Paris

Flat Stanleys

Second week in a row without leaving Paris. Last week was such a hit we thought why not try it again. 

Exciting start to the week as several of Charles’ Sydney classmates arrived … in the post!

The class were reading Flat Stanley and had gotten into the spirit by making their own replica Flat Stanleys. Several of them had jetted to Paris and were determined to see the sights…

Jardin d’acclimatation – reprise

Niamh and Aisling were justifiably jealous when they heard Charles’ and Simon’s descriptions of their adventures in the Jardin d’Acclimatation the weekend before, so come Sunday we decided a rerun visit was called for, with all the family. 

Aisling was straight into the mix, checking out the roller band, jumping behind the wheel on the dodgems and dominating the playground climbing equipment…

But for this thrill seeker, it is really all about the rollercoasters.

The bigger, the higher, the faster the better.

How about that one, Daddy? The rocket ship one?

Ah yes, of course, the rocket ship one!

Mummy not looking so convinced in the back, but check out that smile in the front!

Mostly we were all just looking nice and relaxed…

 

Highlight of the day for Charles was tackling the big zip lines and tree-top course with his friend Deniz.

Helmets and harnesses in place, it was up through the nets and out into the course.

On the line, and ready to zip across the lake!

Courageous boy thrilled with himself, as he should have been.

Time for a quick snap with the Flat Stanleys on the way out of the park (in front of the impressive architecture of the Fondation Louis Vuitton), then it was off to our next appointment, Lucas’ birthday party in the nearby Bois de Bologne.

Another successful trip to the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Give us this over EuroDisney any day!

Bois de Bologne Birthday

All go this Sunday. Charles and Deniz were both off to Lucas’ 8th birthday party, a short distance further into the park, on a picturesque little island…

Great fun with the class racing around the park, building forts, and launching surprise attacks and sorties with water pistols.

Who’s that who’s once again muscled his way somehow to the front of the cake line?? It’s important to develop core skills in life…

Tired but happy kids on the ferry back at the end of the day.

School visits for Mum & Dad

This week there were a few different opportunities to visit Charles’ school.

First, to check out the lego after-school activity, with Aisling quick to get in on the action…

… then a visit to English class for the end of year play, featuring country-specific intros by each of the kids.

Last Sculpture Evening!

Undaunted by the sight of his fellow sculpture classmates consistently turning out masterpieces while he toiled away to learn the basics week after week, after 6 months of great fun, Simon finally finished his first work. 

The Louvre won’t be calling anytime soon, but Tuesday night sculpture classes were a real highlight of Simon’s time in Paris, and certainly provided the most authentic experience. Plus he had a lot of fun, made some new friends and learned a lot.

He even finished with 20 mins to spare on the last evening.

Not cutting it fine at all!

Plenty of time left over to scratch out a little moon face to celebrate the beautiful evening…

Fun around Paris

Now that we were within 3 months of leaving the EU, it was duty free shopping time! 

Simon dispatched to the fancy boutiques in Au Bon Marché to pick up some trinkets.

His strategy was to buy only from whomever could serve the finest tea in the finest china cups.

Let the sipping begin 🙂 

Aisling meanwhile putting the final touches on the scooter tricks she had been working on all year in the streets of Paris.

Look out world!

We stumbled upon pigeon eggs in our window box, and gay pride marches in the streets…

… Charles finished his world cup soccer card collection after months of frenzied and focused trading in the playground and careful use of pocket money (hooray!), and we also admired this man’s panache.

He is the Chanel boutique poop butler. 

If your pooch needs to poop while you’re shopping for some trinkets, he’ll take it for a stroll around the Place des Voges until it does its business on the most fashionable cobbles in the world, and then neatly scoop them up for you before returning Fido. 

Ah, the romance of Paris!

Aisling’s school show

Could this week get any more exciting? Yes it could! 

Time for Aisling’s end of year school play and ballet performance.

All in a large professional theatre.

Quite the event of the season 🙂

 

Fantastic performance by everyone involved, and a very proud girl and parents at the end. 

Time for a shot with our two teachers (one for French, one for English) and a big thank-you for a great 6 months together.

Can’t believe it’s nearly all over!

Our little graduate

And just like that it was the last day of school. Yes, we’ve graduated from French pre-school. Quite an achievement and worth celebrating with a special graduation hat:

Then it was off to celebrate at lunch with Mum & Dad. And what better menu to celebrate with than our favourite ham and our favourite cheese, all washed down with a generous glass of Orangina.

Happy days and happy memories.

Saving the best ’til last

Charles’ school year was drawing to a close too of course. 

Time for one last “sortie”, and they had saved the best until last – a trip to the chocolaterie Ducasse to see how chocolate is made, end to end.

Complete with making our very own bars of chocolate, if you don’t mind!

Chocolate lovers, eat your hearts out!

Puttin’ on the Ritz

Not to be outdone, Niamh and Simon were also rapidly thing to close out their Paris bucket list. 

This week – an evening of class at the Ritz, with the mission to sample all the bars on offer 🙂

The secluded back bar and terrace cafe with its fountains and mountains of cocktails was all very nice, as was the private arcade of boutiques bursting with baubles.

But none of that compared to just stretching out in our own cabana in the lush interior garden courtyard with a glass of fine Bordeaux and some hors d’oeuvres – which proved surprisingly easy to negotiate if you were willing to speak a bit of french, smile a lot and be patient.

Here we are doing our best to look fabulous…

Of course, no trip to the Ritz would be complete without a trip to the iconic Hemingway Bar, and we were only too glad to oblige.

Dry cocktails de rigueur as we contemplated the plot lines of our next masterpieces of literature…

Team Barlow!

But is that all, you ask? Of course that’s not all!

The biggest event of the week was still to come: the much anticipated arrival of Team Barlow.

We discovered them down the end of an elegant Parisian street, peering down at us from a rooftop Airbnb ledge:

There was nothing for it but to pile on out into the streets, to sample the summer sights, sounds and tastes.

Starting with a trip to Les Invalides, and the markets of rue Cler for a bit of wandering and exploration, followed by dinner in one of the local bistros…

And here is what happens when you finally get back in the lobby door after a VERY busy week:

Paris

Jardin d’Acclimatation

Wow! The first time since our very first week in Paris that the blog location tracker just says “Paris” at the top. Nice to just be around home for a change!

Sunday morning and Niamh and Aisling weren’t back from Killorglin until early afternoon, so Charles and Simon took the chance to head up to the newly renovated and oddly named jardin d’acclimatation in the north-east of Paris.

As opposed to the mostly paved Disney-style parks, the jardin d’acclimatation is a fun park set in a lovely grassy 18 hectare park in the Bois de Boulogne. It’s aimed at kids from 3 to 12, so perfect for our two go-getters. 

We had been meaning to try it for a while, but it had been under renovation and only just recently reopened, so Charles and Simon headed out for a test run.

Quick ride on the metro where some hotly contested games of “Defis de nature” trump cards helped pass the time.

Once at the park, Charles was quickly “volunteered” by two jugglers, to take part in their act.

Watch those flying pins!

Getting to the park when it opens at 10am is key to beating the crowds – in Paris most families attend church on Sundays, followed by a family lunch, so the big crowds descend by about 2pm.

Earlier in the morning queues are quite short, so we were able to whip around and try our favourite rides. The Rocket roller coaster was high on the list, as were the dodgems and the spinning chairs:

The park has magnificent playgrounds and climbing / play equipment for kids, roller-skating bands and giants roaming around to eat you up if you don’t behave…

From the top of the spinning pirate ship ride, panos are just a matter of pushing the button and letting the ship turn you around for a birds-eye view of the park:

The highlight of the day however was the “high ropes” course, which had a height requirement of 145cm. Charles in his new Nikes from the Champs Elysées store the week before was right on the line and got the green light. Suspect there’s not too many 7 year olds who made that height requirement and gave it a go.

Tippy toes required at each transition to get his metal clip through the barriers between the challenges, and the further he went the more confident he grew:

Delighted boy at the finish – high ropes conquered!

Niamh and Aisling return

Once the high roles were done, it was back to Paris in time to welcome Niamh and Aisling back from Paris and head out for family dinner on Sunday night, with lots of swapping of stories from either side of the Channel and Irish sea…

Parents’ night on the Seine

This week was the end of school year parents night out for Charles’ school, which was being held on a purpose built event boat moored in a (thankfully) quiet part of the Seine.

It was a lovely sunset, and the boat was moored right beside the Paris courthouse which was beautiful in the late evening light.

Being on the boat provided a fun atmosphere as we bobbed away and enjoyed a few drinks and chit chat with friends and strangers. 

It was also a chance for Simon to catch up with an old EJM school friend Becky, whom he had run into randomly on the metro the week before.

