The Hartshorn's Meet in Paris

We planned this trip to visit friends who are living there over a year ago using frequent flyer miles. Then the Dubai move came up. So now it appears we are some jet setting family going all over the place. Who would have thought...

We rented an apartment that was about 10 minutes walk and 2 metro stops from our friend's place. Here area few pictures of it. 

Our first day was a little hectic. Our flight was late getting in. We were tired. We had to find Larry at the airport and our cell phones weren't working. But it all worked out. We 

took t

he metro to the apartment and found Bret and Karen there waiting for us. 

Later that day we picked up Samantha and Camilla from school, walked thru Invalides where Napoleon is burried, and while walking to the Bowin's apartment we got to see a rare treat - Paris police in riot gear. A student protest was going on, something to do with needing more teachers and space in schools as well as celebrating an historical protest. We did

 not have the camera that day but I did find some pictures that I borrowed

 from other blogs that give a good idea of what the riot police look like. Protest info

Living in Dubai

Well, this is my first post from Dubai. I have been in a hotel for 9 days and am very ready to get out. I hope to move into an apartment Tuesday, April 1. It is in a quaint walking village area called Old Town Island. Here are some photos of the area. The village is in the shadows if the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world.I miss my girls and can't wait to see them in Paris! We video chat plenty, but it is 'not quite the same' as Elle has so appropriately stated.

Easter

Our first make holiday without Larry. :( 

My and the girls day started with them looking for their Easter Baskets and soon after we talked to Larry on Skype. We played a game and then hung around the house, cleaned and got ready to go to my friends Tracy's parents for dinner. It was fun - much like a holiday with my own family. How nice is it to have friends who share their family with you! Its now 6pm. We are home, tired and a bit crabby. Its been a hard, emotional week. Hopefully we will start to adjust to a new rhythm soon. 

Today Larry looked at a couple of apartments and then went to work. He should move into an apartment soon which will make his daily life more normal since he will be able to cook for himself rather than eating at the hotel or mall. 

Well that's all for today. I am beat. I'm going to take a short nap, make some dinner, get the girls in the shower and early to bed. Then I need to focus on school for a few hours. 

Larry is safe and sound in Dubai

Larry is staying at the Raffles Hotel in Dubai. It is close to one of his offices. The hotel has an Egyptian theme. We've talk to him several times computer to computer with voice and video - its worked great and we all get to see each other. 

Larry leaves for Dubai

Ever leave for a trip but forget something? Ever forget the most important thing that you need on the trip? Well...  We kept the girls out of school on Wednesday to take Larry JFK airport. We departed around 6am, had a quiet and sad drive to New York. We drop Larry off with lots of tears. He and his several pieces of luggage head inside and the girls and I head home. After a few minutes on the road we get a call from Larry... he can't find his passport. He continues to look and we continue to drive. He calls back, no passport. So we turn around and go pick him up and head home to find the passport. Luckily Larry was able to get on the night flight to Dubai and hire a car to take him back to the airport. The nice thing was that we got to spend more time with him!

Survey Answers

How many people live in Dubai? 1.4M people
How many miles away is Dubai from West Hartford? 6,700 miles
What is the time difference between Dubai and West Harford? 9 hours (and 8 hours during day light savings time)

Whoa, its COLD!

Reported from Dubai today... Night-time temperatures will dip to 9C (48F) on Tuesday night with Sharjah (this is the emirate to the east of Dubai) recording the lowest and Abu Dhabi (the emirate to the West of Dubai) slightly higher at 12C, according to the Dubai met office.

We better take jumpers (British English for sweater) when we move! I wonder if we will be able to stand CT temperatures when we return. BTW, its not really snowing there, but I thought that the picture was nice. :)