Alive & Well in Our Final Weeks Here

Hi again!  So sorry for the extended break from the blog. Unfortunately, our computer crashed this past weekend, leaving us with only the iPad for surfing and posting. This also means we have no way to post photos from our camera.  But rest assured that we are keeping tabs on our activities - with my crayons and paper - and will update the blog when we are up and running again, whether while here in Europe or back home in Maryland.


Speaking of which, it's hard to believe we will be back home next Thursday. We look forward to seeing everyone and returning to our house where significant improvements in the backyard will be have been completed by the time we arrive. Nevertheless, we are enjoying our final weeks here with visits to beach clubs, spa treatments, a couple of nights in Monaco with friends, sunrise bike rides, many great meals and lots of relaxing at our place in Vence.


We leave Vence on Sunday and will make several overnight stops in northern Italy en route to Munich, where we will drop off daddy's beep for shipment back to the US before boarding our flight back to Dulles.  Well, that's all for now. We look forward to sharing the details of these final weeks when our Dell comes back to life. Until then, we will do our best to post short updates for those interested in our adventure.


Love,
Griffin

Five Hours in Amsterdam

Planes, trains, automobiles…and boats!  After a wonderful time in Stockholm, we took several types of transportation in order to make our way back to Vence.  On the return flight from Sweden, we had a long layover in Amsterdam. As some of you may know, daddy previously lived in Amsterdam so he wanted to show us around his old stompin’ ground. 

Watching "Bubble Guppies" on the plane.

When we arrived in Holland, we boarded a commuter train that headed into the city.   We then transferred to a street tram that took us to daddy’s old neighborhood, the always vibrant Leidseplein. After showing us his former bachelor pad, we had lunch at his favorite pizzeria where the manager/waiter actually remembered daddy! 

Daddy's street in Amsterdam - 10 years later!

Making new memories at daddy's neighborhood pizza joint

Yummy!

After lunch, we strolled around the city’s cobblestone pedestrian streets and along the city’s many canals. With nearly a half million bicycles in use in this city, it’s quite an adventure trying to walk around town without getting run over!  We then boarded a canal tour boat where we were able to admire the unique Dutch architecture, pass by the Anne Frank house and cruise down the Amstel River, namesake for the popular beer Amstel Light and along which the Heineken brewery is situated.

Bikers rule and drivers drool in Amsterdam.

On the canal tour.

View from the canal tour.

 After the boat tour, we walked quickly through Vondel Park before heading back to the central train station, passing by the city’s famous flower market, peeking into a few spots along the main shopping corridor and noticing a unique scent wafting from the many “coffee” shops along the way. We then boarded the train to head back to the airport, where we continued our journey on KLM back to the south of France.

Our plane arrived late into Nice, where we parked daddy’s “hurt beep” and finally pulled into Stefan’s home at midnight.  Talk about a whirlwind day!  We woke up in Sweden, spent the day in the Netherlands and went to bed in France.  We were all exhausted but it was totally worth it.  It was a great way to end an incredible road trip.

I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of our adventure. We will stay put in Vence for about 2.5 weeks before making the trek back to Munich in order to drop off daddy’s car and fly home. Our goal is to soak up every last bit of this unique experience and to eat as much pain au chocolat as humanly possible!!

 

Love,

Griffin

Five Days in Stockholm

Just 14 hours after returning from Provence, we set out for Stockholm, the capital of Sweden and the biggest city in Scandinavia. Stockholm is spread across 14 islands in a large archipelago on the south-central east coast of Sweden (along the Baltic Sea), with 30% of the city consisting of water and 30% of the city consisting of parks and green spaces.  Because the city is so far north, residents and visitors (including us) are able to enjoy almost 24 hours of continuous daylight for most of June and July.  On the flip side, winters are cold and very dark.  English is spoken by just about everyone in Sweden since they mostly watch American TV programs in English.  And in case you didn’t know, we can all thank Sweden for institutions such as Abba, Ikea, Volvo, H&M and, of course, daddy’s former employer QlikTech.

A Stockholm sunset at 11 PM. That's right, I said 11 PM! And in case you're wondering, the sun rose again at 2 AM. Thank goodness for room-darkening shades!

