May 30, 2012: After our hill town experience, we drove into Aix-les-Bains to camp and experience the National Thermal Baths. Chris and I remembered how much we enjoyed the natural hot springs in Colorado when we went skiing at Steamboat in March and were looking forward to some soaking and relaxation. Again we were met with disappointment. The ruins from the original ancient baths were completely closed off but we managed to sneak a peek at them through an elevator shaft in the tourist office. On the way to the new baths we saw advertisements for its healing properties just about everywhere we turned. The price to get in was pretty steep and on top of that, we were expected to purchase hair caps and a stretchy spandex bathing suit for Chris. But we chalked it up to foreign policy and went through all the hoops. The place was set up like a gym pool and they mandated we get lockers and shower before entering the baths. After all that, we finally arrived at what looked like any other indoor swimming pool. It was a little green tinted but other than that looked completely manmade and the water wasn’t even hot. There was a more bluish pool outside, a sauna downstairs, and a steam room as well. But what about the hot springs? Nope. Just a bunch of eerily quiet elderly people in spandex and swim caps standing in a lukewarm swimming pool trying to absorb magical healing properties…
It’s probably for the best that we never did find hot springs since pregnant women are highly discouraged from using hot tubs – something I learned after returning from vacation. We did venture into the sauna and steam room but I got uncomfortable really quickly and we left. There wasn’t much worth sticking around for considering the facilities at 24 Hour Fitness are pretty comparable. Actually, I’d venture to say that they are better since they actually do have hot tubs and there aren’t tons of elderly people to navigate through if you want to do laps. What about natural healing waters? I can name several spring-fed pools around Austin that are way more natural than what we experienced at this place.
After heading out, we found our way to a campground situated near Lac du Bourget, a gorgeous lake that feeds into the Rhône River. We enjoyed some gelato as we walked around the lake and signed up to do a yacht dinner cruise that night. We decided we had saved so much money in lodging that we might as well treat ourselves to something fancy so that’s exactly what we did. After taking a nap and rolling out of our tent, we threw on some nice clothes and walked hand in hand to the dock. No one would have ever guessed that we weren’t staying in a classy hotel! On the cruise, as we admired the sights along the lakeshore, we had some good seafood. Unfortunately I had a hard time stomaching my Coquille St. Jacques dish (sea scallops). Scallops are usually one of my all-time favorite gourmet foods, but these were served with the “feet” on. I never really realized that there was more to these creatures than their meaty medallion centers. But dangling off each white medallion was an equally large orange member that I think was meant to be eaten too? I ate some but was pretty grossed out and haven’t really enjoyed scallops since…
The next day, May 31, 2012 to be exact, Chris and I decided to visit the local pharmacy to grab a multi-vitamin. I had been unusually tired and just wasn’t feeling myself. I felt like I was overheating all the time and got fatigued way too quickly whenever we walked. I was convinced French cuisine was to blame. I don’t eat red meat and the leafy greens that I typically rely on for iron just aren’t popular menu items in French restaurants. When talking to the pharmacist, who didn’t know a word of English, I managed to tell her in French that I thought I was anemic by making up the word anémie which was spot on! She pulled out some fer… Ferrous things have iron in them, yes, this is what I needed! While we were there, Chris suggested we buy a pregnancy test and in broken French we were able to get one of those as well. I didn’t see the urgency of us buying the test though, thinking I wasn’t too late, but vacation messes with your sense of time and there’s no harm trying. Upon requesting the test, the pharmacist immediately had us switch out the vitamins we were buying because if it was possible I was enceinte (pregnant), the vitamins could be bad for the baby. She gave me a prenatal iron + folic acid supplement instead and we were on our way.
To Chris’s dismay, I didn’t need to use the restroom right that second, so we decided to drive to Hautecombe Abbey, a monastery situated on top of the mountain on the other side of the lake. We had seen it from below on the dinner cruise the night before and now wanted to take a closer look. After we’d been driving for awhile up a winding road around the lake, I said I could use a bathroom break and Chris pulled over at the first scenic overlook we came across. There weren’t any people around so I grabbed the test, hopped over a little ledge, and walked down to some bushes where I could find a little privacy. Apparently I didn’t need much time though since the test gave a positive reading the second that it got wet. I guess I must have been REALLY pregnant. I joined Chris back at the top of the ledge and we hung around for a bit in complete disbelief. We were amazed that this happened before we started legitimately trying for kids considering couples who really want children typically wait months, if not longer. I see this now as an amazing privilege since so many couples struggle with infertility - we’re so lucky that it came so easily for us. At the time though, we were a bit freaked out at the notion of having to start acting like responsible adults. We’d need to buy a larger house and I’d need to decide what to do about my job. I also needed to find prenatal care and do some research on pregnancy and birth because I had no clue what I was getting into. We still partied like college kids… were we ready for this? There wasn’t much we could do from the side of the mountain so we hopped back in the car. We decided to save the worrying for when we got home and made the most of the last few days we had remaining in France.
The next day, we drove to Lyon. Walking along the river there is quite an experience. No matter the time of night, you’ll find an endless stretch of college kids picnicking along the banks. The city seemed kind of like Austin, young and vibrant, but not overpoweringly huge. Chris and I had a nice time biking around, checking out the park, and touring the city. I thought the notion of a “mini-Paris” was kind of silly, but once we got there, I found myself really liking it. Chris and I decided that if we ever moved to a city in France, this would be it.
