What would you do in Paris, if you had a day there with young ones in tow? It's easy to take it easy here with them: go to the park, shop together for yummy foods, perhaps take a boat ride.
I didn't go that route. You could say I did a Paris marathon, in the heat of the warm sun, ambitiously wanting to get to things I think at least one and possibly two might enjoy.
In the end, we did not fall apart! And there were plenty of smiles throughout. Still, I am quite sure I underfed them (in terms of nutrition), overtired them, taxing their stamina and their ability to take it all in, to say nothing of overheating them on what happens to be another warm and very sunny day here.
I put aside thoughts of feeling old-ish. I was on a Paris roll!
The day begins with my usual walk to get breakfast treats and also lunch foods. Street scenes of Paris in the morning:
(the cafes are starting to fill with locals, returning from their vacations. I see plenty of tanned faces and rested, relaxed demeanors...)
I pop into a scent and cream store. Just because, it's on my way home. Ed doesn't like perfume on women, so I never use it. Still, here, I am drawn to it. A spray on a wrist... mmm!
At home now. Breakfast...
We abandon the parents then and go off, both kids strapped into the mega stroller. You can tell I am aiming to cover a lot of ground!
Our first destination is the garden of the Rodin Museum. Snowdrop is fascinated by the sculptures. We have our own titles for all of them! Naked dancer! Woman with a load of cheese on her shoulder! Grumpy artist!
(I'd say Sparrow is a fan of the garden too, though perhaps for different reasons...)
(Snowdrop concludes that The Thinker is the best of the best... many would agree.)
So long as we are here, we do a walk through the museum itself. But I quickly retreat. For little ones, it's a Rodin overkill.
Next goal: make sure Sparrow knows about the Eiffel Tower. He never sees it on our walks and so he hasn't a clue how important a marker it is for this city. So, let's get close to it!
(is he pointing to it? or does he think the cannonball is the Eiffel Tower?)
We're there! It's getting really warm. We look for a shady spot. A photo please!
I take out the foods I had packed for a picnic.
It's too hot and too out of the ordinary for anyone to really dig in with gusto (well, I do! I'm hungry! That stroller pushing? It's something else! I'd never noticed how tilted the sidewalks here are. They lean to the curb and so you are fighting the inclination of your big-time stroller to roll right into the gutter.) But a baguette never fails. Everyone loves a good chunk of bread!
I ask someone to take a photo of the three of us. It's a classic! Eiffel Tower, growing right out of your heads!
We walk along the river's edge. Snowdrop is impressed by the number of (tourist) boats...
Sparrow should be home napping. But we have too much to do! He cannot keep his eyes open. A blissful few minutes of respite for him...
We cross the river...
I have a destination in mind: the Tuileries Gardens merry-go-round. I think it's the best one in Paris. It's never crowded, the location is serenely beautiful and many of the perches go up and down.
I am surprised to see the ticket seller. I know him from when we were here before! I ask -- could it be that you were here two years ago? And the year before that? He laughs: I've been here for eight years and the other guy who does this job-- twenty years.
I ask for three rides, he gives us four. Snowdrop wants the airplane. She remembered it and she does not want to change. All those animals and she chooses this!
And Sparrow? I try him on my lap, in the "car." He seems fine with it...
So I aim higher. I sit him down on a horse. Right next to Snowdrop's airplane.
That's asking too much. I settle for riding the horse myself, and keeping him on my lap. Everyone is happy.
Just a few steps away, there are the trampolines. Gym class has really boosted Snowdrop's confidence here!
Sparrow adores sitting at the edge and watching all the jumpers...
Just one more set of minutes, Snowdrop! We'll wait for you in the shade.
Perhaps I should have gone home after this. I tell Snowdrop -- we can go home and play, or read while Sparrow naps. Or we can go to the Musee d'Orsay.
She chooses the latter. I get why. I'd gotten a child's book about it last time I was here and she has been reading it with us on this trip.
I thought it would be an easy visit. I have a year's pass, so that I do not have to wait in lines.
