April in Stockholm (mostly)

Eric superbly managed to keep the kids happy and the house running during my trip to Brasilia ; it is no easy task to be parenting alone, especially as alexandre is at home full-time and as I was also away on the week ends... On top of that, it was very hard to connect on skype, due to the jetlag and poor internet connection at the world water forum, so we only managed to chat for a couple of minutes over the phone once in a while. But, apparently and luckily, the kids did not miss me much.
I even missed Ruben's 7th birthday ! (was not there and was not even able to find the time to call at the right time between meetings.. but I did send him an email via Eric late at night).

Luckily, we had some good times together after Brasilia. Just after I came back, we met up with Manu, Sophie and  their kids (7 yo and 2 year-old twins) in Humlegarden for a Swedish barbecue. Manu is from the year below me in polytechnique, and did his civil service in Valdocco as well. We had not seen each other for a good 15 years.. And he just happened to take up a job in Stockholm. They moved here at the end of December, and it's been great to reconnect and to hear from them on how to navigate the personnummer - id cards - bank - forskola process - one of the top area of concern and thus topics of conversations for new comers in Sweden !
Humlegarden is one of the very central parks in Stockholm, in Ostermalm area, an upscale borough. Nice park, with a nice playground (there are so many nice playgrounds around this city...). On the week ends, they lit up the barbecue, open the playground house and families come for a hot dog, swedish style : one goes to the kitchen, helps themselves to sausages and bread, puts money in a box, grills the sausages on the barbecue, et voila ! There are also some cakes and coffee in self-service. After having eaten, one brings back the plates and cutlery and loads the dishwasher in the house.. This is so.. civilised, if that's the right word ?
(ok, the 'hot dog' part might not sound so exciting, but one can bring their own food, and the kids actually love the whole experience)
 Manu and Sophie, who are more experienced than us in the Swedish lifestyle, also brought their thermos bottles (one for the kids hot chocolate, one for the parents' coffee), which really does enhance the experience when picnicking around 0-5°.

 We then had a great Easter break ! Both Easter Friday and Easter monday are off in Sweden, and, as my director was retiring, he also gave us the Thursday off.
I first had to attend the retirement party.. It was held on my boss' house boat, on Skeppsholmen island. Fun experience !

And a very nice sunset on the way back, looking over to Gamla Stan. At the time, there were still ice blocks floating on the water and they collided in the current, making an amazing sound of clashing ice..

On the Thursday, to start our long week end after school, we went to the beach in Kungsholmen, a 10 min bike ride from our place. The kids had a great time with the ice. It is hard to imagine that this beach will be very crowded in the summer !

On the Friday, we met up with Karin and her daughters in Tantolunden park ; lovely park, very nice playground, and nice beach !

We had met Karin back in Delhi ; her daughter Nellie is about the same age as Ruben and we partook in some playgroups together there. After Delhi, Karin and her family lived briefly in Beijing, and then settled back down at home in Sweden ; they also have a second daughter, a bit older than Alexandre. It's been very nice to catch up ! The kids can not understand each other yet, but it will come hopefully.

 On the Saturday, we went to Skansen, the big open-air historical museum in Stockholm. Eric and Alexandre had had a rough time there in march, when it was still very cold and all the restaurants and cafes were closed.. But Easter at skansen is a big thing and the weather was actually getting much warmer !
To get there, I took the family on the long road, getting off in Gamla Stan, crossing the island and then catching the ferry to Djugarden. A nice trip but probably too long for the kids.
In Skansen, the kids loved the playground, watching the blacksmith demonstrate his skills, going to the indoor zoo, trying some circus activities, exploring some old houses.. And Alexandre was super-psyched to do some ice-skating !

On the Sunday, we went on a nice bike ride towards Drottningholm palace.  The kids were not interested in the palace but they loved running around the mazes in the (very beautiful) park.

 We had fun skating on the ice in the park..

As it was quite cold that day we did not stay outdoor long. We should get back there when the weather is better, to enjoy the park more !
Later that day, my colleague Francois and his wife Helena came for a drink at home ; it was very nice to have them here.
Last but not least, on the monday we went to Vasa museet, to see the famous ship which sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. Everybody who had been to Stockholm or live here had recommended a visit there ; indeed, the museum is very interesting, very entertaining, and great for kids.

