The Lefeuvre family in Antalya

Görüşürüz Antalya, สวัสดี กรุงเทพมหานคร (Sawatdee Kaa/Khrab Bangkok)

2010-07-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

As you may know, we're leaving Antalya to move to Bangkok !!! New experiences are on the way!

Sabine & the kids already left Turkey a month ago

And on Wednesday, it is Bruno's turn after the moving.

We're leaving a great country behind us and there are many things you would have liked to present you:

# The Turkish baths with their hudge heating system

# Unusual Antalya with its trees in the middle of the street

# Antalya luxury resorts

But instead, due to like of time, we need to wrap up this blog. But don't worry, we give you an appointment in few weeks on our new blog:

http://lefeuvrefamilyinbangkok.blogspot.com/

Diving - The video & story

2010-07-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

The year was 1942, August . The name of the ship was St.Didier. There was a fierce battle going on in North Africa between the German and the Allied forces. The German North African Army under the command of General Rommel had growing needs of supply in order to pursue its objectives in its bloody war campaign. It was a time when the British Commander Montgomery was well aware of the importance of cutting the supply lines of the German Army. Therefore there was a fierce struggle in the Mediterranean sea among the Allied and German forces. The French ship named "St Didier" was forced to serve the German Army since France was under the German occupation at the time. Under the disguise of a hospital ship (a common wartime trick that resulted in the sinking of many "real" hospital ships), St. Didier was carrying jeeps, ammunitions, guns and many other war supplies in its cargo bays.

St. Didier with its escort destroyer was trying to reach Africa through the Eastern Mediterranean sea while under heavy air attack from the British war planes taking off from Cyprus. Unable to proceed any further towards Africa, St. Didier and its escort ship steered toward the Turkish coast to evade the attacks. Under constant air attacks, both ships made it until Adrasan (around 40 miles south of Antalya) where it became clear that St. Didier was unable to continue any further due to the damage inflicted by the warplanes. The escorting destroyer had to leave the "slow moving" St. Didier in order to save itself. The only option for St. Didier to survive was to seek asylum in Antalya. While approaching the old harbor of Antalya, St. Didier had already been given permission for asylum by Turkey. The French officers and personnel on board were throwing off their uniforms and changing the name of the ship to "Societe" in order to survive the attacks. Unfortunately the allied mustang warplanes didn't care about it much as they didn't care about being only a few hundred meters from a neutral country's harbor. Despite the anti-aircraft gunfire from Hıdırlık tower on the ancient castle and from the bow of St. Didier, the planes kept on bombing. The people of Antalya had already gathered around the harbor and watching the desperate struggle of St. Didier. There were several torpedos missing their target and exploding around the harbor. One of the torpedoes went straight into the harbor and exploded inside killing one Turkish citizen. Finally a low flying mustang dropped its torpedo on the right course and scored a hit. The torpedo had hit the ship near the stern cargo bay which was full of explosives and caused a massive explosion that resulted in a huge hole on the hull of St. Didier. The severity of the explosion and the rapid sinking of the ship had resulted in the loss of many lives. The survivors and injured personnel floating on the surface were rescued by the local fishermen. According to international treaties the survivors had to be detained (not imprisoned) in Isparta, Turkey . Turkish authorities at the time was not able to show their protest and anger for fear of dragging Turkey into the war.

Diving in Antalya - Saint Didier

2010-07-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

While Sabine & the kids are in France, Bruno enjoyed his first dive in Antalya.

The visibility is so so & not much fish... But very interesting dive: A French boat (sunk by the British during WWII???) wreck.
A video will follow later with some explanation.s

Bruno's friends divers

Antalya - Beach time

2010-07-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

In Antalya,we need to take an elevator to get to the sea...

This picture is just to say that it is the best time of the year in Antalya. Hot but still OK, warm water and a feeling of vacacion around us...

Fred & Amouda's visit - Termessos

2010-07-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

During Sabine &the kids' last week in Turkey, we had the visits of Fred & Amouda's family, dear friends that we met when we lived in Martinique

It had been a relaxing week but also a (little) bit cultural. We went to Termessos.

It's an old city lost in the mountain that have been discovered not a long time ago. It is so protected by natural formations that Alexander the Great could not conquer it.

These are new pics, we didn't show you the amphitheater as it has already been presented in a past post.

Traditional Turkish Danse

2010-07-04T08:51:00.000-07:00

Paul & Maelle call amphitheaters "cinema" (movie theater). So we did ask for a show...

Maelle presented us a Turkish traditionnal danse

Chimera

2010-07-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

I know we already presented you this several times but this times thanks to Vaness, we do have clear pictures of this natural fire.
Like always a lot of fun for the kids...

Very traditional. Locals are coming with food and of course, TEA !!!

Boat tour

2010-06-30T21:13:00.000-07:00

Vanes' family visit

2010-06-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

While moms were doing shopping, dad were taking care of the little ones in Kas streets.

SA 2010 WC France-Uruguay: We were still hopeful at that time, before the disaster...

Peaceful kids...

On the top of Kalecoy castle.

Story time at home...

