Birthday Fun...in France, Italy and Switzerland

7 August 2011

What an amazing birthday weekend! I took the day off work on Friday (Aug 5). We got up early and were on the road driving to Italy by 6:15am. We stopped briefly in Chamonix so the kids could see the glaciers hanging off the edge of Mont Blanc…then drove through the Mont Blanc tunnel. They loved the idea of driving straight under the tallest mountain in Europe – and were intrigued by how strict the rules were (keeping 150 m between cars, etc.) and by the pricing structure (why do big trucks have to pay so much and motorcycles have to pay so little?). We crossed the Italian boarder before 8:30am and wound our way down the Val d’Aosta. There’s a spectacular mountain valley that leads to the backside of the Matterhorn. About half way up the valley, we parked and took a cable car to the only village in Italy that is totally inaccessible by car – Chamois. The village is perched on a plateau in the high Italian Alps…and all the buildings have heavy gray slate roofs.

We took the chair lifts from Chamois to the ridgeline. We were hoping to see the south face of the Matterhorn, but instead got some dramatic summer clouds as we hiked down the ridge for several hours. The clouds were delicious!

We saw a marmotte, caught lots of grasshoppers, rolled rocks down steep slopes, collected pictures of Alpine flowers, and occasionally had to negotiate with Rockwell: “…but I hate hiking.” We had lunch on the shores of Lago Lod:

After making our way back down to Aosta, we spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the old town in Aosta and poked around the Roman ruins (walls, gates, theater) for as long as the kids would let us (about 5 minutes for Rockwell…and a bit longer for Hannah).

I had been looking forward to pizza and pasta in Italy for my birthday dinner…and we had all worked up a serious appetite. By 5pm we were starving, but restaurants don’t open until 6:30 or 7pm. We hit a local (i.e., not touristy) restaurant and ordered a heavy spread of pizzas, walnut ravioli, penna arrabiatta and polenta.

After dinner, we got a second round of gelato. The gelateria had a nutella flavored gelato. Rock wanted a nutella cone. Hannah got half nutella, half lemon. Heather and I shared an amaretto, sweet cream cone. As they scooped the kids’ nutella cones, I was amazed at how rich and thick the gelato looked. They seemed to have perfectly replicated the look of nutella. As the woman rang us up, we were chatting in broken English-Italian…and she explained that she would only charge us 1 euro (instead of 1.50 euro) for Rock’s since he didn’t get any gelato. It was only then that we realized that the nutella ‘gelato’ looked almost exactly like nutella because it wasn’t gelato at all…it was pure nutella. The kids were in heaven (until their stomachs started aching after eating a half a cup of nutella and wanting to save the other half cup!).

We drove over the Grand St Bernard Pass (yes, this is where the dogs were originally bred)…an amazing road…and an amazing pass! We arrived back in Divonne at about 10:30pm…completely wiped. What an awesome day trip to Italy!

Saturday morning – my birthday morning – I took off on a 7-8 mile run over Mont Mussy and Mont Mourex to the village of Mourex and along the base of the hill back to Divonne. For much of the run I was in the clouds. Not a very summery run, but so beautiful! When I got back the kids and Heather had prepared everything for my birthday breakfast: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, sea salt, basil and olive oil and a full spread of fresh pastries, pain au raisin, pain au chocolate, croissant aux amandes… Wow! Rock gave me a Super Mario key chain he bought with his own Euros and a smoke bomb he found. He was so excited for the entire morning and had planned it out very carefully!

We spent an hour or two at the Ferney market picking up some local cheese, figs, apricots, etc. Rock bought an Opinel pocketknife (a traditional, wood-handled knife that French soldiers carried in WWI and WWII). He came right home and started carving a stick (and then cut his finger).

After lunch we headed for Forestland…something the kids have been looking forward to since we arrived here. What a blast! Although there were several other folks there, we were often all alone as a family climbing through the treetops! The ziplines were a blast. Some of the other elements were really tough. I was way proud of both Rock and Hannah for getting through some difficult and sometimes scary parts. It was so great to be negotiating all these together. Hannah and I tackled the 20 meter course just before the place closed. She did awesome…and the height (60 feet plus) didn’t seem to phase her…until the final element: a 25 foot rope wall dangling between two trees. It was really tough. She got about halfway and then broke down. Her arms and legs were tired from 4 hours of climbing and she started crying with fear and exhaustion. I climbed out to her and talked her through the last 10 feet or so. Once we were both on the final platform, I hugged her as she sobbed. After she calmed down a bit, she climbed down the ladder…and was so glad to be back on the ground!

We had a scrumptious dinner of rotisserie chicken, onions, potatoes, salad…and a big cheese spread. We had picked up a Pannetone cake from a high end bakery in Aosta for my birthday cake.

We ate pistachio ice cream and Pannetone while watching one of our new favorite movies: “Muppet Treasure Island”. What a birthday!

the universal sport of PLAY

One of my favorite things this summer was watching the kids play a game of neighborhood pick-up soccer this evening. Trav instigated it, but the kids jumped right in and played for 45 minutes, till it was practically dark. They had a blast.

