Friday, May 28, 2010
iPad goes on sale in the UK
I was up bright and early this morning to check out the line of people waiting for the iPad to go on sale in Apple's Regent Street store. It was definitely the place to be for any and all Apple lovers and the excitement was palpable. Here are a couple videos I took right before they opened the doors at 8am.
You say courgette, I say zucchini...
... and Ana says abobrinha. Whatever you want to call it, James will eat it. He enjoyed the courgette/zucchini/abobrinha that Ana fed him for lunch yesterday so we'll have to continue to the search for something that he doesn't like (now that apple has been removed from that list).
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sitting up
James can sit up on his own now, although he doesn't last for very long! We managed to catch it on video this morning... posted on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelbremer/4644563708/
Also, in case you were still surprised by the fact that there is a food James won't eat, don't fear... he's now gotten over his apple issue and eats almost an entire apple for breakfast in the morning. Maybe he prefers Gala to the Pink Lady apples I tried the first time... Gala are my favorite too, so I can understand.
Also, in case you were still surprised by the fact that there is a food James won't eat, don't fear... he's now gotten over his apple issue and eats almost an entire apple for breakfast in the morning. Maybe he prefers Gala to the Pink Lady apples I tried the first time... Gala are my favorite too, so I can understand.
Monday, May 24, 2010
We found one!
We actually found something that James doesn't like to eat... apples! I was very surprised (I love apples and applesauce!), but we tried two mornings in a row with no luck. However, he ate happily when we mixed in a little banana.
In other news, he has a new favorite toy, which you could be forgiven for mistaking for a dog's chew toy. It's made of rubber, has a squeaky middle, and is named Sophie. I can highly recommend this for anyone with a little baby....Lots of pieces to hold onto and chew on.
http://sophiegiraffeusa.com/
In other news, he has a new favorite toy, which you could be forgiven for mistaking for a dog's chew toy. It's made of rubber, has a squeaky middle, and is named Sophie. I can highly recommend this for anyone with a little baby....Lots of pieces to hold onto and chew on.
http://sophiegiraffeusa.com/
Monday, May 17, 2010
Feed me
James tried sweet potatoes for the first time this weekend and loved them. I think they might actually be his favorite becuase he smiled almost the whole time he was eating. Either that or he was just in an especially good mood. So, for those of you keeping track, the latest food count is:
Banana - the first food and still one of the most loved. He can easily eat an entire banana in one sitting.
Carrot - the second thing he ate he likes it, but it must be warmed to the exact right temperature or he won't go near it. He ate four medium sized carrots for lunch on Saturday.
Pear- the third thing he tried. Likes it although he sometimes makes a face for the first couple bites. I like that he gets a lot of water (or pear juice, I guess) along with the pear when he's eating this one.
Sweet potato - seems to be his favorite so far. Easy to mush up once it's cooked and stores pretty well in the fridge for a few days.
I'd really like to try avocado next, but the ones in the store are not very ripe right now. Maybe beetroot? We can also start to mix things up and I have a cookbook with "recipes," but that all seems a little too complicated at the moment. I kind of like the cook it and mush it plan we're following at the moment.
Enjoying some carrot...
Banana - the first food and still one of the most loved. He can easily eat an entire banana in one sitting.
Carrot - the second thing he ate he likes it, but it must be warmed to the exact right temperature or he won't go near it. He ate four medium sized carrots for lunch on Saturday.
Pear- the third thing he tried. Likes it although he sometimes makes a face for the first couple bites. I like that he gets a lot of water (or pear juice, I guess) along with the pear when he's eating this one.
Sweet potato - seems to be his favorite so far. Easy to mush up once it's cooked and stores pretty well in the fridge for a few days.
I'd really like to try avocado next, but the ones in the store are not very ripe right now. Maybe beetroot? We can also start to mix things up and I have a cookbook with "recipes," but that all seems a little too complicated at the moment. I kind of like the cook it and mush it plan we're following at the moment.
Enjoying some carrot...
Friday, May 14, 2010
Five months old
Baby J turns five months old today. He's getting bigger and bigger (as one would expect) and is starting to look more like a little boy than a baby. I've been back at work for two weeks now and things are going very well so far. James absolutely adores Ana and they have lots of fun together... when I got home the other night she had done a handprint and footprint with James and some paint made out of beetroot. How cool is this?
