We'll Always Have Paris

Hard to believe it's been nearly 29 nights in the City of Light. A stroll through a neighborhood department store (BHV) to avoid the morning rain and the rest of the afternoon gloriously sunny saw us stop at an outdoor cafe and a farewell visit to Pierce's favorite park. A final falafel dinner together at the last one on our list and we feel complete :)

We still have a 1/2 day tomorrow before our departure and no doubt we'll pay a visit to our bakery across the street and soak up our remaining hours in Paris.

A remarkable opportunity to live outside our world for a month, be absorbed in another culture together and experience a slower pace of life has indeed brought some new perspectives and contemplations.

Mitch and I leave with a lifetime of memories, which Pierce will experience time and again via the magic of pictures and video. We return to family and friends and the one Gordon unable to make the trip, our beloved dog Quincy.

Once we settle at home I'll do one final 'best of' trip report that has lists of our favorite restaurants and places to visit all in one post. Until then, thanks for sharing the adventure with us! We'll always have Paris :)

Birthday Plus Reunion Equals Perfect Finale

Le Petite Garcon, aka Pierce, turned 2 today and in every little boy's dream fashion he got to ride a high speed train (TGV). Well, actually every big boys dream as well, since Mitch gets pretty ramped up about it too. Today was not only a day to celebrate Pierce's birth, but to reunite with an old friend.

Aurelie and her family are solely responsible for my knowledge of the French language. Had it not been through an exchange program that her brother,Laurent, participated in when he and my brother were 10 years old, my Dad would have never thrust the language upon us :) After a successful exchange at that tender age, my parents agreed to ship me off to France at 17 and into the home of Aurelie's family who are a warm, welcoming and overall amazing clan of people. Following my time in France with her family, Aurelie joined us in California for a few weeks of summer fun. So, in short, I gained a sister in 1989, who became a friend for life. Back to the future 20 years later and we find each other on facebook.

Aurelie, her fantastic boyfriend Sylvan and their two beautiful daughters, Malia and Loe, live in Verdun, accessible by TGV in 58 minutes from Paris. Pretty impressive, going about 300 miles per hour. Verdun is a famous WWI site, due to a very prolonged battle and importance of the victory in the end. It is one of those stunningly tragic areas that can take your breath away.

The 20 years apart faded immediately and we fell into familiar friendship. The children got along great and we spent a lovely day at their modern masterpiece of a home enjoying beers of the region and a delicious home cooked lunch, complete with birthday cake for Pierce. A couple hour tour of the town took us to some war memorials, which were fascinating, as it seems details, at least to us about WWI require a refresher.

The quick TGV ride back to Paris and a short metro to our apartment afforded us the beautiful site of a clear full moon angled over the Bastille monument. One of those truly picture perfect Paris moments that seem surreal as you ascend the Metro steps.

The perfect finale to our Paris adventure. We'll see where tomorrow takes us.

Running Out of Time

We ventured out unusually early (10 a.m) for a Sunday to get to a running race. The Paris Semi Marathon was today, no we didn't run, but made great spectators. In hindsight had we known about it before we came to Paris, Mitch might have ventured a go at it. As it is our running stuff has remained untouched since our arrival :). A definitely conscious choice after days spent meandering Paris and getting in several hours of walking each day and of course there's the wine and beer for lunch that make it difficult to motivate.

The halfway point for the race was at the bottom of our street (about 1 block away) and we arrived just in time to see the lead 'clock' car and police escorts for the group of Kenyans leading the pack. Wish I'd brought my cowbell! The race is huge with about 22,000 people participating. Pierce enjoys watching the runners and especially appreciated the guy with the Eiffel Tower costume. Who, surprisingly, given his getup, was in the 8 minute mile group.

A short stroll to our favorite covered marketplace for one last shopping exursion netted some specialty buys for Quincy's rotating list of caregivers. We scored a wonderful meal from one of the meditteranean stands. There's really no other way to describe it except as kefta burritos. Basically like a falafel but using different pita bread that is thinly wrapped around the entire thing to make a neat and easy to eat package. A flavor explosion erupted in each bite.

