Day Three: Our Family Is Not a Unique Snowflake

To begin, a confession: we felt a little special bringing the family to Paris. Our decision to forgo the "known quantity" vacation (aka the beach) made us feel adventurous and unique. We learned today that as an American family in Paris, we are de rigueur, a dime a dozen, and not the least bit special. From the tiny bakery near our apartment to the random pizzeria off the beaten track we were quite literally surrounded by American families, so much so that it became comical. Someone actually stopped me in the Jardins du Luxembourg and exclaimed, "Kim! Is that you?" and the girls struck up all sorts of conversations with the children they met, who were of course American. 

Despite feeling robbed of our foreign aura, we soldiered on and enjoyed our day in the United States of France.

Starting our day bright and early at noon:

The girls' first order of business was another visit to the play area we had discovered the day before. Kenny and I decided to join the fun:

 

  

Next, we walked from Invalides, through the 7th arrondissement and into the 6th where we encountered a very rude frenchman:

 

 Stopping for lunch at yet another pizzeria:

Jardins du Luxembourg:  

Watching the boats...

 And getting our own:

 An American with a sleek, speedy motor boat trying to show up the French:

Luxembourg playground:

A little PDA in the city that invented it:

 Chewing on candy necklaces:

We then made the somewhat questionable decision to travel home on the metro via Chatelet-Les Halles during rush hour. Picture Metro Center in DC during rush hour with three times the number of metro lines, over 1 km more of tunnels and walkways, and much sketchier patrons. The girls navigated it like pros and we can say we did it.

Back home, we devoured two baguettes in the form of what Eliza calls "carrot smoothies": french bread slathered with butter and topped with carrots rappees:

Between all the walking we did today (probably 3-4 miles) and the girls' playground exercise, we are hopeful their 1:30am bedtime will be moved up this evening.

Day Two: Exploration

We started this cloudy and cool day by making a plan in the courtyard...

First, a quick visit to the river:

 Some deep reflection:

Followed by more profound thoughts on the metro:

Until we reached our destination:

For now, the quick peek was enough. Our ascent to the top will follow another day... Next, we traveled down to the banks of the Seine for Les Berges, the new outdoor exhibit/park spanning over 2km that has tons of free activities, many of which are geared toward the wee ones. First we checked out some French skater dudes:

Next, some racing:

Then we stumbled upon an adorable play area:

Eliza demonstrating for les petits francais how it's done:

 Superwoman:

 Next along Les Berges, we spotted what appeared to be a large, green, hollowed out booger...

Why pick them when you can play inside them?

Then it was time for some brain games:

Followed by some monkey time:

Afterwards, the girls discovered the Pont des Arts which has become known as "lovers' bridge,"  where couples will write their names on a lock, attach it to the bridge and throw the key into the Seine. While the concept is romantic, the reality is far from it. Even though the bridge technically links the left and right bank, it reveals an uncharacteristically gauche side of Paris:

After swimming in a sea of kitschy romance, the girls had to bathe themselves in some therapeutic sisterly aggression.  The Frenchman were amused:

 

Despite a dreary and cool evening, we indulged in some Berthillon. Not only did the girls swoon, but even better, it is less expensive then Dolcezza in Bethesda:

Eliza was overwhelmed by the list of flavors:

 Finally, we ended our cozy day inside with some card games:

Day One: The Journey Begins...

It is with much joy and incoherence that I announce our safe arrival in Paris. Our time at Dulles was uneventful. We managed to get some work done: 

And practice our "American" behavior by banging on airport glass like zoo animals:

 

Unfortunately, we do not have visual or audio footage of the flight, during which an 18 month old baby had a full-blown psychotic break, but the memory will be seared in our minds forever.

After an hour of rush hour traffic (at noon, which fondly reminded us of home), we found ourselves in our new home:

One of our views:

After throwing down our stuff, we headed for Monoprix, a Target-esque store that actually makes Target look like Walmart, and roamed the streets:

Disappointment washed over the girls when they discovered that the Seine, about which their mother had waxed poetic for weeks, was actually just a river that was only slightly more disgusting than the Potomac:

 Happiness was rediscovered in a green bunny!

Eliza's face represents how we all feel after a long day of travel:

Before we collapsed, I got to give the girls a peek of my old neighborhood in the 5e arrondissement:

On the way back to our house, in front of Notre Dame:

And finally back "home" to squeeze one last ounce of culture out of our first day by watching the Disney Channel in dubbed french. Now the girls know how to talk like teenage idiots in two languages.