Paris...with kids

It's been a long time, faithful blog readers (the few of you who haven't given up on me). We're back with a family trip to Paris.

In mid-October mom got off the plane from America and onto the Eurostar with a quick stop to eat some lunch in St. Pancras station (above).  We shared a table with that random guy in the background, who just plopped down with us to eat his packed lunch. He was a lot closer than he looks in this picture and despite the awkwardness of the situation (he was also sharing our jams), we all enjoyed our pre-Paris lunch...especially Evie who has officially discovered the joys of Nutella and would be fine with eating Nutella on her bread any day.

 Jim suggested that walking from Gare Du Nord to Le Marais, where we had rented an apartment, would be easy, so after a slightly sardine-like ride on the Eurostar we happily headed out with all our luggage and two small children, one of whom was on my back.  Some time later, we were less happy, as the walk to Le Marais is considerably longer and less romantic when you are walking in Paris with two small, and now grumpy and hungry, small children.  But we eventually made it to our apartment, which was located in an old building.  The apartments were built up around a courtyard which amplified, perfectly, the sounds of all of the apartment residents coming in and out through the heavy gate and then congregating in the courtyard at all hours of the night.  The next day, we bought some ear plugs.

And, despite not getting a lot of sleep on our first night in Paris, we were still excited to get out and explore.  Around the corner from our apartment, Evie was thrilled to put her hand in this door's mouth.  If you are a Jim Henson fan and from our generation, you probably remember the doors in The Labyrinth who won't open their mouths to let the heroine knock. I definitely think that they were modeled after this very door!

 Further along, we took our first squinty family picture of the trip.  

 Paris is beautiful all of the time, but especially in the morning before everyone is out and about.  We wandered around outside of a monastary and enjoyed the unbelievably sunny, if slightly chilly weather.

 But, even while stimulated by the experience of being in Paris and looking down on the Seine, there is only so long that three adults who haven't had very much sleep can go without coffee.  

We got our fix in a funky cafe with an energetic waiter, who was happy to tolerate our terrible French.  Actually, he was just happy.  And the coffee was delicious.  I would say that French coffee rivals Italian coffee as some of the best in the world (or in my limited experience of the world since there is a lot of the world's coffee I haven't tasted).

Millie thought the croissants were the best she had ever tasted. Then she went to sleep for four hours. 

 After coffee, we took some more sunny pictures outside of Notre Dame.  With two little kids, going inside was out of the question (plus the lines to get in, by this time, were outrageous).

 

Jim and Evie next to one of the art deco Metro Signs.

And hanging out in front of a fountain in the Latin Quarter. On our first visit to Paris, we danced in front of this fountain, late at night, while a very large brass band played. How times have changed!

Eventually our wanderings led us to Le Musee D'Orsay, where mom was immediately approached by a pick pocket who was trying to sell her a 'gold' ring that she 'found' on the sidewalk.  Throughout the afternoon, we saw the same woman trying to sell her fake ring to various people and we were amused to see that she and all of her friends were wearing the same color shirts. A team of thieves!  Anyway, the D'Orsay was beautiful. It's in an old train depot and full of Van Goughs and antique furniture and sculptures.  Jim was very interested in a model of the Opera House and Evie was thrilled to stand on a glass floor above a model of the Paris Streets.  Millie slept on.

Even though it was very fancy, we decided to have lunch in the D'Orsay's restaurant.  The Ceilings were painted with angels and there were beautiful chandeliers hanging all around.  The waiters were very, very French and we tried our best to not completely butcher the language in our attempts to order.  The food was delicious and Millie (who finally woke up) thoroughly enjoyed her Chick Chick Chicken baby food, which we had packed.

 

Fortified and relaxed (the adults had a little wine with lunch), we headed back out into the sunshine, avoiding the ring scammers. As we crossed the River, we noticed that the bridge we were on was covered with locks.  This was a great source of entertainment for Evie (Millie was awake, but in the sling, so couldn't partake in the joy that is messing around with locks on a bridge).

 

Paris has beautiful parks, although I do think that it's a little sterile not to be able to walk or sit on the parks' grass.  Despite that, we still thoroughly enjoyed visiting them. At Jardin des Tuileries, the girls enjoyed watching the ducks (but not feeding them...we weren't sure if that was allowed) and being sprayed by the fountains that were blown around by the wind.  They also were thrilled to ride on a beautiful, old carousel.  I enjoyed it, too!

 

The most exciting part by far, though, was....the playground.  Hammocks!  Slides!  See-saws! And an added bonus: it was free!

Having experienced the Louvre before (and the crowds), we decided not to go inside, but we did enjoy playing around on the grounds.  Evie and I hid in and ran through some bushes that were almost maze-like while Jim, Mom and Millie tried to find us.  

It was a pretty full first day and, despite being unbelievably energetic always, even Evie finally ran out of steam.

We started our second full day in Paris in much the same way as the first...

 Then we hit the local market, where everything looked extra beautiful and delicious (as is typical in France. How do they do that?!).

 

Actually, Evie was a little afraid of these fish heads. I tried to get her to pose next to them, but she kept her distance:

Mom, with superior French Green Beans:

Millie spent much of the day trying to get her hat off:

Le Jardin Du Luxembourg was full of people running and picnicking.  I was remembering a friend telling me that the only people she ever saw running in Paris were Americans, but I'm happy to report that these were definitely French runners (too small to be Americans...and also speaking French).

  And, once again, the highlight was the playground (not free), where we spent a lot of time in the sand pit and watching Evie flying through the air on the awesome zip line:

 

Oh, Paris is just SO BORING...

 

In the playground, the most French Frenchman there could ever be (note hair, scarf and PIPE!):

After we had had our fill of the playground, we made our plodding way back towards our apartment, via beautiful little streets filled with interesting art galleries, more than a few of which had a female genitalia theme.  Evie was unfazed.

And then we stumbled upon the most amazing thing ever..."E to Evie!!!!" (as part of a political protest). I'm not sure why Evie took her shoe off...

Among the booksellers, along the Seine:

And after getting ice cream with Daddy:

On our final morning, after all that walking and sight seeing and playing in playgrounds we were pretty tired.  We sought coffee and found it at a kosher bakery...along with delicious bagels and challah bread.

 

Paris with the girls was a lot more fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be.  We'll definitely be going back again!