Day Two : Foggy, Beautiful Paris !

  Paris, Île-de-France, France
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Bonjour, tout nos (notre ?) amis !
All right, that is about the extent of my French, and I think that was probably wrong....

But here we are, in Paris ! Ronan and Mimi were champs on the plane -- the in-seat entertainment system with 1500 movies and shows was a BIG hit.
They both managed to sleep some, and then more
in the VERY long taxi ride into the city -- it was so foggy that there were a million accidents (BTW -- Parisian motorcyclists are really, clinically crazy) and it took forever to get into town. But it was fun to see all the little Euro cars (my favorite -- a pint-size Citroen minivan called the "Jumpy" -- who wouldn't want a car called a "jumpy" ? Plus, they all seem scaled to fit me and my people of small stature...)
Outer Paris--not so interesting (looks like outer Moscow, and probably the outskirts of every big city in Europe!), but then, all of a sudden, there you are in Madeline land -- beautiful castle-y buildings, a cafe, bar andflorist on every block (these people have their priorities right), and then, the Eiffel Tower (well, at least the lower third of it -- we are hoping for less fog tomorrow) !
Sean's sister Meghan lives here with her husband Rick -- she is a microbiologist at the Pasteur Institute and they have this adorable apartment which they are letting us take over for a couple of days.
They are so sweet -- they even had Christmas stockings for Ronan and Mimi !


Meghan is having a baby in February, and she is the cutest, most chic Clevelander-Parisian pregnant lady !
After naps, we ventured out (on foot--they live right in the middle of everything !) to see one of my and Ronan's personal heros -- Napoleon (Napoleon -- hero ? madman ? Discuss.)

Or, at least, what is left of Napoleon in his fancy crypt (unlike the Russians, the French have the sense to keep the bodies in the crypt, not on display). The whole Invalids complex is pretty impressive, though I was wishing we had our friend Matt Hockenos to interpret it all correctly for us. Ronan was quite taken with the armor / spears / daggers / swords, etc. He did note that the big statues guarding Napoleon's crypt looked like the ones that came to life in Atlantis to menace Aquaman in the 2007 issue of Justice League Unlimited that he owns -- I'm not sure even Prof. Hockenos could have come up with that apt comparison.
The walk home was magical -- lights everywhere for Christmas and lots of happy busy people.
The kids are holding up well so far -- better than us ? Daily Tired / Cranky Meter
Ronan --2.5 (the armor made up for a lot of sleep deficit)
Mimi --Hanging tough at about 4 -- she is only 2, after all
Sean --a self-reported 4 -- "I could sleep, but I'm in Paris !"
Kate --4.99999 (remember, I'm not allowed to go above 5 -- but basic computing and speaking skills are eroding quickly ) !