After leaving Lyon, we wrapped up our trip with a night in a hotel in the outskirts of Paris. We weren’t thrilled with our choice of campgrounds, but on top of that, I just wasn’t feeling very well. By this point, my occasional fatigue had ramped up to full on “I’m so tired I can’t to do anything” mode. Also, the minor food aversions I’d been experiencing were not just aversions anymore. As we drove around looking for campgrounds, each minor turn made me want to wretch. The nausea lasted pretty much all day and despite being ridiculously hungry, there wasn’t any food that I felt like I could keep down. I nibbled on crackers wondering how long this morning sickness could last. It turns out that I’d continue to feel this way all day every day for the following 9 weeks, awesome.
Flying back home was a little uncomfortable, but everything went smoothly and I was back to work the day after we got in. At 6 weeks pregnant, it was about time to embrace real life and figure out what to do next.
All in all, it was an amazing babymoon, especially considering we didn’t know it was a babymoon. Also, I’m so glad the timing worked out to where I didn’t start feeling sick until the very end!
After heading out, we found our way to a campground situated near Lac du Bourget, a gorgeous lake that feeds into the Rhône River. We enjoyed some gelato as we walked around the lake and signed up to do a yacht dinner cruise that night. We decided we had saved so much money in lodging that we might as well treat ourselves to something fancy so that’s exactly what we did. After taking a nap and rolling out of our tent, we threw on some nice clothes and walked hand in hand to the dock. No one would have ever guessed that we weren’t staying in a classy hotel! On the cruise, as we admired the sights along the lakeshore, we had some good seafood. Unfortunately I had a hard time stomaching my Coquille St. Jacques dish (sea scallops). Scallops are usually one of my all-time favorite gourmet foods, but these were served with the “feet” on. I never really realized that there was more to these creatures than their meaty medallion centers. But dangling off each white medallion was an equally large orange member that I think was meant to be eaten too? I ate some but was pretty grossed out and haven’t really enjoyed scallops since…
The next day, May 31, 2012 to be exact, Chris and I decided to visit the local pharmacy to grab a multi-vitamin. I had been unusually tired and just wasn’t feeling myself. I felt like I was overheating all the time and got fatigued way too quickly whenever we walked. I was convinced French cuisine was to blame. I don’t eat red meat and the leafy greens that I typically rely on for iron just aren’t popular menu items in French restaurants. When talking to the pharmacist, who didn’t know a word of English, I managed to tell her in French that I thought I was anemic by making up the word anémie which was spot on! She pulled out some fer… Ferrous things have iron in them, yes, this is what I needed! While we were there, Chris suggested we buy a pregnancy test and in broken French we were able to get one of those as well. I didn’t see the urgency of us buying the test though, thinking I wasn’t too late, but vacation messes with your sense of time and there’s no harm trying. Upon requesting the test, the pharmacist immediately had us switch out the vitamins we were buying because if it was possible I was enceinte (pregnant), the vitamins could be bad for the baby. She gave me a prenatal iron + folic acid supplement instead and we were on our way.
To Chris’s dismay, I didn’t need to use the restroom right that second, so we decided to drive to Hautecombe Abbey, a monastery situated on top of the mountain on the other side of the lake. We had seen it from below on the dinner cruise the night before and now wanted to take a closer look. After we’d been driving for awhile up a winding road around the lake, I said I could use a bathroom break and Chris pulled over at the first scenic overlook we came across. There weren’t any people around so I grabbed the test, hopped over a little ledge, and walked down to some bushes where I could find a little privacy. Apparently I didn’t need much time though since the test gave a positive reading the second that it got wet. I guess I must have been REALLY pregnant. I joined Chris back at the top of the ledge and we hung around for a bit in complete disbelief. We were amazed that this happened before we started legitimately trying for kids considering couples who really want children typically wait months, if not longer. I see this now as an amazing privilege since so many couples struggle with infertility - we’re so lucky that it came so easily for us. At the time though, we were a bit freaked out at the notion of having to start acting like responsible adults. We’d need to buy a larger house and I’d need to decide what to do about my job. I also needed to find prenatal care and do some research on pregnancy and birth because I had no clue what I was getting into. We still partied like college kids… were we ready for this? There wasn’t much we could do from the side of the mountain so we hopped back in the car. We decided to save the worrying for when we got home and made the most of the last few days we had remaining in France.
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| French Pregnancy Test: Enceinte = Pregnant |
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| 5 1/2 Weeks Pregnant! |
The next day, we drove to Lyon. Walking along the river there is quite an experience. No matter the time of night, you’ll find an endless stretch of college kids picnicking along the banks. The city seemed kind of like Austin, young and vibrant, but not overpoweringly huge. Chris and I had a nice time biking around, checking out the park, and touring the city. I thought the notion of a “mini-Paris” was kind of silly, but once we got there, I found myself really liking it. Chris and I decided that if we ever moved to a city in France, this would be it.
After leaving Lyon, we wrapped up our trip with a night in a hotel in the outskirts of Paris. We weren’t thrilled with our choice of campgrounds, but on top of that, I just wasn’t feeling very well. By this point, my occasional fatigue had ramped up to full on “I’m so tired I can’t to do anything” mode. Also, the minor food aversions I’d been experiencing were not just aversions anymore. As we drove around looking for campgrounds, each minor turn made me want to wretch. The nausea lasted pretty much all day and despite being ridiculously hungry, there wasn’t any food that I felt like I could keep down. I nibbled on crackers wondering how long this morning sickness could last. It turns out that I’d continue to feel this way all day every day for the following 9 weeks, awesome.
Flying back home was a little uncomfortable, but everything went smoothly and I was back to work the day after we got in. At 6 weeks pregnant, it was about time to embrace real life and figure out what to do next.
All in all, it was an amazing babymoon, especially considering we didn’t know it was a babymoon. Also, I’m so glad the timing worked out to where I didn’t start feeling sick until the very end!
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