He's now eaten banana and carrot and liked both, although he's a little picky about the temperature of the carrot (it has to be warm enough). Next on the list is pear, which we'll try out this evening. He's now having three "meals" a day and five milk feeds. In the next few days we'll need to cut out his 10pm bottle becuase he's definitely getting enough food otherwise. Not sure how that will go, wish us luck!
Sleep wise he's doing much better. We put him down at 7pm, give him a bottle around 10pm, and he sleeps soundly until 5am. His new thing is that he wakes up at 5am and wants to play for an hour, but then he gets tired again and goes back to sleep from about 6-7am. Now if we could just cut out that hour of playtime we'd be golden!
In other news, Ric and I went out on our monthly date night last night. He took me to see War Horse- a play that has gotten nothing but amazing reviews and is pretty much sold out every night. It definitely lived up to the hype. It's very cool how they were able to make a "puppet" horse seem so life life. Reminded me of the impressive animals in the Lion King play, which I'd also highly recommend.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
He's now eaten banana and carrot and liked both, although he's a little picky about the temperature of the carrot (it has to be warm enough). Next on the list is pear, which we'll try out this evening. He's now having three "meals" a day and five milk feeds. In the next few days we'll need to cut out his 10pm bottle becuase he's definitely getting enough food otherwise. Not sure how that will go, wish us luck!
Sleep wise he's doing much better. We put him down at 7pm, give him a bottle around 10pm, and he sleeps soundly until 5am. His new thing is that he wakes up at 5am and wants to play for an hour, but then he gets tired again and goes back to sleep from about 6-7am. Now if we could just cut out that hour of playtime we'd be golden!
In other news, Ric and I went out on our monthly date night last night. He took me to see War Horse- a play that has gotten nothing but amazing reviews and is pretty much sold out every night. It definitely lived up to the hype. It's very cool how they were able to make a "puppet" horse seem so life life. Reminded me of the impressive animals in the Lion King play, which I'd also highly recommend.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Monkey Man
Many of you already heard, but the big development in James Town this week was the introduction of real food. Most docs tell you to start with baby rice, but we couldn't find it anywhere so we went straight to banana. Ana said this is what they start babies on in Brazil (well, either banana or papaya, and I probably don't need to outline the chances of finding a papaya in London in May) and our doctor ok'd it so we jumped right in. He loved it. Figured the whole thing out pretty quickly and would probably down an entire banana in one sitting if we let him. He now eats twice a day. And we'll start to add in new foods every 3 or 4 days. I'd like to try avocado next. Lots of vitamins, healthy fat, and, most importantly, it's easy to mush up!
More pics and videos on Flickr.
More pics and videos on Flickr.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Breaking News - Hampstead
Ric here. Just so everyone is clear, when I say "Breaking News", what I really mean is "slow moving and not that exciting for anyone outside of Hampstead". Anyway, to really know what's going on in Hampers, you need to hit the streets, you need to talk to people. It also helps to be out there early (Thanks James) to get to know the local shopkeepers as they open up, and most importantly, to ask questions of the construction workers involved in renovations. I was walking to "Messco" (Tesco) this morning and spotted construction going on in the old Bagel Street which closed down months ago. There happened to be a worker on his way out and he was kind enough to tell me that a new deli by the name of Melrose and Morgan is going in. They currently have a shop in Primrose Hill and this will be their second. I think it might be a stretch to call this a "deli" for our American readers but I'll take it. The food looks good and I'll be happy for yet another lunch option in Ye Olde Hampstead.
The irony of the recession here is that Hampstead will soon have more up-market shops ("high-end" to those reading from the colonies) than 2 years ago. We've already talked about a few but I'll throw Zadig & Voltaire in there as well. Heck, I'll even throw in Slide of Ice, even though technically JA Steele closed well in advance of the worst of the recession, and more importantly, JA Steele was a Hampstead institution...and that comes from someone who owns the Hampstead Cookbook. A cynical person might say that there were good chefs in Hampstead because of the lack of any decent recent restaurants, but we won't go there.
