October 15-October 31, 2019
Day 51 Tuesday, October 15: Edgar leaves and everyone is a little blue. That’s all I can say. So, we try a little music to soothe the soul. We meet up with the McLaughlins at Park de Villette to go to the Museum of Music. Honestly, we should always just go to a park because the kids really just want to run around, but instead, we end up begging and beating some culture into them! This museum is AMAZING! If you’ve ever heard of or dreamt up an instrument…it is here. Along with an audio recording of someone playing it and commentary on the instrument groups, the period, the construction, etc. It would take DAYS to take it all in. We only had a few hours and did the best we could. We were lucky enough to see and hear a magnificent Harp player as they have live music every day. Wow. It was so beautiful. My favorite was the floor featuring instruments and music from different cultures with videos to match. Honestly, we barely scratched the surface. I would go Bach to this museum in a heartbeat (see what I did there?).
Day 52 Wednesday, October 16: If you’ve really been reading, you know that we hoof it over to the American part of Paris on Wednesdays and do our thing. Today was a little different, though. Our Aussie friend invited us to have lunch at a tea house before choir. We dress up and head over to this wonderful, beautiful, floral-wallpapered tea room with desserts stacked high up on the buffets. The menu is…limited…but we find it perfect! Geer had an amazing omelet and Carson enjoyed a poached egg in one of those swanky, British-type egg holders. I’m sure there’s a term for this but alas, it escapes me. You cut off the top of the egg, butter your bread pieces and dip them into the yolk. I think it’s called Egg-dunkers. She likes it. I have a perfect goat cheese and herb tart with a salad and a glass of wine and of course a dessert. These friends are polished and funny. I love it when Laure tells my kids they need to scoot up to the table or quiet down. Hey, they usually listen to her, too! It’s raining. Again. We rain dance to choir, hit up the library to return and check out more books and get our fifty cent chocolate chaud, drop off Raphael and wade our way toward the metro. Our stop is near the Grand and Petite Palais. Today, there is another modern art exhibit in the Petite Palais and it’s free, so we are going! Guess what we find outside the Palais? In the Rain? It’s the Candy-floss blowing machine that was on the earlier parade float!!! I learned this term just today. It’s not cotton candy…that comes in a big blob. This is Candy Floss, tiny threads of spun sugar that fly through the air from a huge blowing duct off of a platform and land in your hair, your sweater, on your shoes, your handbag, your CHILDREN! They are COVERED in sugar. People stop to stare. Not at the machine but at them! Seriously, if you want to get back at any moms in your town, have this contraption at your next 10 year old’s birthday party and invite all the kids to come, fully clothed, and leave with a glaze like a Krispie Kreme donut. We wash off in the museum sink. Kids each pick a favorite sculpture and we head home. Kids have to shower up while I go get chocolates and wine to take to our playground friend, Pauline’s, house for dinner. Hang with me here, I know this is long. We were on time for once. I could get use to an 8pm start. Her grands are the same age as the kids, so I assumed they would be there. Well, they have school and must get to bed like regular boys and girls, so it was just us, Pauline and 2 of her friends visiting from different parts of France. Her wandering artist son and his friend were in the front room perfecting his nude sketch cutouts. The kids were a great audience for that:/. Anyway, Pauline and her lovely friends show us to the Raclette, a Swiss piece of kitchen gadgetry that someone would have received in the 1970’s, clad with brownish-orange ceramic coating. I’m including a more modern picture because sadly I didn’t take one. Anyway, it is akin to the Fondue Pot, but oh so much more sophisticated and delicious. She had boiled potatoes and roasted cauliflower and charcuterie to go along with it. First you start with a little wine if you are old enough and only walking home (that’s me, and this place is new and unexpected so I must admit I need a little loosening up). Then, you take your own personal-sized cast iron skillet, apply to that the creamiest, most delicious cheesy cheese you’ve ever seen in a small wedge. Then you insert the skillet into its dedicated grilling location in the shared appliance and, voila, a few minutes later you have bubbling, boiling, browning cheese to “scrape”…aka “Raclette”…onto what you thought were sad, forgotten, boiled potatoes. Bam! Did someone say cheesy tots? Sonic? You can imagine that we put down a bushel of taters like we come from Vardaman. Before the dessert of molten chocolate cake and praline filled chocolate pumpkins, Pauline and her friend introduce us to the music that their