Day 43 - Nimes City Center & Toy Story 3

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After a crazy busy day of walking around town, we knew the kids (and let's be honest, us too) needed the morning to relax.

In the afternoon, we decided to venture out and check out the city center, which is about a 15-20 minute walk.  

On the way, we stopped by a playground on Avenue Jean Jaurès (the same tree lined street with the fountains) which the kids had seen and wanted to play at yesterday.

Kian on the whirly disc

Kian on the whirly disc

We also passed a boulangerie (bakery) and the smell of fresh baked baguettes and random pastries just drew me in. 

Mmmm...everything looked so delicious, but alas we kept it together and just bought a baguette, because I couldn't resist the smell.  The pastries will have to wait for another day :)

Boulangerie Rondes des Pains

Boulangerie Rondes des Pains

On our way to the city center, we walked through a few side streets, which have an old feel and charm.

The city center consists of a few streets that are pedestrian access only, with a lot of big and small shops, and a bunch of restaurants with outside seating.  Quite a few of the stores were closed, either because it was after 5 or because it is August, and well the owners are on vacation. :)

It was starting to feel like time for an afternoon snack, so it was perfect when we saw a crepe stand next to a restaurant.  It was no longer time for keeping it together, we're in France after all, so we can't say no to a crepe!  We got one with coconut and Nutella and split it four ways.

Coconut and Nutella crepe.. Yummm!

Coconut and Nutella crepe.. Yummm!

We also stumbled upon a small pond displaying the famous crocodile chained to a column (which is meant to be the base of a palm tree). 

One of the signs we had seen the other day had described the significance of the crocodile and the palm tree.

"The earliest occupants of Nimes were the Volques Arecomiques, a Celtic people who settled in the region around 400 BC.  Among other deities they worshipped Nemoz, the god of the Spring source.  Around 120 BC, the Languedoc was colonized by the Romans and Nimes became a colony under Roman rule.  Towards 25 BC, the Romans built a monumental shrine around the spring.  Alongside worship of the Celtic god of the spring, then known as Nemausus, worship of the deity of Augustus began.  Nimes fashioned itself a bronze currency, which was later to become its emblem: a crocodile chained to a palm tree in memory of Augusts' conquest of Egypt."

In addition to it being on their old money, you can also see this emblem all around town, even on random things like the metal barriers designed to keep cars off the sidewalks.

We walked back home before the little and big feet got too tired. As our dinner was cooking in the oven, we started to watch Toy Story 3.

Family movie date night - Toy Story 3

Family movie date night - Toy Story 3

We paused the movie about half way through to eat our dinner. Roasted chicken with our baguette, vegetables, and salad.

Roasted chicken

Roasted chicken

We continued the movie once dinner plates were put away.  Poor Hannah was very upset when Lotso the Bear was being mean to "big baby" and poking her in her tummy. 

Hannah: "nooooo....why is he being so mean to big babyyyyy???"
Hannah crying for "big baby" 

Hannah crying for "big baby" 

She was also upset when the toys were getting close to being melted in the fire. I generally get really sad at the very end of this movie when Andy drives away, so I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this movie is sad :'( 

Thankfully everything turns out great for "big baby" and she is very happy at the Sunnyside Day care center. So Hannah went to bed without being too traumatized (I hope!). 

Day 42 - Historical Nemausus (Nimes)

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A lovely day full of sunshine! Walking shoes on, thermoses filled with ice and water, cameras packed, and the map in hand; off we went to explore the historical city of Nimes.

Kian & Hannah right outside the apartment complex

Kian & Hannah right outside the apartment complex

We started off by heading to Les Jardins De La Fontaine.  

"Economic growth from the seventeenth century onwards caused the city to expand.  Entrusted with the tasks of displaying the Roman remains discovered close to the spring and improving  the water supply, Jacques-Philippe Mareschal, the King's engineer, planned the creation of new districts with a layout in line with the axis of the garden."

The fountains by the gardens enterance

The fountains by the gardens enterance

The gardens are beautiful, with many statues.

The centerpiece sculptures at the gardens

The centerpiece sculptures at the gardens

As well as historical structures such as Temple de Diane, which was built around 25 AD.

But the coolest aspect of the gardens, in my humble opinion, was La Tour Magne, built around 15 BC.  The tower is perched up on the top of the hill, where you can see a panoramic view of the city of Nimes. 

The walk to the top had multiple, criss-crossing paths which you can choose from.  We picked the closest path, and the way up was steep in parts and very very hot!