Small enough world, she now has a daughter Emily about Charles’ age and also at EJM – we fixed a play date / catch up for later in the week.

A fun night, and mostly just nice to be out in Paris on a beautiful summer’s evening. Even at 10:30 it was twilight, and an appropriate moment for a romantic walk down to “our” tree.

Sculpting in plaster and wood

Sculpture for Simon was continuing to work on the figures and refine the patinas on the rocks and water.

Charles also got into the act, helping Simon to bend some wooden trim for the renovation in the apartment at rue du marche st honoré, which has been bubbling along all this time.

Dance and concert rehearsals

End of school year means end of school concerts no matter where you are in the world. 

Aisling very excited for her ballet / dance performance coming up, and trying out her new outfit.

Of course, Aisling is a keen adherent of all forms of dance, and equally happy practicing her rhumba, flamenco or disco of an afternoon…

Wednesday family adventure

For our Wednesday afternoon family adventure, it was off to the botanical gardens and the dinosaur exhibit at the museum of natural history, featuring a nearly full T-Rex skeleton.

Passing the time on the metro with a few games of thumb wars and finger sculpture copying:

Lovely setting in the jardin des plantes for a Wednesday afternoon stroll…

… things got a bit scarier on the inside though.

Trick with walking a dinosaur of course is the size of the poo you need to pick up afterwards:

After the exhibit, a chance to wander around the main floor of the museum, including its impressive procession of African savannah animals

And if you find yourself feeling too serious on the way home, you can just get off at this metro stop. We did just that.

Charles’ school play extravaganza

Charles and his class had been working away for the past couple of months learning their French lines for a school play based on Greek mythology and packed with obscure French puns, most of which were destined to go whizzing several thousand feet over our heads 🙂

Great excitement for the kids, particularly since it was held in a real theatre a metro ride away. Finally the big day was here, kids arriving and looking great in their costumes.

A great performance by all involved, complete with costume changes, choreography and music

Time to take a bow!

Gluten free pizza!

Well, better late than never. Just at the end of our stay, a new gluten free restaurant opened up just a couple of blocks from our apartment, so we gave it a try for Friday night family dinner out.

Heaven for Niamh who promptly pronounced it the best gluten free pizza in the known universe. Happy days!

High art triple header #1: Louvre

Saturday was a big day, with a triple header planned.

Stop #1 was the Louvre. Simon and Niamh had been multiple times during our stay, having signed up as members towards the start, but we had yet to bring the kids, so today was another bucket list day.

Luckily membership cards help avoid the snaking summer queues

Kids fired in to check out some of the highlights of painting and sculpture, Charles doing his best to put on an enigmatic smile…

Charles took a family snap as we toured the classical section:

Then we headed over to the Egyptian antiquities section, which is always a winner – we checked out the mummified animals (guess which!), and were reminded why St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. That looks painful!

High art triple header #2: Rodin

Saturday lunchtime and we headed straight from the Louvre to the gardens of the Rodin museum for a catch up with Simon’s EJM school friend Becky and a play date with her daughter Emily.

Great day for a think – or to pretend we’re burghers handing over the keys (one of Simon’s favourite sculptures)

Of course, there’s also the finely honed art of self-sculpture…

Great fun had by the three kids up and down the gardens while the parents caught up on a few decades of life in between. 

High art triple

header #3: Les Contellis

It had already been a busy Saturday, but we thought that good things always come in threes, so one more high art experience would round out the day nicely.

Simon had noticed that a pint sized kids circus had opened up in one of the little parks in our neighbourhood, so at the end of the day we all headed off to see Les Contellis – a family of performers who put on a circus show in a small demountable tent in the little parks that abound in Paris.

Happy days!

We all had great fun in the intimate surrounds as each of the Contelli kids came out and did their stuff – some quite impressive acts for a neighbourhood circus, we loved it. 

Finally time to call it a day – and a week. Some tired but happy faces around the table at one of our locals to sign off on our first week spent just in Paris since we first arrived. Well done team! 

Paris ~ St Denis ~ Killorglin

Storming Montmatre à la Brosnan

Sunday was a new day and we were off to storm the hill – the only real hill in Paris, Montmartre. Once outside the city walls and at times a quarry then artist colony, it makes for great touring and history. With Niamh and Simon as amateur guides following the walking tour we did there with XXX, we set off on the mighty metro.

Back to the scene of the crime as we all did our best to emerge like a sculpture from a wall…

A great morning spent wandering the streets, visiting the site of Renoir’s windmill painting and goofing about in the twisting streets. Who is that styling lady??

It was time to bid the Gallway Brosnans goodbye after a lovely visit. Good news is that we’ll see them again before too long in Kerry.

Fleas and Markets

Another one of our bucket list items for our stay had been a return visit to the flea markets at St Denis. Both Simon and Niamh had been in the past, but not for many years.

We decided this was the week, and we fired out early on Monday morning.

While not quite as they were several decades ago, the markets are still a labyrinth of treasure & trash, where you’re well served by brining a map and a plan if you have a particular objective.

Or if like us you’re happy to browse and get lost for a while, well that just takes care of itself. 

Whether your taste runs to butterflies, Chinese armour or stuffed marmots, we’ve got you covered…

Or perhaps you’re looking for that special “je ne sais quoi” to complement your dinner party china set?

You could spend hours wandering lost in the alleyways – so we did!

Enamelware for the still life painter in your life? No problem.

Antique crampon boots for that daring ascent? You’ve come to the right place.

Perhaps a tall ship to help you get to that adventure? Or a set of keys in their own key chest to unlock the treasure chest when you get there…

Amazingly, we came away empty handed. Except of course for the orange UFO in the picture at top which nobody in their right mind could have passed up.

Sculpture

The sculpture bus meanwhile rolls on, though the progress is slow!

This week started applying patinas to the figures after much debate and experimentation.

This is a mix of 3 colours, intimidating for the novice to get right…

Simon & Niamh in Paris

Simon and Niamh found time as always for some Paris exploration, stumbling across the Comedie Italienne building and a handy little belt shop where the provenance of the leather was guaranteed by the chap adorning the table. 

We had a second go at lunch at Bon Marché after the previous failed experience.

This one much better, although we again ended up in a rush for school pickup. If only they would keep them locked away a little longer 🙂

Aisling & Niamh in Killorglin

One last pre-trip to Ireland for Niamh and Aisling before we all head there after the end of school term.

Handy timing as they took back several suitcases of stuff, as have all our Ireland visitors of late.

Impressive what can accumulate over the course of 6 months. Aisling and her Mum both excited for the journey…

Nothing will make Niamh happier than sitting on a plane to Ireland with a Barry’s tea and a bag of Taytos…

Happy days on arrival with the aunties in Killorglin!

The ladies had a wonderful time with the cousins and siblings, and came back full of all the news from Killorglin, including an apparent craze for unicycles…

Charles & Simon in Paris

Meanwhile Charles and Simon were out and about in Paris, playing foosball and surviving on Dad’s cooking!

World Cup!

The real excitement of the week however was the long-awaited start of the world cup. There has been blanket coverage in Paris, including in the school yard with feverish trading of football cards, and will bunting in the streets.

A side benefit is that Charles can now rapidly identify 32 different nations’ flags, far more and better than his parents!

Charles also tried his hand at some sculpture, making a replica world cup trophy before the action started.

The cafes in our street all in high state of excitement for the first game in the French pool, against Australia of course! What a great way for us to kick off our world cup watching. 

Charles invited a few school friends over and we had the Aussie colour bunting up, and our Socceroos jersey on for the occasion.

 

High excitement for the match, and a brief period of jubilation for the Aussie contingent when Australia scored…

However, a victory wasn’t to be, with ricochets and other acts of fate conspiring against us in the match.

No matter, after the game we of course all headed out to the Champ de Mars to recreate the best moments and have our own chance on the pitch. Great day and fun to be in Paris for a match like this.

Rouen ~ Giverny ~ Paris

Rouen Exploring

Sunny Sunday morning and off to explore Rouen.

Beautiful day for taking in the centuries old architecture and imagining strolling through the alleyways in the 1400s.

We browsed the street markets, saw some live sword fighting on the streets and generally focused on looking fabulous…

Easily the most impressive building in Rouen is its cathedral, once the tallest building in the world. Built starting in the 12th century on the site where a church had stood since the 4th century, it has an extraordinary facade and flamboyant gothic decoration through many parts.

Like most cathedrals of this age, it has been burned down and rebuilt many times, and suffered substantial damage in wars, but has survived it all, and remains a breathtaking sight, particularly when backlit on a bright sunny day:

Inside, we lit a candle for our nan and admired the enormous ceilings and beautiful carvings and stained glass windows.

On the way out, Aisling posing as a 4 year old going on 20.

Panorama XXL

In the afternoon we set off to explore the “Panorama XXL” which had been highly recommended to us by Robert and Glenys.

