Arles

We visited Arles during our week's stay in Ardeche. It took us an hour and 10 mins to get from Montélimar to Arles as the boys wanted to take a train ride.

We spent the day walking around the old town. As Van Gogh had painted a lot during his stay in Arles, we could see information boards showing us where he took his inspiration from. Below was just one information on the painting "Starry Night Over the Rhoneis".

On many doors, we noticed this door knock in the form of a hand. We found it amusing and the boys tried to spot them as we walked along the narrow streets. There was one particular house which not only had this particular door knock but there was also a grapevine growing on its wall. There were bunches of grapes growing, even on the second floor's window. I wander how old were the house and the grapevine.

After a good lunch, we visited the arena in Arles. I knew about this arena from my visits at France Miniature. This arena is still in use today. In the old, old days, it had been a mini city with people living in it. There was a photo depicting how it looked like in 1686.

After the visit of the arena, we walked around and stopped for ice cream. There was music bands everywhere. Seb brought the boys to the park with a playground while my mother and I went to do a little shopping.

We then had dinner at an italian before taking the 8.20pm train back to Montélimar. My mother liked the thin crust pizza a lot and even finished the pana cotta which she tried for the first time. She liked that too.

On the train journey back, we were delayed an hour and a half. Apparently, the train before us was hit by a rock and had a broken window and could not move forward. So all the trains behind it were blocked. A2 was sleeping then. As for A1, he would not sleep even though it was past his bedtime. He kept asking questions on the train's situation. We arrived Montélimar really late and by the time we got back to our vacation home nearby Aubenas, it was already midnight.

We rarely took trains and that one time we did, we were delayed. Still, we enjoyed ourselves that day. Glad that I got to know another area in France.

Dog cushion

In his first year, Handsome destroyed all his cushions that we decide not to buy him anymore cushion. The dog cushions did not come cheap and having them destroyed in a few days' time was just like throwing money into the rubbish bin.

As Handsome grows older, he grows wiser too. He is doing less stupid stuff. So I felt he deserved another chance and sewed him a cushion. The home made cushion cost a fifth of the cushion we bought for him.  Another reason was that I wanted him to have an alternative than to sleep on the sofa when we were not in the living room. 

Often when I came down the stairs, I saw my dog hurrying to meet me. When I put my hand on the sofa, it was warm.  Despite having a blanket on the floor, he would prefer the sofa. He is an outdoor dog and I do not want him on the sofa. 

I took two pieces of left over fabrics (one was actually an old mattress protector) and sewed them togather. I put in stuffing and sewed a square in the middle so that the stuffing would not shift too much. I would prefer a darker color but I only had big white fabrics.

 Handsome got used to his new cushion quickly. He used it as his bed for the past two days. I had caught him chewing on it and had stopped him. Hopefully, this cushion would last a long while.

Pentecoste - Why the French work this holiday for no pay

Yesterday was Pentecoste and I did not work. 

Ten years ago, the french government decided that we should work on a public holiday and gave up our salary of that day to help the aging population. The day chosen was Pentecoste which is always on a monday.

I remembered the government saying that it was temporary and would only last a few years. 

A few years passed and the government changed the tone. Companies have the right to decide if they close on Pentecoste but they must still give a day's earnings to help the old. 

Some companies decide to make everyone work on Pentecoste while others close on this public holiday but make their employees work on an off day; be it a compensation day (RTT - reduction of time worked) or paid leave. 

My company chose to close on Pentecoste. When I was working full time, I had an off day (RTT) with every 9 working days. This is because we work 39hours a week and in France, the normal working hours is 35. Since we do not get paid for overtime, the company gives us a day off (RTT) for the extra 8 hours work. To compensate for Pentecoste, I would come to work on a RTT day. It was for me to decide when that would be since we could take RTT anytime we want. For example, today, my colleagues who were present in the office would apply for a RTT. They lost a RTT but they were even out with the replacement working day for Pentecoste. I think we have until the end of the year to even out this day.

This year, I work part-time and as such, I no longer have RTT. As I do not work on wednesday, I would have to work on one wednesday as my replacement working day for Pentecoste. I chose to do it tomorrow. 

Normally, my boys do not have school on wednesday. Tomorrow is an exception. When school term started last september, the teachers went to school on the first day to prepare. The children went to school on the second day. Tomorrow is a school day to replace the first day of school that the children missed.

Yes, this is France. It can be so complicated. With the kids in school, I can work tomorrow and one load off the shoulder. Until next year of course. 

