Its been a few weeks and unfortunately Chris has been gone for most of the month.  Its not easy when he is gone for extended periods.  I can handle 5 days but once the weekend comes around, it gets more difficult keeping things going with the kids.  When he is here, we do as much as we can!  We went to the Musee de Chateau de Malmaison. It is the Chateau that belonged to Napoleon's first wife Josephine.  It has beautiful gardens and an impressive chateau. It is in Rueil Malmaison- only about 10 minutes from our home and is one of the least visited museums.   A nice place with no crowds and the kids were free to roam at their leisure.

entrance to the chateau

Napoleon's dining table

Josephine's chambre

Descendants of Josephine- quite an impressive list!

One of her gowns on display

Chris and I also visited the Cite de Architecture.  It is located in the Trocadero area.  It is the home of nearly 1000 years of architectural structures.  I really enjoyed this museum because it is like nothing I have ever been to.  There are statues and remnants of monuments and churches that were removed from their original location and preserved here.  It is interesting because each display also shows a photograph of the original piece and its location.

An example of a piece of work preserved with the original photo and description in the picture below

one of the many pieces of facades displayed

Chris looking good

Olivia had her 5th grade school musical called "Its a Kids Life" .  She had the part of grandma and had one of the main speaking roles. She was fantastic!  She really is in her element on the stage.  I keep telling her she should pursue theatrics!

We finally made it to Amsterdam. We were hoping to time our trip with the tulips and flowers but with spring coming early in western Europe- we missed it by a couple weeks. We went for the 3 day weekend with some friends of ours. They are from Australia and have 3 kids the same ages as ours. The drive was about 5.5 hours from Paris- but we made a quick stop in Antwerp for lunch. Unfortunately, it was raining and we did not take the time to explore the town. We arrived in Amsterdam- only to be met with three days of rain with sprinkles of sunshine. It did not deter us as we set foot with umbrellas to see this beautiful city with such friendly people! I was amazed at the amount of bicycles. It is the best means of transportation and they are everywhere. I think we all were nearly hit at least once during our stay. Our first day we arrived just for dinner and went to a place called the Pancake Bakery. The pancake is the traditional food from the Netherlands and you can get them sweet or savory. The kids loved it! The next day we headed to the Van Gogh museum. They had a program for kids to find specific information about the paintings. Boys vs girls and they were off- entertained for nearly 2 hours. I think kids enjoy the Van Gogh museum more than others because the paintings are bright and colorful and quite straight forward. We took a stroll through the flower market, Dams square and the Royal Palace. We finished our day with a canal ride around the entire city.

View from our apartment..the 9 streets

3 days of rain.......

Tried to photograph the bike congestion in the background. Amazing how we didn't see any bike accidents

Luciana at the entrance of the Van Gogh museum

Was not supposed to take pictures but couldn't resist the 7 kids observing the artwork

Flower Market

Flower Market

Emilia and her friend playing cards on our Canal cruise

One of the many coffee shops ....selling cannabis, etc..

Our light at a Thai restaurant.  Kids couldn't stop turning the switch on and off. 

The next morning we awoke to find our car had been broken into.  The window was broken and the only thing taken was Olivia's headphones.  Who breaks into a minivan???  Anyway, another great thing about Amsterdam is that EVERYONE speaks English well.  We called the car glass shop and they came to the car- cleaned up the glass, put in the temporary plexi glass all free of charge! They said because we had french plates that the service was free. I guess that's a way to keep the tourists happy! We spent the day going to the Heineken Experience Brewery.  It was surprisingly a fun activity for the entire family.  They had the vats the kids could play with, an interactive "ride" and a whole bunch of rooms designed for marketing that was fun for the kids as well as the adults.  We opted not to drink our 2 free beers each as it was early and we had 4 kids with us....we finished the tour with another canal ride.  That evening we had a babysitter come to watch all 7 kids while the adults had a chance to enjoy a relaxing dinner.  It was great to see Amsterdam sans enfants...we even took a quick stroll through the red light district. I was surprised at how many "red lights" there are.  The majority of women are quite attractive and it was kind of sad to see them wait like mannequins for their next customer.  I would love to come back to Amsterdam when there is sunshine and without the kids. There was a lot more to see and I would love to do it by bicycle.

Our broken- in car window

The Heineken Experience Museum

Stirring the barley

On our way back from Amsterdam, we made a quick detour to Brugges in Belgium. It is said to be the Venice of Northern Europe.  With its cobble stone streets and canals, it really is a beautiful small quaint town. It is also the home to some of the finest chocolates in the world.  We spent a little time walking around and had lunch, but with the rain and the 3 hour drive remaining we opted to leave quickly.  I would love to go back!

The best chocolate shop in Brugges

I had another Paris tour.  This time we explored Bercy. It is quite lovely and I was pleasantly surprised. It sits in the 12th arrondisment. It was not a part of the city of Paris until 1860 so it has a bit different architectural scene.  The old railway station has been transformed into outdoor restaurants and shops.  Bercy also used to be the center of the french wine market and still has the original wine storage areas.   There is a very large modern park with rose gardens and a vineyard.  On the other side of the park is the sports complex center and the entrance to the national library of France.

Original walls from the Bercy family chateau.  Now it is a beautifully designed park.

One of 2 vineyards in Paris ( other is in Montmarte)

The movie museum designed by Frank Gehry

Beautiful statues representing 21 countries

Mexico

Brasil

Italy

River Pool

Globes of Coronelli built in 1681.  Now sits in the National Bibilotheque

Museum of carousels 

My tour group

The American School of Paris celebrated International Day over the weekend.  54 nations are represented in the school and it was amazing to see the traditional foods and costumes displayed.  There were games and activities for the kids and it was great to see friends.

Alex riding the mechanical bull

Luciana eating a swedish waffle

Face painting

Emilia had her first and only gymnastics meet of the year.  She was very nervous but her big sister Olivia had so many words of wisdom and experiences to share with her.  She did fantastic!  She was nervous on her first event- the beam but afterward was so happy and confident. She placed 5th All Around in the 2006/2007 age bracket.  I am so proud of her!

I love this picture!!!