Bonsoir Paris

 On our last day we said we were going to take it easy...we were wrong. We started at the Sant Chappell Church. It contains relics of the passion and from Saint Louis. The stained glass was immaculate. I could have spent hours looking at the windows. Each panel told a book of the bible, almost all old testament, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Judges, Job, Esther. I can't imagine the forethought that went into the design. 

From there we walked to the Louvre. The girls were a little less than thrilled to be at ANOTHER museum, but they know it's where the Mona Lisa is displayed. They enjoyed learning about her on the bus tour. She's had a rock thrown at her, acid thrown on her and was even stolen once. The Louvre no longer pays to insure her. Instead they spend the money on security to protect her. What a sight...I know it's something I'll never forget. And we learned that the model was Lisa Gheradini, DaVinci's cousin...we know some Gheradini's. We wonder if they are related?!?! Next up was the Venus de Milo. The girls weren't as familiar, but Kiersten loves to look at sculptures so it was still a treat. 

We made sure to try all sorts of popular French cuisine...by cuisine I mean pastries. We had Pain au Chocolat, Eclairs, Beignets and some amazing macaroons. We wandered over to Notre Dame, and it is such a beautifully intricate structure but unfortunately you can't go in, as it's still under construction from the fire a few years back. 

Last on the girls list was the Square de Vert-Galant, a small green garden on the island of the Seine. We wouldn't have even seen it, or known about it, but the Big Bus Tour told us all about it and how it historically was a place for secret lovers to meet at night. We crossed the "lovers bridge" and made the girls snap a picture of Mitch and I before heading on to the garden. Here we sat for a bit taking in our final moments in Paris. 

By the time the trip was all said and done we walked 119,983 steps and 53.5 miles...in 6 days time!!! We saw so many wonderful sights. And I'm so proud of the girls. They really didn't complain about being tired at all. They were just as excited to see the sights as we were. It was lovely. On our way back to the metro Kiersten said "This all seems like something I'm supposed to see with my future lover, but when we come to Paris I'll say "I saw that when we were living in Spain." I told her if you know someone well enough to go to Paris together, than I sure hope you've told him about your year in Spain. I think these girls are starting to realize just how fortunate they are to have this opportunity. Already counting down to our next trip in 25 days!

Bon Weekend

 We got into Paris on Thursday Afternoon from London. We took the train, the Eurostar, to be specific. The girls were nervous about it once they learned that it goes underwater. But towards the end of the ride, they didn't even realize we'd gone underwater. We arrived at Gare de Nord, the train station, around 5pm. It was so busy, and clearly not a nice neighborhood. Police flew up and parked on the sidewalk and ran out of their cars on foot after someone but quickly returned. A block up the road as we were walking to the metro we saw a shoplifter run out of a store and the shopkeep went after him...then proceeded to have police go after him. Upon arriving at the Metro we saw a teenage boy scale a wall, retrieve multiple packs of cigarettes and start selling them on the street. IN the metro there were plenty of individuals jumping the turns to avoid paying. Hattie was not enjoying it. Once on the metro we were crammed in pretty tight for a while...with three kids, all of us had backpacks and three small carryon suitcases. 

Once we arrived at the apartment we breathed a sigh of relief. We went and got groceries, took in the view from the bridge and settled in. I noticed my bag was unzipped...and sure enough my wallet was gone: Two Credit cards, Two Debit cards, my American drivers license, all of our spanish health insurance cards. But the worst part was losing our Spanish NIE's it took us three appointments in Spain to get those done. And we use them for EVERYTHING!!! Crushed!!! 

But we didn't let it get us down. We hopped back on the metro, filed the police report and went on with our day. Just like Paris, Mitch booked us tickets on the Big Bus Tour. Paris was much more "stuffy" than the tour in London, hardly any jokes and more classical music. Kiersten is taking French at school. I keep telling her not to worry about it too much. The tour confirmed I was right. They talked about how they don't like the French to use words like "email and weekend" instead using Fin de semaine, but now the French use Bon Weekend more often than not. SO Bon Weekend in Frances!

We were on the bus nearly an hour when we hopped off near the Eiffel Tower. We grabbed a quick lunch of Chicken Caesar wraps and Crepes before heading up for the views. We didn't purchase tickets for the lift. Instead we opted to climb to the second level...only 600+ stairs. It was a beautiful day, a bit windy but the sun was shining. Afterwards we got the money shot! Ever since we said we were moving to Europe the girls have said they wanted a picture wearing a beret with a croissant in front of the Eiffel Tower. We made it happen. Afterwards we walked back towards the Arc de Triumpf and saw the tomb of the unknown soldier. 

We visited the Pont Alexander bridge, famously displayed in many films. And we toured the Museo D'Orsay. Its a beautiful old train depot housing some pretty amazing works. I was thrilled to see some pieces by Van Gogh...his original Starry Night, done months before the better known version. Several pieces by Renoir and sketches and suites by Yves Sant Laurent. The Monet's were fantastic. There was cathedral series that are all the same cathedral just at different times of the day with different light. It reminded me of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and then a really great piece featuring the French flag. The audio guide shared that on June 30, 1878 during a parade or festival Monet snuck up to a balcony to paint. And then of course on our way out a nice gentleman snapped a family picture with the Statue of Liberty. Seemed fitting since the original was a gift to American many years ago from the French. A little side story...Hattie was sitting staring at a painting. I sat next to her. Sometimes Art gives her big feelings. In this picture there is a man, laying surrounded by other people and an angel is coming out of the sky. She said she thought the angel was coming to help the man. 

me: Maybe that is the Angel of Death.
Hattie: What do you mean?
me: See how he has black wings, maybe he is going to make sure the mans soul gets to heaven? The angel of death. 
Hattie: (Looks me stone cold in the eyes) Never heard of him!

Oh I smiled so big, this girls just says the funniest things sometimes. 

We finished up the night on the Big Bus night tour. It was cold with the wind hitting us on top. But I stuck it out until the very end because we wanted that shot of the Eiffel tower lit up in the night sky!

Artwork that had Hattie contemplating!