Paris - Days 2, 3 and 4

Let's be realistic. I'm never going to get around to writing a post about every little detail of our trip to Paris, so instead, here is my top ten (in no particular order, cuz I don't believe in order:)

1. Hot chocolate. Not like the watered down Swiss Miss garbage we have here.

2. Notre Dame. Amazing and awe-inspiring. To think it was built in the 1100s when most people were living in straw huts!

3. The Metro. What a fabulous way to get around! Fast, cheap, clean, and lots of fun people watching! We were serenaded by a baritone horn, 2 violins, an accordian, and the Hari Krishna's!

4. Traffic circles. Scary but amazing.

5.The Eiffel tower. Unbelievably high! We took the stairs! The light show was incredible, as was the view from the top!

6. Gyros. We had them for lunch twice. And they put french fries in them!

7. The Conciergerie. A medieval castle, it was the prison that Marie Antoinette (among others) was held in during the French Revolution. The architecture was stunning!

8.Croissants. I think those are on my all time top ten list, but they're way better over there.

9. Crepes. Yeah.

10. 4 days of hanging out with my best friend with no kids around. Awesome.

The Metro

Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Notre Dame

Gargoyles - Notre Dame

Atop the Eiffel Tower

Chocolat Chaud

(look, they even gave me my own little pitcher which had 3x more hot chocolate in it!)

Our hotel room view

Les Invalides - Military hospital/museum

Napoleon's Tomb

Arc de Triomphe (and Eric)

Seine

Nutella crepes!

Conciergerie

Great Hall in the Conciergerie

Female prisoners' courtyard at the Conciergerie

Conciergerie

Notre Dame

Laundry Math

0 trips to Lowe's for a washer moving kit + 2 years of loud washing = 1 broken washer

1 broken washer + 1 phone call to Sears = $370.00

$370.00 = 4 parts ordered

4 parts ordered + 1.5 weeks = 3 parts + 1 damaged part

1 damaged part = 1 more week

HOWEVER -

4 children + 2 parents + 2 grandparents = 8 loads of wash

2 bedwetters + 4 karate students + (6 workouts x 2.5 weeks) + ? clean clothes that never get put away but are thrown back into the laundry x 2.5 weeks = 3+ trips to the laundromat

$1.50 x 26 loads = 156 quarters

4 hours of hanging out at the laundromat = 1 incident of getting picked up on by a truck driver + 3 x reading "Catching Fire" and listening to iPod so as not to get picked up on by truck driver and friends

3 days of trying to get by until the washer is fixed = ? days of going commando

Paris, Day 1

Le Metropolitan (our hotel)

We arrived at our hotel around noon, Eric had meetings all day, so I was on my own. I was excited, but very nervous - how many times in my life have I been in a foreign city whose language I don't speak? Well, okay, a few, but never by myself. And, don't forget, I'm a small town girl. I barely qualify as a suburbanite. So, I was intimidated, to say the least.

Sina had loaned me a few guidebooks and pointed out the sights that she would most recommend, so I tried to narrow my afternoon down to the things Eric would least like to see. We also were having camera issues, so I needed a new memory card and to have my phone looked at. I couldn't figure out why I had no service. This only added to my anxiety.

I walked down to the Eiffel Tower, only about 10 minutes away, and easily viewable from the hotel. I figured if I started there, I was less likely to get lost. I couldn't believe how huge it was!

The view out our hotel room window!

I decided Eric wouldn't want to go shopping, so I headed up to the Champs Elysees, a gigantic street (wide enough to march an army down) which is the Rodeo Drive of Paris. But again, I was too intimidated to go into any of the stores. So I walked, and walked and walked.

Champs Elysees

I ended up at the Place de la Concorde, which is an enormous traffic circle (traffic oval?) at the center of which are two giant, gaudy fountains and a monstrous obelisk, surrounded by huge palaces and buildings. It is also the place where the guillotine was set up during the Revolution. I was amazed at the eight or so lanes of traffic whizzing around it.

