Mathieu Goes Mobile for Grandma

Mathieu is finally crawling. With the arrival of Grandma, Mathieu has decided to progress to the next level. In the last week 3 new teeth came out and he started to move around. Now we are really going to have to start paying attention to him. I have already secured most of the front room but we are going to have to start closing doors so he doesn’t go in places he shouldn’t be.

Grandma arrived last Thursday and has become our live-in nanny since our real nanny (who isn’t a live-in nanny by the way) has taken the month of August off. Anyway come the month of September Mathieu will be going to Day Care instead. We believe Day Care will be better for his development since he will be around more kids. However, I am not looking forward to more runny noses.

On another note, he has also started to develop his personality. He is becoming really good at throwing little tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants. Over the last few months mommy has been feeding Mathieu off her plate anytime she is eating. Now Mathieu thinks that every time someone is eating he should get some and throws his little tantrum which sounds a bit like the roar of a Lion. This is a bit irritating. Hopefully this stage passes soon. I will add some new pics soon.

The Alps continue to amaze me

It is fun to live in Lyon but it is also great to get out of Lyon. On the weekends we like to get out of the city and head to Val’s fathers. It is always a pleasure to be in the mountains winter or summer and the Alps definitely hold true to their reputation of one of the world’s most beautiful mountain ranges. In the summer Val’s father likes to go up into the mountains to eat and hike and each time we visit a different place. Now, we have been here for 4 years and we have experienced many different restaurants, trails, waterfalls, valleys, cows, sheep, lambs, chickens, etc. You would have thought by now that we would have exhausted the list but this weekend definitely didn’t disappoint us.

On Saturday Val and I were on our own so we took Mathieu to an ecological lake in Combloux. Combloux is a ski town just below one of the more famous ski towns in the French Alps called Megeve. They have created a mountain lake for swimming with clear, pure water that requires no chemicals to clean it. Aquatic plants, a fountain, a waterfall with a running stream all guarantee an irreproachable water quality. But the coolest thing about this lake is the view. You look up and the Mt Blanc is towering above. On a side note, I had the best tiramisu I have ever eaten in my life there. It was not a traditional tiramisu but a tiramisu made with rum and pineapple. EXCELLENT!!

Following our swimming adventure we headed over to Megeve. Megeve is similar to Chamonix. It is a charming little ski town that is as alive in summer as in winter. When we arrived there was a welcoming reception. A band was playing and they gave us a glass of champagne. It wasn’t really a welcoming committee we just stumbled across it and everything was free so we decided to take part. Then we took a walk through the village stopped for a beer and did some people watching until Mathieu told us it was time to head home. This town is well worth visiting any time of year.

Sunday Val’s father, once again, amazed us. We went for a picnic in the mountains at the Cirque du fer à cheval (basically a cul de sac in the mountains). You walk the trail at the base of the mountains and at one point you can see about 7 different waterfalls that drop more than 100 feet. All the waterfalls flow into a river at the bottom that snakes down through the valley. Just when you think you have seen it all in the Alps you stumble across another hidden gem.

Bastille Day

One more photo. Yes, as my wife says, we need a new camera.

Well, we were unable to go out with friends because Mathieu was giving us a bit a trouble. Instead, at 10pm we got into bed, turned off all the lights and this is what we saw.

Lesson learned

Last weekend we decided to go hiking. Valerie was dying to see the Lac Blanc (White Lake) which is tucked away at 7500 ft in the mountain range of the Alps just across from the Mt Blanc and above the town of Chamonix. Well, of course we had no one to leave Mathieu with so he decided to come with us.

To start the hike you can either hike from the town below or take the gondola up to about 6000 ft and then start your hike there. We opted for the gondola. From the top of the gondola the hike takes about 1 hour 45 minutes of walking straight up the mountain side and another 2 hours 45 minutes to descend, since you are actually doing a circle route around the back of the mountain. On the way up there are 3 glaciers to see descending towards the valley of Chamonix, the Mt Blanc and the Aiguilles de Midi, not to forget the lush valley below. The views are just magnificent. When you arrive at the lake there is a small Refuge that sits right at the edge of the lake which is perfect for having lunch or just a quick beer. The lake in itself is not all that impressive. It is rather small (more like a pond than a lake) and mostly covered in ice and snow. However, the panorama is surreal and as you descend down the back side of the mountain you stumble across the real treasures. During the descent we came across 3 small lakes, a waterfall that fell about 150 ft through a crevice in the mountain and a couple of mountain goats.

