This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai.
Text by Gabrielle. Images by Gabrielle and Ben Blair.

I’m still going through the bazillion photos from our trip to Norway, but I’m impatient to share one of the trip highlights: Kayaking in the Fjords. As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Jordan and Liz zip-lining through the Redwoods. Well, the whole family was really inspired by their adventure and we’ve been craving an epic family playdate for ourselves.

Since I knew we had a trip to Norway on the schedule, I started searching out activities that would be amazing and that the whole family could participate in — which is sometimes tricky when the youngest is 2 (actually 3! she had her birthday on this trip) and the oldest is 15. Kayaking was perfect!

We weren’t sure when and where we would find kayaks during our stay, but in this case, flying by the seat of our pants worked out really well. On one night of our trip, we stayed in charming cabins that were right on a fjord in a tiny town called Aurland.

We knew we needed to catch a ferry at 3:00 the next day, but the morning was free for exploring. And luckily, there were kayaks to rent just down the road (just look for the “padling” sign). Fantastic!

After getting prepped by the Kayak Guide, and donning lifejackets, everyone rowed out to a waterfall — all the way across the fjord. Friends, it looked a lot closer than it actually was. Hah!

Also. The water was cold! And the air too —in fact, you can see parkas in some of the photos. But the day was gorgeous, and rowing kept muscles moving and bodies warm.

What a day!

When we ask the kids what their favorite part of the Norway trip is, everyone instantly says: Kayaking!

I hope we’ll seek out more adventures like this. Good exercise. Gorgeous scenery. And a dose of thrill. I would call this an epic playdate for sure. Happily, I know there are adventurous options wherever we are — we don’t have to go to Norway. Although I wouldn’t say no to another fjord visit! : )

What sorts of things do you like to do on vacation? Are you more of a read-a-book-on-the-beach kind of person? Or are you more of a thrill seeker? Maybe a little of both?

P.S. — Did you spot the 9th member of our traveling party? My niece, Ruth, was with us too. She’s currently an exchange student, living with a French family here in our town.

Image and text by Gabrielle.

We are on our way home today. Taxi to shuttle to airplane to car. It will be a long day, and it will feel so good to get home again!

Friends, have you ever felt like you’ve had your fill of travel? I confess, I’m ready to sit still for awhile and put the suitcases away. And I keep wondering how long the feeling will last. A year? Only a few weeks? Will I be feeling the wanderlust again by Friday? : )

This trip has been epic. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s the last big trip before we move back to the United States. And it definitely felt like a grand finale. I can’t wait to share a full report!

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Hello, Friends! How’s it going? We are still in jaw-dropping Norway. It is seriously stunning. We arrived in Bergen late last night, but it was so light, and we were so hungry, we took the whole family to dinner at around 10:00 PM. Hah! We are off our normal schedule for sure.

Hey. It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. I hope you’re feeling okay about that. I know that for a lot of people, Mother’s Day is the most emotionally fraught holiday of the year. Maybe they feel they’re not a good mother. Or maybe they have a strained or chaotic relationship with their own mother. Or maybe their mother died and they’re heartbroken. Or maybe they long to be a mother themselves. It can be a rough day!

We go really light on Mother’s Day celebrations at our house — especially this particular weekend because we’re traveling — but if you’re in the mood for something festive, I can highly recommend this charming banner, these Big & Small projects, or this Momtract that made me laugh.

While we make site-seeing plans for the day, here are a few things I thought you might enjoy:

- Someone to thank the next time Downton Abbey airs before you have a chance to watch it!

- Cyber-parenting. (Do you friend your kids and your kids’ friends? Are you obsessive about monitoring their online behavior? So much to discuss here!)

- Mesmerizing. And I want a yoghurt. (Tell me if you got a little misty, too! Or am I just travel-weepy?)

- Such a beautiful story. Via Dooce.

- A lip-sync contest to make you smile and chair-dance at your computers!

- It’s true, isn’t it? Compliments from other women are the best.

- I know the April 15th deadline came and went, but our taxes were filed last weekend. Hooray! To celebrate, I invite everyone to watch this.

- Let’s get ready for picnic season!

- What Ali Wore. The many dapper outfits of an older Brooklyn gentleman.

- An artist collects DNA from found objects (like chewed gum!) to create 3D Portraits.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and that you feel peace and joy on Mother’s Day whatever your circumstances. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — We’ve had 2 birthdays this week (Flora June and Betty) and have been celebrating on the go. We packed up balloons, birthday candles and some colorful papergoods so we could throw together an instant party — just add cake!

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Just a quick hello from Norway! We spent yesterday in gorgeous, sunny Oslo, and today we’re on a train headed to Aurland, and eventually Bergen. You can bet I’ve already fallen in love with this beautiful country.

Wishing you a lovely Wednesday!

P.S. — Norwegian phone booths win.

Photo and text by Gabrielle.

We’re in Norway! The big Fjordieth trip is finally happening. We checked into our hotel late last night and I can hardly believe we’re here. Hooray for Ben Blair!

I love this photo of him donning his gloves that I snapped last winter. I think he’s definitely channeling some inner viking!

