Paris, day 2

After some croissants (thanks Micah!) Zoe and I headed over to the Eiffel Tower where we queued up to walk up the stairs.  Going to Paris to see the Eiffel tower seems like a bit of a cliché, and I was really only doing it for Zoe, but I have to admit that there is something magical about it.

Zoe impressed me with her stair climbing skills, and we were soon at the second level, looking down on Paris.  A Scottish couple behind us in line had advised us to not stop at level one or two, but go all the way to the top, and stop at the other levels on the way down, which we did.  I think it worked out pretty well, because we hardly waited at all for the elevator to the top and were able to look around relatively unhindered.

Next stop: the RER.  We stopped at the cool living facade of the Branly that Micah and Ali had shown us the night before:

I wanted to go to a very highly rated vietnamese restaurant called Saigon Pantheon near the Luxembourg gardens, but after a lot of walking and negotiating with Zoe, we arrived to find it closed!  We went to another one nearby which actually had some pretty good Pho.  

From there, we went to the Menagerie, which Zoe heartily enjoyed.  I find zoos somewhat torturous, but this one was not too bad.

At this point, Zoe was starting to flag, so we walked to the Seine by way of the Tour d'Argent

to enjoy the fabulous weather

People were sunning themselves on the banks of the Seine, and the occasional boat would pass by, overflowing with tourists.  I wondered if I would get seasick even on the calm waters of the Seine.  I also wondered whether anyone had ever kiteboarded in between Ile de la Cité and Pont de la Tournelle.  It looks big enough!  I couldn't find anything on google and was jolted out of my kiteboarding reverie by a yacht motoring by, with every inch of it's decks occupied by bikini clad ladies.  We were supposed to meet my old friend Glen for coffee, but when he texted me to tell me he would be late, I knew I couldn't delay any longer and Zoe and I began the walk home.  Somehow we had a little trouble finding Metro stations, but we did come across a bridge covered with locks

and the restaurant where I proposed to Chloe, eleven years ago

By the time we got back to Micah and Ali's, Zoe was like a little zombie.  I set her up with some pens and paper and that was pretty much it for her, for the day.

The parents, however, were in for a treat!  A babysitter had been arranged in advance, and reservations made at le Concert de Cuisine.  We walked over to the resto, which is s small room with a fully open kitchen with one chef, one sous chef and one saucier (?). 

 The chef was in front of the grill, which would periodically erupt into an impressive fireball. The chef's movements were precise and economical:  no Benihana malarky here!  The meal itself was fantastic -- probably the best that I have had in the last few years.  Simple, fresh ingredients, perfectly cooked and plated, but with some excellent creative touches.

It was a wonderful meal, with excellent company. 

Paris, day 1

It had been ages since I had been in Paris, and the stars aligned for a weekend trip:  Chloe would be away with Alex, and my friends from college are doing a sabbatical there, so a few weeks ago I bought tickets on the TGV.  After driving Chloe and Alex to the bus stop, Zoe and I got our stuff together and walked down to the route nationale so that we could take the bus into town (my first time on this bus).  Bento followed us down the road, where he was almost run over by numerous cars, and Zoe started to cry.  Thankfully some neighborhood dogs eventually halted his advance.

We arrived at the station quite early, and had a second breakfast (warm pain au choc --woo!) while we waited for the train to show up

And then hopped on the train.  Our seats were on the upper deck, which was fun.  I had shelled out a few extra euros for the upgrade to first class, which was worth it just to people watch.  It was mostly heavily perfumed grandmas and grandpas, but there was also a frumpy lady reading a book by Jacques Lacan while furiously scribbling messy notes across the aisle.  A little further down the aisle, a man with frizzled grey hair produced a small tabletop version of Rodin's thinker, installed it on the beverage table and began writing in a notebook.  Zoe was almost giddy with excitement, and although I told her that Bento was fine in order to console her, I was secretly worried that he would not make it back to the castle in one piece.

Three hours later we arrived in Gare de Lyon, which had mysteriously moved across the river Seine (for some reason my memory had been imprinted with the idea that it was South of the Seine!).  As we were all getting up and organizing our stuff, I was very proud to hear one of the grandmas remark to her husband how shocked she was that they were sitting behind a child -- Zoe was so quiet that she didn't even realize the danger she was in!  After de-training, we bought a carnet of subway tickets, spent a little time "exploring" the Gare de Lyon and eventually made it to Micah and Ali's beautiful place near the Eiffel Tower.  We caught up with Micah and then Zoe and I headed out on the town!

First stop was the Musee d'Orsay, which had a fabulous Suicide/Van Gogh/Artaud exhibition.  I had to whisk Zoe past some of the multimedia displays but otherwise they had a pretty impressive collection on display.  Zoe has a book of Van Gogh paintings, so it was great for her to see them in person.  I also learned that in the Orsay, you are not allowed to put kids on your shoulders!  I guess a child took a header into something and they don't allow it anymore.

From there, we could not resist the call of the gorgeous Orsay cafeteria, and had some cakes (20 euros for two cakes -- yikes)

Next stop: the famous gaufres de St. Germain.  They were still excellent, but not quite as good as I remembered.  Note to self:  do not order the chocolate version for kids: it was a giant mess.

Then it was back to Ali and Micah's, where we met their son Zeke, who is almost the same age as Zoe.  We wall went out for Italian food and glaces together and walked back via the Tour Eiffel

Bento

Jumped out of the bedroom window today -- not sure why!  He seems to be fine though

Charmette

First of the season, and it felt sooo hard

Romeyer with Hank

An excellent ride with Hank up to Mont Noir via Romeyer.

It's worth mentioning that there is a tunnel on the climb, which is a total horror show. It's totally dark, and with at least one major bend in the tunnel mid way though its 495 meters (~1600 feet).  Uphill.

There are numerous discussions on the various cycling sites regarding how people get through it: powerful bike light, wait for a friendly car to drive behind you or use a cell phone light. I'm glad I now know the best way through now though -- go around it on a closed road!

A crash!

Zoe had a nasty wipeout on her bike going around a gravelly corner!

Another holiday

May in France is full of holidays.  And that mens no camp or day care!  So today we did a family (minus Chloe, who was still swanning around Barcelona) hike up to the Aiguille de Quaix from Planfay.  We stopped to carve little boats out of branches and race them down a small river and then then have a little picnic.  There was hardly any grumbling at all -- I was very proud of them!  It is so beautiful up there.

Camp

School is out and the kids are in camp

I'm alone with the kids while Chloe galavants around Barcelona, so after camp we went to the OK sushi place in town at Caserne de Bonne , Vieux Campeur to ogle the Petzl rope and laugh at the ridiculous Sharma rope

And then I let the kids run around the play area.  Zoe promptly fell ass first into one of the water courses while attempting to leap over it

Bochard+Alpages+Natural History

We went to the excellent Natural History museum with the kids today.  There was a special exhibit on spiders, which was not bad.  The museum as a whole is small but excellent, and I'm sure we will be going there more often.  They have a greenhouse with orchids, banana trees and a pond, as well as a very well done desert section.  Since we were in the neighborhood, we went to the Best Cheese Store in France -- les Alpages to buy some transcendent vieux comte, St. Felicien, Persilé de Tignes and a truffle cheese that I can't remember the name of.  Les Alpages was still closed when we arrived, so we took a detour to one of the most famous Chocolatiers in Grenoble -- Bochard, which now has a cafe.  A day well spent.

Later on, I taught Zoe how to "pick" the bathroom lock with a screwdriver, which elicited barely contained squeals of joy and excitement.  Chloe was less excited

NO, no , no nono nononononononono

NO!