Bourgogne Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday!

What did you do for your 1st birthday?  Do you know?  I don't.  Perhaps I rolled down to the heart of Visalia, CA to hit up the Thrifty drug for an ice cream cone.  Probably tried to go to Farrell's first for a sundae but the line was too long.  I have no idea.  What I do know is that I did not visit one of the finest wine regions in the world, particularly one in France.  But I know someone who did…

That's right!  After a fun filled, full of firsts, new adventures (sometimes frustrating!) and all around amazing 12 months, petite Joséphine has turned 1 whole year old.  So what better reason to celebrate, pack up the car and head out on a 3 hour road trip to the town of Beaune France in the heart of Bourgogne which you more likely know as "Burgundy."  And if we're being honest, while calling it a trip to celebrate her first birthday in reality we felt a huge sense of accomplishment ourselves having survived this first year.  So an all around great reason to get out of the city.  

Beaune is actually a place we have been to before very shortly after moving to Paris.  We spent an afternoon there in September of 2011 riding bikes around the vineyards with our friend Louis.  Having only made a day trip out of it and not really seeing much of the village itself, this was the perfect spot to revisit and see it full stock.

Just crawling around the wine shop

Joining us for this weekend in Beaune would be one of Cleaver's co-workers and friend Cynthia and her husband KeeKim (also a Googler) and their 14 month old son Caden.  The perfect couple to travel with as we both understand each other's schedule and inability to go out at night.  Both being tied to this schedule, we once again rented an apartment for all of us to stay in which turned out to be great accommodation for all.

Playing with my friend Caden

Arriving in Beaune at about 4:00 on Friday meant we would really only have one full day.  Upon arrival on Friday knowing we would spend that evening at the apartment (you know, cause 1 year olds go to bed at 7) meant the first order of business was find the wine shop and fromagerie.  Fortunately this never takes long in France.  With the needed provisions in tow, we enjoyed the evening in with good company and a nice glass of wine.

Of course before putting Joséphine to bed we properly celebrated her birthday by singing "Happy Birthday" and lighting a candle.  She was not impressed and surprisingly didn't care much for the frosting, but none the less a special memory digitally saved for eternity.  (and likely a calendar at some point in the future)

Saturday was the big day for outings.  Given our interest in wine we headed out to the heart of the wine country while Cynthia and KeeKim walked around the town.  In one of the main villages of Nuit-Saint-George I had found a wine shop that also did tastings from the various areas of Bourgogne.  We got to the shop around 11 am which was perfect as we were the only ones there and got personal attention from the very nice woman working there.  This also allowed Joséphine to crawl around the whole place without bother to anyone else.  Turned out to be a great stop as we learned all the specifics of Bourgogne and the local classification system, wine nerd stuff I know but we enjoyed it.

At the Marché aux Vins

After making our way back slowly to Beaune where we ate at a wonderful traditional bistro lunch right next to our apartment, we then tried to catch a quick nap before visiting the Marché aux Vins which is one of the attractions within the town.  This wine market and tasting experience is in an old 15th century church with an old cellar you walk through trying different wines.  Turned out to be a fun old building and again good way to learn more about the area.  

After a busy day and not enough naps, Joséphine had a rough night of sleep which wasn't ideal but well worth it since it was our only full day and we certainly made the most of it.

Sunday was an uneventful drive back to Paris and the end of a long but successful birthday celebration.  

Bonne Anniversaire Joséphine!!!

Josephine’s First Halloween

When I had thought about the upcoming Halloween holiday I was initially thinking that we just wouldn’t celebrate it and Josephine wouldn’t have her first Halloween. In Paris it’s not really celebrated so there aren’t a ton of activities to take Josephine to, let alone trick or treating (eventhough at almost 1 year old she wouldn’t really get much out of that anyways). In any case, I was thinking that we would have to just skip Halloween this year.

Then it so happened that we had scheduled to host a play date with two of our friends on November 1. And Nate kept asking about if we should get Josephine a Halloween costume. So I had the idea of making the play date a Halloween play date. The other couples were on board and so with a search through amazon.co.uk we found a little ladybug costume for Josephine.

It actually turned out to be a great way to celebrate Halloween. The other couples are American (or mostly with one of the girls being from the UK) and so they of course appreciated the holiday like us. Anyways, it was a good time and I’m so glad we didn’t skip it. It was fun dressing Josephine up and she was actually quite cooperative with her costume. She didn’t even protest when we put the little hat part of her costume on her.  I think she was just trying to figure out what was going on. It’s hard to say for sure but I think she had a good time as well. A ladybug, a dragon and a Miami dolphin.  What a cute bunch!

