Normandy Day 3

Here we are, in Mont Saint-Michel. 

The first time I've been here, about twenty years ago, I was on the back of a motorcycle, it was raining and we didn't even stop to visit the place....I only have memory of a zoomed image of the Abbey. This time everything was perfect: right company (my two favorite men in the world), perfect weather and a comfortable car. 

 

The only thing that I miss about that period is my shape...how on Earth were those Monks able to go up and down the stairs 7 times a day? No doubts, an immense Faith was moving them. Also, did you know that there was only one bathtub in the entire Monastery and that all the Monks used it only once every 6 months? But the worse part is that, since it was too difficult to carry the water up, they all washed in the same water....just imagine the last guy! 

We didn't have the chance to try the famous Omelette de la Mere Poulard: instead we went for a walk in the bay and Josh loved it so much. Those quick-sands are really deep! While at the beginning you feel like you're walking on the Moon (not that I have any experience about it!) and you actually feel that the ground is sinking, then, in a few second you realize that the sand/mud is actually sinking and you are going down (where?) with it. So wicked! 

 

In the evening we went to our B&B: this time we weren't as lucky as in the previous days. This time "Mortimer" opened the door, he didn't say anything more than: "Room. Upstairs" and went back in the living room on his rocking chair, staring at the door. 

Giuseppe asked me if he was talking to his imaginary mother....

We double locked the room that night, you never know! 

As a final gift we drove to Saint Malo: ten years ago, when Josh was only 9 month old, the two of us came here for our two weeks of sailing class with Les Glenans (what about the separation anxiety?).  On our second week, we sailed from Paimpol to Saint Malo: 22 feet of tide twice a day, tide calculation, rain, wind, freezing water, French language, sick skipper and arrogant crew members...Such a wonderful experience! 

As much as the city looks impressive from the ground with its walls and fortress, it's nothing like when approaching it from the sea. We arrived in the evening on our 34 ft sailing boat, exhausted: we forgot to give the right of way to the Ferryboat so we almost got all killed, but then we slept in the port. At night, with low tide, the walls were towering upon us and we felt so small. In the morning, surprise! High tide and we were at the street level. Unforgettable. 

Oops, I almost forgot. We decided to get a coffee in a restaurant. 

Well, this also was an experience we will never forget: listen to what Giuseppe has to say about it. 

Normandy - day 2

Normandy is such a beautiful area...we almost decided to change our retirement plans: instead of Antibes, perhaps we'll buy a nice old home close to Honfleur (prices are apparently excellent), with  the freezing sea and the windy beaches...well, perhaps not. Let's say we stick to our plan and sometimes we take a plane and come up here, better in November, just in time for the Scallops festival. I'm not sure how the Summer is here, but certainly the colors of the leaves during the Fall are extraordinary. I can understand why so many painters came here to find their inspiration. I'd never been on the East Cost during the Foliage, but Giuseppe told me it's quite similar, just more on the green side here. 

The food is obviously great...I mean, it's still France (I'm not a big fan of the grenouilles - frogs - though, but I love les escargots). 

When we arrived in Omaha beach, we were surprised to see so many Americans around, but then I realized that we were on the day of All Saints, so probably many of them had relatives buried in the nearby American Cimitery. What a sight! So impressive...everything was quiet, then all of a sudden the American Anthem started, the flag was lowered. 

I was not in France, I was back in USA. 

We spent most of the day on the Normandy Landing sites. This is what Josh asked so many times, and I don't think he'll forget all the crosses. Sometimes a good experience is worth more than the books, when you need to learn history ...and its mistakes.

Later we went to our guest house: another great couple, the house was perfect and there were decorations everywhere for Halloween...even the ugliest cat I've ever seen. I though it was an ornament, so scary, ghostlike...but then it moved! The best Halloween decoration ever :)

The guy took us to a nearby Calvados Farm and, OMG, we couldn't resist. We bought Calvados and one of Cidre (better the first!). No we can get drunk at all times, between the Absinthe, the Rhum (from Rio) and now this. 

Unfortunately (and hopefully for Josh) we were late to visit the famous Bayeux Tapestry but it's a good excuse to come back here one more time. I absolutely want to see it. 

The journey was long, we were exhausted and, honestly, Bayeux doesn't offer quite much in term of nightlife...pretty boring actually. 