children are working on together. So, these twenty-somethings are from France, moved to Berlin, and perform old-school 1950’s Brazilian music while writing and composing pieces with a similar style. Pauline’s husband also has a cd that was played while the kids danced around the kitchen. Her other children are artistic, too: one works in film and one in the production of a tv show you may have heard of…Survivor. That’s what we will be if we get out of here alive, not consumed by the deadly trio of wine, cheese and chocolate. It was a lovely evening. Pauline told us of her life as a rebel (her words, not mine). I want to hear more about that. Her friend gently asked the kids questions in French and helped them answer correctly. While I usually try to do something the kids will like, this is nothing I would have planned for them, but they had as much fun as anyone. They are survivors for sure. We roll ourselves home.
Day 53 Thursday, October 17: We sleep in from cheese coma. School, school, school. We prepare for my friend Raeanna’s arrival. We run up to the massive Thursday market at the Bastille to get our fill of crepes and specialties. I get a chance to catch up with Mom & grandparents on the phone. I talk to Lauren at the store to find they have everything under control. I might just stay here. It was an unremarkable day, really. But, I do have one remarkable story from today, though, We’ve been trying to journal and write bible verses, too (failure on all accounts, which is why I’m journalling. I want these dolla-bills to pay off with the kids one day:) Just kidding, but seriously if I didn’t write this all down, we would all forget the fun minutia of this trip.) Earlier today, Geer and I were reviewing the systems of the body and mainly our bones in his science class. Anyway, we do the occasional devotional together, and today we read our verses and I was reading through the material with the kids. What do you know but it’s all about bones! Geer and I just looked at each other with astonishment. It was like our science lesson all over again, but the added bonus of a reminder that we need bones of faith, and we need to keep our bones healthy by praying, praising, studying and telling the good news of Jesus…the most important bones to shape our life are the bones of faith. We all agreed that God was with us today and everyday, and this was one of those God-winks to remind us that He will go to great lengths to assure us that He is near. We need only to keep the faith.
Day 54 Friday, October 18: Oh Mair-say-poo-poo. That’s what Nan would say instead of “Merci boucoup” sometime and we just haven’t let that phrase go. We are so excited to be having company!!! I have been saving up so many fun things to do with Raeanna and Anna Stuart, and also have some favorite things that we want to repeat. Raeanna assures me that they are coming as tourists and we need to pack the clock. I’ve been researching and planning and finally I wrote all of our activities on little pieces of paper with their approximate time so I could arrange them. Then I checked the weather and had to totes-rearrange. Oh well! We busied ourselves with cleaning and laundry and school and preparing the perfect charcuterie plate for their arrival and then, BAM, it was here! The roll in with our wonderful driver, Sothiro (as recommended by a friend…if you need his number please let me know). They ooh and aah and claim this is the most wonderful place they have ever been. It’s not. Our apartment is on the shabby, small side but it is in a truly historic and happening area. We feed them, and they have that glazed over, what time is it, look in their eyes. We offer them a nap but they choose to press on! So, off to the races we go, starting with a cruise on the River Seine. Our first cruise was at night, so doing it during a day filled with sunshine was a totally different adventure. The guide was great and every site was just breathtaking. We pop off the boat and head out on foot for our next adventure…the Tuileries Gardens. We pass the Louvre concourse on our way and glimpse the pyramids, run through a few picnics and make our way to Angelina’s for a REAL chocolate chaud. This is the stuff. Drinking chocolate. Something you could go drunk on (Geer-ism). Again, somehow I end up drinking most of everyone’s. Hmmm. We find the playground, and this is what kids all want! Slides, spin-y things, climb-y things, other kids to race around and be the audience as you sing and dance and cheer and tumble. Raeanna and I get a change to catch up, which is so good. It starts to get dark, but the kids don’t notice. It’s funny…ask them to stay at an art museum for an hour? That’s hard. But they would play here for hours on end! We pull them away, grab a wonderful dinner, complete with our first Escargot of the trip, on Rue Cler, a wonderful old street full of vendors and stands and restaurants that is not to be missed. Then, what else should you do on your first night in Paris? Get to the top of the Eiffel Tower, that’s what!
