110 euro shirts, pizza, Chateau de Vincennes, our anniversary, and an organ concert

Yesterday was our 11th anniversary- wowzars. Like everything, it feels like it has been so short, and so long! But- it is super cool that we were able to be in Paris to celebrate.

Steve and the girls went out and got flowers as a surprise and picked out their favorite bouquets. It was very cute :) Thanks Steve!

For the morning, we wandered around our neighborhood, played at park, and window shopped. We have been discussing "redoing" Steve's wardrobe a la "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," so we started looking for some dress shirts. There were lots of amazing shirts, but for $110-130 euro each, we couldn't stomach it. Maybe when we get back :)

This picture is of our favorite pizza place. We don't have very many hours left to devour it, so we couldn't help ourselves.

And, of course, some more macaroons and strawberry heaven.

For the afternoone, we decided to tour Chateau de Vincennes, a 14th and 17th century castle. In order to get in, you have to cross the enormous moat and drawbridge, which was super cool. I just can't imagine living in a time where there were moats and castles like this... so different from today. The grounds were gorgeous- we saw 2 bride/grooms followed by their photographers. Maddie loved the brides so much- she wanted me to take photos of her! Here she is:

We planned on staying there much longer and going to the lakes, but it was getting so cold- and I didn't have a sweater :( So, we called it a day and headed home on the bus which took a long time, but it is so relaxing to sit on a vehicle after walking everywhere for 1 month :)

Later that night, Steve and I went on a date to celebrate our 11 years at a cute little restaurant his coworker in Germany recommended. We had some delicious food and good conversation :) It was also pretty entertaining b/c we were crammed into some seats right by an Italian couple who were practicing their English with each other... and were saying some pretty hilarious things. ("It was a pleasure waking up with you this morning.") I was dying.

Today we woke up, went to church, and cooked. (Typical, right?) Today's menu was Kartoffelpuffer! Isn't that the funniest word ever?? When Steve and Chris came back from Berlin they told us about this amazing potato potato pancake, and of course we had to make them!

They were very yummy- and Chris made homemade applesauce, red currant jelly and peach marmolade. Wow. Very very good.

I have been wanting to hear an organ concert at the Notre Dame... and since this is our last Sunday, we had to go.

The composer was very into loud and low resonating notes, so although it wasn't "angelic," it was perfect for the surroundings of the Notre Dame.

The girls did pretty well... except when the organist would hit those low notes and Maddie would put her hands on her ears :)


An after concert photo shot. Tomorrow we're going to Disneyland Paris, so came home early to relax. (We rented Sneakers and Chris made virgin Mojitos).

Germany, park hopping, starbucks, Musée de l'Orangerie

Steve went on his second and last trip to Germany for the past two days, so unfortunately, I didn't take too many pics... please excuse the excessive writing!

On Wednesday, the girls and I went to a small park we didn't know existed for most of the trip (which is basically around the corner from our house) for most of the morning. The park is dedicated to Anne Frank outside of the Museum of Dolls... what's so great about this park is that it's completely hidden. You take an alleyway inside some buildings, which then opens up to a gorgeous park, playground and vegetable garden. Our favorite thing about the park is that it is dead quite- which is really rare in Paris. You can't hear cars, buses, people... it's completely surround by old charming buildings blocking out the city noises from outside.

After this park, we had some AMAZING pizza from a place we ran into the other night. Since our discovery, I think we've had it every other day. The crust is to die for. (I will be ending my gluten drunkeness the day we head back b/c I'm feeling a little guilty, so I'm trying to eat as much of this as I can).

The rest of the day we basically parked hopped to keep the kids happy- which makes everyone happy !

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Yesterday I took the girls to Luxemborg gardens by myself. I have often wondered how a mother of more than 1 child lives in a city like this (esp on the Metro)- so I wanted to see if I could do it. I put Emilie in a Ergo Baby Carrier on my back, a backpack on my front with snacks/water, Maddie was walking and holding my right hand and I was carrying a single stroller in my left. Up and Down and Up and Down the metro stops.

