Our last trip home.....

We had a quick trip home for Easter and it was like a whirlwind.  Trying to juggle seeing our kids, grandchildren, and friends proved to be difficult in just 10 days.  Throw in a holiday and some birthdays and it really gets tricky! Time was precious and the calendar was full.  But this was our last trip home and we knew that some things would have to just wait til we were home permanently in July....

Highlights of our visit......

Easter began with coloring some eggs with Ava and Katelyn

......and then an egg hunt and Easter dinner......

....Easter dinner now fills two tables!

Six of our seven grandchildren....what a feat getting them to all sit for a picture!  Ava is holding brother Jude, Anna with brother Emmett, and Katelyn and sister Amanda

Patrick and Tanya arrived a few minutes later with Tyson

But the week was full of many other grandparent moments, with Lyle putting together a bike for Anna, celebrating missed birthdays with Amanda and Katelyn at the Mall of America Nickelodeon park...

and going to the circus for Ava's upcoming missed birthday....

The week was full of other fun times with our own kids, family and friends, but it wore us out just a bit (an understatement?).  Three of our kids are in the process of moving, which involves their putting up places for rent and sale.  With sadness I will be coming back to Minnesota with one son who has moved to Lincoln for a job change.  That will be a huge change for me!  I guess that's why I tried to spend so much time with them while I could....

So we left the wild turkeys in our yard, heading to the pigeons of Paris, for one last trip back.  The next few months are already getting filled with small and huge (Greece!) trips out of Paris.  But we are also going to savor each and every day that we have here, trying to take in the cafes, a few museums, and walks through the neighborhoods.

Frustrations with (the) French

Maybe it is the language barrier and my frustration with not being able to communicate very well, even after two years of French lessons, but yesterday I had a not-so-untypical experience with customer service.

Amy and I met for our usual walk by the Seine, but deciding it was too cold, I suggested going for some hot tea  at a well-known restaurant on the river which gives a great view of the Eiffel.....a touristy place, but one Lyle and I enjoy in the evening for a glass of wine with a view.  I had noticed that they had a "Tea Time" menu for 8 euros which included a cup of tea and patisserie (pastry).  We headed over there and asked for the Tea Time menu and to sit indoors.  After telling the second hostess we wanted Tea Time, she guided us to a table right by a window.  Then a young waitress took our order for tea and gave us a menu.  We told her we wanted the Tea Time special and she pointed to the desserts on the menu, which were all over 10 euros each.. and we decided this is a pretty good deal!

So we ordered green tea and two creme brulees. The tea arrived, hardly hot, and two huge creme brulees. And a bill for 34 euros!  Translated into dollars, this is around 45 bucks!  I was angry.  Did they not understand my wonderful French?  Or were they trying to play dumb and stick some dumb tourists with a huge bill?

I refused to eat my 17-dollar dessert and instead we split one, shoving the uneaten one to the edge of the table.  Sweet Amy was ready to chalk it up to "a learning experience", but I was in no mood.  While I was trying to figure out the correct French words to use to argue with, Amy just got up and went to talk to the hostess and explain what we wanted.  The hostess understood, pointed to a huge tray of tiny french pastries, and told us THAT is what we should have chosen...we'd have to talk to the waitress. 

Well, the only words I could come up with were "trop cher"  (too expensive), pointing to my uneaten creme brulee and glaring at her.  She quietly took the bill and came back a few minutes later, deleting the 12 euros for the dessert and then gave me a lecture in French....something about NEXT TIME we should know what we are ordering, etc. etc..  I nodded and told her that I had said "TROIS FOIS" (three times!) that we wanted the tea menu.  It was about all I could say to argue in French.  I am not there yet. 

So we ended up paying 24 euros for two cups of  luke-warm tea (no refills) and one dessert.  A compromise, as the customer is not always right in France.

And to top it off, Lyle tells me that my second attempt at sending in our application for visas was not accepted because Lyle was smiling in his pictures.

Ski trip with Matt

Father and son walked all over Paris the day after Matt arrived.  After looking down on Paris from the top of the Eiffel, hiking down the Champs-Elysses and into the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the street of St. Germain, a relaxing train trip to the Alps was a welcome rest.