A handful of these exhibits have been built in Europe, and are the work of Austrian/German artist Yadegar Assisi.

He creates truly enormous cylindrical towers (32 metres tall and 110 metres wide), on the inside of which scenes are depicted on printed fabric, which you take in from an observation tower built in the middle of the cylinder.

Each of them take him and his team about 3 years to make.

The one we were here to see was of Rouen in 1431, during the hundred years’ war, and the year Joan of Arc was brought to the stake in Rouen.

To make the Panorama, Yadegar set his equipment up on top of the cathedral, giving him a 360 degree view of Rouen.

Taking a huge number of digital photos, and then combining these with historical maps and depictions of the city, he slowly recreates what a view of the city in 1431 would have looked like from the top of the cathedral – including having people dress in historical garb and stand in the streets for the photos.

The result is a surprisingly compelling experience, which is presented in different light to show the scene evolving from dawn to dusk, with the sounds of the street filling your ears. Pictures can’t do it justice.

A highly unusual concept, and well worth the visit.

Just to make the experience a bit more realistic, on the way out we passed by two “knights” engaged in a sword fight.

The winner seemed destined to be the one who could muster the energy for the longest to bash the other one’s shield with his sword, while wearing full armour in sweltering heat…

We were exhausted just watching!

Giverny

On the way back to Paris we had planned to stop in at Giverny, where Monet spent the latter years of his life in a country house with stunning gardens, including his famous waterlily ponds and the Japanese bridge.

Along with the Louvre and the Palace of Versailles, this must be one of the most visited sites in France! People come in their thousands from Paris on day trips – so the trick is either to visit first thing in the morning before the busses arrive, or in the late afternoon after they’ve left.

We chose the latter, and it was still quite busy. Once into the gardens though, it was surprisingly peaceful and we were free to explore at our own pace.

Late summer was a great time to visit, with the garden in late bloom and the water lilies in flower

Charles and Aisling tried their hand at a few carefully framed shots as well…

Along with everyone else, we posed for some mandatory shots on the famous bridge.

Quick stop at the country house on the way out so Niamh could drool over the copper pot collection.

Then it was tempt o head home after a busy weekend and get ready for Monday morning school.

Jacquemart André

This week’s parents’ association visit was to the Jacquemart André museum, one of Simon’s favourites due to the high quality collection in a manageably sized setting, due to it being housed in one of the few remaining manor houses in central Paris.

Current exhibition was Mary Cassatt, an American impressionist painter who lived most of her life in Paris amongst Degas and the other French impressionists of the time.

She persisted in an era where it was hugely difficult to gain acceptance as a woman, and the exhibition was a wonderful display of her breadth, not just the well known oils, but also a series of drawings and pastels more rarely seen.

Our guide spoke rapidly in French which was a challenge at times, but more than made up for by the quality of the art. The second picture at bottom though might have been better as a time series as the lady in the red hat toppled slowly out of the boat and onto the duck?

Did we mention the yoghurt?

Well, we’ve mentioned it before, but there’s something about yoghurt that is deeply seated in the French psyche!

Here for example is the modest Monoprix line-up of choices:

Sculpture: Patinas

Another night of working on patinas on the rocks and water for Simon, with lots of great advice from the ladies. 

This is tricky to get right!

Sortie #1: Île de la Cité

This week Simon also signed up as a parent supervisor for Charles’ class excursion to the Île de la Cité in central Paris. Great chance to see the kids (and their teacher) in the wild.

We all trooped off somewhat chaotically via the metro and made our way to the Pont Neuf in the steady rain for our first stop.

Our guide was a highly knowledgeable lady who was clearly experienced in educating young kids about the history of Paris. Only drawback was that she did so at pace in French, and with the assumption that all the kids would steadily pay attention and follow along throughout – regardless of the disparity between their levels of French and the levels of distraction all around them.

A tall order at times!

The kids did their best to follow along, and after exploring the Pont Neuf we moved on to the Palais de Justice, competing with the roar of passing traffic to learn about the history of some of the original buildings of Paris…

Last stop was Notre Dame, with the kids hearing a brief summary of its history out in the courtyard, before a short tour of the vast interior, to take in the wood and stone carving and stained glass windows.

Somehow we made it back to school with the same number of kids that we set out with, and armed with many suggestions on how to organise and control a group of 8 and 9 year olds in the streets of Paris!

Afternoon with Dad

Wednesday afternoon was an outing with Dad, and we decided to check out the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées, two iconic Parisian sights that we had postponed seeing until late in our visit. 

High spirits and hijinx all around. 

We visited the tomb of the unknown soldier and thought about our visit to the Somme a month earlier, and talked about what war memorials are all about.

We huffed and puffed our way up the spiral staircase and admired the bird’s eye view of Paris…

It’s a shame Haussmann didn’t live in the age of iPhones. With a panorama shot you can line up his boulevards as though they all shoot out parallel to one another right from the base of the Arc de Triomphe:

After enjoying the view, we headed down to strut our stuff on the Champs Elysées at last. How it has survived so long without us is a mystery.

We wandered down as far as the Nike shop where Charles upgraded his footwear to introduce a bit more orange into his life, only to emerge into an unexpected downpour.

A series of mad dashes between awnings got us to the metro only partially soaked, and we made it home to tell Mum about all our adventures.

Sortie #2: Patisserie!

A busy week for school excursions – term must be drawing to a close. 

This one a bit more exciting for the kids – a visit to the local patisserie. This shop is right on the corner diagonally across from the school, so benefits greatly from the custom of its pupils. Part of the quid pro quo is entertaining class visits from time to time, as the kids see how baguette, croissant and various other delicacies are made.

Baguette production not surprisingly is regulated, and the ones to go for are the baguettes traditions – long fermentation the way bread is supposed to be made.

Tucking into some samples afterwards is a highlight of the visit of course.

The kids even got to make their own croissant out of dough and bring it home.

We let it rise overnight then baked it the next morning. The petit déjeuner of champions – a self-made croissant fresh from the oven!

Fun around Paris

And as always, plenty of time for fun around the town.

We checked out the street art, street signs and building façades…

We celebrated our medal from school sports, checked out the toy soldier shop and tried on our costumes for end of year plays…

And we just enjoyed the everyday sights of Paris

Mike, Hannah and Martha

This weekend’s excitement: Mike, Hannah and Martha are coming to stay from Gallway. Great to have cousins in town again, and weather forecast looked good for some exploring.

The Brosnans arrived on Friday, and we headed to the Jardin des Tuileries with scooter on hand to check out the Musée de l’Orangerie.

A wonderful, compact museum (like the Jacquemart André) dedicated to impressionist art, and purpose built to house Monet’s waterlily series. Nice timing after our visit to Giverny earlier in the week.

It’s not a painting unless it curves all around you several times! Beautiful, relaxing setting to take in the art and compare it to our own impressions of the gardens on our recent visit.

When visiting a museum on a hot day, it’s important to stay hydrated.

Luckily our water lady Aisling was on hand to help out.

Afterwards, we found the perfect complement to a contemplative museum visit was to scoot across the park for a harem scarem bounce on the Tuileries trampolines.

Look how high I can!

Charles and Niamh then joined us for a walk over to the Louvre, and we checked out some unusual buskers, one on the harp and the other on a cello-less cello.

The next day (Saturday) we fired out onto the Champs de Mars and under the Eiffel Tower towards the batobus for one last cruise on the Seine. 

Aisling again declaring herself undefeated champion of thumb wars…

… and the rest of us taking in the scenery floating past on a hot summers day

Including of course, our famous willow tree, with two of the by-products in the foreground 🙂

We got off to explore the Île Saint Louis, stopping for a lunch of crêpes in the same restaurant that had once rescued us when Charles was 9 months old and we were in dire need for food.

Again a warm welcome despite the size of our group. There are indeed friendly Parisians out there if you know where to look!

Then it was off for a scoot with our renewed energy, Aisling showing off her best tricks:

 

We slowly made our way over to the gorgeous Place des Voges for one last look for the adults, and once last ice cream for the kids 🙂

… and one last play in the gardens for the kids.

We wandered past the Centre Pompidou, where the fountains were now in full swing after the winter recess. A very different scene from when we were last here!

And through the flower markets – Martha in particular enjoying the sights and smells

Then it was time to head back home, via the batobus of course.

We returned to our starting point at the Eiffel Tower stop, which put us right on the Promenade de l’Australie.

Perfect spot for a bit of Aussie tip, followed by a stroll to the Place de Sydney.

Is it just us, or are the blokes in this part of town just a little taller and more handsome than average?

With the girls in town to babysit, Niamh, Mike and Simon headed out to dinner – a rare night out! 

We checked out a new charcuterie restaurant that had opened up not far away. A great choice, a fun night out with Mike and a great way to end the week.