Very tiring!!! But- we did it! When we got there, it was gorgeous- I really think it is one of my favorite parks. Really love it. I think we could have spent all day there. I let the girls play in the playground and then we meandered back to the apartment for some lunch.

For the afternoon, we tried to walk through the oldest garment district, which was super cool if you are by yourself... but it was pretty congested/hot, so with the kids it wasn't super fun. Maddie has been keeping very hydrated which adds to more restroom stops, and it was a challenge to find any place to go! But- these are the moments where I am soooo thankful for places that we know/recognize.

Starbucks was our little oasis in a sea of cement. We walked in the air conditioned entrance and saw the familiar tables/couches/juices and were in heaven. What a great place. After buying two rounds of apple juice and spending some rejuvenating time on the comfy chairs... we started off to the Palais Royale.


We ran into this gorgeous building with beautiful shops and restaurants inside. Again, could have spent 4 hours drinking something here.


Just around the corner, we found Palais Royale, which has gorgeous grounds and a very relaxing fountain.

I love how they manicure the trees... the promenades are gorgeous.

And of course the arcades are so fun to walk around.

I think I've said this before, but the French are so great at mixing the new and old. These columns in contrast to the surrounding grandiose buildings was definitely not expected when we came around the corner- but so awesome! The kids loved them.

This little one ran and ran and jumped and jumped around them. She definitely tired herself out!

On our way home, we caught the bus and and then wandered past the Pompidou ... checking to see if there was anything great to watch. Maddie was entranced by the Bubble man, and we spend a good 20 minutes trying to catch the gigantic bubbles he made for the kids. Then, a dance troop started another routine, so we spend 5 minutes watching them until it started dumping water on us when we headed home and called it a great day!!!

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Steve is home! Horrah! His trip to Berlin went well, and apparently much cooler than it was here :)

This morning, we made it to some consignment shops that weren't all that "consignment" as I know the word in the US. (Clothes were Chanel, Burberry, etc... Shoes were Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks... ) It was fun to dig through the stuff. I came out with a great sweater/coat and a skirt ! Yeah!

After a light lunch we decided to skip the metro (I think we are finding that we prefer the buses to the metro with kids just because you don't have to go up and down stairs, and they can look at stuff while we're traveling) and head to the Musee de L'Orangerie which I was SUPER excited about.

On the way, we saw the church dedicated to Mary Magdalene or better known as Le Madeleine... and Maddie was brimming with excitement! A church just for her! Can you see them? Steve is holding up Maddie on the top of the stairs.

Here they are up close!

The weather here has been absolutely surprising- we thought it was going to be incredibly hot and humid (for August I thought that was normal). But- it has been super cool and rainy here and there. I am definitely not complaining-- as I think I'm more of a slightly cooler weather type of girl rather than hot and sticky. We were glad we didn't forget our umbrellas because the museum was calling our names!

We weren't really into doing the Louvre this time around, or the Museum D'orsay. I really wanted to visit the Picasso museum, but it is being renovated :( We have never gone to the Musee de L'Orangerie before today... and it may be one of our favorites ever!! This museum focuses on impressionist, post-impressionist paintings and Monet's "Water Lilies" that he completed specifically for this museum.

The museum had a movie playing in the auditorium explaining a brief history on his life, and most of the details behind his exhibit at the museum. It was sooo inspiring. The amount of thought that went into the architecture of the building and it's connection to his paintings was incredible. I wish I could write all of it here- but just go if you have a chance.

We all loved this place.

Monet created these enormous panels surrounding the rooms to give the overwhelming feeling of nature . He didn't paint a horizon, so the sky, land,water, air just melt into eachother. One of my favorite things about this place is that it almost felt spiritual to sit in these halls. The architect/Monet designed the building so that visitors would have to walk through a vestibule to enter the ovals rooms... when people enter the room it is so quite and you are immediately surrounded by this beauty. It is very powerful.

He loved to admire his gardens in the different lights of the day. In one room, he focuses on the morning light, and in the other room, the afternoon light. I love this panel. The colors are stunning. Anyway, I think you can tell that I liked it a lot :)

The museum is pretty small- but that was a welcome feature! Here are some of my favorites (the best I could do with my camera in the darkish museum):

After the museum, we were feeling a bit famished and started walking home. I was not really wanting to cook after this long day, so I made Steve dart into what I thought was a supermarket, but ended up being HEAVEN.

