If you are partnered with someone and considering the number of children you might want some day, and if you plan to travel extensively in France ever in your lives, I feel it is my duty to suggest you might choose the following numbers of offspring: one, two, or six.
But whatever you do, don't have three.
You see, finding a hotel where five people can sleep in the same room in France seems to be nearly impossible. A railway employee in Beaune yesterday spent about 15 minutes looking for a hotel that would allow the five of us to stay in one room near Charles de Gualle airport in Paris. She failed. I had failed at the same search on my computer the night before.
Any of the hotels she (and I) found that allowed four people in a room (a rarity in itself -- most rooms are doubles) would not allow a fifth. We would have had to book a second room. And, my thinking goes, if you have to pay for a second room, you may as well fill it with people! (Note: this belief does not leave me with any plans to go out and have triplets, just to make the most of a second hotel room).
We have asked at several hotels if the children could just all sleep in one bed (or, as the reality would be, if Olivia could sleep in between me and John, where she ends up most nights anyway as she is prone to bad dreams). It seems it just can't be done. And because they ask outright for the number of children and their birthdates, and because I don't know the system well enough to know just how rigid these rules are, we seem stuck with paying for two rooms, at least for now, or amending our plans so that only one parent and one child are traveling (as will happen later this week when John and Jack go to Paris to pick up John's parents).
While it's making me a little crazy, I wouldn't trade in my party of five for the most beautiful, affordable hotel room in the world. A number of people have told us since arriving in France that three children are the perfect number to have, and we *have* met a lot of families here with three children. That leaves me wondering just where they stay when they travel. Probably with family or friends (which is what we do on most of our North American travels), or maybe there are secret codes French people give when booking hotel rooms for five. Maybe they just sneak the youngest in (if this is the case -- let me know!)
We have started exploring other options for when we travel. In addition to vacation rentals by owner around the world, France has a system of gites, which are a cross between bed-and-breakfasts and furnished short-term rentals. It's not as good if you are looking for a one-night stay before catching an early morning flight somewhere, but it does seem to be a good option for a long weekend or week's visit somewhere.
We also are planning more and more day trips (or planning hotel stays for when we have visitors, so that the cost of the second room doesn't seem as ridiculous!)
And in the meantime, we'll be on the lookout for the secret handshake that gets the third child in!
***
In other news -- Jack had a very good time at the birthday party yesterday. After observantly telling us that the birthday girl seemed to like cats (as she had one on her invitation, her backpack, and some of her notebooks at school), we found a set of little cats at the toy store. He added that to a pair of Vancouver 2010 Olympic mittens, and headed off to the party.
A few differences: when we showed up, the only other children there at that time (the birthday girl and a boy) were dressed in costume (princess and Robin Hood-type character). The invitation said nothing about dressing up, and we wondered if that's just a given at French parties. Jack said none of the other children wore costumes, and that the two who were dressed up changed into regular clothes at some point. He added that he didn't feel out of place being dressed in his regular clothes. It's funny to go through much of life here being SO unsure of the rules of the game (vs. partly unsure of the rules of the game, which is how I go through parenting life in Lethbridge).
Another difference: the party lasted from 2:30 to 6 p.m.! Most of the parties Jack has been to last about two hours. That reality led us to do something we should have done several weeks ago: called the mechanic to fix the lights on the car we are using. Yes, my fear of talking on the telephone had kept us driving only during daylight hours the last weeks (and knowing we had rented a minivan to use while John's parents are here, and, embarassingly, that the days were getting longer every day.) But since we'd need lights to get Jack home from the party, I faced my demons, dialed the number of the garage that Franck and Laura had given us, and arranged to bring the car in.
What was I afraid of? John had checked and knew it wasn't a fuse (and looked up all of the specific vocabulary before I called), so I was able to explain that to the mechanic; he seemed to understand me on the phone; I understood *most* of what he said; and we were able to find our way there with no problem. He replaced the low-beam bulbs and had the lights fixed in 10 minutes. Pas de probleme.
We returned to find a happy Jack bouncing on a trampoline and heard that all five children (two boys, two girls, and the birthday girl) had a great afternoon playing inside and out, going to a goat farm where new kids had just been born, and returning to a choice of cake or crepes. Jack picked cake. He said the cake was different than Canadian cake, but couldn't give more details than that.
He also told me the most hilarious story from the party that he promised me to NOT report on the blog. If he ever gives his approval, I will write about it. For now -- even though it's killing me to NOT tell -- I will have to keep it to myself. Sigh. It's such a good story.
We took Kate and Liv to the carousel and for chocolat chaud while Jack was at the party (among other errands). I don't think we'll get tired of that magical place!
The kids are enjoying a two week break from school, and we are getting eager to see John's parents, Jay and Judy. They are in Italy now and will be flying to Paris tomorrow night. We're not sure of all of their plans yet (they want to do some travelling on their own), but we are planning a Saturday Beaune market for sure and some nice walks around the vineyards (aka, the neighborhood) this weekend. We can't wait.
5 comments:
Tell Jack that honesty is ALWAYS the best policy, especially when it comes to blogs.
And if he lets you tell the story, I could, you know, send him some Canadian cake. Or Tim Horton's doughnuts. Whatever it takes.
Think of us poor, poor Canadians, in the midst of a cold Canadian winter, whilst you frolic in the land of croissants and good cheese. A good story would be such a good way to cheer us up.
Okay, I'm out of begging ideas...
I just read him your comment and he shook his head and said "nope". Sigh. We'll keep working on him! Thanks for helping the "good story" effort!
France and Europe aren't that unique -- we've found that most hotels aren't hot on 5 people. Sydney was worse and usually limited us to 3 people, but we found two "apartment hotel" chains in Oz (Quest and Meriton) that became our best option -- they almost always required a 2-bedroom place for the 4 of us. But the price was considerably cheaper than 2 hotel rooms, it guaranteed that we were together and we would get a kitchen, dining room, and washer and dryer to boot.
You might check on the Novotel and Citadines chain in France. Our experience was that the Novotels were nice (we like the one on the edge of Beaune the best), but the Citadines could be a bit iffy.
Oh, PLEASE, Jack! Can we hear the story? I am dying to know. It really would brighten my day to hear a funny story... and just think, you could brighten the days of the hundreds (well, at least dozens) of people that are following the blog and are now, like me, just dying to hear a funny story.
This has created such an element of suspense in your blog, Lisa. I think I will be checking back hourly to see if the story has been posted.
If anyone can get around the 5-in-a-room rule, surely it would be you guys! Your husband goes in with Jack and one of the girls. Then you follow later with the other girl, dressed just like her sister. How would anyone be the wiser that they aren't the same person? :-) Not that I condone deceit, mind you, I'm just saying...
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