Paris - Dragons

Friday, June 6 we did lots of walking, first to the Louvre, but just to visit the gardens where we found a merry-go-round. The attendants were nice enough to let the kids ride it 3 times in a row. Not exactly keeping with the image of the rude and arrogant French that Americans are suppose to encounter in Paris!

We also walked through a "Arc de mini" (my label) whereas it was much smaller than the Arc de Triomphe that we saw later in the day -- hard to believe huh! This one reminded me of the Brandenburger Tor found in Berlin because of the horses on top of the monument.


Our next destination was the Arc de Triomphe which meant walking down the shopping district in Paris. We did stop at the KidGAP to get socks for the kids because it was a little cool and windy that day, and we forgot to put socks on the kids -- their feet were so cold!

At the Arc, the boys were only interested in playing in the gravel. Parisian gravel must be different than the American stuff! While Bob, Danni and I were admiring the Arc, a Japanese tourist taking pictures wanted a picture with the boys, it was very odd but I didn't care. Our kids get so much attention, they are just so cute! (But I'm not biased at all!)



Interesting fact that I read about the Arc de Triomphe. When it was first constructed, it is so big that someone flew a bi-plane through the Arc! Amazing!

Next stop was the Museum of Modern Art. Once again there was so many steps in the museum so we only took one umbrella stroller in, the one that Nathan was sleeping in. Nathan slept through the whole museum! Colin on the other hand really enjoyed the museum until a guard scared him when he got too close to a painting. Colin said no more museums after that.

The featured exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art was by Peter Doig. Bob and I really enjoyed his stuff!

Then it was back to the Eiffel Tower where I got another crepe, mmmmmm! My favorite! However, the French pronounciation of crepe sounds a lot like a combination of cripe and crap. Colin felt it was necessary to proclaim to everyone, "Mom's getting a crap", over and over again. Of course, Bob probably had a hand in encouraging him!

Time to go to Notre Dame which Colin liked a lot better than the museum ... probably because there wasn't any security guards yelling at him! While we were in Notre Dame looking around, Nathan started talking about seeing a dragon. I really don't know what that's all about?? Maybe he can see things that adults can't, [insert scary music here]. More than likely it's just the inside of Notre Dame reminded Nathan of the castle in the movie Shrek where the dragon lived.



Then we saw a smaller church but just as beautiful as Notre Dame. Nathan said no dragons were in this church.

For dinner we went to a fondue place right next to the one Bob and I went to last time we were in Paris ... 10 years ago! The kids wouldn't try anything until dessert came. Nathan kept saying, "I don't like cheese", which is completely bogus because at home he eats cheese all the time! However, when the chocolate fondue showed up, Colin and Nathan ate more than they have the whole trip -- bananas, grapes and apples dipped in chocolate. YUM!