England Through the Eyes of a Foreigner

Life here is different in a lot of ways. It's amazing how much the weather dictates our daily life here, and the forecast is rarely accurate more than a day in advance. Even this morning, the forecast called for partly cloudy skies with no rain until the afternoon, but as I was reading that on the computer, it was pouring outside. The climate is very similar to Seattle, and those of you who knew me when I lived there know how much I disliked the weather there. I like my sun and distinct seasons. This has been one of my greatest challenges in living here.

It's so wet here that our lawn is mostly moss on the shadier side of the building.

The landscape plants are some of the same ones commonly planted in Seattle, like this mock orange.

There are conifers everywhere, and many of them are native to the Pacific Northwest.

Our apartment is very comfortable, with plenty of space for four people. It does have some quirks, though.  For instance, the sinks and tubs have separate hot and cold taps. There is no such thing as warm water. You choose hot or cold. I don't know if this is typical here or if it's just an oddity of our apartment.  

Another quirk is our combination washer/dryer, which lives under the counter in the kitchen. It's tiny, so you can't put a whole lot of clothes in there at once. And the drying function is extremely subpar. I usually take out about half of the items in the load and hang them on a clothes rack to dry before turning the dryer on for the rest of the items. It usually takes three runs through the dryer to get the clothes dry, even with only half a load in there. The clothes on the rack often dry before those in the dryer if we have a nice day and open the windows. I constantly have laundry in progress, and we have stacks of clothes in need of washing. We get behind whenever we leave town, and there's not much chance of catching up, unless we fill our living room with clothes racks. When I get desperate, I hang wet clothes from every door knob, tub, towel rack, and even the bars in the closets.

Here is my nemesis, the combo washer/dryer.

I have also relearned the art of coffee making this summer. The typical system for making coffee here is to turn on your electric kettle to boil the water (used for tea as well). Then, you put the water and coffee in the French press. I am used to the straightforward drip coffee maker, where the number of scoops of coffee added equals the number of cups of coffee you want, with a little more added for stronger coffee. With the French press, the amount of coffee varies depending on the type of coffee you are using (size of grounds, darkness of roast) and how long you plan to let it steep before pouring. There is no heating plate, like a drip coffee maker has, so you need to drink the coffee right away so it doesn't get cold. I am still working on perfecting the timing, though that might be a futile pursuit given that the kids' needs and desires don't wait for my coffee. One benefit of this coffee making system is that I tend to drink less coffee than I do at home.  

My coffee-making system

Here's another thing that I'm still not used to. The streets are very narrow in most of the downtown areas of the neighboring towns. Instead of forbidding parking on the streets, or making these narrow streets one-way, they allow cars to park in one lane of traffic, leaving only one lane open for two-way traffic on the street. This requires an elaborate system of turn-taking, with traffic stopping frequently to let cars going the other direction pass. Sometimes people take advantage of this situation, and 12 cars will barrel through in one direction before letting you pass, usually during what is called "the school rush," when parents are taking their kids to school. I haven't seen a school bus to date, so I'm guessing they are uncommon or non-existent. Most of the time, the system works, but I never cease to find it utterly nerve-wracking and stress-inducing. I do my best to avoid these routes, even if it means going the long way around or going through a town with frequent train crossings. Another by-product of the narrow streets is that people tend to park half in the street and half on the sidewalk to make more room for cars on the street. This makes very narrow sidewalks even narrower.  

Typical parking style in Sunninghill and other small towns

One really lovely difference between England and America is that conserving fuel seems to be a natural part of life and not a politically-charged topic of conversation as it is at home. Hybrid and/or teeny-tiny cars are the norm here, and almost no one drives anything larger than a station wagon. Our station wagon feels monstrous when we try to park it in the narrow parking spaces in most lots (a.k.a. car parks). The British tendency toward restraint seems to be of great benefit to their care of the environment. How do we get Americans to care in a culture of more-is-better?

"Another red bus going green for London"

Even the London Eye had a sign about its fuel-efficiency and usage of green power.

Maybe this is why the Brits tend more toward fuel efficiency: it costs us about 84 pounds to fill up our car. That's about $130 for about 15 gallons ($8.67/gal).

What Not To Do: A Weekend in Paris With the Kids

If you're a parent of small children, and you're thinking about spending a weekend in Paris:

a) find a babysitter with whom you can deposit your children for the weekend;
b) find a nanny to come with you and watch the kids, while you stroll through museums at a leisurely pace and linger over delicious meals at lovely restaurants;
c) if A and B are not possible, reconsider said trip to Paris.

Paris was high on our list of trips to make while we are in Europe for the summer, but we didn't really think through how the kids would feel about it.  They have enjoyed our day trips into London, so we expected they would find something to love about Paris.  They did not.  They had no interest in art, architecture, history, or fine cuisine, which is essentially what Paris is all about.  The weekend was full of moaning and complaining (or whinging, as they say in the UK) from our children, making it rather not what we had expected.