Paris ~ Versailles ~ Rouen

Mothers’ Day

Sunday was Mothers’ Day in France, so we started the day with family breakfast cooked specially for mum, and some presents thoughtfully selected by the kids. If it winds up, then you know it’s fun!

Nice relaxing morning, with Aisling only too ready to pitch in and help her mother with the fresh raspberries and trying out her new blocks game…

Eiffel Tower (Take 2)

Sunday was also back to the Eiffel Tower for the second time in a week, as the Scott-Bacons were keen, and Charles had missed out on our Wednesday trip.

No pre-booked tickets this time, so we were at the mercy of the walk-up queue, but it was a lovely morning and we took turns waiting in the line – this time opting for the walk up to the first floor, and lift from there to the top.

We figured we’d enjoy the view more if we had to work for it a bit!

Beautiful sunshine meant clear views in every direction, and the walk up actually gave us some of the best views as there were very few people around, compared with the top level which was extremely packed on a sunny Sunday!

Island Strolling

Sunday afternoon we headed out for one of our favourite walks, down the side of Notre Dame cathedral, with a pause in the playground behind it, then over the bridge to the Isle St Louis for some Bertillon ice-cream. There was a group of roller dancers / performers on the bridge whizzing past doing various acrobatic moves. Not too many of us at age 60+ who can roller blade backwards in and out of little cones without missing a beat!

On the way home, Charles even found a place of his own a couple of blocks down from our apartment on our street…

Paris fun & Exploration

By now the weather in Paris was HOT! And it was going to stay that way for a while. 

Luckily, the spray fountains at Les Halles were spraying up a storm to give the kids a bit of relief (and a bit of fun)

We had a game of chasing around the forecourt of the Petit Palais. Somehow Dad always seemed to be “in”…

Niamh strolled the streets, snapping up some plus-sized kitchen (?) gadgets (six foot paddle, anyone?) and street signs…

… and as always, keeping a keen eye out for the interesting street art which abounds:

Simon and Aisling walked through beautiful arcades, and played out competitive foosball matches in the Corcoran shop…

Most of all, we all just enjoyed Paris in the springtime:

Bastille Touring

Time for Niamh and Simon’s next walking tour with the EJM parents’ group – this time around the Bastille area, where the once infamous prison had stood. 

Today the Place de la Bastille is marked more by the sprawling opera house than a prison, but you can still see markings on the ground where the outline of the battlements once were. The Bastille has a larger than life place in French history as the first place stormed in the revolution of 1789.

In reality it was a small prison at the time, housing only a handful of noblemen prisoners under somewhat loose conditions – they gave daily diatribes from the rooftops and the gaolers were largely elderly. A good place to attack!

We started at the noisy and bustling Place de la Bastille, but quickly diverted to one side where you can duck down beside one of the canals that flow through the river. This canal flows underground for about a kilometre beyond the Place de la Bastille (you can take a tour by boat), and comes out here at the Port de l’Arsenal. 

It stands in stark contrast to the Place de la Bastille, with boats sitting peacefully on the canal. There is a port master in a little brick building, on the side of which you can see the levels of all the floods of the Seine down the ages. Exploring through a little tunnel brings you beside the lock, and into the Seine proper, with an unusual aspect down the river towards Notre Dame:

Back on the Place de la Bastille side of the canal, there’s a little park and a lovely green walkway

Following up the stairs, you reach the Coulée verte René-Dumont, an old section of raised metro line that has been converted into a green walkway that inspired the High Line in New York and the similar path recently opened in Chicago.

We braved the drizzle which had caught us umbrella-less!

The walkway led us to the back side of the Bastille markets, with prices about 1/3 of the markets in our more fashionable neighbourhood.

Niamh as always had tomato envy :-).

Speaking of envy, we also passed a cafe with possibly the world’s largest and most complicated espresso machine. I’d like a latte, and I’d like it LARGE!

Last was a quick stop into Pachamama, a hip restaurant in a historic building designed by M. Eiffel, of tower fame. Metal elements on the facade are an indication, in inside the (very dark) decor includes a beautiful staircase and soaring ceilings. Must come back for a cocktail or two one evening!

All that walking builds up an appetite, so after a few minutes trying our best to help a rather disoriented French lady trying to reach her son, we headed down the street to sample what our tour guide had confidently informed us was the “second-best” duck confit in Paris :-). 

But not before a quick peek into the window of the Café des chats – which was appropriately teeming with feline friends.

Oh, and the confit was delicious…

Sculpture

Must the sculpture show go on? It must! 

Another few layers of coloured patina on the water waves and the rocks starting to bring them to life a bit more.

Figures ready for staining next…

Return to Versailles

Ever since our guided tour of Versailles with the kids we had been hoping for a chance to visit the royal opera there again and see a show. Friday night was the night.

We rented a car, picked the kids up from school and headed out for the short drive west to Versailles. Early evening was the perfect time to arrive and relax in the gardens away from the busy life of Paris

Simon and Niamh had planned a quick dinner in the hotel before a leisurely stroll over to Versailles for the show. Unfortunately we lingered a bit too long over the food and the leisurely stroll turned into a cobblestone sprint – in heels for Niamh!

We must have made quite the sight dashing past the street cafes, and Niamh’s childhood cross country training came in very handy, as her parents had always told her it would…

Luckily, it turned out we were in France, and many others were similarly late, so the show started 10 mins behind schedule – just enough time to take in the architecture and find our seats. 

What an amazing setting. A small theatre with great acoustics and intricately carved wooden decoration throughout, including the optical illusion chandeliers at the gallery level.

The opera was perfectly suited to the setting: Phaeton by by Jean-Baptiste Lully. It premiered in that room on January 6, 1683 and was one of Louis XIV’s favourite operas.

You can even take in the show from the original royal box where Louis liked to perch:

The setting here had been (very) substantially modernised which for us made for great entertainment and a distraction from the omnipresent harpsichord :-). Story full of gods, mortals and hubris, with morales aplenty.

A great night out that lived up to expectations.

Antiques and Gardens

Saturday morning and a glorious sunny day.

Started with a little exploration in the hotel’s beautiful gardens full of fountains, old mature and graceful trees, and lawns perfect for playing freeze tag.

Kids also tried their hand at amateur archaeology, exploring the fossil imprints in the garden paving stones…

We decided to spend the morning exploring the town and its antique markets, as well as the Versailles palace gardens before heading to Rouen.

As the attached photos demonstrate, kids less excited for antiques browsing / shopping than Marie Antoinette might have been…

Quick stroll from the town to the palace grounds, many of which you can explore without entering the palace itself. 

Time for some frisbee, a game of tip on the grass and just taking in the magnificent avenues.

Given the amount of time the kids had spent learning the pirate craft in cardboard boxes at home, the boats on the lake were a perfect place to put the new-found skills into action.

Captain Aisling at the helm, while pirate Niamh looking very relaxed while preparing for attack.

Rouen

Saturday afternoon and it was off to Rouen!

Mediaeval city north east of Paris, a hop skip and a jump further on from Versailles. Rouen is famous for its architecture, its awe-inspiring cathedral, its food, and its history, including the death of Joan of Arc.

We arrived at our little hotel in the early evening, squeezed around the beds to drop off our bags, and headed out to explore! Narrow street with half-timbered houses dating from the 16th to 18th centuries, and the striking church dedicated to Joan of Arc in the main square.

However this being dinner time, our particular focus amongst Rouen’s many attractions was its cuisine. Using her trusty fourchette app, Niamh quickly found us a recommendation on the square, and it didn’t disappoint. 

Aisling indulging in some cutlery sculpture (commissions by request, she’s at least got the artist’s look nailed), and Charles focused on some desert sculpture of his own…

Meanwhile, Simon creating his own splash, with questionable cocktails, curious entrées, and la pièce de résistance … the smoked steak.

How is the steak smoked you ask?

Why, the obvious way: serve it underneath a gigantic glass cover with a pile of straw sitting beside the steak under the glass. Light the straw on fire and cover immediately, leading to a choke of smoke. Leave for 1 minute then release a cloud around the table and once the coughing subsides, tuck in!

Great food and great fun to end the week. And who doesn’t enjoy a bit of melted chocolate theatre for dessert?

Angers ~ Paris ~ Marne-la-Vallée ~ Pont-Saint-Esprit

Terra Boncala

Sunday in Angers and it was off to Terra Botanica … or as Charles mis-read the sign on the way in, “Terra Boncala”, causing family-wide hysterics. 

Terra Boncala is a botanical theme park in Angers with a variety of ways to discover nature, including flying over it in pedal powered walnut shells, floating through it on little boats, and watching 3D movies of it. Another bright sunny day for exploring!

We found mysterious caves, prehistoric marshes and talking trees…

… we took the slow boat past fairytale scenes of various descriptions; and most of all we just enjoyed the beautiful gardens all around.

