Meet Angus (and learn Mr. Baby's name!)

On our recent Babymoon (see post below), we visited the sheep country of England. While there, I could not resist this little face. Plus, he had a little tag that read, "My name is Angus. Please love me." Precious! So I decided that he could be Oliver's little companion. Oliver Avery Paxton, by the way, is what we've decided to call Mr. Baby. I was reprimanded by some of you for hiding that announcement at the bottom of the Babymoon post; my sincerest apologies.

But now that Oliver has a name, he needs a place to stay, too! So we finally set up a little nursery for him. We took a day trip to Ikea (which is about an hour from our apartment via two metros and a bus) and bought a chair (which we, of course, had to carry back on the bus and two metros... for all those feedings to come!); we set up his pack 'n play (which will be his crib while we're here), and we put together his bouncer. Chris even had a smile at the end of that exhausting day!

Since we only have two bedrooms in the apartment, and we have family coming to visit for several weeks after his arrival, his current nursery is in our room. As soon as all the family clears out, though, we'll move him to the second bedroom. In the meantime, here is Oliver's nursery:

I know it's not much, and I know that until now I have tried to refrain from silly mommy posts, but I had to share this much... Thanks for not puking!

Explore Paris: Pere Lachaise Cemetery

After four tourist trips to Paris (and living here for about 5 months), I have seen most of the common tourist attractions in this great city (notice: I say most, but definitely not all because there are a TON!). However, I had never been to Pere Lachaise Cemetery, so this was exciting for me! As usual, trusty Rick Steves had an excellent and informative tour for us to follow:

The cemetery was much more beautiful than I expected with its long, tree-lined streets and wonderfully diverse little chapels topping many of the graves:

Our first specific stop was at the grave of the great, gay 18th century author and playwright Oscar Wilde, best known for his rather darkly philosophical approach and his biting humor, as seen in The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Ernest, respectively. His kiss-covered and genitally defiled grave was interesting, to say the least:

We also saw the grave of the sharp-tongued Gertrude Stein:

And a beautifully modern memorial to those lost in Nazi Concentration camps:

One wall of the cemetery marks the spot of the end of a short-lived Paris Commune, during the Prussian occupation of France from 1870-1871. Here, the leaders of the commune were chased and killed, execution style, against this wall. The other interesting tidbit, to me at least, is that it was during this war and the siege of Paris that the Catholics of the city decided to build Sacre Coeur (the great white church at the top of Montmartre) as a sort of "praise God anyway" gesture, despite the war and terrible conditions. Anyway, here is the wall where the men were shot:

Edith Piaf held the next place of honor. Thanks to Miss Megan L, I happened to have Edith Piaf's famous "La Vie en Rose" on my ipod! So we let her warbling voice serenade us as we visited the grave of the great French singer and icon of post-WWII Paris.

Our next stop, surrounded by gorgeous flowers, was the grave of the 17th century humorist Moliere. In the great irony of ironies, Moliere's final performance was that of a hypochondriac, and his coughing fit during the play led right into his death a mere few hours later.

The most popular pilgrimage of this cemetery is undoubtedly the grave of Jim Morrison, surrounding by pictures, flowers, and trees carved with love notes:

We also saw the tomb of Heloise and Abelard, a couple from the 12th century with a very dramatic love story. Unfortunately, their tomb was under renovation and covered in scaffolding, so we found another photo online to give you an idea:

We saw a really cool cello on this one artist's tomb (apparently some of his own artwork):

And the tomb of the great Frederick Chopin, composer:

As well as that of Rossini, the composer of the William Tell Overture. If you don't recognize the name, please click this link because I know you'll recognize the music. For a highly entertaining version, try this one, quite appropriate due to the upcoming Mother's Day.

Last, but not least, we saw the grave of Hausmann (see previous posts), the master-planner of Parisian architecture and city style under Napoleon III:

Overall, much more entertaining that I thought a tour through a cemetery could be!

Babymoon

Babymoon (according to dear friend Casey B): one last special trip away before baby takes over life. Fortunately, we were blessed to take a few days and visit the gorgeous, green Lake District of England. The most miraculous thing about it is that the Lake District is officially the rainiest portion of England, and, as we all know, "April showers bring May flowers." So, needless to say, we were expecting a cold, rainy, beautiful visit, with lots of curling up with a book. BUT, the weather was PERFECT! It was about 60 degrees with clear blue skies the whole time... incredible.

We stayed at an adorable B&B which we would HIGHLY recommend to anyone traveling to the Lake District: Ryelands in Grasmere. John and Lynn, the owners, were kind, pleasant, and so helpful. The breakfasts were wonderful; the place was immaculate, and the views were stunning. Look at the fabulous 1850's building:

The town of Grasmere, where we stayed, is the perfect size: large enough to have choice in restaurants, but small enough to have a village feel. The famous Grasmere Gingerbread Shop:

The perfect, cheerful daffodils:

And the sheep with their little lambs (SO cute!! And no, the mother is not dead; she's painted red as a kind of brand, signifying her owner):

On our first full day, we took a 5+ mile hike around Grasmere and Rydal Lakes. Aren't you impressed?!?! The hike started with a walk past William Wordsworth's (British Romantic poet) home, Dove Cottage.

We continued up the road to the "coffin stone," the place where they would rest coffins during funeral processions from southern towns to Grasmere, home of the only consecrated graveyard in the area for many years. I promptly took a rest:

The hike was beautiful, climbing into the hills and offering wonderful views of the lakes below:

We passed Rydal Church, where Wordsworth and his family worshipped:

And we made our way back down to lake level for some spectacular views:

The next day, with our sore feet, knees, and backs, we decided to take a day off from hiking and caught the bus to Keswick:

There we took a launch around Derwentwater Lake. It was beautiful! Doesn't this first picture make you think of "The Hills Are Alive..." from The Sound of Music??

That evening, we had reservations at The Jumble Room, an award-winning restaurant literally outside the front gates of our B&B. All the food we had in Grasmere was fabulous, but this meal was spectacular. My meal was especially incredible: seared lamb over creamy humus with oregano roasted eggplant and rosemary jelly... YUMMM!

Our last full day, we decided to be ambitious again and tackled a row around Grasmere Lake AND another 5+ mile hike. The lake was perfect in the morning: serene, quiet, and lovely. And my charming husband rowed me all the way around the lake:

The stillness of the water (since no motor boats are allowed on the lake) made for some spectacular images:

That afternoon, we hiked north, away from the lakes into the hills. We passed a beautiful stream and a great waterfall (which is way bigger than it looks, by the way; it was probably 100 yards behind us... it was just the only shot I could get):

Look how far I hiked!!! I know that pride's a sin, but I was pretty dang proud of myself for making this trek at 33 weeks preggers... In fact, if you look really closely at the second picture, you can see me high up in the rocks (see the third picture below for a close up, as unattractive as it may be...):

The goal of our hike was to reach the Easdale Tarn, a small lake up in the mountains. It was gorgeous, and definitely a fulfilling reward to our hard work:

Overall, other than the incredible bladder pain on the way down from Easdale Tarn (women who have been pregnant know what I mean!!), the trip was phenomenal. We had good food, great weather, fun adventures, and a very sweet time together. Although we are THRILLED about Oliver coming (we've finally agreed on Mr. Baby's name, by the way!), a last romantic getaway was a God-send. And we definitely recommend the Lake District to anyone interested!