La vie en rose - a weekend in Paris

After our amazing trip to Lyon for a few days, we headed to the city of lights, Paris, for a few days before heading back home. Being in full-on "travel mode," we were traveling pretty lightly and were fairly oblivious to the people around us. Paris in early August was fairly devoid of Parisians and we had the place to ourselves and a few other European tourists.

We had Jon's cousin, Melissa, on hand to speak all of the French for us and steer us towards the best cafes in the city. Not only is she an awesome travel partner but Calvin loved playing with her and they became fast friends. We joked and said that everyone should

Efficient packing tips for family travel

We have been traveling a lot recently and some people noticed that we travel light and asked us to share our tips. If you are a seasoned traveler, then these aren't really tips for you but rather no-brainers. However if you are undertaking your first trip with little children, some of these might help you reduce your stress a bit.

We generally never pack clothing for more than 5 days and plan on doing laundry along the way. We stay at airbnb apartments that usually have a washer on site and a kitchen. This has transformed our traveling experiences with children. 

We prefer to use backpacks to keep our hands free for wrangling and carrying our children. Roller bags are good but you lose a hand and dragging it through Europe can be extra difficult. They call it, "backpacking through Europe" instead of "roller-bagging through Europe" for a reason. 

Most of my time packing is spent during the pre-packing phase - taking the time to consider the types of events (fancy dinners - haha, these are family packing tips. Nobody's enjoying a fancy dinner for a while), modes of transportation (train, bus, car), city vs country landscape, number of days and the weather for the trip. 

We pack our clothing into our favorite Kelty backpack (large) and our immediate necessities into our medium backpack. We keep bribes/toys in a handy front pocket for the inevitable meltdown after a 17 hour travel day. I prefer the rolling method for packing clothing:

Tips for kids and babies

We also only pack enough diapers and snacks for the travel day and buy diapers and other large liquids (e.g., sunscreen and toothpaste) on site. 

Kids and babies look cute in everything and can get away with wearing the same thing day after day. Most days, my 3 year old demands to wear the same shirt day after day so there isn't a need to pack a gazillion different outfits. 

I wear our 10 mth old in a baby carrier, the Ergo, and she and our 3 year old swap out time in our travel stroller. It folds up easily and is super light. 

If your toddler will wear a backpack, put their light toys and books in that. Time to earn your keep, kid!

Tips for women

Pack colorful scarves to dress up plain tops and/or to cover your shoulders if visiting religious sites or fancy dinners 

Pack tops that can mix and match with all of your bottoms. Steer away from "outfits" that only match each other. Being able to recombine your clothing means you don't need as many separate items. 

Never pack one-off clothing or even worse, clothes you may never wear on your trip. Your goal should be to wear every article of clothing at least once. Space is wasted packing for events that are unlikely to happen. Do you need those bulky rain boots for one day of rain? Probably not. 

Go light on toiletries and makeup. My hair never looks the same as it does at home - the water and humidity are different so I don't worry about hair products. Hotels always provide those little soaps - just use those or pack a small bottle of conditioner. My hair can withstand any shampoo but the right conditioner helps to keep it tamed. 

Tips for men

Your clothes are probably the largest in the group so be strategic in your selections

Mix and match your tops and bottoms 

Pack only one pair of shoes 

General tips 

Wear your largest, bulkiest clothing and shoes on the plane

Baby cribs can be checked for free along with your travel stroller (on Norwegian anyway).  You can stuff some small things into the baby crib bag if you need. 

Print off all tickets, itineraries and receipts before your trip and place them in a folder. I print off our overall itinerary (day by day) and tape it to the front of the folder for easy referencing train coach numbers, seating arrangements, etc. I get very nerdy and label everything with sticky notes that are in chronological order for when we will need them. 

Remember, the less you pack, the less you need to keep track of and repack at the end of your trip. 

I know "pack less" is kind of a flippant tip but it really is an exercise in restraint. I used to pack "something for every occasion" or an extra "just in case" item but found that it was rarely ever used and just took up space. Most airlines charge for checked luggage so traveling lighter saves you money that you'd rather spend on dessert or wine. 

At the end of the day you aren't going to care about what clothes you wore on your trip. However, lugging less stuff means you are physically less tired, resulting in less stress during your travel. It will enable you to enjoy your trip while you are actually on it. 

Now, if only you could pack an extra pair of hands that would be great! Enjoy your trip!

Roman ruins, water fountains and incredible food - Lyon, France is perfect

Ahh, Lyon. Only Lyon.

I sigh every time I think back to our time in Lyon, France and can't help but smile as I reminisce about Calvin exploring the Roman ruins with boundless enthusiasm and squealing with delight as he splashed in the fountains with the other children - all running around in their underwear.

