Girls Ski

Don't let those chubby cheeks fool you, this six-year-old has been tearing up the French Alps.  This is Rocky's first ski of the season and she skied 7 days in a row.  That takes a lot of stamina!  Rocky is a solid debutant skier who can manage the blue slopes pretty well.  She's been practicing her turns and was proud to tell me that she knows how to do "French fries".  (Adults know them as parallel turns.)  I wonder if her ski instructor calls them "French fries" or pommes frites.

One Week in Vigo, Spain

We are surrounded by the pine trees of the sunny Spanish Pyrenees Mountains now, which is summer vacation destination number 5 of five.  However, I don't want to skip over our fourth destination, Vigo, Spain.

Vigo is a 30 minute drive to the border of Portugal.  This sunny Galician beach town off the Atlantic coast has some of the coldest water I've ever had the pleasure of sticking my feet into.  Vigo is also the biggest provider of seafood to Europe.  We were there for 6 nights, of which they were experiencing a heat wave.  I'm talking Texas-style 100+ temps.  We rented a sweet house on the bay of San Simon (love the name for obvious reasons), but, it did not have air conditioning, yet had a wealth of mosquitoes.  I thought I was going to melt into the travertine floor.  We made the best of it and didn't kill each other.

Why Vigo?

We had the first 4.5 weeks of our summer vacation planned with stops in the European cities which our friends from Texas were visiting.  But, we had another 4 weeks unplanned.  Inspired by the great day camp in Switzerland, Jared and I decided to find a Spanish version of it.  Spanish day camps are surprisingly hard to find, but we managed to find some and one of them was in Vigo.  We'd never been there, didn't know anyone, but, like gypsies, decided to pack up and move there with the idea to stay for 1 week if we did not like it or 2-3 weeks if we did.  (After the first hot, humid, and itchy night there, I started researching our next destination.)

However, we did have some nice moments and here are photos of them.

Fresh oysters shucked in front of you on Rua da Pescaderia

Cafe con leche with a side of tortilla in an old Spanish cafe

El Sireno by Galician artist Francisco Leiro (left) / Jared near Puerta del Sol (right)

We've been traveling so long that it's time for a haircut.
This barber shop has probably been around for half a century.

Freezing cold water and warm sand at Samil Beach

Hola Barcelona, Los Slosbergs Have Arrived

Plaça de Catalunya - August 2016

Plaça de Catalunya - Peanut age 8 and Rocky age 5

Funky old tree on Montjuïc hill.

Steps leading to Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Popsicles = Summer 

These all natural fruit pops really hit the spot on this hot afternoon.

Muchas gracias to our wonderful friend, Cassandra, and her family for spoiling us in Barcelona
with these treats from the U.S.  Pirate Booty, oh, how we've missed you.

Swiss National Day Celebration 2016

Music and Swiss flags fill the village.

We joined our Swiss neighbors in celebrating their National Day.  Here are some fun tidbits:

1.  Swiss National Day is celebrated on August 1st and commemorates the signing of the Federal Charter of 1291 by three Alpine cantons.

2.  The first of August only became a national holiday in 1994, but the Swiss have been celebrating the founding way before.

3.  Switzerland has four national languages, which are German, French, Italian and Romansh.

4.  Why is Switzerland's domain ".ch"?  It's derived from Confoederatio Helvetica (Helvetic Confederation), which is the Latin name for the country.  It's used because of its neutrality with regard to the four official languages of Switzerland.  

5.  The Swiss that we encountered are very punctual.  We had rented some electric bicycles a few days ago and needed to return them at 2:30 PM.  The bike rental shop owner returned from lunch at exactly 2:30 PM!  In my personal experience in France, Spain, and Italy, I'd be lucky if the shop owner was only 15 minutes late.

6.  They give 3 kisses in Switzerland.  In France, it's two.

Malakoff - cheese filled beignet

Raclette -
melted semi-hard cow's milk cheese scraped onto potatoes and
served with gherkins and pickled onions.

Cheese in Switzerland has a very distinct smell and they use it in everything.  From fondue to raclette to malakoff, this odor of stinky melted cheese lurked around every corner on Swiss National Day.

Staying in the canton of Valais where raclette and fondue originated, it was our duty to try all the melted cheese dishes.  After the first couple of bites of raclette, I actually got used the strong smell and thought it was good.  I made fondue one night and even Rocky tried it, but Peanut was out.  He couldn't get past the odor.

Crans-Montana was in her full glory for the national holiday.  This small Swiss town spared no expense with three nights of fireworks and water and fire shows, with the biggest one being the last night on August 1.  We let the kids stay up to watch the show.  I don't know which they thought was more awesome, getting to stay up or seeing fireworks so close up.  The show, by the way, started precisely at 10:15 PM.