Day 55 Saturday, October 19: Well, the kids stayed up late telling ghost stories and the pallet we made for Geer was vacated because of one of said stories, so there were 3 in the bed! We let them sleep in a little, but Paris is calling! In the rain, we Metro to Montmartre for breakfast at a little den I have been eyeing called Soul Kitchen. It was packed (which I secretly always love), and really tasty. My Alabama friend and tour guide, Margaret, lives in Montmartre so we ring her up and in no time she is joining us and telling us thing we never knew we didn’t know or even cared to know as we take the public bus-turned-tour-bus through the area! Did you know that Montmartre means Mountain of the Martyr? You can find the statue of Saint Denis with his head in his hands here. He was a bishop who was sentenced to decapitation for preaching Christian faith to the Gallo-Romans around 250 AD. If 1534, Saint Ignatius of Loyola and several others took the first steps in creation of the Jesuits, in vow to the remembrance and adherence to Saint Denis and his faith, at the first church in Montmartre. And that’s just some of the history (and it’s probably not very accurate as it’s coming from a shoe salesman, so do your own research:). Montmartre is very interesting and beautiful with sloping hills and delightful alleys. Much of the landscape is molded by the mining for gypsum that was done here. The beautiful Basilica of the Sacre Coeur was built on the hilltop starting in 1876 and is still a house of prayer, standing so tall, like a wedding cake, and can be seen from all over Paris. In the 19th century, this area was famous for the cafes and dance halls that had arrived. Montmartre was just outside of the city limits, so Margaret calls them Honkey Tonks. The famed Le Chat Noir and Moulin Rouge are close by, and so this area became super popular for writers and poets and artists. Apparently the price was right for them. Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others, all have history in this bohemian area. Today, it is still an artists-nook, but a little bit more commercialized. We love our time with Margaret and bid her adieu to continue our day. It says in our itinerary that we are going to the Catacombs, so we do. Did I miss the stop entirely? I did. Did we have to walk a good 15 extra minutes? We did. Did we wait in line for 2 HOURS TO GET IN? We did. Don’t ask me if it was worth it because the 2 hours kinda rains on any parade. We made the most of it, taking turns with lunch and watching the kids play in the green space. The girls decided they would be street performers. Honestly, their Greatest Showman medley was…great! But the others in line just rolled their eyes and didn’t even put in a pence. They either don’t have kids or don’t love theirs as much as I do…or maybe I’m just partial to mine. I finally visit the grocery for a wine-on-the-go as we wait. The Catacombs are amazing, though. I believe the number I heard was 6 million Parisians’ bones found in these vast underground tunnels, in artistic display. The tunnels are remnants of mining quarries and were also the spot for WWII underground activity. Note To Self (and to anyone else, too): Get the advanced tickets here and anywhere you can if you event think it might be busy. When the tour was over, we decided to check out Le Bon Marche. This is considered THE original department store and a Paris institution for over 150 years. The building itself is a marvel (architectural input from Gustave Eiffel may have helped). We ooh and ahh and are reminded of our richness and our poorness all at the same time. The shoe floor was insane. No purchases, but lots of memories:) We go off the map at this point and try a restaurant recommended by many sources, Le Relais de L’Entrecote (translation: The Relay of the Rib Steak). We visit the oldest St. Germain location, but find out that the original family, Gineste de Saurs, has spawned many locations across the world. No matter, this is the place, as attested to by the 45 minute line around the building. I’m sure it doesn’t rank among fancy French food (though it is fancy and and it is French) because they only serve one thing…steak. When you sit down, you are asked how you’d like your steak cooked and if you’d like a drink. Then, a lovely salad arrives followed shortly by platters of the most perfect strips of steak and the most perfect, thin, crisp, golden frites, all covered in the Cafe de Paris sauce. This sauce. mmm. No words, but the ingredient list goes like butter, cream, thyme, dijon, butter and butter. Truly, this was one of the best meals we’ve had. And the kids held up ok!