Now I know this all sounds amazing and it definitely was. But let’s step back to the first paragraph where I mention that we took Mathieu. Hiking up 1500 ft with a kid on your back is not easy, add a few sections with stairs and it becomes even harder. But don’t forget about the ladders as well and sliding through the snow sections. Overall, he didn’t suffer only I did. After 4 hours of hiking, the beautiful valley and glaciers start to become less intriguing. And once the blisters set in and your back starts to hurt it becomes even less intriguing. By the 4^th hour I was ready to be sitting in Chamonix with a beer in hand watching the people pass by.

Funny that the next day my legs were hurting but Valerie, on the other hand felt great. Anyway that is the last time we will be doing a hike that involves Mathieu on my back, 4+ hours, and a steep incline.

What's New

Well, it is already June. Crazy how fast the days pass by. Mathieu is approaching his 8^th month and he already has 2 teeth. He still hasn’t started crawling or rolling over but on the other hand he can’t get enough of standing. He can support himself pretty well if he leans on something. I think he is going to skip crawling all together and go straight to walking. I guess we will find out soon enough.

Last weekend, we got out of the rain that has been falling in Lyon since we returned from the US, for a weekend down in Ardeche. 2 hours south and it was beautiful and sunny. Ardeche is a region known for its canyons and beautiful villages. There are several villages in the region that are proclaimed on France’s list of “most beautiful villages in France” and I definitely believe it. The villages are all medieval and many are perched on cliffs above the river that cuts through the region.

We rented a chalet with friends and barbecued. Mathieu handled the travelling pretty well except for the return trip in which we actually learned a valuable lesson, “do not feed Mathieu before taking curvy roads in the mountains”. He puked all over his new car seat and himself. Lots of fun to clean up.

We just got back from our whirlwind tour in the U.S. where we visited San Francisco, Sarcramento, San Diego and Santa Barbara. It was Mathieu's first visit to the U.S. and the first chance for all the family to see him. During our visit Mathieu got his first tooth, started eating solid food and started sitting upright. On the other hand, his parents suffered sleep deprivation thanks to the tooth. On the whole the trip was a lot of fun. We wish we could have stayed longer in SD though. I have just uploaded all the new photos. Take a look at our slide show and photo links.
On another note, we also did our first home exchange in which we traded homes for a few days with someone who lived in SD. They came out to Lyon and stayed in our place while we stayed in their place in SD. It worked out perfect! We will definitely do it again.

Romantic Venice with a 5 month old

Last weekend we took our first plane flight with Mathieu to Venice, Italy. Talk about stress!! Overall, it wasn’t too bad. Mathieu was a bit difficult when the plane took off but that was mostly because he was hungry and we didn’t have warm water for his bottle and the flight attendant couldn’t give us warm water until the plane was up in the air. Mathieu will not drink cold milk. Anyway, he screamed for a few minutes and then calmed down. After he ate he was great the rest of the trip.

Going home was a different story though. On the way up and down he screamed. We couldn’t get him to suck on anything. He screamed for a solid 10 minutes. When we landed the people in front of us told us that he was so quiet. HUH!!! Were they on the same plane?? It was a pregnant lady who said this. I think she will never take her kid on a plane.

Anyway, Venice was great. We stayed in a bed and breakfast right on a park in front of the water in St Elena not far from the center. The first morning we walked from the b&b to Piazza St Marco along the boardwalk. It was breathtaking, (especially climbing up and down all the bridges with a stroller). No, but truthfully it is really beautiful. There is so much contrast from one building to the next you really don’t get tired of looking at the architecture. Unfortunately, we did not do a gondola ride. It just seemed too complicated with the kid and the stroller.

We spent the whole day combing the city by foot and then headed over to Lido by water ferry at sunset. We took Mathieu out on the beach. It was a pretty trashy beach but it was still a beach and it was his first.

Overall, it wasn't the most romantic Venetian trip but Mathieu did very well for his first real vacation and the Italians just adored him. In every restaurant he was the center of attention. So we are a bit nervous about the trip to the US at the end of this month in terms of the flight but otherwise Mathieu travels pretty well.

Check out the pics in the slideshow over on the left!!!

After a rough night of partying. Easter Party Bunny.

Traveling with Baby

2 weeks ago we took our first weekend road trip with Mathieu. It was a 4 hour trip up to Metz (In the north of France) to visit family for Easter. Mathieu decided not to sleep the first night which basically killed me and Valerie. He woke up crying every hour or so and we didn’t get any sleep that night. We aren’t sure what caused it but something was bothering him. Maybe he had a slight ear ache. The following night he was back to normal.