As referenced in my earlier post on Paris, my mommy’s friends Sunyi and Egil have been living in Sweden for 2 years. Mr. Egil, an officer in the Norwegian military, is attending graduate school in Stockholm.  Ms. Sunyi is an English teacher for 1 and 2-year-olds at a Montessori preschool.  In July, they will move to Oslo, Norway, so we wanted to visit them before they left Stockholm. 

Unlike other big cities, Stockholm is an ideal location for cosmopolitan people who also happen to have kids. There’s a playground or park on every other corner and plenty of kid-centric museums to visit.  Perhaps the two most popular attractions for children are Junibacken and Skansen.  Junibacken celebrates the work of Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking book series.  Pippi enjoys celebrity status among Swedish kids and I’m her newest fan. The museum has recreated a variety of settings from Lindgren’s books for kids to play around in. Junibacken also features a story train which retells another classic written by Lindgren entitled The Brothers Lionheart.  On the other hand, Skansen is a massive outdoor living history museum. The guides wear traditional Swedish costumes and retell life in former times. I especially enjoyed seeing all of the Scandinavian animals like moose, brown bears and even reindeer!  Unfortunately, there was no sighting of Santa Claus. 

Junibacken

Just like Pippi, I roll out the dough on the kitchen floor.

Petting goats at Skansen.

Many locals get around Stockholm on bikes.  In fact, with dedicated bike lanes along almost every street and loads of bike racks around, it seems the city was built for cyclists. So we decided to do as the locals and ride bikes one day.  We cruised across many of the bridges that connect the islands and ended up at Haga Park, where we picnicked with one of daddy’s former work colleagues and his family.  After lunch, we resumed the bike tour of the park, where we fed horses before daddy, Egil and I decided to take a partial or full skinny dip in the very chilly Brunnsviken Lake.  Here are a few photos (some censored) of our day in the park.

The bike lane. In my opinion, it should be available on more streets.

Helmet on, seat belt strapped and I'm ready to roll.

Of course, the Norwegian went in first!

Damn that's cold!

Feeding the horses with daddy and Egil.

We sure did eat well in Sweden.  When we first arrived, Ms. Sunyi introduced mommy and daddy to one of the locals’ favorites – cardamom cinnamon rolls. It’s hard to imagine, but this combination of sweet cinnamon with the ginger-like spice of cardamom in a moist and chewy pastry was to die for…or so my parents came to believe.  Other culinary highlights included a night out eating Swedish meatballs and caviar, a Korean barbeque that Ms. Sunyi prepared at home and visits to several of the hot dog and sausage stands that can be found on almost every street corner in Stockholm.  We now know why hot dogs are all the rage at Ikea!

An in-home Korean BBQ!

Noshing on a French Dog - that's a hot dog encased in a baguette. Yummy!

Mr. Egil and Ms. Sunyi have a great flat in one of the best neighborhoods of Stockholm.  Centrally located, we could easily walk to all of the main attractions as well as many great playgrounds, bakeries, stores and public transportation options.  We also learned that one of the founders of the clothing store H&M lives across the street from our hosts.  We’re not certain if it’s H or M but it’s definitely one of the two.

Egil and Sunyi (and the H&M dude, in yellow house on right) live on Tysta Gatan, which means "quiet street".

Finally, daddy will always remember Stockholm for the massage he had while there.  You’ll have to ask daddy to tell you the story in person (and be sure mommy is there to provide more colorful commentary), but don’t be surprised if it involves a small Thai woman named 'Apple', a serious language barrier, her foot on his face and a not-so-happy ending!

All in all, Stockholm was a blast!  Many thanks to our gracious hosts Sunyi and Egil.  I just love them so much and hope to visit them again in Oslo.  More photos from our trip to Stockholm can be viewed below. 

Love,

Griffin

Resting up for our adventure on the flight to Stockholm

All smiles in Stockholm.

Relaxin' in one of Stockholm's many parks.

Forks are soooo American!

Catching a few zzzz's with daddy as my pillow.

Happy hour with me and Ms. Sunyi. She drank cider and I ate all of the Japan mix.

'The Good Day' (two, actually) in Provence

At long last, we are back in Vence after a whirlwind week of traveling around France and other parts of Europe.   Finally some time to spend on the computer, so here's one of several updates to come in the next day or so.  Thanks for your patience!

