Last minute trip to France - suggestions?

[cariad]

Hiya,

OK, this is probably a long shot, but I thought I'd give it a go. Gwyn has a business trip to France this week. Since it also happens to be my birthday week, and all I asked for was a trip (to Spain... but this will do) we are all heading out to the continent.

We leave tomorrow evening, will spend a night in south of England and then head out early Thursday for France. We must start in Lyon. Other than that, we will have a car and can go pretty much anywhere, but I would prefer to not spend too much time in a vehicle, nor move hotels. Since we have to be back by Tuesday evening at the absolute latest, I am thinking that Gwyn's suggestions of Monaco or Marseilles are a bit too far afield. Can anyone (monrein??) suggest any towns in the north of France that would be worth a few days of our time. We are not in to 'attractions' (no EuroDisney!) but enjoy things that are a bit quirky. Outdoor sights/activities are ideal. Is Lyon worth staying in for the full time? I would like to take the boys to Paris (they want to see the Eiffel Tower) but don't particularly want to stay there with them as big, foreign cities are just too overwhelming for us at this stage. However, I would gladly skip Paris this time around if there is some spectacular town we could explore instead.

If anyone knows of some great options, I'd love to hear. Thanks in advance!

[MooseMom]

Well, I don't know if this would be the right time of year to do this, but I suggest Normandy.  You can go to Bayeaux and see the tapestry depicting the events that lead up to the Battle of Hastings.  You can go to Giverny to see Monet's garden, although, again, I'm not sure what it will look like in mid-winter.  And then there are the Normandy beaches.  We happened to be there on an anniversary of D-Day, and our visit there is something I'll never forget.  We rented a house and toured the area without having to spend a lot of time in the car. 

Rouen is rather beautiful.  You can see where Joan of Arc died.  Young boys seem to like to see that sort of thing.

[cariad]

Thanks, MM! We have nothing booked as of yet, so we're winging it as usual. The manager at the charity shop (also a good friend) corroborated that Normandy and Brittany are both beautiful. (Her father was a French teacher for 30 years or so - she thinks all the school hols he took kids on has put him off France because they have not been back since he left the job!) Another volunteer said to give Lille a miss, so we will probably take that advice, and yours, and spend some time seeing what Normandy has to offer. To his credit, Gwyn has contacted all sorts of cottage owners and it seems there is wide availability right now.

I wanted to go to the Mousterian sites of France and there are some up north. I really, really wanted to see Lascaux, until I heard that all one can see is the reproduction of Lascaux, and that the actual caves have been hermetically sealed since the early 1960s due to the start of damage from all the warm air breathed out by visitors. They attempted to recreate the caves using the same materials, and now the reproduction is in danger as well. I was actually quite upset to learn this. Even the website brings tears to my eyes, it is just so awe-inspiring - the thought that our ancestors created this breathtaking mural, putting their hopes and fears and passions down as a record for tens of thousands of years. I think something like that should belong to the world, but for now it only belongs to the few scientists who get to go in there.

Ah, no surprise, I've digressed. I really don't have time for digressions right now. Packing, packing. Thanks again for taking the time to help. 

[MooseMom]

I know what you mean about Lascaux.  I have longed to see that for years, but we'll just have to be content with photos, I guess.

I hope you enjoy your trip wherever you go!  Have fun!

[billybags]

So you are taking the boys out of school?  They fine us in Nottingham. Hope you have a lovely time.

[cariad]

So you are taking the boys out of school?  They fine us in Nottingham. Hope you have a lovely time.

No one mentioned a fine, so they better not. I filled out the forms to get an excused absence. Our record of attendance is spotless and I told them that Gwyn has been sent on this trip by work with little notice (true), that we have all been so sick that he doesn't want to leave me with the boys (true), and that it's my birthday weekend (true). My only lie is one of omission - I did not mention that the work trip consists of a 3-hour meeting in Lyon Friday morning, and that's it. I maybe, kinda made it seem like the work portion went into next week....

