Paris ~ Val d’Isère

Cousins

Sunday morning started quietly enough, with the kids deciding to practice their sculpture just like their Dad. Handy disc of plaster at the ready and it’s gravure time.

The beauty of plaster is that if you don’t like what you’ve just scratched out, then keep scratching and create something new. Gives an appreciation for the skills of etching and the burin!

Montmartre

While the kids were at school on Monday we set out on a walking tour around Montmartre in the north of Paris. Cold but sunny day, good for walking and stair climbing…

First stop was the “I love you wall” in the Place Jehan Rictus boasting 250 languages (spot the Irish??), followed by a look around the hive of painting and sketching that is la Place du Tertre. Perfect place to get a caricature done if you’re so inclined and can sit still long enough in the cold.

Onward and upward, past the famous windmill, then Picasso’s sometime residence, one of Marcel Marseau’s less fortunate brothers who seems inextricably stuck in a wall, and then up the winding cobbled streets towards Sacré-coeur.

We admired a car built for one, and a bottle of wine built for a soccer team :-). Step away from the bottle, ma’am. 

We tripped lightly up the 300 or so steps to the top of Sacré-coeur to admire the sweeping views the pigeons take for granted.

Sacré-coeur does not seem to be greatly loved by the Parisians, many of whom find it ugly, and don’t admire the very contemporary and informal interiors. But today it is a wonderful spot from which to appreciate the city.

Vagaries of the Vagues

Sculpture focus of the moment for Simon is les vagues (waves).

Finished the last gravure study and on to the design of the water for the finished product! Next step is lots of painstaking carving…

Catacombs

On Tuesday, Niamh and the Killorglin crew headed underground to visit the Catacombs of Paris. Paris has many underground layers, from metro to sewers to catacombs. From the highest point in Paris to the lowest in a couple of days.

Parts of the Catacombs date back almost 2000 years, and they are filled with the remains of between 6 and 7 million Parisians, transferred there after the parish cemeteries of the city started to overflow in the late 1700s. A highly unusual trip through history.

Le Marais

On Wednesdays Aisling doesn’t have school and Niamh had organised a walking tour for all of us except Charles in le Marais, her favourite district of Paris.

One of the oldest neighbourhoods, it has architecture dating back to mediaeval times, remnants of the original city walls, quiet hidden courtyards and many signs and scars of the history of the city, like little cannonball pock marks up high on the walls if you know where to look.

Our guide was one we met during a McKinsey event in Paris, and with whom Niamh had stayed in touch. She did a wonderful job of educating us and drawing Aisling along despite the very cold weather.

Aisling’s favourite amongst the group was clear as usual… Boys showing their style at the Palais Royal.

Framboise & Champ de Mars

After the tour and collecting Charles, off to Framboise for the lunch of champions and another lesson in historical french culture: galettes & crepes! Ronan determined not to let any of his chocolate sauce go to waste…

After lunch, straight into the champ de mars to burn off the calories and the sugar high.

First some scooter basketball…

… then a friendly football match between Ireland and Australia as a world cup warm-up. Scooter football that is, of course.

Sculpture inspiration

Sad to see the cousins heading back to Ireland, but we’ll see them again before too long at Easter. 

Meanwhile on Friday, Niamh and Simon headed off to the nearby Rodin museum for some sculpture inspiration. The museum has a beautiful old manor house surrounded by gardens dotted with many of Rodin’s most famous creations. 

From “the thinker” (aka man in the smallest room) to “fatty Balzac” as we affectionately labelled him…

… to the burghers of Calais (one of Simon’s favourites) and the gates of Hell:

Lots of inspiration and (sadly) plenty of conviction for Simon not to give up the day job!

Val d’Isère

Friday night we went out to dinner to celebrate the start of the 2-week mid-term (!) holidays, at Piquet around the corner. A welcoming little bistro with an Irish chef, just the place to finish a busy week.

Niamh and kids practicing their skills at blowing tissues as high in the air as they can. I think mummy was the winner…

Saturday morning we felt truly French, bundling ourselves off to the gare de Lyon with most of the rest of Paris to board a TGV down to the French alps. A thoroughly French holiday was in store.