Family pics

2010-06-27T23:54:00.000-07:00

Panaromas of Turkey

2010-06-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the visit of Vanessa & Niko's family, we can share with you some representative panorama of Turkish coast:
Amphitheater of Myra, Beach, Amphitheater of Kas, Lycian Tombs & Kekova coast (already presented earlier)

Paul, Cha Cha Cha. After the video, the pics

2010-06-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

Cha Cha Cha Paul

2010-06-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Petra: the monaster

2010-06-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

After a nice walk (a very good way to reduce the number of tourists) under the hot sun of Jordania, you discover step by step the wonder: the Monaster

Look at the detailled work, simply impressive!

Petra

2010-06-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

First post out of Turkey... We are changing the rules, but Petra is worth it.

First a little bit of history:
Petra was first established sometime around the 6th century BC, by the Nabataean Arabs, a nomadic tribe who settled in the area and laid the foundations of a commercial empire that extended into Syria. Despite successive attempts by the Seleucid king Antigonus, the Roman emperor Pompey and Herod the Great to bring Petra under the control of their respective empires, Petra remained largely in Nabataean hands until around 100AD, when the Romans took over.
It was still inhabited during the Byzantine period, when the former Roman empire moved its focus east to Constantinople, but declined in importance thereafter. The Crusaders constructed a fort there in the 12th century, but soon withdrew, leaving Petra to the local people until the early 19th century, when it was visited by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.Location Petra lies about 3-5 hours south of modern Amman, about 2 hours north of Aqaba, on the edges of the mountainous desert of the Wadi Araba. The city is surrounded by towering hills of rust-coloured sandstone which gave the city some natural protection against invaders.The site is semi-arid, the friable sandstone which allowed the Nabataeans to carve their temples and tombs into the rock crumbling easily to sand. The colour of the rock ranges from pale yellow or white through rich reds to the darker brown of more resistant rocks. The contorted strata of different-coloured rock form whorls and waves of colour in the rock face, which the Nabataeans exploited in their architecture.

The place is as you could have read full of history (over a 1,000 years). The site is hudge and impressive. Difficult to select only a few pics.
Imagine, most of the building are carved right out of the rocks, from 1 block!

Houses

Kings' Graves

To be continued...

Club Med -Circus

2010-06-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

The blast of the week-end (for the kids). The 1st step is to climb on the ladder, already inaccessible for Bruno :-)

And then, we have to swing with the trapeze ...

... and try to make special movements.

Quite impressive what Paul & Maelle were able to achieve...

Maelle admited it: it was quite scary at the beginning but it was SOOOOOOO much FUN!

Club Med Activities

2010-06-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

We all felt for a moment like Robin Hood... quite fun and not so easy.

Paul, really loved it

Swimming was of course one of the main activities for the kids... The big ones are becoming independent.

Week end Club Med

2010-06-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

We see so many tourists in Antalya that we wanted to try one of these resorts...

So 1st experience ever at the Club Med

It was great to have these 3 days relax before a BUSY sunner (we will tell you more about it later)

It was good to have this break, have some rest and spend time in family.

Happy mother's day

2010-05-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

Bruno, the explorer... To be continued

2010-05-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize the place?

Baptiste, the playdough man

2010-05-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Paul, the international

2010-05-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

Now, his dad doesn't even recognize which language Paul is speaking... Would you ?

Koprulu cont...

2010-05-17T03:13:00.000-07:00

We're ready to go...

... and to fight against the big wages. Ok, I'm a bit exagerating on this, it was easy rafting.

During this time, the little ones were enjoying a fresh bath with their mums

and, the little one, enjoying the arms of his mom, like always...

Nice place, isn't it

Rafting in Koprulu Canyon

2010-05-16T04:37:00.000-07:00

Kids are ready to go...

Good time to enjoy rafting. The water is quite cold, but who cares, we don't plan to fall into the water, do we ?

On the way to go, it was not top security, hopefully Martin wasn't there to see this... and don't worry Paul & Maelle were inside the truck.

Paul is quite proud, isn't he ?

Louis, 3 months & 1/2

2010-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Summer is here

2010-05-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

Maëlle's ball was an opportunity for us to discover another side of Antalya (probably the most famous one): the resorts.

There are a lot of hotel like this one in Antalya. To give you an idea, we already reach our first million tourist for 2010.

On our trip back, we felt a strange feeling like we were coming back from vacations... No no, we just saw some lucky tourist.

But, we're lucky too... They are prepary the swimming pool in our residence... A few more weeks to wait.

2nd Grade Ball - The show

2010-04-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

During the ball, Maëlle did some show:
Singing

Waltz

A traditionnal Turkish danse

And.. to finish, the party

Bal for second grade (Maelle)

2010-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, we've been invited to the 2nd grade Bal at 1:00 PM (no no it was not holiday time!)

We knew Maelle needed to be well dressed but not to the point to wear a princess dress. She was a bit disappointed to be (once again) different from the others.

Can you imagine a Cinderella ball for 8 years old girls! Kids were very excited. For us, it was quite different with 4 kids and so much noise for the little one. But we've been very happy to be part of this event.

Look, boys have a dress code too...

Can you see Maelle?

Smiling Louis

2010-04-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

Being number 4

2010-04-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

There is a good point to be the 4th one, I have a lot of little hands to take care of me.

But, on the other hand, it might be sometimes oppressive...

and I have to share my nice baby sitter...

