Florence, day two

A new day, rife with possibilities for us to get fat!  But first, I went for an early morning ride.  I left at 6:30 and rode around the hills just west of the city.  The previous evening I did a little recon to avoid getting totally lost (and did in fact get a bit lost) and it all went pretty well.  The cobbles beat the hell out of me, but it felt glorious anyway bumping along the ancient streets on my bike.

I don't know why, but there is something magical about riding in Italy.  I think it has something to do with how passionate the Italians are about the sport and the bicycle.  As I was turning the cranks up a steep section of climbing through olive groves and huge sprawling villas, it brought back memories of evening rides through wheat fields in the Loire valley.  It was a lovely way to start the day

After having an excellent breakfast we walked to the Duomo where we were confronted with the first of several mega lines.  Even without kids, once lines get to a certain length I just give up.  Note to self:  April is too late to visit Florence!  Next time we will go back in winter again.

We continued on toward the Old Bridge:

Chloe wanted to buy me some big braided gold chains, but I demurred.  Instead, I wanted some of those David boxer shorts but Chloe mouthed the word "Noooooo".

Next: to Boboli gardens, which were unfortunately closed.  Chloe and I, having carried the kids a lot of the way there were nearly in tears.  At least we got this picture

Chloe and I noticed how easy it would be to climb up the walls, but I resisted the temptation in favor of not spending the night in jail again (just kidding mom!)

And then went to get espressos and gelato

By the time we were done, it was lunch time.  We found a small place with a river view which was fine.  I don't even remember the name

We then wandered around the pedestrian area 

until we got to the Duomo museum

which was pretty nice.  It was interesting to see all the models for proposed façades for the Duomo.

We went into the Duomo itself, the basement mini museum and the Baptistry.  I love the gruesome depiction of the devil tearing up and eating little bad dudes.

By this time, the kids were almost dead, so we went back to the room to prepare for the main event:  dinner at Vini e Vecchi Sapori.  

It's always a good sign when the salad mis-en-place looks like this

We started with local ham (hand cut a few seconds earlier by the grandpa) with mozzarella

And then we continued through a dizzying array of food so amazing that I forgot to take pictures of a lot of it.  There were hand made ravioli with potato, butter and sage.  A caprese salad, an absolutely unbelievable frittata with artichoke hearts, and finally a superlative asparagus risotto.  

The risotto itself was of course perfectly cooked -- no mushiness and a slight hardness in the center.  The small tender slivers of asparagus were magically firm and flavorful, and there was a small amount of Taleggio mixed in.  We also ordered a Tagliatelle with meat sauce for the kids.  Dessert was the same wonderful raspberry tiramisu as last time, which is to say probably the best tiramisu we have eaten (and we somehow end up eating a lot of tiramisu).  I received some pretty dirty looks from Zoe for taking a few spoonfuls of hers.  Also, there was a meringue ice cream cake

We also went through a healthy amount of Chianti.  It might have been the wine talking but Chloe and I agreed that there is pretty much no where else in the world at which we would rather eat except perhaps sushi at the tokyo fish market.   The price for all of this, including wine?  87 euros.  Anyway, the meal was so good that despite our plans to leave early tomorrow, I asked for reservations for lunch the following day.

Grenoble to Florence

We drove to Florence today.  There's no getting around the fact that it is an expensive slog.  At least the section through the Maurienne is beautiful and I scan daydream about riding the high cols.  The section after the tunnel is a maddening section of pay booths every 10km or so with inexplicably different fees to pay.  The road from the foothills down to Genoa is just tedious and awful.  The causeways and viaducts around Genoa however are kind of amazing, if a bit bewildering.  I really felt like I was in a Rube Goldberg machine a few times.  We passed Carrera and the amazing never ending fields of tree farms before eventually reaching the city outskirts.  There, the Tomtom GPS happily delivered us to a nondescript alley which was supposed to house the parking garage.  Of course, there was no parking garage -- it was actually several blocks away and on the other side of an impassable avenue.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that kind of thing anymore.

