July 26, 2011

The Eiffel Tower

We finally made it to the Eiffel Tower. It was one of the key stops we had to make before leaving tomorrow.   We almost didn't make it either since it was so late at night.  How to avoid all the tourists and the long lines?  Plus the fact that it's been raining off and on all week.   Sunday night, I asked Asia if she still wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and she assured me adamantly.  So at 9:30 PM, off we went to catch the train to the Eiffel Tower. 

The great thing was that the line to take the STEPS up the tower was pretty short.  There was a little bit of a wait to get in. I think they only let so many people in at a time. Very smart crowd control.  Lots of tourists and loud young Americans around us.


The two pictures above are from on the way to the Eiffel Tower, crossing the river.


Here we are on our climb up.  Note to self - take the elevator up and take the stairs down.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it after stair 400.  Only 300 more to go.


The Eiffel tower is split into 3 sections. You climb to floor 1 and get a great view. There's a little cafe where we bought 2 bottles of water.  Took some videos.  And then on to the next floor.  Here's a view down.

Look at all the little ants!

Well we made it to the second floor. We didn't pay to take the elevator to the summit but it's actually a great view from the second floor and very high up.  There was a little of a mist going on but not too windy. 

By the time we made it to the second floor, it was already midnight!  We were a little worried about the trains closing - last train was supposed to be 12:45 am, so we had to rush down.  Asia was a little upset because she was hungry and hoping we could stop to get a snack at the cafe on the 1st floor. 

The main thing is we can now say we did the Eiffel Tower.  The first trip, we walked under it and didn't go up it because the lines were way too long. Now we've done it!  And I don't think anyone was too sore afterwards. What a workout.

July 23, 2011

Tuileries

The kids have gone here two times so far. It's a small amusement park near the Louvre.  Rides are from 3 to 5 euros each. John and I will pay for a few rides for the kids and then the rest, they have to pay themselves.

Here's Asia's favorite ride:


It starts out slow and then speeds up, turns the boat around so that you're going backwards and sideways, sprays mist. 
 Zach and Asia both agreed to bravely accompany each other on their favorite rides. You can see Zach above with a not so confident smile.
Zach chose an obstacle course. Asia ran half of it with her hands over her ears because she didn't like the parts that shot out puffs of air really loudly.  Poor girl said she fell twice but she was a trooper.

Another favorite of the kids:




Who needs a hamster in a ball?



 



One of the things they wanted to spend their money on was snacks!  Asia bought a candy apple (I think half of it is still in the fridge) and Zach bought a donut.

July 20, 2011

Musee D'orsay

Today was a museum day.  I did some research on this museum and saw some tips on buying tickets online to avoid standing in long lines. Last night, I tried to buy 2 tickets and had no luck. It would take too long to have them mailed and we can't open the mailbox here anyway. And the other option was to pick up the pre-ordered tickets at a few inconvenient locations.  We decided to just risk it and hope there wouldn't be too much of a long line.

Here's the kids on the trainride to the museum. They are expert train riders now.
Luckily because of the rain, there wasn't much of a line. What really made the line go slow was the security. They check your bags and you have to go through some kind of metal detector.  There are at least 6 cashiers to buy tickets so that line didn't take long. Tickets were 8 euros each for the day and kids are free. You have to love the fact that kids are free at all these museums.

At the Musee d'Orsay, you can't take any pictures.  It's an old train station.  It does reminde me of Chicago's Union Station.  It has a humongous clock on the wall.  You can imagine people bustling around to catch their trains.  Unfortunately, there was construction going on so a lot of the first floor was taken up by temporary galleries so you lost some of the feeling of grandness in the lobby. This was definitely the kind of art we liked - much better than the Louvre.  Renaissance isn't so much our thing. More impressionism.




Here's what the kids had to say about their favorite paintings:

Vincent Van Gogh
Zach: "It doesn't look like art. It's real and not real together. It's got a certain feeling to it. Wavy lines going in the same direction but changing different ways. All the different colors makes it look so strong, like on his jacket."

