Paris Day 6

My lovely child. Aaaaahhhh....

Today we were hitting a million places. It required delicious cookies (lemon/raspberry shortbread). Hazel picked this one because it was so pretty, but ended up hating it. Lucky me, because it was delicious!
First stop, climbing the towers of Notre Dame. This was the worst line we stood in all week. Also, the only swing we saw in all of Paris, and we went to plenty of playgrounds. This is the little playground right behind Notre Dame, if you are keeping track of playground equipment in Paris.
Another lovely family shot. I think this was taken by a person, otherwise we would have kept taking them until the kid didn't cover her face.

Arm's length shot.

Okay, the pictures are all out of order, due to the two cameras not having the same time set. Instead of getting frustrated and cursing blogger, I am just going to roll with it. Wouldn't you rather have an update blog, than pictures in order? Yeah, that's what I thought. I am obviously not a pro.

Anyway, Hazel and Geoff wanted a picture pretending like they were having a serious conversation. Because they are weirdos.
Unlike Meadow who had to take a picture of the ceiling in the Rodin museum. Do you see the peeling paint?? Here is the secret to having a crappy house: Fill it with amazing art and no one will notice. Except for other people who live in crappy houses (i.e. me).

Most of the museums were fading and peeling and missing things. I felt quite at home.
Back to the top of Notre Dame: Do you see how many people are at Sacre Coeur??? It is always busy!
Don't worry Heart Sparkle Sparkleheart (according to Hazel, this is her full name) was also there, posing with the gargoyles. She was only a little bit scared.
Since Hazel hasn't even seen the Hunchback of Notre Dame, she was not as excited as I was to see the giant bell. And she may have been a bit freaked out from climbing the rickety stairs.
Moose!
Oh, look, we have magically jumped to the Arc de Triomphe. What up, Heart Sparkle?
Oh, you like the Eiffel Tower? Me too. I think it is the bomb-diggity.
Hazel, of course, loves the unicorns. The Cluny was a hit purely for the unicorn tapestries. Please note: No flash allowed. And kids are not great at holding still while the picture takes. How did olde timey photogs ever get a shot? Seriously.
Hazel took this picture. It is awesome.
Rodin museum (please see its ceiling in an above picture). Still posing like statues. Never gets old. Never.
I wish I had a better shot of this. I love this sculpture. Look how disgusted/outraged the lady looks. Love it.
Oh, Sparkle Heart is back. On top of the Arc de Triomphe. Looks a bit tired to me. Probably because we were going non-stop.
Oh, but someone still has enough energy to leap.
Whoops! Not quite.*
Remember how I love the Eiffel Tower? Because I do. And I think it looks a little fake in this photo. Like it was just plopped down amidst all those little houses.
Climbing down the forever spiral staircase at the Arc.
And we are done!
And a bit dramatic.
This was the door to our apartment.
Last story of Day 6. This was our last day in Paris and Geoff wanted a "real French meal", something he could look back on and say "that was French". It was Sunday and everything was closed early, or too $$$ and nice with a kidlet. Europe is weird with the closing early. Moving on.

We found a little bistro not too far from our apartment and it looked nice enough and accommodating to the small one. Oh, and it was open, so that was a plus. Geoff tells the guy he wants "a classic French meal" and the guy explains the entree (appetizer) and plat (main course) options. Geoff hears "pork" and figures it is all good. I hear "tripe" and figure Geoff is crazy.

First up, let's discuss meal. I ordered Salade Normande. It was delicious! Some lettuce, a couple of tomatoes, prosciutto, 1/2 a wheel of Camembert (broiled until it was super melty) and then fried potato chunks. Delicious. Also, not really a "salad". But delicious. Plus, I ate some of Hazel's onion soup and some bread.

Back to Geoff: He ordered the terrine for an entree. It wasn't bad, but not the best thing ever. Then he gets his main course. Tripe. He powered through a bunch of it and kept saying "it's pretty good, try it." Blech. I know what tripe is. I did try it, and it wasn't good. Hazel tried it and declared it "chewy". Then Geoff claimed he was full. And for the first time in his plate he was not a member of the clean-plate club. Ha!

But then he got chocolate mousse for dessert and it was delicious.

The end.

And tomorrow (in blog time), we left for home. boo hoo.

*Actually, she conked her noggin on a viewing platform. The bruise is just barely fading. eek.

Paris Day 5

I think this day started poorly. I seem to remember we had a really, really hard time getting out of the apartment. And there may have been bickering. Let's forget about that. We had to buy a new camera card (argh!) and Geoff had to go back to the apartment for the camera (double-argh!). Luckily, this meant Hazel got to ride another carousel.

This was a more modern one. What with the cars and the rising up and down. This seemed like a neighborhood carousel, not a tourist one.

Whatever, Hazel loved it.
Then we went to the cemetery. Along the way, a flower vendor ran out, stopped us and gave Hazel a flower (she was being a little pouty and it went a long way to cheering her up). He then practiced his English on us and said, "Obama good!" with a big, old thumps up.

