Musée d'Orsay

Musée d'Orsay clock in the main hall.

Since we're not big museum-goers, the Musée d'Orsay - even though it's one of the most popular museums in Paris after the Louvre - was not on our list of sites to visit.  However, we had in our possession the very practical Paris Museum Pass, allowing us to skip long lines and get in free to many attractions, so when we walked by the Orsay and all of us needed to use the restroom, we stepped in for free.  The siren call of the gorgeous main hall interior lured us in for a peek, and before we knew it we'd spent several hours touring the collections.  The kids recognized a couple of the Renoirs and Van Goghs from art class, and my daughter loved the Degas sculpture of the 14 year old ballet dancer, because, at the time, my daughter was a 14 year old ballet dancer!

Degas's sculpture of the 14 year old ballet dancer.

The museum was originally a railway station, which is why the interior sort of looks like one.  Outside the museum is a square displaying six bronze sculptures in a row.

A Flushing Dilemma

I have been perplexed at times, while traveling in Europe, about a task I consider here at home to be pretty straightforward - flushing the toilet.  I remember when I was a child, entering a public restroom in Europe was often a mystery.  What sort of medieval plumbing contraption was I required to push, pull, turn, yank or crank to finish the job I came to do?

Take, for example, the lavatory below, frequently encountered in many European countries:

If you haven't chanced upon a pull chain device such as this before, certainly you might search all around the commode looking for a button or lever to flush.  If you are a young child, you undoubtedly wouldn't think to look up to do the job.  And if and when you finally do, there's the likelihood - as in this photo, that you possibly cannot even reach it.

Europeans have gone green, way more than we have here in the U.S., and although we are starting to see dual flush toilets here, the different varieties of mechanisms will cause you pause each and every time.

And, of course, you know I have to bring up everyone's favorite foreign commode:  the squat toilet, also known as the Natural Position toilet (yeah, right, natural for men maybe).  Are these still found in civilized countries?  Yes!  The photos below were taken by my friend recently in Italy.  I've encountered them as well in Greece, Hungary, and even France.

If you have a young daughter, do not let her attempt to use a squat toilet without your help.  I never managed these latrines as a child without tinkling all over my pants and shoes.  And let's just say the germs your child might come into contact with if you're not there to avert a slip or a fall would probably warrant a tetanus booster.

Sometimes in a foreign restroom you will read a sign, occasionally in legible English, asking you not to place toilet paper in the trash receptacle.  You may wonder why the need to elucidate such an obviously nonsensical idea.  That is because there are some countries with poor or no plumbing where you WILL be asked to deposit your toilet paper in the trash receptacle because flushing it will clog the toilet.

Men, like always in these matters, have little difficulty finding a place to go in Europe.  Public urinals are an accessory to many historical buildings in Europe, such as this ancient looking urinol adjacent to the Castle of São Jorge in Lisbon (below) and another near the historic center of Gouda, in the Netherlands (also below).

Public urinal in Lisbon.

Urinal in Gouda, the Netherlands.

And always remember to have a bit of spare change on you when entering a WC in Europe because you never know when you might be caught by surprise by a Klofrau wanting to wipe down the seat for you!

Another Exchange Student in Our Home

We have a new exchange student in our home.  He is from Spain, is 14 years old just like my son, and is absolutely adorable.  I think all four of us in our family would like to keep him forever.

Doing what 14 year old boys do best.

Some years ago we hosted our first exchange student, a young girl from Paris.  She and my daughter got along well and we all enjoyed the experience, so for some time I've been wanting to host a boy my son's age.  The perfect opportunity arose this summer.

Leo is from the city of Huelva, in Andalusia, which is so exciting for us because we drove right through there last summer.  It is a port city with lovely beaches and a maritime history.  We were invited to take him in as an exchange student by the same coordinator who handled our French student experience, through the SHARE! Program of Educational Resource Development Trust.  Leo traveled to the U.S. with a group of similar-aged Spanish school children who are all with different families in different homes.  They take a few excursions together as a group during their time here, but otherwise are left to share everyday life with their American host family.  I deeply admire these students' courage.  Leo is bright and friendly and not afraid to communicate with us at all.  His English is excellent.  He has picked up many of my son's colloquialisms and likes hanging around the neighborhood with my son's gang of friends.  He loves hamburgers and fresh-baked brownies.

