Going, going, gone.



Pictures taken during nap time.



In and out. In and out. That had become our usual routine. Nap times have been fleeting and always ended in a bruise to the forehead and bed time was resulting in the tiny pitter patter of feet that should be sleeping but instead are taking all the clothes out of the drawers, books off the shelves or diapers out of the bin. The time had come to make the move to the much lower to the ground big boy bed. His room is still a mess, he was asleep in a mound of blankets on the floor Saturday night and we have had to kid-proof all the knobs.

The crib is gone. My baby is going. We are about ready to ditch the binky (He is going to flip) and sippies at nap time.  I remember feeling that Mc was SO big once we moved her but Kingston still feels so little and that the time from crib to bed was much shorter. He will be two in less than a month which means we move on to potty training and leaving behind more of what makes him a baby.

PreK Graduation Day

We have a preschool graduate! Since Mc has a late birthday, she will be doing another year of preschool before Kindergarten so this year, as Miss Sally said, she got her "Associates" degree.  At the beginning of the year, Mc seemed SO much bigger than her class but at the end, her and her friend Daya were the same height. She learned so much and I love that she looked forward to going to school every week.

Love this little lady.

"In the Leafy Tree Tops"



Mc and Miss Jessica talking about her "spotlight"- her favorite is color is purple, favorite number is 5 and her favorite shape is a heart.

You said your favorite part of school was singing time, while all the other kids picked play time. Your teachers, Miss Sally and Miss Jessica are great! They genuinely love teaching and I think that helped you be so engaged. Your coloring is getting so great! Your end of year "testing" shows that 18 is as high as you can count- 19 & 20 get skipped usually as you go to 30. You know your numbers, shapes, colors and can write a few letters of your name. You love to make friends and a little boy Tymon in your class wanted to have a play date because "she likes to play with trucks". You sang like a champ, smiled and did thumbs up and made us proud!

I love me some America

After spending some time outside the country, there some definite differences that should be noted.

Paris-
1) people outnumber toilets 1,000 to 1. Seriously. I am not sure how the small of bladder survive here. And, the consistency of what a "toilet" should be was less than desirable. At one stop it would be a large bowl with no seat, a wall, a tiny closet with air tight door that trapped in every foul smell imaginable.
2) Smoking. The national past time. While an occasional smoker is to be found, or a cluster of them outside a "no-smoking" location, everywhere in Paris was a designated smoking area.
3) No fat people. No kidding. This seemed amazing as one could easily weigh a million pounds eating the pastry alone however, those morbidly obese people were no where to be seen.
4) Public transit. It was a way of life. Hardly anyone drove and if they did, it was a scooter or a bike. The metro/RER were crammed full and definitely the travel of choice. We watched people get on the Metro with strollers, groceries and small kids. I can think of no greater horror than cramming a kid on the crowded Metro on a Saturday.
5) Personal space- I found this to almost be non-existent. While in America, we go out of our way to stay away from the every awkward grazing of a stranger's arm, the French really didn't care.
6) Gas stations- we saw one. With two pumps and one person using it. The ENTIRE time.
7) Grocery stores- I am not really sure you can call them "stores" as they are about as big as a 7-11 but, they serve their purpose. I was alarmed by the bags of baguettes and how many human hands had touched the bread. Exhibit A was the old dude, who would choose a loaf, place it under his undeniably ripe armpit, then decide that one was no good, sweaty loaf back in the bag and select another one.
8) Night life- people eat dinner late and dessert even later. I was surprised that on more than one occasion I figured it was about 8 pm based on the activity and bustle but nope, it was really closer to 11.
9) Cleanliness is not next to Parisian-ness. The place is straight up filthy. Dust bunnies adorned the steps where the Winged Victory was housed, dust on every square inch of the Saint Chapelle and the smell of urine at every corner (see number 1). I assume that most people were not noticing the dust but rather the art and opulence. I have to give props to Thanksgiving Point for running a pristine establishment.
10) Wearing a bright colored shirt immediately means you aren't from Paris.
11) Watching French TV-  opening credits, sex scene, boobs. I will say, I prefer Nicholas Cage in National Treasure with the subtitles.