Easter bunny party - Part 2

2010-04-12T01:20:00.000-07:00

After mass (in German!), we headed up to Petra & Markus' house for our "traditionnal" Easter party. They live in theAntalya countryside and have a great house with a big yard... Good for the egg hunt.

They look happy, don't they?

Then, we had fun playing soccer and swinging with ropes... A very good afternoon in summary.

Easter bunny party - Part 1

2010-04-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

2 big parties this year, we've been lucky...

We found eggs hidden in the garden downstairs (we're lucky the other kids don't know we can find chocolate eggs in the garden during Easter). Please keep this secret...

It has been team works, the oldest helped the youngest...

But when it comes to eat them, no need for help, Baptiste can do it pretty well by himself. He probably even better than all the others one together.

Saturday night fever... sorry okuma bayrami

2010-03-30T04:37:00.000-07:00

A 2 hours show... What a program for Paul's class:
English, Turkish poetry, German, Dancing & Music.
2 costumes (custom made), a new pair of shoes and hours and hours of practice...

But at the end, Paul had a lot of fun, seemed to enjoy it, and got a trophee.

Paul has the groove, hasn't he?

This is the singing part

The music session...

The "STOP" moment (FREEEEZZZZZE)

We do not have any picture of the best moment of the show: The cha cha cha. The photographer had to leave earlier. We're expecting some pictures from others mothers. A future post?

Bath time & others pleasures

2010-03-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

First trail in family: Koprulu Kanyon

2010-03-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

Spring is back and temperatures are climbing...

So we went for a little walk, unfortunately we could not call it hike, as with 4 kids, it's getting difficult to be ambitious.

The place is wonderful, a bit far but look at the color of this water...

We went there with Guillaume and his daughter Lucie

We meet some typical local animals: goats.

At lunch time, we all had fun, playing together and enjoying the flowers.

It's spring time !!!

We end up inside the canyon, but we had to make a U-turn as it was getting too difficult for the kids...

We're not ready for the Olympics.

Around the market

2010-03-12T07:15:00.000-08:00

The activity at the market is not only at the shops...

It's also around.
As the market is a living place, where you can find some specificity of Turkey. The first one is the cay (tea)> Cay is the first Turkish word you learn... You drink it all day long.

So you can have this served even at the market.

Then to go with the tea, you have the simit. Typical Turkish pastry. You can eat it either sade (natural) or with cheese (kind of Philadelphia cheese, the French version: La vache qui rit).

Dry products & Herbs

2010-03-09T13:18:00.000-08:00

Do you know what it is?

farmers' market

2010-03-08T07:51:00.000-08:00

We will try to present you from time to time how our life did change (in good or bad) since we moved to Turkey...
As we're French, the first topic has to be about food...

We rediscovered the joy of the farmer's market.
In Turkey, people do eat a lot of vegetables especially a sstarters (around 250 kg/year/person, 3 times more than Americans).

Antalya is in the heart of the vegetable production and the farmer's market is wonderful. Vegetables and fruits are very fresh. It's always a pleasure to wander around and pick our fruits/vegetables for the week.

For example, now, we only drink orange juice freshly squeezed every morning...

We also enjoy some traditionnal food. Cheese section here.

And borek there (kind of a very thin tortilla, pate filo). Very traditional and very good.
We just made some yesterday with ground beef, patatos and eggs.

Louis, 1 month

2010-03-08T00:51:00.000-08:00

We're sure you want to see Baby Louis growing... Not many pics as he was sick (he had a flu) but now he's doing much better.

We enjoyed our first walk outside, everybody looked at us with our 4 kids now!!! and people wondered if they were all ours... Yes yes!!!

Louis is a nice baby, even if he requests to be carried almost at all time. But nights are already good, which makes a big difference.

Baptiste enjoys being a big brother...

Louis is peaceful but...

he's also that... He knows how to get attention....

Saturdays & Sundays' activities

2010-02-25T02:38:00.000-08:00

As for every parents, Saturdays and Sundays are busy with kids activities...

Maelle goes dancing

Paul is doing basket ball

And Baptiste???

While waiting for his brother and sister, he's having fun at the play ground.

Of course, we didn't forget the last one... this one is mainly resting in his mum's arms but he doesn't wait the week end for that... It's a 24/7 service.

Baptiste birthday

2010-02-23T02:15:00.000-08:00

Baptiste turned 3 last Saturday...

We did a little birhtday party and he was so happy to blow out his 3rd candle.

Cake was of course made of chocolate !!!

Moving

2010-02-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

Yes, we got our moving from Tucson. We had to wait over a year but it was worth it. The kids are very happy to rediscover their toys... It's like having a part of our life back.

We live at the 10th floor. So it was quite an adventure to get our stuff.

Nice elevator, isn't it...

We could see the elevator from far away.

An if you have vertigo fear, this is not a job for you... Do you see the small man down?

Here, for those of you who knew our previous houses in Tucson, you will probably recognize our living room. Special thought for Erik & Kirsten, your old wooden table made it to Antalya but it was quite an adventure for the movers: it didn't fit in the elevator so they had to carry it up by using the stairs... 10 floors.
But the results is very nice and we're very happy.