A quieter day out after all the excitement of Puy du Fou, which was exactly what was needed.

Time to catch up on a bit of homework on the train back to Paris and get ready for (believe it or not) even more excitement to come this week for both kids…

The excursion to end all excursions

While a school excursion for 7 year olds in Sydney might involve a trip to a museum or gallery, in France we take things up a notch.

This week Charles went on a 4-day excursion to the south of France on the TGV! Whatever concerns Charles might have had to be heading 700km away from home for a little excursion were magnified ten fold for his mother.

But we all got our heads around it in the end, and after some practice at finding his own clothes each day from a little suitcase, and with a few Euros in his pocket for a souvenir, off he went with his classmates and teacher.

High emotions and excitement on the train platform…

It was a big step for them all, and they had a great time of course. Avignon and Pope’s palace, Pont de Gard aqueduct, Théâtre antique d’Orange etc, all capped off with a big disco party on the final night.

Parental stress managed via daily blog photos in the meantime :-).

Suffice to say 15 kids safely delivered home at the end of the week having grown up a lot in the space of 4 days – but also very glad to be home after their big adventure.

The Sculpture show rolls slowly on

Meanwhile it’s business as usual back in paris for Mum & Dad, at least for a day or so. 

After seeing off Charles at the train station, Simon made a pilgrimage to BHV for a few things for the Honoré apartment renovations.

Along the way, wandering past the Tour St Jacques, a tower built in the 1500s to welcome pilgrims setting out on the long path to the pilgrimage destination of Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain. Still a walk many pilgrims complete.

Of course, a pilgrimage to the bricolage department at BHV is no less daunting in many ways…

 

Sculpture classes also wait for no man (or specifically, the only man in the class), and not that all the figures are fixed into the plaster, it’s time to venture into the rather intimidating world of paint colours and patinas for the plasters.

Yet another set of skills to be learned, from choosing and mixing colours, to different techniques for applying them, types of gomme laque to apply etc. So much to learn in so little time!

Time with Mum & Dad

While Charles was away, chance for Aisling to have some Mum & Dad time – out and about on our scooter, and trying on some lovely hats…

Happy days!

We also stopped in to one of Niamh and Simon’s favourite restaurants in Paris, Le Récamier for some gorgeous soufflés – almost as gorgeous as the patrons themselves.

Usually one of our first stops on a trip to Paris, this was the first time we had made it here, and we made the most of it!

Holly!

While Charles’ excitement was all in the south of France this week, Aisling’s excitement was much closer to the home, as her best friend Holly from preschool in Sydney was coming to stay for a few days, along with her mother Lauren and baby sister Emily.

The visit was a surprise until Aisling saw Holly step off the train at the station. High excitement all around!

Nothing says Paris fashion like matching pink string backpacks, and the two little ladies were soon stepping out in style…

Champ de mars, here we come!

Disneyland

In an act of either sheer bravery or reckless insanity, Niamh and Holly’s mother Lauren decided at the drop of a hat to make a day trip with the three girls to Disneyland Paris.

Some plan their trip to Disneyland for months in advance. Others fearlessly sally forth on the day. Excited kids on the train on the way there…

 

A trip to Disneyland Paris is not a voyage for the faint-of-heart parent.

Luckily both Lauren and Niamh are far from faint of heart, and they fearlessly set forth and then talked / muscled / charmed / cajoled their way through snaking queues and less than accommodating staff to successfully negotiate the required photos with princesses, fairytale rides and no less than front-row seats at the parade (secrets of this not to be divulged to the general public).

Disney staff uniformly unhelpful throughout. Puy du Fou service rating: 10/10. Disneyland: 3/10. So much for famed service orientation – concept doesn’t seem to translate to Europe well, and Niamh found it commercial at every turn after Puy du Fou.

Nevertheless, very happy little girls! Aisling’s conclusion: it’s pretty good to be a kid … but it’s a bit tiring sometimes. 

Kudos to the two super mums!

Eiffel Tower (at last)

The next adventure was much closer to home and HAD been planned well in advance, to avoid hours of queuing in the sun – the long awaited trip up the tour Eiffel.

After living in its shadow for 5 months, we finally had the excuse to head on up!

We had planned for Charles to join on a Wednesday afternoon, but as he found himself 700km to the south at the time, his chance would have to wait for another day (and not too long as it turned out).

Lovely sunny day as we marched up the champ de mars to navigate the confusing construction site that is the bottom of the Tour Eiffel these days, as the city is putting in new security barriers to cope with the throngs of visitors.

Some degree of confusion among the myriad queues, requiring regular intervention and advocacy in french to end up in the right place :-). But eventually we were where we needed to be and soaring up towards the sky in the lifts…

Of course, there’s nothing like buying a pink Eiffel Tower when in the Eiffel Tower, and the gift shop was naturally more than happy to oblige – complete with sign warning of the security risks associated with buying cheap Eiffel Tower knock-offs. Accept no imitations!

Mostly though it’s all about the views of course, and we were very lucky to have both a clear day and a (relatively) less busy time on the top floor, where for once it wasn’t cheek to jowl, just cheek to cheek 🙂

Boats, Buses & Playgrounds

Having taken in Paris from the air, it was time to check it out from the water. Happy motoring on the river, checking out the scenery floating by.

… including of course our favourite willow tree, for old times’ sake.

Then it was from the boat to the bus – open-top of course. Little earbuds supplying patchy commentary, we made our way past the major landmarks – an easy way to whiz around and give 4-year-old legs a break. Ah, the feel of wind in your hair and traffic jams at your feet…

Time for a run-around after all those boats and buses! Off to our favourite down-town playground in the jardin des Tuileries, where we were soon scampering up ladders, across rope bridges and down onto see-saws.

Again amazingly we mostly have the place to ourselves in the middle of one of the world’s largest cities and a short walk from the most visited museum in the world.

And just to round things out, a bit of a bounce in the adjacent outdoor trampoline area, where again we are the only guests…

Dinner at Suffren, our local, after a busy day!

Play time with Charles

After Charles’ triumphant return from his successful southern tour, time for some fun in the champ de mars and lots of stories to tell and catch up on. Some like to use interpretive dance. Charles and Aisling prefer interpretive balloons… 

Then off to the little champ de mars merry-go-round jousting tournament, where each child gets a wand stick and the goal is to skewer as many rings as you can on the way around. Champions all.

The Scott-Bacons take the 5th

All things come to an end, and sadly at the end of the week Holly and her mother and sister had to head off to their next adventure, travelling to beautiful Vevey, Switzerland by train. We had a great time hosting them.

Just as Aisling was starting to mourn the absence of Holly in earnest, thank goodness it was the Scott Bacons to the rescue! Our second catch up with Nerida, Roger, Alex and Amy, who came over to stay for the long weekend from London. Happy days.

Our first stop was a Saturday morning walk around the 5th arrondissement, including the markets at Place Monge.

Aisling brought along her best pair of wheels to celebrate the occasion…

Sweet shops and meringue cake shops distracted us along the way (don’t mention the word pav!!)…

In the markets, fruit, meat, cheese and produce stores of all description.

Obligatory to try a croissant from the shop voted best in Paris of course.

Slightly less enticing were the various pig parts on offer!

We picked up some tasty food (pigs trotters not on the menu!) and made our way to the Luxembourg gardens nearby for a lovely sunny picnic …

… followed by a play in the excellent playground.

Great climbing, girls!

Saturday afternoon and it was time for some culture.

We had organised a walking tour of Montmartre, a region in the north of Paris full of history, with Kelly, the excellent tour guide we met through the parents’ association at Charles’ school.

So it was off on the metro across Paris to find Kelly.

Kelly is an amazing guide with a seemingly endless knowledge of Paris. She talked us through the history of Montmartre from its time as a quarry for paster of Paris (the windmills originally used to grind the rocks, not grain), to evolving into an artists neighbourhood, and becoming what it is today – a mix of tourist attraction, artist colony and swanky neighbourhood for people wanting to live a little away from the hubbub and with a sprawling view over the Parisian rooftops.

Big first day out and about in Paris for our guests, and for us!

Paris ~ Les Épesses ~ Angers

Sunday Sculpture

Time to get back to the blog. We are well behind, which is a sign of the amount of fun being had, as this blog entry will make clear.

Sunday was a make-up workshop day at Simon’s sculpture class, and his teacher kindly agreed to let Charles join for a couple of hours, which he was delighted to do, and quickly set about making a javelin man out of wire frame and clay.

Study of concentration in his corner, and quickly charming the regular sculpture class ladies.

Meanwhile, Simon’s own culture slowly coming along, with the first figures now precariously plastered in place…

After a busy morning of sculpting, time for Sunday lunch on the square for Charles and Simon.

