Today we went to Notre Dame, which is so clean on the outside right now! The doors and statues on the outside are fascinating. I also oove the Charlemagne statue, but Marj said he looks like a ring wraithe from LOTR - kind of true...One thing they've added that I don't love is a grandstand type of seating in format of the cathedral. It doesn't make it so people can gather on the Plaza there like they used to, and it's a big eyesore. Too bad. Anyway, we revisited the history of this beautiful church, and loved the rose windows, of course, before heading into the aa where they store relics. We were told they had the crown if thorns from Ste Chappelle, a nail form the cross and piece of the cross. Not that we thought they'd be authentic, but we didn't really see any of these things - just reliquary boxes they'd been kept in, and some robes from Pope John Paul II when he'd conducted mass there. It was false advertising.
Now it was time to say good bye to Annie. We were all sad to see her go - Goose cried and was very sad! So glad we got some time in Paris with her. For our last afternoon of our whole trip (we can't believe it), we took the metro out to Bois de Vincennes where we saw the cool, medieval castle there, and went to the Parc Floral de Paris. All the gardens and land surrounding the many chateaux and castles make for an amazing variety of great parks here. So, this converted hunting ground is huge and has lots of gardens, bike paths, playground, lake with paddle boats, and more. Mark and Zelle rented bikes and brought food back to the rest of us (our last baguette sandwiches...),while the rest of us played on a huge playground. We took turns going on bike rides. The parks here have much more crazy, dangerous, and fun equipment! There is one climbing "web" here that gets up to about 40 feet+ off the ground. While it made me a little nervous, it's dangerous enough and enough of a challenge that it's still fun for bigger kids.
From here, we headed home to pack - laundry, showers, finding ways to fit souvenirs in our suitcases. It's a little sad to be closing the chapter of this incredible trip. That said, I think everyone is a little tired, and it's always great to get home.
We made it safely home and are so thankful to be home safe and healthy! How many street crossings, metro and tube cars we hopped on and off, train trips, long flights and car rides we were safe and protected on! It's nice to be home, and we feel grateful for everything about this trip.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
France, day 13 - Paris
This morning we headed out for the Musee D'Orsay. We skipped more massive lines with our passes -so satisfying- and headed in to the museum. We got a couple of audio guides - even a kids one on an iPad! We learned a little bit about the building and how it had been a train station and hotel, then headed up to the 5th floor, where there are so many beautiful, well known paintings in one place, it's amazing, It was fun to see some of Monet and the others earlier paintings before they'd developed their own style, and to see their evolution as painters. I also liked seeing the less well-known paintings by the well-known artists because I like many of them better, maybe partly because I haven't seen their images so many times. It was a great visit, and fun to see the great animal statues outside...love the elephant!
Next we took a great walk on the left bank. The streets and neighborhoods are lovely here. We discovered a tasty quick food place with all kinds of really fresh salads, smoothies,etc. I had this really fresh yogurt with passion fruit on top that you mix in - yum! It's called "Cojean" and has several Paris locations...good to know. Following that, I went ahead with Abby, Suse and Goose to meet up with Hillary Taylor and her kids at the puppet show starting at Jardin du Luxembourg. We barely made it in time and couldn't get the rest of our group in. It was petty packed in there - hot and steamy, but great to see this tradition of puppet shows there. I love how the little French kids tell out to the puppets and the puppets respond. There's enough slapstick humor and action to keep non-French speaking kids entertained, and I can mostly follow it because of the slower, simpler language intended for young kids. We then headed to the great playground there at the park where our kids played happily for a couple of hours. Mark and Zelle and Annie had rented biked and taken turns riding them, and Hillary, Annie and I had a chance to talk and catch up, which was fun. We went to a creperie that night together before heading home our separate ways.
Since this was Annie's last night in Paris, Zelle, Abby, Annie and I took a night walk after getting the other girls down to bed. The city is beautiful at night with its lights, and we even discovered one of the pedestrian bridges with all the locks on it. We were reminded of Elise's roommate who'd been in Paris last year during their wedding and sent the picture of the lock she'd put up for them with their names and wedding date - we didn't find it, though :). Wonderful day!