As you can see, look no further than the Bremer Blog for anything and everything going on in Hampstonia.
The irony of the recession here is that Hampstead will soon have more up-market shops ("high-end" to those reading from the colonies) than 2 years ago. We've already talked about a few but I'll throw Zadig & Voltaire in there as well. Heck, I'll even throw in Slide of Ice, even though technically JA Steele closed well in advance of the worst of the recession, and more importantly, JA Steele was a Hampstead institution...and that comes from someone who owns the Hampstead Cookbook. A cynical person might say that there were good chefs in Hampstead because of the lack of any decent recent restaurants, but we won't go there.
As you can see, look no further than the Bremer Blog for anything and everything going on in Hampstonia.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Ola Ana!
Just wanted to introduce everyone to Ana, the wonderful woman who is now taking care of James while I'm at work. Ana is from Sau Paulo Brazil, where she was the director of a nursery school. She has lots of experience with the babies from her school (where she worked for five years), has a 7 year old daughter of her own, and James adores her. She's great at getting him to smile, play, and take naps! She's also going to be a huge help as we start weaning James onto solids, which begins tomorrow with a little rice cereal. James is almost 17 pounds (16.8 to be exact) and the doctor said he's definitely ready for "real" food. Speaking of food, Ana has also been cooking dinner for Ric and I and it's AMAZING. We are very happy to have her as a part of our family.
Here's a pic of Ana and James...
Here's a pic of Ana and James...
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Back in the Saddle
Today is my first day back at work after 4 1/2 months of maternity leave. The last few months since James was born have both flown by and seemed to drag on forever. I remember those first days/weeks feeling like every minute was lasting at least a day. It was all so new and so hard to adjust to. Every day was exactly the same and I felt like my old life completely disappeared. And I had liked my old life! A lot! But then the little man and I got to know each other a little better. And he started to smile (and smile, and smile, and smile). And he started developing his own personality. And I learned more about what he likes and doesn't like. And I learned more about his crying... when he's just being fussy, when something's wrong, when he's tired, hungry, etc. And we kind of worked out our own new life together. And it wasn't too bad. But of course, as I've also learned since having a baby, just when you think you've got something figured out, it changes. So, fittingly, just when I thought I had started to get the hang of this mom thing, it's time for another big change. Working. In honor of that change, I thought I would list a few of the things I missed while I was on mat leave, some things I didn't miss, and the things that I will now miss as a working mom.
What I missed:
1. Walking around without having to PLAN to do so. And get "packed" before leaving to go anywhere. And think about what time it is before I leave and figure out when I need to be back
2. Walking around without a little person attached to me - either literally or figuratively
3. The technology industry - I never thought this would make the list, but after working in the tech world for almost 8 years, I actually missed knowing what was going on
4. Feeling like some part of my life is my own
5. Having things to talk about other than baby updates
6. The fruit stand guy where I get my daily banana
7. The salmon salad at Itsu for lunch
8. Getting dressed every day in something other than jeans and a gray sweater
What I didn't miss:
1. The bathroom at work
2. The tube during commuting hours
3. The sheer quantity of work email
4. Having to get dressed every day and pick out something other than jeans and a gray sweater
What I will miss:
1. The little man (of course)
2. Walking around Hampstead with him in the Baby Bjorn and seeing all the people in the neighborhood who know and love him. The guy at Simply Scrumptious, the Starbucks ladies, the Indian women at Tesco who call him "little Babu," the Slice of Ice lady (not that we spent ANY time at the ice cream shop...)
