Another holiday

May in France is full of holidays.  And that mens no camp or day care!  So today we did a family (minus Chloe, who was still swanning around Barcelona) hike up to the Aiguille de Quaix from Planfay.  We stopped to carve little boats out of branches and race them down a small river and then then have a little picnic.  There was hardly any grumbling at all -- I was very proud of them!  It is so beautiful up there.

Camp

School is out and the kids are in camp

I'm alone with the kids while Chloe galavants around Barcelona, so after camp we went to the OK sushi place in town at Caserne de Bonne , Vieux Campeur to ogle the Petzl rope and laugh at the ridiculous Sharma rope

And then I let the kids run around the play area.  Zoe promptly fell ass first into one of the water courses while attempting to leap over it

Bochard+Alpages+Natural History

We went to the excellent Natural History museum with the kids today.  There was a special exhibit on spiders, which was not bad.  The museum as a whole is small but excellent, and I'm sure we will be going there more often.  They have a greenhouse with orchids, banana trees and a pond, as well as a very well done desert section.  Since we were in the neighborhood, we went to the Best Cheese Store in France -- les Alpages to buy some transcendent vieux comte, St. Felicien, Persilé de Tignes and a truffle cheese that I can't remember the name of.  Les Alpages was still closed when we arrived, so we took a detour to one of the most famous Chocolatiers in Grenoble -- Bochard, which now has a cafe.  A day well spent.

Later on, I taught Zoe how to "pick" the bathroom lock with a screwdriver, which elicited barely contained squeals of joy and excitement.  Chloe was less excited

NO, no , no nono nononononononono

NO!

Planning

We've started trying to find places to climb for our trip to Spain this summer, yahoo!

Sleeping bag

I've promised Zoe that we will go camping this summer.  I figure three months of planning is probably sufficient for such an endeavor, and the first step was to buy a sleeping bag, which she LOVES.  She has been sleeping in it every night, actually.  Next will be to find a good place to camp (Ecrins?) and find graham crackers + marshmallows for grilling.

iPad stand

Exploring on the MTB

Above Quaix.  There is a new fire road up there, but I have not discovered where it ends up.  I'm hoping it goes near the Aiguille.

Oh, Petzl Volta rope, how I covet thee

Turdman and Hornyman

Musee, town

MSM

did the montee de saint martin, slooooowly

I did pass some teenagers though -- haaa ha.

Saint-Antoine l'Abbaye

We went to one of our favorite small towns with James and Christine today.  Lunch was local ravioli, which was followed up by walking around, touring the perfume museum, etc etc

Via Ferrata

We went to the via ferrata with Christine and James.  It did not go exactly to plan (sorry Christine!) but we still had fun

Later on, James, Christine and I walked up to the Aiguille de Quaix:  A rock finger that is visible from many places in the valley below.  There are bolts and some manky fixed ropes at the top.

Q: what does a $15,000 bike look like

A:

And this is what a Zoe looks like, after being attacked by whipped cream

Let us give thanks

That the Tarte Tatin never goes out of style

Also, this is a vending machine… for worms!

which is a pretty great idea, actually.

Chloe and I got to go for a MTB/run together.  She tortures me on the climb up to Quaix, even on my bike

James and Christine here!

First stop:  The antique market.  We bought this blanket box.

then:  Climbing

and bike racing!

and more climbing (in flip flops)

and then cycling

Hooray! off to Hamburg

looking for a hot water boiler?

of course you are.  This one is fantastic (having melted two cheaper ones already.  We are a tea-heavy family)