July - We've Landed!

July 7: The jet lagged Pirate de Paris and his family have arrived in France. All are well, although most look - or feel - like Leo!

We've risen from the Catacombs! We are rallying to find residence!

July 14: While the French are celebrating Bastille Day, the equivalent of the U.S. Fourth of July, I'm celebrating scoring a jewel of an apartment in the heart of Paris on a noisy street - an important find for a large, loud American family! Our apartment party returns to celebrating Bastille Day, when we find out that James Blunt is taking part in the hours of festivities at the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower).

We decided to take friends - a rather large group (below) to check out our new empty, loud, echoing apartment. All of us put on our inside voices, as not to offend the new neighbors that we hoped to eventually meet. All went well, except upon departure Sadie and Jade decided to jump in the minuscule lift (elevator for two to three people) like kids often do in larger type elevators to feel the dropping sensation. It stopped between floors - stuck! We met our new neighbors who seemed quite excited and offered all sorts of ideas in French about how to rescue les enfants who were trapped in the elevator. After a repairman arrived and asked the girls in the tiny space if they were sportive (athletic), he disabled the lift and had the girls climb through a small hole and up an elevator shaft. A true adventure!

Lessons Learned In Our First Week Abroad
It was not Pavarotti - but paparazzi - who chased Princess Diana of Wales as she fled through the streets of Paris to her death, as one tourist recently questioned our bike guide.

If you are with your family and you get lost inbetween Sacre Coeur and the artist colony in Monmartre, as Thomas did, ask a family from Spain - using your limited French and nicest English, with a slight accent of panic included - to dial your Dad's American cell phone. It's a start. (Don't forget the country code!)

If you meet a friend Paul on the playground as Ian did, and he doesn't speak a word of English and you don't speak a word of French, and Paul wants to introduce you to another friend, find a Dad quickly who can make French introductions. Then, you'll have two new friends!

If your rental car spews out black smoke 10 minutes into your travels, return it asap. Tow trucks won't pick up cars on French highways, only police.

Switzerland
We've returned from a real hiking adventure. Our friends guided us from hutte to hutte in the Swiss Alps. After several 4-6 hour hiking days, we found ourselves on some very remote, beautiful mountain tops. There were some resourceful climbing techniques.

One night the temperature dropped to -1 C, as we snuggled in an unheated hut. 

During our adventure, Leo turned 5! Thinking it might be nice to have a gift for his birthday - an idea lost in the craziness of a move - but being at a hut in remote Switzerland, i decided to take a bus with Leo into a larger city, in search of a birthday gift. I spent 46 Swiss francs - the equivalent of $46 to ride a bus down to the city and back. Leo's gift of choice - a "bug zapper "- a bright red fly swatter - that cost a $1.50. As much as we flashed toys in front of him, he only had eyes for the flyswatter. As you can see, it made its way through the Alps.

We had a rare opportunity to be in Engschlenalp for a Schwingfest! Schwingers - wrestlers from around the region - gathered for this all day infield competition.