Better sneak under the blanket and have a good night sleep. Tomorrow is another day, tomorrow we go to Le Mont Saint-Michel!

Happy Birthday Josh - 10 wonderful years!

We love you. So much!
Mom & Dad


We organized his BDay party at the EXPLORADOME and all the kids had fun playing, jumping, making music, eating a ton of chocolate and drinking gallons of Coca Cola. The parents, meanwhile, were all busy visiting the nearby Musee d'Art Contemporain du Val de  Marn. 

Trip to Normandy - Day 1

After more than two months here in Paris, we decided to go for a trip. After all, we just live in the boring-in the middle of nowhere - right? 

Grandma got on the train, going back to Italy and to the other nephew (the one who doesn't walk, doesn't run and doesn't protest!). We went to our rental car:  excellent prices but, OMG, the pick up was at the Gare de Lyon, in the lower level: I never smelled such an awful smell of urine in my whole life!!!! Disgusting.

Hopefully the service was quick so we were out in a few minutes.  We booked a Fiat 500, red just in case we end up buying one in LA,  but unfortunately they ran out of it, so we took a Peugeot 308.

Fiat 500

Peugeot 380

 Too bad.

We went North, directed towards Rouen. But we stopped before. In fact we discovered (such ignorants!!!) that the second most visited site in Normandy is Giverny, at 1 hr drive from Paris.  It's where Claude Monet lived, in the famous pink house, surrounded by his beautiful garden. We were able, despite the bad weather, to see some water lilies and nimpheas and to walk on his garden bridges. 
The poor guy was almost broke, he couldn't afford living in Paris with his eight children ...so he decided to move out, in the country. Well, if you look at the house you wonder: "What if he was rich?". I mean, this place is immense...

Then we headed towards Rouen. The Cathedral of course. The biggest surprise was the Gros Horloge Museum: extraordinary, detailed and well preserved. Looking around I felt I was in a comic book, Asterix and Obelix precisely, with all these wood/stone houses.
 

Finally, at night, we went to Etretat to see the falaises. Despite being dark, the panorama from the beach was great. Josh convinced us to walk to the top. We agreed but I wish we didn't: the walk is about 20 min long, but that's not the problem. There's no fence and it was windy. At the very top I sat down on the rock and I refused to move forward. Too high.

We reserved a room in a beautiful house, in Genneville. The owners, Daniel Neel and his wife, are excellent hosts. The room was splendid and clean, warm and cozy. The next morning we had breakfast with other guest, tasting their home made "confitures". 

Here is the link: Daniel Neel 

One last word about the GPS: it's an excellent and useful device when it works but why it doesn't tell when you miss the target or you head towards the wrong direction? I mean, it just recalculates the new trajectory and with the same monotone voice keeps telling you the new street. Josh had an idea: a GPS that, when you get the wrong direction, starts screaming and yelling at you: "Hey dude, what the heck are you doing? Idiot, you missed the road! ". Imagine if, after 3 times you miss the road, it tells you: "You are too damn stupid, I just quit. From now on, it's up to you!". I bet a lot of people would have fun with it and would have it installed! At least it's a reaction!
 

Le Musee' d'Orsay

This if by far my favorite museum in Paris...knowing that it was transformed in a museum by an Italian architect makes me proud (lately it's such a rare feeling, with all that happens in the news). After a couple of years of renovation, finally it opened again and I couldn't wait any longer to visit it. Sorry, Giuseppe, next time you'll come with us. 

When we arrived, I saw this long line of people waiting to get their ticket and I almost changed my mind. But then, thanks to Josh, we were directed to the "priority line" (that's the benefit of visiting Museums with kids under 12) and so we were inside after one minute! BTW, kids have always free access to the museums, which is even better. The clock on the wall reminded us of Hugo Cabret...but it could be any train station in Paris. 

Pictures and movies not allowed, just a quick peek inside....

Mes vacances de Toussaint

Le 25 Octobre, je suis allé avec ma mère et ma grand-mère  visiter le Musée Rodin.
Les sculptures que j’ai préférées sont Le Penseur, car il est très réaliste, et La Porte de l’enfer, car il avait plus de 200 figures souffrantes. Après j’ai visite le Dôme des invalides : d’abord je croyais que le sarcophage de Napoléon était en bois car il était rouge et sculpté mais ma mère m’a appris que c’est duporphyre rouge. Enfin nous sommes allé au Musée de l’Armée. Dommage que je n’aie pas vu la collection d’armures, mais j’ai admiré les modèles de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. 

