Saturday in Paris
On Saturday we headed for Notre Dame after our usual breakfast, but with croissants from Rue Cler. That was definitely the best bakery in the area, even though they actually specialize in breads, not pastries. The little bakery downstairs was closed on the weekends. Things were closed all sorts of odd times and hours, including the grocery stores so we had to try to be careful to plan ahead a bit.
We took the bus as we found it an awesome way for our family to get around. No stairs, the stroller fits in without folding it and you get to sight see along the way. We stopped at an excellent bakery as we walked through the Latin Quarter, got some hot chocolate and a snack before walking by the Palais de Justice and the huge lines. We toured through the squares, visited the Cite metro stop which has some neat lights and stair gothic decorations, through the garden shops and over to the plaza in front of Notre Dame like all the other throngs of tourists.
I practiced with some more family shots. Cutting off my own feet. This was before I figured out to strap the camera to the stroller straps so I didn’t feel so nervous about getting some distance between us and the camera to make an opportunity for thieves. There were a TON of people on the square and the line was long.
Thankfully the line moved really fast to get inside. The girls enjoyed playing around with the stroller where they learned they could both sit in it, taking turns in one another’s lap. Otherwise they enjoyed the freedom to run around in the open space.
Inside Notre Dame, Celia was not pleased. She had napped earlier already and wanted nothing to do with the dark quiet place inside. So we basically power-walked through it as she got upset anytime we tried to stop. Good thing we visited last time we were there. Josie learned to notice all the different rose windows and see how they looked different from the inside and outside. She also grabbed a postcard for herself of one later on as we walked home.
After our quick exit from the church we went back behind it to look at the flying buttresses and enjoy the garden. The girls sat down and enjoyed yet another snack. I tried to take pictures of the lovely place and they were just not in the mood.
It was a tough combination of not knowing when they’d be hungry since our timing was all off schedule plus it turned out they were both on a major growth spurt which was very noticeable once we got home and tried on some other clothes. We were eating all the time. Plus the food was good!
After the garden we watched some street performers as we made our way to Ile St Louis for a picnic lunch. We stopped at a local creperie for some more egg and cheese crepes plus some sandwiches from a grocery down the block. Jordi took Celia with him to get the sandwich and on the way out, we think Celia said ‘aqua’, but the clientele thought she had said ‘au revior!’ (goodbye in french) and were thoroughly charmed by her waving. Celia’s current stranger anxiety had not kicked in yet. We made our way to the western most tip of the island with a nice little open space and no one else around.
Right behind the wall we were in front of was a huge drop down to the river Siene. Right next to the river was a pathway where lots of other people without small children were having picnics and generally enjoying themselves. I didn’t realize there was anything but the river and so I tossed a piece of food Celia had dropped on the ground over the wall, doesn’t seem like I hit anyone thankfully.
After our picnic we walked back over through the Latin Quarter back to the bus. Josie picked up some nice cheap postcards in this area. Some earlier ones we had bought were 1 euro a piece, here they were 5 for a euro, and definitely the same cards. Josie got very excited by the idea of sending more postcards and got a whole big pile, so we wrote to a bunch of her friends. Back on the bus we hopped off at a park and department store we had noticed passing in the morning. We tried again to find more clothes for the girls, were again thwarted by high prices, for-profit bathrooms and prominent toy departments. Back out to the park the girls enjoyed a spin around the merry go round and some fun playtime at the sand pit and climbing structures. Here we had a bit of trouble when some other kids apparently wanted the bouncy thing Josie was riding on. Obviously they’re speaking french to her and she hasn’t a clue what they’re saying. So they (like normal small children) are getting annoyed and start to get a bit aggressive with surrounding her and trying to take the rocker by force. Thankfully Jordi was nearby and remedied the situation.
We asked a local for some ice cream recommendations and had a yummy snack before we returned home on the bus and grabbed some takeout for dinner and continued to work on our yummy bottle of wine.