CAMP MOM

Well, I have several August stories and trips that will get their own blog entries – but, since school started today (Thank you!) I thought I’d give you a quick rundown on what we did in August.  I refer to it as Camp Mom – since (except for on weekends) it was me and the kids vs. the world!

On a typical weekday, the kids would sleep in (until around 8am or so) and then have snuggle time with me for at least half an hour.  Then we got up, got dressed and ate our breakfast together (Daddie has left for work by this point).  After breakfast we did about an hour or hour and a half of homework each day. We got a bit freaked out over the summer to realize how far Zander and Callie are slipping behind for American school and decided to do a bit of catch up over the summer – of course we couldn’t leave Griffin out!  Then I would play a game or something with them for about half an hour and continue on to my workout.  I have been feeling very out of shape so I purchased Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout – they are only 20 minutes each but it was still a challenge each day to get the kids to play by themselves long enough for me to complete the routine!  Then we would have lunch (with or without Daddie, depending on the day) and clean up together.  Actually, we have now instituted “everyone helps clean up until all the clean up is done” as a rule after every meal.  It was hard to enforce at first, but is now awesome.  We can usually get all the clean up done after a meal (i.e. clearing table, wiping table and counters, sweeping floor and washing and rinsing all dishes) within about 10 minutes.  I love it!  After lunch we did a different activity depending on the day, such as: swimming, hiking, visiting a museum, doing a craft or going grocery shopping/doing errands.  Often they spent time in either the morning or afternoon out in the courtyard with their friends.  Then it was time to make dinner and for Daddie to come home.  He did science experiments with them while dinner was finishing being cooked.  Then we ate, cleaned up and sent the kids outside to play with their friends until bedtime – which was usually around 9pm instead of their usual 7:30.  This was our version of re-immersion into the language.

We took almost all the art down from the craft/computer room to make room for new stuff.  Here are a few shots to remember the former glory.

                                            

Here are some of the crafts we did. On popsicle art day, Callie and Griffin made popsicle caterpillars and Zander made an elaborate house to feed insects, particularly ants – but no bees.  Another day they all worked together to make this elaborate bird cat toy for Simone.  It was wonderful to watch – Griffin picked out the blue sequins while Zander and Callie did the placement and gluing – it came out magnificently!   Another day, when Callie was on the one play date we managed to arrange this summer (seems they don’t happen much around here), the boys and I made soap box balloon racers.  Left to right, you can see Mr. Balloonie (by Griffin), The Rose Racer (by moi) and Triple Blue (by Zander).  They actually didn’t roll at all when the balloons were inflated, despite the Family Fun article to the contrary, but it was a great craft anyway.  I loved how they didn’t let that little snag bother them – they must be learning to go with the flow, just like us.

And then, of course there was the other creativity that went on.  I went outside once to find Callie protecting this sand sculpture she had painstakingly created outside one day  when no friends were around.  Another day I was treated to Zander the swami doing his snake charmer impression for the amusement of Griffin.  Zander is always creating something.  Today he ripped a receipt up into tiny pieces and

arranged them so they looked somewhat like a robot on the (formerly clean) living room floor.  He showed them to me saying excitedly, “Look at this, Mom!”.  I responded with the (admittedly repressive): “Looks like a mess on my floor.”   His priceless rejoinder: “Mom, you never respect my art.” (No, I am not making that up).    I am filled with chagrin…. Finally you can see my personal fave of the month, the day Callie decided to be creative with Griffin’s head. He loved it as you can see! I have been doing some scrapbooking recently, and when Zander was this age and he loved to get his hair done and get dressed up too. 

For museums we visited the Citadelle to see the animals and enjo

y the view.  We also got to see a cool new insect display.  Towards the end of our visit they had an interactive portion and Zander was chosen as a volunteer.  He got to hold a sword and pretend to fight with it. They also did this bizarre sword fight set to music – it was supposed to be serious, I think. See the video… Callie and Griffin were too shy to take part, unfortunately.  The kids also did workshops at the Musee de Temps and the Musee de Beaux Arts.  They loved both the classes but particularly the one at Beaux Arts which was focused on art and mythology around monsters. Below you can see them before the class and Zander and Callie’s monster pictures…

