I Danced at the Moulin Rouge

Today we slept in until 10am and the girls until 11am :-)
We tried to plan something easy and fun for our last day in Paris. We decided to go to Sacre Coeur, a church that looks like a huge white palace that we saw from afar and thought – let’s go there! It was beautiful inside and out and the view of Paris was great too. The girls found a carousel and a then we had crepes for dinner and a quick stop to see the Arc de Triomphe, where there was some kind of veteran’s march going on. On the way there we passed by the Moulin Rouge and I decided a little dancing would be appropiate (or not). Then we walked a short way down the connecting Champs Elysees, the most famous street in Paris. All I can tell you is that you can pee for free at Mickey D’s, although there are no toilet seats. Despite the jet lag and the language barrier the girls did great with all the walking and Metro riding and we had a good time.

Two Days in One

Today we had a late start, taking time to clean up the flat in hopes that someone would come to investigate our non-working wireless connection. We visited a museum that kind of looks inside out. At PompidouAll the pipes and escalators are on the outside of the museum. Inside were one kid’s exhibit downstairs and a couple floors of modern art. We discovered that the kids are used to all of the interactive museums like OMSI and CM2. They got bored very quickly by looking with no touching. There was one exhibit called “The Winter Garden” where you could walk into this white cave-like structure with black lines painted all around. This was the favorite of both girls. The exhibit for kids was all about scale and perspective. You could play with toys that were digitally projected onto a screen to make different scenes. Then we had to break for a snack at the café where prices were so high they didn’t even have them listed. Outside is supposed to be a great place for free live performances, but not much was going on except a gal playing the didgeridoo, she was quite good, I thought. Maybe more happens on the weekend and without the rain showers. After the girls trudged through the second floor of modern art we headed home for a nap in anticipation of visiting the Eiffel Tower.



This is really the only monument our girls have even heard of in Paris, so they were very anxious to go see it. We read somewhere that it was great to see at night, but what we didn’t know was that the whole escapade would take five hours. We’ll spare you the details, but it involved long lines, a chunk of cash and four elevators (round trip), 5 minutes of photos at the top at midnight, followed by closed metro lines and searching for a taxi, carrying Sydney up the six flights to our flat and going to bed 2am. After saying all that, the Eiffel tower was quite impressive along with the view from the top, and it was blue! In all the pictures I’ve seen of it at night, it looks very golden, so when did they change it to blue? Not sure, but I kind of like it.



Kid Quotes:
"Why are we having this for breakfast? ', says Sydney looking at her chicken dinner we were about to eat right after our long late nap.
"Everything that is big is …small. " Sydney from the top of the Eiffel Tower
"We walked all day and all night!" Kyla on our way home from the Eiffel Tower

First Day Out

Paris: Day 2
Last night the girls decided they had to have a snack at 1am, so after a banana, some bread and a few threats from mom everyone was asleep by 2am. Except for Kyla we were all awake at 5am and had a leisurely morning. After descending six flights in the spiral staircase of our apartment, we discovered a light rain and decided to go back and get our jackets. It was a good morning workout and it made us appreciate our ride on the Metro. Sydney had some anxiety about riding it again after our stressful experience, but after we got off she yelled, “That was easy!” Thank goodness!
Our first stop was Notre Dame and everyone was impressed by the beautiful stained glass windows. Kyla thought the red stained glass looked like fire.

Then we went to Jardin du Luxembourge, where the girls rested while Kevin went to look for lunch. We found a big playground that charged 2€ per person, but it was worth it. The girls had a great time even though it started pouring and all the parents were hanging out on the covered benches. The kids spent a lot of time on a rope climbing structure that resemble a shorter versions of the Eiffel Tower. Luckily we stayed long enough and found out from some other American moms that there was a marionette show in the building next door. A perfect place for the girls to get dry and for mom to catch a little nap. By the end Sydney had completely passed out and had to be carried several blocks to the restaurant where we decided to get dinner. She didn’t wake up well and had a little meltdown, but luckily a lot of things can be fixed with bribes of ice-cream. To see the rest of the pictures from Paris, click here.

A Crappy Day in Paris

It's kind of ironic that this is the first picture I took in Paris. I've been a little worried about Sydney's willingness to use the toilets we might encounter. She likes them to be clean, quiet and not stinky. She refused to use the one at the airport, but here is the next one we found, and she rather liked it. Whew.

Paris: Day 1

We made it! Yesterday was the longest day of my life. We are all sleep deprived and frustrated by the language barrier (wish you were here Desiree), but we made it to our apartment in Paris. The shuttle from the airport went fairly smooth; we were the last to be dropped off and ran into some rush hour traffic and preparations for Bastille Day. This gave the girls a chance for a short nap and Kevin and I a little tour of the city. After getting the key we had to take the Metro about 2 miles to our apartment. That was the hardest part. Keeping track of the girls in the crowded metro the while lugging our 2 suitcases heavy with groceries (yes we packed a family of four for two months into two small suitcases) up and down stairs and on and off the metro the most stressful part of the day. If you are going to be jet lagged in a foreign country I recommend a hotel with an airport shuttle for your first couple of nights. Who hired our travel agent anyway? Oh yea, I am the travel agent. We really need to learn some menu items in French, otherwise, like yesterday we’ll be eating a lot of ham and cheese sandwiches, croissants, and quiche with mushrooms. I did spot a KFC and McDonald’s while riding in the shuttle. There is always the grocery store at least there you can see the food. We’re glad to be here but I think we’ll be able to relax a bit more once we make it to the UK.

Kid Quote: As we were deplaning in Houston and Sydney asked where we were. Her response to my Texas was, “Do they speak English in Texas?”