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We went to The Rodin museum a couple days ago with our friends Colin and Matthew. We didn’t go in the museum, but the gardens. When we got there we saw The Thinker, deep in thought as always, The Gates to Hell, and many other famous sculptures. But that wasn’t the highlight. When we finished […]

Last night, we had one of our most memorable meals yet. As a birthday surprise, Russ made dinner reservations and arranged for Naomi to come and stay with the kids. We were off to Taillevent, a Michelin-starred restaurant which has been called a “veritable temple to haute cuisine” and a venerable Parisian institution of fine […]

We have now completed six weeks in Paris. Any notion of sitting quietly at cafés has been dispelled by the sheer magnitude and opportunity of arriving at the city, hosting visitors, setting up an apartment and enrolling family members in various activities.  This is the absolute best place on our year-long itinerary for friends and […]

Using a US cellphone in foreign countries is prohibitively expensive.  For this reason we brought an unlocked GSM cellphone.  We planned to buy prepaid SIM cards in each country where we would stay for a long time.  We also brought a SIM card from GymSIM that offers discounted international calling around the world, so we could use that for the shorter […]

While Linda and Hugh were visiting us we had a chance to take the tour of the Paris Opera house.  This was far more interesting than we had expected.  This is the opera house that was the inspiration for Phantom of the Opera.  There really is an underground lake, which is a water reservoir in […]

Last night Paris celebrated Nuit Blanche. This is a single night when everyone is encouraged to pull an all-nighter to show support for the arts community. You have deep conversations with friends, visit art installations, party, drink loads of espresso, and generally celebrate the fact that you are young, alive and in Paris. (We decided […]

Yesterday, we spent the morning exploring the source of two of our favorite French foods: baguettes and chocolate. On a guided visit led by Leontine, a colleague of Antoinette’s, we went behind the scenes to learn exactly where baguettes come from. We were joined by my mom and stepdad and their good friends the Neufelds, […]

We went to Euro Disney for my tenth birthday! It was officially decided a few days ago, and now it is over, it seemed to fly by. When we arrived the first thing we did (after an instruction from the ticket booth lady) was go to the “town hall”. When we arrived my mom told […]

Today Paris was partially shut due to La Grève – a general strike in the grand French tradition. The strike protests a change that is coming in the French retirement age. France previously offered partial benefits at 60 years old and full benefits at 65. Gven a tough economy in France and the EU, a […]

Last time Piggy was in front of the Dordogne River.  Everyone who guessed got it right! This is from yesterday.  Where is Piggy in Paris (HINT not the Louvre) and what is she in front of?

Carter, Mom, and I were walking down the street. We were looking for a good place to have lunch and book-club. While we were searching we heard loud drums. There were waves and waves of dancers and drums. The women were dressed in skirts, dresses, and various scarves. Everyone stopped and formed a circle around […]

I took a deep and joyous breath when my family passed through the gates. There was a massive village in front of us, people were bustling to and fro, and I could not help feeling a deep sense of joy. We were at, Parc Asterix! We arrived at the first intersection and we decided to […]

I needed a haircut, and today I got it. We walked inside and a woman gave me a bib that went all the way around. I asked for an English speaking hairdresser and soon one was there. I sat down and together we decided that I would have a frame in the front and the […]

Yesterday I thought of the Natick Stiffs as I went to my first French Soccer practice. I had just come from my French lessons with our teacher Blandine, so all the other kids were sitting on the field in a big clump already. I handed my mom my water bottle and fleece and jogged out to […]

As most of you know we have been trying to find a place for Carter and me to play soccer. Today we finally found one. When we got there (after about an hour of wandering around in the rain looking for it) we were soaking wet. Mom got the attention of the coach and spoke […]

Anyone who knows me knows that I am as far from fashionable as one can get. My wardrobe consists of practical solids and classic cuts which give no hint of the decade in which they were designed. Anyone who knows Katherine and her extraordinary sense of style wonders how we two can possibly be genetically […]

  The mission of Road School is for the kids to learn a solid school year’s worth of academics, yet keep the pencil and paper time down to two hours each day on the road.  The strategies for covering all the material in such a short time are to run for at least ten months; and […]

The Waller’s from Natick were in town last week to watch the World Badminton Championships. We were able to see them on several days and to meet Patrick’s parents as well.  On the last day Maria and Peter came over, and after tea (of course!) we took the Metro over to the Montmartre section of […]

When we arrived in Paris as an extended family of twelve people of all ages, we had a challenge. The Seattle Wilcoxes wanted a classic whirlwind introduction to the city of Paris, yet both they and the Newton Wilcoxes would be leaving in just a few days. At the same time we wanted to preserve […]

Recently had our relatives from the west coast and our grandparents visit us. The last part of the trip took place in Paris, and although I was sad to say goodbye to them, I had a very interesting last day. On our last day together, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Jason, Laura, Eleanor and I […]

We heard that Louis the XVI had an amazing garden! So the family decided to visit it. Our aunt, uncle, and cousins wanted to visit the castle (Versailles) first, so while they did that the rest of us including Carter, Mom, Dad, Grandma Grandpa, Nicholas (my baby cousin who is 3 months old), my other […]

Nous sommes bien arrivé! Apartment perfect… quest for favorite local bakery has begun… touring Paris with family. Next week Road School resumes and settling in begins. We are looking forward to living la vie Parisienne for the next few months.