Still, inside -- it's crowded. There are two elevators to my knowledge and I am not the only one in need of the lift. By the time we reach the Impressionists, Sparrow is beginning to protest, even as Snowdrop really loves finding the paintings from her book and studying them intently.
There is a solution, but it's a tough one: I take the guy out of the stroller (he loves being held) and push the girl with my free hand. In a sense, it makes for a memorable visit for her. She always gets tired in museums. Not this time. She could go on like this for a long long while.
Grandma, on the other hand, needs a week or two on a couch, with eyes closed and a lot of ice cold lemonades at the side.
(one of the big clocks at this former Paris train station...)
Okay, I think we all need a pick-me-up. I ask Snowdrop -- home, or a return to our favorite ice cream shop? She chooses the latter and it turns out to be a good choice for us all.
(my pick: raspberry rose ice cream on a cone...)
For Sparrow, milk chocolate. I figure it's got some nutritional value and he absolutely loves it.
Snowdrop chooses chocolate and lemon.
By the time we get home, it's after 5. We have a dinner reservation for 6 and it's a bit of a walk. Sparrow gets a very late and very short nap!
I thought hard about where to take them for our evening meal. In the end, I chose Les Editeurs. If you read Ocean, you may remember it, because I often (almost always!) eat breakfast there. I'd also eaten lunch and occasionally a familial dinner. It's lively. It's comfortable. They have pasta. And they have a high chair. And you can eat earlier, before Paris turns into a frenzy of serious, adult eating.
The kids are heroic. Sparrow enjoys the comfort of his own roost...
Snowdrop is thrilled to have pasta with great big slivers of Parmesan cheese and her beloved french green beans.
And both have learned what works in this city. Sparrow dishes out the smiles, Snowdrop is full of bonjours and mercis. And in the end, she brings out the burst of laughter with her request for l'addition.
We walk back by the St. Sulpice church. This, like everything else we pass, brings out the questions from Snowdrop. Sparrow listens, though I doubt he takes it all in at this point. Or maybe he does. The evening light, the fountain with the sound of rushing water -- it's all part of the magic, no?
To say that the kids are overtired tonight is an understatement. Still, what a day they gave me! What a totally Parisian full and beautiful day...
I didn't go that route. You could say I did a Paris marathon, in the heat of the warm sun, ambitiously wanting to get to things I think at least one and possibly two might enjoy.
In the end, we did not fall apart! And there were plenty of smiles throughout. Still, I am quite sure I underfed them (in terms of nutrition), overtired them, taxing their stamina and their ability to take it all in, to say nothing of overheating them on what happens to be another warm and very sunny day here.
I put aside thoughts of feeling old-ish. I was on a Paris roll!
The day begins with my usual walk to get breakfast treats and also lunch foods. Street scenes of Paris in the morning:
(the cafes are starting to fill with locals, returning from their vacations. I see plenty of tanned faces and rested, relaxed demeanors...)
I pop into a scent and cream store. Just because, it's on my way home. Ed doesn't like perfume on women, so I never use it. Still, here, I am drawn to it. A spray on a wrist... mmm!
At home now. Breakfast...
We abandon the parents then and go off, both kids strapped into the mega stroller. You can tell I am aiming to cover a lot of ground!
Our first destination is the garden of the Rodin Museum. Snowdrop is fascinated by the sculptures. We have our own titles for all of them! Naked dancer! Woman with a load of cheese on her shoulder! Grumpy artist!
(I'd say Sparrow is a fan of the garden too, though perhaps for different reasons...)
(Snowdrop concludes that The Thinker is the best of the best... many would agree.)
So long as we are here, we do a walk through the museum itself. But I quickly retreat. For little ones, it's a Rodin overkill.
Next goal: make sure Sparrow knows about the Eiffel Tower. He never sees it on our walks and so he hasn't a clue how important a marker it is for this city. So, let's get close to it!
(is he pointing to it? or does he think the cannonball is the Eiffel Tower?)
We're there! It's getting really warm. We look for a shady spot. A photo please!
I take out the foods I had packed for a picnic.