We were fortunate to have the most perfect weather imaginable - around 29C, sunny, no clouds and a light cool breeze. Lyon is one of the few European cities to have 2 rivers surrounding it, La Saône and La Rhône, so it has double the waterfront space, double the number of tree-lined walks and so many gorgeous bridges to cross. At night, the rivers reflect all of the beautiful lights and I wonder why Paris is called the City of Lights when Lyon is just as entitled to it. Lyon also boasts its own, though somewhat smaller, metal (Eiffel-like) tower, that is up next to the Fourviere basilica and is all lit up at night.

We wandered through the old town of Lyon. So charming with it's quaint street, cobble stones and boutique shops. Some might call it a tourist trap but it is so beautiful that you can forgive it a bit and still enjoy your delicious ice cream while watching the street musicians play in the shade, slowly dragging on their lit cigarettes in their mouths. Lyon also boasts a strikingly high number of playgrounds sprinkled throughout the city. We had no issues finding playgrounds for Calvin as it seemed there was one around every corner. There were two large playgrounds (one for older children and one for smaller children) that preceded a string of fountains and wading pools. It felt so warm and welcoming, that we couldn't resist taking off our shoes and wading in. While perhaps very un-French of us to do so, we really didn't care. After a day of lazily wandering the city, we felt so relaxed that standing in the water and letting Calvin splash on a hot day seemed like the best idea of all.

Running through the old town

Lyon is most known for its delicious food and a Lyonnaise special is the quenelle. I can't describe it well and the Wikipedia link doesn't do it justice. Basically it is delicious and worth a try. I had the poultry quenelle and it was so rich and creamy. Lyon specializes in offal (organ meats) and while I was a bit put off, Jon was brave and tried and LOVED pressed pig's head tureen (head cheese). If you are going to ever try it, Lyon is the place to do so.

The Roman theatre that sits atop Fourviere is also a must-see if you are in Lyon. Anytime I see Roman ruins, my mind is just completely blown by the mastery of their construction. The site is still used for cultural events and the stage crew was working busily while we were there, adjusting the lighting and stage platforms for an upcoming performance.

Only a 2 hour train ride away from Paris, I would return to Lyon in a heartbeat to spend more time. The weather was consistently beautiful for our entire stay, the people were extremely friendly and helpful and it was the perfect place to roam for a family with young children.

Happy to take part in:

Fjording in Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway is known for being extremely beautiful, extremely rainy and extremely expensive. Somehow, we didn't let reasons 2 and 3 scare us off from experiencing Bergen's natural beauty and we booked a quick (4 day) trip with the plan to picnic our way through Bergen to save some pennies.

Bergen is right on the water and for the weekend we were there,  its harbor held beautiful tall ships in addition to some old WWII ships. Calvin felt like a salty sea captain when he was allowed to man the wheel and "steer" the docked ship in the high seas.

Though we didn't have much time, we managed to squeezed it all in - a trip to beautiful Flåm on the Flåmsbanan, 5 hour fjording boat ride, the touristy fish market, funicular to a spectacular view of Bergen, a troll forest and a few requisite playground stops. We were very fortunate and managed to have 3 sunny days out of 4 - quite remarkable, actually. There is a joke that it rains 275 days a year in Bergen. The locals don't laugh but they make a ton of money selling ponchos to the tourists.

If you want any tips on how to do the Bergen-Flåm-Bergen trip, let me know. There are about a gazillion different ways and TripAdvisor reviews were only partially helpful and mostly confusing.

In short, Bergen is extremely kid friendly (though the cobblestones were rough on the stroller) and can be done on a budget (kind of) if you buy local groceries and bring your own picnics everywhere. It is a small enough place to explore in a few days and is well worth the natural beauty - just don't forget your umbrella. We rented an Airbnb apartment which was very centrally located and on one of the stops of a walking tour. It doesn't get much better than that!

We happened to be on the Flåmsbanan at the same time as the professional photographers who were updating their new catalog. They took a picture of me and the children sitting on the bench under the Flåm sign so we may be the new poster family for Flåm in 2015!

The fjords we saw during our 5 hour boat ride back to Bergen were absolutely breathtaking. I love being on the water and there is no feeling like the wind rushing through your hair, sun on your face and breathing the cleanest air Norway has to offer while looking out onto the bluest sky and water. If we had more time, we could've explored a World Heritage Site fjord Nærøfjord but our boat only drove past the opening. I managed to get a picture of it (see below) and it is probably as close as we will ever get. In short, Norway is majestic, impressive and breathtaking.

Parental Leave - three week update!

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

These have been the fastest three weeks of my life.  It seems like only yesterday that I was saying “hej då!” to work and it’s already been almost a month!  So to make sure that I don’t end up on January 4^th looking back at a blur of time, I wanted to jot down a few top  lists from the time so far.

• Favorite Moments –
• Walking in the Forest:  At the end of a rainy, nap-filled day, Calvin had a full battery after dinner.  We decided that it would be a good idea for me to take him out to the forest right behind our house for a quick walk.  It might have actually been the best idea we ever had.  He was so fired up, he talked a mile a minute for half an hour straight.  I was DYING.  It was so much fun to see how much of a little boy he is now, and I was able to piece together about 10 minutes of video from the walk too. 

