Twice in a lifetime

Photo of Rouen skyline taken by David in 2008

I started this blog 3 years and 4 months ago, as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family as we embarked on our 6-week house-swap in Rouen, France. That the trip even happened was amazing — a series of coincidences and opportunities resulting in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Well, history is repeating itself. The family with whom we swapped 3 years ago has asked us (yes, they asked us!) if we'd be interested in swapping houses for the summer. After thinking it over for approximately 2 seconds, of course we said "absolutely!"

We are so excited to have a chance to go back to the charming town of Rouen in the summer this time. The fact that Anna will be 7 instead of 3 is going to make a huge difference. David will continue working for iovation, the company he joined in December of last year, and Anna and I will explore. We are currently working on our French, something I hope to continue with the Alliance Francaise de Rouen while we're there.

Needless to say, there will be lots of travel adventures and photos posted in the not-too-distant future. In the mean time, you can refresh your memory with my posts from our previous trip here.

Stay tuned!

P.S. In the right column of this blog I've started a list of some of the many great French blogs and language resources I've been finding. There's some really great stuff out there!

Opportunity

When Anna was an infant, I used to drive in a big circle out to the airport to try to get her to fall asleep. Roughly once a week my dad would come up for the day and we'd use this time to have long “blue-sky” conversations—about wishes, dreams, goals—the sky was the limit.

At the time, my main fantasy was to raise Anna as a world traveler. In it, David, Anna, and I would pick a destination each year and spend time learning about the culture, language, and customs in preparation for our journey. Then off the 3 of us would go for anywhere from 2–6 weeks.

The birth of this blog came from the first such opportunity. A lot had changed since those blue-sky talks. My dad had died suddenly and unexpectedly, which eventually resulted in my pursuing a dream of fluency in French. That led directly, but unintentionally, into a 6-week house-swap opportunity in Normandy, which was the impetus for starting this blog.

And now the universe has offered another such opportunity: a trip to Japan! Recently, David and I were talking about the fantasy of travel, but weren't really feeling prepared or motivated to do much about it. A leisure trip so soon after France just didn't seem feasible. Then David mentioned a conference happening in Tokyo this November and said that he could submit a proposal for a talk. Nothing to lose, right?

A couple weeks ago David's proposal was accepted, but still. Japan's awfully far away and awfully expensive to get to. Can't hurt to ask about funding opportunities, right?

Several days ago we learned that David was chosen to receive funding for his travel expenses, meaning that, while still expensive, it's an opportunity we simply can't pass up.

I am a firm believer that if you let the universe know you want something, and the universe delivers, you don't ask questions! You just GO!

Of course, I'll be blogging all the way, beginning with resources I dig up in the process of researching our upcoming trip. And if you have any tips or resources to share, please do.

P.S. Dear universe, not to be greedy, but I'd like to make it known that if I have to declare a blogging niche, I'd love for it to be travel blogging! Just letting you know. Blue-sky.

Lessons Learned, the finalé

So, we’ve just returned from a 6+ week house swap in another country with a 3-year-old. What have we learned? Here is yet another rambling, in no particular order, stream of consciousness post that I hope will prove helpful to someone, somewhere.

Note: where possible, I’ve included links to businesses I mention (this will only be useful if you’re going to Paris or Rouen).

Try to swap with a family with other children. Our time was made much, much easier because the house we stayed in was stocked with games, books, puzzles, etc., and it didn’t matter that these things were in another language.

If it matters to you, make sure there’s a tub that works. It never occurred to me that that might be an issue, and it sure would have been easier for lots of reasons if a warm bath had been an option.

Double-check contact information given to you by you fellow swappers before you actually need to use it.

If you are someone used to having good, efficient equipment in the kitchen, be prepared to invest a little money when you get there to make your time easier. Purchasing some sharp knives and a decent peeler reduced the amount of swearing in our kitchen by at least 50%.

When doing laundry without a drier, skip the step of hanging everything outside in the cold for 2 days before you drape it over the radiators (see previous post here). Go directly to the radiators

Don’t assume that just because you’re a social butterfly yourself, there will be plenty of people to socialize with. Our time would have been even more fun if we’d been involved in something that got us more connected with others in our community. Or, bring friends, especially for your child if (s)he is an only.

If you have a good stroller and a stroller-aged child, bring them both! The sidewalks and roads can be much like off-roading, and the little, loaner umbrella stroller we had was useless. Or, if bringing one isn’t an option, find out where you can rent one once you arrive. Our rental, from Chez Florence, ran us about $100 for our entire trip and was almost as good as having our Bugaboo (actually better in some ways because it had a tray and a boot, plus a much larger basket which helped with grocery shopping).

Bring a nice, roomy tote with you for carrying your purchases. Most of the stores we shopped in charged for bags (as it should be, I might add). Since you’ll likely find yourself shopping for groceries, etc. almost daily, make it a bag you like (shameless plug: soon you can hop on over to my Etsy store and purchase a perfect one made by yours truly. So chic, so convenient!).

Books in english can be very expensive in other countries. Try to find a small shop and exchange those you brought for your next read. Even if they’re not a resale shop, they just might do it (ours did — and they gave our used books to the local hospital).

I’m sure there will be much more that I think of over time, but for now that’s all my jet-lagged brain can recall. Feel free to ask specific questions if you’ve got any.

Les Voisins

Last night we had drinks and dinner with our neighbors. They are a family of five (Anne and Theirry, Maïte (17), Elliot (14), and Harold (8)). It was probably the best time we’ve had since we’ve been here. They have a beautiful, chaotic, warm (in all ways) home and have welcomed us completely.

Drinks and dinner was a multi-course, many hour event beginning with champagne and smoked salmon (which Anne specifically made for Anna—they have a mutual love affair going on) in front of a wood-burning stove. After drinks we brought Anna back home and put her to bed. Then Maïte came over to babysit while David and I went back for dinner (which began after 8pm—pretty standard here). There were always several conversations in varying degrees of French and English going on, music playing (beginning with Ziggy Stardust and ending with Miles Davis), good food (fish curry with basmati rice followed by a selection of at least 6-7 cheeses, followed by a homemade apple tarte), good wine, and lots of laughter.

When we first got to Rouen, I assumed all the houses had that Old World feel that ours has. In fact, I assumed we were pretty spoiled, since ours is comprised of 3 units that have been combined into one larger one. After seeing Anne and Theirry’s place though, I know what’s possible! They also have combined units, but have a truly modern, gorgeous place straight out of Design within Reach (although they tell me it’s Ikea!). We joked with them that next time we’ll have to house swap with them, but the truth is as much as I love their place, I’d be sad to be in Rouen and not have them here.