We took a very cramped train from a station south of London through the Chunnel and into Paris.  Kids under four can ride for free if they sit in your lap, but there is not a lot of space if that child is actually bigger than a baby.  We had hoped for an empty seat nearby, but the train was absolutely packed with people and stuff.

Ebbsfleet Station, Gravesend to Gard du Nord, Paris

We arrived in the early afternoon, but after taking two subways and walking about a mile to get to our hotel, we decided to relax in the hotel for a bit before venturing out.  Our hotel was less than a mile from the Eiffel Tower, so that was our first stop.  Having never been to Paris before, I was surprised by just how huge the tower is.  The kids were interested for a few minutes, but then they were mostly interested in running around the surrounding park and asking for something to eat.  We were all pleased about the sunny, pleasant weather, and the kids were finally able to go outside with short sleeves and no jackets, something that rarely happens in England.

We had dinner in the nearby neighborhood, at a tiny little restaurant called La Varangue, that was recommended by our Paris travel guide.  Apparently, everyone else had read the same review, because there was only one French-speaking couple in the whole place.  The owner/chef/waiter was very kind, and our meal was delicious.  Having not eaten much lunch on the train, we were all starving, so we devoured our food before I thought to take pictures.  Our kids ate their dinners without complaint-- pasta carbonara for Soren and a puff pastry with pork, mushrooms, and cream sauce for Malcolm-- so they must have been hungry!  The creme brulee and chocolate gateau we had for dessert were out of this world delicious.  It took a lot of restraint not to lick the plates clean.  

On Saturday, we took a ride on a double-decker tour bus, that hit all the highlights of central Paris.  It was a nice orientation to the city, and we were able to hop on and hop off as we liked.  I took a lot of pictures from the top of the bus, most of which were worthless, because the bus was moving or the view was obstructed.  

Our ride

Upper deck of Les Cars Rouges

This photo of Notre Dame was one of the few decent tour bus shots.

Our first stop was the Musee D'Orsay, which has a large collection of Impressionist paintings by Monet, Degas, Renoir, et al., plus two floors of Art Nouveau, and a spacious sculpture gallery.  Pictures are not allowed inside the museum, but Erik snuck one showing how beautiful the building itself is.  It was originally a train station.

Outside the Musee d'Orsay

Photo snuck inside the sculpture gallery

The museum was packed, and the kids asked us about every three minutes if we could leave yet.  Erik and I hope to go back some day on a weekday morning with no kids, so we can actually see the art and take our time there.  We grabbed some lunch in a nearby cafe.  I had a simple but tasty salad with goat cheese toasts.  I am going to try to recreate this at home.

After lunch, we got back on the bus to see some more sights.  The bus tour was very interesting, but it didn't hold Soren's attention.  He kept changing his headset and his brother's to other languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese).  You can imagine how well that went over with Malcolm. We hopped off the bus again at the Arc de Triomphe.  We thought briefly about trying to take the elevator to the top (I never knew that was possible!), but the kids were completely not interested.  Instead, we snapped a few pictures and walked toward the Trocadero and in the general direction of our hotel in search of a snack.

Le Arc

Happy boys at last, chowing down in the Trocadero plaza

With the boys maxed out on sightseeing and Erik and I maxed out on whining, we retired to the hotel for a dip in the pool.  Apparently, the French believe strongly in the necessity of bathing caps, so we were each issued a "required" swim cap to wear in the pool.  I giggled every time I looked at one of the three boys, and I'm sure I looked equally ridiculous.  Alas, I did not bring my camera to the pool, so there is no amusing photo for you to enjoy.

Sunday started with a breakfast of croissants, pain au chocolat, crepes, and hot beverages, including the French version of hot chocolate for the kids.

After breakfast, we rode the tour bus to the Louvre stop. We knew the boys couldn't handle a huge, crowded museum like that, so we just walked through the courtyard on the way to the Orangerie, a small museum with some very famous paintings, including two rooms devoted entirely to Monet's waterlilies series.  The Orangerie does not allow photos either, but here are a couple from the Louvre courtyard.

The Louvre

As we left the Orangerie, it was starting to rain, so we made our way through the Jardin des Tuileries to a cafe and pastry shop called Angelina, recommended by one of Erik's colleagues.  It was heavenly.  The boys had their favorite croque monsieur, Erik had a Scandinavian club sandwich (smoked salmon, hard-boiled egg, and greens), and I had a vegetable quiche.  Even the side of greens was delicous.  We finished up with an almond praline pastry (the Paris-New York, it was called) and a strawberry eclaire.  Once again, they were consumed too quickly for photographic documentation.

The Tuileries

Lunch at Angelina

There was a carnival set up on one side of the Tuilleries, so we stopped in for a few rides after lunch.  The first ride was a jerky roller coaster designed for little kids.  The second looked like a harmless little pirate ship ride, but it was completely insane.  It went super fast, whipped us around in circles, and blew smoke in the air, so we couldn't see where we were going.  Soren screamed so long and hard that they stopped the ride to let him and Erik off.  

