We (and European Vacations) are the Lucky Charm

My husband is a Red Sox fan, not a baseball fan, a Red Sox fan, kind of a big one. He has not achieved, or descended to, the level of fandom of Jimmy Fallon's character in "Fever Pitch" yet, but perhaps only because we do not live in Boston. He follows them religiously and, though he knows I couldn't care less, is forever telling me of their progress throughout the baseball season, the unbelievably long baseball season. He gets giddy as opening day approaches (this is in April) and as the season reaches September (that's right, 6 months later) the tension over who will make the playoffs is palpable, "will they (the Red Sox) or won't they". And, prior to 2004, the answer was a resounding, "they most definitely will not!" And, then, under the most improbable circumstances ever they came back from a 3-0 game deficit against the New York Yankees in the ALCS to win the next 4 games and eventually to win the 2004 World Series after an 86 year drought. (The amazing thing about this post is that all of these stats are spilling from my brain without the help of trusty Wikipedia, or Red Sox Nation or my resident expert - how scary is that?) I am not a sports fan, well not really. I like Olympic sports, Tennis and will watch Professional Football if it's on. But since meeting and marrying Kenny I have spent a lot more time watching, hearing about, reading and even playing sports. He likes Sports Center, a lot, he gets excited for March Madness (I fill out my bracket based on uniform color and mascot), and he worships the Red Sox (I can recite the starting line-up and their positions - really!). In 2004 during their amazing road to victory we were in Ireland and following their progress via Internet updates on my blackberry. Last night, after overcoming a 3-1 game deficit, the Red Sox clinched the ALCS and a berth in the 2007 World Series. And, while we didn't watch the game (because it wasn't broadcast here) we did "watch" the play-by-play online and celebrated with them in spirit as they trounced the Cleveland Indians 11-2. Needless to say, Kenny is pretty excited and is looking forward to Wednesday night's first World Series game like a child waits for Christmas. The other thing is that baseball fans in general and especially Red Sox fans are EXTREMELY superstitious. They eschew all things that could potentially be a bad omen. When something good happens for the team, they try to recreate the exact circumstances under which said something transpired in the hopes that lighting will strike twice or seventeen times or whatever. In that vein as we were getting ready for bed last night Kenny said, "so I guess every time the Red Sox reach the playoffs from now on we need to go to Europe - it worked in 2004 while we were in Ireland and it worked this year while we were in France - if they win the World Series again I can probably get other Red Sox fans to contribute to our European Vacation fund by telling them that our being their is a necessary catalyst to the team's victory." He's a little nuts though so are Red Sox fans, so it could work. I mean, they're a good team, the best in the League this year, and I am not opposed to a European jaunt even when the result of a lot of superstitious baseball mumbo jumbo. So, come Wednesday night I'll be right there cheering them on - Go Red Sox!

There Must Be A Better Way

Peru does not have a system that registers people at birth. Instead, every so often (really, no regular interval to speak of) they decide to count ALL the people living in Peru (including expatriates and tourists, yep!) by going door to door. This oh so scientific head count, or National Census as they have dubbed it, is taking place today between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm during which time all residents are required to stay indoors. All church services, sporting events and school activities are suspended during this time and all commercial establishments will be closed. The sale of alcohol was prohibited after 10 pm last night and not at all today. This is not a joke. Peruvians have been instructed to be in their homes with all family members present and wait for the volunteers who will be coming to their homes to collect the necessary data required for the Census - including questions like "how many persons in your household over the age of 6 (not a typo) work?" - so many things wrong when a country has justification for asking something like that. Further, all residents are requested to keep house pets under control while the volunteers are present so as not to interfere with the efficiency and accuracy of the process - yeah, because the dogs and cats of Peru are the most likely reason why the final count wouldn't be obtained efficiently and/or accurately.

As American citizens we too are being counted but the Peruvian government has allowed the Embassy to handle the collection of this data. As such, we have been given a sticker to place on our door so the Census volunteers will pass us by - sticker, lamb's blood, whatever it takes. Essential personnel (the definition of which is pretty hazy - might include taxi drivers, might not) and some working in tourist industry related jobs were supposed to "count" themselves over the last week and leave their completed forms at home to be collected by the volunteers - another nod to accuracy. We have been told that the requirement to stay indoors applies to all residents, including us, and that if we venture out of doors we do so without the protection of the Embassy -- cue ominous music here. The Peruvian government has said anyone found outside will be cordially requested to return home with an official escort and should they resist will be arrested. In spite of this warning, our friends are having a Census party and we have decided to, with diplomatic passports in hand, throw caution to the wind and head for their house. Technically, we can't be arrested for anything other than capital crimes so, we'll see...

No relevant art for this post so here are some pictures of Caleb just because.

More Pictures From France

Here is another installment of pictures documenting our stay in France. Again, we have not included captions and remind you of the iterated caveat that more information on any and all pictures can be provided with a simple query from you.

Pictures Galore!

We took nearly 1000 pictures while in France, below is just a smattering...(I felt like captions would be superfluous, but if you're really curious about something you can always comment and I will respond with all sorts of details and anecdotes).

Rest and Relaxation Worth Mentioning

A quick note about the Foreign Service. A great benefit about being in the Foreign Service is that each tour the officer and his/her family are given an R & R (Rest and Relaxation) trip to take away from post and gear up for the time remaining on their tour. Generally people take this trip to the US to visit family or friends. However, the guidelines stipulate that you can take the trip anywhere in the world as long as you pay any expenses that exceed the allotted travel budget. We decided to use our R & R money to go to France and managed to book tickets within budget constraints. And, because of our oh so generous friends were also able to avoid lodging expenses. A big thank you to them and to all you tax payers for a glorious vacation.

