J'adore Paris!

The first time I went to Paris was in the fall of 1998- and I don't think I have seen Paris in the fall since then. I forgot how gorgeous the trees are in the gardens around the city. The year I spent "studying" in Angers 1998-99, I took the TGV to Paris at least 4 times. It was about 1 hr 1/2 away from Angers by train. One of these times was with my parents, younger brother Jonathan, and my granny Linda. I spring breaked in Paris in the spring of 2000 with my sister Molly and to meet up with Denis who was working there. I returned to Paris in the summer of 2003 to nanny, spending 3 weeks there. Denis and I ventured back in the winter 0f 2005 with his parents. I have been to Versailles at least 4 times, the Louvre at least 4 times, the Musee d'Orsay the same, etc.

This time was entirely different. Even with my previous experience of carting a stroller around the metro, I forgot how tiring it can be in a big city with little ones. We did a lot in the 3 nights, 3 days we were there, including:

Bois de Bologne/ Jardin d'Acclimatation (an older amusement park with lots of rides perfect for a 2 and 4 year-old, a puppet theater, little train)
Eiffel Tower- all the way to the top baby
Jardin des Tuileries- we walked from place de la Concorde to the Louvre the boys running through the leaves and the hedge labyrinthes.
Jardin de Luxembourg (complete with renting out the little sail boats to push around with sticks- watch out for little boys running around with sticks in their hands!)
La Cite des Sciences- Like the Museum of Science and Industry with lots of hands-on exhibits for the little ones way out in Parc de la Villette
Le Carousel du Louvre- a little mall next to the museum
Le Metro- Definitely an attraction in and of itself
Le Champ de Mars- with the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower- playground/ old-fashioned hand-cranked carousel, and Marionnettes Theater (Etienne loved, Xavier still traumatized by the 30 seconds he saw of "the clown")
Latin Quarter- lunch in a bistrot right behind the Sorbonne- oh la la!
Notre Dame- from the outside, but close enough to see St. Denis with his head in his hands.
Bateau Mouche- an hour and a quarter ride down the Seine. The boys were good for the first 45 minutes, then we chased them around the boat for 1/2 hour.

I need to say something about the food. We shared the best crepe with nutellela in the park of the Champ de Mars- the crepe was so sweet and crunchy and the nutella just melted on it. Many times we opted for a quick sandwich or pizza at lunch. Our hotel was very family friendly and we had a nice dinner there- the Novotel Vaugirard in the 15th. I think the key is to be near a Metro station, and we were right next to one. Our breakfast was included and consisted of a grand buffet of the freshest croissants, pains au chocolat, crepes w/ nutella, eggs, sausage and bacon (for the non-Frenchies), cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, fancy juices, yogurt, cheese. We actually had a fairly leisurely lunch in the Quartier Latin. The boys sat on a couch across from Denis and me and I enjoyed a glass of red Burgundy while Denis had a pint of something.


We also got to have lunch with two of my three "French brothers"- Mathias and Xavier Reynoird. It was really good to see them both. I met them when they were 12 and 9 and now they are an artist/graphic designer and a Pompier de Paris- all grown up and very handsome;)


We did have a few mishaps to be honest. We kind of lost Etienne at the top of the Eiffel Tower. He was going from one telescope to another trying to see if any of them worked while Denis was photographing with his fancy camera and I was holding on to Xavier. Luckily we found him quickly. We also broke a glass and flipped over a chair in a pizzeria. Xavier was completely terrified of Guignol in the puppet show and asks me several times a day ever since if it was just a "silly" clown. Uggh, he'll probaby be traumatized for life.

Despite these "faux pas's" - an expression the French never use- we had a very successful and very exhausting trip to Paris. Will the boys remember it? Etienne maybe, Xavier probably not. Will Denis and I remember it- bien sûr ! http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0096009/gp/denis_f/6F65Y1