Mama PhD: Touristing with a toddler: Edition France (part 2/3)

In my previous post I wrote about the logistics of traveling alone with a toddler to Sweden. This June, after our trip to visit my grandparents, aunt, cousin, and high school besties in Stockholm, Huskvarna, and Jönköping, we headed to France to visit Guillaume's family. Staying in Paris with everyone is tight, so we usually all meet up at a new location and rent a house together. Two summers ago we spent a week in Normandie showing 3-month-old Antonia how to eat oysters. Last summer I had received a Fellowship to research Slam poetry and so stayed in Paris for almost a month with Antonia and my in-laws but when Guillaume came we met up at a B&B in the South of France. This year we decided to meet up in the Loire river valley and visit some castles.

Antonia and I arrived at the airport on Wednesday afternoon and made our way to a hotel nearby (outside Paris). It was a major trek with all our luggage and trying to haul everything on and off the bus with a grumpy kid, but we made it! When we arrived we treated ourselves to some comfort foods: fries, pasta bolognese, and rosé. Then we took a little walk around Roissy Village which was remarkably beautiful and a nice way to walk off the plane ride and bag hauling. The next morning Guillaume arrived from Pittsburgh at 8 a.m. thinking he would take a little nap before we hit the road for the 4 hour trip to the Touraine. Antonia was too excited to see Papa to let him sleep!

Hotel breakfast. Meh.

Lunch at a rest stop. Mega meh.

We stayed in a gorgeous old house (now B&B) outside the village of Richelieu in the Touraine. Breakfasts included warm croissants, soft-boiled eggs fresh from resident chickens, Linden-tree honey (so dark it looked like maple syrup) fresh cherries, bread, café au lait, and home-made yoghurt. Needless to say, we were spoiled.

Playing chess with Tonton Rémi

Working hard

As you can see, it was a pretty sweet place to stay. However, because we didn't have our own kitchen, all other meals meant going to nearby village restaurants, which with a toddler, can be an interesting experience. Though most places had kids' meals, many times arriving with a 2.5 year-old means you are greeted with a lack of enthusiasm by servers. Meals in France are sacred and possible interruptions by tantrums or squeals in nice restaurants are not exactly sought after. We always brought many distractions but did have to put up with some shushing and terse stares. On the bright side, the food was AMAZING. Going to restaurants in little French villages is great because they have to woo diners from far and wide. There are no passersby so to get customers to come out of the way to your restaurant, you need to have VERY good food.

Making something boring more fun

Azay-le-Rideau chateau

Thanks for ruining the family shot, applesauce pouch.

Château Rivau

We came here because of the kid friendly surrounding gardens. So I thought it was funny that only adults were allowed on the fun stuff.

Trois generation snuggle

Antonia did remarkably well with visiting castles and sitting through 2 hour meals. We timed a morning outing/lunch and afternoons after nap were spent at the house before heading out to yet another delicious meal.