A Parisian Vacation, Part II

Our adventures in Paris got even more exciting on Day 2.
First stop: Boulangeries Paul, a most amazing pastry shop. Oh, heavens…nothing else compares! We grabbed chocolate croissants and various other pastries almost every morning from this place, and now lovingly reminisce about our old friend “Paul.”

After a good visit with Paul, we visited the Catacombs. Apparently, hundreds of years ago Paris was overcrowded with cemeteries. The cemeteries were not only taking up space, but also were very unsanitary. The priests of all the churches were ordered to dig up the dead in their churchyards, and haul the bones to this underground rock quarry. Bones were stacked neatly through this mile-long tunnel, which now makes the Catacombs of Paris. Our travel buddy, Rick Steves, recommended we get there early. I’m so glad we did, that place gets one heck of a line and often people don’t get in. Speaking of…we had a couple of Brits that made the terrible choice to try butting in front of us in line. They kind of stood next to the line for a few minutes acting like they were trying to get oriented and then casually worked their way in. Ummm…nope. We called them out, and the two turds acted like they didn’t speak English (although minutes later we heard them utter, “Classic Americans”). They stayed in line and just as we were purchasing tickets, the vigilantes in us TATTLED on them to the employees. The men, once again played dumb,  ignored the employees, and eventually, were escorted off the property. Sweet, sweet victory! Not just for us, but for all the other people who were also very ticked off by them.

Inside the Catacombs, the bones line both sides of the tunnel, and they’re just there, totally touchable. It made me feel sad to think how irreverent this final resting place is for these people, but it was dang cool; one of our favorites!

Just before entering. “Attention! This is the empire of death”:

 

We were in the area, so we decided to stop by St. Sulpice to get our Da Vinci Code on. This church, I think we all agreed, was prettier on the inside than Notre Dame.

 

 



Up next, Arc du Triomphe. I’m not sure this overly impressed anyone, but I quite liked it. It was a lot of spiral stairs to walk up, but it was cool to be on top of something I’ve only studied in books.

At the top, overlooking the city:

 

From here, we walked down the flashy Champs-Elysees. I think it’s supposed to compare to Rodeo Drive, but it doesn’t. It really wasn’t all that neat. I’d skip it the next time around. We did, however, get to stop in at Laduree. It’s a pricey bakery known for it’s macaroons, and the large, colorful shop was worth a see…and a taste;)

 

At the end of the Champs-Elysees, we were greeted by Place de la Concorde. It’s a monument that marks the spot where Marie Antoinette was beheaded. I poked my very large finger on it’s top.

Truth be told, I have to give my clever photo idea to all the other tourists standing around doing the same thing;)

 

At the end of the Champs-Elysees is the Tuileries. It’s a huge garden that stands at the foot of the Louvre, all of which was once a royal palace in Paris. It housed most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III, until an upheaval in 1871 (thank you, Wiki). Inside the Tuileries, is the Orangerie, a museum that houses 8 water lilies murals of Claude Monet’s. I thought I’d love this, but no, not so cool. Totally not worth the 8 bones you’d have to pay without a Paris Museum Pass.

 Below is Dave pulling, yet another, tourist pose with one of the statues there. “Classic American”:

 

And here we are enjoying lunch in the Tuileries at a little café. I love this, looking back:

 

At the end of this long walk…the Musee du Louvre. The size of this museum is completely overwhelming. People plan days to get through it. We took Rick’s advice, and only visited one wing; the one wing that actually has all the famous artwork in it. It still took us 2 hours (instead of 2 weeks) and we saw all the amazing art I would have never dreamed I’d get to see. Didn’t expect to love this museum, but absolutely did.

Winged Victory

 

The city was dimming by this point. We hopped on a boat and cruised the Seine. This was pretty and it was a nice way to tour the city, but not necessary:

 

And last, we found ourselves in the St. Germain neighborhood for dinner. We stopped in at a pizza joint with a brick oven and it absolutely hit the spot. And how convenient, there was a Amorino nearby to get a delicious gelato cone.

Love how they make it into flower! Such a treat!

 

What a wonderful day! I am seriously pained inside looking back and writing about all of this. It was so fun!

A Parisian Vacation

Today marks Day 2 of my Post-Paris Depression. How wonderful it was to wake each morning and eat a delectable pastry; wander the city in awe of how old and how BIG everything is; and then finish off a long day of walking with a well-deserved, and most delicious gelato by night. It was wonderful; all of it.

We left Wednesday afternoon and could barely get a kiss good-bye from our kiddos. They just as excited to stay with their cousins as we were to leave them;) We picked up our Williamson friends on our way to airport, had a delicious Café Rio lunch once there, and then boarded the plane. Tisha was most thrilled to see that her beloved Stephanie Nielson was, in fact, flying on our same flight. We chatted it up with her and her hubby, and of course, couldn’t resist getting a photo (see: Aish and her freak show response to seeing celebrities).

The flight was long (10 hours, 40 minutes). We didn’t catch any Z’s, but it felt shorter to me than flying to NYC or Orlando. The plane had a myriad of On-Demand movies, so after watching 5-6, we were there.
***I will say, their chicken meal they served for dinner…not good, but all the little sides were tasty.

 

We got to Paris, hopped on the train, and landed just steps away from our hotel in the Latin Quarter. The hotel had a crappy elevator, but everything else was perfect, especially it’s location. It was right in the center of the action and close to everything. I would never stay anywhere else in Paris.