Place de la Concorde

Directly across from the Place de la Concorde is the Tuileries, which are huge gardens in front of the Louvre, rows and rows of trees. I walked around a bit, then decided to walk up a few streets to the Opera, the setting for Phantom of the Opera. I walked around the Opera, but couldn't see a place where they give tours, so instead I sat on the steps and marveled at the architecture.

Tuileries

Paris Opera

I decided at this point that I better start looking for my memory card, which meant I would have to talk to someone. I got directions to an electronics store called Darty (thank goodness I had the sense to have the lady write it down, when she said it, it sounded more like Dotty). I headed up the road to the Place de la Madeleine, which is a large classical styled church - it really looks more like an ancient Greek Pantheon. I walked around and around and around this silly plaza, not seeing the store, then tried all of the 6 or so side streets that feed into it, asked more people for help, still couldn't find it. FINALLY, I found a cell phone store (apparently the only US wireless provider that has coverage in France is T-Mobile, in case you wanted to know). The lady there told me that Darty was downstairs - in the subway station. OHHHHH! So that explains why I walked around for 2 hours and still couldn't find it! Silly me!

La Madeleine

Well, apparently, XD cards are not sold in Paris, so that was a waste of time. So, still no cell phone and no camera, I took a cab back to the hotel. I watched Spongebob in German - I think the Spongebob theme and German were made for each other, no?

"Spongebob Schwammkopf"

- and then we went to dinner with Eric's coworkers at a cafe across from the Trocadero - a plaza with an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower. A bum came along (only in Paris do the bums wear a sport coat and slacks) and told Tom, "Give me your moneys!" To which Tom replied, "No." The guy then proceeded to tell us in broken English to go back to the island, to Dublin. I had never thought about it, but I guess non-English speakers can't tell the difference between an American accent and an Irish one. Huh.

Well, the food wasn't very good, but the hot chocolate, well, let's just say, the trip would have been worth it just for that. It's different than our hot chocolate - it's quite bitter - not very sweet at all - but very rich. And they bring you extra sugar that you can stir in. Hmmmm....

Not my personal hot chocolate, but similar!

***I did not take these pictures - except the one of the Eiffel Tower - as I did not have a camera yet.

Je suis Lydia! Un, deux, trois .....

That's about all I remember from French 101 in college. And I never moved on to French 102 or 202 or whatever. Which is a pity, because right now, it might be helpful to parlez vous francais.

Luckily, English is taught in school all over the world now, so most Parisians speak a little. Because I don't even know what to order for lunch. I guess I could walk into le petit boulangerie and ask for un baguette, but I might get a little tired of eating nothing but bread for 5 days. I guess there's always ratatouille and escargot, duck l'orange, and don't forget croissants. I don't think I COULD get tired of croissants.

It will be an adventure at the very least! Eric has meetings on Thursday and part of the day on Friday, so I will be on my own. I'm kind of scared! I haven't been alone in over 13 years! Least of all in a foreign country! And I have to ride home on the plane by myself!

Growing up, I never imagined I would ever get the chance to travel much, so I never made my "When I Go to Paris, I Have to ...." list. I've been cramming for the last week and will read some more guide books on the flight.

Those of you who've been be sure to send me your recommendations!

Au revoir!

See Jack Run

See the dog? The dog is black. The dog likes to run. The dog likes to run in the creek.

The dog has a friend. The dog's friend is white. The black dog and the white dog like to chase the deer.

The white dog is tired. She wants to go home. The black dog is not tired. He does not want to go home. The white dog goes home. The black dog does not go home. He wants to run.

Oh no! The black dog is lost! Where is the dog? Where did he go?

Here he is! He has found a home! He likes this home! He likes the boys and girls. He likes the man and the lady.

The lady tells the dog to go home. The dog does not go home. He wags his tail. He wants to play with the boys and the girls. He likes this home. He wants to come inside.

