New York and Boston

We just got back from a trip to the US. Other than the baby jet lag we are back to normal now. The trip was everything we expected and more. We decided last May to do this trip because Air France/Delta started offering a direct flight from Lyon to NY in August and Valerie had a free flight.

Before the flight day we were a bit nervous because Mathieu had recently had ear problems. In fact the night before he didn't sleep. We aren't sure if it was because of the ears but it made the flight over that much more difficult.

During the flight he did better than we expected. We were worried that he was going to be as difficult as when we took our first flight to the US back in May to California. During that flight we spent 15 hours trying to calm him down. Sorry passengers.

Once over in the NY we visited some family about an hour north of the city. We had a wonderful time and they all loved meeting Mathieu for the first time.

Following our family visit we headed up to Boston. Neither of us have been up there before and I have an old college friend who I haven't seen in over 10 years living out there. We did a home exchange in Boston which once again worked out perfectly. We stayed in Cambridge and had the chance to do the freedom trail, Harvard, MIT and spend a wonderful evening catching up with my V.J. and his wife. We traveled down south to visit the Cape but neither of us were overly impressed. We were expecting ocean views throughout the drive but the road goes down the center of the Cape and there is no ocean views unless you find a private road off the beaten path and we didn't have a ton of time to explore. However, we did like P-town. We were there on Election day and there were a bunch groups out pushing their opinions on the street.

We found the north of Boston to be much more interesting. We visited Gloucester, Marblehead, Essex, Salem and Rockport. These beautiful fishing towns were exactly what we wanted to see.

From Boston, we headed down to NY where we did a second home exchange in Brooklyn. This needs a bit of explaining. The couple from NY had already stayed in our Lyon home back in August while we were up in Brittany.

It was the first time we have been to Brooklyn and we will definitely be going back there if possible. It is known by New Yorkers as the place you move to when you are ready to have a family. The whole town seems to be taylored to kids and the home we stayed in was heaven for Mathieu. They had more toys than a toy store! On top of that I found a beer and sandwich store down the street that was my heaven.

In NY we visiting the Empire State Bldg, Central park, and of course Brooklyn. We also spent some time with a couple of my friends Gabe and Sarah who live in the city.

Of course, I should mention the shopping. If you are ever in NY or Boston, it is a must to stop at Filene's Basement. This store has everything at outlet prices.

Well, now we are back in France already thinking about our next vacation.