Only the healthiest of food on the menu of course…

All around Paris

It was a busy week around Paris in between school time. 

Aisling was out exploring the streets with Niamh, who came up with a novel way to turn her scooter into a convertible with a hard top in the rain.

Just shove the umbrella down the back of the raincoat and you’re good to go!

We tried a new crêpes restaurant which was quickly declared a success, and checked out the amazing chocolate creations in the window of Patrick Roger:

We marvelled at the beautiful stonework on the Haussmann era buildings, this one with snaking Gaudi-like decorations.

Niamh also spotted the handy device in action which they use to clean the facades. Simon could use one of those for his complexion…

Aisling worked on her balloon art skills, Charles got a haircut (and his first hair wash by a hairdresser), and there were fun times on the metro:

As always we fired into the champ de mars for some playtime … leading to the inevitable crash out at the end of a long day!

Niamh and Simon even snuck in an extra lunch at the café des abattoirs when no one was looking (or at least, they were at school)…

We were reminded that although we’d observed almost no petty crime in Paris, which overall has felt like a very safe city to live in, it’s not immune to it, as this motorcycle outside our front door one morning showed, having been broken down, presumably for spare parts.

Dinner out

This week was also a rare event for Niamh and Simon – dinner out!

We have managed many lunches, but took a while to get organised with babysitters for evening outings.

This week was an exception however, and we were up and out.

Time for an early evening stroll across the champ de mars for dinner at Mariette, with Spanish-influenced French food just across the park in the 7th arrondissement.

A beautiful evening and a lovely meal – and just good to be out!

Puy du Fou

Friday afternoon was another dash from school to the train station, as we were off to … Puy du Fou! 

Never heard of it? You’re not alone, but you might do well to learn more about it. Puy du Fou is one of the premier theme parks in the world, and doesn’t offer a single ride. 

Instead, it is a sprawling park where a variety of shows take place – mostly in open air – recreating times past, from Romans to Vikings to the Three Musketeers. 

Something of a pain to get to, you take the train several hours west of Paris, then you drive for an hour and a half. This is truly a destination spot, and once there it’s easy to see why.

We stayed in the Iles de Clovis thatched huts (you can choose from a variety of themed accommodation), which was great fun and set the scene perfectly for our visit.

Sitting on stilts above the lake, you sleep a little Bora-Bora style with fish swimming underneath your pillow…

Meals are buffets in a themed restaurant and wait staff in costume, to add to the fun 🙂

The Birds

Saturday and it was off into the park! Each day has a different sequence of shows you can choose between and navigate across the park, so for a short stay a bit of planning is essential.

We started our day with a show we knew little about, but which turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip so far – the birds!!

Wow, the birds!

What an extraordinary show. A team of falconers with birds of prey of all shapes and sizes. As with all the shows, the performers narrated the show, talking about the history of the location and the linkages to birds of prey down the centuries.

The narration is in French, but you can hear an English translation through the park’s app – they are very organised!

There were knights with hawks riding on the back of their horses, and snake-stomping Secretary birds from South Africa vigorously stomping the life out of rubber snakes…

The falconers were all around the stands with the birds sweeping up the face of the crowd between them under bright blue skies.

Owls, hawks, eagles, sea birds, all swooping right overhead…

To showcase the birds’ amazing ability to hunt from great heights, they launched a balloon high, high, above the stands … full of birds!

Periodically a hawk or falcon would be released and plummet at extraordinary speed towards the ground and grab hold of a dummy bait mocked-up like a bird they would hunt.

Amazing!

Then the highlight of the show was the “ballet of the birds” at the end when all the birds were released together and swirled around and around the stands in a mesmerising choreography…

An unforgettable experience to start our day at Puy du Fou – and one that Charles quickly declared a highlight of our trip so far.

The Vikings

With barely time to catch our breath from the birds, it was off to the Vikings! 

We sat and watched as a recreated peaceful 11th century village on the banks of the Seine was invaded by a marauding group of Vikings…

After a few skirmishes, the main event was a Viking ship that surfaced from under the river, complete with (very good at holding their breath) crew members already aboard!

A couple of friends from the bird show stopped by to check out the action:

 

… of which there was soon plenty, with sword fighting, tower scaling, town pillaging and explosions of various sorts all over the place. Glad we live out of reach of the Vikings these days!

The Knights of the Round Table

Set around the same time period, we then went to watch the knights of the round table go through various trials, starting with extracting the sword from the stone amid a flow of water and fire…

No sooner did they have the sword than there was quite a bit of squabbling and a fight that broke the sword in two. 

Luckily, the lady of the lake (sporting a mermaid tail no less) was on hand to supply a replacement…

Reunited the knights set sail but were more focused on gambling than sailing, leading to the ship nearly being lost, and ultimately a renewed commitment to the cause.

At which point … out of the lake comes the round table itself.

And then what else walks up right out of the bottom of the lake? A horse and rider of course! Impressive show.

The Coliseum

At this point you are probably wondering whether Puy du Fou has a full sized Roman coliseum.

Of course Puy du Fou has a full sized Roman coliseum!

We felt truly transported back a further thousand years as we made our way slowly with the crowds of thousands towards the arena, wondering what would be in store. We had a feeling it might involve Christians (or at least Gauls) and lions…

The coliseum at Puy du Fou is the real deal. Quickly pronounced by Charles his equal favourite along with the birds.

We were designated into two halves in the crowd: Gauls and Romans.

We fell in the side of the Gauls, and cheered on the plucky underdogs throughout the show as the Roman consul called the shots on the other side of the arena to our loud boos.

There was an impressive parade of animals and carriages, including this huge flock of geese being herded along:

At the appointed hour the Roman consul gave the signal and magically a red cloth roof was pulled over the stands, framing the arena and giving a bit of relief from the strong sun.

Easy to picture how impressive this would have been in roman times. It was impressive enough in 2018!

We had real chariot races (of course), with dramatic falls and chariots coming apart at strategic moments.

To Aisling’s delight the white team won.

There were Gallic prisoners paraded through the stadium, and we all voted loudly for clemency – here is Charles giving his enthusiastic thumbs up.

Sadly the consul was not very inclined and there were more trials to come for the unlucky prisoners 🙁

By this stage you are probably wondering whether these trials involved being attacked by an albino lion.

Of course they did. 

And did we mention the enormous tiger and a small pride of lionesses also facing up to the defenceless gaul leader (lady on the right)…

Somehow the Gauls prevailed in the end, courtesy of one of the Roman generals falling for the Gallic leader and turning on his compatriots.

A fantastic spectacle throughout – extraordinary that they put this on multiple times a day, and a wonderful way for the kids to get a sense of history outside of books and Internet.

La Lance

Were we finished? We were not. We hadn’t even seen a single jousting tournament or any trick horse riding yet.

Quickly remedied!

This corner of the park focused on the time of Joan of Arc, as she left her town in the hands of Marguerite who was to defend it against the advancing English. Bird of prey balloon visible in the distance!

As advertised, there was jousting by knights and trick riding aplenty:

After many battles and disappearing walls, Joan of Arc returns and helps Marguerite to triumph over the English amidst many explosions and realistic fighting…

Around Puy du Fou

And there was even more, including the impressive indoor Three Musketeers show with sword fights galore and trick riding on a massive water-inundated stage (but no photos allowed).

Beyond the shows, there was also plenty to explore around the park, including recreated towns from the year 1000 onwards. 

We watched a stone sculptor at his trade, as well as a blacksmith in his workshop with a large set of bellows and a fine anvil for hammering out new swords…

Aisling admired the mechanical singing owls…

… and we all admired the fantastical mechanical clock with human bell chimers swinging up and down, upside down and downside up.

We saw the birds of prey pouncing from their balloon in the sky from all around the park…

… we wandered through the mazes and took tactical ice cream breaks …

… and admired old-style herb gardens and goat pens. 

And at the end of a long day, we relaxed by the lake to watch a fountain show set to music in the late afternoon light:

Fair to say we extracted full value from our day out in Puy du Fou!

We could easily have spent three days there. What an amazing concept and experience. Without doubt a highlight of our trip.

Dinner in Angers

Headed back to Angers with tired kids that evening as the park was sold out for accommodation on the Saturday night.

Quick dinner was called for before collapsing into bed to rest up for more adventures to come on Sunday…

Paris ~ Fontainebleau

Sunday out with Maggie

Off to the Sunday morning Motte Picquet markets for a look around with Maggie.

Remember it’s not a market in Paris if there aren’t at least 12 varieties of egg to choose from…

We were off to the Jardin de Luxembourg, with a quick stop first at the Montparnasse Sunday art market.

Kids in great form at the Luxembourg playground as always 🙂

After all the excitement, time to cool off with a bit of gelato…

We had a great time hosting Maggie, looking forward to some hill walking with her in Ireland over the summer.

