Bastille Day

Today was Bastille Day!  We started the day by watching the military parade on the Avenue de Champs- Elysées.  The kids even got a glimpse of the President of France! It was amazing to find most streets in the city centre were blocked and we were free to walk the streets without worry of cars passing.  We took a break in a small park to rest.  We were surrounded by other families- including French children.   Of course our kids couldn’t sit still and started to play schoolyard games.  When our kids started to play “ninja” the French kids watched with somewhat amazement as our kids jumped around in public having fun.   I only know what I have read about raising French kids in the book “Bringing up Bebe” so I am curious to see everything first hand and make my own interpretations on the differences in our cultures.   Inevitably one of our kids got hurt and cried so we started on our way again and walked to Les Invalides- a series of buildings all related to the military history of France.  It is also where Napolean Bonaparte is buried.  Kids loved the cannons as  you can see in the pictures.  After a quick stop for coffee and hot chocolate, we headed back to meet some Americans who were returning to the US and selling their car.   I swore we would never do this – but we bought a minivan!  I have no more words…