The novamade fam went away on holiday last week. It was spring break for us, so we took a break. While I had every intention of telling you about our trip before we left...I just never got around to it, and now the trip has happened so the joyful anticipation of a trip about to happen is now just a wistful remembrance of greatness, because coming home forces one back into the reality of work, schedules and responsibility. Oh, I do love vacation. With that being said, my family went to France last week and we had a fabulous time.
Special K and I have long been of the "you don't change your lifestyle because you have kids" camp, but the reality is, kids will, inevitably, change your life and the way you live it (because, seriously, if you are waking up at three in the morning to comfort a child needing cuddles, a blanket, a snack, or whatever children need when the wake up in the wee hours of the morning, long before they should be awake--its going to have an impact on your day/life/your need for additional coffee, etc.).
One of the things that we have always enjoyed is travel, and while we do a fair bit of travel in and about the U.S. (which is sort of a requirement when you live in one corner of the continent and your family lives on opposite corners), we hadn't ventured outside the U.S. with the kids, and we felt like it was time. So we made the decision to finally go to France so we (and by "we", I mostly mean Special K) could see the D-Day Beaches at Normandy (but mostly the American Cemetery).
We stayed in a small village in Normandy situated right on the Seine called Connelles. It was beautiful, it was charming, and it was a good "base of operations" from which to plan daily excursions. While we spent most of our time exploring the Normandy region, we did venture into Paris a few times.
I am not going to lie, international travel with young children is a lot of work. But at the same time, I think traveling with young children offers the parental units a different perspective on the travel experience. The last time K and I were in Paris we planned everything with military precision, which, given who we are, isn't too surprising, I suppose. I am sure we enjoyed our time at the moment, but we didn't take as much time as we could have (or should have) to really savor the experience. Kids sort of force you to do that. We spent a lot of time looking at the Eiffel Tower because Little Sir became obsessed with it.
We spent less time looking and walking through cathedrals because Little Sir articulated a desire to spend less time walking about gothic structures which dwarfed him.
We spent tons of time walking about cities and villages because Little Mister is in a hate/hate relationship with his stroller right now.
And we went to a French McDonald's, Toys R Us and Disneyland Paris, things we would have never done before we had kids, because our children were pretty cooperative and deserved kid-geared activities for their own enjoyment.
We had fun. And we want to do the international-thing again sometime, but maybe when the kids can actually walk on their own without needing to be carried at great length...or when they are tall enough not to wander under turnstiles in the Paris Metro station with a carnet ticket...
I am not going to go into much more detail here. If you are interested in our trip to France, there is a nice and tidy set on flickr (with narration and everything!) that you are welcome to zip through.
When I packed my bags for the trip, I was pretty sure there would be time for knitting. I wasn't sure what to take at first, but because of Elinor's new sock contest (are you playing?!) I have a renewed interest in sock knitting, and I just happened to have two mateless socks (they have been mateless for years...seriously, I forgot they were there, that's how old they are). I took two socks and thought I'd get them done.
They aren't done yet; but, by the end of the month, I will be able to say I finished two pairs of socks, I am sure. I will have a lot to say about them (as you can imagine), because there are reasons they have been stewing for years...
Okay, enough yammering from me, go and flash some green and go about pinching the greenless, you know, if you are into that sort of thing.
Happy Shamrock Day!
Happy Shamrock Day to you as well! I'm sure you're doing more celebrating than before with a talkative four year old to hand. Very jealous of your France trip. I love all the Little Mister walking pics, even if they are a result of his hate/hate relationship! ;~)
I'll be interested to hear about your socks. Did you find any interesting yarn?
Posted by: Kathy | March 17, 2010 at 02:01 PM
That is great that you guys went on a International trip. Sounds like a wonderful time.
I am not that brave yet. My mom wants us to go to Hong Kong when Melody is 4yrs old. So, hopefully with a grandparent helping, it won't be so bad. I have 2 more years before she hits 4.
Posted by: Oiyi | March 17, 2010 at 03:30 PM
OK, now I'm exhausted! I took the train to Chicago for a weekend (concert & museum) with my sister and her boys last spring and OMG that was tiring. But, oh, so memorable, too, and I'd do it all again!!
; )
Posted by: Vicki | March 17, 2010 at 03:46 PM
I'm so impressed that you dared take your two young ones on an international trip. It looks like you all had a grand time (except for the lack of sleep, of course)!
Posted by: Leah | March 18, 2010 at 02:20 AM
Nova you sneaky little thing!! LOVED reading about this trip so much, and what a great time of year to go. You must have rented a car which to me is soooo impressive:) I'm off to bomb your flickr set, you're going to wish you never knew me in a few minutes...
Posted by: Heather | March 18, 2010 at 08:36 AM
I think that international travel with kids is a great thing. Being with the kids, the itinerary is different, and the pace is different, but you also get to interact with locals in a way that you don't when you are in an adult tourist bubble.
Posted by: Ingrid | March 18, 2010 at 08:19 PM
Snap!! Got back from Paris this week and went to most of the places you did - we are not as intrepid as you - we live in England so not so far to travel. We will definitly be going back sometime as we only had two days and didn't get to the Louvre or the latin quarter - we did find Fauchon though - the most artistic cakes I have ever seen!!
Posted by: Carol Juniper | March 21, 2010 at 01:36 PM
Oh fun!!! So glad you had a wonderful time. Your kids are going to have such great memories.
Posted by: Erin | March 22, 2010 at 05:52 PM
What an awesome succinct post! I still need to go through your flickr pics to catch up.. and wandering under the turnstile.. I'm assuming you're not talking from experience or anything.. o dear!
Posted by: yaiAnn | March 26, 2010 at 08:42 PM