Days 3-4 - The weekend report from Paris

Bon Jour!!! It has been a wonderful weekend, but boy are we tuckered out. Let's begin with Saturday... shall we? Do you know the phrase "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit"? We'll that was the approach we had to take with the weather on this first day of the weekend. I'm not sure if my core temperature is back to normal yet (and it's Sunday night)? We began the morning with a lengthy Metro ride to a flea market on the southwest side of Paris. The Vanves flea market is a treasure of lost items from times past... and a whole bunch of garbage in between. The kicker of the trip to this prize hunter's paradise was the cold drizzle that covered our souls throughout the morning. But, as you learn when you travel, it's better to be cold, wet and traveling than it is to be hot, dry and working (in school or at your job). Christian, the born collector he is, was amazed by all this eclectic market had to offer. Need a painting? Got it. Need an old toy car? Got it. Need a lamp that looks like an old piece of crusty cake? Got it. What surprised me was the amount of shoppers and merchants that actually showed up to conduct business in this weather. Now don't think this was all business for everyone attending. There was plenty of socializing going on. Old and new friends abound in places like these. I just wish we could have understood what they were laughing about. Probably the shivering Americans. Needless to say, the weather broke our will after an hour or so. Time for some chocolat chaud (hot chocolate)!!!

One thing I can say for sure is that the French have WAY better hot chocolate than Americans do. Ohhhhh baby, do they. The damp weather might have played a part in that statement a little bit, but just a little... really. Sitting in a cafe with Parisians all around really gives you a feel for the culture. The French are not loud, boisterous people. They speak softly, and sit close to each other. With 10 million people living in the same city who could blame them. It was a great break from the elements.

Christian decided that it was time to head back to flat. The cold had gotten to him. Lunch in!!

After a light lunch and a bit of a rest Christian and I decided to go see one of the most feared people in all history. Well... not the actual person, the place where this person's tomb resides. Any guesses... anyone??? This person had the whole continent of Europe at his feet in the years between 1799 and 1813. He was the master of the battlefield and one of the greatest strategist of war. One last clue... well, two. He was vertically challenged and he kept his right hand hidden inside his shirt for some unknown reason. If you guessed Prince you are wrong. It was Napoleon Bonaparte, otherwise know as Napoleon. A French general that took over France and 1799 and five years later crowned himself Emperor. In 1812 he invaded Russia and that didn't go so well. We was sent into exile a year later. He has a really nice place to stay now. I great big, giant, reddish brown sarcophagus. (ask Mrs. Nickell what that is) The tomb and sarcophagus are housed in an old church that later was turned into a soldiers retirement home and then into a museum. This place is HUGE! We didn't even see one tenth of what was there. Too much to see... not enough time. Seems to happen a lot around here. Lots of gold and glitz around these parts. No Christian... you can't take any of that home with you. You'll go to jail if you try. They might put you in the Bastille.

We'll tell you about that tomorrow. Okay, it's tomorrow.

Before we get to the Bastille, we have other places to tell you about. One was the Granddaddy of them all. First of all I have to tell you we are a little disappointed in our local patisserie (pastry shop). They are closed on the weekend. Can you believe it? Christian said this is worth a revolution in itself. Oh well, guess we'll have to go the extra two blocks to the next one. (Boo hoo, right?)

Today we decided to skip the Metro and hoof it for a while. Man, my feet hurt tonight! Christian, how do your feet feel?

"Great!"

Youth... go figure. Here is the short version of where we went today with some interesting facts sprinkled in. First, we walked to Place de la Concord, a tall monument in the center of a roundabout near the Seine river. This is where Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI and several other prominent, historical figures became a foot shorter thanks to the guillotine. You can't see any remnants of these acts anywhere, thank goodness.

Next we walked over the Tuilleries, a grand garden/park area that was full of people sitting, running, playing, kissing (eeeew!!!!!) and just having a good time in the nice weather. Did I mention the weather? What a change from yesterday. Partly cloudy, no wind and NO DRIZZLE! Christian found his love of photography in this place and boy did he take some great shots. Really, I didn't give him any direction on these. All him! Following this we walked over to the Seine to try to find the Pont Neuf (the New Bridge) which is the oldest bridge in Paris. I know... I don't get the name thing either. Along the Seine there are many book dealers and artist that are selling their goods out of boxes that are lined up along the walkway. This has been going on since the time of Napoleon. We walked to the Pont Neuf, down around a great big cathedral (we'll tell you about that in a little bit) up through some other districts that I don't know enough about to write on (but they were really cool) and on to the the Bastille. That little short blurb back there took me 60 seconds to write. It took us about 3 hours to walk that whole distance. Christian fulfilled his whole kids on the move chart in one day.

The Bastille was originally a fortress and then was made into a prison that housed some of France's worst enemies. Now, another grand monument stands in it's place. They knocked it down at some point to rid the city of its unpleasantness. Lots of bad things happened there. I wont go into details. Not good.

After the Bastille we went back toward the Seine to see the granddaddy of all sites (in my mind) in Paris. Remember me mentioning a big cathedral earlier? Ever hear of Notre-Dame? (I'm not talking about a football team either). What an amazing place. Amazing! I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. We were in awe. At 4:30 there was a free organ concert that we lined up for. We made our way inside and could not believe the... oh there are no words to describe how great this place is. "Christian, start shooting pictures!" At least it wasn't Christian that got into trouble with the Nun for shooting pictures in the "no photos" area. That was me. Oops. My bad, sorry.

The concert was great. I think Christian even enjoyed it for the most part. Although, he did start to flick me in the back towards the last arrangement. After some more pictures (in the appropriate places, thank you very much) we made our way back outside. One more stop before dinner and homework. Yes, Christian is doing homework here. He is such a good boooooy. Where is he... "Christian, come here so I can pinch your face when I write this.

Lastly, we stopped in the famous book store, Shakespeare & Company. A book lover's paradise. Earnest Hemmingway loved this place so much he wrote about it himself. Christian will bring the book his Grandpa purchased for him into class so everyone can see it. It's all about Paris. Imagine that.

Well, I'm pooped. I will add the photos tomorrow morning so look for them when you get up. I have no more energy to post tonight. Oh my... it's 11 o'clock. "Christian, Go To Bed!

Morning of 2/8/09

Here are a few things I left out from yesterday:
Christian and crepes go together like bread and butter. He has discover Nutella chocolate spread and crepes are magnificent. Especially when you can find them on every corner in Paris... instant access! Remember the hot dog that was as long as his arm? He had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch that was as big as my foot (size 10). Massive! Chasing pigeons has become Christian's favorite past time here in Paris. They are everywhere and he is convinced he can catch one. He has also taken about a hundred pictures of them. Christian, they all look the same.