Its been a busy couple weeks.  My brother and sister in law came to visit.  The day before their arrival their was a taxi strike.  Strikes happen quite frequently in Paris and can often shut down the transportation systems.  The taxi drivers were on strike to protest the Uber system.   The Uber system is an on line application where you can locate a driver and have them at your feet within seconds. The taxi drivers were on strike because their policy is they say they have at least 15 minutes to pick you up. Funny how better service is being protested against.....  The day after the strike, we had 2 taxi cars in front of us and at the stop light they opened their trunks and pulled out cartons of eggs.  Chris, Alex and I were perplexed as to what was happening and then they just started throwing them at other taxis.  We assumed they were going after fellow drivers who may have been picking up passengers.  Nonetheless, we got a kick out of the whole scene.

Johnny and Stacey pretty much were on their own in Paris.  They ventured out on the train and came back with lots of fun stories.  Staci speaks French and Johnny is not afraid to try to speak so the two of them were quite the pair exploring.  When they returned home, the kids enjoyed hanging out with them and watching the Olympics.

Emilia and Luciana gave them a makeover

I had booked a wine tasting course for me, Chris, Johnny and Stacey.  It was 2 hours of champagne, white and red wine.  I learned a lot but really enjoyed the atmosphere and the company.  We followed it up with a stop at the restaurant, L' Escargot Montorgueil.  We have yet to try escargots so why not??? We tried garlic, curry, and Roquefort escargot. It was a great french meal.  It was only 8:00 but after so much wine it felt late so when our server asked if we wanted cafe- I said, no a chamomile tea please. He was young and he smiled and looked at his watch with the expression that I was quite the party animal.

Wine tasting at O Chateau

L'Escargot Montorgueil

We went to Chantilly.  It is less than an hour from Paris.  The main attraction is the chateau and the great stables.  It was featured in the James Bond movie, A View to a Kill.  Ronaldo, the Brazilian soccer player was married here as well for 700,000 euros.  It is a beautiful place to see and much more inviting than Versailles.  We spent some time in the chateau before heading to a creperie for lunch.  We then finished the day at the Great Stables.  We got to see an equestrian display and tour the horse museum.

Chateau de Chantilly

We look all bundled but turned out to be nearly 50 and sunny

Luciana attacking Alex

I was able to spend one day touring with Johnny and Stacey.  I took them to Montmarte.  I always enjoy the walk around Montmarte.  Lots to see and stories to tell.

Stacey holding his hand to "get the magic"

Chris and I celebrated our 13 year anniversary by going to the Opera Bastille to see Madam Butterfly. It was my first real opera experience.  I have to say the three hours went by quickly!  It was a great performance.

Enjoying champagne at intermission

Alex and Olivia left yesterday for Saas-Fee, Switzerland.  They went with 22 classmates on a school organized event for 7 days of skiing.  Olivia had three 5th grade girls while Alex had one third grade boy along on the trip.  I am a bit nervous as Alex has never spent more than 2 nights away from home. I texted them to contact me as soon as possible and Olivia responds with .... it costs money to text mom so please don't send anything stupid and waste my phone dollars....  now who is the adult?   She also informed me that the small rectangular squares I thought was soap that I packed her turned out to be chocolate!  She was  worried about her cleanliness while I can only imagine that Alex was quite happy about it.   She also said she was placed in the advanced ski class...I am quite impressed!  Can't wait to hear about the trip!

At Gare de Lyon- taking the TGV to Switzerland

 Chris and I took the little girls to La Cite des Enfants.   It is a children's museum where the kids have hands on interactive, educational fun.  It is organized as such that only a certain amount of children are allowed in at a time and for only 90 minutes.  I liked this in that it was not crowded and the kids had a chance to experiment with everything.  The museum is in the Parc de la Villette.  It is the largest park in Paris but most of it is concrete.  Unfortunately many of the attractions were closed this time of year but we will go back in the spring with all the kids .

La Cite des Enfants

La Cite des Enfants

Parc de la Villette- Chris is pushing several kids around while the littles in pink are in the center

It is so much easier with two kids. Less fighting and less organizing.  We took the littles ice skating.  Luciana had double blades on her skates so she was on her own.  Emilia found a friend within 5 minutes.  She just goes up to a girl her height- asks her name and age ( all in french)- finds out she is as friendly as she is and they skated for an hour together holding hands.  We then went to the Marché aux Puces St-Ouen de Clignancourt.  It is the most famous market in Paris- around 15 separate markets along the same streets- about 3000 open stalls filled with antiques, trinkets, vintage clothing and more. A great place to browse and shop for the unordinary.  Chris and I plan on returning sans children and make a few purchases!

Emilia and her friend

Luciana warming up

Luciana trying to convince us to get her the 1700 euro horse

a sample of the marche aux puces

All the kids are all doing well.  I finally got the flu shots for them.  In France, your doctor has to write a prescription, than you go to the pharmacy to buy the shots then you return back to the doctor to administer them.  Quite the work!  Luciana has a new habit of applying lipstick (pink chapstick) every night before bed.  Her words are "Pretty girls wear lipstick at night".  Sometimes she is in bed for 10 minutes and gets up to find her purse and reapply.  The other night she was asleep for 20 minutes and I hear Emilia say- "Mom, Luciana is up".  I come to find her getting dressed, telling me it was morning time already.  Took me 10 minutes to convince her it was night and to get her in her pajamas again. Olivia celebrated Roman days at school.  As an extra credit assignment, the student to submit the most extra work would be crowned Emperor for the day and could assign slaves.  Of course, Olivia- the competitive one, worked hard for weeks and was crowned along with another girl- emperors for the day.  Olivia had a great day being fed grapes!  Kids also celebrated Valentines Day.  Alex wanted to buy his "crush" jewelry.  We settled on an extra lollipop.  He is quite the charmer and has a swarm of girls giggling at him daily.  Emilia has become my translator.  Any time I am stumped for a french word, she responds immediately and if she doesn't know, she says it in english with a french accent.  She says she is starting to think in French now.

Chris made the kids watch that 80's movie Over the Top and followed it up with arm wrestling matches

Well, we are off on a ski trip of our own tomorrow.  We are stopping to see Chris's uncle then heading to Anzere, Switzerland to ski the Swiss alps with the little ones.  March will be busy as we have two birthdays to celebrate!