Friday we picked up my sister and Lucas from the airport. Hoping that they wouldn't crash from the jet lag we rushed them off to Versailles. We did a tour of the inside of the castle and came back quickly to pick up the kids from school. The kids were so happy to see their aunt and cousin! Lucas acclimated quickly to the time zone while Sandra struggled a bit more. Saturday we headed into Paris. Our first stop was the Arc de Triomphe. Luciana fell asleep in her stroller so Olivia, Lucas and Sandra made the 284 steps to the top. Lucas ordered his first nutella banana crepe and now I think he is addicted.

We then headed to Champs Elysees. The street is beautiful this time of year as it is lined with white huts selling holiday trinkets. Luciana was thrilled to see all the statues of Santa along the way and even sat on a statues lap with pure joy! Unfortunately Luciana spilled hot chocolate on herself so Chris took her home early. Funny- how I let a 3 year old drink hot chocolate unsupervised on a cold dark night. I can only say that it is because she is the fourth! We enjoyed a pizza dinner and headed back home on the train. Spending this week with my sister we have used the train everyday so I am happy to say I feel I really can get anywhere in Paris. I was actually able to help some people find certain metro stops.

On Sunday Alex had a hockey tournament. Happy to say his team won again....Alex scoring 3 goals, two of which were the game winners in the last minutes. After the games we went to Le Marais district. This is really one of my favorite areas of Paris. So much to see and do and shops are open on Sundays. Kids played in the Place de Vosges and we had a nice lunch at Cafe Hugo. Olivia opted to spend the day with her school friends making and decorating cupcakes. There was a contest in Paris with donations going to charity. You needed to officially enter the contest so it was really reserved for professional bakers. When the four girls proudly displayed their lopsided cakes- the judges couldn't help but smile and even laughed as they bit into hidden rainbow sprinkles. Although they did not win- Olivia claims they sold the most as most of the children who were there wanted to buy their cupcakes.

On Monday we went to Sainte Chapelle, La Conciergerie and Notre Dame. The Sainte Chapelle was built in 1248 to hold Louis IX's collection of relics of Christ, which included the Crown of Thrones. The Crown of Thorns is now housed in Notre Dame.  Sainte- Chapelle has the most beautiful walls of stain glassed windows I have ever seen. Apparently when the sun is shining( which is virtually never in Paris in the winter) the light shining through the windows is spectacular. A definite recommendation for anyone visiting Paris.

Sainte-Chapelle

beautiful sky lights that survived the revolution

We then headed to La Conciergerie which I have written about in a past blog entry. It is a former prison where Marie Antoinette spent her final days. After that we went to Notre Dame. I have been there a few times but this time we headed into the Treasury Room. For a few euros you can see the room that houses the church's relics. We wanted to see the Christ's Crown of Thrones! It is incased in a shrine and is taken out of the room once a month during a special mass. The treasury also has fragments of the holy cross as well.

The shrine holding Christ's Crown of Thorns

On Tuesday we went to the Catacombs. The line for this is very long and we knew this so we bought a tour package months ago that allows us to skip the lines with a guided tour. I highly recommend this option.  The depth of the catacombs  is 20 meters down and has between 6-8 million Parisians buried within the walls.  Originally the tunnels were built to create the quarries where the stone was removed to build the city buildings.  Over time, the cemetery in the center of town became overcrowded and they moved the bodies to the tunnels.  They also put those killed from the Revolution into the catacombs as well.  The stories we were told were very interesting and the place itself is fascinating!