I will do a quick update on each kid.  Griffin has had kind of a rocky August.  For whatever reason, his transition back to France was not easy.  He is still almost never speaking French and has even started having accidents with the potty from time to time (OK, more like every other day). I am hoping and praying he will stay clean at school. He seems very nervous for the start of school and I think it is mostly because he is really going to miss Callie, who was in the same school with him all last year.  He did well during homework time, however! His daily homework consisted of doing a page of the Summer Bridge workbook for Pre-K to K.  Of course I realize this is a full year ahead of his skill level, but he wanted to be included, seemed to like it and could do most of the work with very little help.  I was actually amazed when, last week, I did some letter and number flashcards with him and he knew almost all the letters (about 18) and the numbers (all but 9 and 10), on his first try.  I guess it has been sinking in on some level or another!  He has a bit of trouble socially at home because it seems he is the only 4 year old out there playing,  I don’t know what the moms do with their 4 year olds, but they are either inside or only outside for about half an hour, totally with their mothers.  Of course, Griffin is not willing to stay inside when his brother and sister are going out – and he is usually fine  playing alone for 20 minutes or more but I think it would be better if he had more peers.  Sometimes the bigger kids are mean to him and he retaliates by doing things like throwing rocks at them.  In a way, I’m glad he does this instead of running away crying – but also, I think rock throwing is not the best of habits!  He really is too small still to bike and wants a big boy trike but we have been unable to find one the right size for him.  He spent about half an  hour  pedaling around and around on this toy the other day. We’ll keep looking! 

Callie has jumped right back into French life.  As soon as we arrived here, friends began knocking on our door and she was ready for action.  In fact, they were ringing so much Zander was inspired to create this sign to post next to our doorbell! You can see her with best bud Evan, who is limber enough to climb, unaided, up into that tiny window well. She has been doing pretty well on her homework as well.  She struggles with the sounds of the vowels and printing correctly (of course, they don’t print at all in France, only cursive so she has never learned how to print!).  She really enjoys learning and seems to pick up most things very easily. She and her friends have lots of fun playing with Littlest Pet Shops and Polly Pockets and generally just hanging out together.  She seems to be very worried about school, especially the bigger kids who might be mean and  the change to staying at school for lunch.  Yes, that’s right – she and Zander will be eating lunch at school from now on.  I want to do this to help them socialize more and also so that I can keep having a bit of special time with Griffin who is now in for a full day at only 4 years old.  She has been really picking up swimming to an amazing level and I have even started teaching her how to dive – it is awesome to see her in the water.  I wish we could go more often.  She has really been struggling, however, with learning to bike better.  She knows how to bike, can do it quite well, in fact, and even laughs and giggles when she is feeling confident.  The problem is that she has fallen a few times and gets easily scared.  Once she gets scared, she starts to slow down, loses her balance and usually falls.  Obviously, this does not help with her confidence.  She is also extremely worried about what others think of her and refuses to ride in the presence of her friends who openly mock her if she falls.  We did manage to go on our first family bike ride last weekend, but she walked her bike about half the time!

Zander adjusted back to French life with surprising ease.  He had so much fun and was so well behaved in the US I was sure I was in for some trouble when we got back to France but I was totally wrong.  He was a bit slower re-adjusting socially than his garrulous sister but is now completely one of the crew. You see him below playing Legos with one of the neighbors. He speaks in French too!  He especially enjoys riding his new bike around and around.  You may remember his old bike was smashed to bits by vandals at the end of last year. I looked retail but was dissuaded by prices that were at least 130 Euros for a bike not as nice as his old model.  Um…. no! It took a few weekends of looking but he is now the very proud owner of an 18 speed bike (bought at Emmaus for only 30 Euros – thank you).  He is really almost too small for it but he loves it insanely and is really working on mastering all those gears.  He has been very active this summer, improving tons with his swimming and he also had a great time at this amazing new playground  we went to the other day.  I was too busy spotting to take a photo, but he was at the top of this creation pictured right, and you can see who has climbed higher in the photo below with Callie!  He has been doing amazingly well with his homework. I have never worked well with my son but, for whatever reason, we made a breakthrough this summer and he has been working very hard for me.  He is an ace at math but struggles mightily with his reading.  His attitude and work ethic are great and he has improved, especially with his comprehension, as we work together, but it is just soooo very difficult for him. He still gets so many things backwards and mixed up and has a terrible time remembering anything that requires memorization.  The more I work with him the more I think he may have some form of dyslexia.  I’m no expert but I have read a bit and he has tons of the typical signs found on various websites I’ve seen (actually, he seems to have every single one listed under primary age children).  Obviously, we need a professional to diagnose him and hopefully intervene and his counselor knows someone who is qualified to do this.  Of course,  they are qualified to do it in french and he is, obviously, not!  But I guess all we can do is the best we can.  The expert is currently on vacation (like 2/3rds of France) and we hope to get in touch with her early in September. Zander is reading simple books now with greater ease and is having fun doing it.  Also he is still writing and illustrating stories with my help – which I am very happy about. We are working on the fl sound and he came up with the story right. “There was a bad man. They flopped him in a slingshot. He flew, hit the ground, flipped and was flat.  He won’t be bad any more. That is for sure. He is road pizza.”  Love the illustration too!  I only hope all the work we have done doesn’t hurt his hard work last year in French school.  He is very, very excited for school to begin and totally looking forward to it.  This is even despite the fact we recently found out his two best friends (Noemi and Tibaud) have moved away. He also seems to have no qualms whatsoever about staying for lunch – which I thought he would hate the idea of.  Who can figure? 

