Squeezing the Most Out of Out Last Day

Happy 13th Birthday Christopher!!

The last day of a trip is when you really start savoring all the things you will miss most about a place - definitely the morning visit to the patisserie, crepes, church bells, metro sounds, Notre Dame always there for us. Why do we have to leave once we've gotten really good at having everything figured out?

We started out at the Musee d'Orsay - the Impressionist museum. It is very easy to enjoy. It is the right size- you see all its greatness by not having to work too hard. I enjoyed how the Impressionist painters captured - and show us - life from that time.

For lunch we had to return to our Bastille outdoor market from our 1st day- for the hot churros that dissolve in our mouth.

We walked to the Pompidou Center , which was where the kids really enjoyed themselves - watching the street entertainer from Canada. He was funny as he juggled fire and knives, and rode a 10' tall unicycle.

The kids were not so impressed with Pompidou's modern art. "Art gone weird", said Jeremy. Well, at least they know what modern art is.

We had a nice French dinner in the Latin Quarter to celebrate Chris' birthday. Then, as a last hurrah, we topped it all off with a cruise down the Seine River on a Bateaux Mouche - a different perspective, allowing us to see many of the famous sights all lit up!

We fly home in the morning.

Paris Underground and Sacre Coeur

Today we went to both the lowest and highest places in Paris - the Catacombs and Montmartre.

In 1786, the bones were moved out of Paris' largest cemetery into the underground quarries. Today you can walk through the catacombs, which still house the bones of over 6 million Parisians. Jeremy thought this was cool, but Chris and Kate were a little freaked out. None of us dared to touch the bones!

Jeremy tried out one of those sidewalk toilets - quite the modern Andy Gump! After you use it, it completely washes down inside! Thankfully it has weight sensors or Jeremy would have been in for quite the showering surprise when he took his turn.

We had lunch on the famous Rue Cler open market street. Our modest portion of Chinese food cost over $40! At least it was delicious and everyone liked it.

Next we went on the Sewer Tour. It was interesting to read about the history of sewers in Paris, but the kids could not bear the smell of the crap. (What's a sewer tour without seeing/smelling everyone's shit!)

Then we crossed town to see the Moulin Rouge and Montmartre - the artist/Bohemian part of Paris. No comments from the kids about walking through the red light district and its sex shops. We walked up to Sacre Coeur, and hung out on the steps for a while being entertained by the live singers. We walked down through the Place du Tertre (artist square) - which was particularly delightful with crepes in our hands.

On the way back, Kate and I split off from the boys to do a little shopping along the Rue de Rivoli. We were not alone (on a Saturday afternoon) - the crowds resembled a Christmas rush!

After a quiet dinner in the apartment, Greg and I ventured out around the lively Latin Quarter, and parts of both islands we had not yet explored - definitely the romantic side of Paris!

Louvre

Today started without an alarm ... We have finally adjusted to the time change - just in time to switch back in a few days.

Our favorite patisserie on the island closed up shop and went on vacation until March, which was ok with Jeremy who needed something more substantial than a baguette - he was craving cereal!

We headed to the Louvre. We had a really great, informative tour which highlighted some interesting pieces and gave us the stories behind them. The museum is absolutely huge and easily overwhelming. Definitely exhausting - our 3 hours was as much as we could handle. I can't imagine how royalty lived there - it is practically a maze, even with a map! As we passed nude painting after nude sculpture, Kate asked, " why are they all ... Missing their arms" - not how I expected her sentence to end!

Afterwards we took a break lying on the grass in the Tuilleries... Many people were out soaking up the sun. Then we saw Monet's water lilies that stretch across the walls of The Orangerie. Man, he's good! How did he create something so large and beautiful that up close (at painting distance) looks like a mess of paint scribbled onto canvas?

We walked down the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe, and climbed to its top. It offers a great viewpoint of Paris!

The bar Greg and I chose tonight had a perfect view of Notre Dame; I have to stare at things like that to absorb them... Wow, 800 years old!

