Winter Wonderland Part II

So we're now back in our harsh Francophone reality, after a wonderful 5 days in Austria.  It was really too short; it seemed like one day we were on the train/taxi going up the mountains, and the next day we were coming down again.  Good times really pass quickly.

Side view of the resort.  The yellow tube is the really wicked water slide which is connected to the indoor heated swimming pool.  There is also an outdoor pool which allowed us to boast that we had swam waded outside at -10 C.  

All of us except Ju took ski lessons.

She's doing her "pizza" stop here.

 What do you think?  I fooled you into thinking I am a pro, right?

He's the pro

We went for a couple of tobogganing runs,

Tobogganing down the slopes on a sleigh

They laughed as they crashed sideways into a pile of snow

Ju enjoys his sleigh rides very much. (Popo, he doesn't mind the cold at all)

Sometimes Soph helps to pull her brother along

Sometimes, she takes a break

went for a nice long walk along the river,

Checking out the route.  More than 12 inches of snow fell the night before, so the world was a nice soft white blanket everywhere. 

It continued to snow as we walked, erasing our footprints soon after we made them.

Curiously, we spotted fruits hung on the trees.  It was for the animals.  Christmas tree decorations, Austrian mountain style!

The kids were happy playing with snow.  Here Soph is showing off a large chunk of snow she picked up, while you can see Ju in the background eating "ice cream".  It is an annoying trick that YL showed him once, and thereafter Ju was always picking up snow from the ground and eating them.

Even Ju who always bullied me by insisting to be carried whenever we went walking wanted to walk on his own two feet.  

built a couple of snowmen,

and cooked some sausages over a fire outdoors.

The kids also had fun indoors.

Soph: Ready?

Ju: Yeah!

Soph: I'm holding you tight!

Pool time

Joyeux Noel!

We're back from our vacation in Austria (too short!), and spent Christmas Eve grocery-shopping.  Christmas dinner will consist of Kapitan chicken and steamed rice, raw oysters (a French tradition) and mini log cakes for dessert.  You can't ask for better a East-West blend.  


Joyeux Noel et bonne annee!  


p/s I always have the same smile in the photos, because I am usually extorting my kids to smile for the camera in a "smiling voice".  So Mamma looks like an idiot but at least she gets smiling kids in pictures.  

Disneyland in Winter

Before I continue recounting our adventure in Austria, allow me a short digression to blog about our third Disneyland visit (hey, we bought the Annual Pass so it's our honour-bound duty to make sure to get our money's worth), and to share some tips.  Disneyland in winter promised to be a different experience, so off goes our little entourage.  


Our hope that the bitter biting cold and wind will put off other visitors vanished before we entered the parking lot.  Disneyland is packed on ALL weekends, full stop.  But perhaps that's not so bad, because we really needed the body heat from the people around us to keep warm that morning.  My extremities were almost frost-bitten before lunch time.  


This time, we headed straight for the Walt Disney Studios and went on the Cars Rally (aka "a 2-year old boy's wet dream come true"), Slinky the Dog roller coaster, the Aladdin & the Magic Carpet ride (it has Fast Pass! so skip Jumbo and go for this one, as they are basically the same ride with different packaging.  Thanks, PC for the tip!), the Phantom Manor (recommended: the spooky effects at the waiting area were much better than the ride itself, which is actually quite mild), caught a show (Mickey's Winter Wonderland, but our Mickey fell down while ice-skating and hurt himself so he was rendered immobile half the show), watched a "movie" (Cinemagique, with real-life effects.  Not too bad, especially if you are seeking warmth away from the cold outside) and admired the Christmas-themed decorations on Main Street.  

The magic of Cars.  Ju was enthralled and speechless the first 5 minutes of approaching the ride.

Luigi's shop.  Heck, even *I* was star-struck.

Recommended: The Phantom Manor ride.  The whole recreation of a dilapidated manor was perfect down to the smallest detail, plus the spooky effects in the waiting area inside the house impressed even the jaded YL.  The ride itself is mild, and even Ju was enjoying it, even though he kept saying he was "scared". 

Mickey's Winter Wonderland, an ice-skating song and dance routine

The Sleeping Beauty Castle was lit up by thousands of tiny lights like snow.

Main Street was also very festive

We had pretty good luck with our meals this time.  Usually meals at Disneyland means indistinguishable pizza, pasta, burger & fries.  The Cafe des Cascadeurs at the far end of the Studios serves the usual fare but in a rather authentic 50's American diner setting.  (And I'm a real softie for 50's American tunes)  The Blue Lagoon serves good fish and Creole food in the midst of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, in a moon-lit tropical setting. 

