Things we won't & will miss about Paris...

We are almost ready to leave, so we decided to make a list of will and won't miss.

WE WON'T MISS: 

Josh: dog poop, crowded metro, my apartment, the accent on french words, pickpockets, the rain, rats, the homeless, homeworks, the teachers...

Isa: the waiters in the restaurant, the teachers, the bank, the drunks and the homeless all over the city, the dirt, the rain, the dry-cleaning close to home, the security doors in the metro, the stairs to our front door, the smell in the metro, the weirdos all over town, the hairsalons, our noisy neighbors, the dust on the furnitures, carrying luggages in the metro without elevators, the clercks in public offices, Orange telephone customer service...

WE WILL MISS: 

Josh: crepes, baguettes, pain au chocolat, the view from the Eiffel Tower, the museums, my friends,
casual conversations with people you just met, going to buy groceries across the street all by myself, staying at home while mom and dad are having dinner in a close by restaurant, macaroons...

Isa: the musicians in the metro, the fromagerie and the boulangerie at the corner of the street, picnic in the public parks with cheese and wine, the old buildings, the cabblestone, the health system, my friends, the moules frites, the escargots, the courtyard of our apartment, free museums for the kids, the ads , my colleagues, the monokini, the farmer market every other day, the English bookstore close to the school, my Monday morning coffe-breaks with the other moms, walking around the city at night without fear, not using a car, the poems, french books, the chocolate store, crepes, les baguettes aux cereals, my Navigo card, rock salt, my son talking in French, smoking in a bistro, concerts in churches...

14 Juillet ...it's time for celebrations in Paris

I've been dreaming of a pic-nic "en plein air" in a park, at sunset since the last couple of months...unfortunately the weather has been awful. So I almost gave up but then, on the 14 of July, this opportunity came up again and I was able to fulfill this little dream of mine.

Together with another couple of American friends, we packed some cheese, baguettes, delicatessen and of course wine and we went in the most unusual spot in Paris where too have pic-nic: south of Montparnasse , along the avenue Pasteur, there is a small green area, almost big as a tablecloth, on a steep slope on one side of the curb.

At first sight, you wouldn't think of this spot as a desirable place where to sit and eat on the grass while chatting....but, as usual, we were wrong. After a few minutes from our arrival, the place was packed with people waiting, as we were, to admire the fireworks.  The amount of spectators was close to a thousand, on the grass, on the curb but mostly in the middle of the street, which had been closed to traffic by 9:30 pm. When we arrived there, we understood why this place was so popular: the avenue Pasteur is in straight line pointing to the direction of the Tour Eiffel and this particular area is elevated with respect to the rest of the nearby buildings so that you can enjoy a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower !

The fireworks celebrating the "Prise de la Bastille" were spectacular and lasted more than half an hour , for Josh's greatest enjoyment.

 What a night!

Welcome back !!!!

We missed you so much!! 
Love, 
Gio, Isa & Beppe

From Altadena to Paris...

When my friend Etta called me last week to get details on what kind of sandals to bring to Paris, I replied: "Never mind the sandals, just get rubber boots, an umbrella and a raincoat." She freaked out  and began to search desperately these items around Pasadena and Altadena, without success. Etta, don't you know that you find them in any subway station? They are the number two souvenirs for the tourist, aside from the Tour Eiffel snow-dome. 

But I must admit that I was somewhat pessimistic: in fact, during her six days of vacation here in Paris, she could enjoy the sun even for two days in a row. A windfall!
I must say that her choice of staying in Versailles seemed crazy to me, but then I realized that she could enjoy a magnificent hotel and rest in the train after the long rides around this town. We walked around for kilometers, we ate foie gras (last chance before moving back to California) and escargots, we had excellent wine (yes, the kids tasted it and they asked for Coca Cola after that!!!), we laughed, we made ​​long lines together with the other thousand of tourists, we told each other the latest news, our children had a good time and everything went well . 

See you soon, in Turin, and thank you for everything!

Puck and other "encounters" at the Bois de Boulogne

Today, for some inexplicable reason, it wasn't raining...such a surprise! After spending one week in planning how many raincoats and umbrellas and boots I should have packed to go to the Bois de Boulogne, all of a sudden I realized that a simple t-shirt would just do it. I've never been to this park, even thought it's just around the corner where I work. So I thought that the regular planning with my interactive metro-line application would be enough. Soooo wrong. As soon as we were out of the metro, I looked at the directions on my smart-phone...and I realized that this stuff is not smart at all. How on earth can a GPS application give me directions when it can't locate me without less than 4 km approximation? That's the entire Bois de Boulogne. As a matter of fact, we got lost. We went all the way north just to realize that we were heading toward the wrong direction...the blue arrow still immobile on my screen. Stupid app! Finally I got in touch with a friend of mine who was already at the Jardins de Shakespeare and she gave me some advice. So we walked...approximately half an hour. 

