We can’t do something crazy exciting everyday, just a fact of life. This is something we have been saying to ourselves but every once and while we are really reminded that we are in Paris and Paris can’t help but be exciting.
Today our big adventure was going for lunch, an event that is so un-exciting that we didn’t even bring the camera. It only took us about five minutes to wish we had it. We walked toward Boulevard Beaumarchais, the road that leads to where the Bastille once stood. As soon as we got close we heard lots of noise and then we saw lots of people walking in the street. Nicholas got excited because he thought there was a parade. It was actually a protest. We watched in amazement for a while, the amount of people in the street was unreal. We could tell there was different unions all protesting together but we weren’t really sure what for. We had to look it up when we got home. You are read all about it here:
http://www.france24.com/en/20111011-anti-austerity-strikes-hit-paris-public-transport
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Our Travels: October 10th, 2011
For our first day out after the sick days we did something I’ve wanted to do since we got here, we went to Montmartre. Montmartre is a very cool part of Paris, it not only houses the Sacré Cœur Church but also it is also known as the art district. There was a time when seeing Monet, Picasso or van Gogh was the norm.
The Sacré Cœur sits at the top of the “mountain” and when you arrive it is the first thing you see. Well that is not entirely true, most people see the church first but Nicholas saw the carousal at the base of the steps first. I think all the rides are why Nicholas keeps saying he loves Paris! He got to ride the carousal while Brendan was busy taking pictures. Today was the first day Brendan brought our big new camera out; he is taking his self-appointed job as official photographer very seriously. Because taking pictures took a while Nicholas got to ride the carousal again. For the second ride he choose a horse that moved up and down to ride, turns out he didn’t really like that; Brendan had to save him while he was attempting to get off.
Walking up the stairs worked better for Nicholas although by the time we were almost at the top he was tired so we had to sit down and take a rest (his favorite thing to do when we are walking but he is getting better and taking longer to request a break). As soon as we made our way to the top Nicholas wanted to go inside the Church and right away promised to be very quiet, I guess our talk at the Norte Dame really worked. The inside of the Sacré Cœur is really beautiful, I think every church in Paris is beautiful but the Sacré Cœur is unique because it is so bright inside. I wish we were able to take pictures so we could show everyone but they are not allowed so you’ll just have to take our word on how beautiful it is.
By the time our mini-tour of the church was done we were all ready for lunch. Nicholas requested a hot dog, really a simple request but not at all simple in Paris. Every hot dog here is covered in cheese in a baguette, not really what Nicholas considers a perfect hot dog. We were able to appease him with pizza while we had our second restaurant experience. We had lunch in an outdoor restaurant in what would be considered the courtyard of Montmartre. We ate pizza, crepes and French onion soup and had a wonderful but expensive lunch.
Brendan spoke French with our waiter, he had a real conversation and I was insanely jealous. I have been practicing French, not as much as I should but still practicing but I act like a huge freak when I need to speak to people. I can do basics like ask for things but overall I’m not fantastic at it. Hopefully I’ll only get better!
After our lunch we walked around and looked at all the art artists were selling. We thought we might like to buy a piece of art as a keepsake of our trip but we couldn’t find anything. We spent a little more time walking around while Brendan took more pictures until the little one was too tired to go on.
The Sacré Cœur sits at the top of the “mountain” and when you arrive it is the first thing you see. Well that is not entirely true, most people see the church first but Nicholas saw the carousal at the base of the steps first. I think all the rides are why Nicholas keeps saying he loves Paris! He got to ride the carousal while Brendan was busy taking pictures. Today was the first day Brendan brought our big new camera out; he is taking his self-appointed job as official photographer very seriously. Because taking pictures took a while Nicholas got to ride the carousal again. For the second ride he choose a horse that moved up and down to ride, turns out he didn’t really like that; Brendan had to save him while he was attempting to get off.
Walking up the stairs worked better for Nicholas although by the time we were almost at the top he was tired so we had to sit down and take a rest (his favorite thing to do when we are walking but he is getting better and taking longer to request a break). As soon as we made our way to the top Nicholas wanted to go inside the Church and right away promised to be very quiet, I guess our talk at the Norte Dame really worked. The inside of the Sacré Cœur is really beautiful, I think every church in Paris is beautiful but the Sacré Cœur is unique because it is so bright inside. I wish we were able to take pictures so we could show everyone but they are not allowed so you’ll just have to take our word on how beautiful it is.
By the time our mini-tour of the church was done we were all ready for lunch. Nicholas requested a hot dog, really a simple request but not at all simple in Paris. Every hot dog here is covered in cheese in a baguette, not really what Nicholas considers a perfect hot dog. We were able to appease him with pizza while we had our second restaurant experience. We had lunch in an outdoor restaurant in what would be considered the courtyard of Montmartre. We ate pizza, crepes and French onion soup and had a wonderful but expensive lunch.
Brendan spoke French with our waiter, he had a real conversation and I was insanely jealous. I have been practicing French, not as much as I should but still practicing but I act like a huge freak when I need to speak to people. I can do basics like ask for things but overall I’m not fantastic at it. Hopefully I’ll only get better!
After our lunch we walked around and looked at all the art artists were selling. We thought we might like to buy a piece of art as a keepsake of our trip but we couldn’t find anything. We spent a little more time walking around while Brendan took more pictures until the little one was too tired to go on.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Our Travels: Oct 4th to 9th: The Sick Days
After a few very full days we decided to have a laid-back day on Tuesday. Nicholas and I hung out at the park and went for a walk while Brendan caught up on work. Turns out our timing wasn’t very good because the next day Brendan got sick. Having the flu and traveling around the city just don’t work well together so we settled in at home for a few days. Nicholas and I went out a little bit, mostly to the park but we really didn’t go very far.
By Friday I was getting restless, I had made some plans for us during the week that we couldn’t do so Brendan suggested I go out on my own for the afternoon. I decided my destination would be the Musee d'Orsay.
I was sixteen years old the first time I was in Paris; I had traveled with school trip that brought us to London, Paris and Nice during Spring Break. I loved the seeing the sights and experiencing something new but I quickly found traveling with such a large group was frustrating (there was over 30 in our group). The day I remember most of the trip was the day almost everyone went to the Louve, everyone except Miss Young, a guy named Mike and me. Instead, the three of us went to the Musee d'Orsay. I can’t remember the specifics of how the three of us went off on our own but I think Miss Young wanted to go to the Musee d'Orsay and said she would take a few students with her and Mike and I were the ones who wanted to go.
I remember that day because I was able to walk around the museum by myself and really feel like I was in Paris, experiencing Paris, not just being led around. Miss Young was only twenty-two and gave us the freedom to explore on our own. I remember how beautiful the structure of the renovated train station that housed the museum was and what it was like to see a Monet painting for the first time. I decided to make the Musee d'Orsay my destination because of that day when I was sixteen.
The museum was amazing with beautiful sculptures and fantastic impressionist paintings (I especially liked Jean-Francois Millet’s Clair de Lune). Impressionist paintings are by far my favorite kind of art even though art is not really my thing, in fact I will go as far to say that most art leave me a bit confused. It was more than a few times while wandering the museum that I thought it might have been more useful for me to take art appreciation instead of the music appreciation class I did take for my degree. I have yet to find a reason to know that Bach was from the Baroque period or what functional tonality is. But maybe soon I’ll get to go to a symphony and I’ll be glad for it. On the way home I walked though the Tuileries Gardens and the grounds of the Louve, it was great way to end my wonderful afternoon.
We spent the weekend just relaxing around the apartment with a few visits to the park and walks to keep Nicholas from climbing the walls. Not the most exciting week but we were both thankful we have lots of time in Paris. Could you imagine being sick for a week when you only had a week to experience everything?
By Friday I was getting restless, I had made some plans for us during the week that we couldn’t do so Brendan suggested I go out on my own for the afternoon. I decided my destination would be the Musee d'Orsay.
I was sixteen years old the first time I was in Paris; I had traveled with school trip that brought us to London, Paris and Nice during Spring Break. I loved the seeing the sights and experiencing something new but I quickly found traveling with such a large group was frustrating (there was over 30 in our group). The day I remember most of the trip was the day almost everyone went to the Louve, everyone except Miss Young, a guy named Mike and me. Instead, the three of us went to the Musee d'Orsay. I can’t remember the specifics of how the three of us went off on our own but I think Miss Young wanted to go to the Musee d'Orsay and said she would take a few students with her and Mike and I were the ones who wanted to go.
I remember that day because I was able to walk around the museum by myself and really feel like I was in Paris, experiencing Paris, not just being led around. Miss Young was only twenty-two and gave us the freedom to explore on our own. I remember how beautiful the structure of the renovated train station that housed the museum was and what it was like to see a Monet painting for the first time. I decided to make the Musee d'Orsay my destination because of that day when I was sixteen.
The museum was amazing with beautiful sculptures and fantastic impressionist paintings (I especially liked Jean-Francois Millet’s Clair de Lune). Impressionist paintings are by far my favorite kind of art even though art is not really my thing, in fact I will go as far to say that most art leave me a bit confused. It was more than a few times while wandering the museum that I thought it might have been more useful for me to take art appreciation instead of the music appreciation class I did take for my degree. I have yet to find a reason to know that Bach was from the Baroque period or what functional tonality is. But maybe soon I’ll get to go to a symphony and I’ll be glad for it. On the way home I walked though the Tuileries Gardens and the grounds of the Louve, it was great way to end my wonderful afternoon.
We spent the weekend just relaxing around the apartment with a few visits to the park and walks to keep Nicholas from climbing the walls. Not the most exciting week but we were both thankful we have lots of time in Paris. Could you imagine being sick for a week when you only had a week to experience everything?
Our Travels: October 3rd, 2011
We ate in our first restaurant today, kinda big for us. At home we are all about eating out so the fact that it took two weeks in Paris is surprising. We’ve been holding off mostly because of Nicholas. We were worried that we would have a hard time finding something for him to eat as well as worrying about his behavior at the restaurant; he is three and they don’t have White Spot here. But today we had breakfast at a restaurant. Nicholas was very well behaved while he enjoyed his croissant and orange juice and we enjoyed our coffees.
After our breakfast we went down to the Seine to see about taking a boat ride. I had done some research before we went down but I must have missed the part when there were different schedules for different times of the years. The boat we wanted to take didn’t leave for a few hours. So we made a new plan to walk South of the Notre Dame and explore. We didn’t make it very far because there was a park across the street Nicholas wanted to go to. By this point it was getting really hot out and we were debating how far we really wanted to go. We thought it might be better we if went home so Brendan could work for a bit and then go out again after dinner.
On our way back we walked through the grounds of the Norte Dame. When we saw that we didn’t need to wait in line we quickly went in. So far we haven’t done a lot of traditional touristy stuff, it’s just not what this trip is about. We are trying to focus our activities that all of us will enjoy and three year olds aren’t really known for being super quiet and having a lot of patience, both a prerequisite for museums and churches. But because we didn’t have to wait in line we took our chance to go in. It is so beautiful inside even Nicholas was impressed and on his best behavior. He kept getting upset when people were whispering; I guess he took the whole be really quiet talk very seriously! We had a fantastic, very quiet time while looking around the church, it really is amazing.
After our breakfast we went down to the Seine to see about taking a boat ride. I had done some research before we went down but I must have missed the part when there were different schedules for different times of the years. The boat we wanted to take didn’t leave for a few hours. So we made a new plan to walk South of the Notre Dame and explore. We didn’t make it very far because there was a park across the street Nicholas wanted to go to. By this point it was getting really hot out and we were debating how far we really wanted to go. We thought it might be better we if went home so Brendan could work for a bit and then go out again after dinner.
On our way back we walked through the grounds of the Norte Dame. When we saw that we didn’t need to wait in line we quickly went in. So far we haven’t done a lot of traditional touristy stuff, it’s just not what this trip is about. We are trying to focus our activities that all of us will enjoy and three year olds aren’t really known for being super quiet and having a lot of patience, both a prerequisite for museums and churches. But because we didn’t have to wait in line we took our chance to go in. It is so beautiful inside even Nicholas was impressed and on his best behavior. He kept getting upset when people were whispering; I guess he took the whole be really quiet talk very seriously! We had a fantastic, very quiet time while looking around the church, it really is amazing.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Our Travels: October 2nd, 2011
Sunday we decided to walk to Jardin des Plantes, despite the heat. However our walk to the park was nice with the shade that the Parisian buildings offered us.