 The Blue Lagoon restaurant, inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  You could see the boat loaded with people going by, waiting for their next drop or surprise  

 It was cold, but it's Disneyland!

    

Winter Wonderland

Greetings, dear readers!  


I'm writing this from the comfort of my warm, cosy hotel room, up in the mountains of the Tirol region in Austria.  It's truly a winter wonderland up here; those cliched postcard pictures of tiny log cabins couched amongst pine trees sprinkled with silver, and enveloped by a blanket of white all around do exist!  

View from our hotel room.  No complaints there.

Another view

The room itself.  No complaints there, either.

After a 6-hour train ride from Paris to Stuggart, and then to Munich, we took another 2-hour taxi ride to reach the resort, and spent the first evening getting acquainted with the buffet table (part of the benefits of lodging at a full-board hotel), luxuriating in speaking English to everyone, and then making rental decisions on our ski equipment.  It took 1 hour just to fit the skis & ski boots for three of us.  (It took another hour for us to get into them in the next morning, but let's leave that story for another post.)

Anyways, there's lot to tell, but without the photos in  my camera (YL absconded with my camera to the ski slopes this morning), it would not be half as fun, so be patient, my friends, and all shall be revealed soon.  

In the meantime, here are some photos to whet your appetite... 

Down the bunny slope next to the hotel on a sleigh is exhilarating, but Soph turned out to be an adrenaline-junkie

My little robotic snowman 

p/s Did I mention that they offer 80 hours of childcare per week?  I don't know what Ju is doing and what he is eating for lunch, and Soph is somewhere outside on the slopes.  I'm surfing the internet from my couch and going for a facial later, and YL is somewhere 1900m above sea level conquering the mountain slopes on his skis.  Oooo happiness... :)

Autumn along the Seine

A couple of weeks ago, we attempted to "do" the Seine River by tracing its meandering flow from the Pont d'Iena to Pont de Marie.  The walk took us about 5 hours, starting with a quick lunch of hotdogs and fries in the shadows of le Tour Eiffel, and ending with an early dinner of typical French fare, confit du canard, crepes and cider.  We also whispered some promises of Berthillon ice-cream to get Soph to keep walking.

We had to fight off some pretty menacing, bulked-up crows to keep our lunch.

Honestly, there can be never too many Eiffel Tower shots

It was also a great time to get out and enjoy the autumn colours before they disappear.

The kids were up to no good; you can tell from their secret sly smiles.  I just don't know what it is yet.

This is ONE picture with no manipulation.  Tell me you're not impressed with French gardeners.

The banks of the Seine between the two bridges mentioned above is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (you've heard we're suckers for the UNESCO WHS, right?).  It is studded with a succession of masterpieces, including, in particular, Notre Dame and the Sainte Chapelle, Louvre, Palais de l'lnstitut, Les Invalides, Place de la Concorde, École Militaire, La Monnaie (Mint), Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, Eiffel Tower and Palais de Chaillot.  Almost the whole evolution of Paris and its history can be seen in this 5km stretch.  

Pont Alexandre III, the most elaborate bridge over the Seine.  It is named after the Russian Tsar Alexandre III (mais bien sur!).  I've failed multiple times to capture its grandeur, its broad streets framed in four corners by those magnificent pillars topped with gold gilded statues.

Looks something like that, but twice the grandeur and 3x as inspiring.

Gas tags along the banks of the Seine. 

Place de la Concorde in front.  

The place where heads rolled (literally) during the French Revolution.

Musee d'Orsay, formerly a train station up to 1900, and now a major arts museum with many Monet, Renoir, Degas and Van Gogh works.

Pont des Arts - you can find thousands of love padlocks fastened onto the bridge by tourists as a sign of undying love.  The keys are tossed into the river.  

In 2010, the Paris town hall removed all of them because they insisted they were an eye-sore and were defacing the monument.  In 2011, it seems the tourists came back with full force and today, fortunately for us, you can still admire this interesting sight.

The Conciergerie across the other side.  

It is a former royal palace and later in the 1790's, a prison during the French Revolution.  Up to 1,200 prisoners were locked here waiting for their execution, including Queen Marie-Antoinette.

Quiet moment

Les Bouquinistes are a typical scene along the Seine.  They sell old books, movie posters, records, magazines, postcards, etc.

This is what it looks like when the stalls are closed.

Finally, our destination is in sight: Ile-Saint-Louis, Paris' most expensive piece of real estate.

Kept our promise.  Berthillon strawberry ice-cream as a reward for putting up with all her parents' nonsense.

Apparently, Berthillon ice-creams can only be found in Paris.  Not sure if that's true, but there are long queues outside its principal shop in the Ile-Saint-Louis.  YL found it a little sweet, and much preferred the Florentine gelato.

 It is everywhere you look