Paris

Ok, so more than a year ago David’s parents suggested one day that it would be fun to meet us in Paris over spring break.  Having never been, of course I was thrilled at the possibility.  David’s family spent a year in Brussels, Belgium, for a year when he was 16 as they were studying French before moving to Africa so they had been to Paris several times already, which was great because they knew the language and knew their way around.

So we found a cheap flight on Easyjet (a no frills European airline) and we met them at the airport on Saturday and found our way to the apartment we had rented through vrbo.com (wonderful website!) and got settled in.  Renting the apartment was the way to go.  It was so nice to be together and have a kitchen rather than staying in separate hotel rooms and having to eat out all of our meals.  I would highly recommend it and can give you the vrbo # if you are interested. 

(our apartment is above the brown storefront, next to the bakery)

Once we were settled in we took a quick stroll around our neighborhood and a quick trip to the grocery store.  We were within walking distance from Notre Dame Cathedral and the Siene River. 

Sunday we went to the Louvre Museum, one of the largest museums if not the largest in the world.  We spent most of the day there looking at the Mona Lisa, French 18th century art and the most interesting of all – the Egyptian and Greek sculptures and statues.  In college I only took one class of Art History and unfortunately it was towards the end of my college career or I very well may have minored in it.  I absolutely loved it.  Studying philosophy and the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome is something I really loved and putting it into the context of their art and civilization made it all come together for me.  I never dreamed I would one day see it in person.  It was also fun for me to show Rachel some of the Egyptian artifacts and hieroglyphics because we did a brief study of that in our homeschool geography last year. 

Monday we ventured to the Eiffel Tower.  It was a gorgeous day.  We didn’t climb up into it but it was still cool to see it in person.  It really is an amazing piece of architecture.  After a nice lunch of steak and frites (french fries), we took a tour boat down the Seine, which was nice because it explained a lot of the buildings and sights as well as some history of the city.  Living in Europe makes me wish I knew more about world history.  I’m not sure how I missed that class in school, but anyhow.  I’m always learning.

Tuesday we went to Luxembourg Gardens, where we found an amazing playground that the kids loved, of course.  We did a lot of just walking around seeing the sights. 

Notre Dame was amazing, of course.  I can’t tell you all the history of it but it was neat to again see in real life the famous rose window, flying buttresses and towers that I have only seen in books.  Because it was Holy Week there were services going on throughout the week and when we walked through, there was a lady singing and the acoustics made it such a beautiful experience.  I could have sat and listened for hours, probably.  So reverent and so beautiful in such an amazing building.  Truly one of my most emotional and favorite moments.

Early Wednesday morning we took a high speed train to Brussels, Belgium, to spend the day.  It was a long day with a lot of walking

but again I was delighted to see another city with its own distinct architecture, food and culture.  David’s parents have pedometers and at the end of that particular day, they registered over 18,000 steps! 

Thursday we went to another cathedral in Paris, Saint Chapelle, which was built by King Louis (later deemed “Saint Louis” FYI).  It was so beautiful, surrounded by stained glass windows which depicted the entire Biblical narrative.

  Thursday evening we took advantage of our babysitters and David and I went out to dinner, which is very rare for us these days.  We found this nice little Italian restaurant on the Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe.  It was a lovely evening.

Friday we went to the Museum D’Orsay, which houses the largest collection of French Impressionism art, my absolute favorite period.  We saw original works by Renoir, Monet and Van Gogh among others.  Interestingly, both Rachel and Mathis recognized some of them from their “Baby Monet” DVD and Rachel knew some from other art books she has seen.  I love love LOVED showing her the art and looking up close at the brush strokes and detail that one doesn’t see from a print.  It was amazing.  And she loved it.

I never dreamed how beautiful a city could be.  I never dreamed that I would one day get to go.  I never dreamed how much I would enjoy sharing it with my family.  I never dreamed how  rich the experience of seeing in person things I had only seen in books would be.  What an opportunity!