Rainy weather drove us indoors for naptime. Incidentally, Pierce's only nap in his crib here. Mitch and I also managed a quick snooze. Sunny skies returned in late afternoon and it was off to the "bell park" as Pierce calls it. It's in a church courtyard and he loves to listen to the bells.

A shared bottle of wine on the couch ends our evening as we look forward to Le Petite Garcon's 2nd Birthday tomorrow, which we'll celebrate with Aurelie and her daughters in Verdun.

Magnificently Mellow

True to our plan, we kept it low key today and didn't stray far from our neighborhood. The morning brought us to one of our favorite local farmers markets. We got some food here for lunch (paella, a huge chunk of Emmentaler Cheese and some baquettes) Yum! Mitch's favorite part of travel is trying out local and undiscovered cuisine, so it was wonderful to browse and sample at all the stands. Following our park bench dine, we picked up some dinner for this evening, some homemade gnocchi with pesto and to start with some Arachini. Mitch also paid a visit to our local bakery for some choice desserts :)

We spent the afternoon people watching at our corner bistro, while the every Saturday Jazz band played nearby. It was a fabulous afternoon of some eye popping outfits, good music and wine to soak it all in. Some playtime at the park and we were ready to call it a day.

One of the most pleasant aspects of this adventure is the lack of any agenda. With no 'must sees' or 'have to get back tos' we just go with the flow and live life like we would back home, except with more afternoon wine :) When in Rome....There has to be a similar expression for Paris?! Experiencing this magnificent city through a toddlers eyes is another adventure entirely and has given us much joy in the process.

Time is Almost Up

A couple days coming to you at once. Thursday took us to Temple Square park in the morning followed by a quaint lunch of fondue in a little place on the Seine with a nice view of Notre Dame. Pierce was actually awake for this lunch and was thrilled to tell anyone and everyone who would listen in the restaurant "Notre Dame!!!". He loves pointing out the monuments. He has also taken to repeating all the metro stops, which is hilarious to hear. Following lunch Mitch and I took advantage of Pierce's naptime to go to the Musee D'Orsay. I always love this museum as much for its collection as the building itself. Since I've been reading the book, Luncheon of the Boating Party, I was particularly interested in a couple of the paintings mentioned in the book. The clocks of course are spectacular and are Mitch's favorite part of the museum. More park time following the museum at the Tullieres Gardens. A quick metro ride home from there found us getting ready for date night.

We opted for a very local dinner (restaurant is across the street) and it was fabulous. Cafe Baci (36 Rue de Turenne) is modern french/italian. The atmosphere is taken from a page of Metropolitan Home and Wallpaper combined. Very chic, yet comfortable and definitely romantic. Crowd was hip without being tragically so. Service was very good and food was some of the best we've had here. Mitch had veal liver while I had a tuna steak, both very flavorful and artfully presented without being complicated. A relaxing, delicious dinner was followed by a short walk to a bar on the Place des Vosges that features live music on Thursdays. Two guys with guitars, not too bad and a nice way to end the evening. It was such a pleasure to have a great sitter while we were here.

This morning's light flooded our apartment and we were up for a park visit. Back to the Luxembourg Gardens this time. The sun and those 35 hour work weeks over here made it seem like a holiday today, the streets and shops were packed. A fun filled morning and park bench lunch for Pierce and we were off to our our usual 'adult' lunch. We stumbled across a beautiful place called Bouillon Racine a brasserie which takes you back in time to early 1900s Paris, with a stunning mosiac floor and beautiful surroundings. Food was very good, Mitch had the Plat du Jour, which was a wonderful grilled Calamari in a red pepper sauce, I took the lentil soup and a salad. A long, but nice walk back to us back to our apartment bring us to now, Mitch is reading Pierce to sleep and our own bedtime won't be far behind. An exhilarating, yet exhausting couple of days. We'll spend our final weekend in Paris in a low key manner just enjoying the neighborhood.

