Life is an autoroute

It's been a fun and fabulous May here in Paris! The Rothmans finally hit the road! First, a glorious 2 days in Champagne country with Melissa and Nathalie. We drove right to Reims, France, and toured the Veuve Clicquot caves (which Josie decidedly did NOT enjoy), stopped at a couple smaller Domaines (as they are called in Champagne), finally descending on a charming B and B in Marne. Owned by 2 Americans, the inn was comforable and quaint, with gardens ascending into the side of a hill. Our host recommended a wonderful restaurant famous for serving "trout 7 ways..." I had trout champignoise, with an exquisite cream sauce, and... head (you can see a photo in the new galleries). It was delish, and the girls could run around and goad the ducks and swans frequenting the pond out back.

The next day after breakfast we just sort of drove randomly and hit a bunch of smaller champagne makers. It's quite fun -- in stark contrast to the formal guided tours and (expensive) tastings at the larger Reims houses, you're sitting in someone's garage tasting their family's life work - and the result in most cases was quite delicious! We brought home much too much -- we may have to throw a summer fete to drink some of it up! We also realized after the first stop that the girls would be happier watching Dora and Elmo in the car while we took turns tasting -- which was better for everyone, especially the vintners! It was really a great litle trip.

In between voyages we had a visit from Michelle and Rich, who stayed for a few days and, guided by Rick Steves, really showed us some of Paris' great sights! We went to Versailles, spending most of our time in the "Domaine de Marie Antoinette" - so fascinating, from the Petit Trianon where she lived, to the pretend "hamlet" she built to play shepherdess in. The hamlet was a fully working little town, by the way, with a mill, dairy, etc. Wonder how the monarchy went broke??!! We also visited the Conciergerie, where many of the prisoners of the French Revolution were tried - saw Marie's cell (which is now a chapel) as well as a model of what her cell probably looked like. We saw the crypts of Paris, including an old Roman wall, bath house, etc. Fascinating! It was a great week - lots of pics in the gallery as well.

Then for another long weekend (of which the French have many!) we headed to the Loire Valley - that's chateau country, and while with a toddler we weren't able to see too many, we did see the quite impressive Blois castle, whose architecture spanned four decades, from Gothic to Renaissance (Mary, Queen of Scots lived in exile and died there), the crumbling but impressive fortress at Chinon, and the exquisite "Sleeping Beauty" castle in Usse. We stayed again at a B and B, owned this time by Brits with a grandson just Josie's age. We had a fabulous wine dinner, tasting 6-7 wines (I lost count!) with 4 delicious courses of locally grown food. We also toured 2 different vignerons, tasting really the gamut of Loire wines, from very sweet whites to deep and peppery reds. We learned a lot about Loire wines and had so much fun touring the countryside. The B and B (La Couture, if you are interested in checking it out!) had gorgeous gardens and 2 dachsunds, whom Josie loved chasing around. We really had a terrific time!

Now we're gearing up for a very busy summer. I started a weekly musical playgroup in our quartier, so that Josie could stay musically engaged after the finale of "Music Together" class. We have about 6 children and it's a fun group! I'm starting a class on the History of Paris at the American University in Paris next week, which should be interesting. Josie is doing great at nursery (no more tears, and in fact she starts talking while we're getting dressed to leave about how she's going to say "au revoir, Mommy.") We have lots of visitors coming, a couple of Parisian parties (oh la la), orchestra tix tomorrow, and I'm going to see Rigoletto "in Plein Air" (outside) in the Jardins de Luxembourg in a couple of weeks! We're trying to soak up lots of culture while taking advantage of the great weather.

Lots of pics in the gallery, and more updates soon. A bientot!