It was hard not think of the Bastille Day revelers in Nice who were just trying to have fun.  It's sad this is our new reality, but even though we were in a very small town on top of a mountain, Jared and I talked about an escape plan and meeting point.

I refuse to end this post with that last paragraph, so I'll sign off with ...

kiss, kiss, kiss.  Happy Swiss National Day!

Rainbow in the Swiss Alps

Crans-Montana, Switzerland - Summer 2015

After a short rain, we were rewarded with this view off our terrace.

Weird European Products

This is more of a poor product name than weird, but here what France calls Sour Patch Kids.

No matter how you slice it, mustard pizza just doesn't sound appetizing.

So, if I use this on my children, does it wash the bad out of them?  If so, I'll need it in bulk.

Summer in the Swiss Alps

It is truly this gorgeous here.

After a week in Southern Italy, we are now in the French speaking part of the Swiss Alps in a ski resort town called Crans-Montana.  C'est magnifique.  Life here is quiet and slow-paced.  People come in the summer to enjoy the trees, clean air, and 60-70 degree temps in addition to the lakes, golf courses, and children's summer camps.  I love it.  Jared says it reminds him of Maine.  But, a very expensive Maine.  In fact, we were eating better pizza in Italy (as expected) and paying $4 a pizza compared to $28 here.  I'm totally not kidding.

My friend, Nathalie, and her 7-year-old son, who live in Austin, introduced us to this town, where her parents have an apartment.  They've been summering here for several years and the kids are in this great day-camp together.  Peanut and Rocky spend all day outside - riding bikes or scooters, putting around on paddle boats, fishing, rock climbing, and archery.  Today, Peanut is on an all day glacier hike!  The mountain guides even showed them how pick and eat "fraise de bois" (wild strawberries).  This city girl had to ask, "are you sure they were edible?  Did the others eat the strawberries too?"

Peanut met some boys from Atlanta, Georgia whose mom is half French/half Swiss and who come to Crans-Montana every Christmas and summer to see their grandparents.  The boys are fully bilingual (French and English).  Their mom, Isabella, is very nice and outgoing, so hopefully we'll keep in touch and see each other when they come through Paris every summer before heading to the Swiss mountains.  Our kids are speaking French and English everyday here and do it very naturally.  The Atlanta mom said that she thought Peanut and Rocky were French kids from Paris.  Hearing their French, she didn't know they were American.  To me, that is a huge compliment.

While the kids are enjoying camp, Jared and I take long walks, talk without getting interrupted, and breathe a lot of clean air (because we are huffing and puffing up some serious inclines at high altitude).  I think of it as cleansing our lungs of the city pollution.

Down the mountain is an old school amusement park for the below 10 year old crowd cleverly named HappyLand.  With the snow-capped Swiss Alps as a backdrop and Rhone River streaming by, it's the perfect distraction to pass the day.  The best part is, it's small enough where the kids can go off on their own and parents can sit under a shaded tree and chat.

Getting Our Tan On in Puglia, Italy

A highlight of our summer was seeing some good friends from Austin who were in Europe.  We met them in Puglia, (Southern) Italy in early July for some much needed fun in the sun.  They got to witness the unveiling of my Casper-white-legs which haven't seen sun in 11 months, ever since we moved to Paris.  We stayed in the southern most tip of Italy and towards the west coast, which we learned wasn't the chicest area.  The words "Jersey Shore" were uttered more than a few times as we hunted down the nice lidos and beaches, which we found about 1 hour away on the east coast.

If you can manage to rent a house with a pool on vacation, do it.  Morning swims and before dinner dips were great ways for the kids to expend some energy and enjoy the warm weather.

Whole fresh catch encrusted and baked in local sea salt

Being by the sea, we got our fill of fresh fish and other seafood.  A big bonus for me was having someone remove the bones, skin, and head so I didn't have to.  This is very different from the way my Vietnamese family serves fish.

I had to tap into my inner Snooki to shop at this local, beach side Puglia grocery store.  The level of energy and fervor these Italians put into their grocery shopping was infectious.  I've never seen so many people be that competitive about selecting produce.  After eating some of the locally grown nectarines, tomatoes, and zucchini, I understood why Italians are passionate about food because the flavor of the ingredients were nothing like I've ever tasted before - crisp, deep flavors, fragrant, and earthy.

In fact, my French friends tell me that they only buy tomato sauce from the Italian vendors at the marchés (outdoor markets) in Paris because there really is a difference.

My recommendations:

If I had to do it over again, I'd go to Puglia in October or later and stay near Alberbello, which have these homes that look like Bilbo Baggins would walk out at any minute and invite me in for tea, and Matera, an ancient cave city that has been the location for may biblical movies, such as the Passion of Christ, because you'll want to see those two UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  If I was going in the summer again, I'd make one of the 5-star resorts in nearby Fasano my home base and go sightseeing on the days I didn't want to just be lazy on the beach where the water is aquamarine, sand is soft, and has views of natural, stacked rock sculptures.