I then had, finally, to head back to work but it was great to have had a real break and to actually have been able to spend time together, after two months of being away / traveling / etc.


The week end after, we continued exploring Stockholm's beaches by heading to Bromma beach (Solviksbadet). Eric had already scouted the area with Alexandre once, and it is really a great outing ! The bike ride is short (15 min) and very nice, taking the tram / pedestrian bridge next to our house to reach Bromma suburb, then biking in quiet neighbourhoods. There is a really beautiful path in the forest along the water, but that one is not really manageable with the kids on the bikes ; it makes for a lovely hike though.
 Before reaching the beach, there is a big park - playground - beautiful forest, where we stayed for a while. It really makes for a great nature outing, just next to our place..

And then the beach (we did have our hot chocolate thermos with us then, a good thing because the wind was cold on the beach).

With a nice view over Stora Essingen, our island.

My colleague Francois had introduced me to a son of his cousin, who is French and just moved here, on Stora Essingen itself actually, with his family. Come, Fanny and their kids came for a drink at home and we had a friendly time.
At the end of that nice and busy day, since Ruben and Alexandre apparently had not spent enough time outdoor in the morning, we explored the garden in front of our building and discovered that there is a sand box with tons of toys available. It had been buried under the snow when we moved here, so it was a nice suprise !

On the sunday, I took the kids to Tantolunden park, to meet up with my colleague Anjali and her 3 yer-old daughter Jaya. Anjali moved here last fall and has had a really bad experience with the personnummer - etc - forskola process, so it is actually only at the beginning of april that she managed to bring her daughter to live here with her. Tough times...
We played on the beach a bit, then crossed the bridge to Liljeholmen's to go to the playground next to where Anjali lives (another very nice playground), had a wonderful nepali lunch at Anjali's.. It took them a while to overcome the language barrier, but Alexandre and Jaya then started playing together and had a good time. Alexandre borrowed Jaya's dinosaur costume and loved it ! Can you see that happy face ?

That week end marked the one-month anniversary of Eric and the kids' arrival in Stockholm. I think (hope!) that they are well settled now. Initially, some days were a bit difficult for Eric and Alexandre, what with not being familiar with the city and the weather being very cold.. But things are getting easier over time. We are still hitting rought spots sometimes ; we especially had an awful couple of days trying to fix Eric's double bass delivery (it was separated from the rest of our shipment and sent much later via a different carrier ; the guys delivered it on the street at a wrong address in Stockholm and left it there for a couple of hours before realizing their mistake ; it then took dozens of phone calls to different people in France and Sweden to try and have the delivery happen ; Eric and Alexandre spent three days stuck waiting at home...). But, finally, it arrived and is quite intact. Phew.

The week-end after, we again explored another park by the water, Vintervicken. And again, it is about a 15 min bike ride from our place, in another direction (Kungsholmen : north . Bromma : leaving our island to the west and then heading south ; Liljeholmen/ Vintervicken : going east and then south) . There is no beach and no playground in Vintervicken (surprising, right ?) but the cape is lovely and the view from there is beautiful, as it looks towards small islands, some with old houses, and then Bromma's forest and beach in the background: Ruben and Alexandre had a great time playing with sticks and stones and earth:

Some kayaks were out.

And Alexandre actually learned how to ride !!

 

Ruben and the barbecue he built.

 Stora Essingen, accross the water.

On the Sunday, we met up with friends of a friend of Eric, Anna and Marcus, and their three kids (including  a 7 month-old Ruben !). They live in a lovely house by the water in Sickla, east of Stockholm. And they have a trampoline in their garden, which Ruben and Alexandre very much enjoyed.
We seized the opportunity to go to Hellasgarden, a nice nature reserve which is a bit far from our place but quite close to Sickla. We walked around the lake and had a good time on a little peninsula there.

That area is best either during the winter; for ice-skating and cross country skiing, or during the summer, for boating or hiking or swimming: But, even so, it was nice there !

I then left to spend a week in Ouagadougou. A real change in climate and environment ! It was about 40° there and reminded me of the tough (and long) Indian summers.But our colleagues there are great, so it was a good work-week. And I met up with Emilie, an old friend from Cambodia who is now living there.. A very friendly reunion !