Rain is scheduled for much of our trip, but right this minute, we have a perfectly sunny day in Oslo, so we’re going to make the most of it. Feel free to join us on our adventure via Instagram.

P.S. — Something else I can’t believe: Flora June Blair is 3 years old today! Remember her birth? (Wasn’t it two seconds ago?) We woke up early and filled her bed with balloons, then served the traditional breakfast in bed. She was over the moon about it! Man oh man we love that little girl.

Text by Gabrielle. Photos by Gabrielle and Ben Blair.

[ UPDATED with a full report. ]

Here it is! A report on our trip to Venice. I’ve been promising this for months and now it’s ready to share.

Here’s the thing about Venice. It’s not like Rome. Or Florence. In Rome and Florence, there are specific things you want to see, and that you stand in line to buy tickets for — like the Colosseum, or the David. In Venice, the thing that you want to see? Is Venice. Yes, there are museums, and yes there are ruins, but if that’s what you’re looking for, pick another city. You can go island hopping, you can walk 30 minutes to visit a church, but the alley around the corner might be just as cool, or cooler.

Venice is the attraction in Venice.

You can’t take a bad photo. If you’re looking for photos opps, choose Venice. There is no bad light, there is no bad angle. It’s just photo after photo of heaven. And we tooks hundreds of photos, and I included way too many of them after the jump. (I need to beg your forgiveness in advance.)

When you’re there, it almost feels pretend. As if it’s a stereotype of Venice. As if Disney had created Venice as an amusement park for grownups, and they had staged all the texture and exposed brick — no detail too small. I had to keep reminding myself that people really live there. There are grocery stores and schools. Venice is all about texture. It’s like a city in constant decay, but the decay is beautiful, it’s what draws us in.

And if you visit over New Year’s, Venice is COLD. We bundled up like crazy. As long as it was dry, we spent the day outside and explored… But we did have one rainy day. On that day, we visited the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, then spent the rest of the day in our hotel room having a movie party — it was too cold and wet to be tourists.

As I’ve written before, traveling in the off season has worked great for us. No lines, no waiting at restaurants. But there are some disadvantages. An example in this case: the most recommended gelato shop was closed! You can even see a photo below of Maude trying the locked door. Sad face.

I’m going to write up a list of what we did, but really, just show up and walk around and take photos. Walk until you’re hungry. Then eat. Then repeat. That’s all it takes to have a grand time in Venice.

What we did:

- Spent New Year’s Eve in St. Mark’s Square. We had just arrived late that afternoon, so this was our first venture out from the hotel. Music and dancing in the square. And then fireworks over the water. A pretty spectacular first night in Venice.

- Speaking of our hotel, we stayed in quiet place in the Jewish quarter, big family-size rooms and it offered a decent breakfast. We would definitely recommend it.

- We rode the ferries, called vaporetto, every day. It’s the Venice public transportation system and it’s an amazing way to see the city. Jump on a vaporetta whenever you’re tired and enjoy the views. (And also grin when you think that they’re public transportation system is boats.)

- Took a Gondola ride. We needed two gondolas, and the photos are fun. It looks like dueling gondolas — the kids would cheer when one or the other would pull ahead.

- Visited the islands of Burano (with colorful buildings), and Murano (famed for it’s colored glass). Also, a nearby island that’s a cemetery. All 3 are on the same vaporetto loop.

- Crossed the bay to visit a church (I can’t remember the name), and climbed the tower. It offers great views of the city and surrounding islands.

- Window shopped.

- Fed the pigeons on St. Mark’s Square, and visited the cathedral.

- Bought rope as a souvenir from one of the many sailing gear and boat shops. Maude plans to make it into a nautical bracelet.

- Walked a ton. Ate lots of gelato (even in the cold!). Ate lots of pasta.

It really was an amazing trip. The sort of trip where you show up feeling depleted and can feel your soul filling right up to the brim. It’s so dang beautiful. If you’ve been I hope it was beautiful for you, too. And if you haven’t been, put it on your list. Venice is a jewel.

P.S. — The title is true: no one fell in! I was most concerned about Oscar and Betty, because they can get distracted when they’re chatting and walking at the same time, but we paired little kids with big kids and it worked out great. It is a funny thing — we were on boats every day, sometimes on open water, and we didn’t see a life-jacket the entire time. It’s a different world.

By Koseli.

I recently ran into the sweetest idea for upcoming house guests: an excitement pack by Giulia Duch. She lives in Barcelona and instead of just waiting for her friend from the U.S. to arrive, she collected photos, mementos, ticket stubs, and small treats that represented her favorite to-dos, and labeled the items with things like, “you’ll sleep here”, or “you’ll sunburn here”. Then she packed it all up in a simple packing envelope, and sent it away.

Can you imagine being the friend on the receiving end? Best surprise package ever! I can’t wait to borrow Giulia’s idea for the next time we have visitors to New York.

How do you capture the “looking forward” to a trip part? Any pre-trip traditions to help you savor the experience?

Photos and text by Gabrielle.

This post is about Honfleur and Deauville. Two neighboring towns here in Normandy that we never tire of visiting. We’ve been to both many times, but the photos in this post are from a visit last May. Spring in Normandy is very wet, and often cold, so when the sun comes out, you can bet we take advantage of it.