As for Andre’, he is back at work.  It has been a bit choppy there since vacations are being taken left and right and also because his role at work has recently been changed a bit.  He is also still pursuing our options in terms of the monthly payment we are supposed to get just for living in France.  We were denied and his bosses are going to try to get that changed by changing our carte de sejour.  I hope it works or it will be bye bye to a few of our future vacation plans!  He is still running all over the hills of Besancon and has also been frequenting some dancing night clubs on the weekends.  He loves to dance and I am so happy he has found a place he can listen to that techno-crap he claims is music without inflicting it on me!

OK, I guess you want to hear about me?  (Not really, I’m sure).  Well, I am going to tell you anyway.  I am actually pretty happy.  I was really dreading August and it went way, way, better than I ever thought it would.  I did lots of fun cooking recently.  There is  so much interesting produce here that doesn’t exist back home.  They have these little black plums called pruneaux that are delicious and these yellow ones, that are smaller than ping pong balls, called mirabelles.  They are so good, it’s like eating candy.  I made a mirabelle tart with them.  Also we picked the local version of blackberries called mûre and I made two jars of jam with that and André also made a delicious blackberry bisque.  I loved the color!  I have also done thai shrimp, a comté tomato pie and my first whole duck in the past month.  I am really looking forward to having more time to cook once the kids are gone all day.  The kids and I have had so much fun together this month, and really this whole summer.  I have really started to be able to appreciate them as people and laugh with them some of the time. I am also very, very happy at how well they are playing together lately.  They really have become great friends this summer.  I have no idea if it will hold with the advent of school, but for now it is amazing.  I would say it is the first time in their lives that all three of them have been in harmony for more than 5 minutes at a time.  André and I are also getting along extremely well these days – I wouldn’t say we have figured this marriage thing out quite yet – but we are laughing together almost every day, which is invaluable. I am still very lonely and wonder how my life will shake out once the fall begins with school and all three kids gone 4 days per week.  For now, I’m taking it one day at a time, and trying to enjoy every moment.  I even laugh out loud randomly when the occasion calls.  For example, I saw this egg display at the market the other day and just started to laugh. I wonder if this is where the saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” came from?  They had at least 3 baskets, as you can see – but it still looked pretty precarious to me. 

I ran across an Einstein quote in a book I was reading the other day that has stuck with me: “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”  I have always had the desire to live each moment, appreciate the simple things etc… but lately – I feel like I am actually doing it (at least some of the time).  Every moment really is a miracle, and I am so lucky to be alive, healthy and surrounded by people who love me.

The other one-fifth of the story

Recently I’ve just sat back as Rebecca tells our story, because normally her version is much more entertaining.  Actually, for the scenic trips, neither of us knows how to make it very funny—but we really want to tell those stories since this is our extended memory, backed up weekly to my mirrored network-storage-device, backed up again to another big drive.  Someday just a quick copy/paste will give our kids a copy of all these memories—so much easier than the way I did scrapbooking as a kid (my mom got double prints of all her photos and shared them amongst her album and the siblings’ albums).  All we had to do was plop the photos onto the magic self-adhesive pages but I hated it!  Oh, but I diverge.

