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

Stargazing at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes, France

Every May, the movers and shakers of the film industry come to Cannes for the annual international film festival.  Since we’re nearby, we decided to check it out for ourselves.  While we didn’t see an actual screening (let’s face it…since I came along my folks don’t often see the inside of a movie theater), we got a chance to spend the day in Cannes to get a taste of the lights, camera, and action that have converge upon this beach town.

All of the big stars are here for the festival: George, Brad, Angelina, Penelope, Leonardo, Johnny. I don’t even need to spell out their last names because you know who I’m talking about. You might be wondering if I saw any famous people. Well, you’ll be happy to know that I did, and I have the pictures to prove it!  Check it out:

OMG! It's Lightning McQueen! Ca-chow!

It's Mater - the funniest car in Radiator Springs!

I can’t believe that I met THE Lightning McQueen and his sidekick Mater! Cars 2 is coming to theaters on June 24^th and I’m so excited! Best of all, Mommy and daddy have promised to take me to see it when we return to the States so I don’t have to wait for the DVD. Awesome! 

Like I said, Cannes is a beach town so we ate lunch at a great beachside restaurant. While I played in the sand, mommy and daddy enjoyed an excellent meal, a bottle of rosé and lots of people-watching including the Italian-version of “Mommie Dearest” and…wait for it…naked sunbathers! Oohlala! J’dore France! Daddy and I didn’t want to leave but mommy insisted we see the red carpet before the paparazzi and crazy fans made it impossible for us to get photos. It’s a good thing that we listened to mommy because we got great pics in front of the red carpet. I think we look faaaaabulous!

Well, off to bed. Daddy and Stefan are waking up early tomorrow to bike the long loop and see the sun rise over the Alps. Hopefully, he’s able to capture photos of this magnificent view.

Love,
Griffin

Daddy claims to be keeping an eye on me...

...but mommy doubts this is possible since that woman just took off her top. LOL!

High fashion on the red carpet! My ensemble by Crewcuts & mommy is in Banana Republic. 

I'm a serious actor and my red carpet close-up proves it.

Festival de Cannes 2011 billboard

Cherry Pickin'

One of the things we’ve enjoyed during our time in Vence is witnessing the vegetation around the property flower and bear fruit. In addition to roses, lavender and fresh herbs, there are cherry, apple, lemon, clementine, fig and olive trees – thirty-six olive trees to be exact.  The olives are harvested in November and pressed into high quality olive oil that Stefan’s family and guests (including us) use for the rest of the year. This past year, they were able to produce 22 gallons of olive oil. Pretty cool, huh?  Mommy is bummed that we will miss harvesting the olives.  Perhaps we need to return to Vence or just extend our stay until Christmas?! 

Yesterday, we picked cherries from one of two cherry trees in the backyard. Buckets and buckets of beautiful, deliciously sweet cherries…it was awesome!  Daddy and Stefan used some to make cherry schnapps that will be ready to drink by the end of the summer.  Stefan’s mother, Lotti, and Stefi made chocolate cherry muffins, cherry jam and cherry sorbet.  There are still cherries on the tree left to ripe and pick, so send us your favorite cherry recipes and we’ll give it a whirl. 

Here are a few photos from our cherry pickin’ adventure. Hope they make you hungry!

Love,

Griffin

Cherries!

"Must resist eating cherries. Must resist throwing cherries."

Mommy's helper

Daddy cherry pickin' the best of the cherries.

Those are Stefi's hands - she's removing the pits.   

J'adore Paris!

We’re baaack!  What a super week in Paris; so much to do in such little time.  Sorry we haven’t been in touch for a while.  After walking around the city all day, we were just too tired to get on the computer at night.  So after a day of settling back in at the place in Vence, we wanted to share some memories from our trip to the City of Light.

We were able to cover quite a bit of ground in just 5 days.  The best part was being able to meet up with and see some of mommy’s friends in Paris. 

Sunyi and her husband Egil, who is in the Norwegian military and completing a masters program in Stockholm, were in Paris for a school-related trip.  Sunyi reminded me a lot of Ms. Laurie and Mrs. Wolk, my teachers back in Maryland.  This makes perfect sense since Sunyi is now a Montessori pre-school teacher in Sweden and works with one and two-year-old children.  She’s so much fun!  We splashed around in the River Seine and haggled with vendors for Eiffel Tower souvenirs.  I’m really looking forward to seeing her again in a few weeks.  Here are few photos of me and my new BFF, Miss Sunyi:

Waiting in line at the Eiffel Tower

Sharing a Happy Meal at our apartment

Counting M&Ms along the River Seine

We also had a chance to picnic with the Watts family – Bill, Erin and baby Isaac – at the tip of the Ile de la Cite where the Notre Dame cathedral is located.  While the adults drank red wine and feasted on Parisian sandwiches, I showed Isaac how to splash around in dirty puddles and pick up random trash around the park.  Boys will be boys and Isaac has to learn the ropes early, especially since he’s a city boy.  Here are photos of the Barrett/Watts clan in Paris:

"Okay, Isaac...on the count of three, we make a break for the Buddha Bar.  Ready?"

The Watts and Barrett families in Paris

All in all, it was nice to share the experience with good friends.  Other highlights of our trip included: fantastic weather everyday, riding the open-air bus all around the city, strolling through the very nice Madeleine neighborhood, all the motorcycles and police cars, a great meal (two, actually) at a nice Thai/Chinese restaurant near our apartment, wandering around the artsy Marais area, the renowned ice cream on the Ile de St Louis and, of course, riding the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

By the way, we continued to enjoy our apartment in the 8^th district.   While mommy and daddy sipped their coffee or wine with a nice Paris breeze coming into the open windows, I had a ball playing with all the toys, watching some great kid movies and eating my new favorite food - beignets! 