These first images show Honfleur. It’s a small fishing port that is big on charm. And the light here is so remarkable that it won’t surprise you to hear this little town is considered the birthplace of impressionism. In fact, it’s not unusual at all to see painters with easels set up near the water, capturing the boats and flags and sails on their canvases.

We’ve been told there are particular things to do in Honfleur — churches to visit and towers to climb — but we’ve never done any of them. Instead, we like to walk through the narrow side streets, window shopping, and stopping for ice cream. We might ride the port-side carousel or watch the boats come in. And then we’ll eat a late lunch or early dinner at one of the touristy restaurants that line the wharf — there are a dozen to pick from.

Honfleur reminds me a lot of Brussels, Belgium — when you wander around the cobblestone streets, you’re bound to hear a half a dozen languages before you reach the end of the block.

You could easily spend a day here, or even a romantic overnight, but we usually see Honfleur in a 4 or 5 hour block — just enough time to soak up the atmosphere and eat something delicious before we drive home (it’s about an hour and a half away from our little town).

Next up, Deauville, a chic beach town where rich Parisians keep a summer home. The town center is stunning and full of high-end shops like Hermes. But we go for the beach, boardwalk and the iconic umbrellas.

On this particular day, we went to Deauville in the morning and spent the afternoon at Honfleur. But if it’s really sunny, we’ll never the leave the beach — only leaving the sand to pick up soft serve and sandwiches —and save Honfleur for another day.

It’s hard for me to imagine ever tiring of snapping photos of those umbrellas. : )

Honfleur and Deauville are two of our very favorite spots to visit in Normandy, but alas, we rarely get to share them with visitors. When friends and family come to France, they (understandably) build their visit around Paris, and come to our house for a couple of nights. Once they arrive here, the Normandy Tourist Site Priorities for our visitors are usually: 1) A day visiting the D-Day Sites, and 2) a day visiting Mont St. Michel. Both amazing and unforgettable!

But, if our guests have more time than that, we like to offer 3) a day all about William the Conquerer with visits to Falaise, Bayeaux and Caen, 4) a day in Rouen — a well preserved half-timber city with some drama (Joan of Arc was burned at the stake there), and 5) a visit to Honfleur and Deauville. Not necessarily in that order.

I totally get it. If you only have a week or two in France, spending a day at the beach is probably not the way to go. That said, these two little towns really are some of our very favorites. There’s just so much good stuff to see here!

Tell me, Friends. If you were headed to Normandy, what would you want to visit?

The Loire Valley is the region along the Loire River, a little south and west of Paris. It’s famed for its numerous castles that tower above the river. And lucky for us, driving to the region only takes about an hour and a half from our house.

So last year, on the last Sunday of May we hopped in the car after church and made a day trip of it. Our goal was to see two castles and to get a general sense for the region. We knew one day wasn’t really enough time, but figured a day trip would almost be like a scouting mission for a longer trip. The first castle we stopped at was Chateau Chenenceau.

Some castles are more kid-friendly than others, and this one is probably the most family-friendly that we’ve visited — lots of options for roaming and free-ranging, and the weekend we were there, it wasn’t too busy at all.

There are gardens to explore, bridges and moats, a grand checker-board hall with views of the river, and on the way out we explored the garden maze and had a little picnic. Also. We took a TON of photos. So please forgive me if this feels like a photo dump. : ) Hopefully it will be helpful for anyone out there who’s considering a visit to the Loire.

We did not take an extensive tour of the castle interior — the weather was great, so we made the most of the grounds.

If this had been an overnight trip, it would have been fun to rent kayaks or hire a boat to take us on the river. The castle was built to span the river and boats can go back and forth directly beneath the castle arches.

After Chenenceau, we tried to visit the next castle down the road — maybe 15 minutes away. But we were too late and it was closed. Alas! So instead, we went into the charming nearby town for ice cream, then explored the marshy banks of the Loire River while we watched the sunset.

It was such a satisfying day. And we can’t believe it’s been almost a year and we haven’t been back yet! We keep thinking it would amazing to go back for another day trip, and rent bike. We hear there are wonderful bike paths along the river.

Have you ever heard of the Loire Valley? Is it on your travel wishlist? Or maybe you’ve already been — if yes, what’s your favorite Chateau?

P.S. — The 7th child is our niece, Roxcy. She stayed with us for 3 months last year to get a taste of the French life.

Images and text by Gabrielle.

Two years ago we made our first trip to Amsterdam. On that trip, we saw the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, took a Canal tour, ate the best-rated Frites in town, rented bikes, spent a day in Vondelpark, visited the Floating Flower Market, did lots of window shopping in the Nine Streets district, ate amazing Indonesian food, and had an extended visit to HEMA. Plus visited the tulips, too — we caught the very tail end of the season. You can read about that trip here, here, here and here.

But this trip was totally different. With the exception of  a return visit to Vondelpark, it was all new! From this trip, there are 5 things I want to pass on for those of you planning your own visits to Amsterdam.

1) Location, Location, Location.

