The Days of Our Lives

September 28-October 10, 2019

Day 34 Saturday, September 28:  Saturday!  We have some fun plans today, but first, we need to finish a little school.  Kids work on that and I work on packing us up for a sleepover at the McLaughlins!  I’ve also been messaging with a friend of a coworker of a friend of a friend.  She lives in France and is from Alabama…I think she’s a tour guide.  I must admit, I’m picturing a 30-something young girl who set off in a dreamy haze to France and is living large.  After all, I have messaged with her a few times earlier and she was in Nice for the summer, then traveling to Russia for a week or so.  She’s really on the go.  So, we finally connect and she says she’ll come by the apartment on her way to catch the train to Nice again (this girl!!!).  We wait and mid afternoon she buzzes in and has her suitcase, so we go down to meet her.  I was right, she came to France at 30 years old after just finishing her graduate degree.  This was some 40+ years ago, though.  This amazing lady is STILL killing it here.  She has several rental properties in Nice and in Paris (the kids helped her message some potential renters), she speaks 3 or more languages and is a certified international tour guide.  She is busier than I ever thought about being!  We loved have a drink and a pastel de nata with her and learning about France and her life here.  What a treat!  So, once we split ways, the kids and I head over to the 16th to meet up with our friends. They take us to an amazing, huge park where the kids play for hours.   Then, they walk us around their neighborhood, which is more residential and a little more quiet compared to ours, but still has everything you would need right outside your door.  They serve us an amazing meal of lasagne and baguette and chocolate they brought back from Amsterdam.  We play ‘In the bag’ and laugh and laugh at the Iron Lady gesture from Geer, Carson’s picture of Oprah, and the fact that Donald Trump made it into the game 2 times!  We fall in to bed tired and thankful again to have met friends that we all enjoy.  Betsy’s husband was out of town for work, which made this fun and games sleepover possible:).

Day 35 Sunday, September 29: The next morning, they serve us fresh crepes with Nutella, strawberries and banana slices.  YUM!  We may never leave.  Off to church for another great service.  Something about Sundays and rain…We get back to our neighborhood soaked a little, but still have enough energy to explore the department store close to our home, le BHV.  We have walked through it as a shortcut through the metro, but haven’t looked through the 6 floors of clothing, cosmetics and fragrance, every kitchen gidget, gadget, gizmo you may need for the perfect pasta or coffee or wine and cheese service…anything.  They even have a huge floor of furnishings, beds, beautiful French bedding and towels and amazing views over the rooftops of Paris.  There is a gourmet floor that I get a little lost on, and now we are so hungry that we have the Sunday buffet there and feel like we may never need to eat again!  On the ground floor as we exit, you will find a city block of hardware, paint, knobs, cleaning supplies, light fixtures, wallpaper, closet inserts, etc.  This is like a museum in itself!  We barely scratch the surface of this place, but off to home we go to get ready for another week and spend a little time on the phone catching up with some family and friends.

Day 36 Monday, September 30:  School, school, school!  It’s really getting in the way of our fun!  We try to wrap up early because our friends from home are coming over for lunch-yessss!  They arrive and tell us about the wonderful meals and exploring they’ve been doing. Am I a tad bit jealous that all my meals are kid-friendly and don’t include champagne? Mabye so!  We head over a few blocks for a proper French lunch.  It was yummy and so nice to sit down and chat!  After, we walk around our area looking for chocolate and wine from their previous food tour and find that much of Le Marais is closed on Monday!  Actually, many museums and shops and restaurants are closed on Monday and Tuesday.  It’s hard to keep up, so NOTE TO SELF: No such thing as too much research:).  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed walking the interesting streets of the Marais with Andy and MA and were sad to see them go.  Off we ran to get Carson to dance class.  I took Geer home so he could chill and I ran around getting more groceries and such…what am I actually buying?  I don’t know??  We find a bakery that has a 1 euro little hame and cheese sandwich and voila!  Dinner is served:)  Kids finally turn in and I continue my research research research! 

