8 Things I’m Excited to Do with the Kids in Paris

photo via esharkdesign

 

No time to post, really, but here’s a quickie…. As you might have noticed, we’re GOING AWAY. To France and Italy. To see good friends, to explore on our own, to enjoy good food and wine, to relax big-time en famille.

We’re kicking things off this weekend in Paris — Magnolia keeps saying she’s so excited because we’re going to Pareeee! (she insists on saying it in French, which makes me happier than I can actually convey in this post.) Jasper is excited, too — here’s what I’m looking forward to doing with them in the City of Light.

Jumping on trampolines in the Tuileries Garden — This seems like an excellent post-flight kid activity for the afternoon of our arrival, doesn’t it? The kids will have been cooped up on the plane for hours and will be jet-lagged out of their minds — so go bounce your brains out! May it exhaust you even more completely.

Riding the rides — you can take a steam train from Porte Maillot to get there! — and seeing the animals at Le Jardin d’Acclimatation.

Letting them run wild in the Gardens at The Champs de Mars, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Fingers crossed for good photo opps.

Visiting the play area and carousel — and ponies! and boats in the fountains! — in the Luxembourg Gardens.

Eating ice cream at Berthillon and gobbling up Nutella crepes on the street.

Taking the Metro — Jasper will be in heaven! And so will I. All of the many, many times I hopped on and off the Metro in Paris when I lived there in my 20s (my 20s!), and later when I visited the city but still before kids, I never could have imagined I’d one day be getting on and off with my happily train-obsessed son.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night. Because seeing the Eiffel Tower at night is one of those things that makes you happy to be ALIVE.

If there’s time, the playground at the Parc de la Villette, not far from where I used to live.

That ought to keep us busy for the couple of days we’ll be there. Then, we’re heading south!

Paris-with-kids ideas and inspiration via Ciao Bambino, Pret a Voyager, and our friend Kim (a bientot!)

Related:

Family-Friendly Apartments to Rent in Paris

T Is for Travel: 16 Family Travel Tips

 

The Martha’s Vineyard Pie Lady: Eileen Blake

One of the many joys of vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard is the fun of discovering something unexpected along the road as you drive. Look at those beautiful cut flowers! No one’s even minding the stand. There’s just a sign saying what they cost; leave your money in a box and pick the bouquet you like. Fresh eggs! Same thing. Stop, leave the requested price, and move along.

Round a bend on the State Road and you see a sign for “Pies and Otherwise,” a road-side, wildly popular word-of-mouth business the late Eileen Blake founded and her family carries on today. Pie. And lots of it. Every fruit and fruit combination you can imagine, plus yumminess like Toll House and lemon chess.

Stop. Peruse the options. Buy one or two. (The people in front of me bought THREE!) Note: Go in search of pie early. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon, the pies are gooone.

We’re currently finishing a cherry crumb. Enjoy.

Vacation: Martha’s Vineyard Diary

We’re three days in and having a wonderful time. Not sure about doing this diary thing, but I want to remember everything we’ve done, and loved, and will do differently when we come back…though the last four words I don’t even want to think about yet!

There’s something about getting on the ferry and coming over that is magic, a true demarcation of leaving your regular life and resetting your pace. When we get to Wood’s Hole, we stop at Pie in the Sky bakery for snacks. It’s a stone’s throw from the ferry, a bustling place to pick up a sandwich or a muffin or an iced tea. This time, Melisa races to meet us on the boat, her hands full holding our lunch. The ferry folk wave her on board and the kids cheer.

Everyone on the ferry is in a festive mood, most standing on the prow of the boat, watching as West Chop comes closer into view. For whatever reason, we usually arrive in Oak Bluffs and depart from Vineyard Haven. Driving off the ferry over the clap clap clap of the wooden dock, all eyes are on the scene in town, the streets crowded with people strolling, talking, sitting in restaurants, eating ice cream. We pass the Flying Horses carousel as we come in, which automatically elicits pleas to stop and ride and play the games. But we press on: first stop, the package store by the harbor to pick up a cold bottle of rosé for later. The store is filled with boaters gathering provisions: cheeses, crackers, wine and beer.

Next, it’s on past the back side of the MV Camp Meeting Association gingerbread cottages. It’s almost Illumination Night, and the Camp is full, the cottages sitting with arched doors thrown wide, windows open, and porches of people rocking in wicker.