The Tannaci’s in Paris, Take 2

My sister and her family moved to Saudi Arabia (yes, you read that correctly) in the beginning of September which makes them just a 6 hour flight from us with a 2 hour time difference. Much closer than when they were in California! The quick summary of their situation and the reason they are in Saudi Arabia is that John, my sister’s husband, got a great job opportunity with KAUST, the science and technology university there. They live within what’s essentially a compound right there at the university. Inside the compound, for lack of a better word, is a school, hospital, grocery store, restaurants, etc. To me it sounds like a small city of its own. From what they have told me, their plan is to be there anywhere from 1-4 years. And yes, it’s very different there!

Now that they are closer to us, it’s not as big of a deal for them to just hop on over to Paris to visit us. In early October, shortly after they arrived in Saudi Arabia, they had a week holiday and so decided to come to Paris for a visit. And at the same time John's grandma and brother came out from California to meet up with them as well. If you recall, they had already visited us a year and a half earlier and so now it was their second time here.


Since both our families have grown by one since their last visit, they rented an apartment just a 5 minute walk from ours, which ended up working out perfectly. They arrived late on the Saturday night so Sunday they were ready to start the day. We started with mass at Notre Dame and then headed to the Tuileries Gardens where the girls enjoyed the playground, carousel and even trampoline there. I must say, after living here for almost 2 and a half years and being in those gardens numerous times, I never knew any of that existed. It’s heaven for little kids and I can’t wait to take Josephine there when she’s just a little bit older.

The next day we were off to the Jardin d’Acclimatation, a favorite from the last time they visited. I took the day off so that Josephine and I could join them. Once again, there were hardly any people there although this time it was at least 15 degrees warmer. The girls had a great time riding the rides and playing on the playground. And with an obligatory stop at the Angelina’s cafe for some hot chocolate, we capped off a great day.

They were on their own for their last day in Paris and we met up with them after work for what else, but wine, cheese, baguette and then some dinner.

We had a wonderful visit. I finally got to meet Isabella (who is just 5 months younger than Josephine) and loved that Josephine could hang out with some of her cousins. We can’t wait for them to come back….especially now that they are so close!!

A Visit from Christian and Julie

It's been a while since we've had visitors, especially after having such a steady stream of them. And then Christian and Julie reached out saying that they were planning a vacation and Paris was a stop on their itinerary. We were of course excited to have them here!

They arrived on a Saturday at the end of September and since both of them had already been to Paris, we stayed close to home exploring within our neighborhood. We got a babysitter that night and actually had an adult night out with dinner and drinks. Sunday brought amazing weather so what better way to enjoy it but head to Jardin de Tuileries to picnic with wine, baguette and cheese. 

And before we knew it, they were off and heading toward the South of France to continue with their vacation. We had a great time hanging out. I've said it before but it's always nice to see people from home. 

The Cote d’Azur – One last weekend of summer

As Nate mentioned in his previous post, this summer we decided to take a few different smaller trips as opposed to one longer two to three week vacation. We had been thinking of going to Dinard, a town in the Brittany region of France, around mid-September. We still haven’t been to that region and we figured this would be a perfect opportunity to head there. But Louis reached out saying he would be in Cannes for work during that very same time frame and so our plans changed and we decided to head south instead of west. As an added bonus, Keelin was able to join him as well.

We hopped on a plane (since that’s an hour and a half as opposed to 5 hours on a train) early on that Friday morning and were in Cannes having lunch with Keelin by 12:30. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect with warm temperatures. We walked around Cannes that day and did a little exploring. The city is very glitzy and you can tell that there’s lots of money rolling around there. Oh and there was a yacht show in town that weekend which only added to the amount of wealth in that city. We of course found the famous stairs and red carpet for the Cannes Film Festival which happened to be under construction. But they moved the red carpet to another set of stairs that looks just like the original ones so Josephine and I still got our chance to pose on the red carpet. Louis finished with his conference by 5:00 so we gathered some wine and cheese and headed back to our apartment to catch up.

Saturday was our beach day. After a leisurely morning and allowing Josephine to get her morning nap in, we met Keelin down at the private beach associated with their hotel. Josephine got a chance to wear her new swimsuit, touch (and try to eat) sand for the first time as well as dip her toes in the Mediterranean. She was very curious about the water in the beginning but quickly got over it. I don’t think she liked the waves coming in at her. Much different from her small little bathtub at home!

