Pic(s) For The Day - Giverny

Bob got home on Friday. On Saturday morning he woke up and said "I think we have to go to Giverny." We left on Sunday, and let me tell you, it was worth the 8 hours drive each direction!

For many years Bob and I had a coffee table book called Monet's Table , which we used for both design reference and daydreams. To walk into his house, and into the yellow-on-yellow dining room, to stand in the blue-tiled kitchen with it's copper pots on the walls, with everything looking exactly as we had envisioned it for years, was a moment in time for both of us. 

They won't let you take pictures inside the house, and the from-the-hip shots we tried to get didn't come out, so we can't show you inside. We can show you the Summer Garden, with it's riotous flower beds, and the Winter Garden, with the japanese bridge covered in wisteria, and the famous lily pond.

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Missed Connections

Bob's Side of the story:

Leave Los Angeles on an 8AM flight to Toronto. Toronto to Frankfurt. Frankfurt to Marseille where Brenna and the kids pick me up at 9AM the next day and we all drive back to Saint Quentin la Poterie for breakfast. At least that's what the airline itinerary and our iCal said.

I made it to Toronto with no problem -- even with enough time to sit and have a drink at the airport bar. Unfortunately, the weather didn't read my itinerary and this ended up being my first delay. The fligh

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Pic For The Day - Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Everybody.

Taken in Rothenburg, Germany. Sept, 2009

Barcelona. Happy Kids Mean A Happy Mom

Firstly - Four days in Barcelona are not enough. Especially if the rain comes down in buckets for three of those days, and you're juggling two kids, a soggy map, and a migraine. The fact that I still loved the trip says everything about Barcelona. It's a wonderful city, and I hope to go back.

I made a deal with the kids that we would do lots of kid things, and in return I would get to spend one evening eating paella and drinking wine in some nice little restaurant, and they would Sit Quietly for several hours beside me while I did so.

Owen and Eleanor in the CosmoCaixa.As part of the Happy Kids Plan, we spent one rainy afternoon in the CosmoCaixa, a simply amazing science center. Now - taking Owen to a science center is always an adventure. He get so excited b

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Pic For The Day - Palais des Papes, Avignon

Last week the kids and I had friends visiting from Scotland. It was such terrific fun! We roamed around Provence, we ate like gods, if gods eat copious amounts of goats cheese, bread, and olives, the kids ran all over town, mostly going for more cheese and bread. I've got a cool little beach town on the Med that we found to show you soon, but not today. The kids and I have decided to go to Barcelona.

The Skype conversation yesterday went like this: Bob: "Are you going to Barcelona." Brenna: "I don't know. I've got a chicken in the fridge." In the moment of silence that followed, just before Bob exploded with laughter way out in LA, and pulled up our Twitter page to Tweet this absurd sentence, I was struck all over again at our very strange, very cool, little lives. 

So Yesterday afternoon I cooked the chicken (preserved lemons, capers, olives, whole garlic cloves, onion. Mmmmmm), and booked a cheap hotel, and this morning we head to Barcelona. But first - the Pic For The Day:

This is in the Palais des Papes, or Palace Of The Pope, in Avignon. For a while there, starting in the 14th century, the Popes hung out here instead of Rome. Security - don't you know. Can't be that powerful without making a few enemies. The palace is crazy-good! I may have to do another post on our day there.

But today I'm off to Spain. Maybe we'll forget the museums and just eat Tapas for three days straight. Wish Bob were here.