This sounds a bit weird at first, but it is now one of my favorites!! Imagine a Whole Foods that sells gourmet frozen dinners, and then provides a second story with gorgeous tables and microwaves for you to heat up your dinner and watch the tourists walk by... The frozen dinners range from Thai curry chicken, German sausages with applesauce, incredible pastas, salmon with green beans, chicken cordon bleu, really everything that sounds yummy. We bought 5, went upstairs, followed the microwave directions, and sat down to one of our top memorable meals since we've been here! Does that sound crazy?! This food was sooo good! And- what a GREAT idea- this place would be incredibly popular in the US. Have you ever wanted Thai/Italian/Mexican in one dinner? I do all the time- so this was a perfect place for me.

This was a quick shot of the first floor and all of the dinners... seriously, what a great idea. I wish I thought of it.

Just a quick note: Before our trip, people would sometimes say "Oh, Paris. People are so rude there." or "Watch out... fill in some sentence about a French person being rude to them." I really didn't understand what people were talking about because everytime I've been, they have been nothing but nice...

This trip confirms it- people here are so courteous/generous/thoughtful and so friendly (I would even say more than big cities in the US). Here are are just a few examples:

1. Emilie has been dropping shoes like a maniac. As we were walking down the very busy Saint Germain, we hadn't taken notice that Emilie lost her shoe. After 5 minutes and noticing her "non shoe", we stopped and were about to forget it and go on, a man stopped us and told us that he saw the shoe 5 blocks back and put it on the bench. I went back and found it!

2. Maddie was crying on the side of a street with Steve, when a man stopped Steve and said in French that Maddie's shoes were on backwards and that is why she is crying! (Not sure that was the reason, but so perceptive and thoughtful)

3. I think I had about 4 people help me carry the single stroller up and down the metro stops (against their way of travel) when I was by myself and the kids.

4. People open doors for us all over the place.

5. Waiters have gone above and beyond to help us eat with our kids by giving them extra snacks, (an extra ice cream!)... drinks...

Anyway, you get the point. Another great reason we don't want to leave.

Tortillas, Notre Dame, sparrows and unadulterated glutony

Sunday is the day we stop and relax. This last Sunday, we went to church in the morning (which I absolutely love). All of the people there are from EVERYWHERE. The main speaker was from Nepal, the speaker after that was from China, we sat in the back with all of the American expats (Virginia, Boston, Wisconsin). There is something so very uniting about being in a place where you weren't born, and being with people from back home. You immediately become family and have to know everything about everyone. I couldn't stop talking to a woman from Boston who had moved to Paris and had lived there for 3 years so far. So cool. Maybe me someday :)

After we got home, Chris had the energy to make tortillas from scratch! Not sure what inspired that, but boy was I thankful, because it was seriously delicious. We have been craving a little food from home, so it was nice to have a good old taco. Nothing more to report for Sunday!

As for yesterday, we decided to climb the Notre Dame. (I can't really remember if I've ever done it, and for some reason it sounded more interesting than the Eiffel Tower which is basically drowning in tourists right now.) It was a rainy day- but perfect for the mood when we were surrounded with all the GARGOYLES.

For those of you who haven't climbed, when you get up half way up there, and at the top, you are walking in extremely narrow passageways around the exterior of the building. I was a little skiddish for the kids to walk by themselves since the outside walls were pretty much 10 flights down, but I gave in...and off they went. Here's Emi coming around the bend.

Another cute face a mother couldn't delete.

These guys made the trip worth it. Talk about detail... especially for a gothic cathedral (started in 1163!!! That's almost 1000 years old!) on the top of the church where probably most people couldn't get up this high. And- the imagination that went into creating them is unbelievable. They call this the "bored" gargoyle.

I love the personalities of all of them. I would have loved to meet the mastermind behind the construction of them.

