Just a few pictures of what we (well, really, the kids) have been doing lately.
There’s also been a lot of piano playing, soccer, swimming and school going along, but this is what I’ve got for now. Enjoy!
A long time ago in a country far, far away, we once lived on the east coast of the good ol’ U S of A. Baltimore, MD, to be exact. One of the neat things about living in that region is all the “historical” sites in the vicinity. (Bear in mind that “historical” in the states refers to anything older than my grandparents, whereas in Europe, you need to go back at least a few more generation for anything to qualify!) Anyway, in addition to the near proximity of cool cities like D.C., Philadelphia, New York and Boston (not sure an 8 hour drive counts as “near,” but we’ll include it anyway because Boston is such a dang cool city – except for the traffic. Yikes!) there are also a lot of Civil War sites that are very interesting. We went to Harper’s Ferry, Antietam, and of course, Gettysburg, among others. One of the problems, however, of living in that region is that every single time that someone comes to visit you they want to go see the same blasted things. No, really. EVERY TIME…over and over and over again. Gettysburg is particularly bad that way. We must have driven people out to Gettysburg at least a half-dozen times. It got to the point that we started giving people who were visiting our car keys, the CD driving guide to Gettysburg and telling them that we’d have dinner ready for them when they got back. I’m not exaggerating in the least! Now, what does this story have to do with our trip to Paris? Simply this: Versailles has become Gettysburg to me. Not that either place isn’t wonderful, astounding, and totally worth a visit, but once you’ve been to a place three times it loses some – ok, all - of it’s appeal. The real problem with Versailles is that so many other silly overly rich monarchs tried to copy it that you can see something just as gaudy, over-done and ridiculously ornate in pretty much every country in Europe! So really, in addition to going to Versailles three times I’ve been to so many other palaces that I literally feel that if I see one more gold-gilded boudoir anywhere I’m going to go bananas, leap past the tour guide and start bouncing up and down on which ever silly king’s over-stuffed silk-sheeted bed! Boingy, boingy, boingy! All right – rant over.
We actually drove to Versailles. Being a Sunday morning, we figured traffic wouldn’t be too bad and it would be easier on everyone, especially the kids, than taking the train into Paris and then transferring to another train to get out to the palace. Turns out we were right. We were able to park right by the the palace.
Pretty sweet, really…Here’s the munchkins by the front gate.
Can you imagine the poor pizza guy trying to deliver a deep dish to this place (probably with anchovies, knowing the French)? Ring the bell, wait five minutes for someone to walk all the way to the gate to see who it is only to find out that they didn’t bring any money out with them, so they have to go back and get it. You wait another five minutes and they come back with exact change and then complain that you took more than 20 minutes and the pizza is probably cold. Oh yes, and no tip. Cheap-o frenchies…No wonder the people revolted…
Since my parents were with us and had never been here we decided to go ahead and do one of the guided tours. We actually were able to get the one that goes through some of the rooms that Emma and I hadn’t seen before, including the inside of the chapel. Here’s some pictures:
As you can see, ridiculously ornate, but also very beautiful. My favorite part of any palace is usually the grounds/gardens. Versailles is no exception. Unfortunately, since it was November, not much was in bloom and the fountains were all turned off. Yeah, ok. Nothing was in bloom. But we still got the obligatory family picture with the palace in the background!
Still, the grounds are incredibly extensive and beautiful, even in the late fall. There are all sorts of gardens, tree-lines walkways, a big lake where you can get paddle-boats for a ridiculous amount of money, and very over-priced low quality tourist food. The kids always love running around palace grounds, and we let them…as long as there aren’t too many people close by…
After walking entirely way too much and even seeing one or two of the little “cottages” out in the grounds (which are about as big as my entire apartment building), I think the kids had had enough. What do you think?
Good-bye, Versailles…at least till someone else comes to visit and wants us to take them to Paris…
Ever since we arrived in Europe over three years ago we have been promising the kids that we would take them to see the Eiffel Tower. It has been like the one thing they HAVE to see, at least in their minds. Last year on our way to Normandy we drove around Paris and got a quick view of the Tower. We tried to convince the kids that this was it! They could see the Eiffel Tower and our promise was fulfilled. They didn’t buy it… Oh well, it was worth a try.