It was good though to be back in Stockhom ! The kids and Eric were not there when I arrived at home ; they were enjoying the barbecue and an open carpentry workshop for kids in Humlegarden. They had a great time and it was good for me to be able to rest a little bit (the trip back from Ouagadougou is really incovenient, flying from 10pm to 3.30 am and then waiting for a connection..).
The flight back to Stockholm was beautiful - it was a clear and sunny day and as we were landing in the small city airport in Bromma I had a beautiful view over our island.

(we live in the group of buildings in the front!)
This is also when I realised that Stockholm greater region is full of lakes. They are everywhere. Small lakes, big lakes, wherever one looks.

On the monday, I had a rest day from work, which was great to settle back down. We went to a small hilly park in Kungsholmen with Alexandre, Kronobergsparken (great playground !), and then to the beach, whilst Ruben was at school: After Ruben finished his school day, we stayed for a while to play in the courtyard - Eric does this with the kids every day, but it is very rare and enjoyable for me !

And the great, the fantastic news of the week is that Alexandre will be joining a preschool on Wednesday ! We had gotten our personnummers at the beginning of April ; the wait time for a slot is normally 3 months after that but Eric dit some great magic / asking around and got Alexandre in the French preschool ! Alexandre already spent a few hours there on Thursday and Friday and all went well. He is happy to be going to school, so all is great !

Fran Sverige !

So.. this blog has been totally neglected over the past year. Let's quickly summarize 2017 and get to our current doings !
In 2017 : we bought a place in Paris and moved there over the summer ; we settled in our new neighbourhood (11eme), the kids slowly got used to their new schools and surroundings ; june to december at work was pretty intense, covering for a colleague on maternity leave ; we did some nice things (especially a wonderful 10 day bike - camping trip along the atlantic coast) ; and I looked for a job abroad and found one !

Fast forward to january 31st : I arrived in Stockholm, our new hang out for the next couple of years!
Eric, Ruben and Alexandre stayed in Paris for the month of February, so that the kids could move over the winter holidays.

My first week-end in Stockholm : exploring Gamla Stan, discovering Fotografiska, walking along Sodermalm's waterfront... and going over to Ikea, to try and find real black-outs for the house - many Swedish homes do not have shutters or proper curtains ; it is fine in the winter but would be difficult for us in the summer.

 
We have found a place to live in Stora Essingen. This a small island on lake Malaren, mostly known for hosting the French school. Our building is right by the water. Everybody tells us that it will be wonderful to swim there in the summer - hard to picture at the moment. Ruben and Alexandre are happy because the flat is just next to the Tram station and they can look at trams whenever they want.

One of my priorities was to get a bike. It's a 7.5 km ride to work, along the waterfront, really nice once I get past the big bridges that connect our island to the mainland !
After I got the bike, I quickly realised than another priority was to get studded tyres to try and get some grip over ice and snow.

Except for the initial first week end in Stockholm, I then went back to Paris over the week ends in month of February. It was good to be with the kids, although it was hard for them to see me coming and going..
We had a memorable afternoon in Paris playing with the snow on our terrace.

This was a couple of days after that record snow fall :

We were also there to celebrate Mahe's 90th birthday.

 
For their holidays, Ruben and Alexandre first did some outings with Domi in Paris.

 They then went with Elizabeth to Briancon ; they had a great time there skiing, playing, enjoying the snow and the house..

 Eric and I spent a final long week end in Paris organizing our move. I can not believe that we moved twice over the past year ; it is one of my least favorite activities and yet we keep doing it (Ruben is at his seventh - 7th ! - home already and only now turned seven...).
Also, we really try and sort things out but we still have so much stuff that we are lugging around (toys ! clothes ! camping - biking - climbing gear ! musical instruments (Ruben got a battery for christmas, Eric has his double bass..) !...)

Finally, on Feb. 26th in the evening, I left Paris for good (well, for a couple of months anyway). Eric joined the kids in Briancon for a last and final week in France.
I thus had my second week end in Stockhom and quite a few typically-swedish activities : sauna and swim in the lake in Hellagarden with colleagues, and walks on frozen lakes.
The lake at Liljeholmen, 3 tram-stops away from our house : there is a very nice ice skating rink groomed on the lake (one can notice the so typically swedish activity of ice-skating with a stroller), as well as cross-country skiing tracks.