On the first trip, we spent our entire visit in Old Town and it was charming and walkable and lovely. This time, we tried a different area, outside the tourist runs, and saw an entirely different view of Amsterdam, which was also charming, walkable and lovely. And it was kind of by accident. When we tried to book a hotel, we noticed almost everything in town was sold out — the whole country was gearing up for their big national holiday, Queen’s Day, made even bigger this year, because the Queen abdicated her thrown and her son became King. (Next year, the holiday will be King’s Day!)

But Ben Blair found space at the Lloyd Hotel and we LOVED it.

The building has a long fascinating history — it was originally the hotel for immigrants, and had a stint as a prison as well — and we found it to be super cool and unusual. We had corner rooms with two-story windows and these amazingly tall working shutters. Insane! But apparently, all the rooms are really unique, each one created by a different designer — we hear there’s one with a gigantic bed that sleeps 9 — sounds just right for our family. : )

Staying outside of Old Town meant riding the tram to get back and forth to our hotel. We bought 24-hour tram tickets from the hotel check-in desk and ended up using them a ton. We would climb on a tram whenever we needed a walking break.

[ A little sidenote story: On our first tram ride, we went into Old Town and got off at Central Station, right away we happened upon a store with displays that were too cool to resist. It was actually a 3-part establishment with a shop called Options, a restaurant called Stock, and a hotel above those two called Exchange. (Great names, right?!)

That same night, I was in back at the hotel, talking to the staff about a display wall in the hotel restaurant. I asked if the display items were for sale, and they mentioned that yes, the hotel owners owned a shop in town called Options, where I could buy the items. I about died!

I went all fan girl and ended up emailing the owners of the hotel and told them how impressed I was with their work. The next day, the owner made a point of saying hello to my family in the lobby and taking us all on a personal tour up to the highest tower in the hotel. Very cool! ]

Staying in a different part of town was wonderful. In fact, just blocks from the hotel was some of the best shopping we encountered, including a huge Sissyboy Homeland store. And the restaurants in the area were 100% non-touristy. It was easy to tell because the menus weren’t offered in English. : )

Our favorite meal of the trip happened on the first night, right across the street from the hotel. We ate tapas at Puerto Pata Negra. It was a Sunday night and the restaurant was rocking! Live music and everyone so friendly. Tapas is perfect for a family like ours — everyone gets a bite of everything.

While we’re on the topic of food, I should mention we also ordered poffertjes every time they were on the menu. They’re a miniature puffed pancake — I like them best with butter and powdered sugar. And we had bitterballen twice. Yum!

2) “Tulip Season” Is Flexible.

If you’re planning your trip to coincide with the tulips, even with the most careful calendering, you might miss them. But that’s okay. It’s beautiful anyway!

Because we pretty much missed the tulips on our last visit, we were excited to get this second chance. And we carefully, carefully studied the calendar and the tulip websites and picked days that were predicted to be right at the tulip peak. But once again, we missed it! Hah! In fact, it has been so unexpectedly cold this year, that the tulips are on a 2-week delay. So instead of getting the peak, we got a peek.

There were a few tulip fields in bloom and they made a dramatic neon slash across the end-of-winter landscape. Simply gorgeous! Plus, there were lots of earlier blooming flowers still around, specifically fields of hyacinths and daffodils.

The hyacinths scented the air for miles. Seriously remarkable. We drove with the windows down so we could enjoy it.

There were busload after busload of tourists who, like us, had also planned their trips for the peak of the season. We all took photos of the few fields and had to laugh about it.

But really, even the few fields were pretty darn gorgeous. And even if there were no flowers at all in bloom, the windmills would still be something amazing to see.

3) Everyone Speaks English.

We sort of remembered this from our last visit, but talked about it more on this trip. I swear, the Dutch have a gift for languages. In addition to their native Dutch, it seems like everyone we encountered could slip into English, French and German as well. And with ease!

If not-speaking-the-language makes you nervous about traveling to a foreign country, Amsterdam would be a good destination for you. Yes, the signs are in Dutch, but everyone speaks English, so potentially frustrating language situations become a non-issue.

4) Watch Your Step!

Amsterdam is all about the bikes. You’ll see bikes in all European cities, but nowhere we’ve visited compares to the bike culture in Amsterdam. It’s kind of mind-blowing, and it’s hard to describe how truly pervasive it is, because there’s nothing to compare it to. I find it so unusual that it makes me super curious about how it developed.

In Amsterdam, we remind the kids to be aware of their surroundings constantly. I’m sure it becomes a sixth sense if you live there, but as visitors, it was sometimes tricky to identify when we were on a sidewalk versus a bike lane versus a road. There are parts of the city where all 3 blend together!

There were a few times that one of our distracted kids had close call with a bike. So pay attention!

5) The Line at The Anne Frank House Moves Fast. And It’s Worth It.

Because the point of this trip was to film an Olive Us episode, we knew we wouldn’t have very much time for culture stops, but the Anne Frank House was at the top of our list.

There was a line, but it moves fast, and friends, it was worth the wait. The thing is, this is not just a really well-done museum. It’s the actual space where Anne and her family lived and hid for two years. You get to walk through the actual rooms!

This is not a toddler visit sort of place. I mean, June was happy and there was plenty to distract her, but it’s quite a somber visit. The older kids, who are similar in age to Anne herself, were really moved by the visit. I’d say this is a good stop for 8-years-old and up.