I wish I could have taken pictures of all of them, but because of the metal wires protecting all of us (which I am truly greatful for), I couldn't really take very many wire free.
We thought the climb to the top was going to be deadly carrying the kids, but it was actually not that bad. Esp compared to stuff in Italy.

While we were relaxing for a bit before heading off to Saint Germain, Steve and Maddie saw a man feeding the sparrows who would just eat from his hands... they had to get some lessons. He was soo nice- he told them that they don't like crackers, but prefer bread... and let Maddie use some of his.

Here are a sequence of shots- I couldn't delete any of them because they were just all so cool.

After walking a bit, we walked to a restaurant someone had recommended, and I would now recommend to any beef lover. It's called Le Relais de L'Entrecote and there are 4-5 around the city. There is no menu- just "Rare, Medium, Well?" Ha! Well, we got a couple of Rare's and a couple of Mediums... and were so pleasantly surprised at how good it was! They bring you steaks covered in this amazing sauce that I couldn't stop eating, and a side of french fries. That's it. That's the menu. And, it was very very very good. Yum.

Later in the afternoon, we went shoe shopping on a street where there are more reasonable prices. As shopping always goes, there was a long stent of too many frills, or too gaudy... but we hit a ballet flat shoe store where each shoe was either 8 or 10 euro!!! Of course I had to buy 3 pair!!! So cute.

Later that night, Steve and I found a KILLER pizza place... and even though I had eaten dinner already, I ate my whole pizza. Ahhh. I really think Italian food is one of my favorites.

As for today, why I have no pictures? Well, to be quite honest, because we spent the day filling our faces with every food in sight! Even though my belly feels a little bigger, I just can't help stopping myself. I kind of feel like the main character in "Eat,Pray,Love" when she goes to Italy. How can you stop yourself when the food is just better than anything you've had in years???

So- how embarrasing is this? In two days, I've had an eclair, an apricot croissant, a chocolate/nutella twistee thing from heaven, 2 panini's on the street, homemade lasagne from a dreamy Italian restaurant, a rasberry torte, a mozzerella/ham/artichoke pizza, 5 oranginas, steak, french fries, a chicken hamburger, and finally a "my berry" yogurt.

Pure glutony and pure heaven.

Parfum, donkeys, a purse and the best ice cream ever

Last time we came to France, we visited the Fragonard Perfume factory and Steve fell in love with some "manly man" scent that he bought... unfortunately he lost it somewhere, so he was excited to get some more!

We walked to a bakery to grab some sandwiches and then to relax at Tuileries gardens... this cute ballet shoe store was on the way.

Maddie looking in the bakery.

We relaxed at the park for around 3 hours... but here and there we did little activities with the kids....

We haven't seen the ponies at Luxemborg Gardens yet, so we grabbed the chance when we saw ponys here. We had a short little ride, but the girls loved it.

I loved this white donkey with Maddie!

And of course little Emi!

Carousel #43? Still very cute!

We tried to coerce Maddie into getting a ride that went up and down, but the motorcycle was just way too cool! And, Emi had to sit on back of course.

The two little munchkins.

Then to the trampolines where I think she could jump for 4 hours. But, only for 5 minutes since it was 2 euro each 5 min...

From there, we took the bus down to the second little island... in search for some delicious and world famous ice cream.

Saw this candy store on the way. Gorgeous.

I LOVE how they present things in France. It just makes things so wonderful to look at. I wanted to buy all of these lollipops.

I have been wanting to buy some scarves, and heard that there might be some here! Becky came down a couple of days earlier for a purse... and I liked one so much I got one too... with two scarves that I am so excited to wear when winter comes :)

This is one of the lines to ice cream. Can ice cream be this good? I mean, it's just the same ingredients, right?

Yes, it is THAT good. I can't vouch for the sweet ice creams, but the sorbets are absolutely and positively amazing. You just can't imagine how good it is until you try it. Emi and I got the red currant and mango. OH MY.

Heading home...

*** And as a note: So far, I've been eating a normal diet full of gluten (5 days now?) And, the results are I don't feel sick at all. I don't feel more tired. I don't feel anything. It really makes me want to get retested-- in fact I think I might. Of course, this might be lowering my immune system etc... but for the rest of the next week and a half... I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.