Lascaux is a 17000 year old cave in southern France. We headed there with our cousins, aunt, uncle, grandpa, and grandma. We met the tour guide and headed inside with a couple other English families. We could not go in the real Lascaux cave because the carbon dioxide that we breath hurt the pictures. People […]

First of all, let me start by correcting a classic stereotype about medieval attacks. Armies attacking a castle were made up of a lord, knights, a few soldiers, peasant militiamen and any war machines you could afford. This means that armies were actually very small and victory was difficult if not impossible without the proper […]

We hopped a flight from London to Bordeaux, rented a caravan of cars, and drove into the countryside of southwestern France. This is Aquitaine, the region controlled by the British during the Hundred Years War, a period of time when related royal families in both Paris and London had a legitimate claim to rule France. […]

Surprise last week Piggy wasn’t at London Bridge. She was at the Tower Bridge that goes to the Tower of London. Congratulations to Rachel Kahn, Nanny & Poppa, Sam and Antony Sofianos, Abbie Fox and Emily Bendremer. And for last last week, the answer was the North Face of the Eiger mountain. For that, Beth […]

We checked in at the Athenaeum Hotel and wanted to go to a quick place for dinner. We went over to the concierge and asked if there were any good and quick restaurants. As he told us of some we learned that he was quite funny and had a great personality! I waited for my […]

Piggy was in London and she was having a hard time getting across the river to see the crown jewels. Which bridge did she use? UPDATE:   Piggy saw a Welsh Guard at the Tower

This week we met up with the Seattle Wilcoxes and the Newton Wilcoxes for a grand reunion in London. A few highlights: The Athenaeum – a superb, stylish hotel just across the park from Buckginham Palace and walking distance to the West End that loves kids – wow! The focus on children includes a special […]

My cousins Laura and Eleanor and their family were staying in London with us. Laura had been saying that she wanted to go on a Double Decker bus, so Mom and Grandma talked to the concierge and soon we had our own. We didn’t believe we had our own Double Decker bus at first, but they […]

      REVIEW OF SHAKESPEARE’S KING HENRY VIII My family and I went to this production on our very first night in London, so it was only my parents, my sister and me. The play was shown in an exact reproduction of the 16th century Globe Theater. The theater was about the size of a small […]

We were in Grindelwald, heading to a real Swiss family’s house for a real Swiss dinner. I know Mom is supposed to write about food, but this meal was too good to let the chance of writing it pass by. When we arrived we learned that our driver Bernard was a good friend with the […]

After four rainy days, the clouds parted and we laced up our walking shoes. The sun had apparently been on loan to the Mediterranean and we didn’t want to waste a moment now that it had returned. We were heading out for a hike in the Alps. To reach the starting point for our walk, […]

Yesterday we went to a ropes course in Interlaken. After missing our first train and taking several trains we arrived in Interlaken Ost. Unfortunately our directions were from the other station Interlaken West (!) but we did not realize that. We started towards the middle of the city looking for a quick snack. Eventually we […]

Last time Piggy was at the Viking Ship Musuem in Roskilde, Denmark. Before that she was at the Blue Mosque standing near the Hagia Sofia. For the past month the people who have guessed piggy right once are: Tessa Hyatt, Rachel Kahn, Nicholas Waller, Grant Kahn, Beth Altchek, and Sam McClure! For the past month […]

We are now visiting Wengen, a village perched partway up the slopes of the Swiss Alps, where there are no automobiles.  The only ways in are cog-rail, cablecar, or by foot.  Why here?  My family had visited Wengen when I was 17 years old and it made a lasting impact.  Now I wanted my children […]

We left Zurich early on Tuesday.  We were headed to Wengen, a small Alpine town nestled in the heart of the Berner Oberland region.  On our way, we were scheduled to visit a small family farm to see cheese making at its traditional best.  We were not disappointed.   In the town of Lungern, we met […]

We are just in Zurich for a day before heading off into the Berner Oberland mountains tomorrow.  Zurich is a quaint city and if you can afford to live here, offers an excellent quality of life:  a medium-sized city next to a lake with a mountain backdrop, 1200 fountains that spout clean water, two major […]

I DEDICATE THIS BLOG TO THE JELLY BEANS After a tour of a young cave we drove for a long time until we arrived at our destination, a campground. The campground had lots of things to do, but we were there for one reason, soccer golf. Soccer golf has the same rules as golf but […]

Gotland has a fascinating geological history. The bedrock of the ancient “Baltica” plate that forms Scandinavia was located close to the equator and covered by ocean. During the Silurian age great coral reefs grew in this area and it was teeming with sealife. Clay washed down from nearby land and shells formed limestone, resulting in […]