3. His constant smiling
4. Watching Ugly Betty every morning with my Starbucks while James is feeding
5. Long walks in the Heath during the day when it's totally empty
6. Meeting up with some of my other mom friends during the day (especially when we go to the Duke for a pint of London Pride around 4pm)
7. Baby Club movies - I haven't done this in a while actually, but I remember them very fondly. And I don't think we'll be seeing many movies in the theater now that we're both working
8. Two hour lunches at the White Bear while James naps in his stroller. Especially when he's sleeping well
9. Hanging out with him after he's woken up from a nap... he's so happy and smiley and content to just sit with me and play. Most of the rest of the day he gets really antsy and needs to be on the move, so these few moments of quiet, relaxed time were always a treat
What I missed:
1. Walking around without having to PLAN to do so. And get "packed" before leaving to go anywhere. And think about what time it is before I leave and figure out when I need to be back
2. Walking around without a little person attached to me - either literally or figuratively
3. The technology industry - I never thought this would make the list, but after working in the tech world for almost 8 years, I actually missed knowing what was going on
4. Feeling like some part of my life is my own
5. Having things to talk about other than baby updates
6. The fruit stand guy where I get my daily banana
7. The salmon salad at Itsu for lunch
8. Getting dressed every day in something other than jeans and a gray sweater
What I didn't miss:
1. The bathroom at work
2. The tube during commuting hours
3. The sheer quantity of work email
4. Having to get dressed every day and pick out something other than jeans and a gray sweater
What I will miss:
1. The little man (of course)
2. Walking around Hampstead with him in the Baby Bjorn and seeing all the people in the neighborhood who know and love him. The guy at Simply Scrumptious, the Starbucks ladies, the Indian women at Tesco who call him "little Babu," the Slice of Ice lady (not that we spent ANY time at the ice cream shop...)
3. His constant smiling
4. Watching Ugly Betty every morning with my Starbucks while James is feeding
5. Long walks in the Heath during the day when it's totally empty
6. Meeting up with some of my other mom friends during the day (especially when we go to the Duke for a pint of London Pride around 4pm)
7. Baby Club movies - I haven't done this in a while actually, but I remember them very fondly. And I don't think we'll be seeing many movies in the theater now that we're both working
8. Two hour lunches at the White Bear while James naps in his stroller. Especially when he's sleeping well
9. Hanging out with him after he's woken up from a nap... he's so happy and smiley and content to just sit with me and play. Most of the rest of the day he gets really antsy and needs to be on the move, so these few moments of quiet, relaxed time were always a treat
Italy!
We got back from Italy Sunday night and had a wonderful, albeit not necessarily "restful" vacation. James was a very good little traveler and we definitely learned lessons on the France trip that helped us this time. Having the Baby Bjorn with us in the airport was probably the biggest. He's much happier "hanging" out in that thing than he is strapped into his stroller.
The trip started out a little rocky... we showed up at the airport to find out our flight had been canceled. Not because of the ash, ironically, but because of some "technical" problems with the plane. We were fairly lucky with the solution they were offering... a 3pm flight to Bologna instead of 10am to Florence. We were able to rent a car from the Bologna airport and drive directly from there, which was only about an hour further than Florence. All in all, it wasn't too bad, even with a baby.
We arrived in Tuscany late on Saturday night and were exhausted. James didn't sleep very well for most of the trip, so we didn't get a lot of sleep either. The weather in Tuscany was gorgeous - very warm and sunny. We spent our days eating really long lunches while James napped and walking around the agroturismo where we were staying (I'll write more about each hotel in separate posts). Having spent so much time in Italy and Florence specifically, this was our first trip to Tuscany and we loved it. The countryside is gorgeous and the food and wine amazing as well. Our most memorable lunch was two miles out a dirt road in the middle of nowhere at a small, family run place. We sat at a picnic table outside and ended up spending almost four hours at the place. After lunch we walked around and ended up talking with some of the other people who were having their Sunday family lunches there. Lots of kids running around so James felt right at home. The next day we had a delicious lunch at a slightly nicer restauarnt with amazing food. And we were some of the only people there which made it nice.
After three nights at the Salvadoncia in Tuscany we made our way by car to the Piedmont region, close to the town of Alba (where we went a couple years ago to the truffle festival), which was about a 4 hour drive. This part of northern Italy is gorgeous wine country as well, but slightly less well known and therefore less crowded than Tuscany. The good weather held out and we stayed in a great hotel called Villa Tiboldi. The yummy meals continued... the food in Piedmont is very "culinary"... if that makes sense. It's where the slow food movement started and chefs take their cuisine very seriously. Where Tuscany felt a little more rustic and simple, Piedmont food was a little more refined, but still with the same focus on really good ingredients and letting their flavor come through. One lunch, our favorite of the whole trip, was at a place in Canale called 'All Enoteca. We were the only people there and the chef came out and spent a lot of time with us before and after the meal. We did a nice long tasting menu and one of the first course was pig "from head to foot." We were very adventurous, eating everything from tongue, to head, to stomach, to foot. I was very proud of myself for trying everything and it all tasted pretty good (if you could get over the fact that you were eating a pig foot...). The chef had a daughter James's age, so we promised to bring him back when he's a little older for their arranged marriage. I could think of worse things for the little guy than marrying a great Italian chef's pretty daughter!
