Bonjour mes amis We have not written to you in a while so let me start with 2002; Whilst a lot happened back then,
the highlight of the year was the Salt Lake City Olympics where both
Sunil and I had the opportunity to be present. What made it even more special that Laszlo & Kata, my mom and
dad, were able join us at the Winter Olympics. In 2002, Sunil was also elected to the Board of the International
Fair Play Committee (Comite International pour le Fair Play), and became its Treasurer. He is really honored to
be involved with such a prestigious group of people and with its illustrious 40-year history.
The year 2003 was full of excitement; we started off the New Year with a trip to LA and Hawaii – Nicolas and Izabella really enjoyed hula dancing, whale watching and of course the sun and sand! We stayed on Maui at the Ritz situated at the edge of the island - what a beautiful serene place.
In February we all took a family holiday and joined Nicolas’ boy scout troop and went skiing in Switzerland. Nicolas took to the snow and was only seen at meal times while Izabella was complaining that unless she had pink ski boots she could not ski.
After a winter in school – Nicolas in Year 4 and Izabella in Kindergarten – spring came and we joined Sunil in Trapani, Sicily for the Junior World Championships in fencing. Our spring holiday was spent touring the beautiful island and dining on wonderful seafood.
Upon our return, we finished the addition to our home (an additional bedroom and bathroom in the loft) and finally landscaped our garden. We were all happily enjoying our new space and lovely garden before we went to our usual summer hangout.
Prior to our arrival in Budapest Sunil took Nicolas on a special father/son excursion – they flew to New York on the Concorde. Grandma met them in New York and when Sunil attended a few work related meetings, Grandma and Nicolas took to the streets (actually the toy shops). What an experience at this age; in 50+ years he will be one of few people who will have a living memory of the Concorde!
I, being very jealous of their special trip, insisted on a special family outing. So on Friday night we decided and booked via the internet, a trip to Egypt for the following day. We stayed in the brand new resort just outside Cairo and very close to the great pyramids. The hotel had a man made beach along with four swimming pools, golf and tennis courts. We made days trips to the pyramids, the museum, the sphinx and was able to even get a camel ride. To top it all off, while Europe was suffering from one of the worst heat waves ever, we had fantastic weather (30 degree Celcius was the peak temperature during our stay). A truly memorable vacation!
Then off to Budapest, our summer hide-away. The warm summer sun and lovely thermal baths make for a most relaxing holiday time. The best for me is when Edit, the retired nanny, takes the kids to Lake Balaton for a week. I can just relax and pamper myself (or at least try before the overwhelming “missing my kids” feeling ruins the mood).
Prior to the Lake Balaton trip, Nicolas enjoyed a week of fencing camp in Hungary – he made wonderful friendships from and earned lots of sore muscles. Speaking of fencing, Nicolas has become quite a competitive and successful fencer; in Britain he took 2nd in the Under-9 Leon Paul Foil Circuit.
Sunil and I were able to make a quick trip to Paris in late August to watch the Athletics World Championships held at the Stade de France. At the Fair Play Committee’s initiative, Jonathan Edwards (Olympic triple jump champion) received a special award which gave tears not only to the recipient but to the 100,000 or so watching him live as he retired at the Stade de France. The Championships were fantastic, what an honor to have been associated with it!
Now, let me jump to the most important news of the year – at the end of the summer we moved from London to Paris. This was partly driven by Sunil’s job considerations at the time, but also reflects a personal decision to experience something new following the 7-8 years spent in London.
We managed to quickly find a flat and now live in the 15th district of Paris (very near the Eiffel Tower). Ideally situated for Nicolas and Izabella whose school commute is a 3 and 5 minute walk (big change from the 2 hour commute I had in London). They are both attending a well-established bi-lingual school called Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel. Nicolas is in “adaptation” class (8eme), where three quarters of the subjects are taught in French. Poor boy – he is not liking his parents too much - but no doubt he will be grateful in a feew years’ time when he can pick up those French girls in their native tongue. Izabella is in an immersion class where 80% of her courses are taught in French. She has settled well making lots of friend and slowly beginning to add French words into her vocabulary. It is quite tough on both kids to add now a third language (English and Hungarian being the others) but they seem to be making great strides.
Nicolas has continued his fencing in France (a fencing powerhouse). He has joined the venerable Racing Club and has opted to give another weapon, the saber, a try. He still is playing tennis and will return to playing chess in the New Year.
Izabella took on horseback-riding, swimming, ballet and violin – and loves it all. She loves to draw, and decorated her bedroom with all her self-portrait paintings. Everyone seems to be drawn to the bright colors and interesting motif and we can see people glancing through her windows to take a peak.
Another definite highlight of the year was Sanam’s (Sunil’s half sister) wedding in New Delhi, India. This was a nearly week-long feast which we all attended. Nicolas and Izabella met many of their cousins, aunts, uncles and of course grandpa. Both have decided that Indian weddings are the best one to have because they are so much fun and last and last and last. Visit some of the pictures on this site to get flavor for the colours and scenery. If you ever have a chance to go to an Indian wedding - never give it a miss!
During the course of the year, Sunil traveled to Havana, for the Fencing World Championships. He also continues to be involved with the IOC Environmental Commission and delivered a great speech (or so he says) at their annual conference held this year in Torino, Italy. Finally, after 7 years of GE Capital, Sunil took on a new challenge - he has set out to build an international M&A team for First Data Corporation/Western Union. He is currently working out of their Paris office, looking for good new people to add, and is loving it.
Our pet collection experienced a net increase - Nicolas has 2 turtles (Paris and Eiffel –makes one wonder were he found them) and a fish. Izabella has a hamster and a fish, and we still have Abercrombie, our cat from Hungary who turns 13. Unfortunately, we lost Bukfenc, our dog who simply ran away at the tender age of 11. She was a crazy puppy but we do miss her.
That’s all for now! Please note our Paris contacts below; but don’t worry we are getting all the mail forwarded to us from London too.
14 rue Violet
75015 Paris
France
Tel: + 33 1 45 79 52 92
Fax:+ 33 1 45 79 04 13
Sunil's UK mob: +44 7770 933 373
Sunil's French mob: +33 6 71 90 41 80
Gabi's mob: +33 6 32 12 97 12
Email: