Provence

I became enamored with Provence while studying Vincent Van Gogh in college. Van Gogh spent two years towards the end of his life there, and it was the inspiration behind his most well loved paintings, including The Starry Night, Sunflowers, and Night Cafe.

Last week we spent 5 days in Provence and with sunflowers fields around every bend and the sun shinning bright, I felt like I walked right into a Van Gogh painting. Provence is an extremely diverse area, and prior to our trip I had no idea that it had so much Roman History. Roman ruins (many over 2,000 years old) can be found everywhere, and are some of the best preserved in the world. There was so much too see, and while we didn't see it all, we made a valiant effort to see as much as we could. We loved it, the kids loved it... it was a definite highlight of our European experience.

*Disclaimer: this is a LONG one.

Pont Du Gard
The first stop on our trip was to a Roman aqueduct built in 19 B.C. If you can't tell from the pictures below, this thing was massive, perfectly preserved, and absolutely jaw dropping. We loved hiking above it, swimming in the river below, and the boys loved sporting their new "European" swim shorts. We also thought the terrain was pretty cool.





Arles, France
We loved Arles with it's Roman ruins (including a massive arena- once home to gladiator fights), laid back atmosphere, and Van Gogh history. This city was heavily destroyed during WWII, but you would never know it today (don't judge that statement by the ruin pictures below- the rest of the city was intact).




Arles's Roman arena still hosts bull flights and I was really excited to go to one- until I discovered that they actually kill the bull. I think that may have been traumatic for the kids...and me.



The actual "Cafe La Nuit" alongside Van Gogh's version



The Camargue
40 minutes south of Arles, along the Mediterranean Sea, is The Camargue. This is a preserve where wild horses, bulls, boars and flamingos roam freely. It was a bit windy, but lovely.



Avignon, France
Avignon felt a little like Paris to me, only much more intimate. Surrounded by a massive wall, it is also larger and slightly busier than Arles. At first we thought we preferred Arles, but by the end of the day Avignon may have won us over.



The Palace of the Popes
Did you know that from 1309-1403 the Pope lived in Avignon? And that in 1378 the Italians demanded that the Pope live in Rome, so for about 40 years there were two popes? Me neither.

Well, the Pope did live in Avignon for a period and during that time he lived in the Palace of the Popes. He also had that massive wall I mentioned built around the entire city.





The view of Avignon from a bridge on the Rhone.



Provence is famous for it's cuisine, which largely consists of garlic, olives, herbs and tomatoes. With the kids we weren't able to experience any really nice restaurants, but Sam kept commenting on how much he loved the "fancy" outdoor cafes where we ate. Yes, it was an upgrade to the brot and schnitzel stands we frequent in Germany. Andrew also did try the local bull- hopefully the meat source was not the loser of a bullfight.



Les Baux- "The Dead City"
Les Baux is an abandoned Medieval village and castle set atop of the Alpilles Mountains. The location was used by the Celts in the 2nd century B.C., but beginning in the Middle Ages it was built up and ruled by the Lords of Baux- notorious warriors who controlled much of the surrounding region. The Lords were eventually taken out of power in the 12th century, and in the 17th century Les Baux unsuccessfully revolted against the French Crown, which led to it's demolition in 1632. Still, with what is left of the castle and village you can easily imagine what a force this place was while it was up and thriving.

Bet you didn't know you would be getting a history lesson. You. Are. Welcome.







Annecy, France
We ended our trip by driving halfway home and stopping in Annecy to spend the night camping. This location allowed us to go to an English speaking church in Geneva the next day- which was lovely. I'll have to do another post on European camping- Andrew is convinced this is what caused the Europeans to become "soft". We loved Annecy and since it is only 3 hours away, we will be heading back there in the future.





Lake Annecy

10 Years Later

I married someone who makes me laugh every day, whose face lights up when he sees me, and who makes me smile ear to ear when I see him. Someone who shares the same faith and the same goals as me. Someone who makes me want to be a better person, especially when he so patiently puts up with my temper...even my pregnant fits of rage. A guy who my children will be forever grateful to me for choosing because he is such an awesome dad.

10 years have gone by in the blink of an eye, and I'm more head over heals for this man than ever.

Celebrating our anniversary in Provence...with the 3 (1/2) little tag-alongs.

Summer Holiday Begins

Sam and Ms. Patricksen, Luke and Frau Taksauoi

Sam- The International School Basel

Now that school is over Sam is in mourning- that kid is crazy for school. This year Sam had a fantastic teacher and a great class. He thrived at the International School, and while I don't think that the academics were as advanced as the US (or at least Montgomery County), we saw a huge growth in Sam. He seemed to gain a sense of identity as he became much more confident and outgoing. I think that the International School also did a great job at encouraging independence. Sam made some fantastic friends, and we are really looking forward to another year at the ISB.

Luke- Rainenweg Kindergarten

I loved seeing the cultural experience Luke received at his Swiss kindergarten. I marveled each time I went and saw his teacher and classmates speak to him in Swiss German- it never seemed to phase Luke at all. On the last day of school Luke's teacher even told me that he was starting to speak back in Swiss German. What a shame school ended when it did! The children were wonderful to Luke and always included him in their playing. Luke also made a couple of great friends and I think this really helped with his confidence as well. In the end, I credit this school for making Luke feel like he had a place in Switzerland. I'm so proud of that little boy!!