We spent five nights in Piedmont and left on Sunday for a flight from Milan. The drive to Milan was only a couple hours and pretty much a straight shot. We got home last night without incident and the traveling overall was much easier than when we went to France. James was THRILLED to be home. When we laid him in his crib he looked up at his mobile and just started squealing in delight. He didn't stop smiling for the next hour... just so excited. It was really cute.
He was a huge hit in Italy. Italians LOVE babies and James, it turns out, loves Italians. I'm not sure if it's the language, which sounds like a song, or the big smiles. But, except for one fussy day, he smiled more than we've ever seen him. Everywhere we went he was making friends and people constantly said "que bello" and "simpactico" which basically means that he's a beautiful, sweet baby. We agree!
The videos and pictures are up on Flickr... enjoy!
The trip started out a little rocky... we showed up at the airport to find out our flight had been canceled. Not because of the ash, ironically, but because of some "technical" problems with the plane. We were fairly lucky with the solution they were offering... a 3pm flight to Bologna instead of 10am to Florence. We were able to rent a car from the Bologna airport and drive directly from there, which was only about an hour further than Florence. All in all, it wasn't too bad, even with a baby.
We arrived in Tuscany late on Saturday night and were exhausted. James didn't sleep very well for most of the trip, so we didn't get a lot of sleep either. The weather in Tuscany was gorgeous - very warm and sunny. We spent our days eating really long lunches while James napped and walking around the agroturismo where we were staying (I'll write more about each hotel in separate posts). Having spent so much time in Italy and Florence specifically, this was our first trip to Tuscany and we loved it. The countryside is gorgeous and the food and wine amazing as well. Our most memorable lunch was two miles out a dirt road in the middle of nowhere at a small, family run place. We sat at a picnic table outside and ended up spending almost four hours at the place. After lunch we walked around and ended up talking with some of the other people who were having their Sunday family lunches there. Lots of kids running around so James felt right at home. The next day we had a delicious lunch at a slightly nicer restauarnt with amazing food. And we were some of the only people there which made it nice.
After three nights at the Salvadoncia in Tuscany we made our way by car to the Piedmont region, close to the town of Alba (where we went a couple years ago to the truffle festival), which was about a 4 hour drive. This part of northern Italy is gorgeous wine country as well, but slightly less well known and therefore less crowded than Tuscany. The good weather held out and we stayed in a great hotel called Villa Tiboldi. The yummy meals continued... the food in Piedmont is very "culinary"... if that makes sense. It's where the slow food movement started and chefs take their cuisine very seriously. Where Tuscany felt a little more rustic and simple, Piedmont food was a little more refined, but still with the same focus on really good ingredients and letting their flavor come through. One lunch, our favorite of the whole trip, was at a place in Canale called 'All Enoteca. We were the only people there and the chef came out and spent a lot of time with us before and after the meal. We did a nice long tasting menu and one of the first course was pig "from head to foot." We were very adventurous, eating everything from tongue, to head, to stomach, to foot. I was very proud of myself for trying everything and it all tasted pretty good (if you could get over the fact that you were eating a pig foot...). The chef had a daughter James's age, so we promised to bring him back when he's a little older for their arranged marriage. I could think of worse things for the little guy than marrying a great Italian chef's pretty daughter!
We spent five nights in Piedmont and left on Sunday for a flight from Milan. The drive to Milan was only a couple hours and pretty much a straight shot. We got home last night without incident and the traveling overall was much easier than when we went to France. James was THRILLED to be home. When we laid him in his crib he looked up at his mobile and just started squealing in delight. He didn't stop smiling for the next hour... just so excited. It was really cute.