The late February two-week holiday comes out of nowhere slap in the middle of term, and seems to be there for no other purpose than to allow the French time to go skiing at the height of the season.

Not to mention, at a time when the rest of Europe isn’t on holidays so they have their resorts to themselves.

Simon’s mother Ann always said the French know how to live – here is one more example.

Made it to our hotel after nightfall, and acquainted ourselves with some strange animals in the lobby. 

Found a warm welcome at the restaurant across the street, and made like Kevin Spacey building a house of cards…

Kids tired out, but never too tired for a quick snowball fight before bed…

Beautiful night time mountain vistas from our hotel room window serve as inspiration for the week to come.

Venice ~ Paris ~ Killorglin

Carnival!

A sunny dawn over Venice was a very welcome change, and it was out into the streets for the sights and sounds of Carnival!

An ancient tradition of festive carousing with the strategic use of masks to enable a discrete return to daily life the next day, Carnival was revived in the 1970s and has prospered since.

Revellers parade up and down the streets in costume by day, and carouse in a series of balls each night.

On the Sunday of Carnival, thousands of people converge on the Piazza San Marco to see the maiden chosen as the angel of Carnival fly down a flying fox line from the top of the bell tower to the stage, while costumed revellers parade up and down for the crowds.

We went early to the Piazza then escaped before we were locked in by the crowds, to explore the suddenly-now-more-empty surrounding streets and canals of Venice.

Street Exploration

Endlessly interesting wandering through the streets and bridges of Venice.

There were street theatre performances of various kinds, and open air markets…

…we crossed over the grand canal away from the crowds and towards the Gallerie dell’Accademia, and into the maze of little streets, courtyards and vistas across the water

And throughout, unexpected encounters of Carnival…

City of Water

And then after our strolling, off to where Venice really dazzles – the water. Rialto bridge, grand canal, gondoliers, beautiful architecture all around.

Sculpture Inspiration

There was even some sculpture inspiration for Simon to take back to his Tuesday evening classes. A sculpture called “Support” by Lorenzo Quinn (son of Anthony Quinn) installed for the 2017 Biennale, depicting a pair of gigantic hands rising from the water to support the sides of the Ca’ Sagredo Hotel. The intent is to symbolise the need for support in the face of climate change and rising sea levels.

Ciao, Venezia

Sadly time to head to the airport… by boat of course, with a short trip down the grand canal then weaving our way through little canals and across the short sea past Murano. Kids delighted by the crash and spray each time a boat passes in the other direction.

Pulling in to the dock, the “Ingemar” cleat seemed a sign.

Smooth flight to Paris where cold conditions had returned, and our daughter transformed into a kind of push-me pull-you with front and back puffer coats to keep warm…

Snow!!!

Back to Paris and a cold front sweeps in. White flakes starting to fall from the sky.

Aisling transfixed at the sight!

Makes for a very different walk to school!

And for great times in the park…

And the mad Aussie kids decided it was the perfect time to test out the playground…

It only snows in Paris once every 5 years or so, we are very lucky to have this chance during our stay!

Faldos and Valdos

Nick Leeder in town and we headed out for dinner at one of his previous haunts, Cafe Max.

Highly entertaining evening as the proprietor, M. Valdos took a shine to us and sat down to regale us with his tales of travels in Ireland, setting up his restaurant, and how he came to hire his man-of-all-trades, “Barry White”.

After dinner, the walk home was through a field of white, with a steady line up of snowmen keeping a watchful eye on our progress…

Quick trip Home

Niamh was off to Ireland the next day to visit family for 4 days, which turned into a bit of an adventure given many of the roads shut down due to snow, but the faithful RER came to the rescue.

Lots of snow surrounding Paris out the window, and a rainbow in Killorglin to celebrate her trip back home. 

Play Date

Another playdate with a new schoolfriend Daniel for our Wednesday half day. Straight off into the snow for snowman building and snowball fights.

A couple of local kids challenged Charles and Daniel to a snowball fight on the little soccer field, lots of fun had by all.

Amazing in the middle of such a large city to have the place largely to ourselves.

Winter Vistas

Toward the end of the week the sun came out, with amazing vistas and skies all around. Paris truly is a beautiful city in any weather.

Niamh back home

Saturday and Niamh was back from Ireland in time for a stroll across the snow-covered champ de mars and a trip down rue Cler.

The fishmonger delighted the kids with live langoustines ready to snap at little fingers.

Fun end to a busy week!

Paris ~ Venice

Laser tag & rue Cler

Quiet start to Sunday morning before Charles off to a laser tag birthday party – a guaranteed winner with 7 and 8 year olds world-wide. This one comes with an “immersion guarantee” – comforting news for parents that your child is guaranteed to be obsessively immersed in a world of guns and team hunting for the next couple of hours!

Meanwhile Aisling heading out for a scoot in the park, as a patch of sun makes the Tour Eiffel shine gold against a grey sky. 

Then a meander along fashionable rue Cler, with a mix of (mostly) gourmet food shops set along a cobbled pedestrianised zone for a few blocks. 

Looking stylish as always in our pink wheels…

Coming out of laser tag we passed a cafe with an impressive seafood display. Inspired us to grab some take-away oysters from the restaurant Suffren across the road from our apartment. Charles was Chef’s assistant to the master shucker. Aisling meanwhile more impressed by the seaweed than the bivalves…

Neighbourhood sights

Our walk to school always offers something interesting to explore. This week, it’s how the Parisians move house: almost always through the (French!) windows and into the street via a portable elevator. 

Cars and trucks parked on the footpaths are a standard occurrence. What’s a little less commonplace are skiers on the footpaths, but this week there was one, complete with a chairlift seat. Just in time to get us in the mood for a school holiday ski trip…

At the end of Charles’ first week of school we stopped in to the Merci Jérôme patisserie for a celebratory treat.

On hearing it was Charles’ first week in school in Paris, the lady behind the counter refused to let us pay for the treat, and Merci Jérôme immediately became our patisserie of choice in the neighbourhood.

Of violins and Luthiers

Charles has been continuing with his violin and piano in Paris, with Aisling starting on piano. We found teachers using the great Apprentus app.

All that was needed now was a piano and a violin. Piano proved trickier than you would think, since while piano rental shops abound, they are suspicious of renters, as they worry they will skip the country leaving them unable to retrieve the piano from the apartment’s owners. Various proofs of residency and utility bills required which are a bit tricky when you’ve just touched down, but we negotiated our way through it.

For a violin, no need to lower ourselves to showing up at a musical instrument emporium. This is Europe and some vestiges of the older professions continue – we were able to stroll about 15 minutes to our local luthier in the quarter in his little workshop that has clearly been there longer than any of the surrounding establishments. He was delighted to interrupt his violin repairs to rent Charles a violin he had personally restored. Payment by cheque of course…

Simon and Niamh’s pursuits

Simon’s Tuesday evening sculpture classes meanwhile continuing to bump along. Change of strategy for getting there this week: a stroll through the champ de mars in the evening and a bus across paris to avoid the peak hour crush on the metro. Wire frames for his cliffs and rock faces ready to go!

Simon’s strolling podcasts of choice: AI

Niamh meanwhile enjoying wandering the streets of Paris (suspect she may never tire of it!) and racking up long miles each day with camera in hand. Treasures uncovered range from street art to stumbling upon a Chipotle and imaging she’s in Salt Lake City for a few hours.

Niamh’s podcasts of choice: the endless entertainment of US politics.

Mahalia!

No, not a Hawaiian greeting, but a family friend and relative of the Brown-Lums who happened to be passing through Paris on holiday and came to stay for a couple of nights.

An instant hit with Aisling who was stuck onto her within about 10 seconds, Mahalia was incredibly patient as Aisling showed her some of her favourite places around Paris, including the playground in les jardins des Tuileries.

Lunching

A treat on Wednesday as uncle Rob and aunt Glenys back from trip to Germany and hosted us all for lunch at rue du marché st honore.

Mireille Huchon and two grandkids were also there which was wonderful, though Gerard was unfortunately ill. 

An amazing spread as always, and a great treat to have an extended family lunch so far from home. All topped off with a bit of post-lunch sofa shopping.

