Day Five: Buttes Chaumont

Now that we got rid of Kenny, we can truly get to work exploring the city without him holding us back. He really is so high maintenance. Unfortunately, he also takes amazing pictures so please excuse the poor photo quality during the next week.

Today, we opted for a less touristy part of Paris and headed to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont in the 19th arrondissement (the northeastern part of Paris).  The girls love their fancy chairs at our metro stop:

When Eliza and I grabbed seats on the metro, Samantha informed us that she preferred to stand alone, a little ways away from us. So it begins...

First stop in Buttes Chaumont, a playground:

From the moment we entered the park, I noticed many observant Jews walking around, a rare sight in Paris.  I actually chatted with two Orthodox men and explained we were American Jews. We wished each other a hearty Shabbat Shalom. It was a nice little Jewish moment.

 And where there are Jews, bagels and lox cannot be too far away:

 I would've loved to dine at the above restaurant, but the girls insisted they didn't like bagels unless they are from Bethesda. Of course, most of the other dining establishments were closed for Shabbat...

 So we headed down the road and found a lovely bakery with some sandwiches for our park picnic. On our way to the bakery, we passed a school which had the following plaque above the doorway:

 

Translation: Remember! Here in this school, on July 24, 1944, one month before the liberation of Paris, 71 children and 11 teachers were arrested and deported by the German police. They were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

I briefly discussed the plaque with Samantha and explained that it had to do with the tattooed Torah story she had heard at Sunday school.  No more questions were asked so we left it at that. 

We walked back up to the park for our picnic:

After lunch, we began to explore:

Apparently, this is where Parisians like to picnic on the weekends. Besides us, we did not hear or see another American-- a breath of fresh air.

Off in the distance, we spotted the gorgeous Temple de la Sibylle (not my photo):

We spent quite awhile there, playing and enjoying the incredible view:

Sacre-Coeur in the distance:

We had our grumpy moments:

And some happy ones:

The park was swarming in every direction with young families on picnic blankets, dogs, strollers, lovers, sunbathers, etc. It was completely charming:

After walking the many hills of Buttes Chaumont and riding the metro home comme les sardines, we were ready for some quiet time. For the girls, that meant playing with small Lego sets which maman magically produced from her room:

For maman, it meant reading the New York Times online and listening to "Car Talk" via streaming WAMU. I certainly did not have these luxuries that last time I was in Paris, and while it kind of feels like cheating, it's really, really nice to have access to these small comforts.

After our restorative chill time, we went to Monoprix to pick up a few things. On the way, we found "Thanksgiving," a boutique grocery store that sells Louisiana "cuisine," real gourmet American fare such as marshmallow fluff and Aunt Jemima pancake mix.

We took a quick peek inside and Samantha immediately spotted her favorite dinner. When I explained to Samantha that we were not going to spend $7.00 on a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese, I got this face:

However, we managed to lose the bad attitude in time to earn some post-dinner ice cream:

Finally, we will end the day with a special television viewing event. Normally, it is difficult, if not impossible to stream American television abroad; however, I managed to do some computer "adjusting" so we can watch our favorite shows. Tonight, it's The Bachelorette. You know, for the girls. I will be reading Proust.