Once we arrived in the park Nicholas wanted to play on the playground equipment. Soon he was too hot to play anymore and we began to explore the grounds. The park is very large and if we wanted to see it all we would have needed a whole day. We noted some activates that we would like to come back for, like the zoo and botanical gardens.
We spent some time walking in the outdoor gardens before we came to the main boulevard-type walkway. The view was amazing, just like you’d expect to see on a postcard. The leaves are starting to change here and the golden hue of the trees just added to the view. We found a bench to sit and relax on, and most importantly to enjoy the popsicles we bought to cool down. After our break we walked towards the North of the park and found Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée, a museum filled with bones of all sorts of creatures. We thought Nicholas would love to see all the dinosaur bones but in reality he wasn’t that excited. We wandered around the museum until the heat (no air-conditioning and lots of windows made it really hot) drove us out and then we walked back to our apartment for the rest of the night.
Once we arrived in the park Nicholas wanted to play on the playground equipment. Soon he was too hot to play anymore and we began to explore the grounds. The park is very large and if we wanted to see it all we would have needed a whole day. We noted some activates that we would like to come back for, like the zoo and botanical gardens.
We spent some time walking in the outdoor gardens before we came to the main boulevard-type walkway. The view was amazing, just like you’d expect to see on a postcard. The leaves are starting to change here and the golden hue of the trees just added to the view. We found a bench to sit and relax on, and most importantly to enjoy the popsicles we bought to cool down. After our break we walked towards the North of the park and found Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée, a museum filled with bones of all sorts of creatures. We thought Nicholas would love to see all the dinosaur bones but in reality he wasn’t that excited. We wandered around the museum until the heat (no air-conditioning and lots of windows made it really hot) drove us out and then we walked back to our apartment for the rest of the night.
Our Travels: October 1st, 2011
Saturdays tend to be very busy around here, a combination of all the locals out shopping for the day and the tourists who come in just for the weekend. With our windows open you can hear the bustle of the people walking and talking on street below, as well as the honks of cars because there are so many people the cars have a hard time getting through them all. Because of this we waited until later in the day to venture out.
Our original plans were just to head to the grocery store to grab supplies for dinner but Nicholas got distracted by the rocket ship. After a few rides I suggested we try and just grab something to eat. We walked to the West to find something quick that Nicholas would eat and our refined pallets chose to eat at Quick, the French version of McDonalds. It turns out we weren’t huge fans and we finally went to the grocery store on the way back so we wouldn’t have to go out again.
It was very busy on our way home, so busy that we had a hard time getting to our apartment through the crowd. It turns out that today is Nuit Blanch, a night where galleries, museums and restaurants are open all night long and everyone in Paris stays awake all night. Our street was crowded because one of the many art exhibits which are setup across the city for this event was right next to our apartment. We couldn't actually see what was happening because there were too many people in front of it, next to the very long line to get in, but it looked like purple lights with fake rain and a bunch of people with purple umbrellas.
With all of the noise from the nights festivities, it wasn't the best night of sleep ever for us but it looked like everyone who was out was having lots of fun.
Our original plans were just to head to the grocery store to grab supplies for dinner but Nicholas got distracted by the rocket ship. After a few rides I suggested we try and just grab something to eat. We walked to the West to find something quick that Nicholas would eat and our refined pallets chose to eat at Quick, the French version of McDonalds. It turns out we weren’t huge fans and we finally went to the grocery store on the way back so we wouldn’t have to go out again.
It was very busy on our way home, so busy that we had a hard time getting to our apartment through the crowd. It turns out that today is Nuit Blanch, a night where galleries, museums and restaurants are open all night long and everyone in Paris stays awake all night. Our street was crowded because one of the many art exhibits which are setup across the city for this event was right next to our apartment. We couldn't actually see what was happening because there were too many people in front of it, next to the very long line to get in, but it looked like purple lights with fake rain and a bunch of people with purple umbrellas.
With all of the noise from the nights festivities, it wasn't the best night of sleep ever for us but it looked like everyone who was out was having lots of fun.
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Our Travels: September 30th, 2011
This morning, I was up at 9:00 to phone the UK and speak with the property owner of the apartment we'll rent when visiting London in December. Good on the account that we got the details worked out and confirmed the apartment, and also avoided another late morning of sleeping in!
We now have apartments in both London and Munich confirmed, which will take us up to December 30th. After that, we're not sure where we're staying, and when we'll be staying there... very exciting!... and a little stressful. We're just about to purchase a Eurail pass to travel within Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, so our future destinations will have to be somewhere within these countries. I'm pushing for Lucerne, Venice and Rome, but it will have to be a group decision once Mom joins us at the beginning of December.
I had a bunch of work to get finished this morning to get the software updated before the guys in Houston got into the office. We also had our Friday morning meeting scheduled for 3pm. I want to pause here and point out that I "love" the time difference here. In B.C., I would have to drag myself out of bed at 5:30am to get ready for these meetings. what a difference! However, Carlos was a no-show for the meeting, and after waiting for a few hours to discuss outstanding things with him, I decided to give up, and we went out for a walk instead.
Today we headed North, the only direction we haven't really traveled a great distance yet. (http://g.co/maps/9w39e) As we got closer to Place de la Republique we realized that the area was a bit more rundown. While we still felt safe, we were glad that we hadn't gotten an apartment in this area. There were a few interesting statues, and an interesting arc (similar to the Arc de Triomphe) but much smaller of course (http://tinyurl.com/3q9knk2).
At this point, we began our way back to the apartment, with another quick stop at the supermarche for dinner. We've now been here nearly two weeks, and have yet to eat at a restaurant. I've mentioned to Mom that it feels like we're eating on food stamps... we're always just buying staples from the grocery store for our meals. Breakfasts are mainly cereal, yogurt and fruit. Lunches are sandwiches (PB&J, sometimes meat), sometimes pasta, and dinner is generally pasta. While the apartment does have a kitchen unit, the cooking utensils are minimal, and our spice selection consists of salt and pepper. It doesn't make sense to stock up on the usual spices and utensils we are used to, so we'll just make do with what we have. I'm now very confident we'll both loose some weight while we're here, which is never a bad thing. Let's just hope we don't gain it all back in the 2 weeks we're in Germany with all the beer and bratwurst available there.