It was 2 pm and there were thousands of families in the park, playing, sunbathing, reading or just having their picnic. Kind of an awkward setting for prostitution, right? In fact when Josh asked me what was that "lady" doing, with her short skirt, sitting right in the middle of the curb...I didn't even have the time to come up with some ridiculous and totally false explanation...I just splatted the truth right in front of him: nothing, honey, she's just selling sex for money! Yeap! Like that....Just the time for him to turn around and give her another quick interrogative look, that the "lady" was carried away by a client in his car. No more comments from my son. I know I can't hide him forever from the ugliness of this world, but I wish I was less direct.

We finally joined the group of parents from the school, had a quick lunch then we entered the open-air theater where the "Midsummer Night's Dream" was played. Four girls from Josh's class were acting in the play and they were absolutely wonderful.  The setting was incredible: the Théâtre de Verdure is considered, for good reasons, one of the most beautiful open-air theatres in the world.

The audience sits on a large lawn around which are planted the flowers, trees and plants, so that the stage is completely natural and perfect for the play: the actors came on stage from different entrances and exits, and there are all sorts of narrow paths and steps for the cast to gamble around. The Théâtre de Verdure is worth a visit even if no performance is scheduled. Of course, you'll have to work hard to find it, first! 

The picture above? There is an explanation: the weather, this crazy Parisian weather, as usual played a trick on us: this time it wasn't the rain, quite the opposite. We spent 2 hours and 15 minutes burning and sweating under the torrid sun. Some of us literally collapsed!
Can't we just have a regular day? Can't there be something in between a thunderstorm and a Saharan sun? I'm puzzled...

Kayak in Ardeche...when we almost lost Josh...

It's been two weeks now since we came back from our trip to Ardeche but I couldn't find the words to tell this adventure. It was beautiful but also the scariest moment of my life.

It all began a couple of months ago, when I decided to organize with  some old friends in Biot (the place where Giuseppe lived from 1998 until 2005) a "reunion" to celebrate both Giuseppe anniversary and also our 7th wedding anniversary. Some of those friends came  along with us in Ardeche already 13 years ago, for a kayaking week-end. At that time, since none of us had kids, we descended the river in two days, camping in the Bivouac de Gaud at night (we had the tent, the sleeping bags, the bbq, a lot of wine and beer....what did we need more?). This time of course we had to organize our trip a little differently, since the other two couples had respectively two and four kids. But we did it.
After hours of driving across this country, surrounded by magnificent landscapes and lush countryside....we passed near Montelimar where the immense 4 chimneys of the nearby nuclear plant reminded us, shockingly, that the French, in contrast to Italians, are not worried of getting 70% of their power from nuclear sources!

After almost ten hours of driving, we arrived to The Camping du Midi, where we had our two cottage homes: two double bedroom, living room with dinette, bathroom, shower room and veranda. Not bad! 

 It was great: after so many years we still had so much to share and laugh about! Additionally all the kids (7 in total) connected immediately, despite the language (they all speak French!). Josh was extraordinary: not even one moment he felt uncomfortable with the language. The first morning, since it was raining... 

 

...we decided to visit the Grotte de la Madeline: a magical place highlighted by a show with special sounds and lights effect . The place has huge and amazing concretions. Wonderful. 

Then in the afternoon we had our first experience in the Gorges de l'Ardeche with the kayaks. It was awesome! 

 

The expedition was formed by three kayaks: the Knopp's (Cathy, Raymond and 9 y.o. Michael), the Kohrs's (Arndt, 10 y.o. Noah and 7 y.o. Alan) and the Caire's. 
Only 8 km (almost 5 miles) to begin with but enough to experience the cold water, the first white water and to familiarize with the whole paddling thing.  Josh was constantly asking us to go in the hardest part of the rapids: I can't blame him! It's fun, you get splashed and you have to move quickly in order to get out from that hell, but it's a wonderful experience. We ended the afternoon just after the 60 m stone arch which spans the river: the Pont d'Arc.