Thursday saw the kids back and school and Niamh and Simon freed up for a bit of 1:1 lunching. Niamh had done her homework and selected Comice, just over the river from us and run by a Canadian couple and receiving excellent reviews.

Chilly day as we crossed over a still-flooded Seine past the statue of liberty (Paris version).

Once again the reviews were spot on. An excellent meal in a warm and welcoming little out of the way spot.

Venezia

Sometimes parents do mad things. Other times they do really mad things – like planning a weekend trip to Carnival in Venice in the middle of winter with two young kids. What could go wrong??.

Off to Orly airport where a prescient Aisling was filling the sky with storm clouds on the interactive kiddy screens at the gates.

When Aisling was 2, as we were going through an airport one day, she hopped on top of a rolling carry-on bag, and has been thus travelling in style through airports ever since, to the constant laughter of fellow travellers.

We may need to get a larger rolling suitcase soon however…

Made it to Marco Polo airport, where we spoiled ourselves with a water taxi transfer to Venice. Almost surreal landscapes of carved stone facades reflected in the water of criss-crossing canals

Made it to our cozy little hotel with two very tired children. Dad went out to get some take-away food for the parent’s picnic dinner in bed as the kids crashed out after the excitement of the day. 

View from hotel window with blue laser lights shining out from Piazza San Marco a sign that Carnival is about to get into full swing.

Umbrellas at ten paces

Saturday morning we had booked a walking tour with our friendly and very informative guide Elena. Sadly the weather din’t fully cooperate: freezing cold, rainy and windy – not an ideal combination for a walking tour! Luckily we had rented a stroller for Aisling from mamarent.com which came with a plastic rain cover, creating a little bubble shelter for our 4-year-old, complete with iPad, while the rest of us zipped up our coats, stomped our feet and tried to duck the worst of the rain.

Despite the weather we really enjoyed the tour, taking in the early morning fish markets with black squid and scorfani fish, complete with antique carved price lists…

Charles meanwhile delighted the guide by being the questioner-in-chief throughout the tour:

Gondolieri

The end of the walking tour and time to thaw out frozen fingers and toes in a cafe, complete with outfit worn by Madonna on her Australian tour – somehow fitting! Managed to find hot chocolates so rich and heavy, both kids defeated!

Then off on a gondola ride, elements be damned. The water (an amazingly clear turquoise colour) was up, so our talented gondolier had us moving about the boat to tilt it over to squeeze under low-slung bridges as we navigated past ever-changing sights

Sights and tastes of Venice

After the gondola ride, lunch provided some comic relief in the form of a pizza and pasta restaurant where the overwhelmed wait staff served up a comedy of errors and highly entertaining repartee of arguments between each other, the chefs and the patrons. We were delighted to sit back, take it all in and wait for the rain to stop. 

Aisling invented yet another version of balloon tennis over lunch, to go along with the corridor balloon tennis popular in Killorglin: bread stick tennis. Sure to be an olympic sport before long. Niamh meanwhile was enjoying a limoncello on the house – perhaps as we were the only table not complaining but rather just enjoying the free circus show.

After lunch, out exploring the streets. Costumes starting to appear for Carnival, and Charles contemplating his next Italian car purchase. Apparently it’s not going to be a Fiat…

Dinner on Saturday night was more about good food than impromptu waiter comedy. Bistro de Venise with its beautiful stained glass sign and decorated interiors, serving traditional Venetian fare stretching back down the ages.

Finally after dinner the skies had cleared to a perfectly still, cloudless night – the promise of better weather for Sunday at Carnival!

Amsterdam ~ Paris

Sunday was another sunny, “crisp” day, and it was up & out to the Rijksmuseum.

They have a great app for families with little puzzles for the kids to solve, which takes you to many of the highlights of the museum.

Charles and Aisling were great sleuths, navigating around the museum and picking up clues :-). Aisling been found her way into a Vermeer and Charles imagined himself silting the high seas…

Reward for successfully navigating the puzzles was some coloured quills and a hot chocolate, before heading back to the hotel to grab our things and catch the train back to Paris.

We’ll definitely come back in the spring!

Getting into our Paris groove

Monday morning was back to school, with an excursion to the Kapla Centre planned for Charles on Wednesday. 