This time, Rebecca can’t tell the story, because she up and left me to enjoy an extra 3 weeks of vacation while I stayed back here to conserve vacation days.  I was looking forward to this time with no kids, the house all to myself and a stack of technical books and journals that I hadn’t gotten through in the last 9 months.  I was also looking forward to guiltless long runs, naps whenever I wanted, and a house that simply stays clean.

Well, Steinbeck says that the best-laid plans of mice and men go oft astray.  I left, teary-eyed, from the airport at Lyon, hopped in the car, turned up the music, and took a look at the maps.  As usual, I had eyeballed a return route that was different than my approach… but I hadn’t finalized all the details.  I would need lunch soon, and since I no longer needed to multiply eating out costs by five, I figured I’d find something interesting if I stopped at a city halfway home.  That city (or should I call it a town?) was Bourg-en-Bresse.  It’s apparently famous for its breed of chicken, and downtown there were statues of chickens every few blocks, dressed up as all kinds of things—from realistic chickens to astronauts.  I found my way downtown, and everything seemed to be closed.  Restaurants, shops, even the beautiful eglise.  I thought this wooden building, right, was pretty interesting, but I was hungry so I hopped back in the car to return to a boulangerie I had passed on the way in.  This is when I realized it was after noon, and a Sunday, so of course in Europe everything is shut down.  Luckily I was able to get une baguette, a pastry, and I had a leftover apple to go along with it all.  I hit the road again for about an hour, then pulled over at a rest stop.  It was, as usual in France, worth the stop.  I got this self-portrait below next to this amazing art gallery that was unfortunately under renovation, so I couldn’t enter.

I headed out for a long run when I got home, though it was such a hot day I bailed when I got down to the Doubs, so maybe only a 45-minute run.  Then I spent some time doing an inventory of what I wanted to accomplish over the next three weeks, and sized up how long my books were… unfortunately, too much to finish in this little amount of time—especially if I really wanted to retain anything I read.  One of the things I pride myself in doing well is applying what I read to my daily life—and, well, that means I have to read slow enough to have lots of opportunities to practice. 

The rest of the first week I had simplicity: running, work, then alternating reading and researching music.  I’ve recently been into techno/house/don’t know what to call it, but as long as it is a house beat with words I want to hear it.  I found out a while back that youtube is a superior way to research music than the online resellers or pandora because everything’s on-demand and I can hear the whole song.  I ended up spending way more time researching music than I planned to—and probably for every hour of research I only got 1 or 2 keepers for my collection.  Oh well, after 3 weeks I added around 50 songs… which is enough that now I can play my electronic/dance collection for days without hearing a repeat (well, technically it’s only 16 hours of songs, but I can’t listen to music all day, plus Rebecca hates it so I can’t actually listen to it at all).  I’ve also always wanted to hear real DJs do house live, and I found out there’s a club around here that caters to a crowd of 30-somethings… I wasn’t sure if I wanted to disrupt my sleep to go check it out, but I did and really liked it.  Got several new song leads…  The club doesn’t open ‘til 11pm and I never went earlier than midnight, but that’s after I had gone to bed at my normal time—9:30, slept 4 hours or so, and was ready to paaarty!

When I hit the weekend, I really wanted to avoid the computer, and I also wanted to have some time to socialize.  I went to the farewell party for Regis, Marie, Anne and Marc, and had a surprisingly easy time chatting with people—it was really fun.  I found a lot of common ground with Marie’s sister, who works in a plant that manufactures parts for Toyota and Peugeot (and follows different standards of quality for the different customers).  I also had a great conversation with one of the uncles (André), a man who now has a son working overseas in Japan.  He’s spent a lot of time in recent years learning English, so we spoke a tiny bit in my native tongue, but he was a bit shy about it so we switched back to francais.  On the way home from the party I went through this 1/2 mile stretch of road.  I forgot to mention earlier that there had been a powerful thunderstorm with hail and everything.  I crept forward despite the low visibility, and this particular stretch of the road felt like I was driving on rumble strips.  It turned out that even after 5 hours there were still piles of hail on the side of the road in July—it was absolutely incredible!