Feb, 3rd: Maelle's birthday, Evening time

2010-02-06T05:37:00.000-08:00

After the nap, little time to play and share... good exercice for Baptiste... he still has long way to go. Training is good before Louis comes in the loop...

Then the birthday cake: Maelle is 8!

Maelle got some help from everybody...

... and good lots of wonderful presents that she kindly shares with her brothers...

Feb, 3rd: Maelle's birthday Day time

2010-02-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

We went to the zoo with Lucie.
Antalya zoo is not comparable with San Diego zoo but it's still good enough to spend a nice moment outside...

The favorite moment: the hamster cage (we should have been to pet land instead!)

and then, nothing better than finishing the visit with a playing time at the playground...

Back to future: Maelle's birthday

2010-01-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

But you will say: Maelle birthday is Feb, 3rd and on the pictures, Sabine is still a mom to be. How come???
In fact, we did anticipate a bit the happy moment of the 28th and made Maelle's birthday party last Saturday: great idea we had there.

Maelle has a friend Noyan that has almost the same birth day, so we made a joined party.

We had a lot of fun especially with two memorable moments:

Dancing time (look even the moms dance in the back). Only one doesn't care, do you see him?

The balloon game

Maelle got great presents. This little boy, Ulas, even made this nice jewerly especially for her...

First family times...

2010-01-28T05:26:00.000-08:00

First moments of Louis and special thanks to Charlotte

2010-01-28T05:24:00.000-08:00

Baby Louis

2010-01-28T05:22:00.001-08:00

Please join us in welcoming our little wonder Louis.

He was born today at 2:00 A.M in Antalya. Louis and his mother are doing great.

Louis is looking forward to meeting you especially his 2 grand pa and 2 grand ma !!!

Paul, the Sorcerer's Apprentice & new toys

2010-01-27T01:13:00.000-08:00

Paul & Maelle got great toys for Christmas. One has especially Maelle, Paul & Baptiste favor. They spent hours in building new circuits for marbles.

Santa also brings to Paul a full book of potion recipe. A book of wonders...

Today, it was how to make a volcano...

1. Make a volcano with playdough

2. Put some white magic powder

3. Add Vinegar

Unfortunately, it didn't work to well, just a few bubbles. The vinegar was not strong enough, we will have to renew the experience...

Before it's too late...

2010-01-25T23:38:00.000-08:00

Ones of the last pics of Sabine as a mom's to be...

In a few days, this one will be a big brother!!!
Difficult to imagine, isn't it?

Happy new year !

2010-01-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

We bought one of the 4 Christmas tree available in the store !!!
Yes yes, only 4 trees. It's not that we went to the wrong place, no, we went to the local Home Depot.
But as Christmas is not celebrated in Turkey, they don't have a Christmas tree.

It was important for the kids to have it as it's really one of the symbol of Christmas...

And you see, everybody was quite happy to be pictured in front of it.

Creche

2009-12-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

Our creche (Nativity scene) is somewhere on the ocean between LA and Izmir.
We had to find a plan B for this year and nothing is better than using our own skills.

It was a family project

We recycled Juice bottles to make houses and we got from France the paper figurines. Even Baptiste was part of the project (not good for our tape consumption)

It was a nice family moment and at the end, the result is not so bad, isn't it ?

We can now wait for baby Jesus to come on Christmas eve...

Istanbul - End of the Journey

2009-12-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

We hope you did enjoy this journey of Istanbul as much as we did. These posts were a way to share with you what we saw. We could have shown more and more things...

Like the Grand bazar. Unfortunately, it was kapali (closed) during our entire stay because of bayram, national holiday... Too bad, we'll have to go back only to see it. It's a medieval "shopping center" (4,000 shops) where you can buy all kind of things, especially local art (carpet, furniture, porcelain...)

Sunken Palace Cistern (Yerebatan Saray): an subterranean "sunken palace" of 336 marble columns which could hold 80,000 cubic feet of water in case of drought or siege. Very interesting !!

The Bosphorus Cruise: a excursion, up toward the Black Sea past castles, palaces and Ottoman-Victorian villages. On one side of the river: Europe, on the other side: Asia.

A fish boat

The Bosphore: The bridge between Europe and Asia!

or the Kariye Museum (The Chora Church) and its gorgeous Byzanthine mosaics. It is apparently the best conserved Byzantine mosaics in the world!

We do hope that, thanks to these posts, we made you want to visit Istanbul and, by the same way, to visit us !

Topkapi - Harem

2009-12-15T03:56:00.000-08:00

We cannot talk about Istanbul & the Topkapi palace without talking about the Harem...

It's easy to imagine all the histories that took place in these 300 rooms. Only Sutlan's favorites and eunuchs lived there.

The favorites were competing to get Sultan's favors. They were dancing and trying to seduce him. He had to pick only one...

Next to the "ballroom", there is the Sultan's bedroom...

... where water was flowing to maintain intimity.

By visiting all the little rooms, you can imagine all the secrets holded in this place.

"Modern Istanbul"

2009-12-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

You will see, the following pics look like they were taken from...

Paris ...

Venise...

But, no. They were taken from Beyoglu, what's called the vitrine of modern Turkey.

