beware ye french.. the cow is returning

[cowsmanaut]

heading out to see the inlaws. will be several years since my last outing from the country However it'll be my first time flying with an infant! she'll be 3 months old when we leave.. exactly! Should be rather interesting I think

We'll be in Merignac from the 13th to the 31 of dec.. wonder if there'll be snow.. woo!

[linflas]

yeeee!!! me not even afraid ! i wait for you with my platinum hay fork !

[Jan]

Have a nice trip, you and your daughter!

wonder if there'll be snow..

This autumn has been quite warm in most of Europe so far (we have up to 15C here these days!) - but we'll see. 3 months is not enough to start skiing, but you can always dig an old sledge somewhere! Yippee! (well, 3 months might not be suitable even for this, but I simply love the idea)

[oh_brother]

Enjoy! Is this your first time away from home for Christmas?

I hope your daughter is a quiet baby...a three month old on a transatlantic flight, sounds like it could be painful (especially for those sitting near you! )

[beowuuf]

the uk is probably going to get hit with a horrible winter again.


Enjoy your euro trip!

[cowsmanaut]

Katja is indeed a quiet baby, for the most part, however we won't know if she can pop her ears until we try.. we decided to give her as much practice as possible by picking a 19hr flight from hell that goes up and down 3 times We're counting on breast feeding to help with that, and the fact that she really likes sleep. To be honest though, I've never really agreed with the idea of bringing a baby on board but now understand the reasoning behind it. Family, and wife can be a powerful force that you don't want to mess with.. on top of that the stupid airlines tempt them with the lovely carrot of "oh but you don't have to pay for newborns aside from a tiny fee.." and so now you're faced wtih "we might not be able to afford it later" and so on.. So, now here I am, doing what I never thought was a good idea..

This will be the 2 year mark since Sandie has seen any of her family, and yes we kind of went away for xmas last year, you see, our anniversary is in december. So we went for a very bleated honeymoon over to victoria which is just a ferry ride away.. but not out of Canada. So I have not left Canada, but I've gone other places within Canada (calgary, toronto, etc) for christmas due to the fact that many of my family members are scattered all over the place. It was in fact an xmas trip away from home that I met Sandie in the first place.. So it seems going away for Xmas makes perfect sense It will be my first xmas in France though

My main concern is my french, and the few of you who have already been exposed to my horrible accent and lack of vocabulary can understand.. that it's about now i should panic about being surrounded by her entire French family, who will undoubtedly ask many questions.. I'm hoping the child will work in my favor..

them: "BLA BLA BLA BLA (french question)"......
Me: "Uh... oh look.. I have a baby!" (holds it up)...
them: "ohhhh, ahhhh.... (silence)"..
Yeah, that's how it will go down

I'm suspecting that our flying away from here will bring much snow to Canada which I'll be unhappy about missing, but Sandie will be very happy she missed.

[cowsmanaut]

so, out of curiosity.. how far are you folks from Merignac? Bordeaux? I'm out there for 2 and a half weeks. 13th-31st.. Just in case anyone was interested meeting up for some french coffee I'm trying to con my wife to pass by paris, since I didn't get to see it last time I was there... we'll see how I do on that front..

[oh_brother]

so, out of curiosity.. how far are you folks from Merignac? Bordeaux?

About 1000km according to google...I assume the same story for most people on the forum!

On a related (though I hope for your sake not too related!) topic most people I know are avoiding flights this Christmas if possible. The last two years were just too much: people stuck in airports, cancelled flights, constantly watching weather forecasts with an eerie intensity...not pleasant!

[cowsmanaut]

well normally I'm about 8166km away, I know I have the uk lads and lasses just across the water(roughly 11hrs car), and Linflas in paris about 3hrs by train or 6hrs by car.. It's rare I'm that side of the earth. So if there was a slim chance, I'd say hi to the few I was able to meet up with. if not, then there's always the chat room.. or skype

[Gambit37]

Linflas is now in Lille, not Paris, so that would be even further...

I won't be anywhere near France at Christmas, so I won't be able to say Hi, but I hope you have a good time.