At the end, there was an exhibit talking about cultural questions of freedom and how they sometimes come in conflict with each other. Fascinating stuff! Highly recommended.

One last tip: To keep ourselves occupied while we stood in line, we went over the wikipedia page about Anne Frank with the kids, so they would know what they were about to see. Oscar was entranced. We also took photos. This is one of the views from the queue — not a bad place to spend some time.

I hope you find these notes helpful! Writing them up makes me wish we’d had a longer trip. I really, really like Amsterdam. I think it might be my favorite European city. There’s a very cool, creative vibe there. And I love how the city has layers and layers of ancient and modern right on top of each other — with a scribble of bikes all around the edges. Yay Amsterdam!

P.S. — These last shots below are of our return visit to Vondelpark. They have the most amazing play structures there. So high and vast. They look absolutely death-defying!

Image and text by Gabrielle.

I’ve mentioned we have one more big trip on the schedule before we hold still for a minute — hold still to enjoy the rest of the days and weeks here in this fairytale French farmhouse.

I was going through photos the other day, and was reminded there are several adventures I haven’t written about yet. Like our New Year’s trip to Venice, or a whirlwind weekend from a year ago, where we took my niece to favorite spots all over Normandy.

So before we make that last big trip (we leave to Norway next Monday), I thought I’d share some of our yet-to-be-written-down travelogues this week. Four to be exact. Starting with a report on last week’s visit to Amsterdam that will be posted tomorrow.

I hope you enjoy them. And I hope they will get you psyched for your own travel plans. Which reminds me: What are your travel plans? Have you started thinking about summer vacation yet? Will you be visiting cousins? Camping? Flying somewhere exotic? I’d love to hear!

P.S. — I snapped the instagram at top in Ireland.

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Hello, Friends! How are you? I hope you’ve had a great week. We are home from Amsterdam now, but still in the middle of a long school break — what a treat it was to skip our usual school day morning routines and sleep in today! Amsterdam was as delightful as can be. It really is one of my very favorite cities and I like to imagine what it would be like to live there. (A little report about our trip is coming!)

We’ll be shooting more Olive Us footage this weekend, so I’m off to finish my wardrobe assignments, but in the meantime, here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:

- A flat, mail-able pinata. Great for sending birthday wishes to someone far away!

- Is a good enough life good enough? Do you agree?

- These rolling pins are cuter than my rolling pins.

- Remember this post‘s impassioned discussion? Maybe this has something to do with why some took issue.

- I love everything about this toddler’s room.

- I can always use tips on how to look better in photographs, especially from such a stylish woman. (And is your left side your best?)

- And here are easy tips to take better pictures of your kids.

- The Longest Wait — we were right there just one week ago! Thanks, Joe.

- Managing your energy.

- Who knew IKEA could be so romantic?

- Throwing a Spring party is still on my mind — here are pretty floral invitations I’ve been bookmarking.

- Quick! Before National Poetry Month is over, here’s an App to help you memorize your favorite poems.

- Wringing out a wet cloth in space (skip to 2:00 min).

- April showers? Let’s stay in and make hand cookies.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already!

kisses,
Gabrielle

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Remember the 2-week school break my kids had in February? Well, they have another one happening right now. (Sidenote: I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love the French school schedule. It’s something like six weeks on, 2 weeks off, which is ideal for fitting in roadtrips without missing school. We’ll miss this schedule when we’re gone!)

This is the last break we have before we move back to the U.S., so you can bet that we have big plans to make the most of it. Yesterday, we said goodbye to our house guests at the train station, then hopped in the van and drove to Amsterdam. We’re here to see the tulips — and we’re filming an Olive Us episode too!

Amsterdam was one of the first places we visited when we moved here over 2 years ago. It’s such a cool city! (You can see my posts about that trip here and here and here and here.) On that visit, we caught the very tail end of the tulips, but we’re hoping we’ve timed it better this year and will get to see them in all their glory this time around.

Also, I want to eat a dozen servings of poffertjes too!

Tell me, friends: is Amsterdam on your travel wishlist? Or have you already been?

P.S. — With astroralph, mimiblair, oliveblair, blairben and designmomblog (that’s me) all snapping away, I’m pretty sure every inch of this trip will be covered on Instagram. : ) Feel free to join us.

P.P.S. — Ben Blair found our hotel (pictured at top) on Hotwire, and I’m really digging it. It’s called Lloyd Hotel and has rooms that range from 1 star to 5 stars — something for everyone!

Image and text by Gabrielle.

This is just a little thing, and maybe it’s not particularly French, but one thing we noticed after living her for about a year, was that our traveling French friends always send us postcards during their trips. It seems to be part of their vacationing habits or traditions. And of course, it’s totally charming!

Postcards from Australia. From England. From Spain. And when I traveled with Caroline to New York, one of the first things she wanted to do was send postcards home to her family and friends back in France. We’ve received more postcards in our time here than we did in our last 15 years in the U.S.

