So as you would imagine, standing around and eating incredible Canapés (Hors d’œuvre, appetizers, whatever it is that we are supposed to call them) non-stop for hours really makes one hungry.  Well lucky for us [luck o’ the Irish I suppose] we were in for a serious meal. We were lead into a candlelit stone barn that…

French-Irish wedding Extraveganza (Part Deux) So on Saturday at ‘half three’ (that’s 3:30 – and not literally ‘half of three’ – which would be 1.5 – or 1:30 as I would have guessed) the wedding itself got going. The wedding itself was a beautiful affair.  We weren’t quick enough to beat out the relatives who…

So on Saturday at ‘half three’ (that’s 3:30 – and not literally ‘half of three’ – which would be 1.5 – or 1:30 as I would have guessed) the wedding itself got going. The wedding itself was a beautiful affair.  We weren’t quick enough to beat out the relatives who sat on the side that…

French-Irish wedding Extraveganza (part un) This past weekend we drove from here to close to Bordeaux, which is basically a 650km road trip from one side of France to the other.  We had friends take care of our kids for the weekend (yes, yes – those are good friends) so we could make the trek…

This past weekend we drove from here to close to Bordeaux, which is basically a 650km road trip from one side of France to the other.  We had friends take care of our kids for the weekend (yes, yes – those are good friends) so we could make the trek just the two of us.…

à la bibliothèque We stopped by the little library in the village on our way home today and got each of the kids a library card of their own (although somehow my ability to spell in French means that there is now a “u” and an “r” at the end of Matea…..)  It’s a quaint…

First Day of School Last Thursday was the kids first day of school. New country, new language, new/no home, new friends, and then new school  – hence we were expecting a very smooth and easy rentree (note: english really needs a single noun for “back to school time” – can some of you work on…

Last Thursday was the kids first day of school. New country, new language, new/no home, new friends, and then new school  – hence we were expecting a very smooth and easy rentree (note: english really needs a single noun for “back to school time” – can some of you work on that?) Luckily when we…

Le Pont du Gard On our way home from le Midi we made a small detour off the autoroute to stretch our legs, let the blood flow back into my white-knuckled driving hands, and let the kids do what all small children love best – look at ancient Roman ruins! The Pont du Gard is…

The South of France (part deux) We went to the sea twice while we were there. Both days we waited until about 4pm or so, as it was easier on our pasty-white-children (although it still was 30* out).   The kids were pretty impressed with being able to pull over to the side of the…

The South of France! We decided to take a quick vacation last week since: 1. we had previously promised the kids a 3 month holiday which disappeared 2. they started school on Thursday 3.if we didn’t leave the Simoni house, it’s possible one of our kids or their stuff would end up in a 40ft sea…

On our way home from le Midi we made a small detour off the autoroute to stretch our legs, let the blood flow back into my white-knuckled driving hands, and let the kids do what all small children love best – look at ancient Roman ruins! The Pont du Gard is an absolute engineering marvel.…

We went to the sea twice while we were there. Both days we waited until about 4pm or so, as it was easier on our pasty-white-children (although it still was 30* out). The kids were pretty impressed with being able to pull over to the side of the road and instead of wheat or canola fields,…

We decided to take a quick vacation last week since: 1. we had previously promised the kids a 3 month holiday which disappeared 2. they started school on Thursday 3.if we didn’t leave the Simoni house, it’s possible one of our kids or their stuff would end up in a 40ft sea container bound for the…

 « Joyeux anniversaire…a Micah » (part II)  Susan baked a cake, Mary-Ellen cut it into shape, and Matea and I decorated it – and between the 4 of us it almost looked like what it was supposed to look like. We had a great supper out on the patio – and of course – we had to do…

 « Joyeux anniversaire…a Micah » (part I) Our original plan for this summer had us spending a 4th birthday in Reykjavik, but very little this summer has followed our original plan.  We decided to bookmark his birthday doing what he really likes the best…trains. Luckily Grenoble has trams as the backbone of the public transit system.  They go all…

Police Barricades & Night Explosions with 6 Kids The reason we had to dash-away-Cinderella-style at the stike of 10 was to get down to the big park in Uriage for le pièce de résistance of the evening…Fireworks.  They were supposed to start at 10, and we started our rapid decent down the mountain at about 9:59, so we were…

Le Bal There were signs up around town for the local bal.  When we told the kids, the girls were quite excited as they heard “a royal ball, just like in Cinderella” and not “a small dance in town square with some people from the village and a cover-rock band.” But rest assured, no one…