Sunday we decided to change up the scenery and took the short 15 minute train ride to Antibes, another town just along the coast. This had been recommended by one of Nate’s co-workers so we figured we’d check it out. It was a cute little town. We stumbled upon a market and then proceeded to find a perfect patio spot for a leisurely 2 hour lunch. After lunch we wandered closer to the coast, enjoyed the views and the walk and then made our way towards the train station to head back to Cannes for another evening of wine and cheese. Honestly, it never gets old.

There is just something about being at the ocean that makes me feel like we’re truly on vacation. Eventhough we were only there for a total of 2 and a half days, it felt like a true getaway. We didn’t do a beach vacation this year but have now sworn to make that happen for next year. Perhaps we’ll head back to the Cote d’Azur – or the French Riviera as is better known to us Americans.

Road Trip!

Sarlat-la-Canéda

30 minutes doesn’t sound like much.  Should be easy enough to find 30 minutes to sit down and write a quick blog entry, stick a few pictures in there and voila!  But as you may know when you have sub-1 year old rolling (crawling!) around your house and waking up in the middle of the night for unknown periods of time, a “free” 30 minutes can be a rare commodity.   And when one finds oneself with such freedom, often a nap takes precedence. Or even staring at the TV with an episode of Big Bang Theory dubbed in French is a lot less effort than doing anything requiring brain power.  Like writing a blog post.  So, sorry this entry is once again a bit late.

The church town view from the back patio

Donc.  Alors.  We’re finally getting around to it and sharing one of our small summer vacations in France.  Instead of taking a big 1 or 2 full week holiday this year, we chose to do a few smaller outings, Iceland being the first.  The second was a 5 night road trip to the Dordogne region of France!

The Dordogne region is in Southwest France about 350 miles from Paris.  Specifically we stayed in the medieval village of Sarlat-la-Canéda using the town as our base for the trip.  We rented a lovely apartment in the center of Sarlat from the absolute nicest French couple you could ever want to meet.  While they spoke almost no English and us with our limited French, we still had good conversation about what to do in the area, places to go and how much time we would need to get around.  And how quickly they made friends with Josephine, they seemed to just adore her and even gave her a little toy as a welcoming gift.

Château de Castelnaud

Sarlat market

First order of business in Sarlat was the market which takes place on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.  Filling up the old street we walked around and bought up some local cheese, meats, fruits and veggies for the rest of our stay.  What we also noticed while walking around was that there were lots of other families there as well, so we didn’t feel so bad going into restaurants and stores with a  baby.  We were not alone in that regard.

La Roque-Gageac, with the river behind

After exploring Sarlat for the first day, we then hit the road on the second day to see the sights in the area.  The region is known for its castles and in particular, 3 that are well known including the small villages surrounding them.  All of them line the Dordogne river which is a big attraction for many who want to rent canoes and float downstream for the day which looked like a lot of fun.  It really is a pretty area hitting up La Roque-Gageac, Castlenaud, and Château de Beynac which are lined up along the river about 10 minutes drive from each other.

After wine tasting in Pécharmant

Monbazillac getting ready for the Tour

After driving around and seeing the castles, we then went toward the town of Bergerac where we found two lesser known wine regions of France to visit, specifically Monbazillac and Pécharmant.  As we drove toward the small village of Monbazillac where the Tour de France would run through the following day, we saw all the decorations and people already out lining the side of the road in preparation.  It was pretty neat to see the excitement of the race in a rural area the day before. People went all out on the decoration and camping.

In the cave à vin

After tasting a few wines and spending the day in the car it felt good to get back to the apartment and get ready for the next day.  The plan for the next day was to drive to Saint-Émilion which is one of the very well known AOC’s of the Bordeaux region about 2 hours from Sarlat.  We were to spend time there, have lunch, try a few wines, then head back toward Sarlat stopping in the town of Bergerac to watch the finish of the Tour de France stage.  

Our car, ankle deep in water

What we did not expect was a torrential downpour of rain that afternoon.   We made it to Saint-Émilion and during lunch the sky opened up and basically did not stop for several hours.  The good news was that it forced us to choose the wine shop across the street from the place where we had lunch which turned out to be a really nice shop with an owner who spent some time with us.  After all, the town emptied out after the rain and we were basically the only ones there.  With some wine in tow, we just went straight back to Sarlat skipping the Tour de France that day.  The Bean had no interest in standing in the rain.

Chez McDo!

Allez! Allez! Allez!