Calvin walking through the forest

• Don’t wake the trolls!:  The four of us went for a fun walk through the big forest one day.  We made sure to stop and have calvin check for trolls under every bridge we found.  On one, he found a troll, but luckily it was asleep.  For fun when I walked over the bridge my last step was LOUD.  Loud enough to wake the troll!  Hours later after bath time, he grabs my face with both of his hands, stares deep into my eyes and says “ DADDY – do NOT do that again.  DO NOT wake up the trolls!!”. 

• Seeing Lucy crawl for the first time:  Lucy and I have had a lot of fun over the last few weeks.  She loves playing a game where she just hands you stuff, then you give it back and the cycle repeats.  We’ve played this for hours, in addition to reading tons of books, building blocks and eating grass (tastier than you would think).  But the best part is that she has been teasing us with crawling for SO LONG.  One week BEFORE my leave started, Lis said it was a shame that I would  likely miss her first crawl because it would be happening any day.  THREE WEEKS after that we were still waiting.  She would get really, really close to doing it but then change her mind at the last minute.  It was only because we were both around her constantly that eventually we were both able to see her crawl for the first time in person.  Now we wait a few months and then start the 1^st step countdown. 

Lucy crawling!

• Car Show – Lisa found out about an American Car show in the newspaper a few weeks before it happened.  Plopped it up on the fridge and Calvin stared at it every day.  When we were there it was insane – Calvin was just running up and down the aisle and couldn’t stop chattering about each and every car.

Calvin loves the car show!

• Biggest Surprises –
• How early dinner prep needs to get started for us to stay on schedule.  Working backwards, we want to have both kids in bed by 7.  That means we need to start bathtime by at least 630.  Which means that dinner needs to be ready by 545-600.  Everything takes about 20-30 minutes of cooking time, plus 20 minutes of prep (we are heavily veggie now, so a lot of cutting), so that’s a 5pm start at the latest? Just so that we can all have dinner together?  How are any families able to do this with both parents working at an office?? 

• How much laundry we have.  Dinner prep and cleanup is a never ending cycle too, but at least food is TASTY and eating is FUN.  Clothes are not fun.  I don’t even know why we insist on putting Calvin in clean clothes every day – they only last that way for 5 minutes!!
• How much our Swedish has improved.  Lisa mentioned this in a former blog, but we are doing our best to spend 30 minutes each a day using Memrise and I think it’s really working out well.  I’m actually having fun learning now and am able to pre-plan a few sentences of any conversation I anticipate having.  It’s something we work together on and I’m excited about seeing how far we get with this. 
• Biggest Challenges –
• Not calling in the electronic babysitter from the bullpen all the time.  Calvin loves watching 10-20 minute youtube movies.  I love having 10-20 minutes to play with Lucy, shower, find out what is happening in the world, etc.  It would be SO EASY to just rely on movies all the time.  But that’s not best for anyone. Not as big of a deal right now when the weather is GORGEOUS, but I see you Swedish weather and I know what we in store for ourselves starting mid-September.  Hopefully I can stay strong….
• Getting good Lucy time.  I love playing with Calvin.  Love it.  We spent hours the other day just playing wiffle-ball pepper, where I just hit the ball and he runs, gets it and brings it back to me. Then we built a T-ball set the other day (#expatsolutions!).  There is nothing better.  BUT I also know that Lucy is also at a really fun stage.  The hard part is that Calvin requires 100% attention from at least one of us the vast majority of the time.  I remember when we first moved to Stockholm and Calvin was the same age that Lucy is now – we would spend hours together then just playing every day.  It’s a challenge to make sure that I get that quality play time with Lucy as well, even though I’m here all the time.  But it’s so important and fun, I’m going to make sure that it is a constant priority for us. 

Lucy playing peek a boo

Calvin playing t-ball

• Anytime that Lisa isn’t around to help.  The biggest “cheat” that we have right now is that, for traditional Swedes, only one parent can be on leave at any one time.  So once the father takes the leave, the mother goes back to work.  For us though, Lisa’s work is project based from home through the internet.  So she is still around for the majority of our time every day.  The times that she isn’t, everything changes.  It is such a different game with just me and two kids – I have no idea how she (or any other stay at home parent) manages it effectively.  I’m sure I’ll continue to get more comfortable with it as time goes on, but it’s no joke!

• 

  Parental leave is NOT a vacation.  Until it is

So as I said up top, this has been an action packed 3 weeks.  We are entering into our “travel season” soon, so I’m just really grateful that this first phase of the parental leave has gone as well.  As I told Calvin this morning when we were playing at the beach – this is the very definition of “living the dream”, and I still can’t believe how lucky we are and how much more fun we will have in the coming weeks and months. 

Now I just need time to slow down a bit!