We made it to Paris! This is the last stop on our journey (unless you count Romania for the girls) but we’re going to stay here for over a week so needless to say we’re excited. The apartment we’re renting turned out to be amazing. It’s huge by Paris standards, with 3 bedrooms and a bright living room with windows on two sides. And the location is prime: Quartier Latin, just two blocks from the Seine and Notre Dame. We couldn’t be happier.
This morning we started by walking over to Île de la Cité, one of two islands in the Seine nearby. Actually I take it back, we started by walking downstairs to the patisserie across the street to get fresh croissants! Then we went to the island to visit Saint Chapelle. This was the king’s chapel, and it feels like it! Giant stained-glass windows that tell bible stores from Genesis to Revelations, and a rich blue ceiling… gorgeous. They have concerts here too, so if we can figure out the details then Anca is going to come hear one while I hang out with Anna.
Our next stop was “Amorino”, an ice cream place that came very highly recommended from our hosts. You pick any number of flavors you want, and they’ll make a rose out of them (one flavor per petal) atop a sugar cone. Talk about beaux arts! Tastes great too… Anna approves.
After that was a lot of strolling around the neighborhood, ending up in the huge park “Jardin du Luxembourg”. There’s lots of fun for Anna there, including a pony ride that goes around the park, not just in a little circle. Big fun.
Finally, on the way home we discovered a British pub. Sort of British, that is… only one bartender spoke English and they didn’t know what a black & tan is, but I explained it to them and they were happy to try & fix it. Anna wanted a bag of potato chips, and she was so charming with Heinzi and her little pink tutu that they gave it to her for free. I get the feeling they don’t get many 3-year-old clients.