Hosting an exchange student exposes your family to new knowledge, new customs, and new friends.  We consider it an invaluable experience for our children.

First Day of Tour de France

The Tour de France starts today!

It's a great family event - read about our experience at the finish line!

Photo Friday: First Day of Summer

 Some images of summer fun on this first day of summer!

At the beach in Lagos, Portugal

Windsurfing in Tarifa, Spain

Gelato time in Paris.

This is my Photo Friday link-up to DeliciousBaby.com.

Mary's Day

Although it originally began as a pagan festival, May 1st, or the celebration of May Day, was Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe and continues to be observed by some in Europe and America.  In the Roman Catholic tradition the entire month of May is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and in Catholic school when I was growing up we held May Crownings with crowns of flowers placed on a statue of Mary.

In honor of May Day today, I find an excuse to post photos I've randomly taken in Europe of various Virgin iconography.

Tile mosaic on the streets of Seville.

Virgin and Child by Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano at the Louvre.

Mary painted on the Renaissance vault of the Seville Cathedral.

Stained glass window in the Mesquita in Córdoba.

Virgin of the Navigators in the Alcázar, Seville.

Mother/Daughter Travel to the East Coast

I've been slacking on the blogging lately, but for good reason:  we were traveling!  First my 16 year old daughter and I spent three days alone together, and then my husband and son joined us on day 4.  We had just two days together before my daughter left us to join her high school group in New York City, and we remaining three finished off the week in NYC as well.

Since my husband demands a little more luxury than I do when traveling, I decided to take the opportunity of being alone with my daughter to show her how little it actually takes to travel frugally, comfortably, and safely.  Our first stop was Boston and we stayed in a hostel.  You may know from my previous posts that I am a big fan of hostelling in Europe, but I have never stayed in one in the U.S., so I was eager for the experience.  It did not disappoint.

The bright and spacious hostel lobby.

Our hostel in Boston was 40 Berkeley.  Located in the South End of town, the neighborhood is - most critically - safe and clean.  My daughter and I never felt nervous, not even when arriving by subway at night (Back Bay station is a block away).  The reception staff was fabulously welcoming:  they asked us not only what floor we wanted our room on, but also which way we wanted it facing and whether we preferred to be nearer or farther from the hallway restroom!  Fresh baked cookies were offered in the bright and spacious, multi-level main lobby, and there was a game room and a snack room with Starbucks coffee and vending machines.  A little later, when I asked a gentleman at the reception desk about subway tickets in Boston, he reached in his wallet and handed me a 7-day, unlimited ride, subway pass (value = $18).  When I thanked him profusely, he said, "Are you traveling alone?" to which I replied, "No, I'm with my daughter," and he promptly pulled out another card for her.  Astonishing hospitality!  And in a final warm gesture, on the morning we departed the hostel we had to leave before breakfast, but one of the cooks who'd noted that my daughter liked bacon, handed her a take-out box full of bacon.

The buffet breakfast, included in the $84/night twin-room rate, served eggs and omelettes, potatoes, bacon or sausage, pancakes or French toast, a variety of cereals, breads, and all beverages.  This hearty breakfast held us over until a late afternoon lunch (sometimes substituted by afternoon dessert instead)!

What were the 40 Berkeley rooms like?  Pretty similar to my old UCLA dorm room.  Two twin beds, a desk, a dresser, and a closet:

The shared bathroom was average too, but never crowded or out of hot water or supplies.

With our free unlimited subway rides, my daughter and I took advantage of Boston's extensive public transportation system.  We rode the trains sometimes even just one stop, rode the bus, and could have taken a ferry as well, but did not.  We were impressed how convenient it was to travel straight to all our college campus tours at Harvard, Tufts, MIT, and Northeastern University.

Will my daughter be attending college in Boston or on the East Coast?  I have no idea, and I don't think she does either.  Since we live on the West Coast it would be far from home, of course.  She's not used to cold weather, and we were both freezing on Wednesday last week when the temperature in Boston hovered around 37° F all day.  What's attractive to both of us about some of these college campuses is their beautiful European architecture.  My jaw dropped touring Yale in New Haven, CT.  Brown and Princeton University are also stunning.

A castle in the English countryside?  No, Yale's residence halls.

Beautiful Brown University campus.