He was a huge hit in Italy. Italians LOVE babies and James, it turns out, loves Italians. I'm not sure if it's the language, which sounds like a song, or the big smiles. But, except for one fussy day, he smiled more than we've ever seen him. Everywhere we went he was making friends and people constantly said "que bello" and "simpactico" which basically means that he's a beautiful, sweet baby. We agree!
The videos and pictures are up on Flickr... enjoy!
Monday, May 3, 2010
REVIEW: Villa Tiboldi, Piedmont Italy
Villa Tiboldi is in the Piedmont region of Northern Italy about an hour from Turin and 2 from Milan. It's set on top of a hill and the buildings that make up the hotel are absolutely gorgeous. It's on a working vineyard and they give you lots of opportunities to try their own Malvira wine.
The best things about this place were the rooms and the restaurant. We stayed in a suite that had a living room (where James slept) a bedroom and a big bathroom. It felt more like someone's home than a hotel, which was really nice since we were there for so many nights. And the restaurant was about 10 feet away from our front door. It's a nice, fairly well known restaurant in the area, so the menu was pretty short and focused. That was okay the first or second time we ate there, but we did get a little tired of ordering the same thing every night. But it was much better than having to drive somewhere. When we ate lunch outside, for example, we could leave the door to our room open and pretty much hear James snoring. The staff is really helpful and becuase this is more of a hotel, there are lots of amenities and always someone around to help you out. They washed all of James's bottles for us every morning, for example, and were able to organize a babysitter for us for two nights when we went out to dinner on our own. The breakfasts were amazing as well and everything was very convenient. The aforementioned kettle came in really handy... we were able to sterilize and prepare bottles for the daily very easily.
The downside to this place is that there wasn't much room to walk around and nowhere to sit inside until the main office opened at 8:30am (James had been awake for an hour and a half by then). It's on the top of a hill, so you have to walk down a pretty steep incline no matter what direction you go in. And it's on a tiny winding road, so not particularly safe with a big stroller. So, if there was some way to combine Salvadonica and Villa Tiboldi we'd have the perfect location!
The best things about this place were the rooms and the restaurant. We stayed in a suite that had a living room (where James slept) a bedroom and a big bathroom. It felt more like someone's home than a hotel, which was really nice since we were there for so many nights. And the restaurant was about 10 feet away from our front door. It's a nice, fairly well known restaurant in the area, so the menu was pretty short and focused. That was okay the first or second time we ate there, but we did get a little tired of ordering the same thing every night. But it was much better than having to drive somewhere. When we ate lunch outside, for example, we could leave the door to our room open and pretty much hear James snoring. The staff is really helpful and becuase this is more of a hotel, there are lots of amenities and always someone around to help you out. They washed all of James's bottles for us every morning, for example, and were able to organize a babysitter for us for two nights when we went out to dinner on our own. The breakfasts were amazing as well and everything was very convenient. The aforementioned kettle came in really handy... we were able to sterilize and prepare bottles for the daily very easily.
The downside to this place is that there wasn't much room to walk around and nowhere to sit inside until the main office opened at 8:30am (James had been awake for an hour and a half by then). It's on the top of a hill, so you have to walk down a pretty steep incline no matter what direction you go in. And it's on a tiny winding road, so not particularly safe with a big stroller. So, if there was some way to combine Salvadonica and Villa Tiboldi we'd have the perfect location!
REVIEW: Salvadonica, Tuscany Italy
Salvadonica is an agroturismo located about 40 minutes away from Florence. It's in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside and is set on acres of land that includes vineyards, a small soccer field, a one hole golf "course", horse and walking trails, a swimming pool, and lots of gorgeous little places to sit and enjoy the view.
The best part about this place was definitely the grounds. There was so much to do, for people with kids or babies... lots of room to walk around, which James loves, and so many different places to sit, both inside and outside. We had a suite with two rooms and James was in the other room. He was a little quieter this time although we still wished we had a sound machine (I had actually ordered a travel one before we left, but it didn't arrive in time). There was also a small kitchen where we could wash bottles and boil water for sterilization.