Zach: "In the background and his coat, it's wavy.  All mixed together. For the coat, it's sort of wavy but different texture. The way his face is, is opposite with lots of individual strokes. It changes the whole picture and makes it look like real, not just wavy lines."

This is one of Asia's favorites.

Asia:  "Similar to starry night. Similar sky and trees. Not so similar on the scene. I really like it, especially the colors. All the plants and the house too."

Claude Monet
Zach:  "So many colors mixed together. You can see the outline of a castle. You can see a sun. It blurs into one great painting."

Haystacks 1891
Asia:  "Monet does haystacks a lot. Especially these kinds.  My favorite is the background. The color just goes into it. The haystacks even have blue in it. It's just magical. Even how it pops out of the page. I just really like it."

Zach: "Blue and green are great colors to mix. Every now and then there's a white! It blows my mind."

Zach: "There are so many bright colors mixed together to make a great combo. Looks almost real. There's so much action."

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Asia: "How he does all the people and the colors! Even the grass, the detail! Amusing."

Aristide Maillol
Asia: "Colors blend together. The dress is so beautiful. Maybe I could make that dress if I had the fabric."

Paul Cezanne

Asia: "All the colors pop!"

Charles Emile de Tournemine

Asia: "Looks so real. Even the sky looks really cool. Even the birds! Just the colors! Really nice."

Henri Fantin-Latour

Asia: "Magenta, yellow and white chrysanthemums in a white and brown vase.  Looks real, pretty, sparkly and 3D."

Cuno Amiet

Asia: "All the colors that I don't think would be snow colors come together. It's just magical."



July 12, 2011

Amazing Parks

A big part of this trip is taking long walks to different parks in Paris.   The park equipment here is so different. A lot of them are situated around strange spinning contraptions. No standard American swings here.  I also love that most of them have park benches situated all around the park with lots of shade for the parents. A lot of the parks all have sand boxes as well as ping pong tables and even foos ball tables. You just bring your own paddle and ball.




In this picture, Zach and Asia are trying out a tightrope.

This one spins around. Zach is about to fall off.






Graffiti galore

The graffiti all over the city is amazing and ridiculous.  I don't know if it's sanctioned or what but you would rarely see a nice white truck because it's covered in paint. And the crazy thing is that a lot of the graffiti is really good!  Take a look for yourself.









July 09, 2011

Montmartre

Today was my chance to visit the Sacre-couer and Montmartre area.  The kids had already visited it and I heard the walk back was the longest walk of their lives. First le'ts talk about the steps!  Just in the train station - you had a gazillion stairs to climb. They were nice enough to build a seat into the wall for the poor souls who aren't used to a lack of an elevator.



Once you get there, you have a choice of paths to take. There's the fake stone wood staircase. Let's call it the "natural" path.  It provides great climbing opportunity as long as you don't mind the smell of urine. Asia asked why it smelled like pee and I told her that most likely at night since the stairway is hidden, people use it as a restroom.







For those who want plain old steps, here you go.


Here's one way to get down I suppose:



Once you finally get to the top, you're awarded with a breathtaking view of the city, as long as you don't mind all the tourists. John took the kids inside during their first trip.




In the square in front of the Sacre Coeur, there are all types of street performers.  In the one below, a man would climb a pole or do different athletic stunts with a soccer ball balanced on his head or on his foot.






In the video below, the performers asked for 4 young volunteers from the audience. It took some coaxing, but 3 girls volunteered at first. Finally the smallest one ran up and joined in.  The performers asked the kids if any of them spoke English, none of them did. The performers then said in English, "Good because then you won't know that you're about to die."  

The kids even had a chance to hear the story of Noak's ark from a puppet show that was performed (tape recording) in English and French.











At montmartre, Asia really wanted to ride the carousel, but not to go on one of the pretty ponies. Oh no.... She wanted to go on the "spinny thing."  Zach said he wasn't going to go on the spinny thing. I had no idea what she was talking about. And she did get Zach to go on it and he had his head down and eyes closed most of the time.  Such a good big brother.