I think these experiences are good ones. Reminds you what to be grateful for one you are back in the states. It feels comfortable here. I like driving a real car. I like having my personal space. Don't get me wrong, Paris was an amazing experience and we have the Blackhursts to thank. Dave navigated the Metro like a champ (that alone would have stressed me out). Aish kept us on a schedule, booked a fab hotel, and outlined an amazing trip. With all that said, Paris is a great bridge to Europe and I can't wait to go back!

Diddneyland en Francois

As the planning commenced for our Parisian excursion Mark and I were set on NOT going to Disneyland. Now, Dave and Aish have an intrinsic passion for all things Disney and we, do not. However; after seeing all of Paris and feeling more inclined to spend the time with our friends (plus it was relatively inexpensive compared to Disney USA), we decided to go. We are glad we did. We had a great day and it was truly an experience. I am pretty sure we were the sole Americans there and that we stuck out worse than on the streets of Paris.

The park was significantly smaller and the hours were weird which caused us to miss out on one of the parks (Sorry Dave!). We still had fun on the upgraded Space Mountain, the 10 minute wait for Thunder Mountain and the lovely patch jobs and dandelion gardens of the Storybook ride.

We did get the pleasure of rain while at the happiest place on Earth and all got souvenir 9 euro (probably closer to $12) ponchos. We had lovely weather the rest of the trip so a little rain wasn't that disheartening.  The only character I remember seeing the whole day was Mr Smee and the food was significantly better than the corn dogs of California Disney. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant called "Walt" with delicious creme brulee.


Mark acting super excited to be there. (he really had a good time)

The castle at night. The light show at closing was pretty amazing.

Versailles

I was super excited for Sunday. This was the day we made our way to Versailles. I had read about it, watched "Marie Antoinette" (terrible movie but amazing costumes and filmed on location), and was ready to see the pomp and circumstance that sparked the French Revolution.  It was amazing. Probably my favorite day of the trip. The castle, the gardens- the whole experience was pretty amazing.

The castle was everything fancy and more. The Petite Trianon was exquisite and the Hamlet was more of an amusement park than a place to live. My favorite part, was riding the bikes through the gardens. It was the perfect day. We sat, took off our shoes and just took in the scenery- Parisians running, canoes on the Grand Canal, the perfectly manicured acres upon acres of trees- I loved it.



As you can see, the place is massive. This is us making our way early in the morning to get in line before the crowds.

This picture was cool because we got there so early, rushed through and were able to take pictures without the usual crowds of people.



Mark and I in the hall of mirrors.

A "special treat" as we were there while the fountains were going. Us in front of the Apollo.



Marie's Hamlet where she went to be a "peasant". It was gorgeous and probably where I would have spent most of my time as well.



 

We ate lunch in the gardens (had my first French omelette- sans egg shells unlike Aish's) and while we were there we decided to use the closest bathrooms. The line, like always was men one side, women the other and no real space in between.  The boys went in their side and there were no urinals. They waited and weren't sure what to do until a man from Spain showed them the art of European wall urination. The boys thought it was great and quite the experience- which had to be documented. 



 

Us on the bikes. Pretty sure I haven't ridden a bike since Jr High.

We headed back, Dave and Aish let us take a snooze and then went out to the Luxembourg Gardens. It was pretty crowded and seemed like a hot spot for local families to play and hang out. And we were in no rush so that was great.

 

We did pick up some bad habits from the Parisians. Aish tempted us with the bubble gum smokes and we caved. It was pretty funny and all got a good laugh from the sugar "puff" of the cigs. Let it be known, smoking is bad and something a YW President would NEVER, ever, ever do. Ever.

 

 

We hit a hole in the wall spot that opened in 1845. Mark had the gigots (Lamb or "Lame" as our waitress said) and I sampled the best beef borguignon of my life. The crusty bread, the communal tables and the old Parisian woman across from us made for a memorable evening.

 



 

 

 Mark and a tiny car.

 

3 Paris 3

Another morning in Paris and another day filled with things to do and see. Our trusty museum pass & the guru Rick Steves suggested that we hit the Cluney museum which wasn't far from the hotel. Full of tapestries, ancient Roman artifacts and more things intricately designed by the likes of human hands.

Rodin was next on the tour- a lovely and inspiring place filled again with art that I had only seen in textbooks.



The Thinker


Next was Napoleon's Tomb housed in this spacious and elaborate building.

 

 

 

And here Napoleon rests beneath ten layers of tin, mahogany & lead. The French loved him and spared no expense to pay him tribute.

