My Travel Blog
Our legs are tired today! I can feel every muscle between my knees and the tips of my toes and what I wouldn't give for one of those awesome leg massages you get with a nice pedicure. (On a side note - I saw an old man walking down the street with red toenails today!)
The morning came earlier than expected due to the construction of scaffolding outside of our window. The work started at 7 am (?!?!) and the loud banging of pipes and the two workers yelling at each other continued until 10:30 which is when we left the apartment. They look like they've done a sturdy job and I just hope that they don't need to start working again at 7 tomorrow morning; thank goodness this is at the end of our stay at not at the beginning when we were contending with jetlag!
Our plan today was to meet up with Marty, Jen and the kids and conquer the Eiffel Tower. It was really important to all of the girls (Jonah, being 1, didn't really care) that they go up it. Our family has gone up it before so neither Jeff nor I cared if we did it again, but the kids were desperate to even if it meant climbing the stairs. The line-up for the elevator was insanely long, yet the one for the stairs was quite short - maybe 10 minutes and then you could head right up. Jennifer and I stayed down with Jonah and the stroller while the boys took the girls up to the second level. Our plan was to meet at the bottom in 1.5 hours so Jennifer, Jonah and I took off to explore the area. We walked down the Champ-de-Mars which mostly contained tourists of all nationalities attempting the perfect pose with the Eiffel Tower. 
At the end there is a large peace monument with the word 'peace' written in 49 languages, but the ironic part is that someone had shot it (you could see the bullet hole) and the glass was shattered. At first we thought it was supposed to be that way (it was actually very beautiful) until we noticed the glass on the ground. The peace monument is right across the street from the very stoic and imposing Ecole Militaire; you could picture the soldiers standing in front of it hundreds of years ago saluting and stomping and doing whatever it is that soldiers did back then. (Interesting fact - Napoleon studied here as a teenager.)
<- The tower climbers!
While standing in front of the Ecole Militaire we could see a golden dome a short distance away. When I looked at my map I mistakenly read the name of the metro station instead of the monument and couldn't figure out how I had never heard of something that is so big and shiny. We decided to investigate and lo and behold it was not a nameless building but Hôtel des Invalides! Whoopsidaisy. The place is gigantic and very impressive, and is possibly best known in present time for the fact that it contains Napoleon's tomb. It was built in the 1670's by Louis XIV to house the wounded soldiers from his never ending wars. At the end of the 17th century there were 4000 residents within it's walls and it functioned as it's own town having barracks, a convent and hospital among other things. The church itself is really amazing and the chapel was built in such a way that the King and his soldiers could attend mass at the same time but still enter through different entrances. (People were very particular back then!) In any case, we were happy to explore what we could from the outside and then headed back towards the Eiffel Tower to meet up with the rest of our family.
The kids were so excited about their trip up the tower yet the littlest ones were feeling a bit tired, so we decided to go our separate ways for the rest of the afternoon with the intention of meeting up for dinner. Jeff, the kids and I went in search of a café for our final Parisian lunch. We found a great little place and the food was not only delicious, but very well priced. I was telling them about Les Invalides and Julia was very interested in going inside to see Napolean's tomb. (The rest of the building is now a museum dedicated to French Military History.) We decided to at least go and check out the gardens and the grounds, so after finishing lunch we walked over and approached from the north side which was filled with cannons and other interesting memorabilia. 
There was absolutely no line-up for tickets so we walked in and were pleasantly surprised to discover that adults were 9€ and kids under 18 were free! We weren't sure we had the energy to do the entire museum (which looks very interesting) but we definitely wanted to see Napoleon's tomb. After seeing the tomb (very nice) we took our chances and entered a few other parts of the museum. We saw the armor of a very young Louis XIII (so small!) as well as some ornate swords from the 1600's. I'd love to go back sometime and explore the whole place, and at that cost we didn't feel badly about not spending more time there.We started heading our weary bodies towards home but stopped in a few souvenir shops to pick up the final trinkets deemed necessary by the kids. We walked in the door and there was a message from Marty that they were still out and maybe we should just skip meeting up for dinner. That was perfect for us because we didn't have the energy to quickly rally and head back out as our feet and bodies needed a little recovery time. It was a hot and sunny day today; we all got a tad pink and we drank a lot of water and iced tea when we got back!
