Ceil Entry #6: Third Weekend in Paris Weekend

Bruce and Katie Pieper are coming to town of course we will come to Paris to meet you for dinner. I really don’t need a reason to go to Paris but this is a good one. The Van Avery’s, the other American family here, were also planning to go to Paris this weekend to celebrate their youngest daughter, Taylor’s, birthday. Jen took on the task of finding hotel accommodations for four adults and five kids at a time when there were many things going on in Paris that weekend – car show, fashion shows etc. But she was successful and Jen and I took the kids out of school after lunch and caught a 3:00 train to Paris. The train was very crowded and we weren’t able to find a private compartment but we did find 7 seats close together. Everyone got settled and we were on our way. At the third stop a woman got on and came up to me and said that I was in her seat. Between some of my French and some of her English I learned that we were in reserved seats. I got up and found a seat in the next car and watched as people got on at the next stop but for whatever reasons no one else came to claim the seats that the kids were in. Once in Paris we jumped on the subway and headed to the hotel. We checked in and got settled and thought about waiting for Andy and Eric who decided to drive up after work. We didn’t wait too long before making the decision that they can call find out where we are and meet up with us. We went back to the subway and got off at the Place de la Concorde. This is a great subway station, recommended by Sarah Wirz, and it is everything she said it would be. You can see the Eiffel Tower, Champs-Elysees, Jardin des Tuileries and the Louvre. We started our walking adventure to the Eiffel Tower. Yes this might have been a little adventurous with 5 children but we were successful. We found a sidewalk café to have dinner. The appetizer was milkshakes for the kids and red wine for the adults. I was hoping that we didn’t have much further to go and to my surprise we were only two blocks away so a very quick walk after dinner. By this time we had spoken to the husbands and they were still in traffic and it didn’t look like there was much hope of them making it to the Eiffel Tower. Andy will have to do a blog entry to do justice to his experiences that night.

Jen took lots of pictures because my camera was with Andy. There was no line and we went right up to the ticket window and purchased tickets to go all the way to the top. We stopped at the first stage and enjoyed the view but were very excited to get to the top. The views were amazing and enjoyed by all. We called the dads and said hello from the top of the Eiffel Tower and were sad they couldn’t be there. It was time to head home we caught a subway and got to the hotel right at midnight when Taylor turned 8. Saturday Lee spent the day with the Van Avery’s and went on the L’Open Tour. Miles, Andy and I went to the Louvre. We saw all the famous pieces, Winged Victory, Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo and many of the French paintings. Andy was in a creative mood and was giving the behind the scenes stories of the paintings to Miles. There was lots of laughter. We also saw Napoleon’s crown, Louis XIV rooms and history of the Louvre. Miles is interested in going back to see the Egyptian art. He is also interested in going to Musee D’Orsay, which is one of my top see items.

After the Louvre, more walking around, eating at a sidewalk café and another visit to Galleries Lafayette. And yes we purchased a movie and gourmet treats to bring home to the Van Avery’s who were going to watch the kids so we could go meet Bruce and Katie. We went to dinner with Bruce and Katie and Katie’s cousin Mary and her husband Christian. We were a little late and Bruce and Katie were a little late but we all made it. We had amazing French food and champagne, white wine and red wine. There wasn’t enough time to talk about everything but we were very happy to see them. Bruce and Katie were on their way back to Seattle after their biking backroads trip through Italy. I was a little sad that I wasn’t getting on a plane and going to Seattle the next day but moved though it.

We jumped in a cab and retrieved our children and went to bed. Sunday we went to the Arc de Triumphe and hiked up many stairs. I know I could never survive the bike trip Bruce and Katie went on, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the top of the Arc de Triumphe. Miles kept saying we’re almost there and psychologically I was done but the stairs kept coming. I need to work a little harder in my aerobics class…

Lots of pictures, lunch at a sidewalk café, drive down the Champs Elysees and visit yet another English bookstore, have an afternoon treat, watch the filming of a dance video at Place de la Concorde and more driving around Paris on our way home.

Sorry for the quick overview of weekend number but I am running out of time and need to get this posted. I will write again soon.