And then we met an indian who wanted the flowers.
This may be one of my favorite pictures of the trip. I love the drama of the kidlet. Yep, we are still posing like statues.
The ninja wanted to see Jim Morrison's grave. She is a big fan of The Doors.
Hazel is a big fan of the Wilde name. She doesn't really know who Oscar Wilde is, other than the Selfish Giant story, but she does recognize her last name.
The flowers were removed from their stems and applied to her ponytails. They were a lifesaver.
Then we head to the science museum! Woo!
It messed with our perception. Or maybe Geoff shrunk and Hazel grew.
Silliness on the mirror.
Aliens!
Unfortunately, it closed at 6pm, like everything else, so we didn't get to spend much time science-ing. Curses!

But we did have fun playing outside. Even if one us got a little tilt-y.
Giant, mirrored globe!
We all threw our hands up in the air and danced like we just didn't care.
And then we got to ride the beloved metro again.
To Sacre Coeur!
Honestly, this was one of my least favorite places. It was the first time we were really hit with classic "tourist" mobs. And, what a mob it was. So many people, so many people trying to sell them beer, so many pickpockets, so many street vendors running from the cops.

The highlight was finding this scarf for Hazel. She loves it and still gets tons of entertainment out of it.

While we were in the area, we decided to see (from the outside only) Moulin Rouge.
Not really the best area to be taking a five-year-old after dark.
But then we found the air vent.
This giant platform that blew air. I think it was from the metro, but I really don't know. Whatever it was, it was semi-warm and there was a ton of it. She told me this was her favorite part of Paris.
And then it was time to head home to bed.
Yeah, yeah, I have more days. I will get to them. I promise!

Paris Day 4

Versaille Day!

Many exciting points before we even get to the first picture.

1- We got up early(ish) and out of the house only like two hours after our planned departure time. This is the best we can hope for.

2- We got to ride the train (hooray!).

3- More musicians on the train. This time there was an old guy playing an accordion. So, you know, my dad could work in France when he retires.

4- Hazel spied a McDo and whined and whined for it. But in French.

Because we were in France. In Versaille to be precise.

Hazel was carried a lot. Not just in Versaille. Everywhere. All over Paris. Luckily, we keep her small and easy to carry. Still 35-lbs gets heavy.

Flora did not come with us to Versaille. Instead we took Sparkle-Heart-Pinkie-Pie, (who also apparently appeared at the Louvre. Ninjas are sneaky that way, and I am not that observant) or some such nonsense. Hazel is an erratic and crazy namer. And changes names based on the wind. Or something. Anyway, this ninja was there.
We played a few rounds of zombie tag. Please note: Hazel is too exhausted to walk the 3 blocks from the train station to the château but has plenty of energy to run around and play zombie tag. For hours.
I believe there was a statue in front of us that we were copying. Or maybe we are just dorks. Or both. Probably both.
Marie Antoinette's hamlet is the most adorable thing ever. If you go to Paris (and you should go to Paris), you should go visit M.A.'s hamlet. Especially if you have a young girl, or have ever read a fairytale. Actual thatched roofs. With FLOWERS growing on the top!
Hazel also loved it. Obviously.
This was the best part. These fish were giant, slimy and disgusting. There were hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe. We had a bag full of cereal and fed them handfuls of it and they swarmed (or whatever fish d0). They had giant gaping mouths and made a gross noise and pushed each other out of the way, and out of the water.

It was awesome.
We took a lot of corny family pictures.*
After the hamlet, and a visit to the farm, and some more gardens, we went to the actual chateau. It was packed with tour groups and it was hot and it is huge. Not quite Louvre huge**, but big enough. And did I mention the crowded and hot??

Luckily, there is a lot of repetitious gold decor and ummm... pictures. And chandeliers. We love chandeliers here in the Wilde Manor.

This room is called the Hall of Mirrors. It is fancy and famous and has a TON of chandeliers. Hazel's mouth literally dropped when she saw the room. We recreated it for a picture. She would like her room to look just like this. But without so many tour groups.
We were done with Versaille and the lame crowds and we headed back to the city. We rode the train into town and got off early to find some dinner. First, we happened upon the square in front of the Hotel de Ville. It was reasonably empty and slightly windy and Hazel thought this meant it was time to fly a kite. Keep in mind, she was too tired to walk from the metro station to the square (like a block) but she had the energy to run around flying a kite for about 30 minutes. (See Zombie Tag at Versaille)
We then wandered into our (temporary) neighborhood and ate falafel and shwarma from the falafel shop endorsed by Lenny Kravitz. I will now go on record as saying I will eat any falafel that Lenny Kravitz endorses, because it was delicious.

Then we stopped at a playground.

But not just any playground. This one had a UNICORN! And kids. (not pictured)
I think I already posted a picture of the elevator in our building but this one better demonstrates the teeny-tiny nature of the lift. Geoff had to smush his shoulders in to fit. At least it was tall enough to fit two people in, if you stack them.

More to come???? Yes, probably. But not today.

*Hazel says her most favorite part of all of Paris was, "Spending time with my family." Aaahhh...I love my corny kid.

** I just Googled the size of both. Versaille is 51,200 square meters, the Louvre is 652,300 square feet. So, both giant.