After five more minutes of exciting Florentine traffic, we made it to the parking garage, unpacked the car and walked the stuff over to the hotel -- the Residenza il Villino.  The room was not as opulent as Villa Antea, but the location was much better.  And when you have two kids that are not particularly willing to walk, that is an important consideration.  The owner/operator was very nice and showed us around,  Zoe impressed us both by instant memorizing the electronic keypad combination and would let us in ever time we came in and out of the hotel.

First order of business: Gelato

At Rivareno.  "Service with a sneer" is the motto here, but damn is that some amazing gelato.  Especially the nocciola.

We wandered around for a while and then went back to the hotel before going to our first dinner reservation at Acquacottam just down the road.  The first problem was that between the time we sat down and when we received our appetizers, one and a quarter hours passed by.  Meanwhile people were served out of order and the general demeanor of the patrons started to border on rebellion.  The kids were of course going completely nuts, as expected.  The food itself was fine, but not what I would call wonderful.  I really don't understand how it gets so highly reviewed.  Perhaps it's another case of people who are unused to how good Italian food *can* be pumping up the ratings for a decent but unexceptional restaurant.  Chloe and I were disappointed not just because it was such a let down, but because we worried that perhaps our stellar memories of the food of Vini e Vechhi Sapori had just grown with time, and that it would also be a let down.

Plans re-made

Today we looked at the weather forecast to find that it was supposed to rain for our glorious climbing trip to St. Lege du Ventoux.  Our dreams of pulling down on tuffs were dashed.  Having promised the kids (and ourselves) a vacation, I scrambled into last minute trip mode and we decided to go to Florence.  It wouldn't be inexpensive of source since tourist season has already begun (not to mention automate fees etc) but we loved Florence the last time and had been talking about going back ever since.  I'll admit that a big part of what we were looking forward to was a visit to the most amazing restaurant.  It took a little doing to figure out all the plans, and my hopes for staying at an agriturismo along the way back did not come to fruition, because everything was booked.

Bento gets chased up a tree

Bento is my little buddy.  He follows me around the yard and house as I do chores, occasionally looking up and meowing at me.  Unfortunately, he also follows me out to the car, which usually ends up with my spending the next five minutes making sure that I don't drive over Bento.  He just isn't that afraid of engines yet, and I worry about him.  I was therefore happy when I started the car and saw him take off at maximum speed towards a tree.  "He's finally afraid of cars!", I thought to myself.  Shortly thereafter however, I discovered the real reason:  pursuit by a big unleashed dog.  Bento shot up a nearby tree with admirable speed:

but then required rescuing by me:  not easy.

Porte

Rode Col de Porte with Martin… A beautiful day and nice ride

Charmette (almost)

The road needs a little work up there

Graft #1 successful

Chasing Pigeons

Internet back!

but its the old internet… we're waiting for activation from the new provider so we can tell Bouygues to piss off. We have now not had internet for much more time than we have had internet (ever since we moved in October).

The weather has been beautiful over the last week, but our dreams of a full fledged spring were dashed by rain.

you don't see that every day

The cat

Bento has become popular with the castle kids, to his great misfortune. He is chased, and generally given more "love" than any cat could handle -- even a half kitten like Bento. He has been less of a hit with the castle cats, who have as expected looked upon this new arrival with suspicion. Because Bento is still small though, he tries to make friends with them and yesterday came back with a nice scratch on his nose. Apparently the other day the kids cooed as they watched Bento try to make friends with a particularly large and fluffy neighbour, rolling on the ground in front of her while the other cat hissed and arched her back. The kids were convinced that they were "falling in love" like in the movies though, and very excited.

Chloe loses her mind

A while ago I foolishly mentioned the existence of something called the Birthday Challenge (http://www.birthdaychallenge.com) which inspired chloe to do something crazy:  40km of running with over 7800 vertical feet of "up" and 4000 calories over the course of a day.  The kids and I did some support, and although she did not even notice it, I went out beforehand and wrote "Allez Chloe" in chalk on the ground.  Midway through we met her up at Mont St. Martin to bring her water and say hi.  She eventually called us from her second run up to Mont. St. Martin (this time with lolo) and we drove up to pick her up.  Congrats, CZ!!  My Bday challenge will be to eat 40 croissants.