To be honest, we were a little bit disappointed by the place. Everybody told us Istiklal caddesi (street) was nice and full of activities. But at daytime and with 3 young kids... nothing special. We have to say that this special atmosphere was due to the holidays (bayram) and Istanbul was not itself.

Some streets are really nice like the fishery passage.

But the most interesting moment for the kids was when we were in the tramway...

The restaurants were also wonderful. It was so good to see these appealing places and we could imagine that this neighbourhood comes to life at night (not for us with our 3 kids:-)
For once and for a change, we enjoyed something very different from the usual turkish food.

But, be sure, we did enjoy a good meal...

AyaSophia

2009-12-10T03:30:00.000-08:00

Ayasofya was built on the site of Byzantium's acropolis by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. It was the largest church ever built until St Peter's Basilica was constructed in Rome a thousand years later. Mehmet the Conqueror proclaimed it a mosque soon after his conquest of the city from the Byzantines in 1453.

Large numbers of columns were brought to Constantinople from temples in Asia Minor, the Lebanon, Greece and Italy, and the finest marbles and noblest metals were used. It is said that the total cost of the building was 360 hundredweight of gold and that 10,000 workmen were employed in its construction.

AyaSophia means the Church of the Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia in Greek) and not as many people think Santa Sophia.

The most interesting part of this building is at the mezzanine level: the splendid Byzantine mosaics.

It is really amazing to see the details and the expression of the faces when you know that these pics are make of mosaics.

The Blue Mosque

2009-12-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

The imperial Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I (Sultan Ahmet Camii) is called the Blue Mosque because of its interior tiles, mostly on the upper level and difficult to see unless you're right up there with them.

It has six minarets (the Sultan had to offer a 7th minaret to La Mecque to make sure it will remain the biggest one) and a great cascade of domes. It was our favorite visit in Istanbul. The building is impressive and the light and decoration inside are amazing.

It was our fist time inside a mosque despite the fact we lived in turkey for almost a year now.

We let you enjoy the fine state of art of the inside...

The Topkapi palace

2009-12-05T22:20:00.000-08:00

Home of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, Topkapi Sarayi ("Palace of the Cannon Gate") was the seraglio, the heart of the vast Ottoman Empire, ruled by the monarch who lived in Topkapi's hundreds of rooms with hundreds of concubines, children, and white and black servants.

With the visit of this palace, you really understand better Turkey and the power of the Ottomans and its influence in today's culture.

The empire lasted for 622 years ruling over the Asian, European and African lands surrounding the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

The palace is very well maintained and a wonderful place to visit. The treasure is impressive (jewerly for girls and swords for boys) and the ceramics are very nice.

You really understand more the life of the sultan and picture him receiving his guests in his palace.

Istanbul

2009-12-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

During the bayram (that means holidays), we spent 4 days in Istanbul.
We were lucky the weather was very nice, warm and sunny

A quick introduction of our tour: the Bosphore. No, no, this boat doesn't bring our moving, our furniture will finally leave Tucson next week...

The tokapi...

The city...

Transformers

2009-11-26T05:05:00.000-08:00

Family is changing these days...

a baby is growing...

While his/her mom is getting a bigger belly...

While others are losing their teeth...

and here is a delighted face for a first lost tooth

and the youngest one??? He's learning to be a great cook..

Fleur & Thierry's visit 2

2009-11-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

During the week-end, we went to Cirali. We enjoyed the nice weather of the fall and a last bath in the sea.

We also went canoing.

At sunrise, we went up to the Chimera... quite a hike, at night, with 6 young kids

But it was quite an atmosphere to see these natural fires. We did forget again the mashmallows and the sausages...

And of course, Fleur &Thierry's visit, was an opportunity to see famous local place like Phaselis (up) and Perge (down).

Fleur & Thierry's family visit

2009-11-18T11:20:00.000-08:00

...We're trying to catch up...

End of October, we had the visit of Fleur & Thierry's family for almost a week.

It was an opportunity to visit unknown places in the surroundings of Antalya, like the Duden Selalesi. It was also the time to eat fresh fish by the water.

Accro-branches Antalya

2009-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's been already a few weeks ago that we went to accro-branches with some friends.

Maelle and Paul already tried it in France last summer and they enjoyed it so much that they asked us to go again.

Even if she doesn't show it, Maelle seems to have height fear. But, as Paul seems quite confident in this activity, she, as the big sister, makes a point of going over her fear.

And Baptiste wanted also to participate, so he took a pair of gloves and a helmet... Ready for the adventure.

Halloween

2009-11-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

We wanted to celebrate Halloween even if it is completely unknown in Turkey. No more pumpkins patch, carving or Trick or Treat but...

decorations and costumes.

Kids were very happy and had a lot of fun (don't worry, they had candies to maintain their sugar level high)

Even Moms (yes, Mom... No father were present) play the game and came dressed. Security guard were quite shock seeing our friends arriving like that.

Sailing Initiation

2009-11-07T05:48:00.000-08:00

Maelle took some sailing classes, more under the enthousiasm of her parents than from her own desire.

She shared a boat with one of her friends. It was difficult for her to deal with the stress, the cold and the barrier of language. She's still probably too young for sailing.

We decided to stop for a while this class. We don't want to force her even if she doesn't realize how lucky she is to be able sailing...