Family fun

Plenty of time for family fun this week. An odd holiday schedule saw Tuesday and Thursday be public holidays, with Monday, Wednesday and Friday normal school days. And don’t even think about pulling your child for one of those days if you want them back in school the following Monday.

Even the UK has the good sense to put all its public holidays on Mondays!

We had fun in the park with the frisbee, and fun at home with lego.

And of course we headed out on the town…

Two questions:

First, is it possible to blend French and US culture just a little too far?

Second, how come we weren’t invited to the gigantic party that apparently happened in our neighbourhood on Sunday night and filled the glass bin to overflowing by about 100 bottles?

Buttes-Chaumont

The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a large (almost 25ha) curved, hilly park in the north east of Paris that was a Napoleon III creation along with the Haussmann boulevards, which was opened in 1867.

Neither Simon or Niamh had ever been before, so we used our Tuesday holiday day to check it out, and we were really glad we did. Beautiful sunny day to be out in the park.

Lots of water pistol fights and fun in the sun.

And of course we couldn’t pass up the chance to climb the oddly out of place temple perched atop a man-made cliff at the centre of the park…

Start of sunbathing season in Paris, and spring is truly springing 🙂

Creative fun

Simon off to sculpture as usual on Tuesday night, plaster forms of the rocks now finished. Hopefully now rocky enough 🙂

Meanwhile Charles had a workshop at school. What sort of workshop do we hold at school in Paris for a group of 7 year olds? Perfume making of course. Kids all made their custom perfumes from their selection of smells.

Charles came home announcing proudly he was going to offer his new fragrance to “DIE-or” as eau de citron…

Off to Fontainebleau

Wednesday as usual was a half day for Charles and no school for Aisling, so with Thursday a holiday we decided to zip down to Fontainebleau just south of Paris via the “Transilien” regional train.

SNCF strike meant fewer trains than usual, so once again Simon and Charles were sprinting from school pickup to the station.

We made the train with 30 seconds to spare. Kids happy to catch a bit of rest on the way…

Made it to our cosy hotel near the palace, kids in good form. 

Dinner al fresco – happy days!

Simon channeling his inner Fletcher; kids unwinding with a bit of drawing.

Fontainebleau Forest

Morning time and there’s no better way to kick-start the day than with a cup of hot coffee.

But of course we’re in France, and hot coffee doesn’t come in cups, it comes in buckets :-).

Happy days for Niamh!

The forest at Fontainebleau is 280 square kilometres large, once a hunting playground for the kings of France, now full of hiking trails and has become a rock climbing and bouldering mecca. We fired out!

The park was in the full bloom of spring wild flowers, a beautiful sight…

Kids alternating between playing tip and sneaking up on their parents in the long grass:

 

Easy to see why the INSEAD students love the environment here.

 

Beautiful place for strolling in the forest or along beside the canal.

But mostly just for playing in the fields…

…and blowing dandelions.

Fontainebleau Palace & gardens

Later we ventured into the palace, with its impressive architecture spanning multiple centuries of construction, surrounded by sprawling gardens.

The site has had a chateau on it since the 12th century. The current palace was initially built by Francis I, then built on and expanded by every monarch through the 18th century through to Louis XV, and well worth a visit.

Many important historical events have taken place there, and today it’s a museum to that history. You can see Napoleon’s field tent, and his “necessaire” – a wonderful name for the essential travelling case of any emperor…

You can see the bassinet of an Emperor’s son. Is there a Bugaboo Emperor coming out anytime soon? 

We particularly enjoyed the table in the kids’ play room with its contemporary map of the world for learning the essentials of geography. Note the topography of Australia:

Or of course you can just quietly soak in the architecture of the place…

Just as Aisling found some bedroom decor inspiration at Versailles, Charles gathered some simple decor ideas here…

The map room we found particularly beautiful, and Niamh and Aisling were both captivated by the ceilings throughout

Once we were palaced out, it was into the gardens for a bit of high quality tip!

Lots of secret passageways to explore as we tore around the gardens playing tip.

Then a bit of relaxing with the goslings – and a chance to catch our breath and recharge with a macaron the size of our face 🙂

Back to Paris & Friday night dinner

Luckily Niamh had some handy bubbles on hand to jolly everyone along while waiting for the train after our day and a half of tiring adventures.

Charles and Simon polishing their ball shooter & catcher skills.

Friday night dinner at the end of a long week.

Some of us made it all the way through, others wisely chose the tactical nap option.

Paris ~ Versailles

Family time

We were all looking forward to being local for a week after our busy couple of weeks of travel.

Aisling practicing a few of her dance moves in the living room and Charles working on a new Lego mindstorms racing car. 

Out and around the town, the spring weather was alternating between sun and drizzle.

Trusty Harry Potter wand in hand in case of any trouble.

Aisling and Simon’s latest game was finger sculpture imitation.

First person makes a sculpture with their fingers, other person has to copy it exactly. Surprisingly hard!

Aisling delighted with her creations…

And sometimes the most fun is just staying home, playing dress-ups and building cubby houses in the bedroom.

Monge, Boules, Contrescarpe

This week, we headed off to check out the flea markets at Place Monge.

For the vegetarian in your life, this may be the perfect place to find that special gift! 

Perhaps a custom pair of salad tongs?

Charles and Aisling checking out the wares…

You name it, we have it:

After checking out the markets we wandered up to the picturesque Place de la Contrescarpe. 

Lovely little square popular with tourists for interesting shops and markets nearby. 

Nice choice for a spot of lunch 🙂

After lunch, we stopped by les arènes de Lutèce, the old Roman amphitheatre.

Not quite the gladiatorial contests of old; nowadays once or twice a week it becomes the centre of the boules scene in paris, with a boulapalooza from end to end on the sand.

Seems boules is still very much a man’s game, not a woman in sight…

Foire de Paris

This week was also the Foire de Paris. For those not already in the know, the Foire de Paris is the biggest fair event in Europe, with more than 3,500 exhibitors on everything from food to design. It has been on the go for more than 110 years…

Niamh ventured out to check it out! Vast hectares of design displays, interspersed with most things you can imagine. 

Want a frolic in an adult-sized foam ball pit?

No problem

Niamh in parmesan and cured meat heaven…

And of course what would any fair anywhere in the world be without a good gadget hawker?

Been a bit disappointed with how your toilet brush is working?

You’re in luck. Finally a miracle of science has come to the rescue with “Le frottoir WC magique”!

Playdate

Simon and Aisling meanwhile headed out for a playdate in the champ de mars. 

Beautiful day, but we still had the place largely to ourselves.

Exploring with Maggie

Big news of the week was that Niamh’s sister Maggie had come to visit from Ireland for 4 days.

Kids delighted to have some time with their auntie.

Weather was looking good, so Niamh, Maggie and kids fired out into Paris for some exploration.

First stop Luxembourg gardens. Strolling around the gardens, ponds and fountains in the sun…

Versailles

Saturday was another beautiful day, and in a move that was either brave or reckless, we decided to head out to Versailles…

…along with a few hundred thousand of our closest friends!

Impressive lines snaking up and down the massive cobblestoned square in front of the palace already by early morning.

Aisling was taking everything in an impressively meditative stride. 

And in fact it was Aisling who came to our rescue. Simon and Aisling went for a play on the side of the chateau while the lines continued to snake.

And up at the top of a little outdoor staircase with no one going up or down, we found a little nondescript door with no one going in or out and a small sign that wasn’t legible until you we right in front of it.

It announced that inside was where to sign up for guided tours.

We pushed the door and went inside, where two friendly ladies were delighted to see us and said that for €10 per adult we could join the tour starting in 10 minutes, skip ahead of the 2000 people in the queue ahead of us, and see the various parts of Versailles closed to the public. 

We said … yes!

Off we went with our tour guide prattling rapidly in French as we all tried our best to keep up.

Beautiful day for touring around a royal palace with our auntie…

…Niamh considering adding her profile to the royal collection, as we all explored the twists and turns of the palace.

Kids throwing some shapes in the famous hall of mirrors, and Ailing considering some redecoration ideas for her bedroom.

Styling!

One benefit of the private tour was a chance to visit the royal opera, which isn’t otherwise open. 

Built in the 1700s with extraordinary wooden carvings throughout painted to look like marble and an ingenious movable stage that can accommodate extra seating or larger performance space, complete with trompe l’oeil chandeliers all around the gallery.

Niamh and Simon decided to try to find a time to return and see a performance before the end of our stay.

Then it was out into the sprawling gardens in the sun, imagining we’re Marie Antoinette… 

The gardens are beautiful and interspersed with fountains of every description, playing to the piped music:

Kids eagerly exploring every secret passageway they could find.

Nice palace and all, but we decided to stick with our little apartment. Too much upkeep, visitors and all, you understand.