Illumination Night close-up from Meg Pier and the Boston Globe

Through the woods, with glimpses of the Lagoon flickering brightly through the trees, prompting shouts of “view!” every few feet; to the blinking light, one of the only traffic lights on the island.

View!

Now, it’s the turn Up Island towards West Tisbury/Chilmark/Aquinnah. The drive is marked by low stone walls, battered mailboxes bleached by sun, wood-shingled houses and gardens of hydrangeas and Black-Eyed Susans. We drive through West Tisbury, past Alley’s General Store and the old Grange Hall where we’ll look forward to the gorgeous farmer’s market on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Alley's General Store, West Tisbury

And then, we’re at the turn-off! A dozen mailboxes, standing in a row, mark the one-lane dirt road. We wind through the woods, shaded by mossy trees, and remark on the drivers who just as easily give way to let us pass as we do them, raising their hand in a casual wave as they go by. No one seems to feel entitlement to own the road here.

We get lost, and end up at an make-shift art show in someone’s shed. The three attendees, wine in hand, are disappointed we aren’t there for the art, but give us directions back. Turns out we missed the turn off for our “street;” not hard to do since it is marked only by a foot-high wood plank driven into the ground.

We bump along, turn left at the second drive-way in, and we’ve made it at last! Our gray wood-shingled cottage is in front of us.

Home Sweet Home!

Our proprietress happens to be at her house – the big house- and rushes over to introduce herself and welcome us before jumping in her car and driving off. We’re alone, and we head inside to explore before beginning to unpack the car and make the house our own.

What will happen while we’re here? I think of our usual haunts: the pretty beach at Squibnocket, the lobster roll take-out dinner at the Community Church, fried oysters at the little food shack in Menemsha, catching crabs and watching the surf, building sand castles and finding new things to see and do. This year, we’re excited to be here for Illumination Night in Oak Bluffs, the culmination of a summer of “camp meetings” when the gingerbread cottages in town are lit up by Chinese lanterns, and for the Ag Fair, or Agricultural Fair, in West Tisbury. The kids will love the games, the animals, and the food.

Following the rails into Vineyard Haven harbor.

With all of this still before us, I’ll close. More to come…

Weekly Menu Goes Ad Hoc

We’re on vacation but we are still cooking. Island eats are a variation on home eats. Slightly more indulgent and fun.

Mornings we eat at home, the usual stuff: oatmeal for Jas, cereal for Nola, and yogurt and granola for me. Lunch is packed and taken to the beach. Today it’s going to be a divine chicken salad for the moms on fresh baguette with high summer tomato and arugula. The creatures of habit who are our children will eat avocado sandwich (Jas) and PB&J (Nola). Plus plenty of water and snacks (watermelon, carrots, grape tomatoes, granola bars) for all.

The beach, btw, is divine.

Dinner, as always, is the most fun. Grilling is key, and we have a gorgeous deck to enjoy, but this year we have a great kitchen to cook in as well. Meat is expensive on the island (all the groceries are), so we trucked up skirt, flank & hamburger that we froze ahead of time. And then there’s the local fish, supplemented with veggies from the farmer’s markets. Just a few of our favorite things!

And a cookbook discovery: Every Night Italian by Giuliano Hazan (son of Marcella Hazan), borrowed from the Bush family on the way to the ferry. The subtitle is “120 Simple, Delicious Recipes You Can Prepare in 45 Minutes or Less.” We are grooving on the simple and delicious (not to mention the 45 minutes or less). Fresh Tuna, Arugula & Tomatoes? Yes, please. Thinly Sliced Sea Bass Marinated in Lemon? Yum. Red Snapper with Fresh Tomatoes and Black Olives, Fish Baked in Foil with Juniper Berries, Chicken with Green Olives, Grilled Lamb Chops with Lemon & Vinegar Sauce, Rum & Strawberry Layer Cake…all winners.

More to come from the vacation test kitchen, but now, off to find that baguette!

Summer Reading! What Should I Take on Vacation?

I have about two hours max a day (subway time) to get all the work-related reading I need done: 50-65 titles a season, three seasons a year. Luckily, I’m a fast reader.

My lack of free time does mean that other reading has to go. The only magazines I still get at home are food-related. Subscription to The New Yorker: cancelled (couldn’t take the pressure of having to finish an issue a week). Books I am personally interested in languish in the “hold for vacation reading” pile. And then, when the vacation comes, I have to be incredibly selective. Because I won’t have two hours a day to myself anymore; on vacation with my family I will only have stolen moments. So the pile must be whittled down to one special book.