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Just back from a fun dinner at what has become our go-to bistro. Le Sevigne is just down the block and next to one of the parks we frequent. The staff and owner are exceptionally nice to Pierce and shower him with food and treats. Today the owner asked me if we wanted our 'usual' table. I guess that is how you know you've been to a place a lot. We love the charming atmosphere, handful of tables and the fact that they like to entertain Pierce. Also, the food is always solid. Tonight Mitch had Rotisserie Chicken and I had an omlette with fine herbes. I love that the French eat omelettes all day, every day. Pierce, of course, had selections from both our plates and received special treats from the owner throughout the meal. Another big plus is that they have Affilgem on tap, which has become one of our new favorite Belgium brews. A milestone of sorts was reached tonite when Pierce bid "au revior" to the owner as we left. That's the first time he has mastered "bye" en Francais.

Today was the first day in 3.5 weeks that it was actually somewhat miserable outside weather wise, well at least for half the day. We woke up to hard rain and high winds, but things cleared up in the afternoon to partly sunny skies. Nevertheless we ventured out early and went to the Cite des Enfants, a kids museum within the museum of science and industry here. Spectacular is the only word for this place. It is head and shoulders above any kiddie museum we've been to thus far. Pierce had an amazing time and so did Mitch and I. Here' s a pic of Pierce in a peep hole in the kids maze.

When le petite took his afternoon snooze, Mitch and I enjoyed the Musee de Carnavalet, a museum about 1 block from our apartment that features a real hodgepodge of Parisian artifacts, from old street signs to the furniture of Marcel Proust's bedroom. Some interesting early 1900s artwork as well. Definitely worth a visit if you have more than a week in Paris.

A late lunch of french onion soup for me (delicious! I hate overally salted ones and this one had more of a sweet wine flavor to it) and fish soup for Mitch led to a spectacular dessert concoction of vanilla ice cream covered in some kind of toffee-ish thing with with carmel and whip cream on the plate. We weren't planning on dessert, but when a grandmother and her granddaughter next to us both ordered this, we couldn't resist after seeing it.

Hard to believe we leave one week from today. Making the most of our final week here. Tomorrow night we have Djamila, the babysitter, for the last time so we are trying to figure out where to go, probably dinner and a possibly some live music.

I am beyond excited about seeing my friend Aurelie on Monday. It's been 20 years since we were exchange students together. I am looking forward to our reunion (thanks facebook!) It is also Pierce's birthday on Monday and he'll get to take the high speed TGV train to Aurelie's house in Verdun. For a train obsessed little one, there's no better present. Oh, that and getting to spend his birthday with Aurelie's two sweet, very cute daughters will help as well.

Home Sweet Home

We arose to sunny skies again today so it seemed a good opportunity to head to an amusement park near the edge of the city that's been entertaining tiny tots since 1860. The Jardin D'Accilimatation is toddler heaven and we could not have picked a better day to go, sunny skies and all the local kids back in school after break. We basically had the run of the place to ourselves. For such an old school place it is remarkably well maintained and is really delightful. Pierce LOVED it. He turns 2 a week from today, so I don't doubt we may go back again for his birthday.

Mitch was still recovering a bit from his Ireland adventures and I was tired from a toddler filled frenzy weekend, so we enjoyed a quiet lunch and trip back to the apartment for the rest of the afternoon.

The apartment at 39 Rue de Turenne has served us incredibly well in our time here. After seriously looking at about 150 possibilities online, we could not be happier with the choice. I've already mentioned the incredible location. Should lottery winnings come our way, we'll add a small pied a terre here to our housing collection :). The apartment itself is two bedrooms with a living room/dining room combination and a separate kitchen and bath. By Paris standards it is large (about 750 square feet). It is on the 3rd floor (really considered the 4th floor in America) and is situated at the back of a courtyard, which is fortunate since the main street I imagine could get slightly noisy. One of the best features is the abundance of light. We get flooded with light from front to back with windows on two sides. The way the apartments are situated we don't actually share any walls. But we do hear the upstairs neighbor's stilettos on the floor each evening. :)

Pierce actually considers the apartment a 3 bedroom and enjoys bringing a pillow into a little cabinet that he has converted into a bedroom. Maybe he's channeling Harry Potter's early years.