Day 37 Tuesday, October 1:  We have MORE big plans today, so we try to plow through school and get ready to host our friends for a little bit.  The McLaughlins come over and we walk around le Marais, showing them the sights.  We stop at Place de Vosges and the kids play on this gorgeous day.  We continue on to Bastille and to the Canal, checking out the houseboats.  And what do you know it, but a huge black cloud appears from nowhere!  So, we race through the streets towards home and with less than 5 minutes left, the bottom drops out.  I mean, cats and dogs are in these raindrops!  We duck under the canopy of a little cafe and are basically crowded around the table of 2 diners, who end up being from the US.  We enjoy chatting with them and as we decide to chance it, the server brings us 2 giant umbrellas.  SO NICE!  We will be back (to bring the umbrellas of course, but to eat, too!).  We get as far as the ice cream store and decide we need to take a break and we all enjoy yet another treat.  At our house, we offer what we have to them…some salami, cheese, olives, cheese.  Finally, time to head out!  We all take the Metro to the Trocadero.  I have seen the Eiffel Tower many times not, but not from here.  THIS is the place!  There is a somewhat famous crepe stand, so we all participate and support it before we ooh and ahh at the Eiffel Tower from this viewpoint. It is so large and I just love this view, with the city around it.  We scored free tickets to a concert for tonight’s event, and the artist is Dido!  I forgot that I even knew who she was, but of course some songs hide in the recesses and I remembered, “I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life.”  Was it raining cats and dogs again?  Yes.  Were we soaked to the bone?  Yes.  But at least it wasn’t cold, and when the Eiffel Tower turned PINK in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month and we were basically right under it, it was totally worth the hassle.  It was just beautiful!  The kids jumped around and enjoyed the festivities and we made it home safe again and happy to have had this experience.  And I am thankful for the best days of my life…like sands through the hourglass, these are the Days of Our Lives (oh wait, that’s another memory hiding back there!)

Day 38 Wednesday, October 2:  School days, school days, dear old golden rule days.  Music does a number on a person!  Well, with everything going this week, I waited until today to do my laundry.  And did I mention that we are going to Normandy?  So I am researching like crazy, trying to run around the corner to wash, to switch, to dry, to fold, to bring home.  It’s a bit of a relay.  Geer’s new friend, Raphael, has a mom, Laure, and she has invited us to come up to their apartment before choir, so we race to the Library to return our books and get up to their apartment.  It’s always fun to see where people live.  They have owned this place for years, but this is the first time they’ve lived here themselves as they are normally in Australia.  It’s HUGE compared to our place…3 bedrooms and a proper kitchen and a dining table and a balcony that stretches all across the front with views over the city and an amazing view of the gilded dome over Napoleon’s tomb.  It was cool.  I enjoyed chatting with her and drinking Nespresso (Santa!) while Raphael taught Geer how to play marbles.  Then off we go to choir where the kids get ready for their Sunday performance.  No solo this time, but they are singing a great song about the spirit of the Lord in your heart.  I love to hear them practice.  Then after, they run around like monkeys who have been caged for most of their life.  In preparation for Normandy, I decide a visit to the Army Museum is a must.  It’s at Invalides, and the building alone is impressive, 4 huge sides and a huge courtyard in the middle.  We only have 2 hours, which is not enough, but the kids are…how can I put this…not that interested?  Bored out of their wits again?  They try to feign interest.  I give it my best “find one thing in this room that interest you”.  They find some cool cannon replicas and kind of like the tiny toy soldiers (I LOVED the toy soldiers.  The started off as flat tin soldiers that were each hand painted in the colors and costumes of their country.  Then, they started making molded metal soldiers instead.  The display of card army men was so cool…each card hand painted, then cut out and put on a little stand.). We wander through the French history section and finally get to the calvary and armor section, but we run out of time and don’t even get to see the WW1 and WWII sections:(. Mom fail.  The kids just kept asking for a snack.  Another Mom fail.  We do get to see Napoleon’s tomb before we leave and it was also super cool.  They rush us out just in time for another rain storm-what!?!  We run for blocks to the Metro and get home wet again.  I actually cook dinner at home while the kids get cleaned up and dried off.  I just love being with these two. turkeys, even if they aren’t that into history, we are making our own, and I love that.