Mont St. Michel and Normandy

Bright and early today we rented a car for a day trip - 4 hours to the coast to see the Mont Saint Michel Abbey. Everything about it is exceptionally cool - it was built on top of a rock 80 meters above sea level (more stairs!) in 708 A.D. Very Harry Potter / Diagon Alley - like! Our visit coincided with one of their highest tides (after each full and new moon) which surrounds the Mont with water.

Then we drove over to "Bloody" Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery in Normandy, which Greg and Chris especially liked. Reading the headstones, the kids found Lots of servicemen named Charlie, James, William and Robert.

Our GPS, who had been good to us all day, decided Greg was ready to drive through the center of Paris. It worked out quite nicely (for the passengers) - giving us an evening tour of all the sites: Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, tunnel where Princess Di died, etc.

Versailles

It was an interesting day trip out to see the palace where King Louis XIV and XVI and Marie Antoinette lived. In case you have never been there, Chris has a couple 500 pictures he can show you. Having not seen much of the vast gardens on my last visit, I particularly wanted to venture through them this time so we rented a golf cart. Jeremy was especially excited until he found out that they are strict on the driving age of 24 years. I can only imagine how grandeur the gardens are during the summer when the fountains are running, the plants are alive and blooming, and the statuary is uncovered. While we still had plenty to see, the fountains and lakes were frozen, the plants all dead, and all the many gardens and groves were behind locked gates. We made it all the way to the back to see the smaller palaces from the outside. The beautiful weather permitted us to have a nice garden picnic. It was a low-key, relaxing day.

At sunset we climbed (literally, on the stairs) up the Eiffel Tower. We only made it half way up, as the top was closed. It is amazing (and somewhat frightening when you are on it) that it was only meant to be a temporary exhibit 120 years ago when it surpassed the Washington monument as the tallest structure in the world. The lights came on as we were on it, and we went to the nearby Trocadero to watch the tower's hourly sparkling light show. Then we had a nice dinner out.

We have very few pictures to share since we didn't get many with the phone. But we'll let you know when Chris is debuting his slide show ;)

A Walking Tour

Today we went on a ~3 mile walking tour across Paris. We started in our backyard on the Ile de la Cite - where Paris began. After the beautiful stain glass in Sainted Chapelle, we climbed up to Quasimodo's home, the bell towers of Notre Dame. It was a highlight, and we took our time, savoring it.  We lunched in the Latin Quarter, then walked to the Pantheon. We strolled through Luxembourg Park, which was quite nice. Lastly we saw Napoleon's tomb and the WWII museum.  We dropped the kids off at "home" and went out to grab groceries - by way of a bar. 

We used any excuse we could to sit down today. We unintentionally attended mass at Notre Dame since it meant we could rest out feet - though ironically, Catholics are known for standing through mass (and Greg was actively participating). Paris parks have the best reclining seats, which we made sure to use. And in the museum we watched as many videos as possible. 

Good day - tiring - and glad to be home relaxing. 

Jet Lag does Disney

With many museums and attractions closed on Monday, it defaulted into a good day to do something else. I was reeled into Disneyland when I stumbled onto the "Francilien" ticket for $39 plus kids free! (it is meant for people living in France but the fine print says "good for all"). To my great sorrow, France was lured in as well...The beautiful weather, France's ski week, and other places being closed meant for unbearable crowds. We arrived before the gates opened with a wave of people. By the time we exchanged our paper for tickets, the first ride we got to had a 2 hour wait! Ok, excepting the crowds, what was Disneyland Paris like? I have decided it must be run by the "black sheep" of the Disney family. #1 it's dirty. Gum stuck to the pavement, litter strewn about, and when have you ever walked into a Disney bathroom and said, "eww gross!". Oh the shame! Some of the rides were interestingly different, many with names in French, but for the most part the roller coasters were painfully rough. Space Mountain was immediately crossed of the "repeat" list - who knew ear muffs would double as head protection! The biggest oddity of the day was the snow/ice ... The Rivers of America was frozen solid!

The "pros" of the day were the nice Parisians who more than once helped us without even being asked. And the food... Jeremy is bewildered how the French can make things taste so good - baguettes, cheese and crepes. We ended our day early with delicious crepes and falafels. No-sense-of- direction Greg ventured out for some milk. You'll be ok, just stay on this street, and make sure you don't wander off the island!