We headed back to the apartment and by this time it was after 9:00pm. Nicholas went to sleep and Laura uncorked her first bottle of wine. 2 glasses later, she had to admit she's a bit of a lush, but that's ok. We both relaxed and she watched a movie while I got some work done.
We now have apartments in both London and Munich confirmed, which will take us up to December 30th. After that, we're not sure where we're staying, and when we'll be staying there... very exciting!... and a little stressful. We're just about to purchase a Eurail pass to travel within Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, so our future destinations will have to be somewhere within these countries. I'm pushing for Lucerne, Venice and Rome, but it will have to be a group decision once Mom joins us at the beginning of December.
I had a bunch of work to get finished this morning to get the software updated before the guys in Houston got into the office. We also had our Friday morning meeting scheduled for 3pm. I want to pause here and point out that I "love" the time difference here. In B.C., I would have to drag myself out of bed at 5:30am to get ready for these meetings. what a difference! However, Carlos was a no-show for the meeting, and after waiting for a few hours to discuss outstanding things with him, I decided to give up, and we went out for a walk instead.
Today we headed North, the only direction we haven't really traveled a great distance yet. (http://g.co/maps/9w39e) As we got closer to Place de la Republique we realized that the area was a bit more rundown. While we still felt safe, we were glad that we hadn't gotten an apartment in this area. There were a few interesting statues, and an interesting arc (similar to the Arc de Triomphe) but much smaller of course (http://tinyurl.com/3q9knk2).
At this point, we began our way back to the apartment, with another quick stop at the supermarche for dinner. We've now been here nearly two weeks, and have yet to eat at a restaurant. I've mentioned to Mom that it feels like we're eating on food stamps... we're always just buying staples from the grocery store for our meals. Breakfasts are mainly cereal, yogurt and fruit. Lunches are sandwiches (PB&J, sometimes meat), sometimes pasta, and dinner is generally pasta. While the apartment does have a kitchen unit, the cooking utensils are minimal, and our spice selection consists of salt and pepper. It doesn't make sense to stock up on the usual spices and utensils we are used to, so we'll just make do with what we have. I'm now very confident we'll both loose some weight while we're here, which is never a bad thing. Let's just hope we don't gain it all back in the 2 weeks we're in Germany with all the beer and bratwurst available there.
We headed back to the apartment and by this time it was after 9:00pm. Nicholas went to sleep and Laura uncorked her first bottle of wine. 2 glasses later, she had to admit she's a bit of a lush, but that's ok. We both relaxed and she watched a movie while I got some work done.
Our Travels: September 29th, 2011
The temperature here is becoming somewhat comical. As I mentioned before, we brought many layering clothes to transition from Fall to Winter while we're travelling. What we didn't expect was Summer. For the past week, the temperatures here have been in the high 20's, officially making it the warmest weather we've experienced since leaving Texas. Somehow, we've annoyed Mother Nature, and she's getting back at us by denying us a summer in Canada, and giving it to us here instead when we're unable to dress for it appropriately.
Today we attempted to walk down the the Jardins du Luxembourg. We left at about 2:30pm and started walking south. By the time we reached the river, we were all very hot, and so we stopped for some ice cream at one of the many take away windows at restaurants along the way. Apparently, when it is hot out, ice cream is a popular way to offset the heat here, because ice cream was available "everywhere". While I'm comfortable with Nicholas munching on snacks, and drinking water behind me in the backpack, ice cream wasn't something I wanted down the back of my neck, so we stopped in the shade beside the Siene river.
Nicholas got to watch as many passenger and cargo boats went by. Nicholas was amazed as the 2 boats carrying "sand" went past. He couldn't understand why so much sand was in a boat. Seeing the boat captains made me realize that it would probably be a pretty great job, floating up and down the river with their houses below them... one even had a car on the back of the boat. We didn't take any pictures unfortunately. It looked like a pretty low-stress career... I'll have to keep this in mind for the future.
After we finished our ice cream, we decided it was too hot to head the rest of the way to the park, so we turned around and headed back towards the apartment. As usual, Laura went in for dinner groceries while Nicholas got to ride on the rocket again. This evening, I spoke with the ride operator and discovered you could buy a book of tickets, which also counted as credit towards free rides. He inquired how long we were staying, and then suggested we purchase this instead... a good idea. As much as Nicholas likes riding on it, it will definitely be cheaper in the long run.
After Laura finished shopping, and Nicholas had his fill of riding for the night, we headed back to the apartment, had dinner and relaxed for the rest of the night.
Our Travels: September 28th, 2011
Today was "really" uneventful. We all slept in... again... and I spent the entire day working.
The apartment we're staying in has wooden floors throughout. It's very pretty, but also very dirty. The wood doesn't have a "sealed/glossy" finish, it's more of an oil type stain I guess, and I think there are years of dirt and grime rubbed into the wood. It makes for very dirty feet unless you're wearing socks. The apartment doesn't have a broom, so in order to clean we can use a fairly useless Swiffer, or pull out the vacuum cleaner. We spent part of the day doing just this, and thoroughly vacuumed everything, in addition to doing a load of laundry.
But that brings us to another topic... the dual washer/dryer laundry unit. When we first arrived, I thought this was the best thing ever, and wondered why they aren't more common in North America. A machine that washes AND dries your clothes in one step... amazing! Our first load of laundry, towels, was great... came out clean and dry, and wrinkle free. However, the second load of jeans and t-shirts was not as successful. The tub diameter of the unit is fairly small, which is fine for washing but nearly as efficient for drying. The drying cycle took about 2-3 hours and the jeans and t-shirts came out "very" wrinkly.... I don't think you could have wrinkled them any more if you tried... very disappointing.
We've since experimented with smaller load sizes, to optimize the "fluff" process during the dry cycle, but clothes are still coming out pretty wrinkly. The trick is, to get them out as soon as the cycle is finished and either hang or fold them to attempt to flatten out the wrinkles. While frustrating, it's not nearly as bad as having to haul everything down to a laundromat every few days, so we'll make do.
