Seven American's in Paris!! Yahoo!

I couldn't believe, at the end of today, how well our children had done and how much we had been able to see. Having lessons from Mimi made all the difference. Whenever they would get tired or not want to go on, I would mention how proud Mimi would be of them and how excited she would be to hear about everything they had seen, and on they would go. A backpack full of snacks also helped to keep their stamina up for all the walking we accomplished.

We started out the day by eating at our hotel's breakfast buffet. It's quite good--the kids favorite things are Coco Puffs, orange juice and the hard-boiled eggs with lots of salt and pepper. I have been overwhelmed with thankfulness for the staff of this hotel--they are so nice to the children and tolerant of the noise they inherantly bring. Everyone left with full stomachs and energy for the day.

Last Thursday, Will left his coat in the Louvre--Jason had taken Will and Robby back to the hotel early, and I had stayed in the Louvre to look at the Mona Lisa again and then to another wing where we saw "Napoleon's Apartments." Anyway, the first thing that we did this morning was go to the Louvre to try and find Will's coat. Although the information person feined understanding, little effort was made to find his coat and we left empty handed. Jason had to change some money, so I took the kids into an environmentally friendly store that was really fantastic. It had the neatest kids toys and numerous learning games, toys, kits, etc. to help children take more interest in the outdoors. It was really cute. Jason then met up with us and off we went on the Metro.

Our first stop was Vareene and we went first to the Rodin Museum where the kids all got pictures in front of the most famous Rodin sculpture--The "Thinker." We then left the museum (I was determined to focus on the most important things, not wear them out looking at everything I would have liked to have spent hours in front of). Then we walked across the street and went into Les Invalides. The kids were amazed at the size of Napoleon's tomb and the beauty of the building. They really enjoyed this visit. We then went back onto the Metro and went to the Champs Elysses stop.

It was so thrilling for me to be there with the kids, experiencing it with them. We walked down the street and soaked in all the surrounding. I couldn't believe how crowded the sidewalks were. When we had been there last July, at the height of tourist times, there were not any more people then as there are now. This has really surprised Jason and me. The weather was not on our side, however, and we went frequently into many shops due to the heavy downpours of rain and cold wind. Reggie was doing really well--he keeps cotton in his ear at all times and he didn't complain even one time.

Spaghetti and Pizza and Vesaro's
Arch of Triomphe - climbed to the top and spent lots of times learning about all the sculptures all over the exterior of this beautiful building.
Crepes on the Champs Ellysse's
Pugeout, Mercedes-Benz, other race car stores
Several "mini malls"
Huge record, music store
port Alexander Bridge
Grand Palais
The concorde
The building of Madeline
Games at the hotel, movies and dinner at Subway.
Jennifer's first bubble bath in 4 months
Paris opera house