Overcoming obstacles to arrive in France in under 23 hours

It seems like we just got back from vacation not too long ago but here we are taking off again. This trip was more stressful than exciting. At least that is how it all started.

What a journey it was! When they changed our flight to 2 hours later, we started to freak out about missing our train connection in Paris. The next train, if there was room, would be over 6 hours later. The thought of waiting 6 hours after a 12 hour flight and being on the road for 16 hours was pretty much unthinkable. No way Jose. I would have preferred us to stay the night at a hotel at the airport and then take the next train in the morning. The problem was that it was a long weekend and there weren't many trains left to take. Unless of course you don't mind taking a train for 10 hours or so to get to the south of France. All the options were bad if we missed our train.

Half way through our flight, a guy collapsed to the ground one or two rows behind us. He wasn't moving at all but someone checked and I heard "he's breathing." At that moment, Jean-Louis and I were thinking the same thing. We're so screwed. There goes any chance of our connection. I mean we felt sorry for the guy but we knew he would have to leave with the paramedics first and there would be more delay. An announcement was made to see if there was any doctor on board. It was like one of those scenes straight from a movie. Of course, Tristan kept fighting me to see the man lying in the aisle. His curiosity went wild.

When we arrived, we had to take a bus to the terminal, then line up to go through immigration. Like always the airport was so disorganized and probably under staffed. The lineup was out the door and there were only three tills open. Typical. Then we had to wait for our checked-in bags. After about 40 minutes, the bags have still not arrived. It's as though they only had one guy bringing in all the luggage. If I could, I would have given him a hand myself! All the previous delays did not matter anymore when we still had to wait for our luggage. Ridiculous. It's as ridiculous as it was over 10 years ago when I first came to France. Nothing has changed.

When our luggage finally came, we grabbed them and we just ran. Jean-Louis' aunt was meeting us at the terminal and she knew the exact route we had to take to catch the train so that was helpful. We ran with all our lugguage: 3 check-ins, and 2 carry-ons each, Tristan's included. We had a push cart but when we had to cross the road, Jean-Louis dropped his luggage and lagged behind us. I swear we dropped luggage at the same place last time! I warned Jean- Louis about that as well. Then when we arrived at the elevator, we couldn't take the push carts anymore and we had to carry everything by hand. Oh god. We totally hogged the elevator and then we pressed the wrong button and didn't move for the longest time. Oh god. We made sure to avoid elevators after that. They took too long anyway. Then came more running and lugging luggage while pulling Tristan up and down escalators. It was so painful and dangerous and we were all sweating up a storm. Oh god. I almost had to drop all the luggage altogether. We finally got to the train and climbed in the first open door. It wasn't where our seats were but we just wanted to get on that train. The train controllers on the platform were asking us where we were going and where we were sitting. We told him and then he said that we were in the wrong section of the train and had to move. We asked if there was time and he said yes so we grabbed our stuff again and ran. Then he blew his whistle for the train to leave. What the hell!? So we just hopped into the closest train again with our massive load of luggage. There was obviously no time. The guy was probably just mean. We were all soaked in sweat and huffing and puffing. Five seconds later, the train took off.

We were on the train but it didn't end there. At the next stop we had to get off and move everything into the part of the train where our seats were. The train doesn't stop for long and we had to walk all our belongings about 80 meters. The TGV train is super long. It was our last run with luggage and once again we made it just in time. Omg. I was dripping in sweat and my shirt was soaked through. Our hearts were all pounding but it was finally over. We made it and we felt like champions. Oh yeah, did I mention that Tristan and I were recovering from the stomach flu from just few days ago and I didn't sleep at all on the plane? Champions.

Saving big bucks on a Hawaiian vacation

Yes, I'm frugal. Since not working full time and having Tristan in daycare, I have become even more frugal. Hard to imagine some times. I am a bit of a coupon junkie now and I have the talent of smelling a good deal :)

We went to Hawaii for eight days: five in Oahu and three in Kauai. We did a lot of things and we had a blast! The accommodations were a bit disappointing but we didn't have a budget to stay at the Sheraton! Overall, we are pleased with how things went and would totally do it all over again.

