Whoever said France was a magical place, never traveled there with a toddler.
Five words: fever, ear infection, thrush, diarrhea - it pretty much sums up our week in Brittany. Whatever visions we may have had of an enjoyable family vacation were more or less destroyed when we discovered Peanut had a fever as we were flying over the Atlantic. I was nervous enough about the time difference (6 hours), but I hadn’t anticipated that Peanut would also get sick (I mean, who would?). We hoped it would be a passing virus, and dosed her up with baby ibuprofin. She was tired and out of sorts when we landed, but in a relatively good mood most of the first day.
The calm before the storm!
Our trip to Brittany included a transfer to a smaller plane from Paris to Nantes. At baggage claim, with Peanut slumbering in my lap, we found out that while we had made it to Nantes our stroller was still in Paris (lucky dog). So they provided us with a spare, a stroller that looked like it was made for one of Peanut’s dolls. We met up with my brother-in-law and loaded up into his car. He had arranged to borrow both a bed and a car seat for us to use, really a mixed blessing. While it meant we had less to carry, we were stuck with a car seat that looked like it had been manufactured in the 1970s and was made for a child smaller than our Peanut (it looked more like papasan chair than a car seat).
That evening was the first of several restless, unhappy nights for all of us...followed by days of whining and discomfort. We finally broke down and took Peanut to see a pediatrician when the fever still hadn’t gone down by day three. With a diagnosis of an ear infection, and a prescription for augmentin, we had hoped the worst was over: not even close! The whining continued through day 7, by which time Peanut had gotten on my very last nerve.
Just as bad as the illness was the fact that we couldn't get Peanut to eat anything. A creature of habit, Peanut didn’t have a taste for French cuisine (seriously) and refused all food we offered her. She turned down pain au chocolat/chocolate pastry and tarte au citron/lemon tart in favor of cheerios and goldfish, our rapidly decreasing supply of snacks that I had brought from home.
Five words: fever, ear infection, thrush, diarrhea - it pretty much sums up our week in Brittany. Whatever visions we may have had of an enjoyable family vacation were more or less destroyed when we discovered Peanut had a fever as we were flying over the Atlantic. I was nervous enough about the time difference (6 hours), but I hadn’t anticipated that Peanut would also get sick (I mean, who would?). We hoped it would be a passing virus, and dosed her up with baby ibuprofin. She was tired and out of sorts when we landed, but in a relatively good mood most of the first day.
The calm before the storm!
Our trip to Brittany included a transfer to a smaller plane from Paris to Nantes. At baggage claim, with Peanut slumbering in my lap, we found out that while we had made it to Nantes our stroller was still in Paris (lucky dog). So they provided us with a spare, a stroller that looked like it was made for one of Peanut’s dolls. We met up with my brother-in-law and loaded up into his car. He had arranged to borrow both a bed and a car seat for us to use, really a mixed blessing. While it meant we had less to carry, we were stuck with a car seat that looked like it had been manufactured in the 1970s and was made for a child smaller than our Peanut (it looked more like papasan chair than a car seat).
That evening was the first of several restless, unhappy nights for all of us...followed by days of whining and discomfort. We finally broke down and took Peanut to see a pediatrician when the fever still hadn’t gone down by day three. With a diagnosis of an ear infection, and a prescription for augmentin, we had hoped the worst was over: not even close! The whining continued through day 7, by which time Peanut had gotten on my very last nerve.
Just as bad as the illness was the fact that we couldn't get Peanut to eat anything. A creature of habit, Peanut didn’t have a taste for French cuisine (seriously) and refused all food we offered her. She turned down pain au chocolat/chocolate pastry and tarte au citron/lemon tart in favor of cheerios and goldfish, our rapidly decreasing supply of snacks that I had brought from home.
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| How can you not love this? |
I had intended to bring a full backpack of snacks, but Peter edited down my supply just as we were leaving for the airport, reducing it by a full two thirds, an action I think he regretted later when we had a moaning, hungry toddler. Ultimately, we were able to get her to eat her old favorite, plain cold pasta, potato chips and milk...dinner of champions. She also enjoyed eating Chipsters for breakfast - which Peter picked up at the Carrefour - and we just loved hearing her say “cheeps”.
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| Cheeps...cheeps! |
I, however, ate up a storm (and yes, tomorrow I diet) and drank glass after glass of delicious wine. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law have a garden, and they cooked up some amazing meals for us with vegetables and fruit they had grown. My favorites: crepes (of course...no one makes them like the French), macaroons (not like what they serve you for Passover!) and langoustines, a sort of cross between shrimp, lobster and crayfish.
But even good food couldn’t fix this mess of a vacation. Stay tuned for part two coming tomorrow!
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| If you have't tried one of these...get yourself to a French bakery immediately. You will be glad you did. |
oy vey! so sorry peanut got sick!!
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