During the day, Laura took Nicholas over to the park for an hour, and in the evening I went out and got a Falafel and strudel for dinner for us. After Nicholas went to bed, we rented Bridesmaids (very funny) and went to bed... tough day.
Our Travels: September 27th, 2011
After working in the morning today, we decided to head out for a longer adventure in the early evening. I've found that splitting my workday up where I work for a few hours in the morning or early afternoon, then take a long "lunch" break before starting again in the evening is working pretty well. The guys in Houston don't get back from lunch until 8pm Paris time, and then I can interact with them for the remaining four hours of their day.
We jumped on the Metro and took a transfer over to the number 7 line which was the main line we took from our hotel last time we visited Paris. It also conveniently dropped us off at the closest station to the Eiffel Tower! Along the way, we essentially crossed the entire width of the inner circle of Paris, and much of the trip was above ground. It gave us an opportunity to see different areas of Paris which ranged from more modern high rise apartments, to 5-6 story older buildings like the one we're staying in. There are definitely some nice areas to Paris. We agree that the area we're in is quite nice, but it's also older. We're really only a few minutes away from the original city of Lutetia where the Notre Dame now stands. Nicholas was glued to the window of the train the whole trip, taking everything in (see picture)
After we arrived, we stopped at a Subway (the restaurant) to grab some lunch, then headed over to the grassy areas in front of the Tower in the Champ de Mars park, and had a fantastic picnic lunch (see picture). While eating, we saw a playground close by and when Nicholas finished up, we headed over so he could play. Laura and I sat on a bench which looked directly at the playground and in the background had the Eiffel Tower looming above it... talk about cool. There's a picture of Nicholas on the play set which visualizes this for you (see picture).
After lunch and playing, we left and walked back towards our apartment (see route). We got to the Louvre, and decided to jump on the Metro for the rest of the ride home. We stopped at the supermarket beside our Metro stop, and Nicholas got to ride on the rocket a few times while Laura went in and picked up some dinner for us.
We went back to the apartment and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
We jumped on the Metro and took a transfer over to the number 7 line which was the main line we took from our hotel last time we visited Paris. It also conveniently dropped us off at the closest station to the Eiffel Tower! Along the way, we essentially crossed the entire width of the inner circle of Paris, and much of the trip was above ground. It gave us an opportunity to see different areas of Paris which ranged from more modern high rise apartments, to 5-6 story older buildings like the one we're staying in. There are definitely some nice areas to Paris. We agree that the area we're in is quite nice, but it's also older. We're really only a few minutes away from the original city of Lutetia where the Notre Dame now stands. Nicholas was glued to the window of the train the whole trip, taking everything in (see picture)
After we arrived, we stopped at a Subway (the restaurant) to grab some lunch, then headed over to the grassy areas in front of the Tower in the Champ de Mars park, and had a fantastic picnic lunch (see picture). While eating, we saw a playground close by and when Nicholas finished up, we headed over so he could play. Laura and I sat on a bench which looked directly at the playground and in the background had the Eiffel Tower looming above it... talk about cool. There's a picture of Nicholas on the play set which visualizes this for you (see picture).
After lunch and playing, we left and walked back towards our apartment (see route). We got to the Louvre, and decided to jump on the Metro for the rest of the ride home. We stopped at the supermarket beside our Metro stop, and Nicholas got to ride on the rocket a few times while Laura went in and picked up some dinner for us.
We went back to the apartment and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
Our Travels: September 26th, 2011
Another fairly uneventful day today.
Before we left for Paris, we were reading a book by Rick Steves to learn a bit more about traveling through Europe. One of the general pieces of advice he offered was to not attempt activities every single day during a vacation, and to allow yourself a day or two here and there to simply relax. With so much time remaining here makes it a bit easier to follow this advice.
We went for another big walk to explore our surroundings. This time we headed North. Not a much to see in the direction but we passed the park each way and Nicholas was able to play. After coming home and having lunch Nicholas and I went to a different park to play in the sand box. He brought three toys (a car, truck and train) with him and shared really well. But when a little girl wanted her shovel back, and expressed this in French to Nicholas, we had a bit of an issue. It's hard enough for a kid Nicholas' age to share, but to share in different languages was too much to ask.
We are hoping we’ll be up in time to go to the Luxemburg Gardens tomorrow, maybe we should set our alarm.
Love,
Laura, Brendan and Nicholas
Before we left for Paris, we were reading a book by Rick Steves to learn a bit more about traveling through Europe. One of the general pieces of advice he offered was to not attempt activities every single day during a vacation, and to allow yourself a day or two here and there to simply relax. With so much time remaining here makes it a bit easier to follow this advice.
We went for another big walk to explore our surroundings. This time we headed North. Not a much to see in the direction but we passed the park each way and Nicholas was able to play. After coming home and having lunch Nicholas and I went to a different park to play in the sand box. He brought three toys (a car, truck and train) with him and shared really well. But when a little girl wanted her shovel back, and expressed this in French to Nicholas, we had a bit of an issue. It's hard enough for a kid Nicholas' age to share, but to share in different languages was too much to ask.
We are hoping we’ll be up in time to go to the Luxemburg Gardens tomorrow, maybe we should set our alarm.
Love,
Laura, Brendan and Nicholas
Our Travels: September 25th, 2011
Today we slept in again... we are wondering what is it about Paris that makes Nicholas sleep so much? Laura went for a walk all by herself over to the park and sat on a bench and did some Parisian people-watching. On her way back she discovered another park with a better suited playground for Nicholas closer to our apartment. The fact that you can turn a corner and find something magnificent, or maybe just simple but utterly unexpected, is the basis for what we love so much about this city. I'm sure that it will be the same with other cities in Europe, and across the world for that matter, but Paris is special. The last time we visited, we took the un-planned approach, and simply jumped on the Metro to see where it would take us. We're following the same premise this time, with the exception of a few planned activities with Nicholas.
We've realized that there is a big difference between weekdays and the weekends in Paris. For a few days after our arrival, we were wondering where all the small children were. Every time we went out for walks, we would only see 1 or 2 other people who had children of preschool age. Even the playgrounds were fairly quiet. However, once Saturday arrived, the streets flooded with families and tourists. We figure that it must be common to come to Paris for the weekend, or else everyone decides to get out of the house because it is very very busy. I'll try to take a picture of the street below our apartment at the same time of evening on a Wednesday and a Saturday to compare.
