Saying Au Revoir to L'Ecole Tenbosch

I loved this school.  Since the kids have not yet been to elementary school at home, I don't know if I loved it more or less than any other but it was a special place. All the nationalities, all the languages, the loving teachers, the involved parents, the garderie staff, even Pascal the doorman, all made up this school.

There was a level of trust in the teachers, a focus on learning in a simple environment and happy kids.  Lauren grew out of her she'll so forcefully as she played in the hallway outside her classroom or on the courtyard with her troop of friends.  Caroline was potty-trained, napped and learned to make friends, speak French and be a big girl like her sister and brother.  Cole learned to read and write in French, had religion classes and an introduction to Dutch.  

The older two performed on stage at the Spring Fancy Fair and even Caroline went on field trips with her class to a local castle.

It felt like school when I was a kid.  Serious, simple and fun.  It felt like we belonged there.  We were connected to Brussels through this school community.

Paris for the Day

We went because we could.  Paris, an hour and a half away, accessible by 11am after dropping kids at school, a quick bus ride to Gare Midi and a Thalys ride to Gare du Nord.  We were in the Place des Vosges for brunch.  

We walked and shopped the streets of the Marais and metroed to the Arch de Triomphe. 

Then down the Champs Elysee to the left bank to install ourselves at La Palette for a well-rounded meal of charcuterie, cheese, bread, butter and wine in the sunshine.

After a few Parisian friends joined the group, we made our way to another bar closer to Nord to await the train that would whisk us back to regular life, via the bar car.  Even Kate Boles speaks French after a ride in the bar car.

Corsican Weekend - my Kates & Me

On June 13th, I flew to Corsica with Kate Smalkin, Kate Annis and Kate Boles for a glorious, beach-hopping girls' weekend.

We piled in our Citroen C4 and headed straight to Bonifacio to see the city on the cliffs.  The cruise did not disappoint.

We climbed the hill (via the white tourist train) and reserved a table with a view.

Then walked around town a bit.

Then headed to the hotel for a second bottle of champagne.

Then out in Porto Vecchio.

The next day we saw the beaches.

We rated the bar tenders at each, from Ronaldo to Guillaume.  Then finished the night with sushi and crepes (and they do go well together).  A perfectly lovely weekend with the ladies that made Brussels the amazing place it turned out to be.

La Champenoise

Kate Annis organized a group to run the annual Champenoise, an 18K run through the Champagne region around Epernay, France.  With our team of "rock stars", Jesse & I sported our rockwear and took off up a very long hill through the most beautiful countryside I've ever run.  

It was very hot, but we managed to keep going and avoid all but the last champagne stop - because who can really run after multiple glasses of the bubbly but then again, who would run the Champenoise without stopping for any bubbly?  With the last downhill stretch back into town, we finished together and began imbibing with our friends.  

After making pit stops at the hotel to freshen up, we all enjoyed a long, multi-course French meal in downtown Epernay and vowed to do it again if we ever had the chance!

Istanbul

Not wanting to let Jesse spend too many nights in any one country, upon his return from the U.S. and Madrid, we headed to Istanbul along with Kate Annis.  

This was a place I've wanted to visit for its exoticness, foreign culture and otherwise unfamiliar riches.  We found all that situated in a very modern, enormous European-style city straddling the continents of Europe and Asia, the modern West and traditional Islam, the young and new versus the very historic and old.  It was fascinating.

We hired a guide, Esin, to lead us around for two days, show us the main sights and also a glimpse of local culture.  During the days we toured the Sultan's Palace, the Hagia Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Market, the Bascilica Sistern, the Bosphorus, the Asian side and so on.  At night we trammed our way across the Golden Horn to the neighborhood of Beyoglu where the city was as wide awake at midnight as Brussels would be Midday, plus a million.  We tried trendy rooftop bars on top of office buildings and corner bars serving 40 proof raki.  We found a beautiful store selling hand-woven blankets and walked in and out again from bars that didn't serve alcohol. We had boxes of baclava and Turkish delight and plenty of wine.  

We spent our last morning in a coffee shop in Sultanahmet reading, avoiding Turkish coffee and enjoying the warm weather.  It was a novel city, a true working melange that hopefully retains its unique character in the face of changing times.

Driving thru Denmark

Jesse took Cole to the U.S. For a long weekend so Franzi and I drove the girls to Copenhagen via Hamburg, Germany.  

We didn't see much beyond endless canola fields and a German-Thai restaurant along the way but it was efficient.  

We boarded a car ferry from the port of Puttgarden on the German Island of Fehmarn in the Baltic Sea to Rodby Faerge in Denmark.  It was windy and cold but the Scandinavians didn't seem to mind.  

We continued driving a while through picturesque rural Denmark before arriving in Copenhagen and finding our rental apartment.  Without really planning it, we ended up staying in a very trendy part of town which was my favorite part of the whole trip after seeing the main downtown sites.

The city itself did not meet my expectations.  I love Danish design and purposefully seek out retailers throughout Europe, but in person, the city was extremely crowded and more generic than I had hoped.  

We took the prerequisite photos in Nyhaven and saw the Little Mermaid.  We visited Tivoli Gardens and ate delicious cotton candy in the rain.  

But the best part was walking around Vesterbro, browsing the boutiques and passing the cool looking cafes along the main drags of Istedgade and Vesterbrogade.  The neighborhood even boasts its own food street, frenchy Værnedamsvej – a gourmet’s paradise with specialist cheese, wine, fish and chocolate shops, as well as cafes and grocers. 

After we saw all that and were relaxing inside for a bit as the kids watched Danish cartoons, Franzi and I decided we'd had enough, her air mattress leaked and the idea of another night sharing a double bed with Lauren and Caroline wasn't as appealing as cutting our trip short a day and heading back to Brussels.  Ten hours later we were curled up fast asleep in our individual cozy beds with room to turn around in the shower.  Copenhagen box checked.

Lauren's 5th Birthday

We had a girly pool party to celebrate Lauren's 5th birthday.  Six of her classmates joined us to swim and play and eat a very pink, bejeweled princess cake.  It was full of giggles and dress up and happy little girl so!