Day 56 Sunday, October 20: I have felt GREAT the whole time we’ve been here, and apart from Carson having a stubborn fever blister, thankfully we have all been healthy. But I wake up feeling cruddy, coughing, sneezing, wheezing and I just can’t pull myself together to get the kids up and out for the Louvre early, so we send our guests off on their own adventure, and I think they killed it! We met up with them after we popped in at the Conciergerie to view the Marie Antionette exhibit. Conciergerie is on of the French National Monuments, once a medieval palace, then a place of justice and most famously it was the cell for Marie Antoinette following the French Revolution. This exhibit showed how her image has changed over time, and how she has had a surprising revival and modernization of character. She is an icon all over the world. From Japanese Manga to Hollywood fashion, her representation continues. It was really a nice exhibit and even had trial papers and some of her articles from the 1790s. We met up with our friends and viewed Sainte Chapelle, just next door. The stained glass windows and statues surrounding the chapel are amazing. In 15 glass windows there are 1113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments telling much of the story of the bible. I could make out a few scenes, but the windows are massive and high. I wish we had secured a guide to make it more meaningful, but it was like being inside a jewelry box. After, we metro-ed ourselves over to the Haussman area for a little shopping, site-seeing, and roof-top dining at Galeries Lafayette. The kids were ready to get home because everything is more fun with guests in town…even just hanging out. Raeanna and AST packed their bags and prepared for their 2nd leg…London!
Day 57 Monday, October 21: I must say, our travel has been exceptionally smooth, but I do hear of hiccups here and there. Raeanna and Anna Stuart’s Eurostar train sat on the tracks for around 3 extra hours, really shortening their day in London. And I had other friends who couldn’t get to the airport on the Metro because train routes were shut down. So, I guess the word to the wise is to expect the unexpected when traveling. But today, we are staying put and taking our mind on a learning adventure-trying to catch up from our days off. For our first break of the day, the kids had the idea to each make up a game or two and keep score and crown a carnival winner. Their games were so clever! Mine was more like beer pong, without the beer, and it was lame compared. I was still feeling poor, but this perked me up and we had a great time at our carnival. It was a nice day out, too, so for our afternoon break, we got out and about in the neighborhood for a few minutes. Then Carson made me soup and put me to bed, awe! Oh, and I have another crazy story from earlier! Geer and I are reading a book called Pax, which is all about a boy and his pet fox. Today’s vocabulary related to the book had a list of animals and the name of their baby…Fox/Kit. So, a little while later, we open our devotional and the start of the article talks about a kitten growing into a cat, a puppy growing to a dog, etc. At this point, I jokingly add that a kit grows up to be a fox. Geer couldn’t believe it, but I told him I added that myself:) As I continued in the next line, though, it really did say that a Kit grows up to be a Fox! I mean, what are the odds??? The devotional points to us and asks what we are growing into. We are something now and we are growing into something else. And did you know that a fry grows up to be a fish? I wonder what I will grow up to be?