The lady and the children leave. The dog stays at the home. The man leaves. The dog stays at the home.

The lady and children come home. The dog is still here! He wants to stay! He likes this home!

It is late. It is time for bed. The lady makes the dog a bed by the car. The man gives the dog some food and some water. It is cold outside, but the dog is warm by the car.

The boys and girls wake up. The dog is still here! The dog wants to play! The dog can sit. The dog can stay. The dog cannot fetch.

The dog likes to run. He likes to chase the squirrels.

The man and the girl make signs. The man and the girl like the dog. They want the dog to be happy. The dog needs to go home. The dog's people miss him.

A man calls. He looked for his dog. He looked and looked and looked. He could not find his dog. Is this his dog?

The man comes to the house. Here is his dog! The man is happy! The dog is happy! The boys and girls are not happy. They want to keep the dog.

What is the dog's name? The dog's name is Jack.

Stay, Jack, stay!

C's Baptism

We scheduled our biannual Ellis family reunion for the week after C turned 8. Eric thought it would be a great idea to have him baptized while we were out in Utah, saving both sets of grandparents a trip to Ohio. Simple, right?

It turned out to be a lot more complicated than we thought it would be, and after much stress, C ended up getting baptized in the fishing pond at Aspen Grove. It was such a beautiful, simple event, without a lot of fuss. It was so wonderful that we could have so many supportive family members there, too.

No, I didn't die

Yes, I realize I haven't posted in over 4 months. I felt guilty about it at least twice. But at this point, where do I start? I should probably just bag this blog and start a new one, although I guess that doesn't really make sense. I'll start with something a little wierd.

All 4 of my kids are in karate, and they're halfway to black belt, which means they get to join the Black Belt Club. It's a little extra motivation for them to follow through and reach their goal. It also means new uniforms:

Yes, I used fabric softener. Why do you ask?

There are some definite advantages to living so close to the woods. We're at the end of a private drive, past a little family cemetery, surrounded on 3 sides by open space (in Ohio that mean "lots of trees"). There's a little creek that runs year-round just down the hill, and we can sit on our front porch and see deer, muskrats, rabbits, squirrels and mallards.

Way back in March, I came into the dining room after hearing something hit the window (we have dumb birds around here) and saw this lovely couple in the front yard.

Senor Pato

His lovely senora

A few weeks later, we were working in the yard, cleaning up debris, etc. from the winter, and the lady duck was hanging around, just out of reach, but watching everything we were doing and quacking, which I thought was pretty strange behavior from a typically wild animal. I wondered if she had a nest somewhere, but I didn't see anything as we were pruning, etc.

Then, a few weeks later when our landscaper was laying down new mulch, she was startled and flew up into his face, revealing her nest right underneath our dining room window, behind a plant.

Here she is sitting on the nest. She sat there for so long that we thought for sure the eggs weren't going to hatch. Apparently, ducks will sit on unfertilized eggs until they rot.

Yesterday morning, I awoke at about 5 am to the sound of a baby duck, it chirped for a good 30 seconds, and then it was gone.

When I got up, I checked the nest, and this is what I found:

Looks like two of the eggs hatched, one didn't make it. The mama must have taken them right down to the creek to get them swimming. I just wish I could have seen them.

Look what else I found:

Another one of the joys of living in the woods.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Eric had a conference in of all places, Disney World, so we headed down a few days early to take the kids.

Eric and I went to Disney World when I was pregnant with Jack, and I went to Epcot when I was in high school, but the last time we were at Disneyland was when Calvin was a new baby (over 7 years ago!)

We left Cincinnati after school on Friday, and stayed the night in Atlanta. We drove the rest of the way on Saturday, arriving at the hotel at about 4 pm. We checked in and went swimming. If you've ever stayed at any of the Disney hotels, then you'll know what I mean when I say that the pool is almost as good as the park itself!

