La Rentrée

by Danielle

We realized two weeks ago that we had one last chance to borrow the neighbor’s car so we decided to make a road trip to the Normandy region.  It took about 3 hours to get to the charming beach town of Deauville, and the lovely port city of Honfleur. We only had a short time in each place but enjoyed the water, sun and lazy summer day.

Paris has been extremely quiet recently while the locals have been on “vacances.” Many small businesses have been closed and the streets relatively empty. The city is quiet and almost peaceful.

It was an excellent time for Dan’s sister and her husband to visit us for a few days. The weather was delightful (and even hot at times) and we hit most tourist sites (Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Louvre/Tuilleries, Marais, Beauborg, Canal Saint Martin, Parc Buttes Chaumont) without much unpleasant crowding. As usual it was a delight to have visitors and be able to share our Paris adventure with them.

Now we face la rentrée, the time that the masses filter back into town and get ready to work.

This week marked the reopening of Joseph’s former garderie, which is now Rachel’s garderie. Eventually she will attend four days a week (all day) but so far we have visited twice for one hour each time. It’s a study in contrasts, as Joseph was very reserved and timid at first and would not stray far from me. But Rachel immediately dove into the toy selection and hardly looked back at me the whole time. She even flirted with the caregivers, offering them toys and batting her eyes. I have no hesitation about leaving her there, except that I will miss spending time with her myself.

Next week Joseph starts maternelle (preschool) and he is curious yet apprehensive, understandably so. I’m eager to see his french progress and it will be interesting to see which language Rachel picks up first. I suspect it will take a few weeks to get the kids comfortable with their new routines, at which point we’ll be able to stand back and consider what to do with all our free time. Fortunately I have a few ideas.

Anjou

by Danielle

Perhaps you know that the French take vacation very seriously. I slowly became more aware of the idea when I scheduled things. At a doctors’ appointment in spring that required a follow up, the receptionist would ask, “Are you going to be in Paris in July and August?”  A “yes” answer seemed very un-French. Even at an appointment with an unemployment counselor I was asked, “What are you doing for vacation?” It’s a national obsession, but I suppose that for a country with an average of five weeks of paid vacation a year, this is understandable.

A friend pointed out that if we didn’t book a vacation by late spring we’d probably be out of luck, as the French book well in advance. But in late May Dan easily found a “gite” (house/apt rental) in the Anjou region, about 3 hours southwest of Paris by car. We booked it for one week.

Like much of France, the town of Le Puy de Notre Dame is in wine country. Just south of the Loire river and the town of Saumur, its Rosé wines are very well regarded. The area is also known for; chateaux, sunflowers, roses, mushrooms, silk, and caves (mined for stone centuries ago, now house restaurants, gites, galleries, mushroom farms etc).

We decided early on that we would not be too agressive with our agenda. Our “to do” list was short and expectations low. We wanted to see at least one chateau, a winery, and have a dip in the pool… I think we crossed everything off our list by the second day so we were pleased.

Here’s the short version of our antics:

Sunday- 10min drive to see the Chateau at Montreuil-Bellay (didn’t do the tour, but thumbs up for the great sandbox in the garden, Joseph had a massive fit in the ramparts and i had to carry him down steep narrow stone staircases while he was bucking and wailing, wenever found the painting exhibition we were told about), explored neighboring Doue la Fontaine town center.

Monday- “Super U” grocery store (haven’t seen the likes of this since the states- ahhhh), Les Caves Cathedrales des Perrieres (stunning, beautiful, chilly!, underground cave), La Ferme d’Antan (roses gardens, farm animals), picnic lunch in teeny Brossay (borrowed utentsils from nice locals drinking in a private club), kicked a ball riverside in Montreuil-Bellay.

Tuesday- Gennes (the delightful town of my maternal grandfather’s birth), Chateau at Saumur (closed for renovations for five years, but nice grounds and “medieval” wine tasting), afternoon in the (frigid) pool with Joseph.

Wednesday- lazy morning, walk through town including the church “La Collegiale” (pilgrims came here to worship what was supposedly the Virgin Mary’s corset), playground by the Mairie, Joseph/Danielle swim, afternoon visit to medieval Abbey d’Asnieres and wine tasting at Domaine du Vieux Truffeau (small family owned winery, Joseph slept in the car most of the time), dinner of mussels and frites in town (no meltdowns, adult or children).

Thursday- Chateau de Martigné-Briand, winery tour/tasting at Domaine de La Paleine (I didn’t know wine could have honey or banana overtones, still yummy though).

Friday- Les Ponts de Ce (where my mother spent childhood summers with grandparents) and Angers, more playground time.

Two unfortunate things regarding Rachel. All week she woke up around 5:30am, and she chipped a front tooth (no, we didn’t beat her for waking us up so early). It doesn’t appear to bother her, but I can’t say it’s too attractive.

We consider the trip a success, it was wonderful to take a break from city living and see something new. But I can’t help but acknowledge that when you have small kids, even a vacation involves a lot of work. It was nice to get home and be in a babyproof environment and back on a routine. Maybe I’m just a creature of habit though.