And we’re in Paris

After having been in the air for just a couple of hours, it is already a new day! The movie is still playing and yesterday’s dinner is still on its way. Thankfully, it was not Good Friday, and there was plenty of pasta left when it was our turn to choose. The attendant handed me two red wines — do I look that that careworn, or is Chloe old enough to merit her own bottle of wine? Chloe woke for dinner, eating only a small pat of it as usual. At least she was willing to give up the half-eaten meal. On the way to Japan, she insisted on keeping her tray for hours.

Chloe was excited to see that we were over Canada as we were finishing dinner. The next movie warned it would be violent (as I wrote, no July SKY Magazine means no knowledge of what movies would play), but it was “Race to Witch Mountain.” Violent yes, but not moreso that Star Wars. Definitely not the Witch Mountain movie I remember. The girls concur.

It is now 1:15 am (France time) and still light out. I hope the girls will nap after this movie is over. The people in front of us were the flight bartenders, so more often than not, there were people standing in the aisle blocking our view of the non-individual TV screen.

It is now 8:15am. The girls and I did sleep for a few hours. The landing was unremarkable; the stroller waiting for us as we got off the plane. The stroller gave us the advantage of jumping to the very front of the immigration line; however, we then had to wait a very long time for the bag to come. Waiting for the bag in chairs was more comfortable than waiting in line, at least.

We walked over the the train station and bought our 5 day passes. A little expensive, but gives us free RER/Metro/bus and also discounts at places like the Arc de Triomphe and France Miniature. We are now sitting in the “train station” waiting for Barbara to arrive. The girls played and read for the 3.5 hours that we waited.

Once Barbara arrived, we got on the RER B that was at the station, and luckily enough, it was an express to Gare du Nord. We had a bit of an adventure getting to the metro from there. The metro was hot (Paris is HOT today). We found our way to the apartment where we were met by someone from the management company. Happily, there is a lift (carry the bags up 5 flights of stairs would have not been fun). The apartment is nice, has a balcony, and overlooks the Natural History Museum at the Jardin des Plantes. It has internet, but no wi-fi, so my Air can’t connect. Not too big of a problem really; I can keep up with email via Barbara’s computer.

The girls were exhausted and crashed in front of the TV for an hour. While the girls were napping, a large crowd started to gather outside our apartment. We learned from the flyers and the news that it was a rally/memorial service for the victims of the Comoran airliner crash. President Sarkozy was going to arrive soon. So we packed up and headed down into the thick of the crowd. The women had brightly colored wraps; the men all had on the same style caps. The police opened up the road in front of the mosque and we fell in with the made rush. After a bit, it was too dense, so we fought our way out and around to another, empty street and got to see Sarkozy drive by! The girls got some ice cream, we waited for a while, then left.

After a brief walk through the Jardin des Plantes, we went to a small store and got a few provisions and had a snack in the apartment before heading out again. We walked down to the Seine, intending to get a bus to the Eiffel Tower, but instead chose to walk along the river. There we found huge gatherings of picnickers and dancers out. The girls played in a playground that has been upgraded since the last time we had been there.

Walking back to the apartment, the girls got crepes from a sidewalk to-go place. Back at the apartment, we went to bed, but Chloe could not get to sleep.

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