This year’s contenders:

Don Winslow‘s latest, Savages, is on the short list. Don was a Knopf author until a very short time ago. You might know him from previous books like California Fire and Life or The Life and Death of Bobby Z. His mysteries are smart, fun and a bit wicked. Could be just the ticket.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman won the National Book Critics Circle Award and countless fans. I can’t tell you how many people have recommended this one to me. The office pool is deadlocked: I have one passionate you-should-read-it vote (“if you like books that will add meaning to your life”) and one you-should-read-it-but-not-on-vacation-too-much-of-a-downer vote (“don’t you want to read something fun?”). Hmmm.

I admit I may be one of the only people not to have read The Time Traveler’s Wife. Her Fearful Symmetry is the most recent book from Audrey Niffenegger, and frankly, sounded a bit more interesting to me. Ghosts! Sign me up. Was all set to take this when a colleague bought me The Time Traveler’s Wife (and said it was better). Again with the dead-locked office pool: one vote “it’s a love story, a book you’ll go back to again and again” vs. “don’t ghosts sound more interesting than a love story?” Toughie. Gift book may edge out the other.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Full disclosure: I apparently don’t get out much. Haven’t read this one, either. Hear it’s good.

One Day by David Nicholls. Should this even be in the running? Currently being made into a movie with Anne Hathaway. Now that I typed that sentence I suddenly am reminded why it is in the running: it’s light. And maybe like a romantic comedy, that elusive but wonderful pleasure.

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson. I know I’m not the only one out there who loved Behind the Scenes at the Museum (thanks, Ellen) and keep hoping for more of the same from Kate. The title of this one is putting me off a little, but BTSATM was so good I may have to dive in and try again.

So there you have it. What’s your vote?

Travel Buddies Neck Pillow: Traveling with Toddlers

Hippo Travel Buddies neck pillow, $15, amazon.com

My kids no longer officially nap. (Insert image of me crying into my iced coffee and pounding my fist on the dining room table here.) It’s a sad thing.

But they do still catch the occasional snooze in the car when they’re strapped into car seats and we’re out for a long drive. It’s great — I’ll take a few minutes of peace and quiet whenever and wherever I can get it — except that they look so uncomfortable. Their heavy heads loll to one side or lean forward and bob around pathetically — the car naps just can’t be good for their little necks.

So while we were on vacation, we bought these awesome, lightweight, super-soft travel pillows called Travel Buddies, from a company called NoodleHead. They’re like a cute, kid-sized version of those neck pillows adults use on airplanes, and they will only set you back $15. Let your kids pick the animal they want (there are a bunch to choose from); ours went for the horse and the blue dog. (The pillows are pretty petite, so they’re probably best for the 6 and under set.)

The hippo‘s pictured here; snag it at amazon.com.

Pack It Up, Move It Out

We are going on vacation!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How excited are we?  VERY!!! Here’s where we are going:

Martha’s Vineyard!

All I can tell you is that we are burnt crispy and soooooo ready to see some beach, follow no schedules, eat simple food, sleep in the cool, and wake up ready to do it all over again.

Sadly, to get there, there is the big ramp-up at work to slog through, bills to be paid in advance, house-watchers to talk to, not to mention packing.

Here is the running list of “what to remember to bring:” sheets, towels (beach & bath), food, WINE!!!!!!! (very important as up island where we are staying is essentially dry), clothes for everyone, beach toys, beach umbrella, stroller, a baby gate to keep Magnolia from attempting to scale the stairs in the middle of the night, a flashlight, night light, and presents for Jasper’s birthday.  That doesn’t seem so bad.  But then I remember all the OTHER THINGS: phone charger, sun block, mosquito coils, sun hats for everyone, toothpaste (3 different kinds depending on age), pull-ups, nighttime diapers, swim diapers, life jackets (in case grandma & grandpa sail over), laptop??? (Reception is not great), something to read (hahahahahaha).  I’m sure given a few more minutes I could think of many more things.  Rainy day activities, for instance, like crayons & coloring books, DVDs, etc.

Everything but the kitchen sink has to get shoved into our Jeep.

It’s a little overwhelming.

I got some inspiration from my mom’s July 22nd post over at A View From the Pier.  Her family OF ELEVEN KIDS packed up every summer and drove to their cottage on Lake Michigan.  For the whole summer.  If my grandparents could orchestrate that move, we can certainly get the four of us in order and on the road for two weeks.

The reward:

Ahhhh…