                                       

Le 27 Octobre, j’ai visité le Musée d’Orsay : l’artiste que j’ai aimé le plus est Van Gogh. Je l’ai choisi parce qu’il utilise des couleurs très vivantes et ses images semblent sortir de la toile. Si je pouvais poser à Van Gogh 3 questions, je lui demanderais pourquoi il a coupé son oreille, pourquoi il n’a pas vendu aucun de ses tableaux et pourquoi il s’est suicide. Le chef d’ouvre que j’ai préfèré est La Chambre à coucher.

Quand ma grand-mère est retournée en Italie, nous sommes partis pour un voyage en Normandie. Notre premier arrêt a été dans un village nommé Rouen. Nous avons visité le Le Gros-Horloge: l’aiguille unique pointe l’heure et il marque aussi les phases de la lune. J’ai également obtenu d’aller au sommet de la tour, si haute!

Le lendemain nous sommes arrivés à la plage d’Omaha, aussi appelé Omaha la Sanglante parce que c’était la plage du D-DAY où le nombre de décès était plus élevé.. Nous sommes allés au Musée: il était très intéressant. Nous avons vu un canon 155 mm de long: j’ai appris que le calibre est le diamètre de la bouche d’une arme. Il y avait plusieurs modèles avec des mannequins de soldats et aussi quelques jeeps et de vraies armes.
Plus tard nous sommes allés au Cimetière Américain de Colleville-sur-Mer: il y avait plus de 9 000 croix blanches: ils ont tous regardé aliked et ils étaient tous parfaitement alignés. Certaines tombes avaient étoiles sur eux: ces soldats appartenaient à la juive. Elle était si calme! Soudain, j’ai entendu l’hymne américain et j’ai vu le drapeau américain étant tiré vers le bas. Je me sentais vraiment triste pour tous ces hommes qui ont perdu leur vie dans la bataille!

Le dernier jour nous avons visité le Mont-Saint-Michel: nous avons visité quelques musées et magasins dans le village puis nous sommes allés sur le dessus pour visiter la cathédrale: on pouvait voir la baie tout autour de nous. En outre, il a été à marée basse alors nous sommes partis pour une promenade sur le sable: je pourrais sombrer dans ce si, j’ai réalisé que c’était des sables mouvants.  Génial! Il ressemblait à un gigantesque matelas.

Rodin and Napoleon

My mom was back in Paris, helping me while Emily was here, Josh was at school and the poor Giuseppe was "working" in Paraty. 

The first day we went shopping and we had a great time, then things got a bit confusing when Josh's school and the extra-school activity schedule needed to be respected...but it's grand-ma and I had to admit that it's easy to get lost in Paris with all the metro lines. Josh started his Toussaint vacation (10 days out of school!!!!) so we went visiting Museums and movie theaters. 

Speaking about Toussaint, I found it contradictory that a country as Italy, with all the Catholicism, only celebrates 2 days for this religious festivity...whereas the "secular France", despite its "laicite'", has a such long festivity: most of the public hospitals and school shut down. I bet it's not about catholic church or laicism, it's just that they love to take vacations and any excuse is good! How wouldn't?

The Rodin Museum and Les Invalides are great but the Baccarat Museum was quite disappointing: 4 rooms, some glasses, and of course a huge Boutique. Well, there's nothing there I need to buy for my 550 sf apartment here! I'm sure Ikea offers better deals. 

French etiquette

I'm back, after so many days. It was a  really a busy time, with my work and all the material for the project being shipped from L.A. (actually, Emily came along with them). So I spent a few days trying all the devices (springs mostly) and hopefully everything was ok. 

Emily came in the operating room with me...and she was out in a few minutes. I guess is easier for her testing astronauts than looking at bloody hands. 