The following are some of the ways we saved BIG bucks on our Hawaiian vacation.

Cheap flight:
We decided to go to Hawaii when I spotted a great deal on WestJet. Yes, I monitor a few sites every now and then for deals :P $139 one way directly from Vancouver to Honolulu for October dates. Even though this was Tristan's first paid flight, we only paid around $1000 for all three of us to fly there and back :)

Island hop savings:
If you book a flight from Vancouver to Kauai, you will most likely go through Honolulu and you would pay big bucks for it. There are few direct flights and they only operate seasonal. You may also have to change planes on the way there. $1000 round trip per person would not be unrealistic. We flew to Oahu and then booked a separate flight directly through Hawaiian Airlines to go to Kauai. If you book through Expedia or another third party, it will also cost you more. I booked our tickets 3-4 months in advance, which was also cheaper. It turned out that the airline raised their check-in luggage fee in August 2011 from $10 for the first piece to $17. Since we purchased our tickets before August, we were able to pay just the $10 fee. Lucky! I booked the flight and car together as a package on Hawaiian Airlines and that was cheaper than purchasing them separately. I also made it so that we had the car rental for exactly three days and that we would be at the airport in time for our flight out of Honolulu back to Vancouver so we wouldn't have to go back into town. Just like WestJet, we had all these costs taken care of before our vacation so we didn't have to worry about paying for everything at once :)

Groupon Honolulu:
Knowing that were were heading to Hawaii, I monitored the Groupon site for deals every now and then and were able to snatch four Groupons. One of them was for our hotel stay. Even though the hotel was a bit disappointing, it wasn't such a big deal since we already saved around 49% on our stay. We paid $399 for 5 nights in Waikiki, which included breakfast, Internet, and parking. You have to be a bit careful with Groupon. When I looked on our hotel website, they were also offering a deal so you really only save maybe 25%. Two other Groupons we had saved us $40 on food. The last Groupon we couldn't redeem since the business closed down but Groupon refunded us for that :)

Entertainment coupon book:
Entertainment coupon books are good until November 1st. We traveled in the middle of October. In July, all entertainment books for all cities were just $5, plus $1 for shipping. You can buy Entertainment books for places you are going to visit! We bought the one for Hawaii. 80% of the book were coupons for Oahu. We used the coupon for all our activities on Oahu, which were basically buy 1 get 1 free. We also used a ice cream coupon at the Dole Plantation and one for Senor Frog. We saved at least $247!!! Even if we bought the Hawaii Entertainment book at its regular price of $35, we would have still saved big.

Coupons from free tourist pamphlets and guides:
We checked these out for maps and activities to do. We managed to use a few of them and saved a few bucks. Every little bit counts, right?

Choosing the right activities for under 3 year old:
Besides the flight and car seat rental, we did not pay anything extra for Tristan to come along with us. We bought more food but he didn't eat much anyway. We only considered activities that were free for under 3 year old :)

Knowing where to shop and eat:
We are not new to Hawaii so we sort of knew where to shop. I also did a bit of research and I had a better idea of what was out there. For souvenirs and food, nothing beats Walmart. For instance, at the General Whalers Store, water is $1.49 for 2 liters. The same water is $0.79 at Walmart. A&B Stores are okay, if there is no Walmart near you. Costco may be better but we have no Costco card. Chinatown has the best prices for produce but it was kind of far to walk to.

We love Quicksilver and Roxy but they are sort of expensive. We shopped at Macy's and looked at the clearance sections for these brands and were able to snatch a few things that we liked :) We also shopped at Ross.

For eating out, I did research beforehand and found a bunch of local places that were good and cheap to eat at. One of those places was Rainbow Drive In. Jean-Louis found a place on Flickr called Wailana Coffee House. We bought a kid's lunch with drink included for Tristan for just $2.25. OMG. They were all great finds!