Day 2 in Paris started out with a long walk through the Musee d’Orsay which, as everyone knows, is a big art museum. It’s actually housed in the old Paris train station, which is a pretty cool setting for an art museum, if you’re into that sort of thing. The d’Orsay is devoted almost exclusively to French painting, though you can find a few others there as well. Whistler’s Portrait of the Artist’s Mother is there, and is actually kind of a boring work. (Sorry Whistler. No offense intended to your mom!) Emma loves this museum because she is a big fan of French Impressionistic painting. Personally, I can take or leave the impressionist. Actually, most of the time I would be just as happy to take them out and leave them somewhere else! (Just kidding, Emma!) Over all it is a pretty neat museum. However, I must point out that after having been to many of the great art museums all over Europe and America, art museums and what is in them all start to look the same after a while. Sure there are the occasional exceptional pieces that stand out, but I am getting to the point where I can just cruise through a room and tell at a glance if there is anything on the wall that interests me. Emma and my Father, on the other hand, could spend hours in such a museum digesting every painting (with a few exceptions, of course) in great detail. Perhaps it was a good things we had the kids along, as it forced us to keep a steady pace. You can keep a 7 and 10 year-old occupied in an art museum for only so long before they become a distraction to those around you!
Somehow we ended up with no pictures of the Musee d’Orday or the next place we went, the Orangerie. This is where Monet’s giant murals of the water lilies are housed. They are great and all, but the really nice thing about the Orangerie is that once you’ve spent ten minutes, you’ve seen pretty much all there is to offer. Admittedly there are some other painting on display downstairs, but I think most people (especially those with kids who have already been dragged through one art museum that morning) really just want to see the water lilies.
Our plan was to then walk down to the Rodin Museum. I know what you are thinking: “Those poor kids! Three art museums in one day!?!” Well, you are right. We just couldn’t do it. We decided to wait and catch the Rodin on Monday. (Turns out that was a bad idea…)
Instead we went on to Army Museum. Its an impressive building, housing several famous dead dudes. The most famousest (yes I know that’s not really a word) is, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte. All I can say is that this in one big tomb for such a short guy! But then again, he did have a big head…
The ceiling was pretty cool as well.
One of the funny things about taking kids places is that inevitably they eventually want to start taking their own photographs. This of course requires that they have their own camera since mom and dad usually aren’t willing to risk letting them damage the good camera. Unfortunately, many of the places we go to in Europe, such as museums and cathedrals, do not allow flash photography, if they allow photography at all. So my kids end up trying to take photos with their little cameras set to no flash (which obviously increases the exposure time). How many kids do you know that can hold still for more than 2 seconds? Now have them try to hold a camera perfectly still while taking a picture that requires a 2 second exposure. Here is what you usually end up with:
Good luck figuring out what this is a picture of. I have no idea! Despite repeatedly warning them that their pictures will not turn out, they are resolute in their determination to take their own photos of things. In the old days this meant rolls and rolls of wasted film. Now with digital cameras and SD cards, we just load it all on a computer and clear the card. I think I’m a fan of digital for this reason alone! Of course, they do much better outdoors or when they can use a flash. In any case, I think their favorite subject is themselves!
Here’s what Napoleon's tomb it looks like from the outside with a couple of monkeys standing in front. It never ceases to amaze me how hard it is to get these two to stand up straight and give a normal smile when we try to take a picture of them anywhere! The little stinkers! :)
Finally the time had come. Next stop, La Tour Eiffel!
Movies always make it out like the Eiffel Tower is so huge. Well guess what, it is! That is one large tower! Standing under it really makes you appreciate the engineering feat of building such a thing! My lens isn’t even wide enough to get the whole thing in the frame! I‘d be willing to bet that Monsieur Eiffel played with an erector set when he was a kid.
We had purchased tickets so that we had a set time to take the elevator up to the top. Or so we thought. It turns out that your “time” is just to get up to the first or second landing. From there you have to fight the masses, hordes and generally rowdy crowds of people to try and get a place in line to go all the way up to the top. We actually wandered the second platform for about ten minutes trying to find the end of the line to go the rest of the way up before we realized that they had stopped letting anyone else get in the line. We were as high as we were going to get. (Hmm, again, please don’t take that statement out of context…)
Still it was a good view, though we were disappointed not to make it to the top. I guess it gives us something to look forward to for next time. Whenever that may be… If you look closely, you can see that the entire outer structure of the Eiffel Tower is covered in light bulbs. Can you imagine having the job of replacing the bulbs that go out? Frankly, I’d do that for free! Talk about a sweet rappel!
All these lights sure make for a spectacular sight once it gets dark.