Mark at the War Museum next to the original "pocket bike".

 

Now, even an amazing Parisian vacation has to have a downside and today, was the day

we found it. Sacre-Coeur was listed as a "must see" by our up-to-this-point-trustworthy Rick Steves. The Basilica was beautiful and had it not been a pick pocket paradise, we may have ventured inside. It was crowded, scary and really a place I would try to avoid all together.

 

 

We did take the time to  see the OUTSIDE only of the Moulin Rouge. Kids menu aside, this was a PG-13 tour.

The Eiffel Tower awaited us this evening and we made the trip up the 700 stairs to see Paris from the top. Aside from my coughing fit on level one, it was an amazing view of the sunset over Paris. I don't think Europe can handle this cuteness.

 

 Mark saw a cool car on the way back to the hotel that he had to pose by. Take note, I am pretty sure Mark was one of five men we saw the whole time wearing a baseball cap- classic American.

 

Next post- Sunday. Versailles.

Paris part duex

Friday started our first full day in Paris. After a 12 hour sleep (Mark and I bailed while Dave and Aish sampled the night life), we headed out early to get in line for the Catacombs. We were ever grateful for Dave busting out his French to ask for a "patisserie" which lead us to French Pastry heaven (Paul) or what we called the remainder of the trip "our friend Paul". The one on the right is the chocolate croissant that pretty much changed my life.

 

We got in the queue for the catacombs and patiently waited. While we waited, a couple of dudes decided that they didn't really want to wait in the line like everyone else and were just going to stand off to the side until someone would let them in. They spoke English, so Aish kindly encouraged them to "get in line, it's only getting longer" to which they replied, "classic Americans". Little did they know we were on a mission, straight from the U S of A to bring justice to all those waiting in line behind us. As we started filing in, our little Parisian security guard took matters into his own hands and escorted them off the premises. We were sure they would be waiting for us at the end waiting to punch our lights out. Lady Liberty would be proud.

 

Anywhoo- the catacombs were top 5 of the trip for sure. Apparently one of the largest catacombs in Europe which was made so as the cemeteries in Paris became overcrowded. It was meticulously outlined and after a while, it became more and more apparent that we were in fact surrounded by thousands and thousands of human remains packed miles high and deep.

 

While inside we chatted with other Americans. A retired couple from Alaska and a retired Photography teacher who used "damn" and "hell" as a standard of vocabulary. I was quite amazed at the instant connection we had by being Americans. We seemed to stand out (as was evident by the stink eye from the Parisians) and we always were able to find each other in crowds and when we needed someone reliable to take a picture.

 

"Attention. This is the empire of death."

Off to Saint Sulpice. Made famous by The Da Vinci Code. It felt way more church like than the Notre Dame.

 

Next on the vaca agenda was the Arch de Triumph. It was massive. Our handy museum pass got us in and we scaled to the top for a view of Paris from the sky.

We were told that the Champs Elysse was a must see and to be honest, we weren't all that impressed. I think once McDonald's moved in the Cartier lost it's lustre. We did however hit LaDuree and sampled some tasty macaroons. And these were not your Kneaders macaroons. The French can rock the salted caramel.  

 

The highlight of the day was lunch in the gardens of the Tuilleries. We had seen people every where with baguette sandwiches. A little fromage, a little jambon and some "salad" which all lettuce was called. Quite pleasant being in the gardens, eating outside and enjoying the company of friends.

 

We made the mecca to the Louvre. Everyone says "you will just not believe how big the Louvre is". There is nothing to describe it. The size of this place will blow your mind. We thank the Blackhursts and Rick Steves for getting us out in two hours and satisfying my desire to see the most famous of art.



The Mona Lisa. Dainty and small behind bullet proof glass.


We hit the Lover's Bridge to forever seal our love in adding a lock to the rail and tossing the key into the sewery Seine with about 10,000 other people.

 

A river cruise of the Seine was next. It was chilly and we eventually headed to the inner quarters but it was a good view of the city. I got some of the best pictures of the Eiffel tower from that angle.

 

This was the night we had our first sampling of Amarino gelato. My life will never be the same. Speculoos and chocolate. Speculoos and Caramel. Speculoos and chocolate and caramel. We hit this spot every night the rest of the trip.

 

We got back to the hotel late, cultured and ready to fill Saturday with more of the exciting sights of Paris.