Day 39 Thursday, October 3:  Do I even have to say it?  SCHOOL!  Every single day!  Oh well:)  After school, we meet our friends at the Grevin Wax Museum.  This was a fun museum for them.  Wax soldiers, wax celebrities, wax history figures, a wax Pope, a wax Donald, a wax Queen.  Then there was a whole section about French history, in wax of course.  Would you believe there was a wax George Clooney? I always thought Kelli Clooney had a nice ring to it.  I asked Geer to take my picture with George, and he was so funny about it!  He tried to cut George out because he said I was already married and that Daddy wouldn’t like it.  I almost cried I laughed so hard.  We explored more covered shopping areas, one full of children’s stores.  The kids looked for a long time at legos and model airplanes and music instruments and art kits.  Geer spent a few dollars on some marbles.  Betsy left with Edy to get her to a writing class and we walked home, exploring new areas of Paris and picking up a roast chicken and potatoes cooked in duck fat (oh yeah!) for dinner.  They loved having a friend over to just play-kind of like home I guess!  Will is a great guest and both the kids love to hang out with him.  Betsy and her hubs Jeff came to our area to pick Will up and I met them for a glass of wine before they headed home.  What a nice day we had!

Day 40 Friday, October 4:  Another catch up day. Is that all we do?  We give it the old college try and finally take a break to go for a walk.  We find this unbelievable bakery.  Apparently, they have 2 specialties.  We will have to return later for their chocolate chip brioche.  Today, we tackle these cakes made of merengues, layered with cream and coated with something delicious like chocolate or specious cookies or crunchy caramel or crushed pistachios.  We also find a cute kitschy toy shop with repeating animals and joke books and the kids are thoroughly entertained here.  We explore near the Bastille and find an awesome kids store called Bonton.  It’s 3 levels of beautiful clothing and kids room decor and toys and a shoe parlor and a salon!  So, Carson gets a French trim:). I tried to get her to cut Geer’s hair, but she really didn’t seem to have a vision for it.  Go figure. Carson looks fresh and as beautiful as ever, oui.  On our way home, we spot a pizza place that was on my list from some late night research and boy is it good!!  After, we pass Place des Vosges again.  Still amazed this is in our neighborhood…it is the oldest square in Paris, lined with trees and houses built starting around 1612 (previous hotel on this site dated from the 1300’s).  The Louis XIII architecture is charming, it’s a perfect square surrounding a park with a fountain in the middle.  The beautiful, symmetrical arcades have antique shops, art shops, pastry shops, restaurants and cafes.  In the 1600’s, the square hosted duel practice, tournaments and parades.  It was a favorite of French aristocrats and many famous French have lived here, including Victor Hugo.  On one side, there is now an empanada shop and tonight they happen to be offering a free make-your-own empanada.  We are stuffed with pizza, but if anyone knows me they know I don’t pass up FREE!  The kids had a blast.  It’s after dark, so our Nan wouldn’t be happy (the kids remind me anytime we are out late), but we make it home happy and just in time to watch a family movie again…our favorite thing to do pretty much anywhere.  At the rate of our consumption, we are going to need a bigger bed for movies when we get home:)