Day 58 Tuesday, October 22: Still sick, still behind on school, still plugging away at it all. But our friends, the McLaughlins, want to visit so we meet them at the Saint-Jacques Tower. Sadly, we aren’t able to go up and see the view, but the kids don’t care! The rip and roar and chase their tales around the tower. We pop in a few shops, another beautiful cathedral and catch up. We find ourselves at the Cognacq-Jay Museum, a free museum (FREEEE!!!). The museum is inside a beautiful 18th century townhouse and contains a collection from the Cognacq-Jay family, founder of a department store in Paris. The kids pick out items in each room that are interesting to them (this is Betsy’s idea, she’s a teacher, thank goodness!). This is not a grand museum, but shows real collections and lifestyle in the 1800’s. It was a nice afternoon and we are reminded of the blessing it is to have friends!
Day 59 Wednesday, October 23: More school! Gotta get these kids educated. Geer has testing and he was so funny…asking for my help. Am I smarter than a 4th grader? I’m not sure I am. Anyway, Raeanna and AST make it back from London, and they hunted down the Mason Pearson hairbrush that Carson was wanting. Since that moment, you can find her brushing, brushing, brushing her hair! We set out to shop a little, walking our way through Saint Germain area and come to another 17th century church, Eglise Saint Sulpice. I believe this is the second largest cathedral in Paris, and it, like all the others, is really beautiful. In the first bay chapel, there are 3 Delacroix murals done specifically for the church, after the revolution. The most beautiful, to me, is the portrayal of Jacob wrestling with God’s Angel after he fled his home because of his betrayal. Wrestling with God. We wrestle the kids out and head over to Luxembourg for a quick tour before ending at La Select. This was recommended by one of Raeanna’s neighbors, and it did not disappoint. In the same vein as Cafe de Flora, it’s a beautiful, light and airy, classic room. My scallops and gnocchi were divine! A quick Metro and we are resting up for a few more tourist spots before our friends head home.
Day 60 Thursday, October 24: We leave Raeanna to start the packing and we do something the kids have been asking me DAILY to do. We rent electric scooters! You just get the app, find a junky scooter abandoned anywhere on the road, scan the code and off you go! We went early because I didn’t want to face too much traffic. When I’m with really brave people, sometimes I get nervous. When I’m the leader, sometimes I get a little crazy. I’ve been telling the kids no (really, you are supposed to be 18 to even do this), but I totally wanted to! I loved the speed, the wind through my hair. The kids of course loved it, too. We ride around for maybe 15 minutes and the bill comes to 25 euro. Uhoh. We get back to the apartment and prepare to visit Versailles! We went earlier with Nan, but this time, we are planning to view a different part. So…we are getting close to the RER train (different from the metro we use all the time). The view I have is that half of us hop on the train that could have been headed to Versailles when the doors begin to close. Geer and AST were on the train, Raeanna was off the train and Carson and I were in-between, trying to decipher if this was the right train. It physically closes on us. Did I scream? Yes I did. Did I she-women the doors open so we could all get on? Yes I did. Did I have some help from the door open button that someone else hit? Well, yes, that too. Maybe I’m not as strong as I thought. Anyway, we all miraculously get on just to realize shortly after that this is not the right train. Mom fail. We get off, get turned around, back to another stop, on another train and finally we make it! Versailles is a bit other-worldly. It’s like a yellow and gold explosion! And the gardens are so massive, we barely even saw a portion of them. We make the long, long walk to the Petite Trianon, the Grand Trianon, and the Queen’s Hamlet. Each of these outposts were so interesting…a HUGE palace to get away from the even larger main palace (and to house a mistress), a chateau as a gift to the King’s young bride, a play house-like compound with a working dairy, animal farm, gardens and English gardens everywhere. For a while, it was said that Marie Antionette