Its especially cool when, on the hour, they set the whole tower a-sparkling like a giant…uh…sparkly…uh…tower… This effect inspired grand-pa and the kids to come up with a poem. It went something like this: (hem hem)
Twinkle, twinkle Eiffel Tower
Sparkles every “on the hour”
It is something you must see
When you come to great Paris
(pronounced pah-ree, like the French)
Honestly, a still photo can’t really do it justice. It’s just something you have to see. We finished the day of with a boat tour up and down the Seine. You can really see why they call Paris the City of Lights. Besides the Eiffel Tower, I think Notre Dame looks pretty dang awesome at night:
That’s it for day 2 in Paris. Day 3 we were off to Louis XIV’s little house.
So, ever since Emma started this blog she has been teasing me that I never write anything on it. Well, that’s true. I never have written anything on it! It’s bad enough that I have to have photos of myself posted to the web, but to write something and throw it out there as well for anyone to read and comment about? I think not. At least that was my mindset in the past. Well, after a couple of years on Facebook, I guess that excuse is no longer valid. So here goes, my first attempt at a blog post. Drum roll please…
Last fall my parents came for a visit. It’s always a pleasure to have them here and to go traveling with them. This year we divided their trip into two parts. The first (and the true subject of today’s entry) was good old Paris! Now, as anyone who has lived in Europe can tell you. Paris is one city that you DO NOT want to drive in. EVER. First of all, Paris is just crazy-huge! No, I mean it. It is really, really, really monstrously gargantuan. It is also packed full of cars, people and mopeds. It’s a toss up which is the most annoying. Probably the mopeds… Luckily, like most European cities it has great public transportation, so you can stay outside the city and still easily get in and see everything you want. Accommodations outside the city are a fair bit cheaper as well! Emma found this great place to stay out by Euro Disney, which is an easy commuter-rail ride in to town. Here’s the view out the window. Not bad, eh?
No, we did not actually go to Euro Disney, despite the fact that the entrance to the park was right outside the train station we used everyday. The kids were a little disappointed, but we promised them that we would go to Disneyland sometime after we move back (which is apparently way better anyway!) so they were OK. Besides, we were there to see French stuff, not imported American stuff. You know, stuff like this:
Or this:
or how about this:
Yeah, I think the kids are fine skipping Disney this trip.
So, after getting checked in at our lovely apartment, we took the train directly downtown. Since the lighting was so perfect, we decided to go see what Emma and I think is probably the most beautiful sight in Paris: Sainte-Chapelle. I’ll have to blow this one up big so you can appreciate how incredible this place is!
Each window is jammed full of intricate panes of stained glass. each one tell a different story from the bible. The last time we came here, half of the windows were covered with scaffolding, but not so this time. Once again I found myself wishing I had a good set of binoculars, but luckily we had our new zoom lens!
After gaping in awe at all the stained glass windows, we decided to move on to our next destination (which is just a block or so over from Sainte-Chapelle): Notre-Dame.
Sorry, Quasimodo was apparently out that day… And speaking of things that are missing, Naomi must have asked for about a dozen questions why this guy in the entryway was holding his head (literally)!
She just couldn’t understand why anyone would do that to someone. Ah, the young and innocent. But these are the French we are talking about… I know eveyone raves about the façade and the rose windows inside Notre-Dame, but personally I think the backside is what is truly spectacular.
Oh, and BTW, please no willful misinterpretations or inappropriate comments about that last statement… 
We still had some time left, so we wandered south to the Cluny Museum. On the way, we crossed this fun bridge. All of the fencing was covered in some interesting décor.
The idea, of course, is that lovers put a lock on the bridge. As long as the lock stays, so will their love. Ahhhh, how sweet. Too bad Emma made me leave my hacksaw at home…mwahaha!
The Cluny may not be the most popular museum in Paris, but we think it is worth a visit. It is all about medieval art, especially tapestries. Not that I get all giddy at the thought of tapestries, but there is one particular set that we just knew the kids (especially Naomi) would absolutely love:
The set is called (I believe) “The Lady and the Unicorn.” I think Naomi would have happily spent and hour looking at these. Actually, I think grandpa would have happily stayed there with her! We actually wanted to get a puzzle of this from the gift shop, but the museum closed a few minutes early and they kicked us out. “What, you want to spend money in our gift shop that was supposed to close in five minutes? I’m sorry, but no! We are not interested in your lousy American tourist money. We only keep our gift shop open until proper closing time when we feel like, and today we don’t!” C’est la vie! (If anyone is going to Paris and hits the Cluny, please grab us the puzzle – we’ll pay you back! Promise!)
Anyway, that was the end of day 1 in Paris. This was actually kind of fun. I guess I’ll have to continue on later and write up day 2 – Twinkle Twinkle Eiffel Tower!
