Grandma Belle and Paris - Part 1

Grandma Belle got in Wednesday afternoon and the kids and I went to pick her up.  We spent a couple days showing her around Grafenwoehr and getting ready for Paris.  It was a little bit of a pain getting around since we only have one car and all 6 of us couldn't fit, so we (meaning me) had to shuttle people back and forth.  Also, Haaken's 4th birthday was on the following Monday and we didn't want to haul his presents to Paris so we celebrated on Friday night.  Saturday morning he was very unhappy that he couldn't bring his new squirt gun, but I told him we could tuck it in his bed so it was cozy until we got home and he settled down.  He did manage to convince Carissa that he should bring his new pirate hat and eye patch (from Aunt Chris) along though.  We headed to the train station with the help of one of Carissa's coworkers (another contracted dentist from Minnesota) to travel to Paris.  We had two transfers on the way out, one in Nuremburg and one in Stuttgart.  The ride went very smoothly and we met and interesting man during the Stuttgart to Paris leg.  He was a German man who was retired and now lives off the coast of Singapore in his sailboat.  He sails about off the coast of Asia and Africa and occassionally travels to Paris to stay in his flat there.  I asked if he would adopt us.

Haaken and his new best friend

Waiting for the train

We arrived in Paris at about 4:30 and took a taxi to our apartment, where we were met by the owner.  Mr. Le Parr was a very friendly man who rents out his apartment over the summer months when he and his wife are living on the coast in the northern part of France.  When he asked where we were from he informed us that he has friends in Minneapolis and has been there many times to visit and also for business as he worked for many years for Medtronic.  I didn't realize working for Medtronic could result in owning a 2 bedroom apartment in Paris so I may look for work there when we get home.  The apartment was great, plenty of room and in a great location - walking distance to the Arc de Triomphe and Trocadero, and half a block away from the Victor Hugo metro station.  That night we walked down to Trocadero and had dinner at a cafe with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

Our Apartment on Rue Leonard da Vinci

Eiffel Tower from Trocadero

Sunday we got up around 7:30, got ready and went out for a Rick Steve's guided walk (via his book) of the historic core of Paris.  It took a while to get ready, figure out our game plan, buy metro tickets and where we were going to get a museum pass and we finally got to the starting point (Notre Dame) sometime after 10.  Rick suggested we get there early so we wouldn't have to wait in line to go up the tower.  We approached Notre Dame and got in a pretty long line that looked like it was headed to the tower, only to find out at the foot of the tower that it was the wrong line.  We walked around the church to the correct line and quickly determined there was no way we were getting up the tower so sat down at the nearest cafe for our first French crepes (3 kinds - cinnamon sugar, Nutella and banana, Lemon and Sugar).  Then walked back to the front of the church and got back in the original line we had waited in, after the kids fed a swarm of sparrows (I think) some bread.

Feeding the birds

By the time we finally got in the church people were filing in for Saturday mass.  We got a really good seat right where the bishops/priests came in and and listened for a while before beginning to make our way around the church.  There were a ton of people in there - a totally different experience from Regensburg and Prague. When we finally got out we had spent the first 2 hours of Rick's "4 hour walk" at the first stop.  We made our way across the Seine into the Left Bank, visited St. Severin, St. Chapelle and the Conciergerie where the likes of Marie Antoinette and Robspierre had been jailed until their executions.  Rick apparently didn't account for high season crowds or 3 kids 9 and under in his 4 hour estimation so by the time we were done with the walk it was 5pm.  We found the nearest cafe, ordered a couple pizzas and took a break.

Notre Dame from the Left Bank

St. Chapelle

Conciergerie

Lunch at 5pm (Conciergerie in background)

My planned itinerary for the day was the walk, dinner and then a night time Seine river cruise.  Since we at lunch at dinner time, we went back to the apartment and put the kids down for a short nap.  Grandma couldn't sit still so she went wandering around our neighborhood.  After about an hour and a half we got the kids up and walked to the Seine to find a place for dinner.  We finally found a place probably by 8:30 and by the time we were done had to rush to the river boat so we didn't miss the last one.  It was a beautiful night and the ride was great, but the kids were totally exhausted.  Once we were done we had to walk back from the Seine up the hill to Trocadero where we got on the metro for a very short ride home.  By the time we got home it was midnight.  Great planning Dad!

On the way to dinner

Seine River cruise

Cool Bridge

Eiffel at night

Monday the plan was to walk to the Arc de Triomphe and then stroll down the Champs-Elysees to the Tuileries Garden in the morning, followed by a rest, dinner and a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  The kids managed to sleep until about 8 and we pared the morning down to just the Arc de Triomphe which was great.  We walked back the the apartment for lunch and a nap and then took the metro to the Tuileries Garden, walked around a bit and let the kids ride the bumper cars a couple times.  We were slowly starting to realize what looked like walkable distances on the map were actually quite far but kept trudging along through the Tuileries to the Champs-Elysees and then found a place for dinner.  Haaken bought a new soccer jersey with his birthday money from Grandma Belle along the way.  After dinner we walked about halfway up the Champs-Elysees and then took the metro back to our neighborhood where we tried to find some ice cream for Haaken since it was his birthday.  There wasn't any gelato and the Hagen Daas was 4.50 euro a scoop, so we opted instead for the grocery store and sundaes at home.

Arc de Triomphe

Lydia at the top

Tuileries Garden

Probably the most fun Haaken had all week

Champs-Elysees

Birthday Sundae