Versailles

When I was planning the trip to France, my two older kids said they absolutely wanted to see the Palace of Versailles. I figured we'd spend the whole day there and made absolutely sure we got the tickets - it was the first reservation I made. 

We arrived just before 9 am, on a warm, sunny morning, after a longish trip on metro + train and a brief walk. And the palace presented itself in its full grandeur, the gold shining in the morning sun. It was blinding, really - you couldn't look at the palace without squinting. 

[Our current president must be green with envy.]

We took a few photos, but those wouldn't do it justice. 

This is "dress to impress" at a whole other level. As in, pick your jaw up from the ground, and feel humbled and tremendously lucky to be in the presence of ... I don't know, I guess the legacy of Luis the XIV?

Anyway. It was all amazing. I loved the gardens even more than the palace. I wish I had more time to wonder around and explore. I am putting it on my "I will be back" list (note to self - go to Versailles when the foutains are on!). 

Guess what my daughters liked the best, among all the wonders and splendor, all that gold, the elaborate furniture, furniture, the mirrors, the fountains, the play-village of Marie Antoinette? It was small pig near the Queen's Hamlet. They had a few farm animals there in an enclosure (chickens, a donkey, sheep...) - but the pig was a winner. It was adorable. When the girls started petting it, it rolled its eye and pretend-fainted at their feet, oinking in rupture as they were scratching its back. 

One of my favorite things at Versaille was the portrait of Elisabeth-Chralotte de Baviere (because she looks like she knows how to enjoys life). I'm going to have to read up about her.

Here's an empty hallway that keeps going and going - but imagine it filled with people strolling about, gossiping, flirting.

Doesn't it feel like the place is full of ghosts? And there's got to be hidden passages behind some of these statues... Might be really neat to wonder through the empty rooms of the palace at night... 

Paris. Just A Few Thoughts.

Everything was bigger than I expected. Everything. 

The metro. The Louvre. The Palace of Versailles. The Arc de Triomphe. The Opera House. The Eiffel Tower. Notre-Dame de Paris. Sainte-Chapelle. Champ-Elyssees.

We saw so much. I am still processing the impressions... but if I had to use a single word to describe impression of Paris, it woudl be "Effortlessly Grandiose". Wait, that was 2 words. Well, that's Paris for you - it doesn't fit into meager single-word descriptions.

The metro would be "Terrifically Efficient" (for those who manage to figure out how to navigate it). There are endless tunnels going every-which-way beneath the city - it's a 3D maze-with-a-purpose.

The Eiffel Tower would be "Weightless Art-in-Motion". It is gorgeous. (And much bigger than I expected). We walked up the stairs to the second level. It didn't feel as hard as I thought it would - the stairs were quite spacious (unlike the stairs for Arc de Triomphe).

We only saw a small portion of the Louvre (The Louvre was so, so much bigger than I expected) - we decided to spend time visiting just a few works of art and not be overly ambitious. Mona Lisa was amazing (and while there were quite a few people trying to take photos in front of the painting, the room wasn't as crowded as I feared). I've been told to expect to be underwhelmed, but the portrait was absolutely breathtaking. Some works of art just have this magnetic pull, and this one - I couldn't take my eyes off it. Enigmatic, and ironic, and so much feeling trapped on the canvas. 

And speaking of raw extreme emotion - there was Liberty Leading the People. I've seen reproductions many times, but standing in front of the original - I couldn't walk away. I kept studying the details. So many layers, so much horror, and violence, and hope. Monsenior Delacroix could have reached out and hit me on the head, and I would not have been more affected. If I had to pick one favorite thing that I saw in Paris - this would be it.

And then there was Musee d'Orsay. Once again, I only saw a small part - I didn't want to rush through it, I wanted to give things proper attention. At the end of the visit, when my brain was fully saturated with the art and couldn't take another painting, I was just causually walking through the first floor, glancing at various sculptures. And I saw this (below) - and I was in love.

I am already making a list of things I want to see when I go back to Paris.

Is there a place that you want to go back to? Would you try to visit your old favorites there or see something different?

Luxembourg Impressions

We were in Luxembourg for just a few days, staying in an apartment walking distance from the train station. We had a balcony where we would hang out sometimes to watch people on the street below and to chat. We tried eating there a couple of times (there was a nice large table), but the yellow jackets would find us immidiately and attempt to take over the food. 