A cathedral in France?  No, the campus chapel at Princeton University.

Since we suffer from limited train service out here on the West Coast, it was exciting for both my daughter and me to travel by Amtrak from Boston to Providence and then on to New Haven.  I learned another travel lesson though:  just like on European high-speed trains, Amtrak tickets are best purchased in advance because the price goes up over time, just like airfare.  We paid almost double what I expected for the ride from Providence to New Haven.

After my husband and son joined my daughter and me in Connecticut, we rented a car and drove to New York City, where we checked in to hostel number two:  Broadway Hotel and Hostel in uptown Manhattan.  The experience was a little bit different.  Will post about it next week.

See my review of Broadway Hotel and Hostel here.

Celebrate Springtime!

Today is the first day of Spring!

Are you traveling anywhere lovely for spring break??

I'd like to say these tulips were real,
but they're plastic souvenirs for sale
in Holland.

These Edelweiss plants are real!
For sale in Hallstatt, Austria.

My son likes flowers too.  Posing in the garden
of the Residenz Palace in Würzburg, Germany.

Garden in Marigny Square in Paris.

Garden in Grainau, Germany.

Do You Need Train Reservations?

I love the ol' hop-on hop-off days of train travel with a Eurail Pass in Europe.  Those were the days when you really only had to make a reservation on a train if you wanted a sleeper couchette.  Hop-on hop-off still exists in many European countries, but some, such as Switzerland and Spain, insist on seat reservations on all but small, regional trains.  It takes some of the spontaneity out of train travel.

What surprised me when traveling in Switzerland last winter was that seat reservations were not as necessary as I was led to believe.  We were traveling with a Swiss Pass and I had only booked seats on our two major travel days from Zurich to Adelboden and back again.  (And the cutest thing was that our Rail Europe travel agent had booked our group of 11 a whole car by having this paper sign taped to the windows!)  We took other long train rides (Frutigen to Gruyères, for example) and just simply boarded without reservations, no problem.

On a 2nd class train car in Switzerland.

In Spain this summer we didn't have rail passes so naturally got a seat assignment when we purchased our tickets, but it didn't seem to matter where we sat on the regional trains (Seville to Córdoba, for example).  In Portugal we took a few train rides out of Lisbon and didn't need seat reservations.

Certainly all high-speed trains such as TGV, ICE, Eurostar, Thalyes, AVE and others require seat reservations.  Even if you have a rail pass be sure to purchase (there's a surcharge) a seat reservation before boarding.

Another thing that's changed from "the old days" of European train travel is that there's not much difference between 1st and 2nd class cars anymore now that most seating is "bus style" as opposed to train compartments.  Sure, the seats are a little wider in 1st class, and we were shocked to be served a complimentary box of sushi, of all things, on a 1st class ride from Paris to Cologne.

And sometimes you just get lucky:  when my Girl Scout troop and I were headed to the Zurich airport for our flight home, one of our connecting trains was delayed.  A very kind Swiss train attendant knew we were nervous about catching our plane, personally led us to another train, and seated us in 1st class for the rest of our journey.  The girls felt very special!

Photo Friday: Louvre in Summer

Just remembering a beautiful summer day at the Louvre.

This is my Photo Friday link-up post to DeliciousBaby.com.

The Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show

Look whom I saw in person last weekend!  As a travel blogger, does that mean I have arrived?  Well, maybe if he took me to lunch or something, but I was just one of hundreds of guests who heard Rick Steves speak last weekend at the LA Travel Show.

Jennifer Miner, co-creator of The Vacation Gals travel blog, was kind enough to provide me with a ticket to the show and I met her there.  She, Brett Snyder (a.k.a. The Cranky Flier), and Kim LaChance Shandrow, a Los Angeles-based tech and parenting journalist, hosted a focus group discussion on travel apps:  Best Travel Apps to Help You Plan Your Next Trip.  I particularly liked Postcard on the Run, an app that will send real postcards, with your vacation photo on it, by snail mail from your phone to anywhere in the world.  LaChance Shandrow recommended her favorite travel apps when traveling with children, one of them Ameba, a TV show and movie streaming service especially designed for children.

I listened to two key speakers, Patricia Schultz, author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, and Rick Steves, both of them so inspiring and richly traveled.  Rick Steves captivated his audience for two complete hours with hardly a break and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with his European travel philosophies.  "Travel like a temporary local," he insists.  My favorite tip was that for the best food in any European city, look for the restaurant with a hand-written menu in only one language.  He's passionate about how to "be" in Europe, not just "go" there.