It is apparently up to the school head. I suspect she's about as lax as they come on this issue.

Don't think I could live in Nottingham!

[Poppylicious]

So you are taking the boys out of school?  They fine us in Nottingham. Hope you have a lovely time.

Ha ha, that was my very first thought too!

Don't think I could live in Nottingham!

Not just in Nottingham; I thought it was a national thingy. You used to be allowed two weeks and then they clamped down and now it's at the Head's discretion. Still, it's complete twaddle anyway. The boys are going to learn far more on a trip to France than they will cooped up in a post-Christmas classroom for a couple of days.  A term time holiday just sitting on a beach at an all-inclusive hotel doing nothing?  Shouldn't be allowed.  A term-time holiday exploring a foreign country and all it has to offer? Definitely should be allowed. 

Hope you all had a brilliant time.

 

[cariad]

We're back!

I had an amazing birthday - I got exactly what I wanted, no presents, please, just the trip. We spent my birthday in Paris - the first time I have been with my family. The boys wanted to see the Louvre, so although Gwyn and I have both already been on separate occasions, it was closest to the train station so we walked there first. Saw Mona Lisa, Victoire de Samothrace, and Venus de Milo and then trudged across town to the Musee Rodin. This was my first visit there, and it was fantastique! I got that same thrill seeing Le Penseur as I did the first time I saw the Mona Lisa or Picasso's Guernica. We saw the large Penseur in the garden first, then went inside and I stood under the original Penseur staring into his eyes, and it felt like he was contemplating me. The boys have been studying Van Gogh in school and there were two of his works upstairs in the 'Friends of Rodin' room.

We stayed until that museum shut, then I had my birthday dinner - cheese crepes from a cart in the nearby park, sitting on a bench in a light drizzle. It was exactly what I had hoped for, and after my cheese crepes I had a citron for dessert. The boys wanted to see the Eiffel tower, so we sloshed through a rainy/snowy mix, trying to follow the lights that were coming off the tower. On the way to the tower we happened upon a shop called Aux Merveilleux De Fred and Gwyn bought me 15 miniature merveilleux. They were so bewilderingly delicious I cannot even begin to describe the sensation of trying them for the first time. At the tower we were so cold and it was getting a bit close to our train time so we decided to save a trip up the tower for another visit and instead managed to hail a taxi (finally) and go to a brasserie across from the station, enjoying wine, beer, coffee, and hot chocolate until we had to board the train. I have had some pretty amazing birthdays, so I feel so lucky to have yet another one that will stay with me for a lifetime. We did not get back to our cottage until gone midnight.

We spent the other days in Rouen, a magnificent little city just over an hour north of Paris. We went to a the art museum there where the boys saw their first Monet (a spectacular one at that) and saw where Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake. We also went shopping - never thought I would save money by buying clothes in France, but we bought some incredibly special items in Rouen for next to nothing. 8 chic tops for the boys cost us just over 80 euros (insane) and they each have luxurious new dressing gowns to get through the bitter cold in England. We also happened upon a shop called Bazaar of the Bizarre - a sci-fi geek's paradise. It was filled with all sorts of kitschy memorabilia, including a talking Yoda whose mouth moved as he lectured Do. Or do not. There is no try. Some of these items I had never seen before, like a soft toy of Sideshow Bob (Simpsons) wearing what Dyl called his 'Congo outfit' and holding a knife behind his back. We let Aidan buy a 'Try Not' Yoda tee and Dyl got a Pokemon that can be transformed into a Pokeball. Normally these type of shops do nothing for me, but I could not stop laughing watching this Yoda spouting off famous lines from the films.

Not just in Nottingham; I thought it was a national thingy. You used to be allowed two weeks and then they clamped down and now it's at the Head's discretion. Still, it's complete twaddle anyway. The boys are going to learn far more on a trip to France than they will cooped up in a post-Christmas classroom for a couple of days.  A term time holiday just sitting on a beach at an all-inclusive hotel doing nothing?  Shouldn't be allowed.  A term-time holiday exploring a foreign country and all it has to offer? Definitely should be allowed. 

