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…
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!
