Moving to Paris

It has been a very busy start to the week. Monday we went to Notre Dame and then to the Musee Grevin- which is a wax museum. While waiting in line to the church- there was the "bird man". He was surrounded by birds- Luciana caught his attention and he took her and gave her some bread and brought the birds to her. Surprisingly, she was not afraid as the birds ate from her hand and the 100 people in line were all amused!

Notre Dame

Luciana feeding the birds

We stopped for lunch and the kids enjoyed their baguettes!

We then went to the Musee Grevin and were amused by the hall of mirrors and the different wax figures. Lots of photos here.

Putin

Obama

Alex and Ray Charles

Napoleon and the girls

Emilia and Charlemagne

Olivia and MJ

Me and Brad and George

Monday evening was my first disaster! Everything happened at the same time as I was preparing dinner. First the kitchen sing got clogged and the water started gushing out of the pipes under the sink. At the same time, the dishwasher started leaking from a hole in the water tube- so as I stood in one inch of water while putting bowls under the sink and cooking food on the stove- I panicked. Of course at that moment Luciana begins to yell that the toilet was overflowing....that was of no surprise as she uses enough toilet paper to stuff a small teddy bear. All of this happened with 5 minutes when Chris was on a very important call for work! I really miss my Lake Bluff plumbing!

Tuesday we went to Montmarte. We were joined by a classmate of Emilia's. Montmarte is a must see in Paris. We decided to hire a young guide to give us a tour from a Parisian perspective. It was a great decision. He taught us history, shared personal stories and was entertaining for the kids. We started at the Moulin Rouge as we headed up the hill toward the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur. We stopped along the way where many impressionist painters were inspired and where Picasso's art studio was and where the two remaining windmills exist. There is also a very tourist area where he refused to stop but we did on on our way back that is filled with the local artists selling their paintings or offering to paint your portrait. We made it to the top of Montmarte where the Sacre-Coeur sits. It has the best view of Paris as you can see the entire city- but according to our guide it is the best view because you can not see the Sacre-Coeur. Apparently this "modern" building as it was built just over a century ago- is not appreciated amongst Parisians. They are embarrassed at its architecture because they feel it doesn't make any sense. We skipped going inside as the kids were restless at this point. We headed home and Olivia wanted to make dessert tonight. In a house with no baking tins or utensils she managed to whip up a cake made up of nutella and eggs. It was delicious!