Wednesday we went to Montmarte and the Louvre. I always enjoy Montmarte. As all our excursions have gone this week- we look for a cafe and get some coffee, hot chocolate and croissants.  We went to a cafe called Le Coquelicot.   The bread is delicious!  We started our walk with a visit to Le mur des je t'aime ( I love you wall).  "I love you" is written 311 times in 250 different languages.  We past the studios where many famous artists lived- including Picasso.  We then stopped at le Passe-muraille.  It is a statue of a man trapped in a wall- kids loved this one.  We visited the statue of Saint- Denis, the patron saint of France.  Not sure I told the story - but after he was decapitated, legend says he picked up and carried his head and walked for 6 miles.  We then went to place du Tertre.  It is the main square filled with restaurants and artists.  I have been a few times and have been overwhelmed with tourists and the overcrowded streets.  This time there were very few people and I enjoyed it much more.  One of Olivia's wishes was to have her portrait drawn by a street artist- she got her wish and a lovely souvenir to take home.  We made it to the top and visited the Sacre -Coeur Basilica.   We took the funicular down the hill, stopped at the Moulin Rouge and said goodbye to Montmarte and headed to lunch and then back to the metro- two transfers later, we were at the Louvre.  

Enjoying giant bowls of hot chocolate

The wall of love

Trying to pull the man out of the wall

Olivia gets her portrait drawn

The kids were pretty exhausted as we hit the Louvre so we decided to make it a quick trip. Someone told me it would take nearly a year to look at each piece for a minute in the Louvre. We opted for the kids preferences- the ancient Egyptian, Greece and Roman eras as well as a stop to see the Mona Lisa.

In cased in bullet proof glass

Chris, Alex and Lucas went to a Paris St. Germain national soccer game on Wednesday evening. They did get to see a home team goal but left early as it was a late game and a bit chilly.

 

Today is Thanksgiving! Chris took Sandy, Lucas and Alex to the Eiffel Tower and Invalides. They finally made it to the tippy top of the tower and got a chance to see Napoleon's tomb. I stayed home to help with the kids school celebration and to prepare our thanksgiving dinner. It is not so easy to celebrate the traditional way. Its difficult to find a turkey and if you do order one- chances are your oven is too small to cook it. Some ex-patriots ordered from the butcher- who prepped and cooked it in advance. We opted for chicken instead but did wrangle some items such as fresh cranberries, stuffing and marshmallows for the sweet potato dish. There was no pumpkin pie- but we did have a cinnamon crumble apple pie and delicious tart of some kind of fruit. The woman at the bakery was so excited explaining it to me that I was too busy watching her than trying to understand what she was saying.    Nonetheless- I am thankful we had a nice dinner and had family here to share it with us!

The past week started off pretty slow as Chris has been going back to USA Sunday- Thursday. The kids did not have school last Monday so I sent them to the Energy Academy for a day of sports.  It gave me the day to do a little Christmas shopping.  All the stores are already selling decorations so I feel like I need to get started.  Friday Chris and I went to the Musee Jacquemart-Andre.  It is a museum created in the home of Edouard Andre and Nelie Jacquemart displaying all the art the collected.  After his death, Nelie gave the mansion and everything inside (artwork and furniture) to the Institut de France as a museum and became open to the public in 1913.  I really enjoyed the museum very much as not only did it display beautiful artwork but it also showed how this couple actually decorated their home and lived during that time.  We had lunch in the cafe in the museum which is actually the mansion's formal dining room.  It is beautiful setting with excellent desserts!

Musee Jacquemart-Andre.  The top of building is under renovation so the top portion is actually a poster covering the work being done- looks all real in the photo

 Saturday Chris took the kids to Galleries Lafayette to do a little shopping while I stayed home with Luciana as she was not feeling well.  She kept saying her neck hurt which I assumed was her throat.  That cherry throat lozenge did the trick!  Saturday evening Chris and I went to Le Train Bleu.  It is a restaurant located in the Gare de Lyon ( which is a train station).  It was built in 1900 and displays a beautiful collection of paintings and an incredible ceiling.  It was really a pleasurable atmosphere.  Chris and I were a bit weary on the menu and I used my translate application because I needed to verify our options included crispy pigs feet, urchin tongues and grilled heart.  We opted for the fish of the day- sea bass.  It came whole and I was thankful that our server removed the head and bones for us!  He also removed the cheeks and placed it on the side for us.  Apparently that it is a delicacy of which I was unaware of.

our seabass being prepared

Chris headed back to the states again as I took the kids to the outdoor marche at a neighboring town.  I think people enjoyed seeing me with 4 bundled kids as the kids were constantly given samples.  At one point, we noticed Luciana was not with us.  We turned around to see her 2 stands away standing with her finger pointing at something.  I assumed it was something sweet she wanted- but it turned out to be this very large cucumber.  She loves them almost as much as she loves chocolate.  The vendor was laughing as we bought it and she carried it with her for the rest of the trip.   Looks like a slow week with the exception of my sisters arrival on Friday.  I know I will have lots of stories and photos to post in a couple weeks!