Rick Steves raved about Istanbul, naming it one of the four great cities in Europe (Paris, London, Rome, and Istanbul) and the Turkish Culture and Tourism Office had a very large exhibition booth promoting tourism at the show.  (Hmmm . . . possible future destination?)

Turkey had a large presence at the LA Travel Show.

I think if you're planning a trip for the first time, or are looking to comparison shop for different tour operators and such, going to a travel show is a useful and fun way to interact with destination experts.

The Louvre With Kids

I am not a huge art museum buff so I can hardly expect my kids to be.  My husband has more patience for museums than I do, and my daughter has the patience of a saint in all things.  My son, besides being a restless growing boy, probably gets his interest in art museums from me, but even he knows that when you're in Paris you don't miss the Louvre.

My son was 11 and my daughter was 14 the first time we visited Paris as a family, so we didn't have the concerns one might have visiting the Louvre with younger children such as losing them, tantrums, or touching the exhibits.  But really, I wouldn't worry much about those things even if you are visiting with little ones - the Louvre is loud, so tantrums would go virtually unnoticed.  The galleries and passageways are mostly very large and spacious so there's no worries about bumping into any precious art.

Touring the Louvre on a full stomach is definitely a good idea since there's so much ground to cover, so we grabbed some McDonalds (what? in Paris? that's a crime!) and sat in the Tuileries Garden in front of the museum to eat.  There is a reasonably priced food court inside the Louvre (in the Galerie du Carrousel) if you prefer, but we wanted to enjoy the beautiful garden a bit.

We had previously purchased the Paris Museum Pass (currently 39€ per adult for a 2-day pass) which is exceptionally invaluable for the reason that it permits the holder to skip lines.  The lines for admission to the Louvre can be horrendous, so do consider the pass.  A regular ticket to the Louvre is 11€ per adult, free to all under 18.  (We made sure to get our money's worth for the Museum Pass by later visiting St. Chapelle, the Notre Dame archeological crypt, and the Musée d'Orsay.)

There are several entrances into the Louvre museum:  the main one through the famous glass pyramid (always the most crowded although you can skip the line with a Paris Museum Pass), the Galerie du Carrousel entrance, the Porte des Lions (closed on Fridays), and Passage Richelieu only if you have a pass.  Entering through the Galerie du Carrousel is interesting for kids:

A fantastic exhibit inside the museum for younger people, I think, is the Egyptian collection because the objets d'art are mostly very large, 3D, and include mummies (even a mummified cat), which always fascinate kids.  The Egyptian antiquities are located on the ground floor as well as the 2nd floor (known as the 1st floor in Europe).

Very small children will obviously not enjoy intricate displays in glass enclosures which they are not even tall enough to see, nor will they have too much appreciation for oil paintings and such, but you might engage them with a scavenger hunt - "find all the horses in this room" - or by letting them draw or color things they see (be prepared by bringing drawing paper and crayons).  The Louvre offers a guided treasure hunt tour for families called Paris Muse Clues:  A Family Tour for Young Treasure Hunters, but it's very expensive (290€ for a family of 4 for two hours!)

The Louvre does not prohibit photography so another idea to keep your child interested is to give them the camera to shoot things they like.  You can then look at the photographs later together and perhaps provoke some art discussion.

My kids stopped at several works of art and exclaimed, "Hey!  I think I've seen this one somewhere before!" which can momentarily make a mom real proud until you realize it was probably in a cartoon or video game.

My son thought he'd seen Da Vinci's
La Belle Ferronnière somewhere before.

Seeing the Mona Lisa was a big moment for them, because every child recognizes her.  It's hard to get a good photo because there are always large crowds and because the bullet-proof glass is reflective:

You can't get very close to Mona Lisa.

Be sure you and your family look up once in awhile because the museum ceilings can be exquisite.

All in all I think families with kids of any age have something to enjoy and learn by visiting the Louvre.

Stunning sculpture gallery in the Louvre.

It's important to know that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and least crowded on Wednesday and Friday evenings.  Admission is discounted every evening after 6:00 p.m.  The museum is free on the first Sunday of every month and on July 14.