Day 5
Before leaving Carcassone, we visited a local park, which gave Emerson ample time to expend some of his pent up energy (I never realized stopping at so many parks would become a necessary part of my vacation...). Thankfully, after lots of running around and lots of pushing him in his strollers, he finally fell asleep (and we were able to just carry his stroller right on the train and leave him in it).
Then we spent most of the day on a very long train trip to Avignon. We got there two hours later than expected, as there was fire on the tracks (in southern France, it rains on average only one day during the entire month of July). Alas, it gave Emerson more time to flirt with the other passengers. Once to Avignon, another short train to L'Isle Sur La Sorgue, a
beautiful little town with shallow clear streams of water flowing all around 
it and dozens of water mills. First stop after checking into the hotel: the local bakery. Not a bad dinner. We ate in a local park that gave Emerson the space to run around (again). Then we walked around town a bit and Emerson got his first kiss - from an older French gal that had a fancy for him!Honestly, this was the first of many cultural encounters that we had that simply would not have happened had we not taken Emerson with us. Traveling with a toddler is a tiring, extra complicated experience, but it most certainly opened opportunities for us to engage with the locals in ways we never would have expected. On numerous occasions, little children just walked right up to Emerson and started chatting with him. In fact, by the end of the trip, he was mimicking the French accent and trying to talk like them!
And now a brief interlude to display the many faces of Emerson Jude:
Day 6
Toda
y totally did not turn out as I had planned it. For starters it was just way too hot (mid 90s). We went to Pont du Gard, the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct, and Emerson fell asleep 5 minutes before our bus arrived. Then he totally flipped out after he fell headlong into the stream we were wading in. We headed back to the bus stop to make our way to Nimes only to watch the bus roundabout just in front of our stop and drive away. Needless to say, we were not the only ones stranded and wound up calling a taxi and splitting the costs with another couple who happened to get Phds from Indiana State University.
At Nimes, hungry and exhausted, we quickly search for some grub. Our first stop: a strawberry slushie. The lady explained to us (in French but with very descriptive hand gestures) that if we were going to feed the baby (“bebe”) any of it, to use the spoon part at the end of the straw and just give him little amounts so he wouldn’t get a “slurpee tumor” (at least that’s what we called them growing up). Amber and I didn’t think anything of it until both of us got headaches from drinking it too fast! After lunch, we had just enough energy (and time) to take tour of the Arena (like the Coliseum in Rome but far more preserved-they actually had it set up for a bunch of summer concerts.
With all of us exhausted, and Emerson not having had a long enough nap, it was back to the train station - one to Avignon and another to Isle Sur La Sorgue. Knowing a nice sit down dinner wouldn't be possible tonight, we picked up a few things from a grocery store and a sandwich shop. Bought a bottle of Cotes de Rhone red wine and asked the clerk if he had a corkscrew, his friend standing by told us we could stop by his shop down the street and he'd help us out--opened up shop just to open our wine bottle! At the sandwich shop, I ordered a "French original" which turned out to be a Philly steak sub with fries on top of it... Flew around the world just so I could eat at a place like Pittsburgh’s Primanti's!
Once back in the room, Emerson was now full of energy and running around like a madman. At one moment, he grunted and kind of hunched over (a telltale sign), said "oops," and then put his hand over his mouth and nose to say "P-ewww." Then when I shut off the light and said "night night," he sprinted around the bed and flipped on Amber's bedside lamp that she had shown him how to turn on not ten minutes earlier.
Finally, with the kid asleep and a half bottle of wine remaining, Amber and I are flipping between the FIFA world cup and some French reality show akin to America’s Fear Factor.
Toda
y totally did not turn out as I had planned it. For starters it was just way too hot (mid 90s). We went to Pont du Gard, the remains of an ancient Roman aqueduct, and Emerson fell asleep 5 minutes before our bus arrived. Then he totally flipped out after he fell headlong into the stream we were wading in. We headed back to the bus stop to make our way to Nimes only to watch the bus roundabout just in front of our stop and drive away. Needless to say, we were not the only ones stranded and wound up calling a taxi and splitting the costs with another couple who happened to get Phds from Indiana State University.At Nimes, hungry and exhausted, we quickly search for some grub. Our first stop: a strawberry slushie. The lady explained to us (in French but with very descriptive hand gestures) that if we were going to feed the baby (“bebe”) any of it, to use the spoon part at the end of the straw and just give him little amounts so he wouldn’t get a “slurpee tumor” (at least that’s what we called them growing up). Amber and I didn’t think anything of it until both of us got headaches from drinking it too fast! After lunch, we had just enough energy (and time) to take tour of the Arena (like the Coliseum in Rome but far more preserved-they actually had it set up for a bunch of summer concerts.
With all of us exhausted, and Emerson not having had a long enough nap, it was back to the train station - one to Avignon and another to Isle Sur La Sorgue. Knowing a nice sit down dinner wouldn't be possible tonight, we picked up a few things from a grocery store and a sandwich shop. Bought a bottle of Cotes de Rhone red wine and asked the clerk if he had a corkscrew, his friend standing by told us we could stop by his shop down the street and he'd help us out--opened up shop just to open our wine bottle! At the sandwich shop, I ordered a "French original" which turned out to be a Philly steak sub with fries on top of it... Flew around the world just so I could eat at a place like Pittsburgh’s Primanti's!
Once back in the room, Emerson was now full of energy and running around like a madman. At one moment, he grunted and kind of hunched over (a telltale sign), said "oops," and then put his hand over his mouth and nose to say "P-ewww." Then when I shut off the light and said "night night," he sprinted around the bed and flipped on Amber's bedside lamp that she had shown him how to turn on not ten minutes earlier.
Finally, with the kid asleep and a half bottle of wine remaining, Amber and I are flipping between the FIFA world cup and some French reality show akin to America’s Fear Factor.
1 comment:
I love those faces Emerson is making! haha. e
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