The Cabes In France: Christmas in the South of France- The Beginning

As soon as we found out I was pregnant back in March, my first response was "We are going back to the US for Christmas!". Matthew talked some sense into me, and we decided flying overseas with between a 2-4 week old (depending on when he was born) wasn't such a smart idea- especially with all of the H1N1 flu problems last winter. We asked our families if they would be willing to come to France instead, and we started making plans. I found a house to rent for 10 days near Nice, hoping the weather would be a little warmer so we could get out and see some sights while everyone was here. We also planned to take a day trip into Italy one day. Towards the end of my pregnancy when I couldn't do much else, I went into mega-planning mode. I planned meals, day trips, and researched where the best Christmas markets were. Everything was all set, and our biggest problem was not having enough room in our car for all of our gear, Matthew, Mom, Jacob, and me. To solve this problem we decided Mom could take a train to Lyon a few days early, visit with her brother, then continue by train to Nice.

As our departure date drew nearer, the weather turned worse and worse. We ended up driving Mom to Lyon the Wednesday before, since we needed to go to the US Consulate to request a US Passport and SS Number for Jacob. It started snowing on our drive home, and it was pretty scary. There were 18-wheelers that slowed down too much on hills and started spinning their tires. I was sitting in the backseat with Jacob and couldn't even look up because I was so nervous, and my gasps weren't helping Matthew! The normal 2 hour drive took us almost 4, and Matthew's arm and leg muscles were completely sore from driving completely tense for that long. He admitted to me when we had finally arrived safely that there were several times when he wasn't sure if we would make it.

Matthew closely monitored the weather forecasts for Friday (the day that we were supposed to drive the 6 hours south to Nice). There are two routes to take, and we gambled and chose one. As we started driving Friday morning, we began seeing signs that said the road was closed ahead. But then some of the signs made it seem like it was only closed to trucks. What do we do? Do we go ahead and turn around, drive all the way back to town and take the other route? Do we continue and hope that the road is ok? We decided to continue. As we got to the exit that all the trucks were supposed to get off on, we noticed everyone was getting off. There were police officers at the exit and Matthew asked if the road was open to cars. They said yes. So we got back on and crossed our fingers. It was pretty sketchy at times, but nothing compared to the drive home from Lyon. At the worst parts, only one lane was cleared. We still had to drive pretty slowly, and with the stops to feed Jacob, our trip took us about 2 hours longer than it should have.

The 4-lane highway, with only the two inside lanes cleared for traffic. That pile of snow to the right is really the right-hand lane!

We arrived at our rental house about 5pm and were greeted by my Dad, his fiance- Katy, and my grandparents. Nanna and Pappy had arrived in Nice the Monday before to do some sightseeing, and my dad had been on a two week business trip that took him to Switzerland, Holland, England, France, and Italy. Whew! Makes me tired just writing it!

After lots of hugs, a feeding for Jacob, and a tour of the house, Matthew and I left Jacob for the spoiling to commence, and we headed to the grocery store. About 8pm, Matthew picked Mom up at the train station. The rest of the family was flying in Saturday. Or so we thought...

Friday night, we got a call from Matthew's brother telling us their flight from Atlanta to London to Nice had been canceled. London was being hit with lots of snow, and the airports were a mess. My sister was flying from Columbia to Washington to Brussels to Nice, and luckily her flight was fine. Matthew's family booked a new flight (for more than twice the price!) for Monday and prayed for better weather.

With an incredibly positive attitude, Matthew drove into Nice Saturday morning to pick Amy up from the airport. Within seconds of her walking through the door we were in tears. Aunt Amy was finally here!

Sunday we headed into Cannes to visit the Christmas market and an Antique market that was in town for the day. We stayed and ate lunch at a great little restaurant by the harbor.

I forgot my nursing cover, so I had to nurse under a blanket. He was being a stinker and wouldn't latch on, so I had to go under to get him started. Very discreet, don't you think?

Monday, after a rough night with Jacob, I opted to stay at the house, while everyone else headed to Monaco for the day. While they were there, Matthew got the call that the Cabes' flight had been canceled again. At this point, the only flights they could find online were almost $4000/person- not an option! Matthew was devastated. I can't tell you how proud I was of him though. As incredibly sad as he was, he kept a very positive attitude and didn't let it ruin Christmas. I would like to think I would have been able to do the same if it was my family, but I am pretty sure I would have been crying in my room.

Since this post is getting long, I will stop here for now. Since there are literally (yes, I mean literally) thousands of pictures from our ten days (mostly of Jacob), I will leave you with some of my favorites from the first few days.