Book from home and buy your activities online:
I called and booked many of our activities from home before we flew. As a result, we didn't have to use the hotel phone at all and we saved a few bucks. For the luau on Kauai, I booked online to save $20. Again, every bit helps!

If you have saving tips for traveling to Hawaii, feel free to enter them in the comments section ;)

Family vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

We're back in Vancouver! Back in the cold and rain but I love it :) It's always so nice to be back home after a vacation. There really is no place like home!

We spent the past week vacationing with my parents in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The flight was direct via WestJet and only 5 hours long. The time difference was 2 hours. Compared to our trip to France, this trip was a breeze. We didn't have to entertain Tristan as much now that he is a bit older. In fact, we found that window seats are awesome for him. Aisle seats are recommended so that you can get out easily but he loves looking out the window. He is so much happier to be by the window! On the way there, my dad sat with us so we were able to tuck things under his seat and we didn't have to keep our distance from him or feel like we were invading his privacy every time we poked him or used his tray table. On the way there, the plane was not full so we had an empty seat next to us for Tristan. Yes, he flew with us for free. Again. This is his last free flight since he will be officially two this weekend.

Puerto Vallarta is beautiful. There are many great swimming beaches and they are free of rocks so Tristan went bare feet a lot. Man, our kid loves the beach! He loves to walk on sand, touch sand, and he loves the waves. He also liked the pool. He just likes being around water I think :) Besides the beaches, there are the breathtaking views. It's everything you would expect from a tropical destination, plus timeshares salespeople. Yeah, those salespeople were persistent and quite annoying.

We stayed at a lovely hotel with beach access and nice pools. It was conveniently located 10 minutes from the airport and 5 minutes from downtown by taxi or bus. As a result, we got to walk a lot. We left our car seat at home and only brought our stroller. It was a good thing we brought our Bugaboo frog because the sidewalks really do require a stroller that has a 4 wheel drive :) It was hot to walk though but since we were by the water a lot, we would get nice breezes. The temperature all week hovered around 28-30C and it doesn't rain at all for months. In comparison, Vancouver is raining now and 9C. Snow is expected for us by the end of the week! Eeeks.

Even though we were away from home and away from everything familiar to Tristan, he was surprisingly well behaved and adapted quite well. He didn't trash the hotel like what we had thought. Soon after we checked into our room, Tristan locked himself in the bathroom and my dad had to pick the lock to free him. He soon learned that he was not allow to play with the bathroom doors and we learned that we could not let him roam free for too long. We were able to pretty much stick to his usual routine for meals and sleep times. The nap time was off since we were normally out so he would just sleep whenever he was tired in his stroller. That's pretty much what happens on the weekends back home anyway.

My parents stayed with us in our 1 bedroom suite and we stuck together for the entire trip. One of the rules I had for us was that we had to stick together or at least stay close together because it was safer that way. It turned out the area that we were staying in was very safe and we were just paranoid for no reason. Because we did so much stuff together, Tristan really got to see my parents a lot and got better acquainted with them. They were trying to teach him a bit more Chinese too so that was good. My parents also helped us carry bags and pushed the stroller so that was a bonus for us.

Our main purpose in Mexico was to get away from the cold, relax, play at the beach, and visit a new place and try new foods. We did all that, plus more :) Our budget allowed us to experience a couple of tours, which were for the most part very enjoyable. Overall, we had a lovely time in Puerto Vallarta, despite me being sick with a cold. Tristan is a bit older now and a little easier to manage compared to when we went to France five months ago. I think when he gets a bit older and knows how to swim, we could do more activities with him. For instance, we could go snorkeling and swim with the dolphins. The dolphin swim has an age requirement of 4 years. I think my parents had a good time too. We all needed a vacation and this was exactly what we needed :)

Plane ride back to Vancouver

We are back in Vancouver! Hooray! We also live to tell about our plane adventure :) Bring on the champagne!

