Viva la France

Well we made it. I was a crazy couple days but somehow we managed to make it here in one...well 6 pieces. We left on Sunday the 1st. Our flight was uneventful other than it was horribly turbulent, the entertainment systems didn't work(I'd promised video games and movies) and the food was bad. But on the bright side, we did make it and landed safely in London. We were super slow getting off the plane, I am pretty sure we were the last ones off, it then took us forever to locate our bags and then we noticed Jackson looked like he was about to pass out. So we took a few moments to let the kid use the bathroom and feed him some cookies before we pushed onto immigration and customs. This proved to be a good plan as by the time we got there(we flew over on a 747 that was full so there were tons of people to check in) there was no line at all. It also worked out because by the time we got to customs there was no one there, we just walked right by it all. We decided to take the Tube to our hotel and it was super easy(especially when you compare this to the paris metro, story to come.) It was also fun because we got to chat with some locals. A nice man asked Hannah what she wanted to see in London and I am pretty sure because he looked a little like the Chimney sweep she said "Mary Poppins." We found our hotel, checked in, got Mc Donalds(oh yes we did!) and crashed...my best made plans for keeping everyone up were not going to work. I realized this as I tried several times to open a door clearly marked "use other door" that I may be too tired to be responsible for anyone. After a long nap we got up and ventured out. We made our way to downtown London, saw the Eye, Westminster, Big Ben, etc. It was quite nice and the kids seemed interested.

The next morning we ventured out to the Tower of London, it was fun but I think the kids were a little unimpressed by the whole thing. The crown jewels were neat and Austin when told why they had fortified walls around the building said "Why would they need that? Who would attack a museum?" So apparently we failed to adequately explain what it was we were seeing. We then decided to have lunch at the train station before we caught our train to Paris which was a good thing because it left 1hr before I thought, which we would have never known had we not been there looking for lunch. So after some serious hustle and freaking out we made the train with a couple minutes to spare. We reached Paris which is where the fun of day 2 began. We had LOVED the Tube in London, it's clean, big, easy. Paris Metro is the exact opposite. It's dirty, small, and FAST. This would have been an issue if you are just standing there alone but add 4 kids and 6 bags and a stroller and you have a serious issue. We barely(involved me using all my force to hold a door open) made the first train. The second even though we had thought we had a plan(go to the last car because there are fewer people, you take this bag, that kid, etc, etc) we got 3 kids and 2 bags on before it became apparent the rest of us were not going to make that train, so I jumped in and barely told Todd we'd meet him and Jackson at the stop. We all made it but we won't ever do that again. But I have to say the French were SOOOO nice, though I am sure we looked ridiculous to them they tried to help, carried bags up stairs, helped hold doors open and were just very helpful.

We found our apartment where the owner who speaks no english met us...we then realized how little french we know and despite months of practice I have resigned myself to the fact that this is a completely unlearnable language, at least for me. Our apartment is nice, it's roomy for Paris and has a nice layout. We are on the Avenue Suffren which is a few blocks from the Champs de Mars and the Eifle Tower. We are on the ground floor and kept thinking we were hearing airplanes fly by and then realized we were hearing the subway below us. Hence the subway exit right outside our door. It's a quiet area and we are right by Unesco, it's one block up. Today we had an easy day, the kids and I unpacked, Todd went running and then to work. When we ran out of bread we ventured out for food. The kids and I walked to the Eifle tower and found a nice playground complete with basketball courts. We played for a little while before the "I have to Pee" announcement came and then we hustled back home and to the market. Going to the store was crazy and we ended up with more candy than food in an effort to keep all the kids in check but we got some basics. There is a farmers market here Sunday, there is one within 10 blocks every day I just could not find the one today. We are doing well looking forward to exploring our new home. xoxo