We headed to Downtown Disney, stopping first at the Lego Store, which I knew my boys would go berserk over. Calvin was in absolute ecstasy. They had a huge model of the Millenium Falcon, giant robots and dinosaurs, etc. all made out of Legos. We stopped at the wall and packed a cup full of all sorts of Legos and brought it home.

For dinner we ate at Captain Jack's Restaurant, where the waiter clunked the lady at the table next to us in the back of the head with his tray, spilling a big icy coke all over her head. Oops. Anyway, it was right on the water, which was pretty cool, but the boys were starting to lose it, so we headed back and put them to bed.

On Sunday we went to the Magic Kingdom and were immediately disappointed to find that Space Mountain was closed. To quote Eric, "Leave it to Disney to break my kid's heart!"

(FYI, Eric is not a big fan of Disney, or any other over-commercialized venture. When we took the girls to Disneyland when they were little, we stood in line to meet Buzz Lightyear, only to have him leave after he was done with the kid in front of Erin. And there was no one behind us! He couldn't stick around for even one more cute little red-headed girl! So now we say "Leave it to Disney to break my kid's heart!" all the time, it's a funny family joke, especially if you know Eric and the way he reacts to stuff!)

Calvin freaked out on Stitch's Great Escape, who would have seen that coming? That was the first ride we went on and I thought they were going to have to stop the whole thing to let us leave. Serious screaming, feet drawn up to his chest, hyperventilating, I don't think anyone else in the room could hear anything. He asked to go home after that, but we decided he needed a good old fashioned go-kart to set him right again.

So, to make a long story short, we did Big Thunder Mt. twice, Splash Mountain once (Jack didn't want to get wet, but when you're the baby you don't get a choice!), Pirates, Haunted Mansion (no boys for that one, that would have been bad) I had never done the FastPass thing before, but it was great! No lines!

We went back to cool off in the pool for the afternoon, and Eric went to buy a new memory card for the camera since we had been taking pictures for the last 2 days without one! Aaargh! Those Lego pictures would have been awesome!

We took the bus back to the park, and it seemed like every bus was going to Epcot. Who goes to Epcot? I don't remember it being that much fun. The kids were giving me palpitations by getting so close to the street.

We had dinner at Tony's, the restaurant where Lady and the Tramp share a plate of spaghetti. Just as we walked in, it started to pour. REALLY pour. So, we ate and waited for it to stop.

But it kept raining, so we bought the $8 ponchos and made the best of it. Luckily, a lot of other people had given up and left, but they did cancel the parade and fireworks. Waaa.

Because of the lightning, the outside rides were closed, so we went on all the little kid rides in Fantasyland, like It's A Small World. That was my favorite when I was a kid, but I guess I was too little to notice that it's kind of cheesy. Annie said it was the scariest ride she'd been on all day.

We walked around and looked at the stuff we'd missed during the day. Do you remember the stocks from when you were a kid? And how you wished you could really leave your brother there?

The boys got tired, so we rode the bus back to the hotel and Eric and the girls stayed until the park closed at midnight.

The next morning we headed to Hollywood Studios, which Disney bought from MGM. I knew we'd come to the right place when we saw that Star Tours was there! I remember waiting for hours in line to get to ride that! It was still pretty fun, the boys loved it!

I made the boys take their picture with McQueen and Mater, even though CARS is SO last year.

We played in the really cool Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Everything is giant, I really liked it.

The best part of the day was seeing the stunt car show! It was amazing! All the guys loved it!

Silly plastic army guy from Toy Story.

My boat.

We took off at about 5, and drove to Macon, stayed the night, then in the morning dropped Eric off at the airport in Atlanta, and the kids and I drove the rest of the way home. Everyone was so good in the car, and it was really fun! This is what my mother-in-law meant when she said she was glad she had had all of her kids so close together. We've arrived at that time where nobody's a baby, no naps, strollers, diapers, tantrums. The kids didn't even really beg us to buy them stuff! It was awesome!