 

Penny the travel agent again hit the internet and travel books to try and figure out how and where to ski in Europe.  France takes skiing seriously.  They divide the whole country into 3 areas and rotate their annual 2-week school winter vacations so that they keep those resorts busy all season!  And most French ski areas are booked well ahead of time.  France was out.

We had been in Switzerland our first year here in May and wanted to return someday, so that was our choice.  I searched for a ski area where we could take a train....and one less than 6 hours and a bunch of transfers.  I found Lauterbrunnen, a town nestled in the Jungfrau Region of Switzerland, in "a valley of 72 waterfalls".  The speedy TGV took us to Berne in three hours, a transfer to another train to Interlaken, where we transferred again........

....and headed for a beautiful ride along the two lakes up into the mountains.  Then, the brown hills turned white with new snow.  The ride was a delight for the eyes!  And so was the view from our hotel window!

I am not a skier. I gave it up after a two-hour snowplowing experience down a slope in Colorado over five years ago. I wish I had learned when I was young, but I convinced myself that I would be just as happy gazing at the beautiful scenery, reading a book, while the guys hit the slopes.  The weather was perfect, warm enough for just a light jacket, perhaps a little TOO warm for the bundled up skiers!

They got up early the next morning to catch the rack train to the ski runs,  above Wengen, all the way up to Kleine Scheidegg at 6,762 feet  ......

.....and a few hours later I got a call telling me to get on that train and come on up!  The views were fantastic and I shouldn't miss them, even if I DIDN'T ski!  He was right.....

 

  

  

  

 Even higher at over 11,000 feet, was the "Top of Europe", a complex of restaurants, an ice castle, shops, and views to die for.  But when I learned that it cost 180 euros round trip to get there, I quietly told the tourist office woman: "It costs less than that to go to Paris!"  We passed on that one and instead enjoyed a bowl of soup and hot coffee half-way...

Our trip was going to be a short one.  We had one more day to go up the other side of Lauterbrunnen, to Murren.  Lyle and Matt took the cable car behind our hotel right after breakfast to get a half-day of skiing in before we had to head home.  I followed an hour later and met them in the picturesque town, full of chalets, small hotels, shops, and beautiful ski runs.

 

  

And on top of THIS side of the mountain was another famous restaurant, Schilthorn,  which was in the James Bond movie "In His Majesty's Service".  We were tempted to to up there for breakfast, but...well, maybe another time (in the summer?).

The trip was too short, of course.....I know we all could have stayed many days longer.  But it was a good introduction to Alps skiing, and maybe one that we are fortunate enough to do again someday.  We love the mountains, and think about hiking them one day too.

Back in Paris, Matt was able to take in a few more sights, some French food.....well, mostly Italian I guess, and time with his dad.  We are glad he was able to come!

Special times at home

Oh my gosh, where did January go?  It has been quite a month, and one NOT spent in Paris.  Instead, we headed back to Minnesota for a number of good reasons: family, friends, and ......

 

SNOW???  This is what we arrived to on our deck....

.....and it just keeps coming as I write.  I think I have had enough of winter for one year and am looking forward to being able to take walks again, without the ice, knee-deep snow, and bitter cold.  I have become spoiled, I know.  I thought I would at least walk to the grocery store a few blocks away, but I have not done it once.  Oh, how I didn't want to be so car-dependent!

But we didn't come for the weather.  We have had very special times around here......

  

Enjoying four little granddaughters...

.....like making cookies, having tea parties, sleepovers.  Precious ways to spend winter days!

But there are also the grandsons.....

Emmett celebrated his first birthday, with his sister Anna helping him blow out his ONE candle....

 

......meeting a new grandson, Tyson, just a month old .....

 

But, we had a double blessing with another grandson born a month later!  Jude joined his sister Ava and that now makes SEVEN grandchildren for Lyle and me.  How did that happen?

 

 

It doesn't get much better than this!  So, I am home basking in the many blessings of having them all nearby, shopping, lunches, baby showers.  Lyle had to cut his visit short and return to Paris three weeks before my return.  Well, somebody has to make a living, right?

