European Vacation: Part 2

After a 20 hour door-to-door journey, we are back home in San Jose. Here are the highlights from our week in Paris. Since we had already visited the major tourist attractions, we wanted to stay off the beaten track during this trip. We spent the majority of our week wandering the neighborhoods and tried to experience Paris as the locals do. The kids were great. We had the occasional late-afternoon exhaustion melt-down, but besides that they were extremely adaptable. Some days we walked upwards of 8 miles and the kids just soaked in the scenery from their strollers. In fact, we did so much walking that we wore Dylan's old stroller out and decided to leave it in Paris!

Every morning we ate fresh croissants and baguette with butter and jam from our local patisserie. The perfect way to start a day in Paris! At first, Dylan was not crazy about croissants, but by the end of the week he LOVED them.

The first day of exploring. These pics are walking around the grounds of the Musée du Louvre and Dylan trying his first crêpe with nutella in the Jardins des Tuileries.

Shortly after eating the crêpe, it stated raining. We headed to the Cité des Enfants, one of Paris' many childrens' museums. Before going into the museum, we played around outside for a bit (the rain stopped). The museum was very modern and Dylan was intrigued with the giant silver ball, which was the museum's Imax theater.

Kate loved playing on the playground with her brother!

Finally, time to go inside the museum!

Dylan's favorite exhibit by far was the construction site. All of the children had to work together and share the equipment. It was Dylan's first time interacting with French children. He would want to take a turn playing with something and say to the little boy/girl "can I have a turn please? for just one minute?" and the kid would just stare at him blankly. He was being so polite and getting confused as to why he could never have a turn. I had to explain to him that the kids couldn't understand him.

Kate eating in our apartment:

Another day of sightseeing.

Although you can't tell from this picture, Dylan was extremely excited as we approached the Eiffel Tower.

We picnicked on the lawn in front of the tower.

After lunch, Dylan got a special treat...chocolate ice cream!

Dylan thought it was so cool that there was a playground right next to the Eiffel Tower (behind the trees).

Granny and Gee took the kids to some parks and the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle.

Place des Vosges:

The next several pictures are at the large Jardin du Luxembourg. There was an ornamental lake that had model boats sailing around.

Walking from the lake over to the playground:

Dylan realized that French playgrounds are pretty much the same as American playgrounds, except that the other kids cannot understand him.

Mommy and Dylan peeking out of our apartment window. As people walked by on the street below, Dylan shouted "bonjour!". He definitely started to embrace the language by the end of the week.

Walking along the Canal St-Martin:

Another one of our many park stops:

Taking a rest in the shade at the Palais du Louvre.

A beautiful field of lavender at the Jardins des Tuileries. And finally, the window of Ladurée, an outstanding patisserie that sells the most amazing macaroons!