 

Here’s our lovely Magenta and Black small room:

The beautiful view from our room:

And an amazing view from our hotel’s rooftop terrace:

 

Once we got all unloaded it was mid-day Paris time. We fought the urge to sleep and pressed on to see all of the sights. Stop 1; Notre Dame:

 

As part of Notre Dame, we got to go into the city's archeological crypt (above). It's a bunch of old city foundations that date back to Roman times. Pretty cool actually.

 

Nearby is Sainte-Chapelle. The church took only 6 years to build and was built to house the Crown of Thorns. The church's walls are almost completely covered by stained glass. Coincidentally, the walls are also completely covered by about a 2 inch layer of dust. Why does no one clean there?

 

Next, we hit the Conciergerie, which is the prison where Marie Antoinette was held just before her beheading:

Behind the creepy mannequin is the actual wallpaper from her prison cell:

Next, a little lunch break from a crepery:

Mmmm...ham and cheese and banana nutella; both seriously satisfying. Why on earth don't we have street vendors in Utah Valley? Don't answer that.

Surprised that we still had time in our day, we went to the Orsay Museum, which is known for it's impressive Renaissance art collection.

Two Creepers

 

That night we ate right outside our hotel at a little corner restaurant, Le St Andre Brasserie. Food was good. My chocolate shake made with water and coco, and shook with ice...less than good, but not a big deal;) The waiter, too, was a huge flirt, but very nice. We ended up waving to him several times each day as we passed by.

 

We headed back to the hotel, bushed from our travels. Mark and Tisha hit the sack, but after a few minutes, Dave and I decided we were rejuvenated enough to take a floodlit walk through the City of Lights. Glad we did this; so fun walking the streets with my sweetie. Here's the Louvre at night; breathtaking actually:



 

 

 

We also took a minute to put our Love Lock on Pont Neuf bridge, the oldest bridge in Paris. Basically, you attach your padlock somewhere on the rail, lock it up, and then throw the key into the Seine river symbolizing your undying love; kind of romantical, and something totally Bachelorette-worthy:

We then finished off our night at Amorino, an Italian gelato joint. We didn't know it, but we would hit this place every night for the next 4 nights because it was that good.

Here's their hot chocolate. It tastes exactly like hot pudding that hasn't set; kind of an odd feeling having the thick gloppiness oozing down your throat. But it was a good treat and we finished it:

 

So that's Paris Day 1. More to come... 

One Small Voice

Why is it that nothing important goes on until a trip is planned? Dave and I are heading out of town, and coincidentally, Kate's class is having an end of the year program for the parents while we are gone. Lovely. It probably wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that our Wannabe Pop-Star kind of has a starring role in the program. Kate sings a little solo, leading the rest of her class into a song. See? Kind of a big deal. Luckily, I was able to go to a rehearsal, and the grandparents can go to the actual program. So it will all work out; at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Anyway, while watching today, my Proud Parent Cup runneth over! I just love being a mom and feeling my heart swell over the things my kids do. I am so proud of my talented little girl! She has such a great voice; something you definitely realize when the rest of the darling kindergarteners chime in;)

Apple Day

Kate's take home reading book challenged us to have an appley-sort of day; so we did. With only 3 apples on hand, Brother and Big Sissy made apple prints and a most delectable applesauce. After eating her small bowl of warm, homemade applesauce (and discovering there was no more), Kate complained, "Aww...I wish we wouldn't have wasted an apple doing the apple prints; that part wasn't even that fun!" Totally agree. The paint was not that fun, especially for the clean-up crew. The applesauce, however, was super fun and absolutely tasty! I'll go ahead and give myself a big, ol' pat on the back for our successful, apple-themed morning;)

Easter Highlights

The Easter Bunny hopped into town. Kate gladly sat next to him. Cole reluctantly “stood” next to him. Don’t let his smile fool you; Coley was terrified, but this is progress:

After dying the eggs Cole says (word for word and in one breath), “Let’s do one more egg! Just only one more! Want to play eggs! Easter Bunny eats eggs!” Do you think this kid was excited for Easter?

Kate roasted mallows at Grandma Sandra’s Easter party. If you like cancer, she can hook you up:

Cole discovers sunglasses; wouldn’t take them off all day:

Cole discovers squirt guns. He’ll never be the same:

Getting to pet a real life Easter Bunny; doesn’t get much better:

Easter morning. Cole and the mom sick. Boo. Kate gets a pic in her Easter best all alone. I don’t think she was upset:

Grandma Sherrie’s Easter party. Managed to get the children to sit still for 10 seconds:

New trampoline at Grandma’s means it was a very happy Easter, as well as a many happy days to come:

Happy Easter!

Enter Tooth Fairy!

Big Sissy lost her first two teeth all in one day! 1 tooth at school; and the other, later that night. And guess who pulled them out? Nope, not her dentist dad…Kate!

                

Right after school, Kate walked through the front door holding her tooth proudly in the air. When Cole caught sight of the gap between her teeth and the tooth in her hand, he declared, “Let’s fix it!” That’s my boy!

Later that night, we finally got to use the Tooth Fairy pocket pillow that I “masterfully” invented and handcrafted myself (thank you very much;). We put her teeth in a little baggie, tucked them in the pillow and read a Tooth Fairy book. The book “mistakenly” claims that lost teeth are rewarded with a quarter. Kate very quickly corrected that. Apparently, the going rate per tooth is $1 each. Good to know. Morning came and she was right: $2 big ones! That, and a very authentic tooth certificate from the Queen of Teeth herself!

And lest we forget, we’ve also been left with a very cute and temporary lisp!