And during this time, Paul was reading a book offered by his godmother on the beach with a fresh orange juice.

Aphrodisias

2009-10-24T00:23:00.000-07:00

Hierapolis

2009-10-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Romans liked so much Pamukkale and its hot water vertue that they build a huge city on top of it. You can see here a map of what the city looked like.

Unfortunately, the city had been destroyed by an earthquake and only ruins remain. The most interesting part is the amphitheater and its stage.

Here, the stairway to heaven...

Next, the wonderful city of Aphrodisias...

Pamukkale

2009-10-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is the most well-known picture of this site. Does it look like ice or snow to you ? In fact this is limestone, dropped over hundreds of years by a hot spring. It has created naturel pools of hot water (about 37 Celsius degrees or 90 Fahrenheit).

The water is very famous for its therapeutic benefits.

Pamukkale (Cotton castle in Turkish) has been unfortunately destroyed by the tourism. A lot of hotels had been build on the site. This reduced the amount of water irrigating to the pools and little by little, the pools disappeared.

But, since it became part of the UNESCO patrimony, hotels have been destroyed. We just have to wait for mother Nature to do its works,slowly...

You can imagine the blast for the kids, a natural water park!

Then, we went, with bare feet, climbing to the top, through bassins and little waterways. In front of us, the big pools that are today unfortunately inaccessible.

Maelle, Paul and Baptiste had a lot of fun. They really enjoyed climbing and playing in the water.

Next time, we will bring our bathing suit.

On top of the hill, we had the opportunity to visit Hierapolis, an ancient roman city... It will be our next post.

Is there a better way to start the week-end?

2009-10-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

On our way to Pamukkale, we stopped by a local restaurant to enjoy a traditionnal turkish meal: the Gozleme.
We just took a seat and looked at the cooker preparing it for us.
1st: She prepares the dough (sort of very thin crust)
2nd: She fills it with different ingredients (patato or spinach or cheese or meat with aromats like mint)
3rd: She bakes it
4th: You enjoy this delicious meal

Gozleme is very popular in Turkey and part of the tradition. Turkish people seems to really enjoy their sunday with friends or family around a table for a long brunch. You drink (of course) tea and fresh orange juice and eat gozleme.

Special Dedication for Stefano & Conrad

2009-10-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Antalya hosted the World Fencing championship. Very good training for the London 2012 Olympics...

France didn't do so great this time and the best nation have been Italy... We will get our revange in London.

Kids were REALLY interested in the event...

... not always in fact

It was also the opportunity to meet some stars and...

... to support our national team.

OK, Maelle is wearing a special 4th of July T-shirt offered by Valaya but France & USA have the same colors !!!

Stefano, see you in 2012 for the revenge...

Hiking in the surroundings of Antalya

2009-10-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

We're leaving this week-end for Pamukkale, more Turkish delights to come...

Before that, we went hiking last week-end in the surrounding area of Antalya looking for a desert & private beach...

After a couple of hours walk, we found it

We enjoyed a nice meal (pique-nique) and of course a little swim.

The way back has been more difficult. A lot of energy have been spend during these 7 miles walk and swim. And belive it or not, it still pretty warm here... We really appreciate the little drink at the terrase of a cafe (except the fresh pomegrade juice).

Special Helper

2009-10-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

Maelle knows that our Turkish is limited...
So when she's back from school with a new supply list, she takes time to translate it into English !!!

Cappadocia, Churches

2009-10-05T01:17:00.000-07:00

Last post about Cappadocia, not that we don't have anything else to show you but, it's time to close the book and open new adventures.
The last post is about the caved churches of Cappadocia.

Cappadocia, Ilhara Valley

2009-09-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

On our way back to Antalya, we stopped by the Ilhara Valley where we went hiking with Guillaume & Charlotte.

We knew we were still in Cappadocia: there were lots of fairy chimneys, rock caved churches and houses.

The Ilhara valley is very nice. It is a 16 km gorge. The green color of the vegetation contrasts with the "organics" scenics of the past days.

In the center of this gorge, there is a river, perfect spot for the picnic and fishing... for the kids. We,unfortunately, couldn't expect any extra food from this activity

Then we went inside the caves. We were going on a bear hunt, are you afraid? NOOOOO answered the kids... We don't know if they were tiptoing inside :-)

Very nice adventure even for the youngest one...

Once we reached the upper level of the caved house, we enjoyed the scenic view of the valley.

Do you see the little window on the upper left side of the rock?
...

We were there !!!

On the way back, the kids were quite tired but they didn't complain, they had a lot of fun.
Guillaume & Bruno even had to carry 2 kids at a time each (one on the shoulders, one in the backpack).
Souvenir photo...

Cappadocia - Art & Crafts

2009-09-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Last week was also a very interesting learning experience for the kids. They learnt

1-How to make silk .
Yes, these are real cocoons and the larvae are inside.
You have to put them in hot water and use the little brush to catch the silk fiber(in the back).
Then, you put them all together and collect 10 to 15 fibers at the time. The cocoon is out of fiber when it stops moving and floats away from the others.
The natural silk is not shiny. You need to boil it. It's at this time that producer make the final decision quality vs. quantity.
Longer boiling time increases quality but reduce yield... Tough choice.

