Friday, 13.07.07
While the rest of us slept, Karl and Sienna woke up early (9am!!) and took off to see the equestrian show at Versailles with the plan they would do that and then come back for us slugs. I know, I know, we’re missing out on the BIG MOMENTS (yes, I did mean all caps there) with this sleeping in stuff but I just don’t care. Being a night person trapped in a morning person’s life, staying up until 1 or 2am and sleeping until 10 is the ultimate in vacation for me (and apparently Teal and Uriah and Ava too.) Having to get up before I’m ready to rush off to anything is not my idea of a vacation. If I wanted an overscheduled life I’d go home.
Anyway, I’m going to let Karl and Sienna write about Versailles which proved to be quite the adventure even though there was no equestrian show and driving was as much a part of the story as the actual palace. Which we still haven’t gotten to because we all decided it was too much for them to go back again so Let’s Go to Paris. Did I not mention we are flexible if nothing else?
Speaking of flexible…so, we head into Paris, now old pros on the RER and the Metro. I feel confident the kids could even navigate the system. (It truly is a crime that we have nothing like this in Santa Cruz. Every single one of those highway widening proponents in our government needs to come to Paris and ride the Metro until they get it in their heads that this is the future of transportation, not more highways for our gas guzzling SUVs!) Anyway, we go into the city with the notion of going to see Saint Chapelle, a cathedral of glass, apparently. I say apparently because the line snaked through a good portion of Paris and one of our rules of survival, traveling with 4 teenagers here, is never get in a line that stretches back to East Jesus. Never. Nothing is important enough to stand in line for hours. I refuse to spend my time standing in line for Paris. I figure it is a sign from the universe that there is the adventure that is meant to be just around the corner from any line we encounter. It’s actually an interesting way to live your life.
So instead Karl and the kids go into Le Concierge, part of the palace where Marie Antoinette was kept in a cell after she fell into disfavor (kind of like Paris Hilton?) and I took the chance to go sit in an outdoor café and sketch. I can’t tell you anything about Marie Antoinette but sitting with my espresso and my colored pens and artbook was a high point for me. Forget the cathedrals and museums, this is what I want to do. And if I didn’t have 5 other people to think about this is all that I would do in Paris. Well that, and wander aimlessly through the streets. Which is what we did next. This always brings something good to us because on our way to Napoleon’s tomb we stumbled upon the other place I needed to see, the quaint art supply shop Anne told me about (Picasso shopped here), Magasins Sennelier. I can leave Paris a happy woman now, without even searching I’ve stumbled upon the rose petal shop and the art store of my dreams.
Continuing on, still on the way to Napoleon’s tomb, we ran smack dab into the middle of some kind of Fellini-esque show of worldwide military bravada and fashion. Must have had something to do with Bastille Day tomorrow but I wasn’t going to stop one to ask. I’ve never seen so many different kind of men in uniform before. Who knew the funny hat played such a role in scaring off the enemy!
At Napoleon’s tomb I, once again, let Karl take the kids in while I stayed outside to draw (do I sense a trend here?) Then it was a great Chinese dinner at an outdoor café on the Rue de Cler and off to the Tour Eiffel. O.k. we stood in line for the Eiffel. It was worth standing in line for just for the exercise factor of climbing up (and down) 669 stairs to get to the second level. The line for the elevator to the top was 3x as long which helped us convince the kids to walk the stairs. As much as I didn’t really want to come here I must admit it was magnifique and fun. We stayed, eating French ice cream on the Seine nearby, until the tower lights did their 10 minute flashing lightshow at 10pm. Then it was a long walk in exhaustion (the good kind) back to the Metro and home to Chatou after dark (11pm here, we’re far north.)