Next we took a great walk on the left bank. The streets and neighborhoods are lovely here. We discovered a tasty quick food place with all kinds of really fresh salads, smoothies,etc. I had this really fresh yogurt with passion fruit on top that you mix in - yum! It's called "Cojean" and has several Paris locations...good to know. Following that, I went ahead with Abby, Suse and Goose to meet up with Hillary Taylor and her kids at the puppet show starting at Jardin du Luxembourg. We barely made it in time and couldn't get the rest of our group in. It was petty packed in there - hot and steamy, but great to see this tradition of puppet shows there. I love how the little French kids tell out to the puppets and the puppets respond. There's enough slapstick humor and action to keep non-French speaking kids entertained, and I can mostly follow it because of the slower, simpler language intended for young kids. We then headed to the great playground there at the park where our kids played happily for a couple of hours. Mark and Zelle and Annie had rented biked and taken turns riding them, and Hillary, Annie and I had a chance to talk and catch up, which was fun. We went to a creperie that night together before heading home our separate ways.
Since this was Annie's last night in Paris, Zelle, Abby, Annie and I took a night walk after getting the other girls down to bed. The city is beautiful at night with its lights, and we even discovered one of the pedestrian bridges with all the locks on it. We were reminded of Elise's roommate who'd been in Paris last year during their wedding and sent the picture of the lock she'd put up for them with their names and wedding date - we didn't find it, though :). Wonderful day!
France, day 12 - Paris
Today we got up a little early to see if we could climb the Eiffel Tower without reservations. When I'd tried to book a reservation over a month before leaving, there were none available. I wasn't too hopeful about being able to after the things I'd read online, but we went for it anyway. We got off the Metro at Trocadero where you have that amazing view of the tower, took a few photos, of course, and headed for the tower. We decided to climb it, which wasn't bad for any us, except Mark who had Goose on his shoulders and the backpack on. We reached the first and second levels and enjoyed the great view, then Mark got in line for the elevator to the top. The rest of us were still on the observation deck a level below. Suddenly a recording goes off several times about calmly proceeding down the tower for safety. I was not super excited about vacating the Eiffel Tower via stairs with all the girls, separated from Mark. Just as we went down the first few flights of stairs, Mark sent a text saying he'd overheard a women working there saying it was just a drill. Strange...but we were able to take the elevator to the top, and enjoy another great view. It was fun to be able to do that with the girls.
As we sat on the grass at the bottom, we got a text from Annie saying she was almost to where we were! Then we spotted her - so cute to see the girls run to hug her. It's so fun to have her with us, and to have another visitor on the trip. We decided to make our way to Montmartre where we saw Sacre Coeur. I remember the big mosaic being more visually stunning because they had it lit from below. They don't do that now, and it's not nearly as memorable inside. It's a newer church, built in the 1800's, and very memorable from the outside. We wandered around place du tertre next with all the artists and cafes, and decided to get lunch at "chez Eugene." We did a little souvenir shopping afterwards, and Lu and Abby got little pictures to hang in there rooms.
That evening, we had our usual dinner of fruit, yogurt, bread with chevre and jam, and then went to get crepes from the happy Lebanese guy working around the corner from our apartment. He knows we will show up pretty much every night now. It was a great day, and so fun to have Annie here with us!
As we sat on the grass at the bottom, we got a text from Annie saying she was almost to where we were! Then we spotted her - so cute to see the girls run to hug her. It's so fun to have her with us, and to have another visitor on the trip. We decided to make our way to Montmartre where we saw Sacre Coeur. I remember the big mosaic being more visually stunning because they had it lit from below. They don't do that now, and it's not nearly as memorable inside. It's a newer church, built in the 1800's, and very memorable from the outside. We wandered around place du tertre next with all the artists and cafes, and decided to get lunch at "chez Eugene." We did a little souvenir shopping afterwards, and Lu and Abby got little pictures to hang in there rooms.
That evening, we had our usual dinner of fruit, yogurt, bread with chevre and jam, and then went to get crepes from the happy Lebanese guy working around the corner from our apartment. He knows we will show up pretty much every night now. It was a great day, and so fun to have Annie here with us!
Monday, July 1, 2013
France, day 11 - Paris
Today we made rue way to the Louvre. We came in from the Metro and wound around all the different stairways and escalators to be told we needed to enter from the pyramid outside with our museum passes. These passes are a must, by the way - you choose how many days you want it for 2, 4, or 6, and then you can get into all kinds of things and most importantly, skip the ever present lines- yessss! So it felt like a victory just to find the right entrance to the Louvre, and then we zipped past thousands of people with our lovely passes. The glass pyramid is not the best design either because it cooks you with all the glass. It's like a hot, really, really crowded greenhouse. Oh well! We wanted to be sure to see the Mona Lisa (along with half of the world), and I can't believe they don't have a better way to see her - like the moving walkway at the Crown Jewels in London or something. This being France, masses of people push and shove, and practically trample each other to get close enough to kind of see the painting. It's super hot in there, too. All around annoying, but still cool to see the iconic painting. We passed other Da Vinci's, Botticellis and Raphael's among others before making our way to the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace - that was probably my favorite thing because the fabric made of stone on the statue really did look like folds of fabric. It's pretty amazing. We saw the Egyptian section, and accidentally the Pacific Islands and African art section - lame. No wonder it's empty down there...ok, not at all pc, but so true. How many crudely carved wooden fertility idols do you want to see? Sorry, I'm a little down on the Louvre because while it has amazing treasures and is in a beautiful building, the layout and flow are so confusing and disjointed, and it's so warm in there that it wears you out.
By this point, the Louvre had conquered us. We barely made a dent in it, but we were pooped. We headed out in search of food and went to a nearby cafe before wandering back into the Tuilerie Gardens. The Orangerie museum was nearby, so with our museum passes, we popped in again (skipping long lines of people), and saw Monet's lovely Water Lilies, which was fun to do after having seen his gardens at Giverny. On the lower floor are some of my very favorite Renoirs (the cute sister helping the other one play the piano, and the little girl with messy hair playing with her toys), along with some other greats! So now we needed something light and fluffy for the kids. We hit the playground in the Tuileries and the fair, which has all kinds of carnival rides. Abby went on a crazy, speedy, spinning ride that she loved, so Zelle and Tugs decided to try it - they hated it. The rides were a fun way to end the day, though. We took the Metro home, and every time we ride it, Goose asks if we get to do one more train? She loves the metro and loved the tube. She loves when we switch lines and keep gng down there, and is always bummed when we're done - funny! We also heard this great guy playing his accordion down there tonight, and recognized the song as the Spanish sounding one Elise and Ali sed to play in their duets - awesome! Loved it. I got a few seconds of video of it for her, but should have gotten more. A lovely, tiring day :)
By this point, the Louvre had conquered us. We barely made a dent in it, but we were pooped. We headed out in search of food and went to a nearby cafe before wandering back into the Tuilerie Gardens. The Orangerie museum was nearby, so with our museum passes, we popped in again (skipping long lines of people), and saw Monet's lovely Water Lilies, which was fun to do after having seen his gardens at Giverny. On the lower floor are some of my very favorite Renoirs (the cute sister helping the other one play the piano, and the little girl with messy hair playing with her toys), along with some other greats! So now we needed something light and fluffy for the kids. We hit the playground in the Tuileries and the fair, which has all kinds of carnival rides. Abby went on a crazy, speedy, spinning ride that she loved, so Zelle and Tugs decided to try it - they hated it. The rides were a fun way to end the day, though. We took the Metro home, and every time we ride it, Goose asks if we get to do one more train? She loves the metro and loved the tube. She loves when we switch lines and keep gng down there, and is always bummed when we're done - funny! We also heard this great guy playing his accordion down there tonight, and recognized the song as the Spanish sounding one Elise and Ali sed to play in their duets - awesome! Loved it. I got a few seconds of video of it for her, but should have gotten more. A lovely, tiring day :)
Sunday, June 30, 2013
France, day 10- Paris
Today we walked the short way to church by following a lovely trail of vomit. We saw the beginning of what looked like a very lively Gay Pride parade last night, and it must've been quite a night on the nearby streets. Seriously, we were dodging and hopping over vomit on a couple of streets on our way to church - that's a first - a little change from the walk to church on the quiet streets of Holladay. All parts of the experience...Anyway, we were in an overflow room which had a screen and the meeting was translated into English, which was kind of a bummer. I wanted the girls to get a sacrament meeting in French. Oh well. We met up with some friends from Danville, the Berthas, there at church and toured around with them a bit after church.
We started at the Pompidou Center where we took the escalators to the top for another great Paris view. Then we did a quick tour of the museum hitting the highlights. We saw some great Matisses and Picassos, Miro and Kandinskys. It was the perfect amount of modern art for us, and the modern art that I actually like, so it was great. From there, we walked through the Jewish quarter, through the Marais to Place des Vosges. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so there were lots of people out by the fountains and on the grass. There was a small playground (yahoo - we love these! they keep the Goose going especially), and there's now a small museum at Victor Hugo's home there. Where it used to just be a plaque you walked by with nothing to see, now there are rooms to visit and a restored house. (Am I forgetting that and it's always been there?) Next, we made our way across Ile St. Louis, and since I'd read about Berthillon ice cream, we decided to get some. Lots of interesting flavors, and it was really good. I got fig - interesting and yummy. Next stop was Notre Dame but the line to get in was way out the door. I don't remember ever seeing it that way. We decided we'll hit it again another day first thing in the morning. At this point, we said good-bye to our friends and got lunch to eat in the park behind Notre Dame. Guess what? Another little playground and even water to fill up our water bottles. These are the little things that make all the difference :).
When we were refueled, we wandered a couple of streets over until we successfully found the bird/pet/flower market I'd read about on Ile de la Cite. I remember doing it once before, but it had been so long, I'd forgotten about it. It was really fun - beautiful flowers, amazing variety of little birds, and even chinchillas and bunnies to pet. Obviously, this was a hit! Now I'm getting lots of pet requests, though, so maybe not my best idea...
Nearby is the Sainte Chapelle, so we made our way inside, and had another treat of stained glass windows. We decided we felt like we were inside a jewel box. We tried to read some more windows, and saw where the relic of Christ's crown of thorns had been here. I like the small size of this chapel and the way the roof, walls, and ceiling are still painted. We still can't help taking lots of pictures, despite knowing they won't capture the stained glass at all! At this point, it was time to call it a day, so we wandered home along the Seine, stopping for another game of wave to the people on the boats, this time. If they got a certain number of people to wave AND blow kisses (because they were), they got crepes. We ran out of boats - randomly, the boats all stopped and there were none to be seen, so then the girls had to name 6 sites on the walk home to get a crepe. We got baguettes and had another great French dinner at our apartment. By now, the man at the crepe stand around the corner knows us, and gave the girls free slushies, too. Fantastic day!
We started at the Pompidou Center where we took the escalators to the top for another great Paris view. Then we did a quick tour of the museum hitting the highlights. We saw some great Matisses and Picassos, Miro and Kandinskys. It was the perfect amount of modern art for us, and the modern art that I actually like, so it was great. From there, we walked through the Jewish quarter, through the Marais to Place des Vosges. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so there were lots of people out by the fountains and on the grass. There was a small playground (yahoo - we love these! they keep the Goose going especially), and there's now a small museum at Victor Hugo's home there. Where it used to just be a plaque you walked by with nothing to see, now there are rooms to visit and a restored house. (Am I forgetting that and it's always been there?) Next, we made our way across Ile St. Louis, and since I'd read about Berthillon ice cream, we decided to get some. Lots of interesting flavors, and it was really good. I got fig - interesting and yummy. Next stop was Notre Dame but the line to get in was way out the door. I don't remember ever seeing it that way. We decided we'll hit it again another day first thing in the morning. At this point, we said good-bye to our friends and got lunch to eat in the park behind Notre Dame. Guess what? Another little playground and even water to fill up our water bottles. These are the little things that make all the difference :).
When we were refueled, we wandered a couple of streets over until we successfully found the bird/pet/flower market I'd read about on Ile de la Cite. I remember doing it once before, but it had been so long, I'd forgotten about it. It was really fun - beautiful flowers, amazing variety of little birds, and even chinchillas and bunnies to pet. Obviously, this was a hit! Now I'm getting lots of pet requests, though, so maybe not my best idea...
Nearby is the Sainte Chapelle, so we made our way inside, and had another treat of stained glass windows. We decided we felt like we were inside a jewel box. We tried to read some more windows, and saw where the relic of Christ's crown of thorns had been here. I like the small size of this chapel and the way the roof, walls, and ceiling are still painted. We still can't help taking lots of pictures, despite knowing they won't capture the stained glass at all! At this point, it was time to call it a day, so we wandered home along the Seine, stopping for another game of wave to the people on the boats, this time. If they got a certain number of people to wave AND blow kisses (because they were), they got crepes. We ran out of boats - randomly, the boats all stopped and there were none to be seen, so then the girls had to name 6 sites on the walk home to get a crepe. We got baguettes and had another great French dinner at our apartment. By now, the man at the crepe stand around the corner knows us, and gave the girls free slushies, too. Fantastic day!
France, day 9 - Paris!
Today we decided to regroup this morning. We needed some time to wash all our laundry and get groceries. The little girls were loving some down time playing with a set of legos here at the apartment - nice!, and just having a break from all the sightseeing. By about 2, though, we were ready to go again. We're staying very close to the Pompidou Center, so we cross by the crazy fountains when we come and go, which is fun. We then walked past Notre Dame to the Metro stop there and rode it to our Bateaux Mouches stop. It was a nice, sunny day - perfect for a boat ride, and a nice, easy way to let the girls get oriented. We sat by a huge Chinese tour group, and made a couple of cute new Chinese friends. This one older lady kept counting out five fingers in amazement as I shook my head, yes, we have 5 kids :) She took a picture with Goosie, and was teaching me some chinese numbers. And the cute old man next to me said in broken English "I from Beijing, China." Anyway, the tour was fun. We saw the highlights from the river - Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, and more incredible views of the Eiffel Tower, which does not disappoint for the girls. For some reason, that huge, recognizable landmark is so exciting for them to see! By the end of the boat ride, the game was for the girls to get someone to wave to them from each bridge we passed under. I think they made it every time.
After our boat ride, we were near the Champs Elysees, so we walked down Avenue Georges V to get there. As we passed the Georges V Hotel, we could see a crowd of people gathered and shouting someone's name. Mark and Abby ran over to see Bruce Springsteen - the girls said, "who's that?" We got some dinner at a cafe on the Champs Elysees and enjoyed the people watching (although we hate the smoke that comes with it...). Following dinner, we climbed the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I remembered the fun story about Rebecca taking her first steps there, which the girls thought was pretty amazing. Goose walked all the steps to the top, and we loved the view! Paris is a fun city because there are so many recognizable sights with all the low rooftops. They're easy to find and it's so neatly laid out. At the gift store, the girls cashed in on one of their souvenirs and all but Zelle got little Eiffel Towers :) - a huge part of the fun for them, the souvenirs.
On our walk back to the apartment from our Metro ride, we got crepes. We've had almost one a day since we've been here. So yummy. We will be working these off for quite some time when we get home...Great first day in Paris!
After our boat ride, we were near the Champs Elysees, so we walked down Avenue Georges V to get there. As we passed the Georges V Hotel, we could see a crowd of people gathered and shouting someone's name. Mark and Abby ran over to see Bruce Springsteen - the girls said, "who's that?" We got some dinner at a cafe on the Champs Elysees and enjoyed the people watching (although we hate the smoke that comes with it...). Following dinner, we climbed the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I remembered the fun story about Rebecca taking her first steps there, which the girls thought was pretty amazing. Goose walked all the steps to the top, and we loved the view! Paris is a fun city because there are so many recognizable sights with all the low rooftops. They're easy to find and it's so neatly laid out. At the gift store, the girls cashed in on one of their souvenirs and all but Zelle got little Eiffel Towers :) - a huge part of the fun for them, the souvenirs.
On our walk back to the apartment from our Metro ride, we got crepes. We've had almost one a day since we've been here. So yummy. We will be working these off for quite some time when we get home...Great first day in Paris!
France, day 8 - on the road again
Today we checked out of our Loire Valley hotel with the nice manager, Francois, and his cat, Clauqe...so perfectly French it kills me :). We duck taped the van door for the long drive back toward Paris and were off. Mark has mastered the van and the toll booths. He said his last wish with the van is to do the big circle around the Arc de Triomphe - then he will have truly mastered the roundabout. I laughed for about 5 minutes after he said this...I think he really does - actually, I know he does.
So, a couple of hours into the drive, we stopped at the lovely town of Chartres with the famous cathedral of Chartres. We were making our way up very narrow streets toward the cathedral when we noticed every possible parking spot roped off. We had to keep winding our way down impossibly narrow streets and finding which ones were one way and which were two way, so this all took longer than we meant for it to. It started to rain and we got some nasty sandwiches to boot, but we were not deterred. We finally!! found "du parking" (another French fave of mine), and walked in the rain up to the cathedral.
It's so wonderful to be inside such a beautiful, historic cathedral. We had been reading the history of the cathedral on our way there, and read about the celebrated relic of Mary's tunic that this cathedral was built to house. Apparently, the locals hoisted it on a staff and warded off a Viking invasion with the tunic. Not only that, but the invading Viking leader converted to Christianity and became the first Duke of Normandy. Anyway, lots of interesting history we've been having run reading and learning. Inside the cathedral, the windows just light up. The medieval blue on the stained glass windows was something I'd tried to describe to the girls, but there's nothing like being there. We kept trying to capture it on our cameras - it doesn't even come close to what the windows really look like. It was fun for the girls to realize that. Even in this day of all things media, photo, video, the real experience it unbeatable! We "read" a few of the windows, and probably liked the Noah one best because we could follow the story with the easily recognizable pictures of ark and animals. One thing that's kind of sad is that they're re-finishing the interior of Chartres. I took some pictures to show anyone that's interested, but it looks new and strange. Not sure why they're doing that. We loved our visit, though, and it was another impossibly charming town to wind down through back to our car.
Although it was ambitious, we decided to "hit" Versailles on the way into Paris. I had forgotten how huge it is! Wow - it's enormous. It's also way more crowded than I remembered...sheesh. Tons and tons of people. We toured the rooms of the castle that you can - the famous hall of mirrors, king and queen's bedrooms, and chapel. It was interesting to do it right after the Loire Valley chateaux because while those had seemed really grand and beautiful, they really don't compare to Versailles. It is so much bigger, more ornate, and ostentatious than the ones we'd seen, it really gave us more of a feeling of Louis XIV and some of the problems brewing in France with a leader who could build a place like that. Again, so much more interesting to experience that first hand than just to read it in a textbook for the girls. We took a painful train ride that we thought would be a great tour of the gardens. In the end it was an exhaust-smelling, slow, bumpy tour of some boring streets along chateau...that's a skip-er.