"Like a signal of the city, a symbol of Roman power, this tower in the Roman fortifications is at the highest point of the town.  It was built on a tower in the ramparts of the previous Gallic settlement.  An L-shaped ramp led via the rampart walk to a stairway to the top of the 'big tower'.  In Roman times, the tower had an extra level."

Since we really wanted to see the view from the top, we paid (yes everything costs money) for tickets to climb 140 steps to the top.

140 spiraling stairs to the top

140 spiraling stairs to the top

The view was definitely worth the hike and the stair climbing.  Even the kids were both wowed by how much we could see. 

Panoramic view at the top of Tour Magne

Panoramic view at the top of Tour Magne

"Around 15 BC, the Emperor Augustus enclosed the colony of Nimes within 7-kilometer-long city walls.  These ramparts guaranteed the city's defence but, more importantly at that time of Pax Romana, officially marked out the city's perimeters.  This enceinte included almost 80 defence towers, amond them the Tour Magne, and counted 10 gateways, 2 of which are still visible today: the Porte de France and the Porte d'Auguste through which the Via Domitia (A military road between Rome, Gaul, and Spain) entered Nimes."

Since there are so many different paths that lead up to the tower, on the way back down we took a new path and discovered a small waterfall.  Kian had blast soaking his head under the fall to cool down.

Kian and his soaked head (and shirt) :)

Kian and his soaked head (and shirt) :)

On the way down the stairs we also were able to see a wonderful view of the complex architecture of the gardens.

Les Jardins De La Fontaine

Les Jardins De La Fontaine

Once out of the gardens, we found a place to eat lunch before continuing our adventures around Nimes.

Next up, the Square House, or otherwise known as Maison Carree, built around 16 BC.  

"Over the centuries, the Maison Carree has never ceased to be used.  It still remains one of the best preserved temples of Roman civilization."

Inside, there is a small movie theater where we watched a short film in French (with English subtitles thankfully) about how the city of  Nemausus (The original name of the city of Nimes) came to be. In summary, a warrior from the southern tribes of Gaul joined Julius Caesar to lead a group of 500 men against the northern tribes hoping they would receive allegiance from the Romans. After 25 years in battle, he was rewarded richly, and allowed to return home and build Nimes to be modeled after the finest Roman cities. 

As part of the movie, they also showed the Arenes (the Arena), where the gladiator fights were held. Which was perfect since that was going to be our next stop.

"Built around 70 AD, it was remodelled in 1863 to serve as a bullring. The Arenas of Nîmes is the site of two annual bullfights during the Feria de Nîmes, and it is also used for other public events."

It was a short walk from Maison Carree to the arena, and it really was a very amazing structure to witness.

View of the Arenes as you come up to it

View of the Arenes as you come up to it

We had gotten one of those audio tour headphone devices as part of the admission, and just wandered around, listening to parts of the history.  The whole thing can easily take about an hour and a half if you listen to the whole thing, but of course with kids we were just listening to parts before moving on.

As you walk around, there is a general path to follow, but for the most part you can walk anywhere that isn't blocked off.  After walking mostly around the lower areas, we saw a lot of people had climbed all the way to the top, and were walking along the perimeter to see the view of the city.  To get to the top, you have to climb (very carefully) the tall "seats"/stones to see the view.  So of course, that's exactly what we did, and were rewarded with great views, both inside the arena and out.

After the Arenes, the kids were tired and hot, so we rewarded them for being such good walking buddies.  We stopped at a hole in the wall shop called 'Croc Show' (more on the significance of the crocodile in Nimes in the next post), where Kian picked cherry slushy and of course Hannah chose strawberry ice cream cone. 

We started our walk back home after everyone had a few minutes to cool down and rest their legs. We were lucky to walk right by La Porte De France, one of the two standing gates of the original wall that surrounded Nimes.

La Porte De France

La Porte De France

As we got closer to our street, we saw lots of kids playing in the fountains which are part of the long walkway that leads the Les Jardins De La Fontaine. Hannah really, really wanted to stop and play too, and we said sure, because well...why not? 

We had to peel away a sad Hannah from the fountains as she had no intentions of leaving. But after walking around the town for almost 8 hours, we really had to get back home to make dinner. 

A very long, very educational, and very fun day was had by all :)

Day 41 - Lounging and Groceries

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After going to bed a bit after 2 AM, we all woke up around 11 AM :) There are these amazing security shutters in this apartment, which slide up and down with flick of a switch.  They keep the rooms nice and dark, so we didn't actually have a clue what time it was when we woke up! 

Once we opened up the shutters, we were treated to a gorgeous view of the garden on the terrace and the rest of the very nice complex.

