The Richards Family Fairytale: Sacre Coeur and the Subway.

Sacre Coeur & Co.

ESCALATORS!!

Our Tour Guide

Well no matter how long we stayed here I think we will always feel like the tourists we are. I have to leave the house everyday or I will go completely mad. So yesterday after all the "stuff" was taken care of I grabbed Jackson. I arbitrarily decided it was his turn and off we went. I really just walked off in a direction I had not gone before, I even forgot my map so I at least tried to pay attention to where I was going. We found a shopping area and stopped in a cafe for some hot chocolate. We tried to "chill" as they do here. There is an art to sitting and sipping a tiny cup of coffee for hours on end but I doubt we will master that, for one thing we don't drink coffee. Anyhow, we chilled for a few minutes until Jackson looks at me and says, "well that's it we should go." Go we did, down the street and found yet another great park. This place is full of great parks. I don't think you can walk a half mile without finding one. We played for a while then meandered towards home. On the way I found an art store. I keep trying to get Todd to paint again, he's really very talented and so I was considering buying him some water colors. But I got distracted by the paint by number kits. So we came home with 2 of those. Originally I thought they would be fun for the boys, but they are very complex so it will be a group effort to complete them. I came home to find Todd and the kids on the couch. Todd commenting on how easy this stay at home parenting thing is. Sierra and I walked to the bakery and then we had tacos and got the monsters to bed.

Hot Chocolate

Bread carrying is serious business.

Todd...doing what he thinks I do all day.

Don't lose your head

So today I was determined to see another part of the city with all of us which meant we had to put on our big boy pants and take the metro again. Our initial experience was actually really scary, the whole month ago. Mainly because in hind sight we were VERY close to becoming separated from a kid in the metro system which would have been horrifically scary. But today was not bad at all. We did not have bags and strollers and all that junk so it was very smooth getting on and off. We went to the Montmartre neighborhood. It's on the right bank and mainly I wanted to see the Sacre Coeur Church and the Paris Opera house. So we took the metro which was fun. It's above ground near here for a little while so we got to see some of Paris that way. Sacre Coeur is on top of a large hill in Paris so the views from there are the best. It's a good climb up and there are a ton of people trying to sell you all manner of crap but once you get up there its pretty neat. We went into the church and then found a quiet place on the hill to chase the wild cats and eat a snack. I am tired of being the tour guide so I handed the map to Todd, who I then started to refer to as "Tour Guide Barbie" for the rest of the day. We went on a meandering stroll through the Montmartre, which is a charming neighborhood. It feels a lot more artsy and raw than where we live but it's beautiful. We found where Van Gogh's flat was and found some windmills. Then just as the complaining became more audible we stumbled upon yet another park. We took and quick break and realizing most of us had to use the bathroom decided to call it a day and head back home. I had this thought that I should just find a place to pee because what if the subway broke down and I had to wait in there having to use the bathroom for hours. I chucked to myself and pushed onto the metro. Fast forward 10 minutes and I sit in a totally dark(no light at all) stopped subway car in a tunnel with someone speaking in french presumably some explanation. Hmm maybe I should have followed through on my thought earlier. Mercifully we were only stopped there a few minutes and our journey continued but I will listen to myself next time. Fun times. :)