Bonjour Paris

There is a certain difficulty in balancing number and length of posts with travelling, secure Wi-Fi connection, small people's needs, need for sleep, work and fear of boring people with endless travel stories. I'm never certain if it's best to go for a long rambling post and several shorter rambles - let me know and I'll do my best, although I think this is one of those long ones...

The last five days we've been travelling through the South of France from Paris (more tomorrow) and have just arrived North of Barcelona. But I wanted to share some of the highlights and experiences of Paris from a 'family' perspective.

Miss K at the Natural History Museum

Paris was not particularly kind in its weather while we were there. It rained. Quite often. On our second day, we paid a visit to the Natural History Museum in the Jardin de Plantes. A mainly 'traditional' museum in its presentation of wildlife, the children adored the interactive children's section (particularly an exhibit where a photograph of the child was taken and included in a short animation of a historical episode of Paris. Master A returned to this exhibit several times over). They were also impressed with the displays of Kiki the Giant Tortoise, the Dodo and detailed visuals on taxidermy. While we spent a good part of a day here, the Japanese Natural History Museum in Tokyo still superseded it (see blog post). Having said that, the gardens surrounding the Museum are beautiful and a full day (in sunshine) can be had adventuring around the Jardin de Plantes.



On Pont Alexandra III

Day Three in Paris and our intent had been to visit the Jardin de Acclimitation, but upon learning that a 'rue' on the GPS can lead you to an entirely different location, discovered ourselves in the midst of hundreds of mad Parisians and tourists driving down the Champs Elyse. After several terrifying trips around roundabouts and down side streets  (kudos to the MOTH again for awesome driving) we found a car park and decided that serendipity had granted me my wish to meander along the Seine so we'd make the most of it, despite the weather. We wandered down the Champs Elyse spending €2.50 to visit the loo! There is a whole blog posting on toilets to come, but as parents with small children, Paris can be very irritating on the public toilet front.

Notre Dame

We crossed Pont Alexandra III (a glorious bridge), admired the buildings and made our way along the Seine where we engaged in some funky interactive art installations. We crossed back along the river and paused at the Louvre. The children we amazed at the crowds of people and very fascinated by hawkers who jangled Eiffel Tower key rings at us. The Man of the House (MOTH) wanted to show us Notre Dame. The gothic grand lady looking particularly striking with the ominous rain clouds above.

Playing with the installations on the Seine

 

That distance is quite a walk for wee legs and we hopped onto a batobus (water boat) to head back to the Champs Elyse. If you do consider making this journey with small people in tow, it's worth getting a pass for the batobus early in the day as the ticket allows you to hop on and hop off at about eight different sights along the Seine as often as you like for the whole day. It's also a picturesque way to view the city.

Akira admires Paris from the Batobus

Day four led to the weekend and we decided on a few 'quiet days', popping out for lunch and playing in the park near our accommodation. I visited the local market with our host, Nadia... not quiet and somewhat overwhelming - a real cultural adventure for the senses.

Artists at Montmarte

On the Monday, our seventh and last day in Paris, the MOTH turned 40. He chose to visit Sacre Coeur on Montmarte. Many stairs to climb, a breath-taking cathedral, artists offering to paint your portrait, lots of tourists (despite the rain) and some good baguettes! The birthday was topped off with cake, gifts and Moroccan tea with our fabulous hosts.

The highlight of Paris had to be the beautiful family that hosted us. We discovered Nadia through www.airbnb.com. Over the week she and her family helped us with our French, shared much of their French and Moroccan culture and fed us well! By the end of the week we felt as if we had arrived as guests and were leaving as family. If you are thinking of heading to Paris, Nadia's home is one we would recommend.

Miss K adores Moroccan style meals!

 

Mummy Musings

While the children have been picking up small amounts of French throughout their time here, I think the biggest learning comes in the form of tolerance and cultural relativity. Miss K has commented on the what she calls the 'rudeness' of French people (our hosts aside of course). Cars and people will 'push in' in ways she considers to be unfair and there is a lot of waiting (some systems are less than efficient). There have been many discussions about how and why different cultures have different ways of thinking about and doing things, which I think is kind of the crux of being on this journey.

Next post... the journey South! Let me know what you're enjoying and what you'd like to know more about...I'd love to hear from you!

From museums to madness and the mundane in between

Tired. But still wanting to share. Resorting to lists today.

Things we've done this week that we've loved

• Disneyland
• Ueno Koen (park)
• For it's fun outdoor play ground

• For the somewhat tired and dated slot machine rides

• Natural History Museum (Ueno)
• Incredible interactive displays over 5 floors, and an informative Japanese section
• Friendly and engaging volunteers who were wonderful with the children
• 360 degree theatre show of dinosaurs and the deep sea
• Required two days to visit (with the children's enthusiastic consent!)

