Traveling Wild: All aboard the train!

Wilder enjoying the train! (thanks Stacy Reeves for the photos!)

Zach and I both love to travel by train. It's such a fun way to see the countryside, and it's a bit more spontaneous to plan than a plane ride. This trip was Wilder's first time to experience trains, and he was very impressed. Since then, he's become obsessed with transportation. I can't imagine what he'll think the next time we travel by train!

The wonder of a child

I'll talk about packing on another post, but long story short, I'm no good at packing minimally, especially with a baby. Between Zach, Wilder and I, we had three suitcases (One each, and Wilder's was small), a car seat, a travel crib, Zach's backpack and a diaper bag. It was a lot to lug around, especially with public transit.

Selfie! With random cokes... But the coke is so delicious in France!

The pointer finger!

Brilliant idea. You have to bicycle to charge your phone!

We got on the train with all our luggage and settled into our seats with no issues. It was a bit challenging to keep Wilder entertained on the train, but it wasn't as bad as a car ride. He ate ALL of his cheerios and puffs, and like I mentioned in a previous post, I never found cheerios or puffs again on the trip, despite looking at numerous grocery stores! So just be warned, if your child has a certain snack they prefer, don't count on other countries having it. It wasn't the end ow\f the world, but Wilder was still a bit new to eating food at 9 months, so it was handy to have a guaranteed food he'll like. And it kept him busy. :-)

Read this book 1,000 times on this trip.

We read books on the train over and over and over. Wilder will always cheer up when you pull out a book. This trip was the beginning of us realizing how helpful the sleep sack can be as a lovey. Wilder connected the sleep sack with naps, so if we put him in his sleep sack, he would nap in my arms. It got a little warm, so I'm glad I brought a lightweight Aden + Anais muslin sack as well as his regular cotton Halo sleepsack.

Love this photo so much.

Sweaty baby bed head :-)

One thing I loved about the train we took to Annecy was the awesome childcare room. Yes, you heard me right! This train has a tiny (CLEAN) compartment with a padded bench, a fold-down diaper changing table, a bottle warmer (???) and a sink to wash your hands. It was really, really nice, and I used it on several occasions because as I mentioned already, walking to another area to change a diaper offers a great change of scenery time waster for babies.

Changing table and bottle warmer

sink

comfy padded seat 

The scenery was the best part of our train trip. Loved seeing the French countryside, and we loved chatting with Stacy and Jason on the trip.

Once we got to Annecy, we rented cars. This was the only time we had a car on the trip, and the main reason we lugged along the car seat. While it's sometimes a pain to rent a car, it was handy for getting around Annecy and our day trip to Geneva, Switzerland! Zach's brother Grant and his wife Jashley met us all in Annecy and we caravanned to our lodgings.

By the end of the drive, Wilder was getting pretty fussy. I read him the same books over and over again. They helped, but as soon as I finished the book he wanted to read it again. I'm so glad we had something that could occupy him! We stopped at a market on our way to the chalet and stocked up on ALL THE FOOD. More about Annecy in the next post!

Our longest train ride was from Annecy to Florence. We left very early, which is a challenge with a baby! We made it to the train platform with minutes to spare, but no breakfast. The trip required switching trains (with all our luggage) several times and a delay that resulted in a layover. There were no seats, on the platform and we had no way of knowing how long the train was going to take, so I stood with our luggage, wearing Wilder in hopes he would nap while I held him (unsuccessful), for over an hour. All the train changing meant Wilder could never really get into a nap in my arms, so he got really tired. And bored of the toys we brought. So the only thing that occupied him was--can you guess? BOOKS. And we learned that at that point in time, when he was tired, he only wanted me to hold him.

Looking at the train station

Smiling at Uncle Grant and Aunt Jashley

Such a trooper! Love Jashley helping get a smile

Wilder trying to nap in our private car.

Wilder played with Daddy a little bit...

But mostly wanted me to hold him. Precious, precious time.

We had a private box--it was kinda like Harry Potter!

Our last train had a first-class ticket in an enclosed box for Zach, me, Wilder, Jashley and Grant. We got free snacks and drinks and wi-fi! Wilder was really getting tired, but he was such a trooper. By the time we got to the hotel, it was 6 pm and I had been holding Wilder nearly the entire day, keeping him entertained and occupied. And he was too young for a screen, so it was active on our part! I was exhausted!

I'm looking back on my journal about this trip, over a year later, and it's bittersweet because I don't get to hold Wilder nearly as much as I used to. Baby Felicity takes up my arms a lot these days. So I really am grateful for this trip and the time I got where I held Wilder for 16 hours in one day. I mean that wholeheartedly. But it is definitely challenging traveling all day with a little one! Layovers and train switches and lots of luggage--it's just really hard to be on the go with a baby.

If I could give any advice, I would suggest sticking to one or two locations if you're traveling with a kid, and know that travel days will be really hard on everyone. Once we got to places, we were good to go and had a great time. Just travel in between locations was tough.