Saturday was then our last day in town with no real plan.  So, since we missed the Tour the day before and the actual town of Bergerac, we decided to get back in the car to check it out since the sun was shining and the Tour was leaving that day from the center of town.  We had lunch then sat out watching rider after rider go before deciding we had enough sun and heat and went back home to enjoy our last evening of vacation.

Good way to travel...

With as much time as we spent in the car on this trip, we also discovered that petite Josephine is a good little traveler in the car for the most part.  It seems to put her to sleep pretty well and as long as she wasn’t hungry, the screaming was at a minimum.  Sometimes she even fell asleep with her little Sophie la Girafe in hand.  And given it was a road trip, she also got her first stop at Chez McDo!

A mighty wind and some warm water

On the plane to Iceland!

Summer has arrived and with the warm, sometimes very hot and humid temperatures in Paris, what better way to escape the heat then to take a few extra vacation days (I mean, in France we get more than we can use) and go to Iceland!  Bit of a random choice, but we have been interested in going for some time and have heard nothing but good things about it from others who have been.  Then the real catalyst to finally make it happen is that our good friends from DC Uncle Ehren and Julie, as well as Uncle Matty were going as well for a trip of their own.  So what better opportunity to go and meet up with friends and see a new country than now!

What is really nice is that Reykjavik is only a 3 hour direct flight from Paris with an easy 2 hour time change.  Much easier than coming from the US, especially when traveling with a 7 month old.  Petite Joséphine of course was very excited to add a new country to her passport being the good lil' traveller that she is.  So off we go for a quick 3 night trip.

Downtown chilly Reykjavik

Upon arriving we discovered quickly that Iceland is windy, and well, not warm.  Won't say cold, but not warm and the wind was aggressive at least for the first two days.  Also at this time of year it's never dark.  Seriously never dark.  At night the sun goes down below the horizon into a dusk type light that you could still very easily play catch in at 3:00 in the morning.  It's weird and would take some getting used to if you lived there.

We took our time on the first day to explore Reykjavik a bit, not a big city but the downtown had some life with lots of bars and some really fantastic restaurants.  Ducking in and out of the weather into various pubs was a great way to catch up and spend some time with everyone.  We rented an apartment for the trip so we could all stay in the same place and have a relaxing spot to hang out which worked out very well.  We also witnessed first hand that in Reykjavik, when you have a child / stroller, rather than take those two items inside (child and stroller) you just leave them parked outside the door.  Seriously.  We would see a stroller sitting just outside the door of a bar with a little person just sleeping away. We did not leave little JoJo Bean alone in this fashion, but apparently we had the option.

There goes the shooting water!

Second day was time to get in the car and explore.  From Reykjavik there is a well known route called the Golden Circle which hits a few key sites and takes a full day to travel.  Driving through the wilderness you get a good sense for how open and desolate Iceland is, very pretty to be sure.  First stop is "Geysir."  People stand around in a half circle waiting for this thing to shoot 150 degree water 30 feet in the sky, it is actually quite impressive and there are lots of other bubbling hot pots of water all around.  Oh and it was windy.  I mean real windy.  Like almost hurricane force to the point where we only lasted a few minutes before needing to find some shelter.  This new experience was not fun for Joséphine and she went out of her way to tell us just how mad she was.  At least the sun was out!

From there we went on to the Gullfoss waterfall. Picture is worth a thousand words on this one.

After the waterfall, we got back in the car to head back to town, but not before stopping at this random dairy farm off the road for some ice cream and stare at the cows through the window into the barn.

A little ice cream break with some cows

For our last full day in town, the other must see and experience site was the Blue Lagoon, famous as the large geothermal pool with the milky blue water.  The way they have it set up is a bit Disneyland and there is a swim up bar in the Lagoon, but most definitely a cool thing to see and do.  The water is basically hot tub temperature and all heated by the earth.  It sits in the midst of this vast lava field which is barren and rocky for miles all the way around.  The water is in fact very milky blue to the point where you can't see your hand once it is about 6 inches under the water, it was a very unique place.

Cleaver in the Blue Lagoon

Where is JoJo Bean?

After that we drove back to town, tried to go to dinner but Joséphine sped up that process as she was getting tired.  So after jamming food down our gullets we headed back to our apartment for one last night before an early flight home the next morning.  All too quick a trip, but Iceland lived up to the hype and would be an amazing place to go for a week if you wanted to do some camping and enjoy the outdoors.  Dress warm!