To understand better about France and its Pentecoste working day, read this: Why the French work this holiday for no pay

Smart doggie

We spent five days at Brittany. It had been almost three years since we were here. It did not rain much while we were there but only on Saturday was the sun shining bright. 

Everyday, we spent the afternoon at the beach. On Friday, a dog came to the beach. We thought it was ahead of its master but no one was behind it. It sat on the beach for a moment and then picked up a stick and went to Seb. Seb took the stick, threw it and the dog run after the stick and fetched it. He then brought it back and dropped in front of Seb and stepped back. He wanted to play. What a smart dog. 

The boys were delighted at the intelligent dog and started to play fetch with the dog. They took turns throwing the stick. When A2 threw the stick into the water, the dog would cautiously wait for the waves to sweep up the stick before picking it up.

We told the kids not to touch the dog as we did not know it well. They played with the dog for a good while before the master came looking for the dog. He told us that it had run away from the garden when it spotted another dog. And that it loved to play fetching ball with his master at the beach.

What a well educated dog. 

We are coming back to Brittany in August with Handsome. I wonder what his reaction will be  at the beach.

Sport's day possible on tues?

Last year, A1's sport's day in school was postponed and then cancelled as both days were raining heavily.

This year, the sport's day would be held on 27 May. 

Looking at the weather forecast, it announces storm. The sport's day would most likely be postponed or cancelled. 

The boys go for multi-sports activity every tues after school. It is usually in the community hall. But since a month, the boys are practising cycling at the school's car park. And every tues evening, it rains. Sometimes they cycled under the rain. Speaking of which, A2 can cycle all by himself. Happy for him.

So let's see if the weather changes for the better come tues.

A2 is off his training wheels

For the past week, A2 had been asking us to take off his training wheels on his bicycle and trying to cycle by himself. We helped to push him as he could not find the balance and the strength to start.
He was a cautious boy and started step by step. He practiced almost everyday for 15mins. Today, he did well. He could turn the handlebars and made a big turn.
It won't be long before he could find his balance when starting the bicycle.
Just four months short of his four years, he has joined his brother in cycling on two wheels. I would have to get on my bicycle if I want to catch up with them when the boys go out cycling. It is hard to catch up with the boys by foot.
Maybe the next post would be about me brushing up my rusty cycling skills.

Honfleur

Two sundays ago, we visited Honfleur with my brother and my sister-in-law. It was my second visit. My first visit was more than ten years ago. Seb and I could not remember how it looked like though we both enjoyed our trip then.

So it was good to come again to this lovely town. We had crepes for lunch and then walked around the town.

 

The children took rides on the merry-go-round and they had fun in the playgound at the park. We walked along the seaside too.

 

Here are some photos taken at Honfleur. 

 

3months to lose 2kg

It took him three months to lose two kilos. There is twenty more to go. Thirty more months. Let's see the final results in Oct 2016.

The pirate theme birthday party

The big day arrived. Yesterday, we celebrated A1's 5th birthday with his friends. My brother the balloon master arrived from Singapore the day before. He made wonderful balloons for the children.

A1 had a parrot perched on his shoulder. He also had a sword and a belt to keep his sword.

 Thank God for the fine weather. We had the party in the garden. For the decorations, we had red and black balloons with pirate flags banner.

Food wise, I made a chocolate cake with the number 5 mould. My sister in law decorated it beautifully. I also made pirate cookies. We decorated bananas to look like pirates. There was tomatoes and comté with pirate sails. Pop corns on pirate cupcake stand and lots of sweets. I found pirate theme candles and put five on the cake.

 

I made pirate hats out of black felt. Here is the site where I got the idea. It was simple and the children loved their hats.

http://www.simplesimonandco.com/2012/01/a-felt-pirate-hat.html

 

The dozen of children arrived at 3pm and we had many games to keep them entertained. There were "walk the plank"; sticking the eye patch on the parrot; 123 Soleil; mini treasure hunt; throwing a bean bag from a distance into a circle drawn on the ground; drawing on the floor with chalks among other games. Still each game did not take long and we were running out of ideas at times.

 

For prizes, we had pirate coins, mini puzzles, sharks, eye patches, erasers, telescopes, pirate rings. Most of the prizes were brought from Singapore.

 

My brother made more balloons swords and the kids had fun running and fighting in the garden. The only peaceful moment was when they were all seated and eating the cake.

 

 

A1 was a lucky boy. His friends brought him nice presents. Mostly Playmobil.