And did we mention the flood?? Ah yes, massive flood of the Seine (and many other French rivers).

As you can see from the attached shot, navigating the roads beside the river a little tricky at the moment unless you’re in a submarine.

Even houseboat owners finding it tricky to get home after a trip down the shops for a morning croissant…

The flood wasn’t the only rising tide that week unfortunately. More than half of Charles’ class came down with gastro on Tuesday night so the Wednesday class excursion was a bit of a fizzle.

We blame  the chocolate mousse they’re all so fond of in the school cafeteria!

Fortunately a short lived illness and Charles was back to school on Thursday, freeing us up for a bit of exploring.

We walked halfway around Paris in our usual fashion, and booked another lunch, this time at restaurant 24, which turned out to be another big hit with a great lunch menu in a tucked away location full of locals.

Then it was off to the Irving Penn photography exhibit in the nearby Grand Palais.

Impressive exhibit, particularly the fashion photography (he married his favourite subject…) and portraits where he talked his subjects into cramming themselves into a narrow, confined spaces which apparently allowed their personalities to emerge more clearly 🙂

Aisling meanwhile was well into her Paris groove, whether it was discovering a “cubby house” in Galleries Lafayette, or scooting past the flower shop on the way home from school every day…

Simon’s sculpture also making some progress, with wire frames for the rock features taking form.

The other sculptors in the class are all quite accomplished, but at the same time very humble and full of encouragement. 

In general to date we’ve found the French to be very welcoming of us. Not in an “invite you round for dinner” way mind you, but always willing to lend some help or advice, curious about us and why we’re here, and keen for our stay in France to be an enjoyable one.

Made it to Friday and Australia Day! Hooray!

Celebrated by watching some more of the Australian Open and with Friday family dinner out at Suffren restaurant, a generous 60m from our front door (we are very spoiled for choice!).

Great family friendly staff, and a great meal had by all. Again observing the rule that it’s not an ice cream unless it’s as big as your face…

Pompi-who?

Saturday was chilly but we fired out nonetheless, to the Centre Georges Pompidou.

Always good for some inscrutably chic design installations, this time they had a kids’ space where the goal was to make your kids disappear (very popular with parents).

Great fun had by all, including riding to the roof for the sweeping views and afternoon tea on hot pink couches that proved very popular with her highness…

A very Parisian end to a very Parisian week 🙂

Paris ~ Amsterdam

Sunday markets ~ Squiddich!

After an action-packed first week and Saturday afternoon / evening birthday party it was a relaxed start to Sunday morning, putting together the solar-powered cardboard car given to us by our auntie Glenys at the musée des arts et métiers the day before. 

Another reason we’re lucky to be based where we are in Paris is being 2 blocks from the Motte Piquet markets, which are set up under the raised #6 metro line on Wednesdays and Sundays. An amazing array of wares, where you can see the locals voting with their feet. 

At an OK fish stall you can walk up and order; at the best, you wait stamping your feet in the cold for 20 minutes. Daddy did the latter while everyone else went exploring the sights, sounds and smells!

We were amused to learn that “Dover sole” becomes “Sole francaise” when caught by boats originating from this side of the channel :-). We duly snapped some up so we were all set for hosting our first dinner – uncle Rob and auntie Glenys Sunday evening.

Back home from the markets with trusty Ned in tow, it was off to the park next door to enjoy the sunshine.

Charles and Aisling came up with a new game: Squiddich. For all you Harry Potter fans out there, it’s a bit like quiddich, but you play with a scooter instead of a broom and push a soccer ball from one side of the champ de mars to another to score a goal…

Sunday afternoon and a chance for Daddy and Aisling to practice their drawing on the bed enjoying the afternoon light.

Aisling full of great advice for Daddy’s drawing and sculpting. Anything pink sounds like it will get an enthusiastic thumbs up!

Daddy meanwhile playing around with ideas and plaster shaping and enjoying himself immensely…

School in the dark??!!

Aisling having sufficiently recovered from her bug, it was off to school for BOTH children on Monday morning. Bit of an adjustment for Aisling who had been used to a sleep in. “Why are we going to school at night time?” was her quite reasonable question as we set of out of the house in the dark for the short scoot to school.

