Your day can be full yet leisurely. It can wear you out and still be without stress. For me, Paris offers exactly that: a richness without the pressure to accomplish the impossible. Snowdrop and I did a lot, though only one thing could count as being rather touristy (I'll let you guess which one checks that box!). And yet, we weren't taxed or hurried and many of our best moments developed organically. They got tossed our way. We did not go to great trouble to find them.
And the day did not start early. Unbeknownst to me, the girl stayed up late reading. I had absolutely zonked out by 9:30. She promised she was almost ready to sleep. An hour later I opened my eyes to see her still reading. Well now, she is only 9. 10:30 is not a good bedtime for her! To compensate, I let her sleep in.
Breakfast, downstairs, with French usuals -- croissants, yogurts, fruits. For her -- added bacon!
Snowdrop has her ideas of a perfect Parisian day, but I have to say, most are memories snitched from warmer visits. She'd never been in Paris on the coldest of cold days.
There are limits to what you want to do when there are patches of ice and snow still on the ground. Still, high on her list is a trip to the Eiffel Tower and hey, wouldn't it be cool to have a picnic there? Okay....
We set out.
I take the route that has us pass this beautiful bookstore. I nearly always come here just to admire the books. Kids books, adult ones too. It all takes me back to the days when bookstores were such a huge part of my life. Perhaps I dont read less or more than I did then, but I certainly loved those years where you picked up and admired mountains of books that you did not necessarily buy or read. You sampled and eventually you settled on the best, the most likely to grab you once you got home. Snowdrop's reaction to this place? Too bad they all have to be in French!
The store does have some good gift items to take back home. Somehow I manage to fill this bag...
(We talk about the way people dress here. Like, for example, this rather casual person, whose shoes alone put her in another league. Me, I wear the same old Duckfeet shoes when I travel. It never varies because when I try something new I regret it.)
We stop at the Bon Marche food halls. To admire. To pick up some fruits and a baguette.
And now we are where she wants to be!
The "picnic by the Eiffel Tower" idea would have been sensible if she'd stick with the bench. But to her it means sitting right down on the (wet cold) grass. Fine, you do that, Snowdrop.
But I'll just stay in my sunny spot, standing up.
(On our walk back...)
We make a few stops as we retrace our steps, including at a souvenir store, where they happen to be selling Paris 2024 Olympic t-shirts. You will not believe the price of a kid's short sleep cotton t. You will not! After my expressed shock and horror, I got it reduced to 45 Euro (which is close to $50). The clerk kept saying -- I can't help it! This is the official one! This is what they are selling for!
Ah, the Olympics! I have to wonder how many Parisians are still excited about the coming of the games to their city this summer.! My hotel manager, a person whom I respect and admire tremendously, told me that the city will be transformed -- many of the streets closed off to traffic. You and I may find that to be cool, but she tells me she wont be allowed to drive to work. Velo or walk! I suspect everything will be harder for those who live and work here.
We continue. Past the Rue Cler market...
Another we make another stop: at Bon Ton, a high end kids clothes/toy store. She loves it of course, but she knows to restrain herself with me at her side. Still, she convinces me that these greatly reduced muffs are what she has been longing for forever!
And now we are at the Cafe Varenne, which is exactly where I want to be at lunchtime. Typically Snowdrop gets her favorite here -- pasta with parmesan cheese. But it just so happens that they had mac and cheese on the menu and the obliging waiter brought her that instead, thinking surely she'd prefer that to plain noodles. It was fine, but I'm sure I liked my meal of lentils and an egg more than she liked her mac and cheese (which in France comes with... well, different cheese).
One more stop: the chocolate shop across the street from Varenne!
At "home," it is so tempting to stay cozy in our beloved hotel room. And we do. For a while. I, for one, have a very important call to attend to -- my younger daughter has a birthday today! As tradition would have it these years, I'm not there for it. Proper celebrations will have to be taken up later in the month. In the meantime, I'm with her totally in spirit! Happy happy birthday, little one!
After a brief rest and warmup at the hotel, Snowdrop and I set out for the park.
The girl very much wants to play in the large playground of the Luxembourg Gardens, but by the time we get there, it's closed. She settles for the merry-go-round. An old fashioned one where the horses dont bounce around, but instead a man stands and you collect his rings from the side. She collected twelve of them. Does it mean anything at all? Nope.
(Park is closing in 5 minutes!)
In the evening we go to Brasserie des Pres. I like the vibe there, I like the food. Much like Les Editeurs, it doesn't reach for great heights, but it draws a huge crowd of mostly locals, mostly my kids' generation. Will Snowdrop take to it? This is too unpredictable for me to worry about. At worst, she'll eat fries!
She ate the fries (and to her credit, the chicken wings that came as an appetizer).
Tomorrow, we attend to the two remaining items on Snowdrop's list. Tonight? I'm keeping an eye out on the girl's goodnight time!
with love...