[cowsmanaut]

well I guess I missed that thread.. :S crap..

oh well.. I want to return to the uk in the future, if I can manage it perhaps May.. I lost most of my photos from london, and stone henge etc. and still a few things I wanted to see. perhaps I can catch a few of you lot around that time.. we'll see how the cash flow goes.. I've picked up extra work to help increase my chances..

[Ameena]

Well, if you happen to be in the region of Kent, maybe we can meet up again and do something. You can come and see how boring Chatham is .

[linflas]

technically, i'm now closer to London (about 1h by train) than Bordeaux

[beowuuf]

Lol, that seems insane that even when Cows comes over, you would therefore be closer to me than him! (I'm a further 50 minutes from London by train)


But yeah cows, if there's any chance for you to be in the London area, or even touch high up around Ameena's area (or even as far as Oxford) I'm pretty close!

Actually, even Salisbury isn't too bad. Basingstoke is nicely central to everywhere

[Gambit37]

@Linflas: I did a "Give me directions" on Google Maps between my home in London and Lille, it's pretty short really!
http://bit.ly/rYYjQq

[cowsmanaut]

well, we'll see how it goes with baby this round before thinking about doing it again mid year. chances are i'll do the trip back into london.. providing I can get a reasonably priced spot to stay. Last time the place I got was fine, just for me.. this time will be with wife and baby..

[Ameena]

Chatham is a little bit south of London, Wuffy...well, south and east. I'm not sure I fancy anyone "touching high up around my area" though, whatever that's supposed to mean .

[beowuuf]

Huh, why did I think you were north of London? So basically you are actually closer than I think you are? Since Basingstoke is south west.


And 0.o, do we have to ban Trant here

[Ameena]

Lol...all this time and you don't know where Chatham is? Aawww...well it only takes me about 45-50 mins on a fast train to get to/from Victoria, which is why I was fine with coming up to London every day of the meet a few years ago. It's an easy trip and I don't have to change trains or anything like that. I've been to Basingstoke by train once before, when me and my sister went to stay with our aunt - I think we had to go to Victoria, then from there to Clapham Junction, then from there to Basingstoke. If you were trying to get the train from London to, say, Dover, you'd have to go through Chatham en route.
Chatham is one of the Medway towns, along with Rochester and Gillingham. It's famous for its dockyard, mainly. Rochester is where Charles Dickens used to live, and it also has a castle and a cathedral, and several festival thingys throughout the year (Sweeps festival, Dickens festival, Normandy festival...and probably some others I don't know about). I think I'm probably making this place sound more interesting than it is, but then, I live here so of course I think it's all a bit boring .

[beowuuf]

Lol, maybe I'm thinking of Chelmham, which is where I need to go to re-certify my checking stuff out certification

[Ameena]

Lol I've never heard of it...

[Gambit37]

I think he means Cheltenham...?

[Jan]

As a geographer, I find this discussion quite fascinating. Go on!

[Gambit37]

Ah, probabaly it's Chelsham: http://www.bournesociety.org.uk/bournes ... leigh.html

Anyway, going OT!

[beowuuf]

Chelmsford!

[Gambit37]

How big are your fingers again? That was some typo!

[beowuuf]

Not really a type so much as a 'towns I don't go to much sound the same' Given you gave me two valid variations, you can't blame me. I should have recalled the old Romans sitcom Chelmsford 123

[Gambit37]

That was a great old show. But we could go quite OT with that one...!

[cowsmanaut]

wow, quite the trip getting here.. Baby was good for the first 18 hrs. the last 45 mins though she turned into demon spawn and made sure everyone in the Paris airport knew how good her lungs were. The 18 hrs of perfect baby were good though Couldn't ask for any better.

Our first portion of flight though, they made us pay for food... 0_o.. I seem to remember a time when the food was included in the ticket price

My french is being pushed once again to it's limits.. barely keeping my head above water.. though I'm doing much better than the last time

[Jan]

Be glad you didn't have to pay for using the toilets.

It's nice that you daughter was calm for so long - quite surprising!

Anyway, welcome to the Collapsing Union! Make sure you spend all euros and don't take any of them back with you.