After Laura returned from her walk we all went out again to get lunch from a falafel place around the corner but the line at the falafel place we wanted to go to was incredibly long, we ended up getting a snack from a close by (and much slower) bakery. We then set out for the supermarket to pick up some milk, only to discover it was closed early. Nicholas and Laura went to a close by park to play while I went and successfully found an open general store to buy milk. We returned to the apartment, and before we knew it, it was bedtime.
We've realized that there is a big difference between weekdays and the weekends in Paris. For a few days after our arrival, we were wondering where all the small children were. Every time we went out for walks, we would only see 1 or 2 other people who had children of preschool age. Even the playgrounds were fairly quiet. However, once Saturday arrived, the streets flooded with families and tourists. We figure that it must be common to come to Paris for the weekend, or else everyone decides to get out of the house because it is very very busy. I'll try to take a picture of the street below our apartment at the same time of evening on a Wednesday and a Saturday to compare.
After Laura returned from her walk we all went out again to get lunch from a falafel place around the corner but the line at the falafel place we wanted to go to was incredibly long, we ended up getting a snack from a close by (and much slower) bakery. We then set out for the supermarket to pick up some milk, only to discover it was closed early. Nicholas and Laura went to a close by park to play while I went and successfully found an open general store to buy milk. We returned to the apartment, and before we knew it, it was bedtime.
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Our Travels: September 24th, 2011
Bonjour de Paris!
I’m having a hard time believing that we have been in Paris for 5 days. If we were on vacation we could be leaving already but we’re not on vacation, and slowly the reality of it is sinking in.
It’s especially fantastic we are staying because we are on a crazy sleep schedule still. I think we underestimated the effect jet lag has on a three year old…today we woke up at noon! Hopefully we can get our sleep schedule back to normal really soon because we haven’t had much time to explore. Our crazy sleep schedule coupled with the fact the airline lost our kid carrier backpack means we have been staying with in walking distance from the apartment.
We were very happy when we got a phone call telling us that the carrier was being delivered today…and in case you were wondering, deliverymen in France also can’t tell time. Sometime in between 4 and 6 was really almost 7…but we were happy to get it.
With Nicholas safely in his carrier we headed out to explore. First we went to the park so Nicholas could play on the playground and in the sandbox. Brendan told him we were going so he could burn off some energy and Nicholas was very adamant he didn’t want to be on fire…Brendan quickly explained it was just an expression!
After the park we walked East and found ourselves in the Place de la Bastille, the square where the Bastille prison once stood. We took the long way back home and after looking on the map we discovered we went in a big triangle. But taking the long way is the best way to see the city!!
Love,
Laura, Brendan and Nicholas
I’m having a hard time believing that we have been in Paris for 5 days. If we were on vacation we could be leaving already but we’re not on vacation, and slowly the reality of it is sinking in.
It’s especially fantastic we are staying because we are on a crazy sleep schedule still. I think we underestimated the effect jet lag has on a three year old…today we woke up at noon! Hopefully we can get our sleep schedule back to normal really soon because we haven’t had much time to explore. Our crazy sleep schedule coupled with the fact the airline lost our kid carrier backpack means we have been staying with in walking distance from the apartment.
We were very happy when we got a phone call telling us that the carrier was being delivered today…and in case you were wondering, deliverymen in France also can’t tell time. Sometime in between 4 and 6 was really almost 7…but we were happy to get it.
With Nicholas safely in his carrier we headed out to explore. First we went to the park so Nicholas could play on the playground and in the sandbox. Brendan told him we were going so he could burn off some energy and Nicholas was very adamant he didn’t want to be on fire…Brendan quickly explained it was just an expression!
After the park we walked East and found ourselves in the Place de la Bastille, the square where the Bastille prison once stood. We took the long way back home and after looking on the map we discovered we went in a big triangle. But taking the long way is the best way to see the city!!
Love,
Laura, Brendan and Nicholas
Our Travels: September 23rd, 2011
Hi,
Day 4 is now complete in Paris, and once again, experienced with Nicholas atop my shoulders.
Despite being told the carrier would arrive yesterday or today, it still hasn't. I did manage to get my point across to the guardian this afternoon (with some help from Google Translate, and a picture of the carrier from the web on my iPhone), so at lease we don't need to worry about it getting misplaced once it is delivered here. I can safely say that it was a necessity to bring with us, after much doubt in the months leading up to our departure. Nicholas is not willing to walk more than a few blocks before asking for a ride, and is then quite content to spend the rest of the journey in my arms or on my shoulders. I'm not sure if he's simply still worn out from the travel and adjustment to the time change, or if we vastly overestimated his stamina to walk long distances with us. Regardless, when the pack arrives, it will be a happy reunion. It's a much better system for Nicholas to ride in, as he sometimes complains that his legs are sore once I put him down off my shoulders... it's probably not the best long-term riding position for him.
Today we started out for Arènes de Lutèce, a remnant of the city of Lutetia during Roman-Gaulish times. It was unearthed during construction in the late 19th century, and was preserved as a city park. Unfortunately, after looking at it on the map briefly last night, neither one of us thought to write down instructions or memorize its location to take with us today. We realized this about 5 minutes after leaving the apartment and decided instead to simply pick a direction and wander. We walked pretty much the entire distance over to the Louvre, but turned short to head North and explore. (http://g.co/maps/
We returned to the apartment, and after a short rest went out to get a couple of items from the supermarche, and "finally" satisfy Nicholas' burning desire to ride the rocket ship merry-go-round. He was overjoyed with the two rides he was able to take, made extra special by the fact he could control the raising and lower, as well as tilt, of the rocket ship he rode in. We've promised to take him back tomorrow again.
We had a simple dinner of spaghetti tonight, and I did a bit of work while Laura cleaned the apartment. Nicholas is down for the night, and we're just going to relax now.
The weather here has been beautiful... perhaps too much so. It feels quite humid to us, and with temperatures in the mid 20's each afternoon, it's quite hot. It doesn't help that we had to pack for winter weather, understanding we might put up with a bit of heat as summer winds down here. The forecast calls for a bit of rain on Monday, but still a temperature of 24 degrees, so it's likely just going to make things more humid.