I’m not totally sure why the postcard tradition surprised me. I suppose it’s because I rarely if ever receive postcards from my American friends. When I think of why Americans don’t send postcards very often, I imagine it’s partly because when Americans vacation, they often take short trips — typically less than a week — which isn’t really enough time for a postcard to reach home while you’re away. And I’m sure it also has to do with texting and Facebook and Instagram and all the modern ways we stay in touch — making checking in with postcards less necessary.

But from what I can tell, the French seem to take their vacations really seriously and stay at their destination for a couple of weeks, or even longer if they’ve traveled across the world to reach their destination. So sending a postcard makes perfect sense.

How about you? Have you sent or received a postcard lately? And have you ever taken a long vacation? Or do you squeeze them in over an extended weekend?

P.S. — Even though we don’t send them, it’s not unusual for my family to buy postcards when we’re traveling — especially at art museums. They make great souvenirs and additions to scrapbooks and journals.

Text and images by Gabrielle.

We’ve been lucky to have lots of visitors since we moved here — it’s so helpful for keeping homesickness at bay, especially for the kids. One topic that comes up whenever friends and family are in town is souvenirs.

Plane tickets, car rentals, hotels and train passes tend to eat up most of the travel budget, so visitors love ideas for gifts to bring home to friends and family that won’t break the bank. But they want something more unusual than an Eiffel Tower key chain.

So I’ve made notes over the last couple of years, and have figured out a bunch of fabulous souvenirs you can find in any French supermarket. All of them are non-perishable (in case you’re jaunting to London after your trip to France), and every one of them is bargain. Today I’m sharing 5 of my favorites. Maybe they’ll inspire you to book a flight to Paris!

First up, go directly to the spice aisle and pick up a big bag of famed French Sea Salt. When Ben Blair and I took the cooking class in Louviers, the chef gave this advice: if you buy one foodie item in France to bring home, make sure it’s salt! And she also said the best stuff was the greyish sort from the Brittany region (Bretagne in French). You can see above that this package indicates Bretagne as the source.

If you don’t want to repackage it, you’ll find salt in gift packages ready to go, but a far more economical plan (and I think a more charming one as well), is to buy the salt in a bulk bag and repackage it in ceramic yogurt jars when you get home.

I’ve mentioned these beautiful yogurt jars before. They come in different colors and sizes. Some have words imprinted on the side and others are blank. We use them for all sorts of things — cups, pencil jars, water jars for dipping paint brushes. You can even bake in them! They make great souvenirs as a set (for example a set of 6 for your favorite baker), or, if you don’t have room to carry home a dozen, fill them with salt for an individual gift.

The best part: you get to eat the yogurt during your trip so you can bring home the empty jars. : )

Fill up a jar with the gourmet, greyish salt, put the jar in a cellophane bag, and add a bow.

A bag of salt costs about $1, and will fill about 4 jars depending on their size. Bargain!

Next up is something for the kids. Check out the kiddie aisle and pick up a pack of toy Euros.

American kids will be fascinated by the colorful bills that come in different sizes. Such a change from U.S. dollars! Your kids can use them when they are pretending to be spending the afternoon at a Parisian café. And since you’ll be using Euros while you’re on the trip, they’ll be fun little reminders for you, too.

This pack was priced at about $2.50. (Fun fact: Oscar and Betty are more familiar with Euros than Dollars. We’ll need to make sure they learn what nickels, dimes and quarters are before they go to American schools next fall. Hah!)

This one might be my favorite. Stop in the cleaning aisle and pick up these traditional French cleaning cloths. They come in several styles, but you’ll recognize them because they consistently have red and blue stripes down the sides.

They actually come as two cloths connected together. (See that fuzzy line in the threads that crosses the colored lines? It’s meant to be cut, dividing the very large cloth into 2 regular size versions.)

They’re super thick and crazy absorbent. We like them for heavy duty jobs and washing the car. One cloth (which is actually two cloths) runs about $3.50.

Or, how about a block of famed French Laundry Soap? The French are very particular about their soap and you can expect the quality to be high. Instead of the bath aisle, you’ll find blocks of soap like these near the laundry detergent.

When you get home, ditch the store packaging and wrap the bar with cellophane. Add a bow and you’re all set. At the supermarket, one big bar of laundry soap costs about $2.50. Or sometimes I find a package of 3 cubes for about $3.00.

(Another side note: When I was a newlywed, my mother gave me a block of soap just like this — including the French flag ribbon — that she had found at a gift shop — or maybe TJ Maxx. : ) I loved it! It sat on our windowsill for about a year, because I felt it was too pretty to use. But when I finally opened it, it was my favorite for handwashing my delicates. In case you’re curious, I picked up the ribbon shown here at Michaels.)

Lastly, here’s another one for kids. In the school supply aisle, you’ll find small, rounded corner, two-sided chalkboards. French kids use them in school to practice their script. One side is plain and the other is covered in graph lines. Aren’t they cute?

If you wanted, you could plus it up by adding a little cord for hanging, but they’re just as cute the way they come.

And there you go. Five ideas for fabulous French souvenirs under five dollars. I’d love to hear what you think. I actually have another five ideas to share if you’re interested — let me know if this is helpful!

P.S. — If you have a bigger souvenir budget, might I suggest something lovely from a French pharmacy?

Images and Text by Gabrielle.