I already told the tale about our 23 hour travel there. On the way back, we didn't have to take a train since we were already in Paris. That saved us at least 5 hours! We all hopped on a taxi to the airport and then took a roughly 12 hour flight back home. We had to order a taxi big enough to fit all of us since my parents-in-law wanted to see us off. We requested a car seat too but there wasn't one. Big surprise. The taxi sure was big enough and we also paid for it big time at a whopping $80 Euros. Then when we checked in, we found out we had to pay $144 for being excess 12 kg in our luggage. Damn. I knew we were over but that was a lot! The guy checking us in wasn't very nice too. Some times you get a nice person and they end up letting these things slide or charge you less. Nope, no mercy from this dude! They don't even take into account that we did not bring a playpen or car seat, which we could have easily check in at no charge. I guess even though we were not paying for Tristan's airline ticket, we were actually still paying for it through overweight luggage and crammed sitting space. But honestly, 23kg each for Jean-Louis and I was just not enough. I remember a time not too long ago when we were able to bring along 2 x 30kg each! Tristan's stuff took up most of our luggage space too. We barely bought anything. We were transporting tons of gifts back for him.

When we got on, we realized we had no aisle seat. I swear if we had a girl check us in instead of a guy, we would have definitely gotten an aisle seat. With all the commotion about the excess luggage, we totally forgot to request an aisle seat. Luckily, the passenger in the aisle didn't reject too much when we asked if she could switch seats with us. She wasn't very friendly though so we were a bit scared of her. The switch also split her up with her husband who also had an aisle seat across from her. Oops :( She may have been a grouchy senior but during the trip she actually complimented us by saying that "Tristan is lucky to have such nice parents." Grouchy lady was actually a nice lady after all :)

The second plane ride was much better. Tristan napped for about an hour in the beginning and then for about another hour near the end of the flight. When we noticed signs that he was super tired, we started to walk him up and down the aisle. As a result, he didn't go insane on us. He cried on and off but there was no vicious jerking and kicking like what happened on the flight to Paris. Eating was more of a challenge, especially because our airline, Air Transat, was less accommodating this time. They said we couldn't eat separately and we had to take all our food now or there might be none for us later. As a result, it was really crammed and challenging. Every time we had beverages, it was risky. A full glass of water got dumped on my lap and then at a later time, a hot tea spilled on Jean-Louis' lap. No fun at all!

This time around, there was no TV nearby to distract Tristan. There was also no annoying light from window shades nearby :) Once again, we had prepared a few newly wrapped toys and snacks for Tristan. He did so well that we even came home with some of the gifts unopened. In the last hour of the trip when we took off from our Calgary stop, he was in great spirits. We played and let him stand on the seat and he was goofing off with the passengers behind us. Since many passengers got off in Calgary, the lady at the window moved to sit with her husband and we had the window seat too. Tristan watched out the window when we took off and when we landed. He was more fascinated with opening and closing the window shade though :) I have to say the extra seat really made it more comfortable and spacial for all of us. Next time we go to France, Tristan will need his own seat and it should be much nicer. That and the fact that he will be older and more easy to handle :)

Boy, I cannot tell you how happy I am to have survived the trip and to be home. There is nothing like being home, especially when that home is in Vancouver :)

New milestones Tristan encountered on his first trip to France:

• First plane ride, first trip to France
  
• First train ride with his own designated seat
• First bus ride, first underground subway ride
• First meeting with his French grandparents, great grandfather, first cousins once removed, second cousins (according to the cousin's chart)
• Getting baptized at l'église Saint-Antoine de Padoue in Toulon
• First visit to Toulon, Nice, and Paris
• First visit to the zoo
• First white sand beach and foot dip in the Mediterranean Sea
  
• New French words spoken: non, bus, encore
• New Chinese words spoken: Gong, Ma
• New English words spoken: boat, help
  