It's too hot and too out of the ordinary for anyone to really dig in with gusto (well, I do! I'm hungry! That stroller pushing? It's something else! I'd never noticed how tilted the sidewalks here are. They lean to the curb and so you are fighting the inclination of your big-time stroller to roll right into the gutter.) But a baguette never fails. Everyone loves a good chunk of bread!
I ask someone to take a photo of the three of us. It's a classic! Eiffel Tower, growing right out of your heads!
We walk along the river's edge. Snowdrop is impressed by the number of (tourist) boats...
Sparrow should be home napping. But we have too much to do! He cannot keep his eyes open. A blissful few minutes of respite for him...
We cross the river...
I have a destination in mind: the Tuileries Gardens merry-go-round. I think it's the best one in Paris. It's never crowded, the location is serenely beautiful and many of the perches go up and down.
I am surprised to see the ticket seller. I know him from when we were here before! I ask -- could it be that you were here two years ago? And the year before that? He laughs: I've been here for eight years and the other guy who does this job-- twenty years.
I ask for three rides, he gives us four. Snowdrop wants the airplane. She remembered it and she does not want to change. All those animals and she chooses this!
And Sparrow? I try him on my lap, in the "car." He seems fine with it...
So I aim higher. I sit him down on a horse. Right next to Snowdrop's airplane.
That's asking too much. I settle for riding the horse myself, and keeping him on my lap. Everyone is happy.
Just a few steps away, there are the trampolines. Gym class has really boosted Snowdrop's confidence here!
Sparrow adores sitting at the edge and watching all the jumpers...
Just one more set of minutes, Snowdrop! We'll wait for you in the shade.
Perhaps I should have gone home after this. I tell Snowdrop -- we can go home and play, or read while Sparrow naps. Or we can go to the Musee d'Orsay.
She chooses the latter. I get why. I'd gotten a child's book about it last time I was here and she has been reading it with us on this trip.
I thought it would be an easy visit. I have a year's pass, so that I do not have to wait in lines.
Still, inside -- it's crowded. There are two elevators to my knowledge and I am not the only one in need of the lift. By the time we reach the Impressionists, Sparrow is beginning to protest, even as Snowdrop really loves finding the paintings from her book and studying them intently.
There is a solution, but it's a tough one: I take the guy out of the stroller (he loves being held) and push the girl with my free hand. In a sense, it makes for a memorable visit for her. She always gets tired in museums. Not this time. She could go on like this for a long long while.
Grandma, on the other hand, needs a week or two on a couch, with eyes closed and a lot of ice cold lemonades at the side.
(one of the big clocks at this former Paris train station...)
Okay, I think we all need a pick-me-up. I ask Snowdrop -- home, or a return to our favorite ice cream shop? She chooses the latter and it turns out to be a good choice for us all.
(my pick: raspberry rose ice cream on a cone...)
For Sparrow, milk chocolate. I figure it's got some nutritional value and he absolutely loves it.
Snowdrop chooses chocolate and lemon.
By the time we get home, it's after 5. We have a dinner reservation for 6 and it's a bit of a walk. Sparrow gets a very late and very short nap!
I thought hard about where to take them for our evening meal. In the end, I chose Les Editeurs. If you read Ocean, you may remember it, because I often (almost always!) eat breakfast there. I'd also eaten lunch and occasionally a familial dinner. It's lively. It's comfortable. They have pasta. And they have a high chair. And you can eat earlier, before Paris turns into a frenzy of serious, adult eating.
The kids are heroic. Sparrow enjoys the comfort of his own roost...
Snowdrop is thrilled to have pasta with great big slivers of Parmesan cheese and her beloved french green beans.
And both have learned what works in this city. Sparrow dishes out the smiles, Snowdrop is full of bonjours and mercis. And in the end, she brings out the burst of laughter with her request for l'addition.
We walk back by the St. Sulpice church. This, like everything else we pass, brings out the questions from Snowdrop. Sparrow listens, though I doubt he takes it all in at this point. Or maybe he does. The evening light, the fountain with the sound of rushing water -- it's all part of the magic, no?
To say that the kids are overtired tonight is an understatement. Still, what a day they gave me! What a totally Parisian full and beautiful day...
What an incredible day. You are all so lucky.
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