and her court would dress up like peasants and play around on the Hamlet (the real peasants didn’t appreciate this). Later believe to be mainly a working farm and used to educate her children about nature in a way they would otherwise never have had the opportunity to learn. At this point in the program, Geer and I realize that we only have a short while before he must continue his standardized testing. I brought my computer for this purpose, but we can’t find any wifi. So we race over the river and through the woods to a restaurant at the outset of the gardens and set up shop. Geer was so sincere in his dedication to do the testing and do it well. I liked his commitment, and I enjoyed the break! We finished up at Versailles with even more yet to see on a future trip sometime. We actually get on the right train for our return and find a wonderful restaurant close to the apartment for our last meal (or so we thought). I ordered the plate of the day, which came with a terrine. I thought I knew what this was going to be, but I was wrong. I’ve seen this around and felt sure this was one thing I just wouldn’t like. It was like a cold, meatloaf of duck and chicken and sausage and organ meat and vegetables and egg all minced and molded together that have aspic laced throughout. It sounds gross. It looks gross. It kinda smells gross. But it was not bad. Tried it, check it off the list. Goodbye forever. For our last outing, we venture to the Arc de Triomphe. I’ve seen it, sped around it, but never been up it. The stairs are plentiful but the views are worth every step. With 12 radiating avenues around it, the view is star-like, and of course the Iron Lady is sparkling. The Arc honors those who fought and died in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars, and a flame burns non-stop to honor the Unknown Soldier from World War I. The Germans walked around it when they took Paris in 1940 and the Allies paraded around in 1944 when France was liberated. I’m so glad we finally did this. At home, we pack up our guests and are sad for their departure tomorrow, but know it starts the final countdown for us!
Day 61 Friday, October 25: We wake up and get the girls all ready to leave, review the directions and start out the door when Raeanna gets a notice that her flight was cancelled. What!?! I couldn’t believe it. She gets on the horn with American after a lengthly hold to find that bad weather in Texas has things all out of whack, but that she should be good to go the next day. So…we have a bonus day! Yay! Kids skip school work and we make the most of it. We walk around the neighborhood a bit, try some Halva (have I mentioned this before? It’s this Middle-eastern ground sesame seed fudge-like confection that we are digging). Then we head to the Picasso Museum. This has been on my to-do list for a while. The building, a restored townhome, is just gorgeous with windows all around and a beautiful double staircase. And the Picasso was…so square. Almost cubed. Get it? Anyway, we learn a little about his life, his work, the start of the new artistic movement of the time. Kids tried their hardest to make whole people out of the parts he painted while not boring themselves to death. We finally feel like we did it justice and head out to let the kids run around in the park that borders the museum. We eat at Breizh Cafe again. There are so many places to try that I hated to revisit this restaurant for a second time, but it’s somewhere I knew the kids would enjoy, it was right in front of us, it would be fast, and delicious. I wasn’t sorry! After fueling up, we were ready for museum #2, the Pompidou. The building has a crazy exterior that sticks out like a sore thumb to me, but it is a symbol of modernity and an icon for modern art. The ductwork is all on the outside, color coded by function. It looks like a vertical playground attached to a wall. At the top, there is another great rooftop view of the city. The museum itself has special exhibits and an interesting permanent collection. We kind of whip through…not all that interested and a little nervous the kids would stumble onto something weird. Plus, Raeanna has to get home and explain to her 8 year old that she’s not coming home as planned. We are all a little nervous as they want and need to get home. We go to bed praying to wake up to good travel news.
