Paris - Part One

Paris - Part One

On Friday we took the high-speed train from Brussels to Paris. It was a very easy train ride with time for W. to do some homework (research about World War I) and E. to write some notes about her adventures. The kids loved checking out the meal car of the train and found lots of good treats to add to the picnic dinner Laura had brought.

Once in Paris, we took the Paris RER train to our hotel (like taking light rail). We stayed at the Novotel near the Eiffel Tower (see the red building in the picture - that's the Novotel.) Now, I must reassure you, we tried to find a quaint traditional Paris hotel, but everything was booked. So, we settled for the Novotel, which turns out to be a very nice chain of hotels with family-friendly rooms (sort of like an American motel chain). The best part was that it is a hotel that lots of Japanese tourists visit, so we had a very unique and fun experience. While Novotel does not fulfill your romantic image of the old room with dim lights and a bathroom down the hall, it did provide a room that fit all of us with a queen-size bed, a twin bed and a cot, a T.V. with the Disney Channel in French, free breakfast buffet (which was W.'s favorite part of the whole trip - well, along with the gargoyles), and a swimming pool. We also had an amazing view of the Seine and the PetiteStatue of Liberty. The kids just loved the view at night.

Let me start by warning you that this is disgusting. Too perfect. So, if you're prone to jealousy, take heart in the fact that Paris in January is miserably wet and cold. What makes up for the weather is the fact that there is no one there! No lines at the Louvre, no grumpy, sweaty people, no problem seeing the Mona Lisa (although there are no pictures of her here because they don't let you take pictures of her.) I'll take every raindrop you want to throw at me for the fact that there weren't any lines anywhere! By the way, we didn't see any pickpocketing outside the Louvre, but did see the bicycle police shaking down a group of kids about our kids' age. Sad. Probably the offspring of the kids who tried to pickpocket Kevin and Laura in the same place 13 years ago.

On the way to the Mona Lisa we passed the Egyptian exhibit. W. was fascinated by it and "just a peek" turned into at least a half hour here. It really is a very good exhibit with lots of art and artifacts.

On Saturday morning we headed straight for the Louvre. E. wanted to see the Mona Lisa. We thought we'd just say "hi" to Mona and then head on to the Eiffel Tower. Little did we know that the kids would love the Louvre. We spent four hours there, with the kids finding one thing after another that they had questions about or just wanted to check out. Our first stop was here, in the exhibit about the medieval Louvre. This is a look at the original foundation of the castle on this site. It is an excellent exhibit with dim lighting and seems very mysterious.

OK, so it's embarrassing to have your picture taken with a half-naked woman. But it's the Venus de Milo!!! The kids managed to get past their discomfort with the naked sculptures and learned a little about great art. By the way, I strongly recommend Rick Steve's books about travel, including Mona Winks, providing a neanderthal's understanding of art, which is several levels above what I know.

"Just go stand over there and act like the people in the picture." The younger child is enthusiastic, the elder thinks this is just stupid. Adolescence here we come! (By the way, this is Liberty Leading the People, a great French painting.) Very cool, even if we're not.

The kids loved these large-scale paintings. This one is the Concecration of Napoleon. Very impressive. Thanks to Rick Steve's book we knew what we were looking at.

This is what we call a "victim of the Louvre." It is what happens when you spend too much time looking at incredibly great art. (Actually, she's faking and didn't want to leave!) But it is exhausting for the body and mind!

To see more about our trip to Paris, click here.

Click to see:

- the move

- pictures of our hometown, Braine L'Alleud