New internet, at last!

Well actually we are paying for two internet connections, and one (Bouygues) has never really worked, and the other has not officially been in stalled yet, but we have wifi access from the middle of the yard. Anyway, we should be back in business soon.

Today, on this first real weekend day of Spring weather, we all went into town for some supplies for Ozenya: I'm going to attempt to make okonomiyaki, and ice creams for everyone at the green arch. The center was absolutely mobbed with people, so we all gave up pretty quickly.

Earlier, I did a ride up col de la Placette, the Grand Vervier, 1000 martyrs and back. The new bike position feels better on the knee, so I am quite happy. All told: 78 km and 1470 meters of climbing. I was taking it easy, but even so it felt pretty hard today.

Into town

For ice cream

Triple Zero

Exciting news:  we bought a new duvet.  OK, not terribly exciting, really.  It had been a while and I thought it was time for a new one, especially considering how long it had been and the fit that the down had been moving around a lot.  Rather than buy another cheap one, I checked out the well known French mountain apparel company: Triple Zero.  They use the best French down and have been working with it for a long time.  I looked at their jackets a few years ago, and the construction is really impressive.  The only thing I don't really like is the cut and looks of the jackets (same story with Valandre).  Anyway, they make fully "cloisonné" duvets as well, which means that the seams do not traverse the duvet.  We received it today, and WOW is it warm and well built.

Climbing

Bento exploring the top of the hedges

Catnip

A ride

Along the digue, then Parmenie.  I did the very steep little road that goes North from the col too:  very pretty!

Christine here!!

Nerd cat

Hank's stomping grounds

First ride of the year with Hank, and this time on his side of the valley. I rode through town to meet him at a funeral home (is it bad luck to start a ride at a funeral home?) and stopped at a bike shop that I had never seen before. It is a warren of old bikes, wheels and parts and is apparently the oldest bike shop in grenoble. The owner has rooms full of bikes (300 or so per room, if I understood correctly). I'll have to get back there to spend some more time looking through them.

Anyway, on to the ride... It was great to ride with Hank again, catch up and put places to the names of the climbs that he does frequently. We probably ride together once every few months, but every time we meet it feels like we ride a lot more often.  He's like an old friend that I haven't actually known for that long.

We did three nice climbs (Hurtieres, Ayes and Barrioz), all under the Belledonne and the 7 Laux resort. Memorable things were: two amazing descents, riding next to the snow banks, almost crashing because there were huge piles of sawdust in the middle of the road, and just enjoying the biggest ride the year (so far) with a buddy.

Single Parenthood, day 5

After another early morning, the kids and I made Mickey Mouse(tm) pancakes and then headed to the climbing gym. The kids let me do a little bouldering while they played with toy cars, and then I belayed Zoe up some climbs. It was the first time that she had clipped a rope into quickdraws, and I was quite proud of her. This was on top rope, and she back clipped every draw, but still! From there, we went to the Grenoble Museum to see the new Giacometti show. It had just opened and was totally mobbed. I was a little chagrined because I couldn't find my membership card, and it is not computerised... and then I remembered that a yearly membership costs 18 euros, so I just bought another one. "Kids" under 18 are free by the way, so a one day father and kids visit to the Cal Academy is two times more expensive than an entire year of all-you-can consume museuming at the Grenoble museum.

In the exhibit, I ran into our old friends (and climbers!) Martin and Marianne and their kids. I remembered that Marianne's cubicle at the IBS had been plastered with Giacometti postcards and was actually about to text them to tell them about the exhibition. My kids ran out of energy about midway through, so we left, went home and spent the rest of the afternoon doing very little of anything.