The location was great - very convenient for access to (free) transportation within the country, with lots of grocery shops and bakeries nearby. We explored the city and took a couple of day trips to the nearby castles (Vianden and Beaufort). 

The city itself is wonderfl - fun to explore, lot of historic sites, very beautiful views.We mostly explored on foot, but also took trams when we were tired.

Some of the things we did in Luxembourg:

• Shoah memorial
• The casemates du Bock
• Cathedral Notre-Dame of Luxembourg
• The Chocolate House (the cocolate was delicious! we also had some traditional Luxembourgh food there) (the cakes were really cool)

• Wondering through old streets and gawking at the ancient walls

Vianden and Beaufort castles took about an hour to get to by train and bus.

Vianden Castle was a break-taking experience: we got off the bus and - oof, there was the castle, a giant thing plopped on the hill, both beautiful and forbidding. The kids loved Vianden Castle and all the activities there. We watched sword fighitng demo and falconry (one of the eagles flew off and refused to come back, sitting and sulking on one of the roof tops). There were artisans and merchants making and selling different things. Once you were in, you kind of forgot about the size of it, just wondering thorugh the restored halls and rooms. We also did a one-way chairlift (amazing views) and had treats at the cafe on top of the hill - very touristy but the views were breathtaking; interestingly, there were a lot of people speaking Russian at that cafe! We also some exploring of the town and surrounding areas on foot.

We went for a hike near Beaufort Castle - I wish we had more time to explore the trail and hang out at the stream, but we had to hurry to make our reserved time for the tour of the Renaissance portion of the castle. The castle was a place of residence from the medieval times until 2012, when the last owner had passed away. It was cool and a little sad... there was a table in front of a window with binoculars, where she would sit and count the visitors to the medieval portion of the castle. The medieval ruins included a torture chamber, complete with the instruments and descriptions that gave me the shivers.

A big highlight of visiting Luxembourg was finding blackberries in the parks. Our kids love picking berries - and those were probably the best blackberries we've had in a long time (possibly ever). I can't get over the fact that they just grow and nothing seems to eat them... I think a few other people went berry-picking, because most berries close to the walking paths were gone, but if you got just a little bit deeper - there were so, so many. I don't know what the birds of Luxembourg do, but clearly, they find blackberry-eating benath them. I don't suppose there's much deer and we haven't seen a single squirrel. We used one of our water bottles for storage and transport, and ate the berries the next morning with breakfast.

What's your favorite wild berry to pick?

August. Whining.

I meant to write more frequently this summer. There were so many times I thought "I must write a post about this!" or "Oh, here's something important that I want to remember and therefore need to write it down!" or "I want to capture this moment/mood/feelings!" And every time, I would say to myself - just a little bit later, after I finish x, y, and z. But I never did, because after "z" was done, I would need to get started again with "a".

****************************************************

We came back from our trip to Europe just a few days ago. 

I miss good bread. I miss dairy (how is it that milk tastes so different in different places?). I miss the cheese variety so badly I could cry. I miss going to the bakery in the morning and getting pastries for breakfast.

I miss free public transportation in Luxembourg.

I miss efficient (if not particularly tourist-friendly) metro in Paris.

I miss people actually following common-sense rules (like standing on the right side of the escalator and letting those in a hurry pass on the left! - Why can't we have this in the US?).

There is not enough walking.

There is too much sugar in everything.

I don't think I want to live in Europe permanently. But there are so many nice things that would be amazing if they could be adopted here. High-speed trains. Fresh bread every day. Produce that tastes good (like farmers-market good) even if it doesn't look as perfect as the plastic stuff (peaches, looking at you) in tour supermarkets...

I know, I know -  I'm being ridiculous. Fresh fruit and vegetables vary in quality depending on where in Europe you are. 

It is possible to find good produce, dairy, and bread in the US - you just have to know where to look (and be willing to pay extra).

We have good bread at the local farmers market for $$$ - there's typically a long line, too, begging the question why, if there is a demand, there are no local bakeries selling this stuff. There's often freshly baked bread at Costco from their own (in-warehouse) bakery (not much variety, which is normal for Costco, but I love their cranberry/nut loaf).