Our 23 hour journey to Toulon, France

Considering we had no experience traveling with a toddler, our long journey to the South of France was actually not that bad. We boarded the plane around 12PM and remained on the plane for 12 hours. It was nice being one of the first ones to board for a change. When we first boarded, Tristan fussed a bit because he didn't know where we were and it was a bit hot. We sat in the middle of the plane but had an aisle seat. There were three seats in the middle so a lady sat next to us. When Tristan fussed, I noticed the lady glared at us and I am pretty sure I could have guessed what she was thinking. Long flight and I'm sitting next to people with a baby. Crap. I'm sure that was it. Hours into the flight, we proved her wrong. She was French. She ended up telling Jean-Louis how good Tristan has been on the flight. Sure Tristan poked her a few times while she was sleeping and even tried to grab food off her tray but overall, he was well behaved :)

Tristan is your typical toddler. He always has to be doing something and is always moving. I had prepared lots of wrapped toys and snacks for him to have throughout the trip. Thank god for the different toys. We brought out a new toy every few hours and then rotated them afterwards. We also walked him up and down the aisle a few times for exercise. We sang to him, we read together, we tickled him etc. We did everything we could to keep him happy. Unfortunately, we sat right underneath the tv screen and when we would look up and watch every now and then, he copied us. He has never really watched tv before so he was obviously fascinated. It didn't happen a lot since he had toys to play with. He probably watch a bit of tv for something like 10 minutes. But still. Another annoying thing was that the people on the left side of us had their window shade up most of the time and there was a lot of light in our direction. That didn't help with getting Tristan to sleep at all!

Thank god for the snacks! I had to throw away most of Tristan's lunch since he managed to put his shoe in the bowl and then I realized I forgot to pack his dinner that I had in the freezer. Basically, he had no meals for the next 20 hours. It sucked. I did have lots of fruit packed, cereal, and Mum-Mums. We fed him some of our dinner too. He drank lots of milk and water and it turned out just fine in the end. Food wasn't the problem. Sleep was.

Nap time for Tristan was a breeze. He fell asleep over us on the pillow I brought when we laid him down and rubbed him a bit. He was pretty much on schedule for the nap so that was perfect. He slept for an hour, which is more than he typically naps for too. The night sleep was a mess. He tried to get comfortable and we tried to help him but nothing worked. An hour before we landed, 11 hours into the flight, it was 2 hours passed his bedtime in Vancouver. I think it was something like 11PM time back home and by this time, he was overly tired and ticked off. He basically went insane on us for 15 minutes or so. I had to get out of my seat and carry him over to the bathroom area to calm him down. Of course at this point everyone was staring and probably pissed off too since it's been a long flight and they were all tired too. I felt embarrassed. It felt like time stood still. This was exactly what I feared and it was happening. When Tristan finally passed out, I sat back down and he had a good 30 minute nap before we landed but then he woke up screaming again. He was so tired and scared of the plane noise. Man, I couldn't wait to get out of there. When all the people stood up to get their stuff, Tristan freaked out again. Man, there was no place to go. It was hot and everyone was tired and we were trapped. It was a terrible feeling. He basically freaked out on and off until we arrived in the customs line. It sucked. We had no sleep at all on the plane, but that is nothing new for me.

There were maybe 5 or 6 other babies onboard. There was this one baby maybe 20 rows down from us who cried a lot. The baby was maybe a few months old and haven't been able to sleep much. The stewardesses were often crowded around the mom trying to help out. The mom was tired and frustrated and the baby was crying for hours. I felt so sorry for them :(

It was morning when we arrived in Paris. When we stepped outside, there was the smell of cigarette smoke. Ah, the memories! Then we had to pay 0.50 Euros at the train station so I could pee. Again, great memories! :( Because of the sunlight, Tristan was wide awake but then he became overly tired again about an hour or two into the train ride. Luckily, there was a compartment I could take Tristan in between the train wagons where they normally store food and no one sits in. I walked and rocked him there for probably 20 minutes or so before he passed out. He then slept for maybe 2 hours.

We timed our journey from the time we left our house to the time we arrived at my parent in law's place. 23 hours! But we left 2 hours after Tristan woke up that morning, which means in over 24 hours, he only slept maybe 4 hours. I maybe slepted on and off for maybe 30 minutes during that period. It was definitely rough for the little guy :( I felt so bad putting him through all this. Tiring for us but maybe worst for him, I think.