Lascaux II

Today we visited the caves of Lascaux II. These caves were discovered in 1945 by four French boys, Jaques, Marcel, Georges and Simon when their dog fell into a hole that led into the cave. The Hall of Bulls is the first room you will enter, it is called the Hall of Bulls because there are four bulls, two to the right and two to the left. Underneath the first and second bulls are a lot of horses, scientists think that these drawings of horses are actually one horse in movement...this is a prehistoric movie! Scientists think that this cave was like a church or religious place for the cromagnum man.

Today Jack read a book that told him that when the boys discovered the cave their hearts froze because they saw bones and they thought it was a human skeleton...but then they realized that it was the skeleton of a donkey that had fallen into the opening.

After Lascaux we visited le Thot a place where Jack and Kate could see real animals that were painted in Lascaux like the Auroch.

Jack knows that mammoths are vegetarians and harmless, unless they are being hunted, but this one still "freaked him out!"

Au revoir for today!

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The medieval chateau of Castelnaud in la Dordogne, France.

Thursday we visited the medieval castle called Castelnaud. First we saw the blacksmith making a spear point, it was very sharp! Next we explored the castle and found a secret door. We got to watch a catapult launch and we saw how armor was made.

Princess Kate in one of the small doorways. People were smaller back then!

Here is a knight and his horse in full armor. It took a full day to make just one piece of the armor! It took a week to make the helmet and about a month to make a full suit of armor!

This is the view of the Dordogne countryside from the top of Castelnaud. You can see how it was in a good defensive position for all the wars of the middle ages.

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LaRochelle in Brittany, France

Jack, Kate and I now are traveling with our friend, Marie-Andre. We have been friends since I stayed with her 13 years ago when I brought high school students to France. Kate and Jack are doing a great job speaking French and Jack gets lots of compliments on his French and his good accent! Here is Marie-Andre, Jack and Kate in front of "le phar des baleines" a lighthouse on the island "Ile de Re" in the Altantic by LaRochelle.

We went to "phar de baleines" today.It was a beautiful day. The skies were blue and we loved the ocean. We learned all about the science of how lighthouse developed. We stacked rocks just like other people that had visited before us.

Kate and I dug the world's biggest sand castle and deepest lake. We found lots of colorful shells, red, orange, yellow, blue and purple. We found big pieces of rock called "calcaire" in French. This rock is formed by crushed shells compacted together under the ocean. We don't know how to say it in English.

Saint Martin en Re. We stopped by this pretty island village to see the boats and look in the shops. Then we went back to the beach to swim and look for shells.

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The last hurrah !

Our last night in Normandy was our last night together as a group of twelve. What a fantastic three weeks it has been! Jack's favorite part of traveling in a group was "rolling with the amigos" ... The amigos = Jack + the three dads. Kate's favorite part was having sleepovers with all the kids.

After dinner we watched a great video that Elle and Lauren put together with all of our pictures and then...we watched fireworks at the end of the driving range, danced, and toasted a great trip.

 

 

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Normandy, France. July 5-8.

We visited the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France. This sculpture on Omaha Beach has three parts; one part stands for the birth of hope, the middle stands for the birth of liberty, and the final part stands for brotherhood.

 

Kate stares at the drops of rain in the reflecting pool at the American cemetery in Normandy. Seeing children with all the graves of the boys and men that fought for our country in the background makes me feel both sad and hopeful...these soldiers died so that children, like my own, could be free.

 

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EuroLauren (saying goodbye) :'(

Yesterday, when I got home, it was a bitter-sweeet moment. I was excited to get back into the swing of things at home, but I kept thinking of all the memories and relationships we built over the course of the weeks that cause a sort of let-down feeling. Even though all of the thoughts made we sad, one that made me choke up the most was the memory of our last day in Normandie. Seeing everyone so amazed at our video (even seeing some dads choke up) was touching. Then reading Jack's quotes caused a much different emotion... Hilarious! Elle and I noticed that half the restaurant was staring at us, but that's because they wish they could've been having as good of a time as we were :) When we all went to the end of the driving range and we danced to the "Euro Kids theme songs" as fireworks boomed over Omaha Beach was like something out of a movie. Of course, to put the icing on the cake, there was a sliver of the moon peaking out of the clouds as we walked back to the apartments. The major part of the let down feeling I had was realizing that you can never explain these moments to anyone that didn't experience it with you. Or that we will never be able to replicate a trip like this again because it was just too perfect. Thank you to all of the Euro Kids for becoming my brother and sisters. Thank you to the parents for getting us to where we need to go. Thank you Dad and Mom for working so hard to pay for this trip. Thank you Laura for being our "tour guide." And last, but not least, thank you God for such a great opportunity! XoXo, Lauren Lyne Steinke :)

Reflections of a "euro mom"

So why would one leave Minnesota during the three most beautiful months of the year to travel by train and metro and plane? Why would one spend a year preparing a four and seven year old for a trip to Europe by reading about impressionists and the French Revolution? Why? Just look at Kate's face the first time she saw the Eiffel Tower and shouted, "Look Mama! It's the Eiffel Tower! Isn't it beautiful?" This is reason number 1.

PARIS spelled out by the "euro kids". Reason number 2 is that my children get to share this experience with other children. Their memories are now interconnected, their lives linked globally.

Reason number 3 is that traveling in Europe and as part of a group of 6 children and 6 adults builds character and flexibility. Kate can now nap on a plane, train, metro, in the Hard Rock Cafe and on my back. (Jack joined Kate for a nap at the Hard Rock and everyone has napped on the train...thankfully, 40 pound Kate is the only one who has napped on my back!)

Eurokids in front of the queen's hamlet at Versailles.

Kate and Abby on the way back from Versailles.

 

The 4th reason that spending the summer as a euro mom is great is just watching our children's minds and hearts open up to new experiences and people. We spent the morning in Montmartre listening to street musicians and watching artists. Sophie and Jack especially enjoyed the experience and sketched right beside the artists. This artist's name as she is known in Montmartre is "Tati Danielle". She loves to paint with oils, she was born and raised in Normandy after the Second World War and she completely gave herself over to Jack and Sophie Sunday morning.

Abby and Jack doing watercolor painting in Monet's garden in Giverny.

And reason number 5... was actually a surprise to me. The best part about our European adventure isn't the places we go and see, but the connections the kids and parents make along the way. For a few short weeks, our kids have new brothers and sisters and a larger and more intimate village of parents looking out for them. Our oldest, middle and youngest children now have someone their own age to hang around with. Wisdom is shared as Elle advises Jack on the trials of being the first born. Lauren is amazing as a "big sister" and her patience with tic-tac-toe and card games never wears thin. Sophie shines as a leader by reading stories to the little girls and guiding our group around Lucerne. Jack gets "boy time" with his dad amigos and learns some flexibility as a "middle child" in the group. Abby shares her good nature with everyone and Kate basks in the glory of her posse of friends. As parents, we get to co-parent with a group of our closest friends, I get to watch others parent my children and I'm allowed to parent their children. I learn and grow. It is an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity...

 

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