They call me Mr Mom

I had a crazy morning. Chloe is in Paris for a job interview, and I am here with the kids. After wasting almost 20 minutes looking for a pacifier for alex (Day care tends to get very offended and snotty if I don't bring one), I finally dropped Alex off. On the way home, I noticed something strange about my shoes:

I have this single parent thing totally down.

woo!

alex slept from 10PM to 6AM!

proud

We went for a walk near the MJC in le Fontanil today. Along the way Zoe exclaimed "CLIMB ROCK!", and we were obliged to let her try her hand at escalade. She immediately went to the steep section

but then relented and climbed the slab

Langoustines

hard to find in the states, but plentiful here. Our local fish guy has them, and we had an extravagant Langoustine lunch. Not surprisingly, Zoe loved them and we were barely able to keep up with her

boarding at the 7 laux

decent.

The toll plaza

One difference between US highway driving and French autoroute driving that you immediately notice can be seen in the two photos below:
I80 Bay Bridge Toll plaza:

and the toll plaza near the Lyon Airport:


Notice anything different between them? If your answer had something to do with the lack of lane markings on the autoroute version, then you are correct. Specifically, there is a noticeable lack of lanes or markings once you are through the barriers.


After a few seconds you find yourself vying for position in an ad hoc drag race. The only thing missing is a scantily clad flag girl and the cops. It's a remarkable departure from the usually fantastic etiquette on the autoroute. Think about how much better traffic would flow on Bay Area roads if the passing lane (you know, the one on the left) were actually only used for passing. That's how it is here (except in heavy traffic situations of course).

Dog in a trailer

now that's a stylish dog.

aaargh

Dropped my bike chain five times today... in the pouring rain

Biking along the river

It was a perfectly still day along the Isére today. There was a man out on a skull, and it looked beautiful. Of course, no decent camera, but I got an iphone photo:

alex not sleeping

well, not exactly, but he typically wakes up 3-4 times a night, which is really starting to wear us down. I'm just glad I'm not operating any heavy machinery during the day.

Fiat 500

It looks like it is finally coming to the states, and I have to say it is a fabulous looking little car. The car reviewers seem to like it a lot too. I'm content trying to live wih one car for a long as possible, but if it doesn't work... Fiat 500 Abarth!!


links on the fiat 500 coming to america:
New York Times
Available trims
from the CEO of Dodge

museum with the kids

We went to the Grenoble museum with the kids. They happened to be having a special performance in which a dancer would do a dance in front of a work of art. A detailed description by a docent would then follow. I'm generally a dance philistine, but I thought it was beautiful, and Zoe was transfixed.

more pics:






Earlier in the day, Chloe went swimming wih a friend while I corralled the babies. Zoe read to Alex, and even shared her Babu blanket

Baja 1000

Zoe's opinion of the Baja 1000: "DIRTY, DIRTY!". Little does she know that she will be my co-driver in 2026. NB, if you have not seen Dust to Glory, Rent. It. Now. I am watching it for the third time. The narration is bad, but everything else is so, so good.

Trip to Mirmande, the Drome

The Drome is still my favorite area in France thus far, so I was excited to take a day trip to Mirmande, a (you guessed it!) beautiful medieval town, officially listed as one of the plus beaux villages de france (link) in the Drome. We auto-routed it most of the way, so there wasn't much to see until we got there, but the town didn't disappoint. The only problem was that it was really, really, exceptionally cold, and we all retreated to the Cafe Chez Margot in short order. Some photos by our young compatriot from the states, Ian:



and my photos


From there, we drove to Chabillan, which has an impressive, but falling apart keep, more picturesque streets, a very cool looking library where they serve beer, and a whole lot of cats. This cat was in a tree that was not really able to support his weight:


The cafe is under the turret. Not a bad location, really!

The GPS was trying to kill us for most of the day, at one point routing us onto a tiny dirt road, covered in ice and snow that climbed a 15 grade up a hill. It also routed us through countless damn roundabouts on the Departmental roads.

alex

apparently trying to kill us; he was up from midnight until 6 AM this morning and has been "sleeping" similarly for days now. Arghhh!!

dumping snow

slightly scary bike commute home

Bike Lane

The only mildy dicey part of my commute is the roundabout near the autoroute. It's really not an issue normally, as cars are polite and will stop for you when they see you in the bike lane, but you never know. I always assume that they are trying to kill me, and have not had any even vaguely dangerous moments (really, mom!). Anyway, there must be a prefab cement staircase company nearby, because on many mornings I see flatbed trucks hauling them away -- usually in the opposite direction to Lyon. I know this because I give them a wide birth and sometimes stop if I think they might be cutting me off to get onto the ramp for Lyon. Anyway, this morning I was confronted with this amazing spectacle:



It looked like it had fallen off into the roundabout and then been pushed onto the "shoulder" (i.e. the bike lane). I've seen a lot of things in the bike lane that don't belong, but seeing a cement spiral staircase was definitely a first.

I've been making FIMO animals for Zoe

here is the latest

Alex!

Perouges

We took a short trip to Perouges today. It is just about an hour drive away, and actually quite close to Lyon St. Exupery, if you ever find yourself stuck there. After circling the lot once (tip: drive into the town for the free parking rather than pay to use the lots that are far away from the center). As far as the town goes: what can I say? Perouges is yet another beautiful fortified medieval town with a rich history. I'm not sure how effective the fortifications were against the Archbishop of Lyon, but I can unequivocally state that the cobbles shut down the hordes of invading toddlers today. Zoe gave up on trying to walk on the streets after twenty feet. I saw another kid fall victim to the ruthless cobbles: he was happily walking along before tripping on one of the larger egg shaped rocks and went down with a surprised look on his face, and of course subsequently burst into tears. The stroller was equally thwarted and was basically impossible to push along the streets. So yeah, quite effective against the short of legged! Some photos:



Hanging corn to dry:


We also bought and happily devoured a local specialty cake: Galettes de Perouges. They are like little sugary butter saturated pizza slices. mmmmmm.