Paris: Day 1

Photo source: Pinterest

We're thrilled to be spending the next week in The City of Lights. Monsieur Bacon and Madame Salade were last in Paris nearly 11 years ago. How is it possible so much time has passed?! We obviously don't get here often enough. We've been here ten hours and have already vowed to come more often. It's nice to be here a second time. We don't feel the go-go-go pressure to see EVERYTHING, since we made the rounds to many of the tourist must-see sites our last visit. We are free to stroll the city and take it all in.

We left our apartment in Aix this morning around 8:00 A.M. with two suitcases, a backpack, and three excited small children. We grabbed some pain au chocolat from the bakery in our building (breakfast of champions!) and walked down to the bus station. We rode the bus to the Aix train station where we got on our high speed train to Paris! It was the first time any of us had been on a train going 200 mph and it was awesome. Aix to Paris in 3 hours! We loved watching the French country side fly by. We saw beautiful fields, sheep, cattle, old towns, random ancient towers, and castles. I'll say it again. Castles. 

We arrived at the beautiful Paris train station where I eyed everyone suspiciously after a late night reading about Paris crime. It seems pickpocketing has become a huge problem, even forcing the closure of the Louvre last month. We paid to use the restroom (yes, you have to pay to use restrooms in many public places, .50 euros, usually) and grabbed a cab to our apartment. Our cab driver was young, spoke broken English, and had an affection for American Pop Music. We rode along the Seine, staring at the glories of Paris-Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and The Louvre, while listening to, "Call Me Maybe". Our son, Garçon Peanut Butter, exclaimed, "It's the cookie monster song!" If you haven't seen it, watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qTIGg3I5y8 Our other son, Garçon Livre, about flipped out, actually I should say, he flipped out big time when he saw the Notre Dame. He has been wanting to go there for a long time. By long time, I mean a year. Which is like 1/6 of his life, so give him a break. 

We used www.airbnb.com to book a great little apartment in the 15éme. It's very small, but bright and clean. It's decorated in a way that says, "only a single young woman could possibly live here". It's also very functional. It reminds us of those IKEA "500 Square Foot Apartment" displays. There is one bedroom and a fold out couch for the boys. We brought the pack and play for the baby. It's snug, but comfortable. We like staying here in a nice residential area, not too touristy. It's a better feel of the city. Our apartment has some fun views. For as long as Madame Salade can remember, she's loved images of French rooftops. It's a dream come true to have one of her own! 

We even have a partial view of the Eiffel Tower. It has been foggy all day, but we can still see a bit of it. Here it is behind the cross, all lit up:

After settling in a bit and taking a family nap, we went out to get some dinner. Our apartment is nice, but the only food in the refrigerator is mustard, pickles, and some sort of duck paste. The owner of the apartment had recommended "Les Montparnos", a café nearby. We had a nice walk. The trees are green and the flowers are blooming. It was raining, which seemed so cliché and perfect. Our waitress put to rest the "French waiters are a**holes" stereotype. She was so nice, helped us decipher the menu, and spoiled the kids with treats. The food was pretty good-Monsieur had a steak with roasted shallots and crispy potatoes, Madame Salade had roasted cod over risotto with veggies, kids had the common French kid's menu, a ground steak pattie (burger) and fries. The kids cleaned their plates, which is sadly one of the few times they have this trip, plus we were having a lovely time in a Parisian café. Since everyone was soooo good today, we treated everyone to dessert! Chocolate Mousse. It was the best part of the meal. The kids practically inhaled it. Of course, all good things must come to an end. One child got loopy and screamed very loudly in delight (and I mean, very loudly), another became cranky and defiant. How quickly moods change when you are under four years old! And to think we almost thought we would be able to go back there, but no.  We headed home for showers and bed.

And... scene.  End of day one.