Being home for a month has brought lots of mixed emotions.  I feel like I have two lives.  I miss the new friends I have in Paris, the exciting adventures we have there, the mild weather (of course), and the healthy lifestyle of walking and healthy eating.  I have all the intentions of carrying that back to my home when I am here, but have found that I easily slip into the American lifestyle of driving everywhere, eating readily available snacks, and not exercising.  I am watching more TV...another consequence of cold, lazy evenings.  But I have also loved getting together with dear friends I have known for many years and catching up on their lives over breakfasts, lunches, and coffee.

I marvel that I can wash and dry my clothes in less than an hour.

I can't get over the cheap prices of groceries, clothes, and eating out.

I get impatient with the lengthy commercials on television.

I miss the cafes and French wine.

I have not been practicing my French.

Such a mixed jumble of thoughts.  We have four months left of our adventure in Paris and will embrace every minute of it.  I am thankful for all that we have experienced......and also that we have a wonderful home, family, and friends to return to.

 

Christmas get-away to Nimes

Our Christmas was quiet and different.  No excited grandchildren tearing through gifts again this year.  That will have to wait until next December.  And next year, Lyle should have more free time to really enjoy it, hopefully with a few less job responsibilities.  PLUS...more time to enjoy our newest grandchild (number 6 with number 7 in a few weeks!).  We received the excited call that Tyson Patrick Tollefsrud was born on the 22nd to proud parents Patrick and Tanya.  We can't wait to see him when we go home in January!

I searched the internet for a week to find a place to spend Christmas weekend....to do something special and memorable.  Yes, of course spending Christmas in Paris is a huge wish for many.  But we did that last year, and Lyle needed a few days away from the easily-accessible computer.

A train ride was a must.  Who wants to battle lines and security checks at CDG airport?  The problem was, many Parisians had the same idea.  Train tickets were at a premium, especially to ski areas and southern France, both on our list.  After being told at the ticket office that our Nimes destination was "sold out", more tickets miraculously appeared on the internet the morning of the 24th.  I booked them.

We spent a peaceful Christmas Eve with candles and light supper at home, then walked to the candlelight service at the American Church of Paris.  It was a beautiful service, with carol-singing in both French and English.  The streets were nearly empty on our walk home near midnight.....

On Christmas Day we hopped on the fast TGV train to southern France, to the ancient town of Nimes.  Just a three hour drive took us from a drizzly, cold Paris to bright sunshine and 55 degrees, complete with some palm trees!  We pulled our bags through the neighborhoods to our 16th century townhouse-hotel in the oldest part of the city......a delight for me, but Lyle just shaking his head and wondering what is wrong with the big hotel down the street?

Nimes has a lot of history.....from Gaul to the Romans to the Protestant resistance, I was excited!  After an outdoor lunch next to the ancient Amphitheater,  we were able to go inside for a self-guided tour.

 

This arena, one of the best Roman preserved stadiums, was finished around 80 AD and has a bloody history.  It was used for gladiator games then.....and now for bullfights.

That evening we found one of the rare restaurants that were open and enjoyed "confit de canard"...juicy duck leg.  We were joined by a woman and her 6-year-old son, traveling from Canada and wanting some English-speaking companions to dine with.

The day after Christmas was cooler with a north wind, but we dressed warm and walked through the town....now with a lot more people out enjoying the markets and after-Christmas shopping (still no sales to speak of, though).

But we continued our journey through history, seeing a 3-D movie in a 2000-year-old Roman temple, looking nearly brand new....

......to the ruins of the ancient Temple of Diana.....

......whose stones were used in the 16th century to build the "Jardins de la Fontaine......

We climbed the hill above the city to get a look at the Tour Magne, or the Great Tower....another Roman structure that was part of the wall surrounding the city. We climbed a stairway inside, built in 1843, to get a view over the city.

                                    

                                        

 Nimes was full of history, narrow streets, and palm trees.....a good combination for a weekend away.

 

On Sunday, we relaxed on the train ride back to Paris, gazing at the medieval castles and vineyards of the Languedoc....