Paris is usually a very magical place. Unfortunately this wasn't our best vacation there this summer. Meredith ended up catching pneumonia before we left Abu Dhabi (we didn't know this until we got to the US later) so she was in sad shape during our whole stay in Paris. We still managed to salvage some wonderful experiences though.
Carl and Lynne (AKA Grandpa Carl and Gaga) flew over and met us there which was a wonderful part of the vacation. We rented an apartment in a neat shopping neighborhood right off the Rue du Bac - not too far from the Rodin museum and within walking distance of the Seine, the Louvre and the Luxemburg Gardens.
Poor little Meredith was drug around a lot the first few days and then Jake and I started taking turns staying home with her as she really didn't feel up for sightseeing. I think this means we're missing some photos but you can get a sense of our trip.
I think the best part of our trip was a wonderful evening we spent at a cooking school. We met the chef at a metro station and went shopping with him for the ingredients. There was no pre-planned menu and we just talked about what looked good at the market and what we liked. The funny (and initially disappointing) part was that when we met our chef (Alex) we found out he was from Texas! Not exactly what we expected when we booked a cooking class in Paris. It turned out he was absolutely wonderful - he had lived in Paris for many years and was probably a good bridge between French an American culture. He was wonderful to be with and the meal was the best we had during the whole week.
We also enjoyed a private cruise on the Seine, a kids' scavenger hunt tour of the Louvre and a kids' architecture walking tour of Paris. All good fun as well as exploring many of the scenic sights around Paris and a fun afternoon in Luxemburg Gardens. Another highlight was a day we spent in Belgium where a colleague of Carl's organized a whole day for us. It was a wonderful day and Bruges is beautiful.
Meredith's illness was definitely a damper on the week but it was still so wonderful to be in a gorgeous city with our family and Grandpa Carl and Gaga.
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| On the Love Lock Bridge over the Seine. The bridge is covered with thousands of locks that lovers lock and throw the key over the side of the bridge. Lovely idea but the weight of the locks is damaging the bridge. |
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| So happy to have Grandpa Carl and Gaga on our Paris adventure with us |
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| Fun tunnel on walk along the Siene |
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| Anna was happy the rain was coming - we don't get to use umbrellas in the UAE much. |
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| Heading down to the dock for our private Seine boat ride |
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| A musician and his wife spend 1/2 their year on the Madura and occasionally let tourists charter it - we were fortunate they were in town the week we were and willing to take us on a ride |
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| Our lovely picnic dinner and viewing spot on top of the boat. We brought a picnic dinner and bottle of wine with us for the ride. |
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| Oops - rain sent us inside for just a few minutes of our outing |
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| Heading through the lock from a side canal where they dock the boat. We go through the lock to get to the main part of the Seine |
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| It was a little chilly but we had a great picnic dinner with amazing views |
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| You can tell Meredith doesn't feel great but she's hanging in there and enjoying the views, too. |
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| Going past Notre Dame |
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| We got around mainly on the Paris Metro - Regan got pretty good at studying the map and figuring out where we needed to go. |
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| Regan and Meredith working on a kids' scavenger hunt/ mystery solving during a great tour of the Louvre. The tour guides did a great job of keeping things interesting to kids as well as making the Louvre not so overwhelming to us all. I only have photos of Regan and Meredith as we had to split up into two groups. Jane and Anna went with Jake and Grandpa Carl. |
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| Regan and Meredith imitating the art |
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| Admiring the largest Sphinx outside of Egypt |
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| We had a good discussion about the Venus d' Milo. Regan impressed our guide with all her knowledge of the Roman and Greek gods (thanks to the Percy Jackson and Goddess Girls books!). Again, you can tell Mere isn't feeling great and she did have to take a few rests during the tour but still managed to carry on. |
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| Most of our family - Meredith said she was too tired to walk over to us and smile |
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| Anna loved this trampoline. She jumped so high and had a giant smile on her face the whole time. |
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| Anna loved the Ferris wheel ride with Gaga and me |
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| Look who we saw down below! |
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| A special treat - slushies that are clearly made from only all-natural ingredients (ha!) |
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| At the Luxemburg Gardens |
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| Jane was rooting for the USA boat - they had sailboats with flags from countries all over the world |
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| Green and lush! Beautiful gardens. |
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| Anna loved the climbing tower at this wonderful playground in the Luxemburg Gardens |
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| The playground had a wonderful little zip-line type ride for the kids. Regan and Jane did it over and over. |
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| You can see how after a little practice Jane could really get some speed. Meredith just rested on the bench with me. |
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| We took a day trip to Brugges, Belgium, where Carl has a work colleague. They organized an amazing day for us - picked us up at the train station and then we visited their work (he has a wood flooring business and she runs a design firm that focuses on hotels so it was very interesting to us all). The girls particularly loved their dog that they bring to work each day. |
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| In beautiful, picturesque Bruges |
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| Waiting on our boat tour of the city |
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| A little chilly but otherwise a great day for a boat ride to see this lovely city |
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| French fries - actually invented in Belgium |
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| Belgium beer.... |
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| ... and Belgium waffles - our food tour of all things Belgium (we bought chocolate, too!) |
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| One thing I wanted to do was to get street artists in Paris to draw the girls. Jane's picture turned out very well |
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| Anna was determined to not show the artist her smile. Anna's picture isn't really recognizable as Anna and Regan waited to get her photo done with Meredith and Meredith never felt up for it so we really only ended up with one good picture. Oh well - so much for that souvenir idea. I think I'll still get Jane's framed for her room |
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| At the meat market with our chef buying food for our cooking school meal |
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| At the fish market - we also hit the bakery and fruit and vegetable market |
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| Getting ready for our cooking class |
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| Making the dough for our tart. Anna was helping to measure the flour |
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| This is where Meredith spent 90% of our cooking class - she did join us for dessert |
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| Jane using a mandolin. We all got to try it. |
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| Tossing our thinly sliced potatoes in to cook |
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| Seasoning our lamb |
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| Brave Jane turned the lamb with her hands while it was being browned |
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| Carl hard at work filleting the fish |
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| Jake had a turn, too. |
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| Laying out the fish fillets for baking |
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| Plating up our appetizer |
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| This fresh fish with fresh French mussels was so delicious. |
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| Our main dish with lamb chops, a creamy layered potato dish, asparagus and green beans was also amazing. |
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| Anna cutting cheese for our cheese course. We learned that to properly cut cheese, each piece should have the same cheese to rind ratio. huh - who knew? |
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| Regan making sure the cheese to rind ratio is right. |
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| Anna had a firm idea about how the fruit should be arranged on the tart |
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| Anna still hard at work on the tart |
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| The overall tart was a group effort but the fruit decoration was all Anna |
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| All of us with our master chef, Alex (from Texas!) |
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| At the Cite d' Enfant kids museum where they served ice cream inside these cute critters |
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