2- How to make a carpet

How to follow patterns, how to differenciate style of a region and quality (silk vs wool). We really liked a silk one we saw, but it was $22,000.

3- How to make pots

The village of Avanos in Cappadocia is famous for its pottery. We had the opportunity to visit one of those shops and Paul even got the opportunity to give it a try. He loved it even though he got dirty hands.

Cappadocia - Pink Valley

2009-09-27T04:53:00.000-07:00

The name comes from the color of the rocks that are... pink.

Without planning it, we met on the parking lot with Charlotte & Guillaume, our friends from Antalya. So we went hiking all together.

Wonderful scenic views

But, we still took some breaks for playing and having fun.

The luckiest one did a small detour to visit a rock wren church. Could you expect such a church build in the rock in a so wild place...

The entrance

First room

2nd room

Cappadocia Must see Places

2009-09-27T04:28:00.000-07:00

Cappadocia is so rich of wonders that we probably haven't seen all the "Must see places".

But, if you go there you have to stop to

The camel (thanks Marie for the photo).

For those of you who follow Nolween & Antoine's blog, it might remind you "their chicken" without the sea of course.

Uchisar castle.

A big rock full of holes on the top of the city. It was used to be a refuge for the villagers. It looks like a big piece of swiss cheese to me. The view of Goreme dale is wonderful on the top of the castle.

The three "pretty ones" (uc guzeller)

The place is famous for its fairy chimneys. Some still have their hat.

Goreme open air museum

(Unesco world heritage)

Pretty crowded but it is where the most beautiful rock wren churchs are located.

Cappadocia - Land of Fairy Chimneys Introduction

2009-09-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Cappadocia, which is situated within the triangle of Nevsehir, Aksaray and Kayseri is bounded by Erciyes with a height of 3,916 m (12,848 ft) in the east and by Hasandag, a volcanic mountain of 3,253 m (10,673 ft) high in the south.

The tough rocks, formed by the lava spurted by these two mountains during geological times, had kept on taking constantly changing shapes with kind effects during the course of time, and the wonders of the world of today were created.

During the early times of the spread of Christianity, the people who needed to hide themselves from the Arab raids, carved out these tough rocks thus constructing churches and built underground cities to defend themselves against the raids.
The settlements in Cappadocia had come into existence, mostly in the valleys of Goreme, Ihlara and Soganli. The people who had settled here, worshipped in the churches that they carved out of the rocks, and they dealt with agriculture to meet their own needs. The water sources in the valleys made this region productive.

Cappadocia

2009-09-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Please take a seat and enjoy the show...

We're just back from a amazing trip to Cappadoccia.

Wonderful moments with friends,

Tons of memories, tons of amazing scenics...

To be followed...

Paul's birthday Part III

2009-09-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

The pirates are celebrating their victory: They found the Treasure.

They are now looking for new adventures !!!

The ladies are trying to divert them from their adventure; No success...

A pirate is a pirates and only adventure counts.

But... The little one is leaving secretly and silently with the rest of the Treasure

Paul's birthday Part II

2009-09-17T05:59:00.000-07:00

Maelle is THE expert on this event: Sudoku. New record 3 minutes !!! She solved it all by herself

Can they find the right key?

The clue is inside the empty jar. Kids have 3 minutes to fill it with water. They lost but they cheated. They gaged the referee.

What a Treasure to share !!!

Paul's Birthday party

2009-09-17T03:18:00.000-07:00

Paul turned 6 last Saturday and we organized for him a Treasure hunt.

10 events to solved that give 1 letter each.

10 letters to find the secret word that indicated where the Treasure was...

They made it and had a lot of fun (parents too of course).

The best moment: the birthday cake !

What's next on the Treasure map ???

This event was to test shooting skills of the kids. They loved it !!!

Who's who? Can you reconize your friends with a scarf on your eyes?

More pics to come...

Troy - Did you know it was in Turkey?

2009-08-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

During a business trip to Marmara and Aegean region, Bruno had the opportunity to visit the famous city of Troy.

Famous, thanks to Homere and it's legend of Troyan horse. Yeah, apparently it's a legend and we are not even sure there have been a war in Troy (no sign of destruction). Homere was probably one the most famous ever writer/poet. He was from Izmir, Turkey, 200 miles from Troy.

You can see 2 Troyan horses of course: the one from the movie (with B. Pitt) and one from the Turkish tourism chamber. Do you know which one is what???

The site by itself was disappointing.

Troy has a very big history (from minus 3000 BC till 700 AC) and it's like visiting 9 cities stack together on 3 m deep (See picture of the differents cities). You have all mix together Roman, Greek, Troyan... remainings. Very difficult to picture our the cities looked like for novices like us.

On the top, how it was. Below, what's left.

Fires of Anatolia and Dum Tek Tek

2009-07-28T02:27:00.001-07:00

Paul loves to danse and did quite a show with 2 local musics:

Dum Tek Tek, THE popular song in Turkey. This song represented Turkey at the Eurovision and finish 5th, I believe (much better than the French). For those who don't know Eurovision, it is a singing contest on TV where each European contry is represented by 1 singer and the jury is composed of 1 member per country.

I hope you will appreciate and get a little feeling of Turkey. We do like the song. Ok it's not Radiohead but it's part of here and give a boost for the day... It's an interesting mix of music influences.

