The Modern France

Our trip is more than half over, and it makes me very very sad. This trip has been fabulous in so many different ways. Although I miss my car and "some" urban sprawl, city life is the best. There is never a dull moment, and so many people/things to see. I also love walking around everywhere....and of course the bakeries. But, this is getting too long, so here's the good stuff:

Today we visited the famous "Laduree" bakery. They have world famous macaroons, so of course we needed to try.


I love this gold on top of the green.


Right before our treats!


We heard the rose petal macaroons were to die for... so we ordered 3, some licorice, mint, strawberry and apple. Surprisingly, my favorite was tied with the strawberry and apple. I may have to go back there without the family and eat 10 to myself :)


Little Emi ended up eating my favorite one... and only let me have a little bite! Side note: We have been waiting for months for her to start talking, and it has only been until the past couple of days that she is using those little vocal cords! She screamed "Dory" "Dory" Dory" (really Dora) when she saw a Dora the Explorer balloon at the park the other day, she said "myself" yesterday, "Audrey" today... we kind of don't know that she is saying things, because we aren't used to it. But- it is ADORABLE when she does- because it is so high (in pitch) and we just haven't heard her speak...


After the macaroons, we went on a walk through the Champs-Élysées neighborhood in search for a steak restaurant we heard of. Not surprisingly, it was closed! But, because it's a chain, we're going to look again tomorrow for some open ones. I loved this picture of a mosaic vegetable guy that I saw while we were walking. The little pieces all together in this is amazing.


After the Arc de Triumph on the "Champs" we decided we would walk to the modern part of the city to see the "modern" Arc. I have only seen it in pictures, and was super interested in seeing it, and climbing to the top in the glass elevator. On the way, we luckily found this Moroccan restaurant that was tres delicious.

Too much cuscous makes a man sleepy, so we headed to a park for a while where the kids let off some steam and we relaxed on the benches.

Loving all of the parks!

Interesting scuplture at the park (not sure what it is!?).

As we got closer, we were all just about dying (except for Steve) because of all the walking. I think we calculated that we walked 6 kilometers. Not bad when you have children with you. There were beautiful founatins and the modern skyline in the background... perfect for a pic.

Isn't this awesome? I wish my dad was with me. These are the moments where I wish I had some design skills and I would totally be an architect.

"The Defense" is perched above the traffic and normal streets, so you either walk up ramps or take escalators... but once you get here- there is an enormous plaza surrounded by skyscrapers, sculptures, water fountains and great views of Paris below. If you can squint hard enough... you can see the Arch de Triump in the middle between the tall buildings.

The steps up to the "modern" arch were fabulous... and great to watch people just sitting/talking.

The kids loved them (I was a little scared to have them play though).

At the top, we just sat and sat. My knees are starting to hurt (probably running on cobblestones isn't such a great idea!). The breezes were perfect and the views were amazing.

Unfortunately, the elevators were in repair!!! AH! But, this is becoming a theme :) We still had fun playing around, and taking photos :)

I don't think of the "modern" paris when I think of this city, but it is probably one of my top 5 sites that I've liked on our trip. It was definitely a memorable day.