With the Christmas lights still up on the rue de commerce, it was a beautiful experience to scoot along dodging the grown-ups trying to navigate the pavements teaming with kids on the way to the many neighbourhood schools. 

A side benefit of the dark winter mornings leaving the house is lovely sunrises while we walk to school. They even come up in Aisling’s favourite colour…

Aisling survived her first day – hooray! Some of the young kids get picked up in a fun little battery-powered plastic bus that takes them to after school childminding. They strap six of them in and off they go driving down the busy footpaths – quite a sight!

Meanwhile Aisling is ready to celebrate her surprise at surviving the day, we we all go tripping down the avenue to the nearest cafe to celebrate…

Playdates all around

With both kids finally in school, Niamh and Simon had a playdate of their own. Walking is by far the best form of transport in Paris according to us, and we’ve been using our pegs to explore as much as we can, often racking up 15-20k steps a day. Great way to work off the French calories.

Speaking of calories, it was also time to put into action our plan for at least one nice lunch out together each week. Lunch is a great option in Paris, the menus are often half the price of dinner, the atmosphere is relaxed and you can get a table.

This week’s choice was the Café des Abattoirs in the 1st arrondissement, a Rostaing restaurant.

Excellent food which we had missed in our last few flying visits to Paris.

The discreet entrance also made for a lunch amongst locals. Highly recommended!

Meanwhile Charles also had his first playdate, with a boy named Lucas from his class.

Like all the Adaptation kids at EJM, Lucas is fast learning French.

He also happens to speak Portuguese, Russian, English and Mandarin … and is an accomplished pianist.

.

Crepes for lunch (what a treat!) then great fun in the park for all.

Boys playing soccer, Aisling showing off her Squiddich skills..

Amsterdam!

Our plan is to spend every second weekend out of Paris exploring, mostly by train. With the TGV you can make it a long way quickly and easily with young kids, and without the hassle of airports (no, we’re not on a commission from the SNCF…).

Our first experiment with this plan was a weekend trip to Amsterdam!

Picked up kids from school in a taxi, straight to the gare du nord for the 3-hour high-speed train ride. 

You need a whippy neck to keep up with the countryside speeding by!

Once the sun goes down, time to test out the tattoos acquired from Suisse on the flight to Geneva to go skiing a couple of weeks back. Now we should blend right in with Amsterdam street culture…

First surprise for the kids on arrival: the thousands of bikes piled in two-storey racks at the train station in Amsterdam.

Biggest pile of bikes this side of Beijing??

Off to the hotel, which is in three of the oldest buildings in Amsterdam, which sit side by side and have been joined together to make the hotel.

Lots of twists and turns and ups & downs navigating the place. Tired children at check-in after the journey

Quickly perked up once in our little theme park of a room.

Old style bike hanging from the ceiling, monogrammed pillows (nice touch concierge!), and a twisting staircase. separating the kids’ loft from grown up territory…

Perfect spot for a quick picnic dinner on the floor before turning in, with a beautiful moonlit view of the canals out the window…

Nemo

Saturday was brisk but sunny – perfect exploring weather. 

More surprises at breakfast, where after filling up on pancakes, kids discovered the treasure chest where they could each choose a small toy.

This is one hotel that knows how to get the kids angling to come back…

Out into the streets to explore the sights of Amsterdam!

Cold weather, but never too cold in Amsterdam for tulips! The queen had been in town the day before to kick off the show. We had a little queen of our own, doing her best impersonation of a koala…

Then it was off to NEMO, the terrific science museum. We could easily have spent more than a day exploring the many levels of exploration on offer.

The museum is shaped like a boat, and juts out into the water of the harbour. Charles amused by the boats moored on the way in with their over-sized side fins, making them look a little like catfish!

Great exploring to be had.

Can you guess which object is 4.5 billion years older than the other?

In one room there were infinity Aislings and just one Daddy…

And in another the “chain reaction” show. Water sluices, bicycles driving pumps, rolling balls, dominos, sailing boats, candle power and many more types of energy on display as the chain reaction wends its way around the room to finally launch the rocket at the centre!