I think we're starting to settle in now, and get into a rhythm for what life is going to be like here. It will help things a lot once the carrier arrives, allowing us to head out a bit further during our daily excursions. We decided between the carrier and our shoes, there was about 850 dollars worth of value in that, so it will be difficult to swallow if it doesn't arrive. We'll probably purchase an inexpensive stroller in that event. We're sticking to our 50 Euro per day budget in spending, which should hopefully go down a bit now that we've purchased some of the staple grocery items, and the desire for cafe (a cost of 2.40 Euro each... for what is essentially a shot of espresso) is not as strong as it was when we arrived.
That's all for today. Laura did post some pictures on Facebook today, but I'll keep on her to get an album put together on Picasa to upload more (and higher resolution) pictures.
Love, Brendan Laura & Nicholas
Our Travels: September 22nd, 2011
Hi,
After going to sleep at 1:30am last night, Nicholas was able to sleep through until 8:30am this morning... yay! It took him about 2 hours of tossing, turning, talking and crying to get to sleep last night, but it was apparently worth the effort. As I write this it is 7:15pm, and he will be going to bed (hopefully without too much resistance) in about 15 minutes. Hopefully we got lucky and corrected the sleep schedule in only 3 days!
Unfortunately, Laura attempted to go to bed around 3:00am last night, but wasn't able to sleep until 5:00am. I fell asleep on the couch around the same time while watching a movie on the computer, so we're both working on about 4 hours rest from last night. I guess we'll both be going to bed early tonight as well.
I was restless around 3:00am last night and decided to go for a walk. We still haven't gotten a SIM card for the iPad, and I don't want to use the data on my iPhone unless absolutely necessary. I intended to find the best route down to the Notre Dame from our apartment, and was successful despite the lack of a map. The streets here aren't remotely organized, but I managed to avoid getting lost. It's amazing how quiet the city becomes after about 2am, and while there are still people out and about, it is nothing compared to the foot and car traffic during the day. It's really quite peaceful, and a very different experience.
On my way to Notre Dame, I crossed a bridge which had mesh railing along the sides. Locked into the mesh were tens of thousands of padlocks, with various writing on each padlock. I looked this up once I returned to the apartment to discover they are "Love Padlocks" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Once everyone woke up this morning, we spent a few hours relaxing in the apartment before heading out on our first "adventure". We walked over to a nearby park (a different one than I mentioned previously... this one we discovered over by the closest supermache we have been shopping at) which had a small play area for Nicholas to release some energy on. He seemed "relieved" to finally be able to play at something familiar to him, and had a lot of fun going down the slide and climbing the rope ladders on the set. We stayed for about 45 minutes before departing on the route I had mapped out to the Notre Dame. Laura and I had visited there on our previous trip, and new there was a nice garden on the East where Nicholas could run around some more. In addition to this, he discovered a sand box area, and another little boy (English speaking, although we don't know where he was from) to play with. They had a lot of fun playing with sticks in the stand and chasing after eachother. After they finished playing, we continued walking around the area (full of tourists of course... do we count?) and then had our first "crepe" at a restaurant nearby. It was Limon et Sucre and Nicholas "loved" it... apparently we'll need to get those more often.
While looking at the cathedral today, we noticed something we hadn't seen on our last visit. There were groups of people high up on the towers at various levels looking down and taking pictures. I got quite excited by this because I think it would be amazing to go up into the inner areas and belfries to look around. As we walked around to leave, we saw the line up for these tours, and made a note of the days and times they ran... I think we'll probably go back to experience this before we leave.
It was getting later in the afternoon at this point, and we had to return to the apartment so I could get online and begin work. On our way in, I attempted to explain to the "guardian" (the man who looks after this building) that we should have a package arriving via courier (Nicholas' pack carrier) but he doesn't speak a word of English, and despite my best efforts, we weren't able to understand each other. I think I'll try translating an explanation tonight on Google Translate and take that to him tomorrow.
In regard to the carrier, I phoned the baggage department in London again this morning, and they had an update on the file which showed it was located in Glasgow, and was delivered to Paris last night. The man with whom I spoke indicated it should be delivered today or tomorrow, and I got him to confirm the address for delivery again. Everything was correct, so I now just need to make sure the guardian understands the situation when he receives the delivery.
Anyway, back to work... more tomorrow and hopefully some pictures posted as well.
Love, Brendan Laura & Nicholas
Our Travels: September 21st, 2011
Hi,
I'll begin this where we left off in the last... cleaning up puke.
Nicholas was indeed just stressed from the previous day, and didn't have any more episodes of "big burps" as he so accurately described it. The washing machine worked great for the soiled towels, but when I put in a larger load of clothes later in the afternoon the dry cycle left everything very very wrinkled. There's going to be a bit of a learning curve I guess.
Around 5:30pm, I took a break from work and we left the apartment to go out and explore a bit. Our main task was to find something for dinner, and also get acquainted a little with the area around us. We walked due East from the apartment and discovered a large square park called Place des Vosges. (http://g.co/maps/vb4cc) We were excited to see that the far side of the park contained play equipment for small children, complete with climbing ropes, sandboxes, and swings. Score! Nicholas played in a sandbox for a few minutes before throwing sand one too many times and got pulled out by Daddy. We decided it was best to find some food first, and re-visit the play area later.
From the park we walked South, back towards the St-Paul metro station where we had arrived a day earlier (http://g.co/maps/5fye7). There is a carousel near the metro entrance Nicholas had seen when we arrived. It has rocket ships for young children to ride in and Nicholas was quite excited at the prospect (http://g.co/maps/4w94e). However, before we reached it he fell asleep in my arms as I carried him (remember, no backpack carrier to use yet). Laura and I optimistically thought he might be out for the night, as it was close to 7:00pm by this time. We decided to pick up a few things for dinner at a supermarche nearby, and headed back to the apartment.
Nicholas was put down as soon as we returned, and Laura and I sat down to munch on a dinner of baguette... we were both too tired to bother cooking the pasta we'd bought. Laura followed Nicholas to bed at around 9:00pm and I sat down to work, figuring everyone would be down for the night...