My second workweek started with our quarterly corporate meetings—and every summer this means having some outdoor activity.  This year it was a geo-caching adventure—based out of a castle in Arbois and surrounded by amazing vineyards.  The company was split up in teams and my team tried to win by collecting items for other teams through collaboration, but the facilitators said it wasn’t allowed.  Oh well!  Pictured below is a shot I took from within the castle, looking past a church and into the vineyards.

Having no family around was starting to get to me.  Every time I saw or heard kids outside, I’d feel a little pull at my heartstrings, and talking to Rebecca for 15 minutes a day around my lunch time was just not enough.  I also was just getting apathetic about my schedule… who cares when I go to sleep, wake up, eat, any of it…  Well, in the summer the bus doesn’t come very often, and I ended up walking in to work more than I might have wanted to.  I enjoyed the view on cooler days, though, like this butterfly bush that’s 1/2km from my house.  It’s a strange time of year to be working in France; the parking lot out back of the office has only 1/3 the normal number of cars, and our team is smaller than normal.  It actually makes it easier to communicate and keep everyone in the loop.  Here’s a shot I took of the team when the room had a particular good feel to it—you can see that everyone is pairing, as they should, and quite focused.  We’ve been experimenting with the Pomodoro technique, which means that everyone here was “on the clock” for a 25-minute hustle, at which point a buzzer rings and we all pause, take a break, then meet for a quick huddle before the next hustle.  It’s pretty intense, but also has seemed to keep people on target better than without the frenzy of the timers.

My last weekend was le 14 juillet, or equivalent of our 4th of July, so I just had to go see the fireworks.  I was shocked at how many Bisontins were on the streets, and it was nice that the fireworks were to be launched from my neighborhood—but I didn’t care.  I wanted to see them from above—from one of the forts.  I decided, last-minute based on traffic, to head up to Fort Bregille, and as you can see below, it was way to far away.  The fireworks looked like sparklers, so it was a bit of a letdown.  I’m also used to big-city shows, and expected a 45-minute extravaganza like they have in Philly, but the show started promptly at 10pm and was done at 10:15.

My last week of work, I squeezed in the last few chores I needed to do before coming to America.  I took the time one day to climb up top of a hill (fort de rosemont) with a book and a picnic, so I could read and relax simultaneously, and another day I headed out for a long run with food—but had to bail 45 minutes in because I think I was bonking.  All in all, it was fun to have a chance to be ‘single’ for a bit but I sure don’t wanna do this again!  I want my family back!

Romantic Interlude

I am missing writing about my life – it’s hard with a blog – I want it to be a journal of our life and times – but I also always have so much to say about, well, nothing at all.  Like, for instance, there is no root beer in France – they’ve never heard of it, never tasted it.  Chalk one up for a totally American phenomena!

But really, this interlude is mostly a love story – the story of the night André proposed to me…. it was written in reaction to a friend whose son (20) just got engaged to his girlfriend.  Her son did a very romantic proposal and she likes the partner, but she was a bit worried they were too young….

I got married at 22 – André was 23 and we are still going strong almost 11 years and 3 kids later....but lots of people said we were too young at the time. And for all you romantics out there, here's my engagement story....

I'll set the scene... it's a normal day at work - and, though André and I work in different companies in Philly, they are located across the street from each other and we are practically living together as well, so we walk back and forth together each day....  We have been dating for 2 years and had gone through so many things together – but always in love and always close.   We were serious (from about the third date!), and had discussed marriage, but there was no timetable attached.

First, he picked me up at work with a dozen roses in his arms and then, when I turned away from the big hug I was giving him, a horse and carriage had somehow appeared next to us on the sidewalk. I was surprised and pleased – I love flowers and horses.  This was just the kind of thing André did on a fairly regular basis during our courtship period and it always made me feel so special. He gallantly asked if I'd like a ride and, naturally, I agreed! After our lovely ride across the city we ended up at The Chart House (a very schwanky seafood restaurant that we totally couldn't afford) and dined like rich folk. I got king crab - awesome!  I was just in, well, food heaven and didn’t notice André concernedly checking his watch.  I had no idea there was more in store for me that night. 