A Father's Day at the Races

Every year in Chantilly there is the famous Prix de Diane horse race and it’s quite the event. We had friends who went last year and had such a great time that they gathered a bunch of us to go back again this year. The horse track is in Chantilly on these beautiful grounds with a chateau in the background. You purchase a ticket and sit on a grassy area next to the track and picnic all day. Oh and everyone gets all dressed up with hats too which makes it even more fun. We had a group of about 10 of us (including Robin and Dave who happened to be back in Paris visiting!) that all headed to Chantilly for some picnicking in the sun while watching the horse races. It’s only about 25 minutes by train from Paris so not bad at all. Well in theory not bad but when there is a train strike in France it makes it a little more difficult (thanks France). It was touch and go there for a second but we made it to Chantilly and had such a great day.

And the race this year happened to be on Father’s Day so what better way to celebrate Nate’s first Father’s Day then doing what he loves…..drinking wine, eating cheese and hanging out in the sun.

Josephine was, as usual, a great traveler and enjoyed the festivities as well. What a fun experience!

Happy Father’s Day Nate! 6 months in and you're already rocking this father thing. Josephine and I are so lucky to have you!

Daddy and his girl

Leiden - Take 2!

Made it to Leiden!

Bonjour!  So I’m told that it has been quite some time since I last contributed to the blog.  So I’m told.  Well, what can I tell you, it’s been busy and as an artist and a writer if inspiration isn't there then you can’t force greatness.  But good news, I’ve found good subject matter and finally have the creative juices flowing!  And just like last year I'm here to talk about Leiden.

What is Leiden?  Well, Leiden as you recall is a cute little town in the Netherlands that hosts a marathon race each May.  Click here for Google map of the City. We discovered this town and race last year and had such a wonderful time we decided that we would just have to return.  And return we did to do it all over and see if our first impression was valid.

It was.

By one of the many canals

 A quick refresh in case you forgot and are too lazy to search this very blog for the previous post.  We both entered the half marathon for 2013 and had already booked the weekend when we discovered a bun had been placed into the proverbial oven.  So I ran the half marathon last year while a fan base of one cheered on and we discovered that Leiden was absolutely amazing, beautiful, and fun. 

Returning again in 2014 I entered the half marathon while Cleaver had her sights set on the 10K race.  The bun came out of the oven in a dish called Joséphine and now we were three making the trip.  We also again rented an apartment for the weekend which is our new favorite accommodation when traveling.  Especially with a 5 month old, the added space and comforts of home are a necessity.

View from the Burcht van Leiden Castle

Arriving on Friday afternoon, instantly our memory of last year and initial impressions were validated.  The canals, brick streets, and restaurants were all there just as we remembered.  And as a bonus, this year the weather was absolutely gorgeous sitting around 22 (we do things in Celsius here) and sunny all weekend. 

First order of business, a drink by the canal just down the street from our house.

We also discovered a food website related to Leiden called Leidenfoodie.com which was a great resource for the weekend.  The catch now with Miss JoJo Bean of course is that eating out is not always easy or fun, so take away dinner has become the needed norm.  First night sushi.  Amazingly good for a random spot.  And there is day 1.

Waking up Saturday were two key items on the agenda.  The Saturday market and the race packet pick up.  The Saturday market in particular is fabulous as they have all kinds of fruits, vegetables, Gouda cheese of course, this great dip place we discovered, and Kibbling stands.  Kibbling is basically Dutch fried white fish with a sort of tartar sauce.  All so good, too bad you have to behave with the race on the following day.

Yes, you get a beer when you finish.  Very Dutch

We also discovered this year (thanks internet!) that there is an old castle on top of a hill right in the middle of town with a fairly decent view, though I hear it’s much better in winter when the tree leaves do not block the view.  Literally, that is what I heard someone say when we were there so let’s just go with it.

Our little cheerleader waiting for Mommy

Saturday was a quiet night with the race upcoming on Sunday morning, so take away that night was gyros.  Giant chicken gyros made by sweaty Greek guys with knuckle hair.  It’s delicious, just trust me.

Sunday race day.  My race started at 10:30 for the half marathon, Cleaver had decided to change to the 5K given some initial running pain, which combined with the unusual heat wave was a very smart decision.  So she was starting at 1:30 which meant perfect timing for me to finish cheered on this time by a party of two, then I could take JoJo Bean and Cleaver could go to run her race.

Good run Cleaver!

The event is a very pretty run through the Dutch countryside and back into town past the canals and little villages along the way.  There were a lot of runners and it is a bit crowded but very well organized and a tremendous amount of fun once again.  Both of us completed our races, felt good while running and celebrated at the end with some cheese, dip, Dutch beer, and great weather.

  

Oh, and was great to have a new little cheerleader supporting us both along the way!