And then, surprise, Mark, my neighbor from South Pasadena, came to visit and we went all together for a dinner at my boss's house. The funniest thing is that I told both Emily and Mark that, as a rule, in France, when you are invited for dinner at 8.30 pm, you shouldn't show up until 8.45 pm. I know, it's almost the same in Italy. It just gives the guest some time to relax before the people arrive...well, they actually didn't believe me so they were very anxious when we showed up at 8.35 pm...they thought we were late and that we were rude. 

It turned out that, obviously, we were the first one to arrive. In fact the other guests showed up from 8.45 pm afterword. Strange things happen in Paris...

So if you are invited for dinner in France, check some websites, as this one (under "etre recu"): 

http://www0.hku.hk/french/dcmScreen/lang2043/etiquette.htm

 

Giuliano Libero Fortunato

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is my nephew. This picture is dated two months ago. Now he's even better. 

Isn't he beautiful?

Dear sister, please, when's the next one?
 

2 months in Paris

I just realized today that we moved here exactly 2 months ago. I'm shocked. Time is running and it seems to me that we arrived yesterday. Looking back, I have to admit that this has been the hardest transition so far. 

Moving to LA was a piece of cake... Perhaps it's because I have an older and more demanding kid. When we arrived in LA, Josh was 3 1/2 and he would never question my choices. Now, it's a complete different  story. 

The school is hard, even more than expected and at the beginning we were all a bit frustrated. 

We were expecting a romantic, smooth and enchanted move to one of the most beautiful cities in the world and BAM! Surprise, nothing was easy. So it was hard. 

But we survived and I have the feeling we are getting better every day. Our son is relaxed now, he made new friends (same language, obviously), he started using some French words, he regularly buys the bread and few other items all by himself without getting hysterical (I'm of course 200 meters away, watching him), his sport and extracurricular activities are better organized and closer to his school now. We found a "tutor" for Josh, he is 22 and lives in the area. He speaks also some English. In a few months our son will speak way better than us this language. 

I finally was able to organize my working days in such a way that I get one day off and I can stay with Josh most of the afternoons.  

Giuseppe is still very busy, even though he stays home on Tue and Thursdays, but he is always traveling (now he's in Paraty - Brazil). Hopefully he'll get some rest in a month. 

Step by step, we made it through this hard time. We still miss our home a lot, and our friends. But we're trying with Skype to keep up with them. Who knows, perhaps in the future someone will come to visit us and Josh will carry his friends around...Let's hope!

Stop, this is the empire of Death!

After a week of rain, finally a sunny Sunday. And where my son wants to go? Down, underneath the ground, to visit the Catacombes of Paris. And so be it. Let's go 130 steps down, let's forget about the warm temperature and the sunlight...What a spectacular place! We spent 45 minutes in the dark, in long abandoned stone quarries transformed in a municipal Ossuary. Long corridors (1.2 miles) lined with "walls" made of ancient Parisian bones...what a site! I expected Josh to be somehow scared, on the contrary, he was fascinated by the place. But other kids, younger, were not as comfortable as him and we could hear them cry. 

Of course I wouldn't come here all alone, but apparently someone does: in fact the guide told us that there's a special Squad in the Police Department that spends nights rescuing adolescents lost in the galleries (it's part of an "initiation ceremony"). And that's not all, apparently in the past someone  organized a concert (guess the music? ) in one of the galleries!  

Coming out, this was Josh's comment:"Mom, can I have an ice-cream bone?". No comment!

La Cite' de la Science

Here we are, in La Villette, visiting for the first time the Cite' de la Science, this incredible huge museum that so much reminds me of the California Science Center. Of course we did the yearly-card so we'll get the chance to visit it several time. This place is immense and very well organized. We only had 3 hours and so we ended up visiting only a couple of areas. 

Naturally, Josh wanted to see the submarine first. So we did.

It was actually very interesting and the best part was the interactive museum at the end, where kids can play with the periscope and see all the models. As expected, Josh asked me to buy him all the boxes to build them...

Then we went inside the main exposition areas where there's all kind of scientific demonstrations. One suggestion: if you're in Paris and you have your kids with you, come here. It's really worth it!

I personally found really remarkable that they tried to explain, in a very realistic way, how people on a wheelchair struggle in doing all basic actions, as opening a door or going up a ramp. Well, this is the first time I saw something similar in a museum and Josh was impressed by how difficult it is to deal with such a "common" device. 

That said, I hope I'll never see him again on that kind of chair...scary!