That's A Wrap

Surprise

Our old friend Taeus sent us not one but two edible arrangements. Out of the blue. What a nice surprise.

Genuine

Smiling for another picture because I asked them to.

Smiling because they are actually doing something they want to do. When we went to the kids' science museum early on in our trip, we walked by a pop-up water park. H&M asked if we could go back one day and reminded us every day until we did. It looked a bit lame from the outside but we had no idea how lame it actually was until we got inside. H&M were a bit surprised to find that there was no actual swimming space just long lines with little adult supervision which meant the bigger kids would push their way to the front. I was not going to let my kids get bullied like this so I stood by and monitored this and told the kids that wanted to go in front of H&M to think again. Then I let them fight their own battles while I stood in a different line for probably close to 2 hours for a ride where children got inside giant transparent blow-up beach balls and then got tossed into the water to roll around for a few minutes with no actual fresh air to breathe and then got let out before they suffocated. Harper and Margo kept going up and down the giant inflatable slide the whole time having a great time. I asked them after they got out of the inflatable suffocation chambers if they had fun and even though they could barely breathe by the end they said yes. There were no places near the inflatable places for parents to sit and if you had to stand in line you did so under the blaring sunlight because there was nothing to provide shade. I was not sure why no one was complaining about this. I even tried to feel out another person waiting in the long line but she wouldn't take my bait. She was only positive. Good for her. Good for H&M. The end.

A Two-headed Monster Follows the Golden Rule

On Bastille Day we wanted to watch the fireworks in the park behind the Eiffel Tower, Champs de Mars. We got there 3 hours early but should have arrived at 10 a.m. for the 11 p.m. show. We'll know for next time. We found a plot of grass with an obstructed view of the Eiffel Tower and quickly sat down to wait. We ended up moving to a different plot farther back with a less obstructed view and continued waiting. A family of four came and sat down in the tiny open space next to us while Marc and Harper were gone using the bathroom. With only two of us on the blanket, the family probably thought there was more room than there was. They sat down but I did not make room for them because I knew Harper and Marc still needed to sit down. When we followed the golden rule and imagined ourselves in the same situation we all moved over and shared the most beautiful fireworks display we will ever see. Harper and Margo still talk about seeing fireworks coming out of the Eiffel Tower as the highlight of their vacation.

Notre Dame for the Last Time

Three days before we left we were feeling the crunch and worrying we wouldn't get to see it all before we left. Hard to believe since we had three weeks to explore Paris alone. But when you are tourists like us, you don't get out the door before noon and you only see one sight each day, maybe two. We had time to take it easy and so we did and I  have no (major) regrets about that. Did we see everything there was to see in Paris? No. Did we have a great time there? Yes. Do I prefer traveling like this? Definitely yes. Will we always have the luxury of traveling like this? Definitely no. When I am on vacation I want to feel like things are slowing down. By the end of this summer though I had removed myself so far from my real life that I did not want to go back to it. I think I am still feeling the drag of real life and questioning what it's all for and why we do things the way we do.

Dinner

On our last daughter outings we were all tasked with choosing something for the other half of our family for dinner. We planned to meet at the Eiffel Tower and have a picnic on our second to last night in town. Margo and I bought mini-pancakes, makizushi, Bonne Maman chocolate-caramel tarts and Orange Fanta for Harper and carrot salad and some fancy soup for Dad. Harper and Dad bought me a salade Nicoise and a fancy dessert and quiche and a fancy dessert for Margo.

Musée d'Orsay

Missing Delphy.

Don't remember what was upsetting to Harper at this point. It was at the end of the trip and it was a hot day and we were at another museum. So it wouldn't have taken much to upset any of us. One good thing about this day, besides getting to see more great art, was that while we waited in a long line outside in the sun on one of the only uncomfortably hot days of our entire vacation, we were again ushered to the front of the line and then inside the (mildly) air-conditioned building. Obviously the French (and any country that does this) win points for being so courteous and generous to families. They also win points because their buildings were not freezing cold with way too much air conditioning.

This painting actually made me think there was natural sunlight shining on that painted floor.

Last Night

On the last night of our epic vacation we went to one more place on our list of places to visit. It did not disappoint. Except for the fact that they were closing and so we couldn't eat in the bakery or outside on their nice metal chairs. And they were vacuuming. But besides that this place was awesome. We went through the line and still had money so we went through the line again and bought all the things. (Why do people say "all the things" now? Where did this trend start?) (Do you know the answer, dear reader?)

Handmade Coal

Harper made Marc some coal for his stocking.