Day 41 Saturday, October 5:  It’s the weekend.  It’s the weekend.  We go shopping, we watch soccer and we sleep in!   That’s our little running joke/weekend song…feel free to change it as you see fit.  We leave Geer at home and head off to do a little shopping at Les Halles because it’s getting cold and I guess we didn’t think of that!  We head home to get the boy and take off for the Library.  They offer an acting clinic with a local theater group.  This is precious time for the kids to be with other kids, and they seem to enjoy it.  After, our friends walk us to the Parc de Princes, home of the Paris Saint Germain soccer team.  I had hoped that Geer would be able to play some soccer here, but in the area where we live, there’s not much soccer right now.  They play in the summer and there are leagues but most are outside of the city.  He’s pretty bummed he missed soccer this year, so this is me trying to make up for it.  Apparently PSG is the bomb!  They are the most successful French football club in history.  I have to confess, I know almost nothing about soccer and totally nothing about this league, but we head off to the game feeling lucky.  Geer knows very little, too, but he’s excited.  I’m in awe that it doesn’t seem so crazy as we approach the stadium.  I think it’s because everyone comes in on public transportation so there aren’t a million cars crowding the street.  The Parc holds a max of 50,000 fans, and there are probably close to that many here at their October home opener.  No cheerleaders, but several sections of fans who keep the cheers going.  There’s a fair share of painted bodies and flags and horns.  It was so fun!  Of course, they crushed their opponent 3-0 without even really trying.  I nervously lead the kids out thinking the metro will be wild, but with trains coming every minute, it only took us about 30 minutes to get from the stadium into the train and headed home.  We would have made it, too, except Carson had to go to the ‘toilette’ so badly that we had to hop off at a random stop.  NOTE TO SELF:   Make children go to the restroom ALL.THE.TIME.  Anyway, we rush off and I tell her to walk confidently into this nice restaurant and find the restroom like she belongs there.  It works.  The night is nice and I’m so cheap that I insist we walk the rest of the way since we’ve already used our Metro ticket.  I’m so glad I’m so cheap.  As soon as we turn on Rue de Rivoli, the main boulevard that leads to our home, we see a parade!  It’s Nuit Blanch…the White Night celebration around the city.  I had forgotten because we had other plans, but this night many museums stay open late and art installations can be found all over town.  The final float of the parade is a strange, space-like float with lots of plastic and fans.  Something white is being blown from the float.  We get closer and find that it’s cotton candy!  The kids (along with thousands of our closest friends) chase the float, eating some of the cotton candy and basically getting a candy coating of their own.  They eat and eat and eat.  I finally pull them away and we walk ahead, faster than the parade, to see dancing ladies, men in kilts, bagpipes and various parade entertainers.  It was such a fun close to a great Saturday. 

Day 42 Sunday, October 6:  What’s the deal with the rain, Paris?  Seriously!  And ALWAYS on Sunday.  Anyway, we make our trek to the American Church in Paris.  The kids are singing in the service again.  They robe up and I take a walk to get some breakfast because….it’s the weekend and we sleep in:).  When I get back, they are done with the run through and I feed them and find out that they helped themselves to some coffee in the fellowship hall, and liked it!  Who knew?  More choir members turned out this week and they did a beautiful rendition of “Little Wheel a Turning”.  Each month, there is a ladies’ bible study following the service and a kids bible study at the same time.  We went to our perspective classes.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time with these women of all ages, all races, and from countries far and near.  Our theme is forgiveness.  We end the study with 3 minutes of silent meditation.  Tears run down my cheeks as I think about all the forgiveness I have been given and all the forgiveness I have withheld.  How and why would I be so unforgiving when God forgives me before I even ask?  I’m so thankful that God doesn’t give up on me and thankful for this time of reminder.  Betsy has so generously offered to take the kids to the Longchamp Hippodrome for a Horse Race (I’m sported out).  The sun is finally shining and the kids head off.  I’m thinking to myself, what am I going to do without the kids?  It’s a strange feeling.   My mom’s sense of direction is…how can I say this delicately?  Terrible?  Non-existent?  But if you tell my mom to get to a mall, she will make it there.  I guess I have a little Pam in me, because that’s where I go.  I walk the floors of Printemps, one of the big department stores, hoping to find some threads for the children.  I admire that parents actually pay these prices for their kids…these people must be filthy rich!  I can only afford food here, so I hit the top floor and settle in for a wonderful lunch of salad with goat cheese toast points and vino and a view of the Eiffel tower.  This is living!  I walk over to the Zara (more my speed) and wait in line with the masses to try on more affordable fashion.  Finally, I head to Galeries, my favorite department store.  It has an AMAZING stained glass globe top that makes you feel pretty spectacular just to be there.  I see tons of Asians literally lined up against velvet ropes waiting to get in LV for their new bag and all kinds of women waiting outside the Gucci shop-in-a-shop for their new belts.  I head to the shoe floor where I feel at home.  This is a whole floor…which is a whole city block…of shoes.  I am on a mission, though, to find some sneakers that aren’t Vans or Adidas.  My friend Betsy introduced me to Veja and I love the story and the look.  It’s a French brand, but the materials and production methods are ecologically-friendly (is that a term?) and much of the material is recycled.  I find my pair and hit the train home to meet Betsy and kids.  We hang around the house and eat what I have left at home…nuts, crackers with peanut butter and honey, some cheese, a little cured meat and wine.  It was delicious!  Ready to start another week!