At approx. 10:00pm Nicholas woke back up from his "nap" and was ready to face the day (night). Nothing exciting transpired from this point on, as Nicholas was repeatedly reminded that he had to play quietly, and I got some more work done while Laura read a book. Laura went back to sleep again at 5:00am and I stayed up with Nicholas until 7:30am when we finally went to sleep. Laura woke up at 12:00 noon, checked the time, and inexplicably decided to go back to sleep rather than wake us all up. As a result, when 5:00pm rolled around and we all finally woke up, she got a dirty look from me for this transgression.
So, we'll now attempt to get Nicholas to go back to sleep around midnight or 1:00am. Even if he wakes up at 4:00 or 5:00am, we'll keep him up from that point on tomorrow, as grumpy as he will be, to try to right the sleeping schedule again. I suppose this was all to be expected given the time difference and messed up travel day getting here.
This evening we all went out for about an hour long walk around. We stopped by the supermarche again for some fruit, cheese and milk, then finally found a real Boulongarie and bought some baguettes and treats for Nicholas (yesterday's baguette was just from a grocery store and not nearly as good). I'm quite pleased with my abilities to converse with people so far, and have had a couple of meaningful interactions since we arrived... all this without breaking out Rosetta Stone again since we have arrived. It makes me confident that we can both go away with a better grasp of the language after 2 months.
We've now just finished our dinner of the best Brie cheese I've ever tasted, grapes, strawberries, baguettes and water. Another thing I've come to realize is that we will both likely loose a lot of weight here in the next 2 months. I had always thought that in the city of cheese, pastries, crepes, etc... that we would be doomed. However, with Nicholas, it is a very different eating experience than it was last time. Because he is so picky with his palette, we "need" to go to the supermarket for meals and get the few items he will eat. I don't doubt we'll have crepes and pastries here and there, but the majority of our eating will be of the healthy variety. Together with all the walking we'll be doing, it is encouraging to think we might shed some pounds during this adventure :-)
Time to get to work.
Love, Brendan Laura & Nicholas
Our Travels: September 20th, 2011
Bonjour de Paris!
I woke up this morning to the traffic sounds on the street below, and it finally sunk in we were actually in Paris. Yesterday was very long and hectic and I don't think I fully appreciated our situation until today.
As we were riding the Tube from London Heathrow airport into the city to St. Pancras station to catch our train to France I started laughing to myself. Nicholas had passed out on my lap, and I had a suitcase wedged between my legs to prevent it from rolling around as the train jostled back and forth. Laura looked at me from across the aisle (she had her own suitcase to contend with, as well as 30lbs of backpack) and asked me what I was laughing about, but I couldn't hear her because both my ears were plugged from my head cold and the descent into London on the airplane. I continued laughing, and told her I'd explain later. The explanation would involve the revelation (not a big one) that we should never attempt a travel day such as this again...
Sunday morning was relatively stress free as we checked out of the hotel and made a quick stop at the drugstore for cold medication before we dropped off the car in storage. After we got the car locked up, our cab arrived within a few minutes and we were off to the airport. Nicholas got to experience his first booster seat riding in the taxi and he liked it a lot. I guess he might graduate to something similar depending on how much he grows in the next four months.
We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, and got our luggage checked in, but took our carrier with us to be gate checked. The first leg of the flight to Iceland was uneventful. Nicholas watched a lot of movies on the iPad and managed to get about an hour of sleep before we landed. Neither Laura nor I got any sleep on this flight though. Nicholas woke up during our transfer in Keflavik, and was pretty grumpy. Our carrier was not available to us in Iceland, and we were told it would be available for pickup in London with the rest of our luggage... kind of sucked, but that's ok. Nicholas settled down about 10 minutes into the next flight, and fell asleep again for the 2.5 hours as we flew to London. When we arrived, he woke up in a fairly good mood, and he navigated the terminal with us on my shoulders.
We retrieved our two bags from the luggage carousel and went to the oversize luggage area to wait for our carrier... which didn't arrive. After checking with the baggage claims department, and showing them our claim slip for the carrier, we discovered it had been checked under the name "Congo", and was to be delivered to Glasgow... ??... awesome! So, we left our information with the claims department, and it should hopefully be delivered to us in Paris once they track it down... fingers crossed.
Left with the fact we had no carrier for Nicholas for the rest of our journey, he settled in to travelling on my shoulders for the remainder of the trip. As I mentioned earlier, he fell asleep again on the Tube ride into London, but after that was wide awake for the rest of the trip.
Despite the delay at Heathrow dealing with our lost carrier, we made it into London in time to catch our train on to Paris. The train ride was, believe it or not, more cramped than the airline flights, and the three of us had to wedge into 2 seats on a very full train. Luckily there was plenty of room for our luggage in the racks above the seats.
Once we arrived in Paris, Nicholas again took his spot on my shoulders and we worked our way towards the closest Metro station to figure out the details for our last ride of the journey. A quick ride on two lines of the Metro got us to the apartment. The host was waiting for us at the apartment, and after a quick tour we were left to get settled down... finally!
I went out and got got us some dinner from a cafe close by, and we all fell asleep around 9:30.
So... all in all, the trip went pretty well. The carrier was a setback, but we managed to make do without it. Hopefully it gets delivered here ok because it contains all of our second pairs of shoes.
...
This morning I woke up at about 9:30 and went and had my "cafe double" I had been looking forward to so much. I asked the waitress where the closest "supermarche" was, and went and picked up some staples for breakfast. Nicholas and Laura stayed at the apartment and both slept until around noon.
After waking up, Nicholas had some peanut butter toast, milk, and cereal for breakfast. After he finished, he mentioned his tummy hurt... which was quickly followed by a massive puking episode all over the couch and floor. After cleaning things up, and a 15 minute session figuring out how to wash the dirtied towels in the washer/dryer combination machine, he now seems fine. He just ate some more toast with jam and had some more milk. Hopefully it was simply a case of eating too much after the stressful day yesterday. This all occurred about 2 hours ago, and he seems ok.
I should finish up now, as it's 8am in Houston and time to get to work. I've purchased some Skype credits to make phone calls with while we're here, so we will contact you in the next couple of days to chat.
Hope all is well at home.
Love, Brendan Laura & Nicholas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)