We headed out of the restaurant and he stopped for a moment by the coat check. Turning around he revealed our custom painted matching helmets - which must have been hidden there earlier in the day. Here’s where I start to get suspicious – what is going on here?  That's right folks, the mild mannered André most of you know and love used to be a die hard motorcycle rider (don’t ask me where his tattoo is!)  I was brought up with a healthy fear of motorcycles and actually dated him for over a month before consenting to go along (really, folks, a month is a long time). By now though, we had been dating 2 years and were hardened bikers, transporting tables and venturing as far as DC on vacation using only our two wheels. So, the helmets might have seemed a natural next step on our evening. But, there was a catch. The motorcycle of his dreams had just recently blown up (Yes, that's literally true - but it's another tale entirely) and we were temporarily using his mother's car.  So, when he asked if I wanted to go for a ride, I was mystified - but said yes (of course).

Sure enough, a motorcycle was in the parking lot and we hopped on it, zooming over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We made it just in time to stand together at the gazebo and watch the end of a sunset over the Schuykill River and Boathouse Row. I love that our relationship began in Philadelphia and that now we have made our home there – the city really is a part of our love story.  We walked over to the side of the Art Museum. This was the place he took me for the very first motorcycle ride we had ever been on and (though only a month in) had made out quite a bit!!! I can’t really describe how I was feeling – I think I knew, on some level, that this had to be the proposal, but I also thought it might be an elaborate set up – to trick me into thinking it was the proposal when actually he had something else planned entirely.  I also think there was a part of me that never believed he would actually propose.  Yeah, yeah, I know he loves me and I love him, but am I really loveable enough to marry?  Is it possible that anyone could want such a totally flawed human being for, like, ever?  Is he sure?  He’s just so, so, wonderful and I’m just so, so, not!

Then he knelt down and started singing. He sang a song that he had written for me, in honor of the occasion. Now, I need to stop here to explain why that was so extraordinary. André doesn't like to sing, can't carry a tune, and also can't memorize for beans (the man has 3 children and still stumbles over twinkle, twinkle little star) so it was truly amazing that he had reached so far out of his comfort zone to make my heart melt. Here are the words....
My love for you
Shall ever grow
My need for you
Doth ever show, my sweetie
Your heart and mine
Be no more twain
Stay here with me
One and the same.....

Then he gave me a ring set with my birthstone (amethysts) and a diamond and asked me to marry him. Once I stopped crying enough to breathe, of course I said, YES!!!  (I may not deserve him, but I’m nobody’s fool)

Wow, that was fun to write - he is still such a catch!!

Stonehenge

   (Yes – I took this picture in real, live life – as Callie would say)

OK – we are finally heading on the tour bus over the Salisbury plains to Stonehenge. The culmination of our 35-day vacation has arrived!  The tour guide (who seems to be amazingly knowledgeable) takes us a roundabout way and we passed, among other things, Sting’s house – where Madonna met Guy Ritchie and where they spent their honeymoon (oooh, ahhh) and a bunch of actual thatched roof cottages.  I was very excited to see real thatched roofs but it was hard to get a good photo through a moving bus window.  Hopefully you can get the idea, at least.

Then we got to Stonehenge.  This location has had some sort of temple for 10,000 years. Wooden structures were eventually replaced by stone.  I wonder if the place was continually in use until the completion of the last stones about 4,000 years ago?  Did different tribes use it in different ways? The original wooden posts were located where cars now park and are only indicated by unemphasized circles painted on the tarmac.  I was told by others who visited to be prepared for disappointment.  Perhaps, to them, it seemed like just a bunch of rocks but to me it was much more. The amount of time, effort and work that went into this thing is just incredible.  These giant rocks(and I do mean giant- the largest is over 25 tons) were moved, some all the way from Wales (lots of theories on how this happened, some claim glaciers, but I’m not buying it) They are securely inserted, many have more stone below the ground than above.  Also all the lintels were leveled, and have painstakingly ground out tongue and groove joints at the top to ensure their security.  For thousands of more recent years this was not considered a sacred space and was simply open to the public. People came and hauled pieces away to make barns and buildings. There was even one enterprising fellow who rented  rock picks to tourists so they could take pieces away with them.  It wasn’t closed to the public until 1977.   They have done some work to stabilize the remaining stones with concrete in the past 30 years or so – but even so, the fact that so much still remains is incredible.  No one knows the full purpose and meaning that Stonehenge had for its original builders and, the likelihood is that there was more than one, but it definitely has been associated with burial for much of its history. Looking around the countryside, one can see raised burial mounds, or barrows, popping up on the fields.  Behind the cell phone guy at right you can see the closest one, and there are three more in front of the trees in the background.  Sometimes these had mixed bones of several people and other times just the single bones and artifacts of one person – I would assume a person of great significance.  Green as the fields, the barrows blend in if you don’t know they are there.  I was happy I knew to look for them.  This subtlety wasn’t true thousands of years ago, when the burial mounds were originally erected, the topsoil was removed from them, leaving the undersoil of white chalk showing through.  Actually Stonehenge originally had a ring of white chalk all around it as well as a white chalk road that stretched for miles leading to the local river, where pilgrims must have arrived to see the monument.  I would have loved to see that.  Imagine, alighting from the river to follow a road of white chalk, dotted with occasional standing stones.  As you got closer you would see more and more white mounds dotting the landscape until, eventually, you came over the rise to see Stonehenge itself.  I am really having a hard time writing this blog for some reason – I can’t really explain why this was such a special place – or how it made me feel….  You can read more about this amazing monument at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