Have you ever had an Easter Egg hunt in an out of the ordinary place? Last year, right before my sister Jordan moved back to San Francisco from Paris, we had an egg hunt at the Eiffel Tower. I shared this instagram at the time (which, by the way, might be my favorite instagram I’ve ever taken), but I haven’t shown you other pictures, so I thought it would be fun to share them today while I’ve got Easter plans on my mind.

To be clear, this wasn’t an official event hosted by the City of Paris. We just found a grassy spot off to the side on the Champs du Mars (the big park next to the Eiffel Tower), scattered the eggs all over the lawn, and let our kids search them out. (If you’re in Paris over Easter with your kids, you could totally do the same thing!) But no matter how simple the activity is, doing it with the Eiffel Tower in the background makes it feel pretty darn spectacular.

The year before that, for our first Easter in France, we held our own Easter Egg hunt for friends and neighbors in our beautiful garden at La Cressonnière. You can read about it here, here, and here. We had only lived in France for about 2 months at the time, and when we look back, we can’t believe we hosted a party when we could barely speak French. Hah!

That same year (2011), we also drove to the Dordogne region, and joined the Brubaker family for an Easter egg hunt at the famed Marqueyssac Gardens. In the middle of the hunt there was a spectacular rain storm and we were all completely soaked!

This year, I have no idea what we’ll be doing for Easter. Maybe a little egg hunt here at home.

Will you be having an egg hunt this year? Have you ever gone somewhere special for one? I’ve always thought it would be fun to go to the egg hunt on the White House lawn.

Text and images by Gabrielle.

I find prepping for road trips less stressful than prepping for plane trips.

For starters, packing is easier. There are no weight restrictions and no checked vs. carry on bag decisions. You can stuff last minute items into the trunk and deal with them later. You can bring extra coats and boots that would take up too much room in luggage.

Plus, you get to skip the airport! I find airports in general to be stressful places, and with a big family, the stress is multiplied. The getting there early, but not so early that you’ve used up all your boredom fighters before boarding. Making it through security with your kids — with all the jackets, boarding passes, shoes, passports, belts, and teddy bears intact. And hoping the kids will behave well on the airplane and be mindful of other passengers. (In the car, if they throw a tantrum, oh well.) Going to the airport sometimes feels like we’re adding extra hours to our trip before it really starts.

Ultimately, roadtrips lend themselves to our family’s last-minute tendencies. We decided on Ireland about 2 days before we went. We decided on Switzerland about 2 hours before we left!

In contrast, plane trips require more planning for a big family — last-minute plane trips for 8 just aren’t very realistic. And yet. Plane trips cover so much ground so quickly! (And we already have our next family plane trip scheduled for May. Hah!)

For Ireland, in theory we could have flown, but because we were putting the trip together last-minute, driving made the most sense. And it turns out it was a good thing. Because our particular trip definitely required a car!

Our impressions of Ireland:

- Every one is so friendly! That may seem like a generic compliment, but I don’t mean it to be. We were just so amazed at how open and talkative and welcoming the people we interacted with were. They weren’t reserved or pretentious at all and didn’t seem wary of strangers in any way. We have GPS, but we actively sought out occasions to ask for directions, and were rewarded with friendly conversations every time.

- It struck me that Ireland would make the perfect First European Travel Experience for an American. The language is English, but just enough different to keep you on your toes. You’ll be able to easily understand the road signs — but also see the words in Gaelic, plus, you’ll drive on the left side of the road which feels like an adventure. You’ll feel like it’s totally foreign, but in comparison to other European countries, it actually feels familiar to an American (at least it felt that way to our family).

- Most of our travels have focused on a city. In England, our first trip was about London. In Spain, we spent time in Barcelona. In Italy, we saw Rome and Venice as a family and Florence as a couple. But in Ireland, instead of focusing on a city, the guide books basically recommend seeing the whole country!

In fact, instead of booking a hotel for a week, many visitors will stay in a new place every night or every other night as they make their way from one location to the next.

We did not understand this at all until we were on the trip! Since it was a last-minute trip we essentially did no research ahead of time and only started reading guidebooks (and reading your brilliant recommendations!) after we were on the boat to Ireland and had already booked our hotel in Cork for our entire stay. : )

So each day, we would explore or drive somewhere, but we would need to leave time enough to get back to the hotel in Cork.

- You drive. A lot. Even if it looks really close on the map, on little Irish country roads, it’s going to take you a bit to get there. But happily, the drive will very likely be picturesque and green and charming at every turn.

- We were definitely there during off-season. That has its advantages and disadvantages. In general the weather was great and the touristy spots were empty. I felt like we had the Cliffs of Moher practically to ourselves! The downside is that on one day it was so cold we really had to talk ourselves into going outside. And some of the most recommended sites weren’t available to us — for example, we couldn’t find a boat that could take us to famed Skellig Michael island.

Our favorite parts of the trip:

- Blarney Castle. The famed Blarney stone is such a tourist draw, that a couple of guidebooks discouraged visiting because it’s so cliché. But this was a moment when off-season was decisively positive. We had the castle to ourselves (which for sure made a huge difference), and we loved kissing the Blarney stone!

