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 starting to get nervous about how much of it we would see. We got a few hairpin turns below the Chateau that lies between the village of St Martin d”Uriage and Uriage itself and were met with blinding flashes of blue that lit up the entire canopy of trees that surround the road. There was a small Peugeot hatch-back (pretty standard issue police cruiser) with a metal fence blocking the road. No one could go down as the fireworks were about to begin - and they were setting them off just off of that road down in the park. So we did what anyone would - we pulled off to the side of the road where there was just enough room between the highway and the cliff down the other side (don’t worry - everyone got out on the drivers side… safety first.  Well OK, fireworks first - but safety is a solid top 10)


Then we started hearing the explosions - we grabbed the kids by the hands and started running down the road. The nice thing was that since it was already blocked off - we had absolutely no a much lower chance than normal of a car flying around the corner.

The sound of the fireworks, and just being able to see them over the massive trees that stood between where we were and where the exposions were kept everyone sprinting for quite some time. As the road is a series of hair-pin turns, every turn you pass - you would realize that there seems to be yet one more between you and the park.

Finally we turned and were standing at the base of the mountain, facing the park, and stopped a few metres from the safety ribbon that had been strung around the park.  On the other side of the park, where there was a huge crowd of people, they were probably a good 100-200 m from where they were being set off.  Us…well lets just say the fireworks that sent projectiles back down, were causing us to be a little nervous about our choice of seating. It was a pretty impressive display. They were very low fireworks, so they lit up the massive trees that surround the stately park in Uriage, and the sounds echoed off the mountains on both sides of the narrow valley that holds the town in the mountains up from Grenoble towards the Chamrousse ski station (known for the ‘68 Winter Olympics)

By the time it was done - so were the kids. Loaded everyone back in the cars, and started back up the mountain. I couldn’t help but notice that Le Bal seemed a little lacking when we drove through the village. Briefly thought about stopping…

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 was disappointed.  Certainly not the girls who put on their best gowns for spinning in, nor the band who were now playing for 3 times the amount of dancers as they were before the 10 of us got there.  They boys were pretty pleased that the fountain in the square has potable water, so they could dance, then just stick their heads in the fountain for some fresh water.  OK, I admit, I was a bit disappointed when I blew out one of my flip-flops, but that was a minor set back to the evening.  In a way it almost felt like we showed up - took over the dance (as we were probably 70% of the collective town dancing troupe) and then we stole away at 10pm for our next event of the night - with the 6 kids.


PS: right before we left for Le Bal - our youngest informed us that he was going to “dance like a meatball”  We weren’t’ sure what that meant - but when he had danced for a bit, he asked if we had seen him do the above mentioned dance. Then a few days later when driving though the village, he pointed to the square, and reminded us that that was in fact the place where he had danced…like a meatball.

theme song

A productive day

That was the idea.  First off - we go to the marie of the commune where Jonah was born, to get him a new birth certificate.  Why - because the one we have is too old.  They expire. They seem to only be good for 6 months or so for official stuff. (I've been told this is because in previous times people's civil changes [marriages etc] were noted right on their birth certificate - so an old one could actually be out dated)
We got there  - I knew where the office I needed - walked towards it.  closed. They're not open Monday mornings.
Fine.
Off to the Prefecture to get new plates/registration for our car.  We drive downtown and park - walk over and read the sign on the door, which basically said: "due to the current significant 6 week delay in getting car registrations done, we will not be helping anyone here at the office, nor taking any phone calls. Submit your completed dossier with payment and a stamped envelope with all appropriate documents"

Fine.

We'll go grocery shopping - in which we find probably 50% of what we need.
Fine.


"Hey look - a little battery store. We can replace the dead ones in the keys so the remote entry will work"
No problem. The lady even takes the thing apart - replaces it, presses the button - "look, the little red light goes on now" 5 Euro well spent.
Get out to the car -- click.  Nothing. Press press. Nothing. And now the light on the key doesn't even go on.

Fine.

Oh well - "hey look my student loan has finally been approved"
Oh wait - it's 1/4 of what they gave me when I did my masters here 10 years ago when we had no kids.  Well that will cover about 3 months of expenses.

Mountains.
Cheese
I can open the door by hand
Bread.
We'll just go back tomorrow.
Wine
Things take longer because the pace of life is slower.

A Day in Uriage

We spent Saturday waling around the town of Uriage-les-Bains, which is the area we are hoping to find a place to stay.   Uriage is a resort town of sorts- with a thermal-healing hot springs (which also has a line of cosmetic products made form it) and is just a really nice place.   We parked by the school that we hope the kids will go to to see how long of a walk it is down to the Chateau where we were looking at an apartment.  Then we continued down to the town - also partially to see how long of a walk (hike) it is (as we have been informed that some of the best pain au chocolat in the hood comes from the boulangerie in Uriage)

 There was a bit of a market going on - local artisans: jewelry, woodwork etc.  We had some huge bread-with-stuff-baked-in things that we ate on a park bench - then walked back to the main park. There are ‘petit sulkys’ there for kids to ride around the park  - little pony-bikes.





The kids thought that was pretty cool - and it kind of made up for the fact that we had made them hike &/or walk for the past hour in the heat - and were about to make them backtrack their steps - but this time it would be uphill.










 On the way back to the chateau we walked past the remains of the 1st century AD Roman baths that were built to take advantage of the hot springs.




We were all pretty hot & exhausted by the time we got back to the car - so we came home and let the kids have some time to recuperate - as there were some big plans in store for the evening….