Each one of the following deserves a lengthy tribute, but, the new blogging me is going to forego that impulse and merely provide a list, in no particular order, of all of the things we loved about our trip to France.

1. Our wonderful friends who were so gracious and kind for letting us stay with them
2. Crepes, crepes, crepes - especially with nutella
3. Chocolate (bread, crepes, bars, desserts, eclairs etc.) - Caleb can now say chocolate because we ate so much, so often
4. The gardens (Luxembourg, Parc Monceau, Tuileries, Place de Voges and a host of random parks and gardens scattered throughout the city where we ate, chased pigeons and rested from lots and lots of walking)
5. The Latin Quarter - loved the Gyros and scenery and the people watching
6. Lady of the Unicorn Tapestries
7. Milk and eggs that taste like milk and eggs are supposed to taste (Kenny had cereal twice a day for 2 weeks)
8. Pom Potes (applesauce that comes in a pouch so it is totally portable and mess proof - we filled our suitcases with these for the return trip)
9. Apples - so delicious, so prolific
10. The view from the top of the Eiffel Tour, even on a hazy day it was spectacular
11. DisneyLand Paris - apparently this is the top tourist attraction in all of France - Caleb loved It's a Small World
12. Saint Chappelle
13. Mont Saint-Michel - remote but spectacular
14. The American Cemetery in Normandy - the new visitor's center just opened this year is really well done and the cemetery itself, though sobering, was well worth the visit
15. Playing with Ruby (this is probably #1 on Caleb's list - they had so much fun together, clearly he needs more friends)
16. The Loire Valley - we visited 4 Chateaus, each incredible in its own way, and drove through some of the most beautiful country we have ever seen - the Villandry gardens in particular were breathtaking
17. Chartres Cathedral - stunning!
18. The Rodin Museum - 'nuff said
19. The giant ferris wheel at the Place de la Concorde in celebration of the Rugby World Cup - we made the mistake of going here early on in our trip and for the rest of the time Caleb pointed it out to us - but at 8 Euro a pop we decided one time around the wheel would have to suffice
20. The Carousel at the Eiffel Tower - leaving it was cause for much wailing and gnashing of teeth
21. The weather - sunshine, crisp fall air, and changing leaves (we have missed the changing of the seasons)
22. Indian Food - not available in Peru
23. Raspberries - another nearly impossible commodity to come by in Peru
24. Napolean's Tomb
25. Baguette sandwiches
26. The Musee D'Orsay
27. The Picasso Museum - even though most of the permanent collection was not on display
28. Sacre Coeur - one of my favorite places in France because the view and basilica are amazing, we walked through the very red light district and passed the Moulin Rouge on our way back noting that the dinner show at the Moulin Rouge can be yours for a mere 165 Euro a person - the mind reels at what transpires for such a princely sum
29. The Marais - so much to see and buy, so little time
30. Laduree Macaroons - our favorites were blackcurrent, lemon and raspberry
31. La Madeleine
32. The Pantheon - lots of famous folks are buried there and above is Foucault's Pendulum
33. Dozens of churches we stumbled upon while rambling through the city
34. Versailles - again 'nuff said
35. Les Invalides and the Musee de L'Armee
36. Fireplaces
37. Crossing the Seine for a different and beautiful view from any point in the City
38. Notre Dame
39. Shakespeare and Company
40. Breakfast in America - a typical American diner where we stuffed ourselves on bacon, home fries, blueberry pancakes and chili cheese fries
41. Clean public restrooms
42. Potable water
43. Musee de l'Orangerie - one of the finest collections of art we have ever seen under one roof
44. Staying within walking distance of a mind-blowing bakery and a toy store it was cruel to take Caleb to - Santa has lots of ideas for Christmas this year
45. Architecture, tapestries, scroll work, columns
46. Did I mention the crepes? Just soooooo good, they deserve a second mention
47. planes, trains and automobiles - Caleb has now discovered just how fun different modes of transportation can be
48. An unbelievably well-behaved, drug-free Caleb through 2 24 hour plus days of flying
49. Bagels - again, not available in Peru
50. Two whole weeks together as a family and memories to last a lifetime

A Note About Me and My Blog

A very dear friend recently pointed out that it is painfully clear that I don't LOVE my blog (because I don't blog while traveling, I am way behind on my travel update blogs, and I fail to recognize things I should be blogging about saving them for email, phone or face to face conversations). She went on to say that while my posts are generally interesting and well presented, they are also hopelessly infrequent, entirely too serious, and altogether too obviously a means to an end (i.e. a way to keep up with those we love without having to communicate with them individually all the time - or ever, an area in which we do not excel). I tried to protest, but the facts are on her side. In the past nine months I have posted fewer than 30 times, sometimes going an entire month without posting anything - a sin in the blogging community. All tolled including last year and this year I am well under 100 total posts - an obvious problem. And perhaps most criminal of all, I have failed to pepper my posts with pictures of our very cute child whom she pointed out needs no accompanying text to justify one or 20 all about him entries. And so faithful readers, having been sufficiently shamed into reinventing myself as a blogger, I am vowing here and now that going forward I will err on the side of frivolity, frequency and fatuousness.