Bonjour Nimes

Bonjour Nimes

Our amazing host had already filled up the fridge with milk, orange juice, butter, jams, and bread! This was so wonderful as we all woke up very hungry. 

We all ate something and lounged about a bit more as we were still recovering from 2 days of traveling.  We were also glad to discover there is nice, fast internet here.. which after a month of not having was very pleasant to have back.  It's hard to imagine just how much you use the internet, until you go without having easy access to it for a long time!

Kian relaxing on the terrace :) 

Kian relaxing on the terrace :) 

We knew we needed to make a run to the grocery store, since for the next meal it was preferable not to eat toast with butter and jam again.  We slowly got ready and headed out, after finding some nearby supermarkets, again thanks to the internet.  The first supermarket we tried was closed.. in fact a whole lot of things were closed, apparently the norm for Saturday afternoons here.  So instead, we went to Lidl.  I was so excited when I found out there is a Lidl just half a mile (800m) away. 

We bought lots of fruits and vegetables and other things to load up our nice big fridge, all of which was exceptionally well priced, and they actually took our credit card!  We returned home with two very hungry kids who couldn't wait to eat a bowl of cereal followed by a bowl of cantaloupe :)

Once everything was put away, we made a quick dinner, ate, sent the kids to bed, and sat down to update the blog with our awesome internet connection.

Oh whatever did we do before internet? Oh who am I kidding, I don't even know how we handled dial up speed!! 

Tomorrow we plan to explore Nimes.

Day 40 - The Journey to Nimes

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We all slept in til 9:10 AM...Honestly we could have slept longer, but the hotel stopped serving breakfast at 9:30 and we were hungry.

After a very expensive breakfast (this is France after all), we decided to check out the pool and spa, since we had seen some fancy pictures online when booking the hotel. The kids really wanted to go swimming and we figured after yesterday they deserved some time to stretch out and play before we put them back in the car for some more driving. 

We took a taxi to pick up our car a bit after noon.  We are going to have this car for 3 months, now through Spain.  It is a manual Renault Captur, much fancier than the Skoda, and has built in GPS which actually works well!  This car isn't really a rental, it's actually a short term lease directly with Renault.  It's a brand new car, and is part of a buy-back program we had read about as a cheaper alternative to renting if you will have the car for more than a month or so.  The process of getting the car was amazingly fast and smooth, and it was nice to not try to be sold extra bells and whistles and insurance like they did in Ireland.  It was just pick up the keys, a quick demo of the car, and on the road we were.  We had to remember how to drive on the right side of the road again, but that didn't take too long:)

If we wanted to get car seats through Renault, it would have been ridiculously expensive, so I buckled the kids in with the seatbelt just over their laps and I sat in between them at first.  We had done our homework on where to get car seats for a good price, and we headed to a store called Auchan to buy them.  Auchan is a very large supermarket, it is a bit of a mix between Target and Costco in the US.  The trip to the store was successful, except for when we ran into a problem with the credit card machines not accepting our credit cards (a lot of credit card machines in Europe now require the card to have a chip, either chip and pin or chip and signature) and no one in the store spoke English, not even at customer service. 

Eventually a girl who understood some English and worked at the store came to our rescue and told us our cards would not be accepted, but that we could use the ATM. Problem solved :)

We ate lunch at Auchan too and bought a prepaid SIM card so we could communicate with our host in Nimes. 

We then began our drive to Nimes, which we expected would take around 7 hours.

Kids strapped into their new car seats

Kids strapped into their new car seats

Alas, we found out the hard way that apparently August 1st is the day the entire country packs up and goes on vacation!  At the very beginning, thanks to bumper to bumper traffic, it took us 2 hours to drive 12 miles (20 km)!  Eventually we were out of the traffic and drove deeper into the countryside where the highways are still grand, but you see lots of farmland, cows, and very old, historical buildings on either side. 

We only stopped to get gas and grab a very quick dinner before hopping back in the car.  At this point our arrival time was going to be near midnight according to the GPS!  Yikes, but at least still before midnight.  That was all good until we hit the craziest thunder and rain storm!  I even saw lightening just spark in mid-air right by us...gulp gulp. I was glad I was not driving.  It was almost impossible to see where we were going.

Mother nature's madness added to our time of arrival.  Thankfully, our host is extremely kind and she just told us to be careful and drive safe and that she would wait up for us. 

We finally arrived around 1:30 AM!  Our host, Roselyn was waiting for us, and every time I apologized she just said, it's not a problem :) 

She showed us the house and give us some instructions, a bit in French a bit in English, and then we said good night.  