On the last day of school the kids did a play of"Snow White". I couldn't follow along too well, but it seemed to be a little darker than the Disney version. The best part? When Afton yelled out, "This is STUPID! I going bye-bye! (Anyone who personally knows Afton knows she has two sound controls- loud and louder. This was said in the "louder".) Luke played the Prince's assistant- he was adorable.

Crazy Hair Day

School is a-winding down here with only 2 more days left. I'm not sure if I'm more excited or sad. I'll have to wait until after the first week of summer break to make a verdict.

In the meantime, the boys are enjoying all of the madness that accompanies the end of the school year- class picnics, treats, movies...and crazy hair day. This was held in Sam's school last week, and Andrew about had a fit when he realized that he would be the one taking Sam to school on the tram (So what if I made him look like a girl?). Fortunately for Andrew, Sam blended in just fine with all of the other international students and their crazy hair that day.

Sam and his boys- Fletcher and Enzo- on the tram to school.

Luke also wanted in on the action, so before we left to get Sam I did up his "do" as well. Unfortunately for me, Luke was the only kid with wacky hair on the tram in so I had to endure lots of stares from the reserved Swiss.

The Garden

The lush gardens are often the first thing people notice when they come to Switzerland. The Swiss are amazing gardeners, but it also helps that the entire country is on miracle grow. Take my flower garden for example. Here is what it has looked like during the last 5 months:

February
These little beauties started to pop up everywhere.

March/April
Tulips sprung up like crazy and all of the trees started to flower.

April/May
When the tulips went away the irises came.

Then the peonies... it was like some beautifully orchestrated floral symphony.

June
Which brings us to June. Most of the perennials have since left (not the roses), but if you look closely in the picture below you will see a new addition to our yard. Something added by my own hand...

... a vegetable garden.

About a month ago I planted my first vegetable garden, and I hated it. It was way too much work. (Who knew??) My biggest problem? The watering and the weeding.

BUT, I am happy to report that as time has gone by, the garden and I have come to an understanding. Actually, Switzerland and I have come to an understanding. It has been raining here like crazy, which means that I rarely have to water my garden. Plus, some of the plants are starting to yield produce, which is much more exciting than I expected. Another fun thing is that we have discovered that most of the trees in our yard are fruit bearing trees. We just spent the last two weeks feasting on cherries, and the other trees are bursting with growing apples and peaches (at least I think they are peaches). We also have grape vines and a raspberry bush growing.

And now for the million dollar question: Can ANYONE tell me what type of tree/plant this is?

The Rhine Valley

Andrew and the boys had two days off last week so we headed up to the Rhine Valley for an overnight stay. The Rhine Valley (located in Western German) is peppered with castles, and with our boy's affinity for all things medieval, we decided it would be fun to go. We stayed along the Rhine River, which within a 45 mile stretch, has about 20 major castles on it. The placing of these castles was done with the purpose of taxing river traffic, and often the castle Barons would place a chain in the river, preventing boats from passing without paying the self imposed tax. Selfish, but it resulted in some pretty cool castles for us today.

Bacharach, Germany

We stayed in Bacharach, and if anyplace screams "story book Germany" this is it. Aside from it's beauty, it is a very relaxed village which is a huge plus for me.

The hotel where we slept was the original castle wall.

We took a little cruise to St. Goar which is an hour upriver.

I don't know why, but Afton didn't seem to appreciate the castles as much as the boys. Maybe if one were painted pink we would have seen some enthusiasm.





I really try hard to keep my kids quite while are touring, but it is next to impossible to do when we are touring a castle. While we were visiting this castle the boys were madly dashing around and at one point I heard one of them yell, "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" I had to smile that time.



We saved the crown jewel- The Burg Eltz- until the very end of our trip. Just look at that shot below, how awesome does that place look?



Unfortunately, this is what the Burg Eltz looked like when we arrived...



As you can see they are doing some major restoration work, so most of the castle was covered in scaffolding. Now, for those of you flooded with pity for us, don't worry. We plan on going back once this castle is restored to all of it's glory.

The upside is that there was a beautiful hike to get to the castle. It was a nice ending for our little getaway.

And baby makes 6. Whoa.

For those of you who weren't told by my dad 2 1/2 months ago, who don't get my father-in-law's monthly letters, who aren't on facebook, and who don't see me in person, I am pregnant.

As for the answers to the standard questions I have been receiving:

• I'm due on November 6th.
• So far I've been feeling good.
• I love my Dr and feel comfortable delivering here.
• No, this child will not be a Swiss Citizen (you need to have a Swiss parent for that).

Everything has been going smoothly, and we are excited to add another little tyke to our brood. My Swiss OB visits differ from my US ones, in that rather than listening to the heartbeat and measuring my belly each time, they just give me an ultrasound. During my 12 week visit they said that the baby looks like a boy, and during my 16 week visit they said that it looks like a girl. I'm gonna go with "alien" because that's what the baby looked like in the 3-D ultrasound. Has anyone seen one of these where the baby looks normal?