Crazy pirate ride

After the crazy pirate ride experience, we picked something mellow for Soren-- cars and trucks that went around in a circle.  Malcolm declared it "boring" and "too slow."  I happened to look around while the kids were on the ride and spotted Pierce Brosnan watching the ride, too!

Yep, that's Pierce Brosnan to the left!

The rain started coming down more steadily, so we picked an indoor activity next-- the Paris Sewer Tour.  I expected to see historic structures with tales of French revolutionaries and Les Miserables, which we did, but it was also a working sewer and way stinky.  I walked through part of the tour with my coat over my face.  It was fascinating to see how sewers work, but we didn't stay long thanks to the stench.  

Rainy day

In the sewer

Another sewer view

And that was the end of our Paris weekend.  The train ride back was much easier.  We had four seats in a group, facing each other, with a table in the middle.  The kids were thrilled to sit and watch movies on the iPads.  Erik and I were thrilled to finally open a book and have a quiet couple of hours to read and gaze out the window.  Our next trip to Paris will definitely not include children.

The Windsors at Windsor Great Park

We are lucky to live close to Windsor Great Park, a 2,020 hectare (that's just under 500 acres) park that is part of the Crown Estate.  I was a little skeptical at first, because one of the highlights is a manmade lake called Virginia Water Lake. Nature is different over here, though.  Every square inch of this island has been inhabited for thousands of years, so a green, open space with lots of plants and animals is what passes for a natural area.

The kids and I spent a couple of sunny days exploring there in our first couple of weeks here, and the kids were just thrilled to have such a huge space where they can run and yell.  It turns out the British are generally quiet, and we are just downright loud.  Add to that the fact that the kids aren't used to living in apartment where the neighbors hear you when you scream, cry, or dump an entire bin of Legos on the floor.  We find ourselves shushing the kids frequently, so going to a place where running and shouting are acceptable, even if not exactly appreciated, was a relief.

The park has some Roman ruins (carted in from somewhere else, but still pretty), the previously mentioned lake, which is full of swans, geese, ducks, and moorhens, a playground, some monuments, a botanical garden, a polo field, and much more.  The kids like to:

Play on the playground

Climb the massive trees

Watch the birds

Eat snacks purchased from the park's food cart

We've had two memorable adventures at Windsor Great Park in the past couple of days. On Saturday, wanting to do something close to home instead of rushing off by car or train on a gray, drizzly day, we headed for the Savill Gardens at the Park. Savill Gardens is sort of like Kew on a much smaller scale, with plants from around the world, but more for the sake of beauty than the study of botany.  

Chilean rhubarb (Gunnera tinctoria) is everywhere.  It looks like a forest of rhubarb on steroids (about 5 feet tall).

Pretty walkway over a pond

Through the trees to the Hidden Garden (note the pretty flowers behind them)

Rodgersia aesculifolia, a perennial from Asia

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee logo made out of succulent plants.  Note the Union Jack in the middle, the number 60 above that, and the diamonds to either side.  The logo was hand drawn and meant to look sketchy, rather than straight, so this is a pretty good representation.

The Charybdis fountain, a whirlpool.  Remember The Odyssey?

The Queen's Golden Jubilee Garden

Adorable little Sempervivum arachnoideum, a rock garden plant with the weird common name of cobweb houseleek

There is a massive rose garden with rose varieties named after lots of royals, like 'Princess Anne' and 'Princess of Wales', as well as this 'William Shakespeare' variety.

'Grace'

We had a lovely morning, despite the off-and-on drizzle.  I could go on and on and share tons more pictures, but that wouldn't leave me any room to share our big exciting adventure yesterday.

For a week in June, the Royal Ascot horse races are held, and the queen attends the races every day.  She travels to the races from her home at Windsor Castle, via Windsor Great Park and on to Ascot. We were told that if you visit the park during race week, you can see the queen ride through the park in her carriage on the way to the races. Yesterday was the first day of the Royal Ascot races, so Erik took a long lunch, and we took a picnic to the park to sit along the procession route and wait for a glimpse of the queen.

The English take their picnics very seriously.  They bring tables and chairs, multiple courses of food, real plates, cutlery, and glasses, table cloths, and sometimes flowers.  Compared to these folks, our Nutella and jam sandwiches eaten on a picnic blanket seemed pretty pathetic.

These patriotic people even brought union jack bunting to string up on the rope separating them from the procession route.

We had to wait a good long while for the royal family's arrival, but we enjoyed seeing many royal friends and distant relations riding through in horse-drawn carriages, with all the women in fancy dresses and floppy hats and all the men in top hats and coats with tails.  It really felt like something out of a movie.

And then finally, the moment we had been waiting for.  The royal family drove up in their Bentleys, got out of the cars just up the road from us, and switched over to their horse-drawn carriages. 

The procession was led by guards.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip!

Charles and Camilla

Princess Beatrice

The procession passed us by in about a minute, but it was thrilling to see the queen up close, probably just 10 feet away from us.  If only Kate and William had been in attendance...