Today we got up relatively early, because we had a lot planned.
First we hit the Post Office for the mailing of the second box of stuff to be schlepped back to Virginia. It's nice to not have quite so much stuff with us, and to know that we'll have a ton of fun opening the boxes back in Virginia.
We then walked past l'Hotel des Invalides, since it is right here and we hadn't seen it yet (Check!) to the Rodin Museum. The boys sprinted to the sculpture of The Thinker, and immediately began mimicng on the steps to his pedestal. Hilarious. After a few minutes of contemplation of the Thinker, the boys proceeded to take full advantage of the fact that the sculptures are outside in a formal garden that is designed for children to play. There were even a couple of well-used sand-boxes surrounded by chaise lounges. After the exercise and the fresh air, we obviously needed a pain au chocolate for each boy (although Matthew also stole Mommy's Belgian waffle) and a cafe for Mommy and Daddy. On the way out, of course we hit the gift shop. There was some fixation on Freud, including a felt finger puppet with which Matthew immediately fell in love.
As we walked to the Metro, I explained that Freud helped people understand themselves and their problems, and that he usually started with people's parents and blamed most of their troubles on them. Matthew then whipped out his Freud finger puppet and announced in his puppet voice that "You are both fired as parents!" That kid is way to quick to put all this stuff together.
Anyway, still in firm parental control we jumped on the Metro over to the Pompidou Center, home of the Stravinsky Fountain and raved about by all the guidebooks for Paris with kids. We took a brief interlude for a ride on one of the carousels set up around Paris for the Christmas season and a visit to the exterminator with the rats in the window featured in "Ratatouille."
The Stravinsky Fountain was cool, and there a neat three room interactive light, color, and shadow exhibit, but there was absolutely nothing else child friendly. Lunch in the Restaurant Georges on the top floor of the Pompidou Center was pretty cool, however, and gave s a chance to relax and rest our feet. Our table was the one on the right in the back.
Off to the Metro again, this time a bit of a hike to the stop to avoid multiple train changes. Since the Scare Coeur is on the top of Montmartre, the highest point in Paris, there is no Metro stop anywhere near it, and you have to hike up to get to it. There is apparently some funicular train thing that only goes up the side of Montmartre, like to the Peak in Hong Kong or Pike's Peak in Colorado, but we were too tired to figure it out, so we just climbed. The view was amazing, and the church exterior was beautiful in the sunlight, but the "visitor" path through the church itself was crowded, noisy and pushy, so one really couldn't take in the sacredness of the church. The boys were very good, but kept getting pushed aside or stepped in front of, so weren't thrilled either.
The Sacre Coeur sits on Montmarte, a traditional home for artists such as Picasso, and is an artists village today. In addition to a plethora of art shops selling copies and posters of famous artworks, as well as original works of varying quality, there are dozens of sketch artists who wander Montmartre seeking lovers and parents willing to spring for a portrait. We at least were smart enough to pick an old guy who looked like he'd done a few before and convince him to do it in a nearby cafe so we could drink coffee and hot chocolate and sit comfortably during the creation of the masterpiece. The boys seemed to enjoy it and were very patient. Theodore Jordache, our artist, spoke excellent English. This turned out to not be too surprising as he had lived in the US for a few years in New York, Miami, and Southern California. It was pleasant to discuss his life story and the wisdom he had picked up over the years doing portraits around the world. The process took about an hour, and you can visit us at home to see the final work.
We missed the Moulin Rouge, which is also somewhere in that neighborhood, but decided to head home and grab some dinner to go from Lenotre, sort of a French version of the prepared foods section of Whole Foods. It was an excellent meal, and it was nice for it to be entirely smoke free.
Tomorrow, we go to mass at Notre Dame and then I think we may try to take a boat ride along the Seine for our last day in Paris.
We miss you all.
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