Then just to be on the safe side, we thought it might be a good idea to put both kids into bubbles. If only we could get them to stand so straight and still all the time…

Canal cruise and winter festival

One of our reasons for choosing Amsterdam this weekend is that it is the last weekend of the winter light festival. A bit like a mini version of Vivid, with different light installations on the canals, best seen from the toasty confines of a canal boat. A relaxing way to end the day after walking the cold streets and exploring NEMO:

The theatre of fish

Hotel concierge scored again with dinner tip. 

Off to Pesca, aka the “Theatre of fish”, where you choose you fish in the market at the front of the restaurant (aperitif in hand if you so choose), then head our the back while it’s perfectly prepared.

Great meal in a fun setting … with a bit of iPad to see us through the end of a long and exciting day 🙂 

~ Paris ~

Sunday was a day for resting and exploring our new environment in the very west of the 7th arrondissement. Just 50m from the park at the champ de mars, and a 15 minute walk (or scoot!) to school.

It also called for some testing of the local patisserie’s capabilities…

Aisling was still recovering from the bug she picked up at the kids play group in Saas Fee.

You can sleep OK in bed, but sometimes a snooze down the back of the couch is just what the doctor ordered! We also trust in the healing powers of porridge… Most importantly, Aisling also acquired some hot new wheels for her trips to & from school each day. Looking stylish!

Charles also getting ready to blend in on the streets of Paris, and discovering a great second hand shop on the way home from school in the afternoons with different kick knacks (“bibelots”) to browse through each day.

Charles was naturally a bit nervous about his new school, but came out from day 1 saying “actually it wasn’t too bad!”. Part of that might have been the lunch menu. When asked what he chose in the cafeteria the answer was “mashed potatoes and chocolate mousse”!

Charles is in an “adaptation” class at a french school, where the class is a mix of second and third classes, composed of kids who are spending a year improving their French to the point they’re ready to go into the main French part of the school. In practice many of the kids in Charles’ class come from French families, but have been living overseas for a number of years and have now come back to France.

What all the kids have in common is that they’ve only just arrived in Paris which is great for making new friends from all over the world. 

Aisling was still a bit under the weather the first week, so didn’t make it to school, particularly given it was quite cold and wet.

She was however feeling well enough by Friday for an outing to the shops with mum & dad.

What’s that blue stuffed animal on the shelf??

We even passed a jigsaw shop with a lady in the window cutting jigsaws with a jigsaw while we watched. Careful of those fingers!

Sculpting class!

Simon meanwhile had been practising his drawing in prep for his Tuesday evening culture classes. Both skills that he last exercised at the age of 12 or so!

Learning drawing using his grandmother Dulcie’s book “Drawing on the right side of the brain”, a best seller in 1978 🙂

Sculpture class is from 7-10pm on Tuesday evenings, a couple of metro rides across Paris. The teacher Brigitte is an accomplished sculptor who runs classes for a regular small group of students in the evenings. The others have all been at it with her for many years (in some cases more than 10!), using a variety of techniques, most of them plaster-based. 

A very authentic experience, they are kind to welcome a strange Aussie man with no experience to speak of into their fold. Tuesday nights promise to be an interesting voyage of discovery, with lovely Paris street views on the way home.

Play date!

Meanwhile the big excitement of the week was having visitors from Sydney. Charles’ school friend Benji and his family Will, Wennie, Lilian and Natalie were in London on holidays can came across to Paris to visit for a few days. 

We soon hit our straps with some Aussie soccer skills on display in the champ de mars…

… followed by a scenic ride on the Place de la Concorde ferris wheel (aka La Grande Roue de Paris)

Then off to the Luxembourg gardens for more adventures. We’re getting used to buskers on the metro (many of them very good), but the one on this journey was something else. A guy who started off doing some rapping, then cleared a little area for himself in the carriage and was doing full back flips in the moving train. Quite a spectacle!

Great fun in the playground at Luxembourg, one of the best in Paris…

Including of course a trip to the puppet show in the park, which has been in operation since 1933, with over 2,500 puppets in the attic and a (highly!) dedicated (obsessive?), jovial and rotund frenchman running the show. Great fun had by all.

And as if things couldn’t get any more exciting, gelato flowers on the way home…

Ned!

