Paris with a twist. Nothing is as it was, though nothing is unexpected. Let me just list the ways in which we departed from our routines:
1. I did not have time to glance out the window! Of course, I knew what I would see anyway: blue skies, sunshine hitting the dormers. But this morning I am in a hurry. I'm meeting up with my daughter for a walk to a far off bakery -- the Tapisserie. It's a place she likes and with good reason. Its small selection is deliciously original.
(leaving the quiet hotel street...)
(passing the familiar)
We pick up come honey dipped madelines and try not to be tempted by the other stuff (I do throw in a bag of their granola -- I'm always in search of a good one)...
We walk home at a brisk clip, but still with time to chat, to review our last night, to talk about the months before us. By the time we get back to the hotel...
2. Guess who is finishing up breakfast downstairs as a threesome? Girls and dad!
My daughter and I grab something to munch on ...
(are you done yet?)
... then finish off the morning meal with the madelines (upstairs).
3. We were going to meet up with a friend of Primrose's -- a girl who just happens to be also in Paris this spring, but plans were adjusted at the last minute. Nonetheless, since the meetup point had been the Luxembourg Gardens, we decided to stay with the plan of playing there -- allowing the two grandgirls to have their fill of the playground and the merry-go-round.
(heading out: apple thief!)
4. I watched them cavort of course,
(the climber)
(the zip liner)
(the swinger)
(the other swinger)
(the spinner and her Irish protectors)
(ready to catch the rings!)
(success!)
... but I also had time to glance over to other groups in the park: the painters...
The Romanian singers...
And that's just a small portion of all you can learn to love in this park.
5. We walk over to the nearby bakery to pick up lunch foods, but the line is long, so we're back in the Bon Marche food halls, where we get sandwiches, salads, cheeses and fruits for the kids. We eat all this at the wee park next door, along with so many others, that the benches are full. We find space on the curb, among the primroses and forget-me-nots.
(this is what a three-year old's desire to run away looks like!)
6. From there I make a quick dash to the Chantelivre bookstore. I love it to pieces, and this time I have a real assignment for myself -- to find books with hidden pictures. The girls love this activity and I want to find ways of keeping them happy for the next 24 hours. They will be my charges while the parents go away for their own mini vacation.
7. At the hotel now, Juniper naps. Parents leave. Primrose and I keep busy with our readings. And when the little one wakes up, I slowly get them together for an outing -- first to the store (I promised a toy)...
(but which one?? small and sensible please!)
8. ... then to dinner at L'Agata. That's me, trying to find a way to make a Parisian dinner fun -- offer pizza!
Agata waiters are supremely nice -- to grown ups, sure, but especially to young children. And to their credit, Primrose and Juniper were really well behaved.
(a waiter takes to the camera...)
9. Not everything can be different, novel, or unexpected. Indeed, ice cream last night was such a hit that I take the girls once again to the same place for their lovely flower-petaled cones.
10. And for the second night in a row I put them to bed. To me, this is a challenge, since a wee one will always find ways in which you are not following prescribed routines. Still, we do better than last night: 10:10 pm, lights out!
11. I sleep over in their rooms tonight. Double weirdness: sleeping in Paris but not at le Baume, and sleeping at the Pavillon but not in my room! But you know that moon... It shines brightly over all of us tonight, no matter where we lay down our heads.
12. Bonne nuit, with love...