Dear Reader: what's your favorite yogurt, sour cream, bread? Where do you typically get your produce and are you happy with the quality?

Week Away (Ocean City, NJ)

 We are back from a week at the ocean. 

A few highlights:

• I worked from the library for 2.5 days, and then had time off. For the first time in years, work was not too busy or too stressful, so I could actually enjoy time off. 
• I brought my noise-cancelling headphones to the library - there were occasionally noisy people (not obnoxiously noisy, just mildly noisy) and I work much better when it is QUIET.
• We saw a pod of dolphins, super close to the shore!!! That was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen dolphins that close...
• We went on walks amost every day.
• Kids went to a water park - they are all old enough to no longer require adult supervision. Which meant adults could relax and read books.
• I read quite a bit.
• The kids made frequent trips to the store (easy walking/biking distance) to pick up random things needed for dinner.
• I made golubci (stuffed cabbage) and they were delicious. (I actually made them ahead of time at home, and brought them with me).
• Being in the water was refreshing. It was cold, but in a good way.
• I mostly avoided waves. I still swalled some salt water.
• Why is the water in the Atlantic ocean so much saltier than the Baltic sea?
• Nephew and husband both managed to find whelk. I think there were a total of 3 large ones, over the course of the week. I've never seen one before - look it up! I guess they are edible, but we just let them go.
• Kids found some hermit crabs

It was a good week.

Do you prefer ocean, sea, lake, river, pond, or swimming pool when it's hot outside? (Let's pretend money/distance/time is not a limiting factor)

Seven/Eleven/Twelve

Another school year is over: 7, 11, and 12 are the grades our kids will start in the fall. It was a good year, both in terms of kids balancing activities, school, and hobbies and in terms of academic achievements. They learned, they became more responsible, they became more mature. Our youngest adjusted to the middle school (although, after initial excitement, she really missed her elementary school and not having to run around from class to class). Our older daughter worked hard in her classes and started competing for the dive team and the envirothon team. Our oldest was juggling running, work, orchestra, and schoolwork (including his hardest class to date, AP Physics). 

And yes, we now have a high school senior. I am semi-excited and semi-apprehensive. He is interested in airspace engineering. He has a pretty good idea about where he wants to apply and he is planning to work on the essays + applications this summer. I am trying to gauge how much support he is going to need (I asked him and he said he would let me know). E is also going to have a heavy classwork load next year. On one hand, I am so excited about E exploring what comes next and dreaming big. On the other hand, I am a little anxious about all the stress and all the complexities of college applications and senior year. 

I didn't realize that senior portraits are taken the summer before 12th grade. I actually thought that the email from the photo place was a phishing email and I texted a couple of acquiaintances about it - and it turned out that yes, this wasa real thing, and I better register...

When you were in high school, did you have any idea about what you wanted to do? 

Movies, Museums, Musings

The girls and I went to see "Project Hail Mary" last Saturday. I loved it. It was fun, and funny, and sad, and suspensful, and had a sense of adventure, and held a promise of discovery. And science (as well as scientists) was portrayed in a positive light, as it should be - a way to understand the world around us. I also loved the build-your-own-tech-with-ductape-and-plywood. When you are on the cutting edge of science or tight on money (as many labs are), or both, the equipment you need may not exist, or may be too expensive... so you improvise and make do. Science is great for people who love to tinker.

This is the last week of school for all 3 kids. They've been watching movies. They are sick of watching movies and feel this whole week, for the most part, was pointless. There were a few class parties, here and there, and a couple of tests and assignments for the highschoolers. But mostly, they were just bored. (The older 2 should not have been bored, they should have been using the time to study for Envirothon/SAT/etc, but they didn't want to becuase... last week of school and they are sick and tired of studying).

My mom and I went to 2 museums last Sunday. It was nice to catch up and chat, and the art was beautiful. I visited all my favorite Van Gogh paintings. I need to learn more about Haim Soutine. I saw a few "paintings within a painting" that I never noticed before.

It's hot and humid. I still went on my morning walks and it wasn't too bad (but not as refreshing as it was a couple of weeks ago).

Do you have a favorite museum? A favorite painting?