Aussie promenading

On the way home got off the metro at Bir Hakeim under the Tour Eiffel to walk the past part home on the Champ de Mars. 

Where else does that put you out but on the Promenade d’Australie. 

Fine choice of promenade!

Paused for a quick snapshot opposite the Aussie embassy just so we can say we did, followed by some fun on the pelouse beside M. la Perouse. 

San Sebastián ~ Cambridge ~ London ~ Paris

Beach Ballet

Sunday morning and it was back to the beach.

We weren’t the only ones.

Every unaccompanied donkey in town was making his or her way to the sand that morning…

This was (as everyone who’s anyone would know), outdoors day for all the ballet schools in San Sebastián, and where better for a bit of fresh air plié than out on the boardwalk with a few hundred of your friends?

Bit of splashing in the still quite frigid water, then into the serious business of sandcastle making. Everyone getting in on the act:

But for some serious sand art, check out this guy.

Not only was he a dab hand with a piece of driftwood, but he also came up with a great little application of gamification. Note the spiderweb-like target he’s made for people up on the boardwalk to throw coins down to him.

Missed the bull’s eye? Keep throwing!

Aquariums & Blunderbusses

Then it was off to the aquarium-come-naval-museum for some fish spotting. 

On the way along the boardwalk, Aisling delighted by the two puppeteers who were doing a pretty awesome job of banging out Beetles hits, with near-perfect synchronisation.

Love, love me do!

 

The aquarium is out on a spit of land at the north eastern end of the beach and housed in an old fortified outpost which overlooks the bay. Charles admiring the stone walls and some old canons that were out the front.

Looking over the railing into the bay shows that while some countries use marble to decorate buildings, in other places like San Sebastián it’s in such great supply we dump huge blocks of it in the sea to make wave breaks. 

In the aquarium, lots about the history of the area and the coastline, including its historical whaling activity.

Kids had to be careful as there were pirates aplenty, with blunderbusses at the ready

Then on to the fish gazing. For a moment we thought we were back at home in Darling Harbour with sharks circling overhead…

A fun visit, and welcome break from the surprisingly hot spring sun. 

Aisling even spotted a unicorn (aka narwal) horn…

Hmm, what to do for lunch in a seaside town when you’ve just been admiring all the sea life??

What to do, what to do?

Heading to Cambridge

All good things come to an end, and it’s now time to leave San Sebastián behind and head to Old Blighty. 

A last breakfast in the hotel’s underground breakfast bunker, then back in the car for the drive back to Bilbao and our flight to Stanstead.

At the airport, no giraffe-and-full-size-traveller-mannequin dentist displays to distract us this time around, but no matter.

Airport shops a clear reminder you’re in the centre of the jamon universe!

Slice of ham, anyone? Or perhaps a whole leg? To go? No problem! Just bung it in the overhead locker and you’re ready for takeoff 🙂

Made it to Stanstead via Easyjet’s patented 14-stage boarding process.

Kids delighted to ride the driverless airport train to the terminal, and then bolted for the UK rail train to Cambridge that was about to leave. Just made it and settled in to watch the green countryside go by.

Trinity, front & back

Made it to Cambridge and fired straight out to Trinity College, Simon’s alma mater.

The college owes its considerable resources and land to Henry VIII who founded it in 1546. He had confiscated much of the land from the Catholic church and then given it to Trinity late in his life.

He still stands proudly above the Great Gate.

Trinity’s Great Court and Neville’s Court are always beautiful sights, and like passing back in time a few hundred years just by stepping through the little door in the great gate.

The Great Court was the setting of the foot race that inspired the one in chariots of fire, and the rooms surrounding it have housed students from Newton to Byron.

Trinity members have been awarded 32 Nobel prizes, and Trinity would rank 5th in the list of Nobels were it a country. It exudes a sense of scholarly calm as if the rest of the world outside the city limits might very well not exist. And 900 years at the top of its game is not a bad track record for the University of Cambridge as a whole.

We had a look around the beautiful old dining hall, with many memories for Simon of the impressive “feasts” held there in years gone by. Niamh and Charles channeling their inner Henry VIII…

One of the more exclusive societies at Trinity is the Mallard Society, which you join by moving the mock mallard duck that is up in the rafters.

No mean feat – ensuring a rather restrictive membership.

Hard to spot it on this occasion, but Niamh’s eagle eyes were up to the task, centre left.

Exploring Cambridge

Plenty of exploring to be done around the town, meanwhile, as we wandered the streets, sharing the footpaths with some meandering ducks.

We caught up with old friends from Simon’s lab in the dept of engineering, Andrew & Carmen Gee, Mark Gales and Kate Knill and also Steve Young, Simon’s PhD supervisor in Cambridge days.

Great to see everyone flourishing.

Then off for more fun out on the backs. Flowers in full bloom, it was a beautiful setting as always.

Time some punting on the Cam!

About 20 years since Simon last took the helm of a punt, but the family gamely put themselves in his hands :-). 

“Are you activating your glutes, Daddy?” was Aisling’s question. And it was a good one…

We made our way up to the weir, past Trinity Hall, King’s and Queen’s colleges and under the mathematical bridge, then floated back down with the current past Trinity to John’s and the bridge of sighs. 

A great time had by all, Simon recounting tales of afternoons sitting on the backs in front of muddy patches in the Cam, watching tourists react to getting their punt poles stuck in the mire. The Italians and Spanish invariably the most entertaining. We managed to survive incident free 🙂

Back to the hotel for a quick rest, then off to our second highlight of the day, evensong at King’s College Chapel. 

Along with the Sainte Chapel in Paris, King’s College Chapel has to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. An amazing privilege to attend evensong there, and take in the architecture while listening to one of the world’s best choirs.

Sublime way to end to the day.

London Town

Took the train to Kings Cross.

We arrived on a very ordinary platform, but not far around the corner Charles delighted to spot platform 9 3/4…

Out into the streets of London!

Red double decker buses on the right and pink macarons on the left. What could say London meets Paris better??

Into Hamley’s for an explore, including a private audience with her majesty 🙂

Then a big surprise for the kids – off to the Lion King! Fantastic show that we all really enjoyed.

Hakuna matte!

After the show caught up with Niamh’s relatives, the Hickeys.

Great catch up followed up by a lovely dinner with Julie and her family. 

Greenwich Nautical Museum

Next day we were up and out to explore.

On Jerry’s advice we fired out on the light rail to the cable car across the Thames, then slowly made our way back on the river buses. 

Kids in high spirits heading out on the train.

Onto the cable car and up over the river 🙂

Then onto the boats we went!

First stop Greenwich and the naval museum.

Kids having a great time arming themselves for battle….

Then it was off next door to explore the Cutty Sark, beautifully preserved in its own museum.

Charles and Aisling bending in with the other figure heads from tall ships down the ages…

Then being regaled by a very convincing reenactment of the ship’s creation and voyages as described by the original commissioner and owner, John Willis:

Kids as always delighted to volunteer themselves for parts in the reenactment, and John soon had them parading up and down. 

Then it was up onto the decks to imagine ourselves plying the wool trade to New South Wales. Fantastically presented museum and history lesson, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Off to the tower!

Next port of call for the river boat was the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. 

Jumped off for an obligatory walk around, though found it like all of London to be extremely packed with tourists (like us)!

A very busy day, capped off with a quick dinner for rapidly failing kids and a long sleep for all.

Science museum

New day and new energy! And speaking of energy, we were off to the wonderful museum of science.

London does museums as well as anywhere, and the museum of science is no exception.

Charles enjoying the space exhibits and both kids firing delightedly into the planetarium for some 3D action…

Weird and wonderful sights and sounds all around…

We spent most of our time in the excellent Wonderlab where as usual the kids were desperate to volunteer for everything going.

In this case the electrical show, with Aisling and her new friend completing a circuit, and Charles using pedal power to light up the room…

Magic ropes, slime and spinning paper rocket-ships. What more could you possibly ask for in an afternoon’s entertainment?

A shatteringly good experience all round.

Back to Paris

A short walk through the park brought us back to the hotel ready for our trip back to Paris.

We had a quick glance into Buckingham Palace to make sure the Beefeaters were keeping on their toes, and tested the quality of the local tree branches…

A sunny end to a brief and enjoyable jaunt in London.

Then onto the Eurostar and back to Paris after what had felt like more than 2 weeks on the road with everything we had packed in. 

Two tired kids in the car back to our apartment who were very happy to be reunited with their own beds. 

We made it back to Paris just in time to catch some more old friends just before they headed back to the US.

Scott and Susan from Solitude had been in town for a few days while we were away and it was great to catch up over some wine, cheese and charcuterie before they headed out.

Lovely relaxed evening after all our travels.

Everyone looking forward to a nice quiet Sunday before back to school and more normal routines on Monday 🙂