If you find yourself further south like us, Lido Kalé Cora, Torre dell'Orso, and Lido Venere are good stops for beach time.  In Ugento, La Vecchia Botte Ristorante will get you a good Italian meal.

When in Puglia, try their artisanal pasta and Pugliese bread, which reminds me of cornbread, but dry like biscotti.

The Streets of Lecce, Italy

Summer vacation begins in Puglia, Italy.  It's the heel of the boot, if you're looking at a map of Italy.

Can you believe it's been almost a year since we moved to France?  It goes without saying that it has been an eventful year in Europe with many ups and downs.  With the recent tragic events in Nice and Germany, I have had second thoughts about being in Europe during this tumultuous time.  However, we have really enjoyed living abroad.  Being far from our family and friends, is probably the hardest part about being in Paris, but we've been lucky because we've had many visitors and are seeing some friends this summer in Europe.

Lecce is a historical city in Southern Italy best known for it's Baroque architecture and Roman amphitheatre.

Do you notice that there are no people in this photograph?  It's because between noon and 5:00 PM, the city shuts down for what I'm guessing is a long siesta and reprieve from the July summer heat, which rivals Texas'.

Luciano Faggiano at Museo Faggiano

In order to escape the hot weather, we ducked into this little gem, Museo Faggiano.  Luciano Faggiano bought a building to open up his trattoria, but the toilet kept backing up.  He enlisted his two sons to help him dig a trench to investigate and what they found was a subterranean world dating back to before the birth of Christ.  It's a fascinating story and a place that the kids really enjoyed too.  

On our way out, we saw the back of an older man who had taken the place of the young girl whom we bought our tickets from.  We realized, it was the man himself, Luciano Faggiano.  With a little Italian mixed with some Spanish and a lot of hand gestures, Jared and I managed to get confirmation that it was him, pay him a compliment, and find out that he was still digging.  To our delight, he opened up a back section of the museum, which was very much a work-in-progress, so we could see the new discoveries.  Peanut could not stop talking about how he got to meet the actual person in the story who made those discoveries.  It made everything so much more tangible for him.

If you go to Lecce, this is a worthy stop.  But, I would recommend a visit in October or cooler months.

Recommendations:

-- Set your GSP to park the car near Porta Rudiae, which is a good starting point into the old city.

-- Natale Pastry Shop, nice place for a snack, but check their hours.  They're only open in the morning.

Map of the Future of the EU

I thought this was funny.

Speaking of Brexits, have a Happy 4th of July in America!

How Anglo Mothers Stack Up Against French Mothers

Obviously, American children.

In the last 11 months, I've had a chance to observe my fellow French mommies and notice they love their children, but have a very different relationship with them.  Here's an article that compares some of the differences between French and Anglo (British and American) parenting.

Highlights from the article:

"Discipline versus encouragement, chastisement versus laissez-faire, a sharp shrill "ça suffit!" (that's enough!), versus the mollycoddling "now let's not do that, shall we?" reasoning of the so-called Anglo-Saxon – meaning British or American – mum. And above all, that essential Gallic parenting tool, la fessée, or smacked bottom, versus the British naughty step."

"In France, British expat parents are often dismayed at the stifling rigidity of French schools, in which learning by rote is more important than learning to reason, where creativity is strangled by conformity and where what a child has to say is less important than doing so with impeccable grammar and writing."

" ... French children are taught to be better behaved in public and social situations. Passengers on the Eurostar can often identify a child's nationality without hearing them speak. You can more or less bet the one running up and down the carriage screaming his head off will not be French."

"In France we see authority as a form of affection and believe that a child blossoms because of, not in spite of, that authority. The bottom line is my child can have his own opinion, but it's me who decides."

Rome, Part 3

St. Peter versus the Seagull at Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

We had sunny, clear skies and cool weather the entire time we were in Rome, so exploring the city on foot was quite nice.  Rome is quite large, compared to Venice and Florence, but we covered a decent amount of ground with the help of a couple of cab rides.  Unfortunately, Rome only has Uber Black, so it would have cost more than a taxi, which were more plentiful.  We saw most of the major sites including Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Castel Sant'Angelo, Vatican City, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, Pantheon, and more.

I did not spend a lot of time researching eateries in Rome, but kind of hoped we'd get lucky like we did in Venice and Florence, and stumble upon some local treasures.  Not so much.  There were a couple of gems, but overall, I wasn't impressed with the food.  Next time, I'll do a little work ahead of time.

My recommendation:

Gelateria del Teatro, Via dei Coronari, 65, 00186 Rome, Italy -- this place makes up for the many lunch and dinner misses we experience in Rome.

Rome, Part 2