The downside was that you couldn't eat dinner at the place. There was a decent restaurant about 2 kms away so we ate there three nights in a row. It was ok, but there's something really nice about not having to put James in the car every night and drive somewhere for dinner. The rooms were very spacious but also very basic. We didn't have a kettle, for example, which we did have in Piedmont and made the bottle process much easier. They didn't have as many amenities, but again, the grounds around the B&B were amazing.
Pics coming soon...
The best part about this place was definitely the grounds. There was so much to do, for people with kids or babies... lots of room to walk around, which James loves, and so many different places to sit, both inside and outside. We had a suite with two rooms and James was in the other room. He was a little quieter this time although we still wished we had a sound machine (I had actually ordered a travel one before we left, but it didn't arrive in time). There was also a small kitchen where we could wash bottles and boil water for sterilization.
The downside was that you couldn't eat dinner at the place. There was a decent restaurant about 2 kms away so we ate there three nights in a row. It was ok, but there's something really nice about not having to put James in the car every night and drive somewhere for dinner. The rooms were very spacious but also very basic. We didn't have a kettle, for example, which we did have in Piedmont and made the bottle process much easier. They didn't have as many amenities, but again, the grounds around the B&B were amazing.
Pics coming soon...
REVIEW: Le Tresor, Sonnac Sur l'Hers France
I thought I would start writing short reviews of the places we've stayed on holidays with a specific focus on how the place was with a baby. Maybe helpful for someone else traveling with kids out there!
Le Tresor is in the south of France. We flew into Toulouse and it was about an hour and a half drive. The B&B is in the middle of nowhere. Gorgeous countryside but it's a pretty good drive wherever you want to go. It's run by a British couple who has a couple kids of their own and is set up to be "baby friendly."
The pros of this place are that you can eat breakfast and dinner in the house. Our room was close enough to the dining room that we were able to leave James upstairs and eat on our own, which felt like a mini night out. Tilly, the wife who helps run the B&B, is the chef and cooked very good, simple meals. She and her husband Will are very helpful, especially becuase they speak English. They've even got British TV stations in the rooms and lots of English DVDs to watch. It's also nice that there are lots of walking trails right outside of the B&B... you can walk up a hill for an amazing view of the Pyrenees mountains, or cross the street to follow a long, flat path along an old railroad track. They are also set up to deal with kids and have small things like a bottle sterilizer, which came in really handy. We had a room with a smaller, separate room where James had his cot. The room was gorgeous, but the walls were really thin (see below) so he might as well have been in with us.
The cons are that the walls are REALLY thin. We heard every breath of James's all night and since we're not used to him sleeping in the same room with us, this was hard to adjust to. For some reason he didn't sleep well either and made a LOT of noise. So none of us slept at all. It's also a little far from everything, but if you're looking for a baby friendly place to stay in the country we would definitely recommend it. Just bring some kind of sound machine to help drown out the baby snores.
Le Tresor is in the south of France. We flew into Toulouse and it was about an hour and a half drive. The B&B is in the middle of nowhere. Gorgeous countryside but it's a pretty good drive wherever you want to go. It's run by a British couple who has a couple kids of their own and is set up to be "baby friendly."
The pros of this place are that you can eat breakfast and dinner in the house. Our room was close enough to the dining room that we were able to leave James upstairs and eat on our own, which felt like a mini night out. Tilly, the wife who helps run the B&B, is the chef and cooked very good, simple meals. She and her husband Will are very helpful, especially becuase they speak English. They've even got British TV stations in the rooms and lots of English DVDs to watch. It's also nice that there are lots of walking trails right outside of the B&B... you can walk up a hill for an amazing view of the Pyrenees mountains, or cross the street to follow a long, flat path along an old railroad track. They are also set up to deal with kids and have small things like a bottle sterilizer, which came in really handy. We had a room with a smaller, separate room where James had his cot. The room was gorgeous, but the walls were really thin (see below) so he might as well have been in with us.
The cons are that the walls are REALLY thin. We heard every breath of James's all night and since we're not used to him sleeping in the same room with us, this was hard to adjust to. For some reason he didn't sleep well either and made a LOT of noise. So none of us slept at all. It's also a little far from everything, but if you're looking for a baby friendly place to stay in the country we would definitely recommend it. Just bring some kind of sound machine to help drown out the baby snores.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