I agree! Twaddle is a marvelous word for the policy! I am making the boys write a short essay on Joan of Arc since we spent most of our time in the city of her execution. They can now define martyr, heretic and beatification on command!  They also acquired new motivation to learn French and can say a few basic phrases. I've enrolled them both in French club through their school.

Ah, but it turns out that I was given misinformation at Birmingham Airport last August when the supervisor told me that I was free to travel throughout the EU on my visitor's visa. Not so! I was detained at passport control in France on the way back to England and they told me that they should really refuse me entry to the UK. The supervisor there told me that it was only because I had two children that she was recognising my 'exceptional circumstances'. I only had a month left on my visitor's visa, and she only wanted to give me two months from the day of my re-entry to obtain a visa, but before she could stop him, her colleague had stamped my passport for an additional six months. I now have until July before I face deportation. (Speaking of twaddle....)

Pickies from the trip below!

[cariad]

And a few bonus pics!

[MooseMom]

I have to tell you this story.

When I got married back in 1985 (to my ex, who lived in the UK and was a British citizen; I met him over there), we got married here in the US and then moved "back" to the UK.  I had gone to the British consulate in Houston and had completed all of the paperwork.  So, we get to Gatwick, and I present my passport and various other official documents, and the immigration official was all atwitter because apparently THE DAY BEFORE, new immigration laws had come into effect.  Technically, he should have given me a visitor's visa, but since he could tell I had spent a LOT of time to do just as I had been instructed, he said, "I'm going to make an executive decision here," and he issued my with a visa entitling me to multiple entries for eternity AND enabled me to be legally employed.  LOL!  Oh man, did THAT save me a lot of trouble over the next 20 years! Then we got to customs with all of our wedding prezzies in tow (some of which were quite valuable); as instructed, I had prepared a list of everything we were bringing in and promptly handed it over to Her Majesty's Custom's official, and again, I got a break.  Apparently, we were liable for duty plus VAT (I always grumbled about being taxed on a tax), but no one at the Consulate had told me that, so the official let us off.

So, cariad, what do you need to do to get a multiple entry visa?

I never had trouble getting into the UK, but we always had to get into a different queue, like coming back from the Continent on the ferry.  We'd have to get into the "non-EU passport" queue, which was usually pretty quick, fortunately.

One time we took a package holiday to Greece, and I guess I was the only one on the flight with a non-EU passport.  Everyone else got to go through, but I had to go to some metal shack near the runway where the Greek officials looked through this enormous book to see if my name came up on some black list, I guess.

Do the boys have UK passports?

Your pics are terrific!  I'm glad you all had such a good time.  Where do you think y'all will be spending your summer hols?

[cariad]

A visa for eternity? Does such a thing exist? I'd be curious if they'd still let you come back and stay as long as you'd like. My Australian friend was granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (such a great term, still makes me laugh) when she lived here 12 years ago, she even had her first son here. Then they went back to Australia meaning to only stay a year or so but I think it turned into five years. She had her second son there, they owned property outside of London, when she came back they basically chewed her out for not having a proper visa and gave her only 3 months to sort things out. When I asked her why they only gave her 3 rather than the more standard 6, she replied 'spite'. Silly her, she thought 'indefinite' meant, I dunno, indefinite maybe? These are really just fancy names for a green card and I am sure plenty of people have been burned by thinking those last forever, too. Not even close. Spend more than 50% of your time outside the US within a 3 year period and they revoke it. That is why I insisted that Gwyn be naturalized before we left, and also why my Aussie friend's husband was naturalized in Australia days before they moved back to the UK.