At 6pm, the parents came to bring their tired children home. The 3 hours was long for us. Though we were 7 adults, it was still tiring for us. Seb was the MC of that day. My brother made balloons and played with the kids. My sister in law and I did the logistics. My friend Denise helped to take photos. My friend Anca helped out and mostly showed the kids where the toilet was and even helped three children with their big business.

It was great to see everyone enjoying themselves. Made my efforts worthwhile.

 For A2's birthday, we had decided to keep it shorter. 2.5hours is max. We would welcome all help we could gather. Just hoping the weather would be as fine come September.

Mega slide

It had been a while since I searched on LeBonCoin for a second hand slide. The boys find the slide they had too small.

The search was over when I finally found the one within my budget and not too far away for pick up.

After we ensembled the pieces, the boys were happily playing with it. They put the small slide beside the big one and used it as a bridge.

On Wed, when my neighbour's children came over, they had fun with the slide too.

 

When I have the time, I will put up the small slide for sale on LeBonCoin.

 

Speaking of which, I sold the boys' Bebe Confort Axsis car seats within two days after putting up the announce on LeBonCoin. Such items do sell like hot cakes. LeBonCoin is free and very useful.

Vive LeBonCoin.

Birthday invitation cards

A1 is turning five in April. For the first time, he is inviting his friends from school to his birthday. As A1 and A2 are in the same class, they are both invited each time to a classmate's birthday party. They attended one just two weeks ago. In another two weeks time, they have another birthday party to go to. Lucky boys.

I asked A1 who he wanted to invite and what theme he wanted. After much suggestions from me, he decided to have a pirate theme. He gave me 8 names and I included my neighbour's children and a friend's son. Seb and I togather with my brother and his wife should be able to manage a dozen of young children.

I wanted to send out the invitation cards fast as the date was set on the Saturday right after school holiday. As I did not have time to go shop for pirate theme invitation cards, I searched on internet and made my own cards.

They were simple to make. I chose the text in french from internet and pasted them in a Word document. I printed out the invitations and rubbed hot tea bag over the papers to give them a browned look. I then crumpled them and let them dried. Once they were dried up, I burnt the edges of the paper with a candle. It was tedious work and I burnt half of a paper away. As a precaution, I did the burning over the sink. The end product had a treasure map kinda feel. (The flash from the camera lightened up the paper a lot). I rolled them up and tied them with stripes of red cloth. That was it.

I wrote the names on the ribbon and was surprised that A1 could recognise his friends' names. This morning, A1 brought them to school to give out to his friends. I hope most could make it to his party.

Next up is looking for ideas for the party to be a success. Internet helps a lot. I just found a site on making pirate hats out of black felt. I shall go to the fabric shop this weekend and get some felt. The challenge is to make a dozen of pirate hats in a month's time.

Blessing in disguise

Yesterday, Seb left at 5am to catch a plane to Italy. As it was a monday and I had to go to work in La Defense, the boys' grandparents came at 6.15am to take care of them and to bring them to school.

Yesterday was also the day where the french government applied a new measure to combat the seemingly unhealthy air pollution in Paris and its surrounding. Only cars with odd number car plates were allowed to circulate into Paris and its neighbouring areas. Over the weekend, public transport in Paris was free. While I applauded the free public transport gesture, the one on alternate days circulation for cars was just not feasible. Many people lived very far from Paris in small towns where there was no public transport to connect them to their offices in Paris. They were also people living in Paris who needed to drive to their offices outside of Paris.

I would have no issue going to work on monday as my car had an odd number car plate. But alas, when I started my car at 6.25am, it won't start. The battery was flat. A1 played in my car on friday. I had driven to do grocery shopping earlier on before picking up the boys. On Sat morning, I realised that the signal light was on and quickly unlocked the car and switched off the indicator light. Over the weekend, we used Seb's car and I did not check if the signal light had used up the battery.

The grandparents tried to help me start the car. We could not jumpstart the car as we did not have any cables for that. As it was very early in the morning, I waited until 8am to call for help. I had no choice but to work from home. I felt bad that my in-laws came over for nothing having to wake up so early.

I called the VW service center where I serviced the car. I was surprised to learn that as I had used a VW service center, I was entitled to free assistance within 24months from the last reviewing of the car. I called up the VW assistance center and in an hour's time, a service man came. He took a portable battery and cables from his car and jumpstarted my car. We then let the engine  run for 15mins. I was told to drive for 10mins to charge up the battery further. I explained to the service man that with my car plate number, I would have gone to work in Paris if not for the flat battery. He told me that there were blockages on the main roads to Paris along the highway and it was a mess entering Paris. As usual, the french did not care about this rule and even number car plates vehicles tried to enter and had to be turned back by the traffic police. There were reluctant drivers trying to convince the police and creating jams.