Day 62 Saturday, October 26: Raeanna and AST’s new flight is delayed…pushed back to the point that her connection won’t work. Determined to get home, they pack it all up and head for the airport to get in front of someone and hopefully get home. It finally worked and after a full day of traveling they finally got home! After we get them off, we start playing catch up with school and laundry and such. Then, I make a list of supplies we need for the kids Halloween costumes and run out to find what I can. This is when I really yearn for Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby. I wish you could see our meager supplies. But we persevere. Of course I should have made these costumes earlier, but…we start at about 1. We are supposed to be there at 3. Yea, I know, it aint happenin! Carson is pretty self-sufficient busily taping herself into a brown pillow from our sofa that we have covered in a Nutella Jar logo. I measure and draw out the shape of a knife for Geer, we cut a hole for his head (and his hair) and try to cover it all in tin-foil. Then the reinforcement is needed. More tape, more cardboard, more tin foil, more details. Finally, we can’t wait any longer. We call an Uber, but our neighborhood is busting at the seems with pedestrian strollers today and no cars can get through. We start towards the destination on foot, with oodles of stares and smiles and laughs and a few photos of the Nutella girl and a boy in a strange shiny suit! Once out of our district, we catch a cab the rest of the way and meet up with our friend, Will, who is dressed as a Crepe. Together, they are the best Parisian snack money can buy! The donut shop spearheads a trick or treat and costume contest on this adorable street, so we follow the map to all the locations and kids get a little candy. Geer is a bit agitated with all the tin foil, but he keeps going. We then Metro to the American Library and meet up with more kids for a trick or treat in that neighborhood. The kids had a great time and I was able to catch up with some adults. When our time slot arrives, we go through the Haunted Library together and I must say I did scream out loud a few times. The premise was that on Halloween, characters come out of the books to haunt the library. The teen Library members and other patrons were amazing actors, all decked out, and it was spooky! They also showed some homemade horror clips and ended with a costume contest. Can you believe our trio won 2nd place! We were all so excited! It was worth the $10 in duct tape to see the joy on their face. Geer has been a bit blue about missing Halloween and has asked a few friends to trick or treat for him, haha! So this was a good substitute. We rode the bus home after de-taping Geer and fell into bed, cavities and all.
Day 63 Sunday, October 27: It’s raining, again. This is a bit of a hard rain. We get ready for church then decide we don’t want to walk 15 minutes in the rain and decide on brunch instead (I know, this is terrible, but I am still under the weather. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!). We have a great sit-down brunch with croissant, chocolate chaud, fresh oj and yogurt and coffee. At home, I crawl back into bed and together we watch a sermon from North Point with the question “Is it worth it?” Is it worth it to be a Jesus follower. This was a great sermon for me and really sparked some good conversation with the kids. I loved it when Geer prayed at the end of the night and said, “God, we want to be all in for you,” something they talked about in the sermon. He’s a deep thinker under all that hair. The kids did a little work and also just relaxed while I reflected. Today, October 27, is our 18th wedding anniversary. The kids were so happy with that. They kept commenting, sadly, that lots of marriages don’t make it that long and they were glad we kept it up. I’m glad, too. So I was in a reflective mood. Thankful for my friend of 24 years who came across the globe to spend time with us. Thankful for my friends at home who keep checking in on us to make sure we are ok, keep us up to date and who WANT us to come home, but still water our plants and feed our cats and check the mail. Thankful for my friend ML who has had Penny for almost 3 months! And they don’t even have a dog of their own! Thankful for my family who, despite their own desires to have us close, are supportive of this and every venture I take. Thankful for a business partner who can and will get it done while I’m away. Thankful for this opportunity to be with my kids in a new experience and for everyday I have on earth. And thankful for my marriage, for Edgar, and for the kids more now than ever before. Edgar gets home from his own work trip, his visit to Paris, and a hunting trip at midnight my time, and he has Penny with him. So all is almost just right tonight.
Day 64 Monday, October 28: School, reading, blogging, planning, phone calling, cleaning, walking around the neighborhood, visit to the Lego store (Geer makes a Miles and an Amy lego person for a wedding gift-he can’t wait to be in their wedding in a few weeks). We hit up a few more shops at Les Halles, pick up some groceries and head home for dinner and to watch The Phantom of the Opera! This is a little out there for the kids. They do not love scary, and I don’t either! But, we are going to tour the Opera in a week and I want them to have some background. They do love music. I guess they get that from me (hardyharhar). Love me… that’s all I ask of you!
