.