Day Six: Park and New Friends

The girls were content to play around the apartment for a few hours this morning:

Once it devolved into "Girls Gone Wild," we made our exit into the streets of Paris.  Today we decided to walk by Paris' oldest hospital which is right near our apartment on Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame lives. Imagine coming here to give birth:

 Samantha was so proud to have identified something in her guidebook:

 

 Eliza was just proud to be cute:

Next it was pizza time in the 7th. The girls did a "cheers" with their OJ. Mommy did her own cheers with her vodka OJ:

 Quick stop by Odeon:

 And then off to Luxembourg Gardens per the girls' request:

  

Not a bad photograph for a five year old:

Another request:

In France, cotton candy is called "Barbe a Papa" or "Daddy's Beard." Samantha got the beard part figured out:

Then it was back to the Luxembourg playground for a second visit. The ladies cannot get enough of this swing-- they wait in line for ten minutes for a turn, have the time of their life for 30 seconds, and get right back in line.

While they were swinging, I was chatting on the bench with another American woman who, in a strange twist of fate, turned out to be Kim, the person for whom I was mistaken by another family only a few days earlier. Like me, Kim was born in DC and has two daughters; unlike me she was actually smart enough to earn her PhD in English Literature and is a professor in California. The girls playing "War":

Kim and her girls then showed us the joy that is the merry-go-round. Although a bit dinky as carousels go, this one is interactive-- you use your stick to try to grab a ring that the ride operator holds out for the kids. The girls loved it:

Although Kim and her girls are only here for another week, we made a plan to meet up on Tuesday for a play date! After two long hours, we finally headed home, but not before running into Lady Liberty herself:

 A bit tired...

 But very happy:

  

We headed home...