Ned also joined our family in the first week. Ned is what they affectionately call a “donkey” in Ireland, but in France is either a “chariot de course” or a “pousette de marche”. 

An essential item when all shopping is done by foot rather than by car, for ferrying your purchases home. a sturdy Ned will make all the difference to your daily routine…

Le weekend! ~ Uncle Rob and auntie Glenys

Somehow we made it through our first week in Paris! Hooray!

This called for a Friday night dinner celebration out at a local restaurant. The one about 20 steps from our front door seemed like a logical choice with very tired children…

The wait staff were super accommodating – our waitress also has a 7 year old boy and could empathise with reaching the end of a big first week 🙂

First piece of exciting news for the weekend, uncle Rob and auntie Glenys are in town from Adelaide!

So we set out to do a bit of exploring at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, which is essentially a museum of invention, spanning multiple centuries. Fantastic collection of machines, inventions and automata to explore, perfect for a 7 year old boy.

On the metro on the way, delighted to see the beer ad includes Coopers in the list of worldly beers any sophisticated Parisien should enjoy…

At the museum, Charles sizing up the improvements in bicycle technology down the ages

Charles and auntie Glenys sizing up one of the more impressive exhibits: an early flying machine designed to run with a super-lightweight steam engine. Note so sure it ever got off the ground, but it makes an impressive sight!

From the museum it was straight to our first school birthday party, for Deniz from Turkey who was turning 8, and lives right across the park from us.

Great time had by all and an opportunity to get to know a few of the other parents. Turns out Nick Leeder’s successor at Google has a daughter in Charles’ class – small world.

After the party, a moonlit scoot across the champ de mars in front of a beautifully lit tour Eiffel. Wonderful way to round out a wonderful week…

Saas Fee ~ Paris

We woke to a beautiful dawn and blue skies over the snow covered roofs of Saas Fee.

A beautiful snow-bound Swiss village with slopes stretching up to 3,600m and little electric vehicles winding their way around the streets.

Onto the slopes with our good friends Nerida, Roger, Alex (or some other unidentified blue and yellow ski bandit??) and Amy “the Pink Flash”. 

Beautiful sunny day for navigating the resort and exploring the mountains.

Aisling soon getting the hang of riding T-bars between daddy’s legs and learning to ride her first button lifts

All the same, she quickly decided gondolas are the only way for a lady of style to travel!

Luckily our mountain guides Charles and Amy were on hand to guide us towards the best powder on the mountain…

… important when there are tricky crevasses to navigate all over the place.

Saas Fee is not the place for unguided off piste adventures!

Busy days on the slopes can wear out young legs, so tactical rests are key…

As is time spent appreciating the beautiful Saas Fee vistas

On Wednesday evening the predicted snow arrived with bells on. So much so that the resort closed down for a day due to avalanche danger, and the roads in and out were closed for 48 hours.

The result: family fun day in the snow! Snowwomen, tobogganing and snow forts were the order of the day, and a great time had by all. 

The Saas Fee ski patrol use helicopters to bomb the slopes and clear avalanche danger, as it’s too hard to navigate around on skis with all the crevasses.

When the heli came in to land in the village in the early morning after the bombing run it sent up a long plume of snow like the smoke from a bushfire.

Once the mountain re-opens, we’re back to the top of the world again:

Charles fired into the powder, gamely taking on a long powder slope solo and living to tell the tale and score “manoeuvre of the day” bragging rights…

Our afternoon chocolate crepes were well earned…

Somehow hot chocolate tastes better above 3000m, and even at 1800m in the village, sliding is the best way to travel

One last sunset vista the day we left to leave us wanting more – incredibly beautiful mountains all around….

Heading to Paris

Saturday and time to leave for our new life (for a little while) in Paris. Plenty of bags from Ireland and skiing, so we made our own baggage trolley out of the suitcases. Aisling in a jaunty mood getting her Paris on….

The train operators had thoughtfully pasted dazzling jigsaw puzzle-quality pictures on the outside of the windows showing amazing vistas of lakes, fields and snow-capped mountains…

Finally made it to Paris and our new apartment!

Tired but happy to be done with suitcases for a while.

New schools, new adventures and the discovery of pastries hitherto unknown to mankind await…