I think it’s especially memorable for kids because it involves a simple, distinctive, physical act. In order to kiss the Blarney stone you have to climb to the top of the castle where you’ll find the stone in open air at the very top. Then you lie on your back on the stone floor and lean over a ledge backwards until you’re head is upside down and your lips reach the stone. The ledge opens onto the ground which is 4 stories below! (This is me mid-kiss — see the sidewalk far below?) The ledge is semi-protected so you can’t easily fall, and there was a kind man assisting the tourists and keeping them safe, so it’s not actually too dangerous — we let everyone kiss the stone but June — but it feels scary and makes you feel brave when you’ve done it. The castle offers great views and we loved exploring the grounds. We could have spent several hours there easily.

Side note: For some reason, I’d always thought the Blarney Stone was supposed to give good luck. But instead, it gives the Gift of Gab! Which I’m pretty sure I already have. : )

- We loved spending time in Cork. Downtown Cork is filled with charming shops and buildings. We loved exploring the English Market, having a big family dinner at Market Lane, and mugs of the famous hot cocoa at O’Connaill’s — we ordered 8 different kinds of hot cocoa and traded tastes!

- We were so tempted by all the woolen mills we encountered. They’re filled with cozy woolen goods — mittens and hats and sweaters and blankets. I wanted one of everything! We ended up with a beautiful wool herringbone weave blanket as a souvenir. (We hope to keep it in our someday cottage.)

- One morning, we left the hotel early and drove to the Cliffs or Moher. Oh. They are magnificent! And it’s just stunning how you can walk right along the edges. It looks like the whole world just ends there. We spent a looonnng time exploring there. It was for sure my favorite stop on the trip.

- After we’d had our fill of the cliffs, we drove to nearby Doolin and enjoyed a wonderful meal at the local pub. Driving into Doolin made me super happy. It’s what I imagined Ireland would look like. And it did!

- The next day, we were worn out of being in the car, so we didn’t want to drive too far. We had been planning on driving to the Ring of Kerry or Dingle Peninsula , but instead, we followed a reader’s recommendation to do an alternate route much closer to Cork. And it was lovely! We drove from Kinsale to Glandore to Skibbereen and then back to Cork.

- Near Glandore, we stopped at the Drombeg Stone Circle. At this stop it didn’t just feel like we had the place to ourselves, we in fact were the only ones there. And it felt magical and unbelievable to see the kids playing hide-and-seek among the stones. Climbing on them. Running through them. The stones have been there since 1100 B.C.!

- Lastly, we really enjoyed the ferry trip both ways. It had strong wifi so I could work. There was a movie theatre showing The Hobbit and Wreck it Ralph. It was nice to be able to unwind and not have to drive for a while.

We loved our visit to Ireland! So much so that before we’d reached home, we had already started making of wish list of places in Ireland we want to visit next.

What do you think? Did we miss your favorite spot? Do our photos make you want to grab a plane ticket?

By Koseli.

A little something beautiful to start your day: Aren’t these landscape shots by Douglas Lyle Thompson stunning? I always think of Cormac McCarthy when I think of the desert.

Is there a particular type of landscape that resonates most with you? Some place lush and green? The beach? Snow-capped mountains? Or maybe the washed out colors of the desert pictured here?

By Koseli.

On the Anthology site, I read about this Pop-Up Hotel. It’s a 20-foot recycled shipping container equipped with all the elements of a basic hotel — a comfortable mattress, air conditioning, and a shower. Four containers are connected together to create a sauna and lounge area. It’s currently in Antwerp, but it moves around.

What’s the most unusual place you’ve stayed while traveling? Would you stay in a pop-up hotel? You can see more about the hotel, and even book a room, here.

Text and image by Gabrielle.

Hello, Friends. Happy March! We are bundled up with hats, gloves and scarves, but we can see signs of spring everywhere we look. It’s almost here, I can feel it. And when I’m too cold to feel it, the calendar tells me so. : )

We are logging lots of miles in the car and exploring every bit of scenic Ireland we can fit in. It is killing us that we don’t have enough time to see all the wonderful things this corner of the earth has to offer. But we are sure trying! Today, we are attempting to visit the Cliffs of Moher. (You might know them as the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride.)

The day we started the roadtrip, Ben Blair burned a CD for the car with an Ireland playlist. U2. The Cranberries. Boomtown Rats. Sinead O’Conner. It’s fantastic! What would you put on an Ireland playlist?

While we make our way through the Irish countryside, here are a few things to keep you entertained:

- Remind me of these when we’re working on the walls of our French cottage.

- Why we love beautiful things. Thanks, Katherine.

- Transformer apartment.

- I have a feeling this is going to become a how-to goldmine.

- I’m always interested in the story of the Downwinders. And this new trailer looks fascinating — I had no idea about the John Wayne connection.

- Cactarium.

- Happy stairs.

- A cool new t-shirt subscription for kids — $5 from each tee purchase goes to a featured monthly charity. Cool idea and cool tees!

- You already know how I feel about 3-D. And also the Eiffel Tower. So this caught my eye immediately.

- Missed connections by state. Thanks, Koseli.

- Best aerial view of New York.

Have a wonderful weekend. And thank you again for the Ireland advice — so much good stuff in those comments! I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — Feel free to tag along on our trip via Instagram.