• Shopping at Uniqlo
• Updating our tired travelling clothes and replacing lost items
• So shopping there again, clothes that actually fit me!
• Japanese in public so stylish. Kiwi travelling family of 5 somewhat shabby, but not now!
• 8th story restaurant in Shinjuku next to Uniqlo
• Fantastic food

• Awesome view of trains (kept Master T and Master A 100% amused)

• Y2500 discount from free vouchers from Uniqlo for our big spend up!

• Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi (near Harajuku)
• Well, the MOTH and I loved this. So serene. Children not so serene.

• Commemoration of 100 years since the Empress' passing - amazing displays of Japanese History (Miss K enjoyed this).
• Dancing with Earthday group (Miss K and I)

• Kiddyland in Harajuku
• Five stories of everything kawaii (cute) you can imagine.
• Despite being absolutely crowded, the children were intrigued with all the characters and want to go back!

Things we've learnt:

• Catch trains between 9:30am and 4pm (before 5pm) in Tokyo
• Eat dinner in (so little people aren't exhausted on crowded trains post 6pm)
• Get early nights
• Say yes more and go slow
• Crowds make everyone tired
• Changeable weather (we've gone from short sleeves to merinos over one week) can make people temperamental
• Paper and pens are fantastic entertainment
• Work as a team
• Even when being together as a family, each child needs their own time and attention with Mum and Dad.
• Children are incredibly resourceful when it comes to play. Kids have been using giant bags of nappies as 'trains' and rearranging our meagre furniture for other games.
• Takeshita street in Harajuku is very crowded on Sunday!(Not my photo, but this is pretty much what it looked like. I was too overwhelmed to dare let go of a child's hand and photograph anything down this road!)

Japan reminds me to be grateful for:

• Space
• Our own rooms, gardens and a ground level washing line back home

Our washing line outside Miss K and Master A's room. That's an air-conditioning unit to the left.

• We think so many people go out in the weekends because it's too cramped to stay home
• My own kitchen
• There are certain challenges to cooking with minimal utensils, not to mention bench space (behind the boys, you can see how much bench space I have to work with - that includes a two element gas stove (of which only one works), and an oversized sink.

Our kitchen. The boys made a train!

• Having visited Japan on my own
• Travelling on your own in Japan, there is so much more freedom and ease to access stores, tourist sights and transport.
• Travelling with children is much harder. But it's wonderful to share my memories and joys with them and to see them respond to the newness, strangeness and excitement that is Japan.

More stuff we've lost

• Miss K's polar fleece
• Master A's polar fleece
• My sunglasses
• Am also sure some elements of sanity starting to erode...

But we're still smiling!

Terrific Trains, Dashing Dingoes and Lingering Lurgies

Melbourne. We made it on Monday afternoon. Kudos to the MOTH for driving that hulk of a campervan all the way into Melbourne. More Kudos to him for managing to get one day's free rental out of Britz (after some pressure on his part; they were not forthcoming in offering it).

Campervan space

The space we're staying in
Our first day in Melbourne was one of enforced rest (for me and the kids - I had a migraine and my intention of going to the Victoria Market for produce was foiled) while MOTH went off to file a police report for the missing money belt, get a NavMan and groceries. The kids spread out and enjoyed our two bedroom villa in Essendon; a contrast to their space in the campervan (note the photos showing them playing in the area that converted to the MOTH & my bed, and our new - proper- sleeping space).

Essendon space

 We've opted mainly for self-catering options on this journey, this makes meal times much cheaper, although if you are considering doing self-catering on a long international journey, start collecting salt and pepper sachets from cafes (sugar too if you need that) and soya sauce from the sushi cartons. I'm finding cooking without flavourings and fridge fixing (and my thermo-mix) somewhat challenging and it's quite difficult to purchase small amounts that will suffice for between one to three weeks. Jars of herbs and spices are not exactly ideal for transporting around the world in your luggage.

Self-contained accommodation also means no shared bathrooms, privacy, in some cases space to run around, and a chance to try out the suburbs. The downside is that hiring a car is necessary (and dragging car seats about), but with five of us, it generally works out cheaper than all taking public transport.

In Melbourne, we have wonderful friends that have kindly lent us their Toyota Yaris (another contrast to the campervan), which is fantastic. The MOTH has managed to get a botty-vomitty lurgy, which is not. The MOTH has convalesced all day in bed (dispelling any plans of a market visit again today), but before the bug really set in we managed two days of magic.

Terrific Trains

Master A drives a train at Trainworks

Trains are somewhat of a theme for us, spurred on by Master A's passion for all things rail. Trainworks (1.5 hours south of Sydney- mentioned in a previous post) was a world class museum of trains and well worth the visit on that campervan rumble down to Melbourne.