It is just such a nightmare how they are tightening these rules all over the world, but it seems to hurt all the wrong people. My American friend tried to follow all the rules - she went back to 'Mitch-a-gan' right before Christmas and was told she was guaranteed to have her visa by the first full week of January (last week). Her husband and older son are over here now and the husband is fit to be tied. He is threatening to quit his job and leave the country, although his company has no real control over this, obviously. She is stuck in the US with her four-year-old until her visa comes through, and there is no sign of it. They are now asking for her medical records last I heard. Why?? That is not part of the UK process according to the immigration lawyer that Gwyn's company sent us to.

What I require is a settlement visa. Since I am already in the UK, I want to pursue Leave to Remain because that is what it's called when you're already here. I am convinced that my friend in MI is being forced to wait because she came over here without a proper visa and has probably now been flagged. They cannot guarantee how long this will take (even though they talk like they can) or even if you will be granted a visa. I strongly suspect that the British government will never go to the effort of deporting me - too expensive and too difficult to justify. However, if I willingly leave, I have little doubt that they will not let me back in anytime soon. This puts me in a bit of a bind with Chicago as they want me back there in March for trial stuff. I have no idea what to do. In the end, I suspect I will tell Chicago that I won't leave this country until I am guaranteed re-entry. All I need to do for this application is fill in the form, gather the accompanying documents and character references, and send it all in with the fee and then hope.

Have not given a thought to summer holiday. A few more pressing concerns at the moment....

[MooseMom]

I don't think a "visa for eternity" was the official term.  LOL!  And this WAS back in 1985; things have changed a lot since then.

I dug out my most recent passport that has a UK visa (it expired in 2007), and the visa stamp reads, "Given leave to enter the United Kingdom for an indefinite period", and then underneath is written "as endorsed in previous passport" (which I can't find).  I would leave with my son, before he started school, and come to the US for up to 3 months at a time and never had any trouble re-entering.  I'm sure that would not have been the case had I left for six months or more.

No, I don't think they'd let me enter now and stay for as long as I wanted since my renewed passport does not have that visa.

For how long does Chicago want you here?  I don't blame you for not wanting to leave until you are guaranteed re-entry.  I am assuming you had no trouble re-entering from France as you were re-entering from an EU country.

[cariad]

Sounds like you were given a settlement visa or indefinite leave to remain. That's what my friend from Singapore has - a settlement visa - but she is convinced that it lasts forever. They are actually more strict than the US, only giving 2 years before you have your visa revoked. I think you can spend up to 450 consecutive days outside the country without jeopardizing re-entry. I intend to just go the naturalization route - it only takes 3 years from my visa and they made it seem pretty automatic.

For how long does Chicago want you here?  I don't blame you for not wanting to leave until you are guaranteed re-entry.  I am assuming you had no trouble re-entering from France as you were re-entering from an EU country.

Chicago probably only needs to see me for a few hours, although half of the visit is usually social. I really don't want them to be hosed by this. Gwyn spoke to his supervisor and was told that they would write a letter saying they would have to sack him if he could only work 6 hours per day for an extended length of time. I am also having my son assessed for trauma next week. He listed all of his emotions about this whole ordeal last night and I wrote them down: sad, curious, angry, disturbed, tired of having my mom gone, and heartless (which he seemed to think meant that someone had ripped his heart out). He then told me that I should tell them that he feels this way and then add "And I feel totally disrespected." Aidan added 'stressed and confused' to the list. I am hoping that I can get a statement from a child development specialist about the effect that my being forced out of the country for an indefinite period will have on my little boy. He has made such progress here - I just want to shake the home secretary over this nonsense.

I did have trouble re-entering from France - I was detained half an hour which, considering I was the only non-employee in the building, is a long time. I was also warned repeatedly to never attempt this again because they will deny me re-entry clearance. Gwyn has to return to Paris in mid-February and he wanted to bring us all along again. Uh, Gwyn? Wake up. I'm stuck here for the duration.  

[boswife]

what a refreshing post    Sooooooooooooo beautiful to share with you,,,, i mean, it is so beautiful that you shared with us     Gorgeous and increadable learning for your kidos...  Out a school any day for things like this is good!!!!!!!!!!!!    So glad you got to go and !!!!!!!!!!!!