Day 43 Monday, October 7:  Have I mentioned that I am sorry this is so long?  Let me just cut to the chase.  We head to the Foundation Louis Vuitton to meet the McLaughlins for an exhibit.  Are we running late?  Yes.  Did we run 3 blocks the wrong way when we exited the Metro in a new part of town?  Yes.  Is it really my fault?  Yes.  Do I try to blame the kids anyway?  Yes.  There, I said it, are you happy?  You’ll recognize this building, designed by Frank Gehry.  It kind of looks like a glass and metal Noah’s Ark.  Super cool.  Anyway, there are no handbags or leather here, but there is a new exhibit about Charlotte Perriand.  This women was a pioneer of modernity and a leader during life (1903-1999).   She was a designer/architect and a contemporary of Picasso.  She worked with artists to create functionality and unity in art and furnishings.  She also didn’t get the credit she deserved for her innovative ideas.  Basically, if you see it at Ikea, Charlotte thought of it first.  She really did so much more, all over the world, but one of her first big projects was in Japan.  In honor, there were real Japanese artists sampling dance and song and instruments for us in a small theater setting.  I know these instruments must have been old and primitive, but the songs have no rhythm, no beat.  And the intense and profuse effort to make this primitive flute blow paired with the moaning chants and ancient dance and kimonos somehow turned the tickle box of the kids and me.  We couldn’t contain it.  We tried.  We failed. We wailed. We cried we laughed so hard. One look from them and I was undone.  Yes, that was the highlight of the day:). That’s all I’ve got!

Day 44 Tuesday, October 8:  I’m afraid we will have to stay another month for me to catch up on my recaps of what we’ve done.  I’m going to make this on easy.  Geer got a haircut.  We loved the young Brazillian stylst, with a similar hairstyle.  Geer’s hair looked great when we left.  Next day, it looks just the same.  Wild and crazy. 

Day 45 Wednesday, October 9:  It’s Wednesday, choir day!  Our friends from choir have asked us to come early and have lunch at their apartment (the amazing one with the view of the gold dome above Napoleon’s tomb).  We run around trying to find some fantastic dessert to take and finally get the merengues we loved.  We arrive and have a lovely lunch of chicken and potatoes and salad and sweets.  It was great to be around friends.  I take the kids off to choir and enjoy their rehearsal again.  After, we grab a coffee.  Actually, we don’t grab it because they don’t really grab stuff the way we do (and they don’t drink Starbucks, either.  They actually frown on it.  There are many Starbucks here, so someone is drinking it, but it doesn’t seem to be the French).  We stop in the cafe, sit at the counter, order the delicious cappuccino.  The kids order lemonade with Grenadine…a new thing they are loving.  We receive said drinks, enjoy them, pay for them, then head out.  We walk to the Champ de Mars (the huge green space, playground, etc. at the foot of the Eiffel Tower) for a little table tennis.  Laure has the instruments we need because they are regular table tennis players.  Raphael is good.  Laure is good.  Jullian the 5 year old is good.  But Geer is too!  I was so impressed with his skills.  Gotta get him some ping pong when we get home.  I know you’re tired of hearing this, but it started to rain.  No, it started to pour!  We run run run through the park to the nearest metro and head home soaked to the bone.  Dinner at home and a little family movie to wrap up the day.  

Day 46 Thursday, October 10:  Basically, we are busy getting caught up on school, laundry and cleaning before Edgar comes-yay yay yay!  We did have a bit of a fiasco.  The neighbor locked his keys inside his apartment while I was out doing laundry.  He knocked on the door and wanted to come in to climb over the 4th story roof to get to his window.  Yep.  Nope.  Thankfully, the kids did the right thing.  They refused to open the door, told the man they were not allowed, even though he begged.  They called Edgar and they called me and I literally ran to get home.  This is what I get when I leave for a minute!  We checked in on the neighbor to apologize for not being able to help, and he understood.  After we recap the situation, we run a few errands and pick up some Normandy guides from our new chocolate shop friend, Natalie.  We also tried homemade marshmallows!  They were yummy (and I don’t really love marshmallows). We picked up a few French drug store beauty products and some Falafel and Shawarma before heading home to pack up for our Normandy Invasion starting tomorrow:). We are busting at the seems to see Edgar in the morning. Stay tuned… broadcasting next from Normandy, France!