Day 65 Tuesday, October 29: Carson, baby doll that she is, has to do a project for her Social Studies class. I volunteer to help. Did I ever tell you that I spent a short stint as a paper-writer in college? The fee was nominal, and I thought the papers were good….much better than the knuckle heads who hired me could ever do. But, after a few submissions, I started getting the guilty feeling that this wasn’t right, and my computer broke and I had to spend hours on the phone with HP and the technical support was in India. It was a nightmare. I quit that job and went back to my English conversation tutoring with Korean students. That was the best job I’ve ever had. They already SPEAK English. And I don’t speak Korean, or whatever language they use. They just paid me to converse with them, can you believe that?! We went for coffee or yogurt at TCBY and I got paid…to TALK! I loved it so much that I decided I would do that as a career and thus my current position in sales. See how it all works out? I can really get myself down a rabbit hole. Anyway, Carson and I spend 4 hours working on this Social Studies project. I think we are done and she tells me, “Mom, that was only the first concept of 7 concepts in the first chapter of two chapters of the first unit.” I quit again. Get me back to Seaside Shoes, please Lord! Thankfully, I get a call from Kelly and have a good reason to pull away from Antebellum America (no offense, history teachers:)) I am so happy to catch up and get reports from home:). To be honest, we are starting to count down the days. It’s getting cold here, and have I mentioned the rain? And it’s dark since the time change and we miss everyone! But we still have about 10 things left on the bucket list so we are committed to seeing it through and putting on a little more winter-weight. We head out to check off one more…the Paris Mint. It was a wonderful museum full of monies all through the ages, lessons on materials used for coins and printing methods. I really enjoyed it, and having the McLaughlins with us made it even better!
Day 66 Wednesday, October 30: We start with our school for the day. The French kids are all out of school for 2 weeks! Kind of like a Fall break. So, our choir is on hold during the holiday. We find out about a Chocolate Expo, and that sounds like something that someone with my level of chocolate love should definitely do. So we get our friend Will and head over to a convention center on the edge of town. There are chocolate and bakery and sugar shops set up as far as the eye can see. We will never get through all of it. In fact, after 1 isle, we are all feeling a little bit sick of chocolate. Wait, who do I think I am?! I’m no quitter. I’ll never turn my back on my first love. So, we stomach through most of the rest of the exhibit. Some of my favorite items tried were a praline brioche, almond flour cookies (different from the shells to make the sandwich cookies…these are more substantial), fruit pate, a cake made with Tonka bean (apparently not a legal substance in the US), and the most luscious, truffle-like candy from Germany. This was the only thing we bought. I got a sizable container, thinking everyone who loves chocolate will love these. The problem is that we love chocolate and I fear these will not make it home, so forget I ever even mentioned it! Will is staying the night with us, so after dinner the boys retire for some mine-crafting and Carson and I watch My Girl. Tear. Gulp. Swollen Eyes. Seeing movies that I loved with my kids brings a new dimension to them. Carson loved it, too.
Day 67 Thursday, October 31: It’s Halloween! We head over to the Magic Museum. Wow! It was so cool. You enter at the street and walk down about a half level to reveal cave-like rooms linked together. There was a great magic show, and the magician was a real funny, clever, but totally unassuming showman. Videos and props and magic items from French history fill the museum, along with some early animation. We wanted to find out the secret to sawing someone in half because they had the apparatus there. But, the language barrier made this impossible. We bring home the program for our local magician, Grey, and hope he can figure it out. After, we meet Will’s mom, Betsy, and we walk for a while around town. We finally find the Mona Lisa Dabbing sweat shirt Geer likes. We also stumble upon an Odette shop, specializing in cream puffs. Maybe they’ve always been a thing, but they seem to be having a resurgence here. We try a sleeve and love the light, airy pastry filled with just enough cream and topped with the right amount of icing to make it perfect. We part ways with our friends and grab some dinner. At home, we finish the Phantom of the Opera and are left wondering about society’s ability to build up and tear down. Hide your face so the world will never find you.
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