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.

Progress

A few issues resolved:

I believe I had mentioned bathing issues: as in, we hadn't been able to bathe Anna. There are two bathrooms in this house, one of which has a tub (Anna is shower averse). Unfortunately, the tub doesn't appear to have hot water, which can be a problem at times; the month of December for example. When I contacted Jane (the daughter of the folks who live here) she said we should use the bathroom of the unit connected to this one, that of a tenant who is away for a month. This became complicated though, because the tenant forgot to leave the connecting door unlocked, nor did she leave the key. There is, however, another person who lives in the unit, none other than the man who delivered us the bag of bread, Theirry. You following all this? We are basically supposed to use the tub in Theirry's apartment, which is connected to this one via a locked door. Unfortunately, by the time we figured all this out (not exactly intuitive) Theirry appeared to be away for the weekend. No problem, Jane said, the back door is never locked. Go outside, across the courtyard, through the gate, and let yourself into this person's apartment and use their bath. Um, okay. I avoided doing this until it had been a full week since my child had been bathed, and with no hope in sight of her being bathed anytime in the future if I didn't, in fact, break and enter into this person's apartment. Needless to say, it was a bit awkward. The happy ending to this story is that tonight I finally reached Theirry, explained as best as I could the situation and low and behold, he produced a key. So now I can let myself into his apartment to bathe my child whenever I want (still a bit awkward, I must admit).

The other good news is that all my hours of obsessive Googling while awake at 3 a.m. led me to a better stroller for the duration of our trip. I found a place in Paris which rents all sorts of gear and we now have quite the ride for Anna. The poor kid's face is completely chapped from being exposed to freezing wind and rain while thrashed about in a crappy umbrella stroller for hours at a time. Now we've got rain gear, a boot, a roomy basket, and much improved steering. Never thought some cheap Graco stroller would seem so dreamy. Ah how quickly things change!

More to come soon about our adventure in Paris and some new pics. Until then, wine and cheese of course.

Lessons, part deux

First, the obvious: wherever you go, there you are. As in, when I said to David: “Yes, it will be cold, but it will be French cold”, I wasn't taking into account how much I hate to be cold. Anywhere. So, this morning, when I awoke to a forecast high of 36 degrees (with a wind chill of -1C), I was ready to drop all plans of going anywhere. And in fact, I insisted we drive the 1.7 miles to the museum instead of walking, as we have done thus far. Which leads me to lesson 2:

2) A three-and-a-half-year-old is going to be a pain-in-the-ass whether you try to drag them to an art museum in Portland or in France. She just doesn't care. She wants to run and she wants to eat, but that's about it. Oh, and she wants to play school and she's the teacher and this is your lesson and did you hear me??? No, she's the teacher and this is your lesson!

3) Wine is good. But I knew that one already. ;-)

So I'm hoping that a little impulsive excursion to Paris will be just what we all need. After all, that's really why we're here in Rouen — so we can get on the TGV and be in Paris in an hour. I've spent the day agonizing over what activities we can get away with given Anna's age and the weather. This would be so much easier if it were 60 degrees outside. I think I've got it worked out, but I'm sure my miserable failure will be an entertaining post on Thursday!

As for the one thing I wish I'd brought but didn't: my Bugaboo stroller. The umbrella stroller we've borrowed while here is literally impossible for me to navigate on these streets, which means I'm dependent on David to get anywhere. We spent a good chunk of time tonight researching ways to rent or buy a stroller here, and/or to ship our stroller from home (um, how does $500-$900 via FedEx sound?). This is a situation that still needs a better resolution. Any ideas?