Last event of the evening - dinner. Julia has been dying to go back to an Italian place two doors down from us that has really comfy red velvet couches. We all agreed and sat down to order a meal reminiscent of our trip to Italy last summer. Chloë wanted her pasta sauce on the side and the chef actually refused! "That is not the way it is done in Italy". No problem, she rolled with it and ate almost the whole bowl so it must have been satisfactory. (It was delicious and very light - tasted as though they took a fresh tomato and blended it with a basil leaf and olive oil.) We must've been hungry because by the time we were all finished we had absolutely no food left on the table! We needed to cap off our Parisian week with a stroll and some dessert and we had the most delicious gelato (Italian, I know, not French) while walking our neighborhood and feeling grateful for such a nice week. We passed our local homeless guy (he lives on our tiny street) and he seemed to be having a jolly time with a few of his other homeless friends; what a happy neighborhood!
Now it's time to pack up as we need to leave the apartment by 10 am tomorrow. It's been such a great week… merci Paris!
The girls were excited to get going this morning because we were going to spend the day touring Paris with their cousins. We met up with them just before noon (always so crazy to see family/friends out of normal context!) and off we went - destination the Eiffel Tower. We had to change metros at the Arc de Triomphe so instead of staying in the tunnel we got out to look at it. The metro station right by it is great in that you emerge from underground with the amazing Arc right in front of you. It's so huge and impressive; we saw it a few days ago but I could look at it everyday as it's impossible not to marvel at the sheer size and intricacy, while still being very simple. Contradictory I know, but I don't know how else to describe it.
Onwards with the intention of having a picnic by the Eiffel Tower - Jeff even carried a girlish bag around all morning with a picnic blanket and frisbee inside. We were blocks away from the tower and saw a take-out place and thought it would just be easier to eat there than to get a bunch of stuff and try and eat it on a tiny blanket. Jennifer (my sister-in-law) and I shared a pitchet of wine but we were so distracted and rushed that we barely touched it so I improvised and poured it in an empty water bottle we had in our bag. After wiping out two waxy paper cups (formerly holding iced tea) we put in in the bag and decided that we would drink it in view of the Eiffel Tower. I have to say, I have seen the Tower many, many times and it never fails to impress me. You feel small, but in a wonderous way, not an insignificant way. We wandered under it and on to the other side of the river where we set up our blanket. The kids ate ice cream and rode the carousel (twice!) while Jennifer and I drank the illicit wine from the water bottle while admiring the Eiffel Tower. Nice.
It was a super hot day and so we walked the short distance over to the Trocadéro Fountains to cool off. We intended on only putting our feet in but it wasn't long before our nieces (aged 5 and 3) stripped down to their undies and hopped in. There were lots of people swimming and splashing and there was a general feeling of joie de vie! Chloë was content to just soak her feet but Julia was going crazy watching all the swimming and not being able to participate. Eventually enthusiasm overcame modesty and she too hopped in the water. They all dried themselves off with the less-than absorbent blanket and we continued on our journey. After a long walk along the Seine we chose to catch a metro back to our apartment to get refreshments and snacks to take to the little playground across the street. Poor Jonah (age 1.5) had been corralled most of the day in a stroller so he was so happy to run free and he had difficulty deciding whether the toy train was more exciting than the tortilla chips. The kids were getting fairly tired so we made a dinner decision (Hippopotamus - again!) which turned out to be the perfect choice. Our niece Rebekah fell asleep during dinner on the bench seat yet miraculously awoke when they brought dessert! We walked them home which was great because they are staying in a neighborhood close to us and yet we had never been there before. It's always fun to see different rental apartments and wonder how 'real' people could live in them. They rarely have front closets (what do you do in the winter with your coats, boots, etc?). I know it has to be a less cluttered lifestyle so perhaps we need to move into one of these tiny IKEA inspired places just to get rid of all of our superfluous stuff.