The train ride home was, thankfully for my folks, uneventful, and we were happy to arrive back in Vence on Saturday night.

We are heading to Stockholm in early June to visit Miss Sunyi and Egil.  Until then, our plan is to chill here in Vence and the surrounding area.  Daddy has some biking to do, and mommy may sneak away for the Cannes film festival.   We still need to visit Saint-Tropez and Aix en Provence, and daddy and I (along with Stefan) may check out the Grand Prix race in Monoco.

Below are some additional pictures from our trip to Paris – enjoy!

Love,

Griffin

That's one tall tower!

Chillaxin' on daddy's shoulders.  Notice the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Me and mommy on the tour bus

Makin' a run for the flamingos with mi ami Herve

Cruising around the carousel with mi ami Jacques

Me, my PJs and my ice cream in a fancy-pants Paris restaurant

Me and my French girlfriends in a sandbox in the Marais

Motorcycles!   I think I will take the blue one...

Quick Greetings from Paris

Just a quick post tonight about our trip to and arrival into Paris.  It’s been a very long day of traveling on buses, trains, via foot and even more trains, and we are all exhausted, especially mommy and daddy.  It seems I lived up to my reputation today as a “terrible 2” like never before.   Hey, to be fair, it was their idea, not mine, to take me on a 5+ hour train ride!

In any case, all of this is my way of saying that this will be a rather quick post tonight.

So after arriving into Gare de Lyon, we took the Metro to the stop closest to where we are staying.  Here’s what we saw when coming up from the subway:

The Arc de Triomphe

We are staying at a great little apartment in the 8^th district, just a block from the Champs de Elysees.  If interested, you can view photos of our flat here.

Here’s a photo of another well-known monument from a skylight in the loft of the apartment:

Eiffel Tower lit up at night

Most importantly, the apartment is fully stocked with toys, kid movies, a bath tub and, get this, a microwave oven!   Mommy and I are in heaven here.

Daddy has spent some time in Paris over the years, but it’s the first time for mommy and me.  So we plan to do some touristy things tomorrow.  There’s also lots for people my size, including a great zoo.   We also plan to meet up with some of mommy’s friends who happen to be here at the same time.

Well, that’s all for now.  We’ll be in touch in the coming days to let you know how it’s going.

Oh, I included a couple more photos from the day - enjoy!

Love

Griffin

Fueling up on a donut at the train station before our journey

A rare moment of peace today for mommy and daddy, as well as the rest of the patrons in the so-called "quiet car" of the train

Reflections So Far

It’s hard to believe that we have been in Europe for 4 weeks now.   What an amazing experience!   We already have so many great memories and look forward to many more through May and June.

As we have been doing a whole lot of nothing but relaxation in Vence these past few days (read:  nothing exciting to report), I thought this might be a good time to reflect on the things we have enjoyed, as well as some challenges, on our adventure so far.

For me, of course, it’s been all about the food -- gelato, pasta, delicious chocolate candy and even more gelato!   Also...I love pushing strange buttons and splashing in the pool at Stefan’s house, viewing “Bubble Guppies” on the iPad, watching my new favorite film “Bee Movie” with daddy (that Jerry Seinfeld is so funny) and 24/7 access to mommy and daddy (but especially mommy).

Speaking of whom...well, she has enjoyed the visit by her sister (Aunt 'Men') and family, espresso-powered drinks at all hours of the day, tasty French bread at every meal, learning new tricks in the kitchen, morning trips to the market and playground with me, playing Scrabble with random people around the world on the iPad and finally catching up with her book club reading.

And daddy likes the bike rides, ample and decent French wines for under $10, afternoon naps by the pool, the many old stone retaining walls (inspiration for his home improvement projects), using Google Translate to communicate with the locals, watching Champions League soccer matches in the right time zone and, uhhh, giving me haircuts while I’m asleep.  Weirdo!

By the way, a special thanks from all of us to our hosts Stefan, Stefanie and their extended family.  Without their hospitality and graciousness (especially towards a “terrible 2” like me), none of this would have been possible.

As for challenges…thankfully, there haven’t been many, but here are a few noteworthy ones – the Euro/Dollar exchange rate, navigating our mid-size car through the streets and parking lots of France, the foreign pollen (allergies!!) and the absence of microwave ovens.   And although the local markets are fun to visit, Mommy also greatly misses her local Whole Foods.

All in all, it’s been a wonderful experience so far.   Thanks for tracking us on the blog – we hope we aren’t boring you too much!   We head to Paris tomorrow (Monday) and hope to have some good stories and pics to share in the coming days.  For now, I hope you enjoy some additional photos from our experience so far (below).

Love,

Griffin

Lecturing daddy in Munich on looking your best when jet-lagged

Enjoying gelato with mommy in Zurich

Waving to George Clooney on Lake Como

Cheering on the Phillies in Genoa

Daddy still smiling midway through 45 mile ride through the Alps

Mommy and daddy at dinner in Antibes on Easter (no broken dishes at this meal)

With those crazy Donohoe girls in Vence

Curling up with a good book by the pool in Vence

Looking with mommy for the soccer ball that rolled over the cliff in Gourdon

A Vence salon (of sorts) named after mommy, who some people call 'Nini'