On the lake in Hagaparken, where my colleague Francois lives in a beautiful house surrounded by nature:

As it became very cold, the lake in front of our place froze quite well also and some guys went out ice-fishing. I followed carefully in their footsteps to have a look at our place from the water.

And finally, finally, Eric, Ruben and Alexandre arrived on Thursday march 8th to Stockholm !
On the Friday, Eric took the kids to Tekniska museum to check out the local science musuem ; they enjoyed it very much.

 
Over the week end, we went around to discover our island and the playground at the French school (it is always open, as are all playgrounds in Sweden). Luckily, the kids really liked that playground !

We also went for a hike on the lake in Liljheholmen. Unfortunately, the weather had been getting warmer and the top layer of the ice was a bit melted in places ; it was not very nice to walk on it. But we still had lots of fun playing around the lake.

At what we call the 'banana park' in Liljeholmen, a fruit-themed playground (Ruben really likes the strawberries / merry-go-rounds).

On the sunday, we went to Gamla Stan : visited the post museum (they have a small 'play post office' for kids), met with a friend of the sister of a friend for lunch (Xian, with her family), which was nice, walked around Gamla Stan a bit, stopped in a cafe to taste Semla (a typical Swedish treat for that time of the year, with brioche and cream and almond cream ; nice and rich but the kids preferred regular chocolate cake)..
On the way back, we stopped one-tram stop before our place (Grondal) to check out the playground there (kids liked it ; it seems like they are enjoying the diversity of playgrounds we are finding here !). As the snow had hardened into ice on the slopes, Ruben and Alexandre were able to slide down well, even without sledges.

On the monday, Ruben had his first day at school. Luckily, the swedish culture is very protective of kids and it felt like the adults around the school really tried to make the transition easier for him.
Ruben's classroom.

It does feel that there are only few tables, and there are.. The class briefly had 15 kids when Ruben joined, and now they are 14 as one kid left to go back to France. 
Classes at the French school are that small normally, but CP classes are a special case. We were told that they make these extra small because many kids are coming directly from Swedish forskolas and they need a lot of attention to adapt to a learning environment. In Sweden, forskolas are only play-based : there are no lessons, no obligation to do group activities, no need to stay silent when a teacher is talking... It is very, very different to a maternelle.

As for Alexandre, unfortunately he falls in the 'forskola' age group and we can not get him directly in school (the French 'maternelle' follows the Swedish rules for registration). We first have to get registered in Sweden (a process which is still on-going), and then we have to get on a waiting list for a spot in a forskola. The waiting time will be 3 months, no more, but no less - the city has to provide a spot under 3 months, but usually it does not happen much earlier than that.
Even as French people, it is baffling to discover how Sweden is truly a system where everything is taken care of by the State, with positive aspects but also drawbacks. Hence for example a positive aspect : any family who is registered in the system gets a spot in a forskola guaranteed in 3 months. On the negative side : you can not get it more quickly, even for kids we consider 'school age' in France, and there is no alternative system (the private schools are rare and anyway they apply this waiting period as a minimum and usually have much longer waiting times ; there are no nanny-sharing arrangements like in Paris and no 'nourrice agree'..).
We were hoping to get a spot before the summer, but the delay in getting our persnonummers means that this will not happen.
Hence, Eric will be staying with Alexandre until August ; then, Alexandre should be able to get a spot in the French maternelle..

Eric and Alexandre are thus spending their days exploring the city and discovering the different parks, museums, oppna forskola*, etc.
*it's a sort of an 'open-house forskola' for parents and kids ; there is a playground but also indoor space with toys and coffee for the adults.. most of the kids however are babies, with parents on maternity / paternity leave.
Ruben's school day finishes at 3 pm every day (he has lunch at 11.10 am, swedish style !), so Eric and Alexandre's time for roaming around is not that long anyway.

On march 16th, I had to leave for 8 days unfortunately, to attend the world water forum in Brasilia. It was hectic and tiring ; very useful to meet with many, many people I work with from all over the world but not very nice (although I did met with some old friends for dinner, which was really good).
I managed a one-hour walk one morning to have a look at some monuments. It felt.. monumental and not really human-friendly.