Chateau de Vizille

Yesterday we took a little drive over to the town of Vizille just down the valley for a little outing in the parc around the chateau.  It was more amazing than either of us had remembered. The chateau itself is magnificent, and the grounds are - well, fit for royalty (go figure) and apparently 100 acres.  There is a huge herd of some type of deer that we watched (former royal hunting grounds), there were geese, swans, peacocks, and what appeared to be a 17th century fish farm.

The kids played tag in a rose-garden maze, and walked leisurely past this chateau as if there were nothing out of the ordinary for it.

The other thing we noticed is that we called it a castle, but the kids heard from their friends “chateau” and when our kids said it, of course they did not have our horrible english accent to their French. So that’s how it’s going to work.  It probably won’t be very long until our children are shaking their heads and apologizing for their parents ridiculous foreign accents.

Our New Car

Here’s what we got: a (mostly) lovely Opel Zafira. Opel is apparently a German car. The Zafira is a cool sort of half-way-between-hatch-back-and-mini-van. It’s basically a decent sized 5-seater - but two smaller seats flip up in the back so it can seat 7 if you need (so yes - 2 of you can visit at a time - and none of you will have to sit on the roof).

We decided - a car in France is going to get really banged up, scratched, dented in the parking lot etc…. so why not let the previous owner take the hit for that. It’s just “well broken in.”

Zafira

Here’s what we got: a (mostly) lovely Opel Zafira.   Opel is apparently a German car. The Zafira is a cool sort of half-way-between-hatch-back-and-mini-van.  It’s basically a decent sized 5-seater - but two smaller seats flip up in the back so it can seat 7 if you need (so yes - 2 of you can visit at a time - and none of you will have to sit on the roof).

We decided - a car in France is going to get really banged up, scratched, dented in the parking lot etc…. so why not let the previous owner take the hit for that.  It’s just “well broken in.”

Car Buying Day!

Today we went out to buy a car.  Should only take an hour or so right?  Oh no no no Monsieur, c’est la France!

We got lost on our way to this little town way up in the mountains - and the guy had to drive to find us and lead us back to his little farmey place.  By the time we got there -and took it for a little test drive, and decided to buy it - it was 1:00. So then the insurance guy was of course still on lunch. So we drove back to the nearest village and found a boulangerie and bought some sandwiches and the kids each picked out a treat. We sat in the little town square - and had a little picnic.  By 2:00 the insurance guy was back - and we called him and got things all lined up. Voila. Now just a short (2hr) drive back - easy peasy. 10am - 4:30pm - one car bought.

Blackberry hunting

For today’s outing we walked down the mountain a ways to pick blackberries in front of a friends house. We took our 3 kids plus the Simoni’s 3 kids for a hike to get there. We picked enough for a large blackberry crisp for desert -and have about half left. On the way the kids also picked (& ate) plums and grapes. We found the nice trail to hike on the way back - but ended up hiking up higher than their house - and had to backtrack back down. The kids were all pretty tired by the time we got home. Just enough energy for biking up and down the steep driveway (only one major crash) and jumping on the trampoline.

For today’s outing we walked down the mountain a ways to pick blackberries in front of a friends house. We took our 3 kids plus the Simoni’s 3 kids for a hike to get there. We picked enough for a large blackberry crisp for desert -and have about half left.  On the way the kids also picked (& ate) plums and grapes.  We found the nice trail to hike on the way back - but ended up hiking up higher than their house - and had to backtrack back down. The kids were all pretty tired by the time we got home. Just enough energy for biking up and down the steep driveway (only one major crash) and jumping on the trampoline.

Our first few days

Here are some more shots of our first few days in France. We are having a great time staying at the Simoni Chateau. They have bunnies, a trampoline, a zip-line, a huge yard, and a farm next door. Yesterday we went down to the park in Uriage where there was a live jazz concert going on. The kids are having a great time…while we are busy trying to find an apartment, car, open bank accounts and many more fun things!

Here are some more shots of our first few days in France.  We are having a great time staying at the Simoni Chateau.  They have bunnies, a trampoline, a zip-line, a huge yard, and a farm next door.  Yesterday we went down to the park in Uriage where there was a live jazz concert going on.  The kids are having a great time…while we are busy trying to find an apartment, car, open bank accounts and many more fun things!

Produce of France

Yesterday Mary Ellen took me to a local farm where she usually goes once a week to buy her produce. It was a vegetarian’s dream! For only 10 euro I bought a huge crate filled with assorted veggies. Fresh garden-grown eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, several heads of lettuce, topped with tonnes of basil.

I also had my first trip to the grocery store. Oh how I have missed the yogurt and cheese!! I saw bottles of wine for 79cents….about $1.10 CDN….and Matea got to see her first skinned rabbit. I picked out my favourite chevre cheese for a treat, and I bought George ‘petite swiss’….a very thick cream type thing that you dump out onto a plate and sprinkle with sugar. yum!

Life is a Journey...(sometimes a long vomitous journey)

3hrs in the car.

3 flights for 13 hours

3.5 hour by train

plus transfers, waiting etc. = 31hrs 45min door to door

We’ve made it here.

Despite puking kids (2), time zone changes (8), and missing a day of sleep - everyone is doing pretty good. The kids played today with their new friends as if they had known them for years - which is great for now - unfortunate in 2 weeks when they move to Dubai.

The Alpes are as beautiful, green, and grande as ever - and the air is so clean and fresh.

This morning Matea & Sophia walked across a mountain pasture to the neighbours who have a farm. They took a 2Euro coin in a pink Hello Kitty purse and came back with a dozen fresh eggs. Well, they came back with 11 eggs, including the cracked one, minus the one that was lost in transit. While there they also looked at the sheep, horses, chickens, peacocks and ducks.

Tomorrow….the pool (yes, yes - it means that for les garcons)