So it was a blessing in disguise that the car did not start. Still, I learnt my lessons. No more letting the boys play in the car without my supervision even for a few minutes. And always go to the VW service center for car reviewing. It came in handy this time.

The decree for alternate days driving was called off. The pollution level had returned to a normal level. Furthermore, I think the authorities had realised the mess they created yesterday and the unhappiness of the drivers affected. As for me, I will go to office on thurs. Seb will be back tomorrow. If the decree continues, I will use Seb's car on thurs as his has an even number car plate. Or to avoid the mess on the road, I can also drive to Rambouillet train station and take the trains to La Defense. Just that, it would take me 1.5hours to come home instead of the usual hour.

To end off, I went to fetch the boys from school yesterday on FOOT!

First sunday of March

Last sunday was the last day of school holiday. Usually, the boys did not have chinese lesson during school holiday but that sunday was an exception. We were expecting heavy traffic to Paris in the afternoon from the holiday makers returning back to the capital. So we decided to go to Paris in the morning.

 

The night before, I suggested to Seb that we could visit a museum. There are a few free museums. As the boys are young with short attention span, I do not want to spend money visiting museum. So Seb had no choice but to check on internet. On the website of the musem of Louvre, we noted that it was free on the first sunday of the month from Nov to March. I was thrilled. And that sealed it. We visited le Louvre.

 

On Sunday, we parked the car near the chinese school and took the Metro to Pyramid station. The boys were excited with the train ride. We had Japanese at rue Sainte Anne and the boys ate well. They drank miso soup with the tiny tofu cubes and seaweed and all. They ate gyoza (饺子) and fried noodles.

 

We then strolled to Louvre. We passed security and decided to visit the Egyptian collection. Each time I came to le Louvre, I visited the same painting collections as my visitors wanted to see Mona Lisa.

The Egyptian  collection was amazing. Anyway, all collections in the Louvre are Amazing.

 

After about an hour, the boys had enough of mummies. We left and headed to the Jardin des Tuileries. I was surprised to see fake branded products on sale openly.

There was a playground in the garden and the boys had fun. There was this big, high structure for older kids. That did not deter the boys from climbing up the structure. At 3pm, we walked back to the Metro station and headed back to Chinatown for the boys' chinese lesson. It was a fruitful day.

It has been a week since the weather is sunny. The cold winter days are over soon. Vive le soleil.

Home alone week

I was home alone last Sunday to Thurs. Sunday morning, Seb flew to San Francisco for work and I dropped the boys at their grandparents' place for a week's stay. They were spending their second week of school holidays bonding with their papi et 奶奶 (grandmother).

 

This was the first time I was alone in the house and I did not sleep well the first night. I missed my family. The subsequent nights were better. I had a good bonding time with Handsome since I walked him every evening in the forest.

 

When Seb returned, he brought me the usual stuff that I ordered like Resees chocolates, Froot Loops for the boys (very unhealthy but once in a blue moon, it is okay) and peanut butter. On top of that, he brought me some meat stuff he found in SF's Chinatown. One of the biggest Chinatown outside of China. He also bought 2 sets of Chinese DVDs for the boys.

I had not yet tried the Satay beef jerky. Seb had been asking me to open it and try and I think I will do it soon.

 

As for himself, he ordered a bag from Rickshaw when he knew he was going to SF. He was very happy with his bag. It fitted into his strict criterias for a working bag. I hope his search for his Right bag is over. We do have quite a few laptop bags hanging around. Check out this video to see how his made in San Francisco bag is done. http://vimeo.com/24337459 We noticed that there were only chinese in the making of the bags.

We had wanted to go out on dates during the absence of the boys. But with Seb's last min working trip, we were left with Thurs and Friday before getting the boys. Furthermore, Seb was tired. We only had a simple dinner at a Chinese after doing grocery shopping togather on Thurs night.  

On Friday night, I made some pineapple tarts using a recipe from Nasi Lemak Lover blog combined with a recipe for Thermomix. As it was an experiment trying to blend in the two recipes, it took me a long time to get these tarts done. I gave some to my mother in law the next day when we went to get the boys.

 

The boys were happy to see us. And they liked my pineapple tarts. A1 just ate the toppings though.

 

School starts tomorrow. 6 more weeks before the next school holidays.