Parlez-vous français? Nein.

Last weekend the Jamesons (and the Quinns) invaded France.  It may never be the same again lol.  (Side note, the Quinns are a super nice family from Arizona that we met one our first weekends here.  Their kids are very close in age to Erin & Ryan, go to school with them and the four of them get along great.  Steph & Brian aren’t too bad either, lol.  Great drinking buddies!) 

 

Anyway, the kids were all off school Thursday for Tag der Deutschen Einheit or The Day of German Unity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Unity_Day).  They also had off Friday, making a nice four day weekend for Paris.  We left after work and school on Wednesday and drove to our apartment.  I won’t go into too much detail, just know that we made it out alive and there are very few pictures if any of the apartment (you all know how rare that is for me). 

 

Thursday morning we hit the ground running.  We met up with the Quinn’s at Notre Dame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris) and did the tour.  The lines weren’t too bad since it was a Thursday morning. We brought Erin & Ryan’s scooters to Paris with us.  That was great!  They were quick and easy to fold up and gave the kids something to do while we were looking around. 

This scene was recreated multiple times all over Paris...Ryan and his friend whooping on each other.

 

After Notre Dame we took a water taxi around Paris.  It stopped at all the main sights, but the girls couldn’t get to the Eiffel Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower) fast enough. 

 

The Dads grabbed a few bottles of wine and we all relaxed on the Eiffel Tower lawn while the kids played on the playground.  Then we decided to take a quick swing by The Louvre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Louvre) to see how the lines were there.  Only about 10 minute wait but it was closing in an hour and half.  Let’s be honest, if you think 4 kids between the ages of 6 and 9 are going to let us have a leisurely stroll through the halls of The Louvre, you are delusional.  Get in, see the Mona Lisa, and get out without any major security issues, that’s the goal.  Needless to say, we made it.  They even let us check in the scooters.  (I don’t know why they didn’t want us to just take them in the museum?)  We did manage to find the Mona Lisa.  The kids weren’t impressed, but at least they can say that they saw it.

 

 **New Pic** Doing his best sculpture impression

 

Brian and Stephanie had a great apartment just off a farmers market.  Very cool and within walking distance of the Arc de Triumph.

 

Friday morning we were back up and at it again.  We headed directly to a great playground (highly suggested by Erin & Ryan’s Mahon cousins) in Jardin du Luxembourg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardin_du_Luxembourg). 

 

After some lunch, it was time to hike it to the top of Arc de Triumph (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe).  Yes, even Mike made it to the top.  It is truly amazing how big and solid it is, with some amazing details inside and out. 

 

 

Ryan and Mike, as you can see, were wearing their Bucco gear.  As we were all trying to decide how best to cross the 7 or so lane round about (run it vs. use the underground walkway) a man came up to me and said that he was also from Pittsburgh and “Where are you going to watch the game tonight?”  He told me about a Canadian bar that shows all American sports.  I only had to mention it to Mike once, and we were quickly on our way to “The Great Canadian”  (Celine Dion?, Michael J. Fox?, Alanis Morissette?, Kiefer Sutherland?, Mike’s Aunt Diane?, **new addition to to the Canadian list...Dave Smith**, I could go on…)  Anyway, it was an awesome bar.  And they had Coors Light bottles, so it’s a win in my book.  Throw in some nachos, quesadillas and buffalo chicken sandwiches and it was near perfect.  Ryan and Mike were in their glory watching the Pirate game.  It was literally on 10 TVs and I think we were the only ones watching. 

The Pirate victory led to a late night trip to the Eiffel Tower.  The girls had no idea it was going to sparkle!  They were so excited!

Saturday we were scheduled at 2PM to go up in the Eiffel Tower.  Mike volunteered to stay below and watch our picnic for us (and he had an hour or so of uninterrupted Kingdom Rush time, his & Ryan’s newest game) (and he’s petrified of heights).  Honestly, I was a little nervous myself.  When we got to second floor and I realized that we were less than half way up, I was really nervous.   But we made it.  Erin & Ryan loved it too!

 

After our picnic we headed back into town for some dinner then to see the Lourve at night.  Breathtaking!  Another few bottles of wine passed around and our Paris vacation drew to a close.