We found ourselves, quite accidentally, in Paris

We don't know why:
the bloody French
are on strike again;

or why some flights
can use that
precious air space
while others cannot;

or how long it will take
(and how much it will cost)
to reach our children
on the sunny southern shores.

We do know:
that they are happy

and that a tiny
sliver of sunlight
can work its
way through the
tight cluster of
Paris gray buildings,
peek through a slit
in the curtains,
and gently remind us
that everything
will be fine.

So, we were in Paris... which would be a dream, except that we had no idea how we were going to get home!  We got out of bed, packed our now well used items (we'd only packed for a four day trip and were now on day five) and headed back to the train station to see about returning to our kids.  Long, long line and then are told that there are no available seats to ANYWHERE in the ENTIRE country of Spain that day, but, for a small fortune, we could book some tickets for the next day -- we'd  also have to decide quickly. The man working was charming and so contrite as he shrugged his shoulders tres french-ily.  I couldn't help but be a little pleased to be in France, but, what in the world?  So we decided to find some wifi and breakfast and see what our options were.  A very mediocre omelet and no wifi later, we found a Starbucks and tried again.  In our 20 minute wifi time limit we discovered that renting a car in France and leaving it in Spain would incur a $1000 transfer fee, there were no flights from Paris to Murcia, and then, since booking the train for the next day seemed to be the best option, finding a little bit more spacious hotel room near the Gare de Lyons would make our forced Parisian visit more tolerable. Time's up!  Booked train tickets to Barcelona for the next day, but how to get from Barcelona to our family?  My stomach still hurt as we checked into our hotel and from there were able to book a rental car from Barcelona with only a $60 fee for leaving it in a different location.  Whew!  Matthew looked me in the eye and said, "Darling (just kidding, I don't think he's ever called me darling), now that we have everything scheduled and we have a plan, you need to stop fretting over what has happened and enjoy our day."  Great advice!  So we visited the City Museum of Modern Art -- a museum in Paris that I'd not ever visited!  And we loved it!

::Paris selfie -- cliche, but at least I'm not trying to touch the top!

 ::I love, love, love, this painting!  And can't remember who the artist is -- the placard is even in the photo!  But I can't read it.  I've done some internet digging with no results, so if anyone has any answers for me, speak up!

 ::Chagall!

 ::Making me feel less bothered by my croissant consumption

 ::Proof of Matthew's presence

 ::I always like the momma art

 ::It was a gorgeous afternoon, with the sun picking up the accents of blue

 ::La tour eiffel avec des fleurs de cerisier

 ::a street near our hotel

We ended the day by going to a creperie for dinner -- crepes with mushroom, cheese, sausage and then a chocolate banana one for dessert -- ooh, la, la!  Which I didn't get a picture of, weird.