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Early last week, we took an overnight trip to the region of Provence in southern France, about a 3-hour drive west of Vence.  Provence is home to the popular cities of Marseilles, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence and is known for, among other things, its cuisine (e.g., Herbes de Provence), olives, lavender fields, Rosé vineyards and picturesque landscape.   If you have ever seen the movie “A Good Year” (Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe), which was set in Provence, you have a sense for how beautiful the region is.

A lavender field we saw on our drive through Provence

We went to Provence with Stefan’s family and some of their friends.  After a short tour around some of the surrounding villages, we had a leisurely lunch at a bistro attached to a little inn and gourmet cooking school surrounded by vineyards and olive groves in Lourmarin.  We then headed into Aix-en-Provence, a small city with a great vibe and lots of great shopping and cafes for the adults.   

'Nummy' pasta at the bistro

After saying goodbye to the others, mommy, daddy and I headed back to the inn for our overnight stay.   The room was spacious and cozy, the meals tasty and the grounds very fun for me to explore.  Here are a few shots of the inn.

Our inn and the outdoor space of its award-winning gourmet restaurant

A view of the grounds and the surrounding countryside from the inn's terrace.

The garden adjacent to the outdoor bistro where we had lunch

Before heading back to Vence the next day, the three of us explored several mountainside villages in Provence.   Highlights were driving on the narrow roads in the French countryside and visiting the big open-air market in Gordes.

The village of Gordes, home of a great market but perhaps too many American tourists!

We then headed back to Vence to rejoin the others for dinner before packing for our trip to Sweden the next day.  More about Sweden—and our 5-hour stopover in Amsterdam on the way back—in another post later this week.  For now, I hope you enjoy some more photos from our time in Provence (below).

Love,

Griffin

A view of the countryside from the town of Bonneiux.  In the background is the village of Lacoste, namesake for the popular European clothing brand.

Ready to hawk some bubbly on the bicycle!

More Pics

Hello from beautiful Stockholm, where it finally gets dark at 11pm!   We are busy running around town but to satisfy my grandparents, we wanted to post more photos from our adventure.  By the way, we had a great time in Provence earlier this week and will post something about that in the coming days (along with one about Sweden and Amsterdam).  For now, I hope you enjoy the pics!

Love,

Griffin

Sipping apple juice in Vence

Mommy and her yummy shrimp risotto in Cannes

Playing in the sand in Saint-Tropez

In my own big boy seat on the way home from Paris

Touchdown! I must be dreaming that I'm an NFL ref.

Ready for a mountaintop picnic!

Enjoying ice cream in Tourrettes with Daddy. The specialty flavor is violet but I went for vanilla.

Technical Note @ Video Links

Some readers have asked if we are posting any videos because they are seeing and trying (unsuccessfully) to access such video in their web browser.  We have not yet posted any videos and don’t have any plans to do so at this stage.  You are probably seeing that phony video link because of a glitch in your web browser.  It seems that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE) is the culprit, particularly older versions.  So, to avoid any such links in the future, you may want to switch browsers (Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are both free and work well) or at least upgrade to the newest version of IE.  Hope this helps!

Pretty People in St-Tropez & Bad Buses in Villefranche

Well, it’s been a week since our last post, and I do apologize.  But the weather has been just too nice to be inside and on the computer!   In any event, it’s been a super week but for a few hiccups that I will explain shortly.

As noted in my last post, daddy and Stefan biked 5 miles to the top of the mountain at dawn last weekend.  Although it was quite painful at that early hour, Daddy said the view was well worth it.  Here is a photo he captured on mommy’s iPhone at the summit.

Sunrise over the Maritime Alps

 On Tuesday, we finally made the trip into lovely St. Tropez.  Apparently, as some people might know, Saint-Tropez is a renowned playground to jetsetters, fashion models and millionaires.  It’s about 1.5 hours from Vence on a good day, but with traffic or during rush hour, it can quickly turn into a 3 hour journey.  So we decided to leave bright and early and were out the door by 7AM. 