One thing I was sad about was I didn’t get to actually touch the stones. Unfortunately, due to so much deterioration, you can’t touch the sarcens of Stonehenge any longer without a special appointment (except on the solstices) and I read that plans are to make it even more difficult for people to reach the stones.  Currently a main road runs right past the monument and the rubber necking delays are predictably long!  It is planned to move the road at some point in the future and make the visitor center a mile or more from the stones.  This would make it so that no one would just ‘happen’ across Stonehenge any longer, and only the hardy would make the hike over, which, in my opinion, would be a shame. 

We headed back to Salisbury and (after a bit of souvenir shopping that almost had me missing the train), made it home.  It had turned into a kind of awful windy rainy day.  In fact, the weather we had the entire time was very volatile. It would be hot, then cold, rainy, then sunny.  I think this is typical for England but I ended up having to dig through lots of luggage to find suitably warm attire for my trio.  Andre’ was simply in denial about the temperature the whole time since he hadn’t brought anything but shorts and short sleeves with him for vacation.   We walked in the rain from the train station and Griffin, who wanted to be the leader, ran about half the time.  I looked back to see how the others were faring and noticed how the electrical poles in this part of the world are really different.  As you can see, there is one pole for the whole block and the lines run out like rungs of a spiderweb – very beautiful and sure saves on the amount of poles needed.  We packed up everything and, after more chatting, of course, fell into our beds.  We left very early the next morning, excited to take the Eurostar train through the chunnel.

We really spent a ton of time on trains in England so I will close our time there with some nice helpful warning signs seen in the train station.  I really love the way that the yellow signs are so graphic – and of course, we can’t visit England without hearing, over and over, Mind the gap!  Katrina actually works as an engineer for the trains (current challenge is climate control in the tunnels) and said they just can’t regulate the height of the trains and platforms since they are of so many different kinds and all built at different time periods.  OK, I buy this explanation, but if that’s true, why is this only in London???

 

We headed for home, taking the Eurostar for 4 hours to Gare du Nord (I was very underwhelmed by the chunnel, btw).  We did crafts to pass the time – see a Griffin creation below. Then, since the people in control of transportation want to kill me, we had to get four miles across the city to Gare de Lyon for the TGV home. Um… can someone change this system please?

 

Due to obscene amounts of luggage, this necessitated a cab ride – which was actually quite lovely – a peek at Paris….  I got to see Gare de Lyon from the outside, which is a beautiful building.

We enjoyed lunch at the train station before our connector arrived – then spent a few hours getting to Lyon where we had to transfer, again, to the train for Besancon.   That transfer was totally crazy since it wasn’t the end of the line and we were trying to get all our stuff off the train super fast. Andre’ was literally tossing large bags off the train to me.  I was so impressed all day long by how strong the kids were.  They each had a carry-on to handle and Callie and Zander were also responsible for rolling suitcases that weighed no less than 50 pounds each – and those were the light ones. (Andre and I each had our carry-ons plus 2 giant rolling cases each).  To say the least our crew was quite a sight.  At the last transfer we actually had to lug the stuff up and down flights of stairs and the kids even tried to do this, without complaint – they are really getting to be seasoned travelers. We finally got to Besancon and then Daddie went to get Mr. Liberty who transported us home – only 13 hours after we had left Katrina’s apartment.  Whew!