This Wednesday, we drove out of Melbourne to ride Puffing Billy - a steam engine with open air carriages and permission to dangle one's legs over the side. It takes about an hour to drive to Belgrave (Puffing Billy's departure station), and almost double that coming back in peak traffic - but the ride all the way to and from Gembrook was worth it, not to mention the dinner, another pair of friends whipped for us that night too :-)

Akira pretends we're going faster than 24km/ph

Dashing Dingoes
Wildlife and conservation also figure strongly in our family's travel activities. Featherdale in Sydney was great, but Healesville, about an hour out of Melbourne, is absolutely breath taking. Paying tribute to the Aborigine caretakers of the land, the santcuary is a blend of Aborigine creation stories, conservation messages and stunning Australian wildlife in a relaxed setting. The crowning highlight was the 'wildlife encounter' they offer.

At AU$12pp for a 10 minute encounter (children under 8 have to be supervised by a paying adult), the MOTH initially was a bit sceptical , when he booked for an echidna encounter. Ms Echidna was not co-operative in coming out to see us (mainly because the 31C heat we encountered on our arrival to Melbourne has dropped to about 20Cand she was cold ). We chose the dingo over a refund - all proceeds go to helping save the wildlife.

Originally named Tingo by the Aborigine (and misheard by the settlers...), these are beautiful cousins of the wolf. Our encounter allowed us to enter their enclosure with the ranger, touch and be photographed with the animals. At the same time we learnt a great deal about the plight of the dingo - it is anticipated that they will be extinct in ten to fifteen years due to in-breeding, and we heard many positive stories about them.

 Healesville will probably, most definitely, make our Top Ten.

Mother Musings -a list of random thoughts...
Things I'm glad I packed

The Mum who muses...

• Lavender oil - great for sore tums, disinfecting, relaxing baths
• imodeum (for obvious reasons)
• spare microfiber face cloths
• spare towels
• antibacterial wet wipes
• hand sanitizer
• cool-store lunch bag, extra zip lock bags and small plastic containers

Things I wish I had packed - but thankfully we can purchase

• Tea towels
• a few more pairs of socks
• scissors (I did pack some, but they've disappeared)
• salt, pepper and soya sauce sachets

Things we've lost so far

• Money belt
• MOTH's shower gel (at a camping ground)
• Master A and Miss K's pjs (one set)
• One of Master T's shoes (at Healesville - there's probably a wombat wearing it)
• scissors
• a piece of a magnetic puzzle which now renders it useless
• several coloured pencils

To date, children and sanity have not yet been lost (almost but not quite - sanity, not children).

Quiet day today. Visited local park, walked to shops, found Australian animal stickers and sensational patisserie. Nice just to wander around. Hoping the MOTH is mended tomorrow and that I can get to at least one market before we leave Australia on Monday!

Measuring a menacing bird

Visitors to our home will currently encounter a long sheet of brown paper, measuring three metres in length, attached to our living room wall. This is the wing span of the Hasst's Eagle.


The MOTH and children with Haast's Eagle wing span sheet, viewing YouTube...

 The children have been fascinated for some months with the Haast's Eagle, discovered in an Encyclopedia of NZ wildlife borrowed from the library before Christmas.

Given their fascination and Keilani's concern for extinct wildlife, I picked up a copy of New Zealand's Wildlife of the Past by Dave Gunson in a book sale. There has been much pouring over the pages of dinosaurs, birds and plants, particularly the Haast's Eagle. Akira had been enquiring why it is called the Haast's Eagle (it's also known as the Giant Eagle, but referred to as Haast's Eagle, as it was first described by Julius Von Haast in 1870, according to Wikipedia)

Measuring the wing span led to measuring people in the house. We know the MOTH is the tallest person in the house and Tama is the shortest. We also have a reference point when measuring other big creatures (like a 2 metre tall Moa, and a 30 metre dinosaur). Unfortunately, there are also some negative aspects to pursuing the interests of small people.

As a rule, the family watches very little television. Keilani and Akira had been asking to see what a Haast 's Eagle flew like. As a resourceful mum, I found a very short YouTube clip of a re-enactment of the Giant Eagle's attack (on unsuspecting Maori). Despite peering at it on my smart phone (which is ridiculously small), and knowing it is extinct (dead, gone, kaput, no more here), neither of them will go to the letter box alone at the moment for fear of the stupid bird! Beware what you share with you kids in the name of learning!

On the upside, we are able to talk through the fear and comfort them when they are afraid. I am reminded that each child has curiosities that still need boundaries, and that their sensitivities and concerns, no matter how irrational may seem to us as big people, are still real and valid for them.

And that a major plus side of home educating is that  everyone in the family gets some benefit....

Tama learns about noise, shape, texture and ripping with the brown paper!