We did get a break on Saturday. Valerie’s godchild babysat while we spent the afternoon in Luxembourg with her cousin. Luxembourg is a beautiful city. I wasn’t expecting it to be so nice. There was even some sort of American festival going on. They were selling hotdogs (not real beer steamed hotdogs which I miss eating at Weiner Works), buffalo wings and baked potatoes with live country and blues music for entertainment. We didn’t partake in the festival though; instead we went to an American eatery and order some fish n chips and a few beers. It was pretty good but they served us way too much food and we couldn’t finish. There were no Americans eating there but there were plenty of British.

Overall, the weekend went well. Mathieu seemed to handle the trip pretty well. But the real traveling test will come this weekend when we head to Venice. The plane fight is only 1 hour 30 mins which is short in comparison to the flight we are going to take at the end of the month to the US. Hopefully, we will all pass with flying colors and not piss off too many passengers due to a crying kid.

Good news and Bad news

Well, what do you want to hear first? I guess I will start with the bad news. After all the work I did to exchange my driving license to a French license my application has been denied!!! Apparently, my temporary carte de séjour (immigration equivalent of the green card) that I received to live in France was considered to be my original carte de séjour. In order to freely exchange a US license with a French license you must apply in time of your first carte de séjour which by the way is valid for one year. Anyway, I only had mine for 6 months because when I found a job in Lyon, we moved from Marseille to Lyon. At that time I had to hand over my original carte de séjour and wait for the new one to be made since I moved to a new region in France. In this waiting period they give you a piece of paper that states you are "waiting". Well, of course you cannot use that to apply for the license. I finally received the new carte de séjour 6 months later after the 1 year period was over. OF COURSE...

So after Valerie wrote a couple of letters complaining about the fact that I didn’t have a fair amount of time to do the exchange since we had moved during the period I got the chance to fight my case in front of the Tribunal d’Administration (similar to the courthouse). I went to the Tribunal and in front of the judge I pleaded my case asking that I could have the final 6 months to apply for the exchange. Well apparently, it didn’t make a different. What a waste of time and a day of vacation but at least I got to experience firsthand how the French judicial system works. It is very similar to the US system actually.

Now, after 20 years of driving, of which 3 of those years have been in France, I have to go take driving school and take the written test which apparently is very difficult and very expensive. I am not looking forward to this. I think I will keep driving with my US license for a little longer.

On the other hand, we did win one of our fights with the French administration in which once again, Valerie had used her superior letter writing skills to help me get my 10 year residency card. As of today, I have it!!

This means, no more taking a half day of vacation to go to the Prefecture (Immigration Building) every 3 months to renew a stupid piece of paper that allows me to stay in the country while you wait for your real card to be prepared. “Inevitably they tell you that they are behind schedule and you must come back again 3 months later”. You typically repeat this process around 3 times.

No more standing in the cattle line an hour before the doors opens with 100s of others in the freezing cold.

No more spending 3 hours pushed up against a wall trying to avoid the incredibly packed little office in hopes your number is called before they close at 3:30pm and no more battling a bitter administration worker who has already been yelled at around 50 times by pissed off people who forgot to copy 1 piece of paper in their application so she tells them to come back when it is complete.

I have been living in France for almost 4 years now. I am married to a French citizen, have a child who was born in France, a job and pay French taxes but it still has taken near 4 years to get this stupid card. Well, the next step is dual-citizenship so I will probably have to go put up with the same hell again next year.

You can see it was just a light case of the chicken pox. Lucky him and us!!

Varicelle "chicken pox"

Well it has been a fun couple of weeks for Mathieu and his parents. 2 weeks ago he had a cold and following that he came down with the chicken pox. To start, a little background. His Nanny has 3 kids. 1 two year old, 1 ten month old and Mathieu. Well, the 2 year old had chicken pox in which the Nanny conveniently forgot to tell us about. Val found out when the 2 year came up to her and said “boutons, boutons”, which means zits or in this case chicken pox. Anyway 2 weeks later Mathieu and the 10 month year old came down with it. Overall, it didn’t affect Mathieu too much. He still has a lot of bumps but he didn’t really seem to suffer too much other than being a bit lethargic. I saw the other kid yesterday and she looked liked hell. Her face was covered. Her mother said she had had a fever for 3 days and wasn’t sleeping. I guess Mathieu got lucky and got Val’s immune system and not mine. She never gets sick. I will post a pic as soon as I get a chance.

I am bored with all these pics but since Mommy and I look so cute I will endure one last pic.

My name is Coolican....... Mathieu Coolican.
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