Paul's performance (try to picture him with the Dum Tek Tek in background).

The other fashion and popular dansing team is Fire of Anatolia. It's a kind of Cirque du Soleil but with local influence and mainly based on danse. We haven't seen the original but Paul and his friends' performance was I believe already a good sample

He spent a lot of time repeating the show in class.

The D day he was ready!!!

Paul's Graduation party

2009-07-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

Paul did 3 very nice shows for his graduation, one in english, one in german and one in Turkish. He has been a boxer, Peter Pan and a danser. What a challenge for a 6 years old boy!!!

But he seems very happy and really enjoys being on the stage despite the stress.

And... the conclusion of the show was of course, his graduation!!!
Now, he can appreciate his vacacions.

Isparta Roses

2009-07-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Isparta is famous for its roses and their essences.

Bruno had the opportunity to visit a plant where they extract all kinds of essantials oils for the perfume industry in Grace (nutmeg, lavender, pepper, roses, ...)

The plant really looks like a rum distillery, famous place where Sabine had been working while we were in Martinique.

In order to make 1 liter of rose essantial oils, you need 300 KG of petals (harvested by hand !!!).

You can imagine now why there are 30,000 Ha of roses in the surrounding areas of Isparta.

The roses are specific types. There are bush plants and only use for distilation (not possible to use them for ornamentation).

It was quite a nice tour. We bring back various samples of these essantials oils. But, we didn't get the expected effects, women were not interested at all in these smells (too concentrated). If you know a 'nez', please let us know how to transform these highly concentrated oils into wonderful perfume. Then Bruno's present will be a hit :-)

Happy Summer Holiday !!

2009-07-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

Lunch time

2009-07-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

In order to celebrate the summer, we had lunch with friends at our favorite restaurant, Yoma. It's a wonderful place and food is excellent. I'm sure by looking at these pictures you will understand why we like that place.
The great thing in Turkey is that people knows how to enjoy a good meal. In Antalya, there are tons of wonderful and magical places like that.

SandLand

2009-07-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

Every year in Antalya there is a Sandland. The topic of the year was as you can imagine legends and heros. It's amazing what people can do, we forgot it was sand. It was nice to think of all of you around the world with all these figures. For the kids it's a great learning moment.

Carmen - Aspendos

2009-06-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

We went back on Friday to Aspendos to see Carmen. We went this time with Paul & Maelle. It was a long evening for them but we believe they enjoyed it. They probably didn't realise how lucky they were but hopefully they will keep some memories...

It was the first time for them to see an orchestra and all its instruments. Paul was particularly impressed by the director and of course the drums.

The quality of the opera was a bit disapointing compared to Aida. Maybe the place was more suitable for Egyptian time than for flamenco atmosphere.

And we didn't forget our sense of confort !!!

Circus Time

2009-06-20T02:04:00.000-07:00

Pool Time

2009-06-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

We're the lucky guys that have such pool and waterslide in our residence.

It's a very nice way to fight the heat and to enjoy the vacacion. Paul and Maelle love it !

Aida - Aspendos

2009-06-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

What a magical moment !!!

45 minutes from home, there is a roman antic amphitheater where there is, every summer a classic festival. The opening was this week with Aida, an opera from Verdi.

It was wonderful!!! I've never seen an opera of this quality:

magical place (Aspendos is 2000 years old), wonderful acoustic, incredible costumes and scenery, around 200 characters (even 3 horses showed up).

It was a 4 hours opera (we came back home at 2:00 AM, it didn't happen to us in a while), we're quite tired today with Baptiste waking up at 6:30 AM but no regret at all. This evening under the stars was unique.

We're looking forward going back to Aspendos with Carmen on Friday and probably Gisele on Tuesday. We know how lucky we are to have the opportunity to see show of this quality.

Happy mother's day

2009-06-07T03:00:00.000-07:00

Beach time

2009-06-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

Few pics to celebrate summer time!

Kas - Special dedication for Ibo

2009-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Let's add pictures to Ibo's comments... Kas is a true real treasure: a very nice and pleasant little town on the coast. It's quite a touristic place (the British love it) but it has kept its charms.

You will spend the night in a little "pansiyon", enjoy a turkish breakfast, a nice drink & a nice dinner outside with sea view (of course fresh fish). And for the girls, a pedestrian street full of wonders, I'm talking about shopping wonders of course...

But overall, you will feel a relaxing atmosphere that makes of the moments spent in Kas an escape out of time...

And of course, the boat trip...

Kekova

2009-05-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

First time on a boat for the kids

Kalekoy

View from Kalekoy's castle

The sunken city: the harbor (city sunken after a earthquake)

We went on a boat tour to visit Kekova island and its ruins. The sea was amazing : bright blue and very clear.

The more courageous ones can do this tour in canoe, maybe next time for us....

We were not brave enough to swim (the water was still too cold) but we had a nice walk to the castle of Kaleköy, a village only accessible by sea or by foot.

On the way back, we followed the coast of Kekova to visit the partially sunken ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe.

View fro the castle of Kalekoi

2009-05-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the quality, I'm not an expert

Myra Add. Pics

2009-05-20T22:11:00.000-07:00