Monday, 09.07.07

Since it was lightly raining today (a common occurrence on this trip) we decided to go to Notre Dame. I think it took us all by surprise. Uriah describes it as epic. We just don’t have stuff like this in the states. To walk around in it and think about how it was built in the 12th century and what had to be done to construct something like that using the tools they had available at the time is mind boggling. It was excruciatingly beautiful and holy and gothic and we all loved it. Go see for yourself.

After Notre Dame we wandered off back across the bridge to the Left Bank where we found Shakespeare and Company, a funky bookstore like no other (comparable to City Lights in SF but even better.) Started by a free thinking literature loving American, Sylvia Beach, after WWI, this was a hang out for Hemingway and Joyce and Stein and Shaw. Such a treasure to find! The place is full of small, bedded nooks where writers have been doing their thing for generations now. Hopefully some of this creativity sunk in with the kids.

After Shakespeare and Co. more window shopping, cathedral viewing, people watching and eating. We stopped for drinks and olives and peanuts (an interesting accompaniment to our wine) in an outdoor café. And then dinner in an Italian restaurant who knows where. We are learning to slow down. Being in this culture reminds us all of just how fast and consuming we Americans are. I never realized what a gobbler I am. I have taken a new vow of mindfulness.

Back home we settled in for more card games and laughing. It has been a true joy having these kids with us, they are constantly entertaining and terrific adventurers. This really is a life altering experience for all of us.