In the evening the kids played ping-pong while we prepared dinner. Then they had a very special treat: s'mores, just like in the USA.
On the next day we started around 10 am the longest ride: 24 km (15 miles) down the river, without any chance to stop in the middle. There's no way that, if you change your mind, you can climb up. The river walls are limestone cliffs up to 300 m high. In the morning, during one particular white water, both the other two teams flipped over and we all paddled back to help the kids. Of course they were scared, but overall it was fine, since they only got in the water. The "sapeurs pompiers" (rangers) are constantly monitoring the difficult areas of the river and they helped us retrieving the shoes, the paddle, the hats, etc.
Around noon we stopped for lunch: fortunately all our stuff was "sealed" into special containers, so our cheese and salami were still eatable. Then, just after we restarted our second part, that's when it happened. I was in the front, Josh in the middle and Giuseppe in the back . We were going through a white water, the Dent Noir, which is particularly difficult because there's a rock right in the middle of the river and most of the kayaks crash in the rock and then flip over. Actually we completed the white water without turning upside down and without hitting the Dent Noir, but, just when we were about to get out of the fast running water, I wasn't able to turn the kayak toward the center of the river so we crashed with our left side against a rock on the left wall. Completely. What about all the tips that the guy told us about trying to jump over the rock before tipping over so you're not stuck under the kayak? Useless, at least when everything happens in less that 2 seconds. Others before us had just hit the same rock so they were stuck against the rocky wall as well. Two kayaks, once next to the other. With the left side of our kayak against the rock and the water running against our right side so fast, we immediately tipped over. As soon as I had my head out of the water, able to breath again, I was taken away by the current. I tried to swim upstream, with all my strength, but I just couldn't. I was calling for Josh, trying to see him but in vain. After a few seconds I saw Giuseppe taken away by the water and our kayak going down the river along with him, but no sign of Josh. The other kayak, the one that was already there when we crashed, was still upside down against the rock...that's when I panicked. What if Josh was stuck under the kayak and couldn't get out? It was already about a minute and I still couldn't see him. I kept calling him but nothing, no answer. Then I guy over a rock on the side of the river gave me a sign and I saw my son. He was pale, terrified, completely in shock. After swimming back and holding on the rocks, I was finally able to reach him. That's when he told me that, not only he was stuck under the kayak, but also that the rock we crashed against had a "submerged cave", about 2 meters wide, just beneath the level of the water. He was stuck there and was pushed against the bottom of the "cave" by the current. When he realized that he had no way out, he swam with all his energy against the current, and was finally out. 
Here is a video I found on YouTube about the Dent Noir white waters: 

 

I am still shaking, now, even after two weeks. This place is advertised as one of the safest rivers in France: it's actually open to kids over 7 years old and during the same weekend we saw literally hundreds of kids with their family. Who on earth could imagine that there is such an unsafe area there, with a "hidden trap" underwater....A couple of days after we came back, I almost fainted when I read on a French newspaper that just the week before, a 37 y.o. guy died in exactly the same spot. Horrible. 
What or who do I have to thank for this "happy ending" we were blessed with? The almost five years of weekly swimming lessons? Someone up there that didn't feel it was the right moment for Josh to leave his crazy parents?
After this dramatic moment and after taking a long break, we had to go back on the kayak: as I said previously, there is no way you can get out of the canyon without kayaking.
Of course until the end, we were very careful to avoid all possible dangers, even though we turned upside down once more (tired, mistake...who knows?). This time I grabbed my son's hand while we were still halfway between air and water...this time I was going with him, no matter where! 
We finished around 7 pm. By that time Josh and the other kids were no longer scared or shocked. They were just exhausted and happy that everything was over.
The bus took us back to the campsite and then, after the last kisses and hugs, we drove to Avignon, just 80 km away. But of course, without the GPS app of my smartphone (right, the phone was  the only victim of the adventure....together with all the pictures and movies....no regrets, I have my son, I don't care about the pictures!) it took us more that 2 hrs to arrive there.
Let me give you a tip: don't ever try to drive your car in Avignon. It's a nightmare. Impossible. The craziest labyrinth of one-way streets and "no-parking" signs I've ever seen. We arrived in our splendid hotel: it's called the Hotel Restaurant Palais des Papes, right in the central village. It is really nice and elegant...the stair is unbelievable:

The best thing? The view from our room: 

In the morning we woke up, we had breakfast, then we crossed the square and visited the Palais des Papes and the Pont d'Avignon...then it was time to go back to Paris.
In the end, everything was fine...we were together, safe and happy. No nightmares, no post-traumatic stress...but I'm not doing it again. At least not with my son. 

 

Fun and speed

I'm not sure if we decided to do the Go-Karting because of Josh...or because of Giuseppe. I'm more prone to the second answer. Well, Beppe has been asking for this since October, when Josh came to this circuit for a birthday party. 

Any how, since, as usual, it was raining outside, what better time to go indoor for some fun? 

We had separate sessions, adults and kids, to avoid crying and desperation among the young ones and prevent anti-sportive behaviors among the father! Josh had his first session and got a nice score. He was speeding and enjoying it, avoiding other cars who hit the barriers or made 360 degrees turns. He almost got out of his own car when he saw another kid stuck in the middle of the racing lane. Can you believe it? He wanted to  make sure that the kid was ok. 

Then it was our turn. 

It was ok...but while I was pressing on the gas, I was asking myself why did I agree to this? The hands were shaking like crazy, all my body was in pain because of the vibrations and the constant muscle contraction. Is this a sport? Really? Why would you do it? I don't understand. Of course Beppe doubled me ...but just because I realized only at the parking spot that the left pedal was the brake! The day after my lower back was so painful I almost couldn't walk. Never again.

Here's the movie of our performances: