Good Morning!

While you all sleep, we are up and the household is hopping. Well, not the kids, but us adults. My Aunt and Mike are off to the market, and I am drinking coffee and eating baggette with Normandy butter and homemde marmalade. And a little peace and quiet for me, except for answering my Aunt's phone. Fortunately, so far the callers have been English speaking, including my cousin Danniel.

We are awoken by a very pleasant chime that rings to signal the start of school, which is right next door to my Aunts house.

I'm having so many flashbacks about being here as a young child and up to a young woman on my own. And then I look over to see my own two children and it makes me jump. Who are these fine young people and how can they even be here or mine yet??

Today we will go back to Paris and break up into our two "teams". Megan and I will go to the Decorative Arts museum while Mike and Emily go off to the Pompidou Center - the modern art museum. We will meet for food and drink and try shopping in Les Halles - hoping for more reasonable prices!

The weather is sprinkly with sun and clouds. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy so we will go to Versailles and bask in the illumination of The Sun King's chateau.

I'm going to get rich...

I've decided that someone needs to do a guide book about where the toilets are in this city. OMG, when you got a go, you got to go!!

We got up late today and didn't leave the house until almost noon. But when the daylight lasts until about 10pm, that's ok. The day is long.

We walked to the Eiffel Tower and under it and then, whew, were tired and needed lunch. Went to a nice cafe near by. It is strange to see the armed guards with machine guns keeping watch under the Eiffel Tower, but hey, it does make you feel safe.

After lunch, we took a ride on the river with a bazillion school kids. But the boat ride is a great way to see the city from a different perspective.

Then, Amelia and I went to the huge department stores (les grands magasins) and didn't buy anything. Well, the tee shirt for $80 was tempting but... I'll take her shopping where the deals are much better. But it was fun to see what the rich folk wear!

My feet are sore!

Today was our first official day as tourist family.

After picking up our metro passes, we walked around in the Tuilleries a bit and then crossed the foot bridge over to my old place. The window was open! Who was in MY room??

Since it was 12:30 pm already, we thought it best to get some food and so had a nice lunch on the Blvd. St. Germain, 2 blocks from my old room.

Then Mike and Amelia were off to the National Museum of the Middle Ages (think Unicorn Tapestry) and Megan and I went to the Menagerie (think Madeleine stories). They had just redone the "zoo" and so there were many happy animals.

It's a very cool zoo since it was built in the 1700's. Many of the structures are picturesque. There is a Jardin des Plantes also and a museum on evolution too. But the Menagerie was plenty for a first outing.

We met back with Mike and Amelia at Place St. Michele, enjoying some sugar in the form of amazing sorbet and my first cafe.

By the time we dragged our sorry you-know-whats into my Aunt's garden, I didn't think anyone could climb to the 3rd floor where we are staying. But we did and then enjoyed a wonderful meal - the kind that no kid would ever eat in the States but miraculously will eat here!

In France

We made it! The flight was sleepless but uneventful. And it was quite a luxury to find a driver waiting for us and to drive us directly to my Aunt's house. We were so spent that I don't know how we would have made it otherwise!



Unfortunately, I've had a pinched nerve headache and so Mike took the girls into Paris on his own today. Everything is More complicated on Sunday as many things are closed - including metro ticket sales spots! But they did great on their own.



Later we all went to the beautiful Parc de St. Cloud and had a snack of crépes and Schweps Indian Tonic.

At the airport

We were ready and waiting for the taxi to pick us up at home. We waited. And waited. Then we realized we were ready an HOUR early!

Anyway we are at the airport and saw our 747 come in. I had to be pulled aside because my backpack had "something" strange in it. It was my special carbon filter water bottle!

OK, now we need to exercise our limbs and run out som ya-yas!

Dreaming of living in France again!

Some days, I feel I would gladly give up the security invested for my old age just to buy a place in France to live. I'm hoping that we can at least rent something for a year or something. But for fun, I often peruse the realty offerings in Languedoc. What you can buy for $150,000 is A LOT. Mais helas, who has an extra stash that big for a dream?

I did find this American lady who sells shares of homes she hand picks and renovates. It's sort of like a time share, but not really. You own 4, 5, 6 weeks a year, sometimes more. It's like a little association. And she has some "shares" available that make my knees go weak!

Some amazing pictures of her trip around Languedoc.

Her site: http://www.frenchpropertyshares.com/

I think she's crazy about France as much as I am and she's very nice, I've corresponded with her.

Ok, I need to pack...

photo from http://en.sunfrance.com/

Le Chateau de Versailles

http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage

This is one of the sites our family will definitely go see while in "Paris". St. Cloud, where my Aunt lives, is between Paris and Versailles so it will be quick to get there.

I have not gone for a long time, but remember how, like Le Louvre, it's way too big to do the whole thing in a day. That's why it's great to visit the web site and pick out one or two main areas to see and not get so totally exhausted and overwhelmed by the experience.

And upon visiting the website, I see they are having a strike and so some of the Chateau is closed. Really, if you love the French like I do, you have to accept them for who they are. They love to strike! Whenever you visit France, you must accept that something you want to do will be FUBAR because of the French genetic need to strike. Accept it and work around it!

I have a very funny memory of visiting the Grands Canals at the Chateau. I was 16 and staying with my aunt and uncle for the summer. Since my aunt was madly busy getting ready for a huge party she was throwing (might it been the one where I was forced to mingle with ambassadors?) Anyway, she also had a 17 year old English chap staying at the house too - my aunt's house was always busy with comings and goings.

So my aunt needed us to "be gone" and so she quickly packed up une pique-nique and drove us to the Chateau de Versailles. It seems as though she slowed the car and let us jump out - although I'm sure she actually stopped - and left us to ourselves for the day. With no money for going into the chateau, we spent the day in the gardens and at the canals. So I have this very picturesque memory of a very proper young Englishman rowing me around the grand canals for an afternoon! How romantic!!

Later, my aunt picked us up again and then he went home to England again at some point. It's really all I remember about him! I wonder what he's doing now??