It was now time to drive to our apartment in Paris. We made it into the city and had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. We drove along the Seine for a while and turned onto our street. Upon first impression, I found myself thinking, "how did I pick this place? Didn't I do my homework? Yikes.." but it's turned out well, never fear. There's graffiti on our street (but then you realize it's everywhere), and it looks sketchy, but then you realize it's by cafes and art galleries and is fine. I got a little tour of the place and Mark took Zelle with him to return the rental car. We got settled and I put the 4 younger girls down, but I still didn't see Mark and Zelle til after 10. I knew Mark's phone was dying and he and Zelle didn't really know where they were going. They managed to make it to the Gare du Nord to turn in the car before Mark's phone died, then they walked all the way back, grabbing food on the way. Finally they called me from a pay phone so I could know they were outside the building to buzz them in - phew! That was an adventure, and I was relieved they were back safely. Great, packed day!
So, a couple of hours into the drive, we stopped at the lovely town of Chartres with the famous cathedral of Chartres. We were making our way up very narrow streets toward the cathedral when we noticed every possible parking spot roped off. We had to keep winding our way down impossibly narrow streets and finding which ones were one way and which were two way, so this all took longer than we meant for it to. It started to rain and we got some nasty sandwiches to boot, but we were not deterred. We finally!! found "du parking" (another French fave of mine), and walked in the rain up to the cathedral.
It's so wonderful to be inside such a beautiful, historic cathedral. We had been reading the history of the cathedral on our way there, and read about the celebrated relic of Mary's tunic that this cathedral was built to house. Apparently, the locals hoisted it on a staff and warded off a Viking invasion with the tunic. Not only that, but the invading Viking leader converted to Christianity and became the first Duke of Normandy. Anyway, lots of interesting history we've been having run reading and learning. Inside the cathedral, the windows just light up. The medieval blue on the stained glass windows was something I'd tried to describe to the girls, but there's nothing like being there. We kept trying to capture it on our cameras - it doesn't even come close to what the windows really look like. It was fun for the girls to realize that. Even in this day of all things media, photo, video, the real experience it unbeatable! We "read" a few of the windows, and probably liked the Noah one best because we could follow the story with the easily recognizable pictures of ark and animals. One thing that's kind of sad is that they're re-finishing the interior of Chartres. I took some pictures to show anyone that's interested, but it looks new and strange. Not sure why they're doing that. We loved our visit, though, and it was another impossibly charming town to wind down through back to our car.
Although it was ambitious, we decided to "hit" Versailles on the way into Paris. I had forgotten how huge it is! Wow - it's enormous. It's also way more crowded than I remembered...sheesh. Tons and tons of people. We toured the rooms of the castle that you can - the famous hall of mirrors, king and queen's bedrooms, and chapel. It was interesting to do it right after the Loire Valley chateaux because while those had seemed really grand and beautiful, they really don't compare to Versailles. It is so much bigger, more ornate, and ostentatious than the ones we'd seen, it really gave us more of a feeling of Louis XIV and some of the problems brewing in France with a leader who could build a place like that. Again, so much more interesting to experience that first hand than just to read it in a textbook for the girls. We took a painful train ride that we thought would be a great tour of the gardens. In the end it was an exhaust-smelling, slow, bumpy tour of some boring streets along chateau...that's a skip-er.
It was now time to drive to our apartment in Paris. We made it into the city and had a fantastic view of the Eiffel Tower. We drove along the Seine for a while and turned onto our street. Upon first impression, I found myself thinking, "how did I pick this place? Didn't I do my homework? Yikes.." but it's turned out well, never fear. There's graffiti on our street (but then you realize it's everywhere), and it looks sketchy, but then you realize it's by cafes and art galleries and is fine. I got a little tour of the place and Mark took Zelle with him to return the rental car. We got settled and I put the 4 younger girls down, but I still didn't see Mark and Zelle til after 10. I knew Mark's phone was dying and he and Zelle didn't really know where they were going. They managed to make it to the Gare du Nord to turn in the car before Mark's phone died, then they walked all the way back, grabbing food on the way. Finally they called me from a pay phone so I could know they were outside the building to buzz them in - phew! That was an adventure, and I was relieved they were back safely. Great, packed day!
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