The entire family was out like a light a bit after 2AM.

Day 39 - A long day of traveling

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We left our lovely cottage and Louisburgh behind around 9:30 AM.  We all talked about what our favorite part of Ireland was.  For me, it was petting the sheep.  For the hubby, it was Croagh Patrick.  For Kian, it was Clare Island.  And of course, for Hannah, it was Sam the dog!  

The drive to Dublin airport, which is 173 miles (279 km) away, was very smooth.  We ate lunch on the way and my brilliant husband (no sarcasm this time :)) had the wonderful idea of just reserving a taxi online to pick us up at the Beauvais airport [More on this later].

We returned our darling Skoda at Europcar, and said farewell to driving on the "wrong" side of the road for now.  In total, we drove 1,549 miles (2,493 km) in Ireland, not too shabby.  Thankfully, after a little complaining, we were able to get a refund on the GPS that came with the rental car, because at no point during the vacation was the GPS even remotely useful, since the maps don't have most of the roads!  If you find yourself traveling to Ireland, a word of advice, just skip the GPS.  There aren't too many roads, and the signs are pretty good, so an old fashioned map will do the job just fine.  

A shuttle brought us to the terminal around 3:30 PM.  The check-in process for Ryanair at Dublin airport is much, much smoother than at Stansted airport in the UK.  They also didn't hassle us over 2 extra kilograms in our luggage. Hurray! 

We had lots and lots of time, so we decided to take the kids to the McDonalds play area before going through security.  Since it was neither lunch nor dinner time for us, I was grateful the kids could play there without us having to buy any food.

The kids played for a while as I uploaded a ton of pictures for the last 5 days of blog posts.  The internet at Dublin airport is mighty speedy! 

After playing in the little obstacle course for a while and helping Hannah through a variety of up and downs, Kian joined us at the table to play a little bit on the Nintendo 3DS. 

Kian playing the 3DS

Kian playing the 3DS

Hannah was happy playing with a balloon she had found.

Hannah and her yellow balloon that she left for "other kids" after we left the play area

Hannah and her yellow balloon that she left for "other kids" after we left the play area

We went through security and ate dinner at Burger King.  During dinner, we were entertained by our silly Hannah making up and singing a France song that went something like this: France France, Francie France.... well, just listen for yourself :)

Our flight was supposed to be at 7:30 but it was delayed 1 hour.  We all stayed in good spirits.. playing, chatting, and recharging all our devices for the next leg of the journey. 

Hannah feeding baby ginger while we waited to board

Hannah feeding baby ginger while we waited to board

Eventually we all boarded and were on our way. The flight was quick and smooth and before we knew it we had landed at Beauvais airport. 

Beauvais airport is a very tiny airport. At terminal 1 (I think there are 2 terminals there), you walk off the plane, and into the doors where a line of people is formed to get passports checked/stamped. Immediately behind passport control is where you pick up your luggage and you walk out of the door.

Remember I mentioned my husband's brilliance earlier on? Thank goodness there was a taxi driver waiting outside holding our name on a piece of paper, because at this airport there is no line up of buses or taxis. It is true that you can take a shuttle for 17 euros per adult from Beauvais to Paris, 20-25 mins after your flight lands, but that shuttle takes you to Porte Maillot in Paris.  From there you will need to take a taxi or some other form of transportation to your hotel unless you have a hotel within walking distance. 

Either way, since it was 11:00 PM, and the hotel we had booked wasn't in central Paris, but rather near where we will be picking up our next car, I was extremely grateful for the kind taxi driver who picked us up and gave us giant bottle of water. 

The drive to our hotel took about 1 hour, and we were all in bed shortly after midnight. 

It is definitely worth mentioning that despite the long, long day, the kids kept it together the entire time, we heard no whining or crying or fussing. At bedtime I was probably more cranky than them! 

Bonne Nuit ... Zzzzzz

Day 38 - Packing and Good-byes

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The morning began with lots of packing. We dragged out our eBag and Eagle Creek packing cubes and got busy rolling clothes :) 

It surprisingly took a lot less time and energy than we thought it would. 

Packing in progress

Packing in progress

In the afternoon, we headed over to Mike and Andrea's house to say farewell and to thank them for their warm hospitality, and we were treated to a delicious shrimp appetizer.

Shrimp Appetizer ... Mmm Mmm...the sauce was so delicious

Shrimp Appetizer ... Mmm Mmm...the sauce was so delicious

It is really amazing when you end up meeting people so far away from home and feel like you have known them for ages.  We were sad to say goodbye, but thankful for all the technology that will keep us connected and future travels that could reunite us. 