About 20 minutes into the trip, I started feeling a bit queasy.  When mommy asked if I was alright, I quickly answered her by vomiting my breakfast all over myself and the car seat.  Yuck!  We pulled over and used bottled water, baby wipes and half a roll of paper towels to try to clean up the mess.  Thankfully, I only managed to get a little bit on the seats and floors of daddy’s new ‘beep’.  Despite the fact that I smelled like curdled milk, I was still determined to go to St. Tropez.  So onward we traveled…

St. Tropez is just as beautiful as any photos or paintings would suggest.  The village along the coast is lined with pastel-colored buildings, both old and new.  And the huge yachts in the harbor were breathtaking.  The old town has lots of narrow streets with loads of cafes and really neat shops, including some very high-end ones that appeal to the rich and famous visitors.   And the city has a really big and diverse open-air market that was in full swing the day we were in town.   Here are a few photos from our time in the main village of Saint-Tropez.

Typical look in the harbor village of Saint-Tropez

So many beautiful boats from all over the world

Olives, olives and more olives at the Saint-Tropez market

We spent the remainder of our day on the beach at the famous Le Club Cinquante-Cinq (Le Club 55), just south of Saint-Tropez.   We rented some chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed the beach (including service from the bar) for a couple of hours before having lunch at their beachside bistro.  The dining area was actually on the sand but almost completely shaded by trees, umbrellas and strung-up canvas canopies.  Most people were enjoying the enormous Crudités platters as a starter, followed by whole-cooked sea bass – the house favorites at Club 55.   There were lots of beautiful people all around, especially those lounging on the big comfy white couches while sipping their Rosé.  After lunch, we returned to the beach, where daddy and I spent most of the afternoon digging in the sand and splashing in the waves.  Mommy did a lot of people-watching.  As you might expect, we were caught in the crossfire of many a paparazzi trying to capture pics of some of the famous folks at the club (and perhaps some of the topless sunbathers).   Nevertheless, we departed that afternoon with a new-found appreciation for the beach – just as long as we are at a cool beach club like Le Club Cinquante-Cinq.  Here are some pics from our time there.

Bistro on the beach at Le Club 55

The house specialty at Le Club 55

"Ah...nothing better than a dip in the Mediterranean to get rid of that awful stench!"

The sea view from Le Club 55

On Thursday, the plan was to drive along the coast from Nice towards Monaco before spending some time on a beach and then heading into Monte Carlo to watch practice runs for the Formula 1 Grand Prix race.   I was so excited to see some real race cars in action!   Unfortunately, a little mishap in the port village of Villefranche-sur-Mer tripped us up.  While we were having breakfast in town, one of the large tour buses that shuttles arriving cruise ship passengers around the Cote d’Azur region accidentally hit daddy’s parked car.  Since daddy is obsessed with backing into parking spots, the bus managed to damage the right headlight kit and surrounding areas.  Naturally, we were all bummed about this, so we decided to head home to figure out how to handle the situation.  Luckily, the car is fully insured, and we had all the necessary information from the other party as well as a witness.  However, as this is France, nothing works as smoothly as at home.  Consequently, daddy (and Stefan) spent the balance of Thursday and most of Friday talking with many insurance companies and other parties in Germany, France and the US to determine the right course of action.  I am happy to report that it appears to be resolved (with a clear plan for repair), so we can now get back to enjoying our time here.   Here's a photo of daddy's hurt 'beep':

Aside from those little adventures, the week has been rather uneventful, with lots of time spent at the local market, a picnic in the mountains, visiting the playground, riding the bike, playing tennis, swimming in the pool and enjoying meals at home (al fresco) with our gracious hosts.   While there are so many more local places we’d like to see, it is also great just relaxing in Vence...not to mention, there are no careless tour buses within miles!

  

Looking ahead, I know daddy is excited to watch the Champions League soccer final on Saturday.   More of Stefan’s friends arrive this weekend, and mommy and daddy plan to orchestrate a Tex-Mex themed meal for everyone on Sunday.  Then we are all headed to Aix-en-Provence on Monday for lunch and to visit some of the surrounding French country villages.  We will stay overnight at a quaint little inn run by a popular local chef and her husband and attached to their gourmet restaurant and cooking school.  I am thinking that maybe I will go to bed on time that night so mommy and daddy can enjoy a peaceful dinner together – or maybe not!  Either way, we return to Vence on Tuesday and then head to Sweden on Wednesday (for 5 days).  Needless to say, it’s an action-packed week ahead, but I will do my best to post a blog sooner next time.

That’s all for now.    Sorry for such a long one, but we had lots to catch up on.  I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Love

Griffin