Paris! second day

::we spent the morning at the musee Rodin

::and the afternoon at the musee d'Orsay before hopping over to the tour Eiffel

::the kids just LOVED seeing it, but we weren't able to go up on it because the stairs were closed the the elevator was crazy crowded and expensive

::we just walked around for a while

::and compromised by taking a boat tour along the ree-ver

::it was definitely a highlight (or was that the chocolate?)

::closing our eyes as we make a wish

::passing under the pont marie for the first time

::one last look

Paris! first day

::first stop -- marche aux puces -- the oldest flea market in the world

::they didn't really like us taking pictures inside so this is right before a firm lecture

::we can always find a place to frolic!

::then the long (steep) walk to the Sacre Coeur

::found the Eiffel Tower

::and a door knocker

::listened to a wonderful violinist

::riding on the metro-o-o

::to Notre Dame

::it would be quite insane to jump into the Seine

::catching up on some news while commuting back to the house

Paris! Fontainbleau

We've been voyaging again and had a time tres gentille!  We stayed with the famille Yolins -- the family I lived with when I was 18 -- who were kind enough to take us in and love us and feed us to boot!

::First stop -- Fontainbleau

why exactly don't french women get fat?

Since we've arrived I have often wondered why French women don't get fat.  They seem to be breaking all the rules.  They hardly eat any breakfast and what they do eat is entirely sugar and white flour -- usually just a pastry or leftover baguette with hot chocolate.  And they eat dinner late at night -- isn't that a cardinal rule that has been broken?  There is also a lot of fattening foods being consumed around here, but the women really are thin.  One person told me that a lot of women are closet smokers which helps them not eat so much and now that I think about it the more well-padded women I've seen have been at church.  They also probably have more kids and have taken to eating jello more than likely.

A short tour of a French supermarket.  First you pass the bakery, for those who have not stopped at the 57 boulangeries that were passed on the way to the store.  Then there is the long walk to the one gated entrance into the store.  You have to want to get in.  The first thing one encounters after the gate is, surprise, bread products!  In case you failed to get what you required at the in store bakery, you can now fulfill your baguette, banette, americain, croissant, brioche, pre-made crepes, beignet, madeleine, belgian waffle, pain au chocolat, etc., etc. needs here.

One then moves on to the produce aisle.  These are not huge because I think that most people buy their produce at village markets which has been really nice.  You know everything tastes wonderful when this is heard at the dinner table:  "This broccoli tastes great!"  "Can we have sweet potatoes again for dinner?"May I have more leek soup, please?"  Amazing.

Next is the meat, fish etc.  Oh my.  There are a lot of interesting things -- tongue? brain? a whole head?  We move quickly past.  The boucherie has cheeses and sausages galore and then there are two more aisles of already prepackaged deli meats followed by another only cheese aisle with nary a cheddar to be found.

::cheese, cheese, cheese on both sides.  "Hmmm," she thinks in French

Behind these aisles and tucked way in the back along the wall is where one can find milk and eggs.  No refrigeration necessary.  Grab some cardboard and move on to the yogurt.

::YOGURT!

This is all yogurt!  I am not a fan of yogurt in the U.S. because it is mushy and gaggy, but here it is firm and lovely as it should be.  Japan wisely copied the French and not the Americans in this case and their yogurt is fab!  

Just in case you didn't get enough, there is a third aisle dedicated to yogurt along with some butter, of course.  It would take a lifetime to try all of the yogurts and cheeses.

Some other aisles are the "All Breakfast All the Time," which includes an assortment of chocolate items with added fiber for good measure, and the "Snack" row which also offers some new and exciting ways of consuming chocolate.  There is also a row for, yes, chocolate -- shelf upon shelf upon shelf.  We just go for the basic dark.  

I suppose I won't worry about why French women aren't fat and just take that bite of my madeleine.  Oh, it transports me back to spending time with my Grandmother as a child... wait, those are Marcel's memories, not mine.

the finer things

My French has improved so much since we arrived.  Why just yesterday I told someone that I have 15 children.  The words five and fifteen don't even sound the same in French!  But the numbers do look somewhat alike in my head.  There is really no excuse, I am just idiotic (no offense to those of you who are related to idiots, I really shouldn't use the "I" word so carelessly).  Needless to say, the person I told looked quite shocked!

Every week Ella has a new password required to enter her room.  The one this week is:  I'm going to Paris on Sunday!  How many times will she be able to say that in her life?  Actually she has said that she never wants to come back to France.  Well, that is just fine.  I am so glad we could expose her to the finer things in life so that she can make informed decisions like that.

Speaking of exposure to the finer things, my kids have been watching the Simpsons while we've been here.  It is on at all hours of the day (not at our house, just on the television), so very convenient.  Normally we wouldn't be encouraging this interest, but even Matthew said he would be willing to buy the dvds as long as they weren't in English.  It somehow elevates the entire show and makes it less crude when you don't understand a word they're saying.  You should try watching it with no sound on at all  -- hilarious!  It really brings out the subtleties and nuances.

It might be time to come home.

Oh, the morning bells are ringing -- there go the seven.  Wait, wait...  There go the seven more.  Perhaps it isn't quite time yet.

a nice saturday

This past Saturday we went to Nice to visit since, although we landed there three months ago and even spent the night, and have since passed through a few times, we have never really explored the city.

First we drove through Cannes (well, actually sat in traffic in Cannes until we could turn around and get out of there).  Then drove up into the hills to see St. Paul and Vence -- beautiful!  We looked through the old city to find the elusive Chagall mosaic on the side of a church -- no guide book has an address and no inhabitant has heard of it so I assumed there would be a sign or a big arrow, an "X", SOMEthing, but nothing.  Instead we found:
::the remains of an old Roman road built in 340 b.c.  Not the best picture, but completely amazing to me. The town was built around it

::medieval arch

::trompe l'oeil building -- look closely, only the doorway lintel is real, the ones around the windows are just paint -- did it fool your eye?

::we ate lunch in the town square -- the quiche didn't last long enough to photograph, but our dessert of various tarts was delicious

::we watched people playing petanque

::visited the brocante

::and enjoyed the Saturday bustle of a small french town

We then drove over to the Chapelle Rosaire to see the stained glass windows and murals of Matisse (I couldn't take photos inside so this one is "borrowed")

Next we found the Chagall museum in Nice and it was so incredible!  I think our favorite museum yet.  He had painted 17 scenes from the bible intended for a church in Vence, but then gave the paintings to France and helped design this building to house them.  They had a great children's audio tour and we could have stayed in there for hours.  At 4:40 p.m. someone came and told us that it was closing soon.  I said, "At 5:00?"  And she said, "Yes, but you need to leave in 5 minutes."  We rounded everyone up and headed toward the exit, with the required bathroom stop.  I have never wanted to spend my money as much as I did at their bookstore, but no, the cash registers were locked, the gates coming down and they were locking the front doors at 5 minutes to the hour.  These French are serious about closing times -- they want to be HOME at 5:00.

::a mosaic mural on an outside wall (also borrowed)

We then rushed over to the Matisse museum which closed at 6:00.  

::the front of the building

::inside -- mere seconds before being sternly told not to take pictures 

::outside again -- this time they had everyone out and doors locked at 17 minutes before closing time -- hopefully a record, but I imagine more the norm

::a ride on the menagerie in the surrounding park

::the park was full of olive trees and each pathway was named after a famous jazz artist

We then drove around town to soak up what we could after hours -- it is a lovely city and Charles said that he hoped it would make us all a little Nice-er (neeser).