Traveling Wild: Visiting Champagne

Visiting Champagne!

I've wanted to visit the Champagne region for a while. Sparkling wine is one of my most favorite alcoholic beverages. It's just so tasty! But only sparkling wine made in this region can actually be called champagne--and it's known as the best in the world. So when we had the chance to take a day trip to the area with Stacy and Jason, you better believe we signed on for that. Plus we got to go by train, which is always fun.

Wilder's first train ride

The very beginning of Wilder's love affair with trains. 

Wilder was not yet the train fanatic he is now, but he still thought the train was really cool. More about train travel in another post. This ride on the TGV was short--only 45 minutes--and it was a scenic trip. When we got to Reims, we picked up some croissants (definitely want to carb up before visiting wineries!) and joined our tour guide Cris at the van. We reserved a car seat for Wilder in the van and off we went to the town of Hautvillers.

vineyards

like a painting

learning about champagne

Wilder liked the vaulted ceiling

The bottles have to be turned so precisely, twice a day.

The church in Hautvilliers, where Dom Perignon is buried.

doll baby in the church

little angel

sorry last one. So cute!

beautiful vineyard

Cheesin'

The crew!

We learned about Dom Perignon--a monk that was influential in improving champagne (who knew!?), and we got to see the church where he was buries. We saw the vineyards for Moet & Chandon (my favorite), and we learned about the process of making champagne. There is SO much to the process--it was fascinating! After just a few minutes in the van, we arrived at the first of two champagne houses: Ferrand Lemaire. We tried several brut champagnes, and they were delicious! I was worried about Wilder missing his naps on this day trip, but he napped for 90 minutes while I wore him in my Tula in the morning.

babywearing - handy for nap time!

Next, we went to J.M Gobillard & Fils  and tried a bunch more samples of champagne. It was all good. After that stop, we headed back to the train station and were home in time for Wilder to take his afternoon nap. It was such a pleasant excursion, and we came back with LOTS of delicious champagne to enjoy the rest of the trip.

magnums o' champagne

There are a lot of wineries in the Champagne region - if you get the chance to go, I would definitely recommend our tour guide Cris Event to help you navigate winery tours. He did a great job!

Traveling Wild: Exploring the Paris Market

Marche Presidente Wilson

Today I'm going to talk about one of my favorite parts of traveling: FOOD! Prior to having Wilder, when we traveled, we ate out every meal, unless we saved leftovers or something. But eating out with a baby can be challenging, and we knew going to France and Italy that meals would be much more leisurely. If you have kids, you know that there's an invisible timer that turns on when you arrive at a restaurant, counting down until your child is D.O.N.E. and you will have to leave. Most of the time, Zach and I eat at home with our kids. If we eat restaurant food, it's usually takeout.

When you're traveling, eating out is often your only means of getting food. But if you stay with friends, or in an airBNB flat (more on that in another post) you have the luxury of a kitchen and dining area. We learned on this trip that, just like eating at local restaurants, visiting local markets is an excellent way to get to know the region. In fact, I think I can now say that visiting markets is my favorite way to get to know an area!

From the supermarket, with the variety of food and interesting packaged foods (Nutella!) to small shops where you can grab a pastry and coffee or snacks, to the incredible Marche President Wilson (market) that we visited twice on this trip--each market offered its own special allure. The market we visited in the 16th arrondissement (near Trocadero) was a dazzling experience for the senses: brightly colored flowers, neatly arranged fruits, aromatic herbs, juicy rotisserie chicken with potatoes (a MUST try), tantalizing cooked food from all over the world, fresh meat and seafood, spices and even some clothes and such. If you're a food lover, you really need to visit the market. So many vendors were excited about their wares. We met a salt vendor that told us exactly which salt to use for which dish, when to apply it and how much. I came home with several kinds of salt with a little wooden spoon and I use it in my cooking all the time. It always reminds me of France!

mushrooms!

Here's the salt guy- what a character!

I don't know what this is, but it sure was pretty.

Crepes!

Pretty flowers

Hello fishie!

SCALLOPS OMG

Bass!

The vendors will clean your fish for you. Thank goodness!

I've been told that there is some kind of market just about every morning, all over Paris. I actually went looking online to find the name of the market we went to and discovered dozens, in just the neighborhood where we were staying! Check out this website for a list of markets. I can't recommend visiting a market enough!

I'd say the experience of relaxing in a French flat with friends and family, good food and good wine can rival the stress that eating out with a baby can bring. It's good to do both, but this was really our first trip to cook so much in-house.

Here are some of the meals the four of us cooked at the Gulledge's flat in Paris.

Hazelnut crusted fish with olive oil mashed potatoes and mushrooms Stacy and Jason picked on a mushroom hunt in the country. We also had eclairs and champagne!

Pork loin wrapped with bacon, haricot vert.

Those scallops!

The bass and more haricot vert. We had a sumptuous meal with the scallops as appetizer and more champagne!

Next post I'll talk about our day trip to Champagne!