From Left to Right: Baby Ginger, Hannah, Kian, Baby, Ciara, and Roisin

From Left to Right: Baby Ginger, Hannah, Kian, Baby, Ciara, and Roisin

Richard and Veronica, the owners of the farm and the cottage, had kindly invited us over for dinner.  When we arrived at the house, once again we felt like family. We all started talking and the kids all had a great time talking, running outside, and playing with Sam (have I mentioned how much our kids love Sam?)

Our first course consisted of fresh and extremely scrumptious oysters still in their salty water. Mmmmmm.....Mmmmmm!

I am not sure if the most amazing thing about the dinner was the oysters, our delicious entree, or the fact that both Kian and Hannah tried salmon for the first time and loved it so much they kept asking for more! 

After dinner, Caroline played a bit accordion for us (which was awesome) and both Caroline and Richard (Jr.) sang a couple of songs. They are both very good and talented kids. We will definitely miss the entire family and Sam very much. 

From left to right: Richard (Jr), Hannah, Kian, Sam, and Caroline

From left to right: Richard (Jr), Hannah, Kian, Sam, and Caroline

Thanks again to Richard, Veronica, and the whole family for making us feel so at home this past month.  We are so fortunate to have found such a wonderful house in such a wonderful little town.  It was a really wonderful experience for us all, one we will never forget (well, maybe Hannah will, but thats what the pictures are for!).

And again, thanks to technology, we will keep in touch, and who knows maybe one day we will meet again.

Tomorrow morning we will head out to Dublin to catch our flight to France. We will have two slightly crazy and hectic days before we settle down in Nimes.

Adventure awaits...

Day 37 - Museum of Country Life

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About a week ago, someone we met happened to recommend the Museum of Country Life to us.  We knew the drive was about an hour, so we had it put it off.  Today, since we had no other plans, we decided to venture out to Turlough Park to check out the museum.

Turlough Park House build in 1865 - Once home to the Fitzgerald family who at one point owned 8500 acres of land in the county of Mayo

Turlough Park House build in 1865 - Once home to the Fitzgerald family who at one point owned 8500 acres of land in the county of Mayo

This is a wonderful spot to visit as a family, especially with younger children, and the best part is it's free for the adults and children.  We learned a lot about the Irish history, and the kids had a great time.  There are lots of items that are left out, and the you are encouraged to check them out up close and personal with a sign that says: "Please Touch".

Kian and Hannah posing with an Irish family in the attire they wore long ago.

Kian and Hannah posing with an Irish family in the attire they wore long ago.

Kian and I in some Irish clothing we were encouraged to try on by all the signs :)

Kian and I in some Irish clothing we were encouraged to try on by all the signs :)

The museum focuses a lot on the country life in Ireland, before and after the famine. There are a variety of different sections, such as: professions, agricultural tools, and basket weaving techniques.

I found the description for the school master most interesting:

"The master was the most respected man in the town, feared alike but his pupils and their parents.  His appearance in the noisiest streets brought immediate silence.  Most of his pupils came from very poor families and he was determined to make something of them whether they liked it or not. He knew what was good for them and even if it meant teaching by terror, they got it."

I also liked a few "fact" posters around the museum which talked about summer months, and how the poor would generally suffer in July, as the stored food would run out but the new crops were not quiet ready yet for harvest.  Makes you think about how much we take for granted! 

There was a special exhibition about the police force in Ireland on the basement floor.  They had some gear and outfits on display, and they had a section for taking mug shots and doing finger prints. It was actually a fairly crowded section and we had to wait a bit, but we had Kian write his name on the little blackboards they had and do a mug shot.  The numbers for the height though didn't seem quite right, but it was all silly nonetheless.

Kian's mug shot

Kian's mug shot

The museum grounds are also very beautiful and lots of fun for the kids. There are few sculptures around and many gorgeous flowers.

Kian trying to slurp up the lake with the straw - "The installation of the straw sculpture is intended to highlight the current issue of water charges and water equality in Ireland. The placement of the straw in the lake should remind people where t…

Kian trying to slurp up the lake with the straw - "The installation of the straw sculpture is intended to highlight the current issue of water charges and water equality in Ireland. The placement of the straw in the lake should remind people where their water comes from and how much of it is left". -Paul O'Driscoll (Artist and Musician in Mayo)

After the museum, we stopped in Westport on our way home and had dinner at a pizza restaurant, followed by dessert at the Maple Moose, a cute little place worth a visit.

This was our last day of sightseeing in Ireland. Tomorrow we will have to start packing and saying goodbye to the good friends we have made here.