The Birthday Week/end

Long before I made plans to live in Aix-en-Provence, my parents accepted an invitation to golf in Portugal with my dad's Chicago-based investment group.  My mom said to me months ago that they’d pop over from Portugal to France while I to visit.  When we pulled out the calendar and realized that their visit coincided with Sadie’s birthday, I was very happy.  Sadie is not unique that she loves her birthday.  Every splash of specialness helps in celebrating October 9th.

Last Friday,  five days before Sadie turned ten, my parents flew from Farro through Lisbon to Marseille.  I rented a car, picked up the kids from school, and drove to the airport.  I knew they were not traveling with golf clubs but still I was worried that our European rental would not be big enough for their luggage and all five of us.

I was wrong.  We fit in the car, but barely.  After picking them up at the airport, we packed the car.  Luggage was everywhere.  Our first stop was our apartment in Aix.  We needed to drop off their big bags and repack to a weekend bag.  I double parked the car across from our apartment, they ran upstairs and repacked.  By 7pm, we were headed south to the Rivera to a sweet little town called Hyères ( prounced “ee-air” which is also the pronunciation of the French word for “hier” meaning yesterday.)   I rented an Airbnb in the town. We had a great plan.

Hyéres is only an hour from Aix-en-Provence just past Toulon.  It was the first time that I had driven at night.  It was not a big deal until we arrived to the bustling town and the street signs were impossible to see.  Fortunately, my dad is a very competent navigator and it wasn’t long before we found parking close to our apartment.

We dragged our bags up the pedestrian cobble stone street.  We left Sadie and my mom at the bottom of the hill to find us a table for dinner.   Brewster, my dad and I  searched for our apartment.  Fortunately, we were greeted by our host at the front door which looked like it belonged on a castle.   He showed us inside the amazingly old building and around our apartment.   Our favorite part was the double terrace filled with plants and outdoor furniture.  It was directly over the town. We knew then we had found a special spot.

Dinner was nothing special that night.  Or at least the food at the outdoor café was not memorable.  However, being with my parents and my kids in France was a moment worth a toast!  I loved sharing details from the past six weeks with them.  Sadie and Brewster took turns telling them stories of school.  I shared my adventures and we laughed about how hard the first couple weeks  had been for all of us.  But they share my pride in the resilience both Sadie and Brewster have proven.  We are all surviving!

The weekend passed quickly.  The Saturday market was filled with fantastic French textiles, fruits, vegetables and other French stalls.  We ate lunch in the ancient plaza under the bell tower and had dinner in the old square. In between we  napped, toured gardens and climbed around castle ruins in Hyéres.  It was really fun for all three generations.

The nights were rowdy in town.   I shared the bunk room with Sadie and we felt like we were in the bar downstairs.  At one point, the band sang the French National Anthem and I felt our old building shaking.  We finally fell asleep after the music stopped but woke up with the recycling at 4am.  I didn’t leave the weekend fully rested, but didn’t mind too much.

We woke to rain on Sunday so we took our time packing up.  Before lunch, we drove to the beach to explore the Rivera.  My mom and I agreed that we didn’t miss much by not staying on the beach.  It was nice to be near the sea.  I find any body of water soothing.  We found a little town near by with a handful of restaurants so we stopped for lunch.  There was a triathlon in the town so parking was at a premium.  Sadie and I boast about our good parking angels and once again they came through.  We had so-so sandwiches at the café but the kids loved their ice-cream and so we consider that a win!  We piled back int he car, drove throughToulon and then home to Aix.

Since it was Sunday night,  we ate pizza.  My dad and Brewster watched the early NFL games on the computer and Sadie, my mom and I chatted.  

We all went to bed early and looked forward to the big birthday week ahead.

Monday, the day before Sadie’s birthday, also drizzled.  I brought the kids to school and ran in the park nearby.  I went home for another cup of coffee and a shower.  Before heading out for the day, my dad pulled out his train ticket for Wednesday.  They were taking the TGV to Paris.  We realized then that the ticket was  departing from the Marseille TGV and not Aix-en-Provence.  Whoops! My dad didn’t realize that there were two stations.   It wasn’t a very stressful situation when we realized we lived 20 miles away from the Marseille station.  They would take an Uber and we all felt relieved that we figured it out on Monday and not Wednesday!

My mom, dad and I walked through the old town of Aix to Paul Cézanne's studio located 15 minutes above the city center.  We saw many of the objects that he used in his late paintings as well as a letter to Claude Monet from the turn of the century.  My mom took at least 55 photos (you know MA!) and we strolled down the hill for lunch just as the rain began again.  After another tasty French meal and some rosé my parents were ready for their nap. I needed a little time to prepare for Sadie's birthday the next day.  We had a chill afternoon at the apartment and then the kids came home and the three of us went to basketball practice.  I sent my parents out into town a superb meal at a restaurant I lunched at a few weeks ago.

Tuesday morning started at 5:30am with a quick birthday call from Matty and then Sadie called her Mimi and Uncle David in Minneapolis.  She was ecstatic to be ten and I had no idea how she was going to maintain her energy throughout the day starting this early.  But she did!  She was hoping to talk to her bestie, Cayenne before Cayenne went to bed, but they only had a quick text exchange.  It was enough for Sadie.  All smiles.   She  waited until the clock struck 7am.  At that time, the two of us walked over to the bakery and we picked out two packages of French macaroons to bring to her classroom.  Sadie was very specific with what she wanted to bring for her party.  

While the kids were at school, my parents and I enjoyed the Tuesday market and played tourist from 10am-12n.  We signed up for a tour and learned all about the history of Aix-en-Provence and the amazing architecture in the old city .  We loved our guide and and I now look at the buildings in a whole new light with my fresh knowledge.

We celebrated Sadie after school.  My mom took her shopping and then we met Brewster and my dad for a delicious Japanese dinner at a restaurant called Koi.  The food, ambiance and company was all memorable.  We looked for a scoop of ice cream after dinner but Tuesday night in mid-October must not be a money maker for the local shops.  Everything was closed up.  We walked slowly home.  Sadie sang Hamilton and we didn't mind.  It was her birthday after all.

We love Tuesday nights because no school Wednesday!  My parents left by 7:15am on Wednesday morning in the pouring rain.   It was a perfect day for lounging around and catching up on sleep and laundry (Although I couldn't dry anyting on the line).  I reflected how blessed I am to have parents in good health and humor.  We all loved our time together an I am acutely aware that these visits are very very special.  Nothing lasts forever.  LOVE YOU MA & DA XO