Single Parenthood, Day 4

Chloe is in CA, so I have had the rodents kids to myself. I honestly don't understand how single parents do it without any help. After a few days, I was pretty exhausted. Now, after the fourth day, I am VERY exhausted. I was thinking that since the kids are impossible to wake up during the week, that I would get to sleep in a little this morning. Unfortunately, both were up at 7:15 and pounding on the bed. After trying the Picard corissants that a friend recommended (pretty good!) I went to the garage to dust off the bike trailer, and attach it to my mountain bike. The plan was a little expedition to the market in la Monta, and the kids were literally jumping up and down with excitement. We did not end up using the bike trailer that much in Fontanil because it was such a hassle to carry it up and down the stairs. Now that we have a garage, however, it is no problem. Let's ignore the fact that both kids should be biking by themselves. I took a winding, traffic avoiding route to get to the market, with squeals of excitement piercing the calm EARLY morning air. We eventually arrived at the market after I discovered that even mild uphill grades are not easy while towing the kids. We loaded up on cheese, bread and veggies and then headed home, with more trailer excitement along the way. After the kids ate all the bread (no I am not bitter), we took the car down to the nursery and bought two 40 Litre bags of dirt, one 20L bag of rocks, and a whole mess o' flower seeds, planters and potted plants. When I asked about big shovels however, the guy looked at me like I was crazy. I guess it's another one of those cultural differences, because to him it seemed perfectly normal that they would not have big things like say, a rake, but did have small things like mini garden shovels! Anyway, the nursery is great despite it's lack of tools, and the people are very knowledgeable. We drove back home, did a lot of digging and accidental massacring of worms (ok, less than accidental in Alex's case, despite my repeated admonishment) and planted almost everything. Later, we went back for even more soil and rocks, and now my back is killing me. I bet the garden will look pretty nice soon though. I left room for tomatoes and other veggies, which we will put in later. Bento spent a lot of time scattering the dirt, so I decided against planting the catnip seeds we bought.

Montaud, again

I took advantage of the beautiful weather and rode Montaud via St. Quentin today. Above the village a car pulled over while I was putting my wind breaker on and the guy inside the car asked me where I was from and told me that he rode a lot too and had in fact done the climb I just did the day before… after more than 100 km of riding! He looked like he was in his mid sixties too. The fitness of the average Grenoblois always impresses me

Hey, no internet again!

We haven't had internets for the last 1.5 weeks, so it's been hard to post… i'll try to do a few updates anyway though, using the phone. Thanks, Bouygues!

More skiing

Chloe and I had not really anticipated how much Zoe would enjoy skiing, and actually I was resigned to having to bribe her just to take lessons. Over the last few weeks though, she has surprised us both with how quickly she picked it up and more importunely how much she loves it! The result has been that we have taken her for half days at several places, like St. Nizier, l'Aigle and lans. It looks like this was the last weekend of snow, however so we thought we would bring both kids up to Lans for lessons. Alex, seeing his sister's excitement, has been dying to go but at only three years old cannot go into the group lessons, so we signed him up for an individual lesson. We put Zoe in a two hour lesson in the "Jardin des infants". It might have been due to the fact that the instructors had by now probably picked kids up thousands of times, dealt with many hundreds of temper tantrums, wiped a few hundred noses, and many taken them to many peepee breaks, but our impression was that the group instruction was way better at Meaudre; I think we'll stick with Meaudre for next year. Anyway, Alex's lesson did not begin well


With much crying for mommy for the first few minutes. The ski instructor was very patient though, and after pitching off the moving walkway

Alex was on his way







By the end Alex was even snowplowing a little! The instructor (Benjamin) told us that he was really impressed with Alex's first lesson. At one point the instructor had Alex hold onto Zoe, and they skied down together, which was adorable.

Zoe did great, mastering left and right turns as well as stopping and received her "Ourson" certification.



We of course bought the little medal for her

And a Piou-piou medal for ales


Despite not having skied ourselves, Chloe and I were pretty exhausted by lunchtime.

Later on we went to a friends place in Bourgoin, where I grafted some plums and plots to various trees (Apricot, Cherry, Plum) and we had a delicious meal with excellent wine.

Ride

I rode 4 Seigneurs for the first time today -- a decent climb, but I think next time I will do it from the other direction (Herbeys). Terrible air quality though, which seems to be common in the early spring here





Later on, I drove the kids up alongside Chloe, who was running to Poroveysieux, and we I got them to yell "A-llez maMA!" as we passed her

Montaud

Rode Montaud from Veurey for the first time since 2011. It felt ok but was again suffering with the pollution