You can buy a kid's happiness with a helium balloon... ---->
It's a gorgeous evening and the walk home was really nice. The cafés are absolutely hopping with happy people (friends, lovers, family) just out enjoying the evening and a nightcap. It looks like a great place to go with a friend for a chat and a drink (and some secondhand smoke) and you understand how apartments can be so small when you would rarely be in them. It looks like many hadn't gone home from work yet and these cafés are their living rooms.
We're all a little tired tonight - this is day 5 of sightseeing and our feet are feeling it. It's been so nice to have an entire week here without a plan or a need to do much of anything besides absorbing the atmosphere and just existing in a place much different from what we're used to. The language is coming a little easier and I have to give props to Chloë who orders her food with such French politeness; "Je voudrais tagliatelle avec pesto et l'eau avec sirop s'il vous plait." All of you who speak fluent French may find slight inconsistencies with this phrase but it's pretty great for a kid who goes to Spanish school and has taught herself French from a book! Julia usually adds on a 'Moi aussi' which is cute (as long as she wants the same thing as her sister!).
As a side note, we needed to do a small load of laundry to make sure that we arrived in Amsterdam smelling fresh and clean. Any of you who remember our Spanish debacle 2 years ago will know that European washing machines aren't exactly my best friend. (As a refresher - in Begur, Spain we had almost our entire wardrobe stuck inside of a washing machine the day before we were due to leave. We basically took the thing apart with a screwdriver and still couldn't retrieve our clothes. They even called in a specialist who spent hours trying to open it - eventually he succeeded (but looked amazed and had no idea how he did it) and we hastily hung our clothes hoping they'd dry enough for us to pack them the next morning before catching a train. It was a little stressful and my heart always beats a little faster when I need to do a load of laundry over here.) Okay, back to today's situation. I put in the load and everything was going great. I went to remove the clothes when they were done and the nasty little lock sign was lit up. Stressful hormones flood my bloodstream but I vowed to remain calm. All sorts of knob twisting and button pressing don't do a thing… so I walked away. I knew the machine and I were not on the same wavelength so my only hope was Jeff could approach it with an open mind. Thankfully he read the real instruction manual and ta-da… it opened! But I went to pull out the clothes and they were wet - not just a little wet but actually completely sopping wet. Now I had a conundrum… do I try and spin them more (and risk the lock situation again?) or wring out each individual piece of laundry and hope they dry by tomorrow night so that they could be packed. Uggggh. To make a long story short I spun them, it opened, and all was well. Fairies flew around, rainbows appeared and there was lovely music in the air. We will be fresh.
On another note - urine/excrement. There is a lack of public toilets in Paris which leads to a permeating smell of urine in the streets. There comes a point during city planning (and city culture, for that matter) when you have to weigh the cost of toilet paper and flush water against the stream of pee running down the sidewalk and the human poop in the gutter. (No joke - one sat there for days around the corner from our apartment before finally being cleaned up). I love Paris, but I don't love smelling pee while sitting on a park bench looking at a map. We will not allow ourselves to leave a restaurant without every single one of us at least attempting to use the bathroom before leaving because who knows when we'll encounter one again. Just a different culture, and I understand that… but I like our bathroom culture better!
Tomorrow is our last full day here and I'm always amazed at how a week seems so long at the beginning and then just flies at the end. We're looking forward to our next adventure which contains a lot of family parties and hopefully a few day trips mixed in here and there as well as an opportunity to explore Amsterdam a bit more than we have in the past. I'll dream tonight of pee and wine and crêpes and metros. Sweet dreams...
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