These are kids we've seen around the neighborhood and said "bonjour" to often, but never really 'hung-out' with. Finally, tonight, we were all outside at the same time. We started a game and the limited use of French by our kids and English by them, made for a lot of fun. At one point Rock and another boy had a pretty serious collision and hit the ground - within a second, both heads popped up and they asked, at the same time, "Ca va?". Nodded yes and hopped up to continue the game.

I love the universal sport of Play.

two heads

I took the kids to the Museum of Natural History in Geneva for an afternoon - apparently they have a famous two-headed turtle. After having lived in Florida for a time and expecting a large sea turtle, the disappointment was great. In addition, the poor thing was in a cage that lacked any resemblance to a habitat. It (he/she?) was crawling around on what looked like a plastic picnic table cloth, it had no where to burrow/hide, and was shuffling around a few wilted pieces of lettuce. So sad. Even the kids, who initially were weirded out by the two heads, had sympathy for little guy.

Pics outside the museum -





Diddy Kong

Tour de France

YES! We checked it off the bucket list and are still wanting more. We've been avid watchers for the last two weeks. Every evening after work, the kids would be ready to sit down w/ Trav and watch the last 30 minutes or so of the day's stage. We drove to Grenoble for the final time trial of the Tour de France. What a cool experience. We found a tiny mountain village on the outskirts of Grenoble that was about 25K into the race. We situated ourselves on a hair pin turn so we could see the boys fly down the hill, slow a bit (for a good look at those powerful legs, rrarrr) and pump the pedals to continue the momentum around the corner.

It was awesome to see each rider individually. Because we were in France, there was, of course, a huge rally cry for every French rider. An old man had a mega phone and he would start chants, sing the French national anthem, and anything else that would bring patriotism to the surface for the crowd as a French rider blew by. And man were they loud! It was such an utterly fun atmosphere.

Trav had walked the kids up the road about 50 yards to see a bit more speed as they came down the hill - I stayed at the bottom, on the turn.

Well, I (we) was rooting for Cadel Evans. Do you blame me? So, when it was Cadel's turn, I shouted and hollered and cheered him on ..... all by myself. Heads turned, whispers started, fingers pointed - I didn't care. I simply said, "Moi, je prefer Evans." and smiled sweetly, sinfully - knowing he just kicked total tokus. (You know he won the overall Tour because of my incredibly encouraging cries).

After the time trial was over, thanks to everyone's i-phones and smart phones, it was apparent Evans had just won the Tour. As the crowd dispersed I received comments (in heavy, thick, French accents) such as "It was a good day for you." or "Congratulations on your man." or other similar sentiments. Loved It!

The next day Trav had to head to Rouen for a meeting. He had a train change in Paris and was able to hop out and catch a bit of the final ride down the Champs-Elysees. He was in heaven!

on our drive there the clouds were breathtaking

T, the kids and a friend all watching the Tour.


We went with some friends (to Grenoble) and stopped in Annecy - it's known as the 'Venice' of France. One of the most charming cities in France; I want to take my sisters there.

New Favourites

Trav - this isn't a new favorite, but the love over the years has never faltered


H - fresh from our local fromagerie is best....with a warm baguette, of course.


h - she can finish an entire triangle in one sitting; and she'll stand in front of the cheese counter and drool over the gigantic brie wheels. It gets embarrassing - really.


R - surprisingly this is something he LOVES - my boy who doesn't care for cow's milk in the States and will drink rice, soy and almond milk by the liter, loves the UHT milk here. This carton is perfect for him. It says "I love the milk here."

When in Rome...

...or near ancient Roman springs, you get pastries.

I run by this 'Source' in our town several times a week. One morning I had a maternal terrorist thought: "Bring the kids to swim here." I convinced them to come on a walk with me to do something "fun". Little did they know my idea of fun (for them) would be an icy dip, on a cold, gray, rainy day. Pay particular attention to the facial expressions, rib cages & muscles, oh, and the blue lips - priceless. For the pastries, read on.
-after 10 minutes of working up to the knees, it seemed "sort of fun".

-h wanted to sit - R wanted out

-R made bold and went up to his waist - forced a smile out for pic.


-love h's face -R again wants out (don't blame him). He said "I feel like Antarctica!"

-R back pedaling, or is he trying to tackle her

- she went under!!


- proud! and COLD.


- the 'Fun' factor is explicit on their faces.

The Pastries:

When we got home I had them write me a persuasive paragraph about why they deserve a pastry.

h wrote: "I think I deserve a pastry because...I swam in freezing cold water. And I and only me put my head under. Mom was also calling us chickens when she only put her feet in! And we (me and Rockwell) had to walk home with feet that felt like they were going to come off! And because Mommy was taking pictures of us in our miseries. And that's why we deserve a pastry."

R wrote: "I deserve a pastry because the water was freezing cold and I swam in it. I went up to my neck, too. I went half way across it. I think I deserve a pastry."

Not bad for never being taught how to write a persuasive argument. But it wasn't their paragraphs that won me over, it was their courage and tenacity to do something so utterly stupid. They both got a pain au chocolate.

Mont Mourex

I took the kids on a hike in the Jura (a chain of mountains in the French Alps) right behind our flat, to a lovely plateau where we played smash ball and generally enjoyed the view and air.


"Check this OUT, Mom! This is so awesome."


....the view is always better upside down....(?)


Lake Geneva


a really cool tree the kids discovered


the clouds cleared and .....aaahhhhh. Mont Blanc in all her majesty.