General Observations of our France Trip

Posts I would have put on Facebook had I had my computer on our France trip this week:

Mindy Hunter Larsen:
...is grateful for an awesome husband who can drive stick and handle crazy French streets with aplomb. Hooray for Hubby!
...did we really just find a navigation system for 50 euro at a grocery store? Cool!
...is so glad that Sophie enjoyed her birthday castle, Carcassonne, today! Happy 7th birthday Rosebud!
...wonders if the snooty French waitress who messed up our order, didn't bring our requested bread or water, and otherwise ignored the "stupid American tourists" in the corner really thought she was going to get a tip. PS sweetie, we understand French and heard every word you said to the chef and other waitresses about us. Oops!
...Yes, children get hungry every two hours. Deal with it.
...is glad her kids can appreciate art (like the Van Gogh tour in Arles) enough to find this trip interesting! Maggie is renewing her love of history and now has a thing for gladiators (after going to the Roman arena in Nimes) and Marie Antoinette.
...If a four year-old boy sees stones, he will climb. Even if the stones are a 2,000 year-old Roman arena in the middle of Nimes, France. Between the stories of the fighting gladiators (ew) and four stories of pillars and stone tunnels and benches to explore, Spence was in heaven! So glad we stopped to tour the inside - it was really cool for all of us - we could go almost everywhere in the arena. We're just really glad nobody fell and busted their head open. Had several close calls though.
... who knew that my kids' new favorite thing to listen to is the silly "Let's Learn French" songs Gary downloaded before the trip? Sophie particularly is picking up a very good French accent! We also enjoyed making up our own family version of "sur la pont d'Avignon." The kids like doing the funny voices.
...we thought eating at a castle (Bunratty) was pretty cool. Clue: spending the night in one is even better! Even if the owner was a loquacious Dutch octogenarian who liked to tell you his Korean War stories the whole time we were there. At least he gave us the grand tour! The view from the parapets was unforgettable!
...If, on Halloween night, you have nothing better to do than hang around a French park, running obstacle courses around the playground equipment while waiting for your pizza to be made at the local pizzaria, you might get invited to a French Halloween party. Eventually all the local kids came trooping by in their costumes, going to the community hall next door for their party. After a while they invited our kids in to their party and gave them tons of candy. We think it was because they felt sorry for the weird foreigners.
...If you must go to a non-English speaking ward, try to schedule it around the Primary program day! We hit the jackpot, going to church in Clermont-Ferrand and getting to watch the little French kids singing their primary songs, making faces at their parents and picking their little French noses. It was a good time all around.
...the Chateaux of the Loire Valley in autumn while the leaves are changing is breathtaking. Still searching for non-trite words to describe the beauty at every turn!
...The Chateau d'Usse is my favorite chateau of the day! Do not miss it! Chenonceau is also perfect but WAY overcrowded, even in October. And you can't poke into corners. And they don't act out a classic Disney movie (Sleeping Beauty) with mannequins dressed in period costume. Nor does it let you go up into the attic, or see the carriages in the stables, or explore the caves where they stored their wines and mistresses. Nor does it have a 4-foot high tunnel leading from a secret corner in the gardens to....? we never saw its end and we went in pretty far!
...the roof of Chambord, the biggest Loire Valley Castle, is by far my favorite part; fab porphyry, scores of individually artistic towers to admire, and oh the view!
...must have treats on a road trip: apples, carrots, oranges, Pringles and chocolate (white or milk). Desperately missing caramel popcorn, Triscuits, Sun Chips and my air popped pop corn though. Two more months.
...Sophie wants a bed like Marie Antoinette's when she grows up. I do too.
...is grateful for her family who accompanied her, in spite of a severe rain storm and the train which only took us part way, to Marie Antoinette's Hameau at Versailles. Mission accomplished! And the only one who took cold was me; I consider it a small price to pay. I do wish though that the buildings of the Hameau were open inside- they could do so much to make Versailles more visitor friendly with a little investment and creativity. It's impressive, but it could be more.
...did our navigation system really just take us through downtown Paris at rush hour to get to our hotel on the other side??? Insanity!
...the Bateaux Mouches was a good investment. Kids loved it.
...is at the very top of the Eiffel Tower looking at the sun shining through a hole in the clouds upon Notre Dame! PS you can feel the tower sway way up here while you sit to go to the bathroom! eek!
...much as I love a good baguette, having bread and cheese or butter for two meals a day CAN get old after a while.
...My kids get the Travelers of the Year Award in the Under 12 category for our recent France road trip - they had no movies to pass the long drives yet never complained; got dragged through 7 different hotels and three countries in 8 days; endured rain storms to visit Carcassonne, Arles, Nimes, the Loire Valley, and all the corners of the Versailles gardens with me; and at the end of it all actually walked from the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc de Triomphe, all the way down the Champs Elysses to the Tuileries and past the Louvre to our favorite pastry shop opposite the Cour Carre in one day. Gold stars all around!
...yes, we are sitting in the marble and glass mall beneath the Louvre eating... MacDonalds'. Happy Meals = Happy Kids!
...I can't get over the beautiful architecture in France. Not just the great monuments, but the individual houses and neighborhoods as well. Chartres was a visual feast, Tours a vision, Amboise stunning, and Paris just keeps going on going with marble facades, arches, sculpted pediments, architraves and mansard roofs, art nouveau embelishments and Rococo flourishes. Even the little suburban neighborhoods we drove through were designed with an eye towards aesthetics. Makes the good old USA look a bit shabby in comparison, even if we do use a lot more common sense in our design. The French have their problems, but they do like to look good.
...I never had been to Paris' Little India up the Rue St. Denis before. Saw plenty of gorgeous sari stores and curry restaurants while we were stuck in traffic there for almost two hours trying to drive out of Paris that last night.
...Not to traffic in stereotypes or anything, but the Irish and the British are nicer than the French. Sorry, but it's the truth. We realized when we got back to Ireland, where everyone from the Customs agent to our bus driver were cheerful and helpful, what a contrast it was. People actually stopped their cars to let a family with luggage and little kids cross the road here. Wow - that never happened in France!