The 'elevator' and I definitely use this term loosely is not for those with even the slightest inclination towards claustrophobia. It can hold exactly two people and they cannot be large. Generally Pierce and I take the elevator and Mitch hikes it up and down the stairs. Architecturally though it is really cool to see how they have to retrofit these buildings to accomodate modern luxury. The staircase is this gorgeous wide and widing beauty and they just dropped the elevator in the little space that fit into it.

Having a bathtub was pretty essential for us and the bathroom, while small is well equipped. The tub is perfect for Pierce's nightly dips. The kitchen is enough for what we need and nothing to write home about good and/or bad.

High praise for our landlord David, who provided the crib Pierce is crashing in while he's here. And most importantly a very sweet babysitter for those nights out. Two HUGE advantages and big decision factors when we were making the final apartment choice.

Being able to experience Parisian life and all the small intricacies and day to day interactions is made more possible as an apartment dweller rather than a hotel guest. Obviously for us a month long stay really requires an apartment. However, I would not hesitate to book an apartment over a hotel for even a short stay of 5 nights. It's a completely different and refreshing experience and one we are truly cherishing.

Pierce enjoys playing the courtyard of our building, where we are greeted each morning by the conceirge of the building, a really pleasant lady who manages the property.

The Sound of Music

Well it wasn't 60 and sunny again today, but 55 with peeks at the sun felt pretty great too. Lazy Sunday. Pierce was in an indecisive mood in terms of wanting to actually put on clothes to leave the house, so after I convinced him you could not ride the merry go round naked, he obliged. The mind of a toddler is a whacky world. Since our neighborhood is the place to be on Sundays there's really no reason to venture out for the action. Suprisingly it was slightly less busy this weekend, I think because all the museums are free today (first Sunday of the month). See first picture for a shot of the neighborhood, the streets are blocked off on Sundays so pedesterians roam free.

For lunch I got Pierce some things to go from a mediterranean place. He enjoyed stuffed eggplant of some sort, followed by a trip to the Yiddish bakery for cookies. Seriously this child is prime for "No Reservations". The best part is everytime he sees a park bench or even a curb now, he say's "Lunch?".

I got another hour of reading in alongside my snoring stroller buddy. Nap wake up time brought us to the end of our street where a jazz band was playing. Just like street food, we are always up for street music and of course Pierce loves dancing in the street, it feels just like the block party. We arrived home to a beautiful piano concert happening on the floor above us from one of our neighbors, truly talented and great music. I love that this guy just opens his door and plays and invites the world in.

Mitch is having a splendid time in Galway and comes home late tonight. Going into our last week here, my emotions are very mixed. I could easily stay for another month or two, but reality calls I suppose.

As I write this one of my favorite nighttime activities is looking out at the other apartments all lit up with the ocasional person passing by a room. There's a guy who cooks dinner every night in a building about 50 yards away who stands in the same spot and is perfectly framed by the window. There's a dude in a gorgeous apartment that is on his computer each evening and behind us out the bedroom windows I can see a to die for apartment that is not only huge, but impeccably decorated, I've yet to see the occupants. It all sounds very voyeristic but purely tame stuff I promise. There's no direct angles into peoples apartments so it keeps the privacy, just these little snippets of everyday life. I notice so many more lights tonight, the 2 week ski holiday ends for kids and they go back to school tomorrow, so I suspect there are many people just returning home. This is a picture of Pierce taken yesterday looking out one of our bedroom windows.

On that note, I'll go into more detail on the apartment specifics, since many of you have emailed us about that. The one preview I will give is that I won't stay in a hotel again in Paris.