I have not written anything in over a week so lots to catch up on!  Last week started out slow as the two littles had the week off of school.  The french school system has 2 weeks off every 7 weeks!  On Wednesday we went to France Miniature.  What a fun place to be on a nice fall day! The amusement park is a miniature of all of the French regions.  Each region displaying monuments or villages in their towns.  The girls especially enjoyed the centre of France miniatures- the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and even a mini Vaux-Le-Vicomte!  We took lots of photos of places we have been and would like to visit. The park also had 6 or 7 rides all of which were self-operated.  Kids had to push buttons or pull strings to start the rides.  However, the lines were short and everything seemed to run more smoothly than with an attendant!

Miniature Eiffel Tower

Emilia and the Arc

Luciana in a mini-Montmarte

Miniature St. Michel

Miniature St. Tropez

Emilia and Luciana trying to make it to the top.  Of course Chris was the only adult on this playing

Chris and Emilia pulling themselves up to the top of the spinning tower

 Thursday was Halloween and the older kids had a parade and party at school.  I volunteered to help with Olivia's party so I took the littles with me so they can have some Halloween fun as well.  They do not trick or treat in France so I decided to have an after school Halloween party at our house since it was a holiday on Friday and kids didn't have school. About 20 kids came over and a few parents. They played games and had lots of fun.  Olivia decided to make it into a sleepover and had three of her friends spend the night.  It was exhausting!

My angel and poodle

Olivia, the nerd

Alex, the ninja

5th graders music ensemble- my nerd is front and center!

Kids playing in our yard after school

Alex had his first hockey tournament.  He did fantastic as his team took 1st place after playing 11 games in 2 days!

We are finally getting back into a routine with school and activities.  Luciana made a new friend at her gymnastics class who is from Ireland so she in enjoying speaking English to another 3 year old.  Emilia is having a bit of a difficult time- she is so talkative and friendly and she really needs an outlet outside of school.  So I have arranged for some playdates with girls her age from the American School.  Emilia also suggested that her and I take a trip to London.  I asked her why London and she said "because they speak fluent English in London and they say "zed" instead of "z"- it is real English not American English".  How can I say no to that?  I am hoping to go one weekend with the older girls sometime soon.   Chris and I went to the dentist on Thursday.  Seems like every time we see a new dentist- we have new issues....I really do like her though and plan to have the kids go in January.   We then went to Galeries Lafayette which is an upscale shopping center in Paris.  It is beautiful and is already decorated with Christmas decorations.  Since there is no Thanksgiving- as of  Nov 1st the stores already start selling christmas goods and we thought it was early in the states!!!  So the kids already started letters to Santa- Alex wants an iPad, a motor cross bike and a brother!  This is the first time I am considering the iPad!!!

Thursday I went to the hair salon.  Now- I have heard several horror stories of non- speaking French people getting their hair done in France.  Each one saying that they were unable to communicate exactly how they wanted it done and if even they did, the hairstylist would convince them they needed something different.  One friend had her hair cut way too short, another asked for the same highlights but he thought red would be better for her and another came away with nothing she had asked for.  So these are stories I know of first hand and everyone knows someone who had bad experiences.  So- I opted for a recommendation from the American Women's Group of Paris to a place run by an Australian woman and all is in English.... Even though my hair is 6 inches shorter and a very dark brown, I am happy to say I am pleased with the results and now everyone is asking where I went!   Alex has another hockey tournament this weekend and a birthday party...Chris is off to Chicago on Sunday and of course kids have another day off of school on Monday......Looking forward to my sister and nephew coming to visit in two weeks!

the new hair cut