TRIP 7/9 Settling in in Paris

Day I don't even know anymore. We've been here forever. Jan 2 and 3? Yeah, that sounds about right.
We needed a take it easy day. Mimi, Silas and I did laundry in the morning (rejoice!) and then we had a cold date with Notre Dame. Too crowded. Waited in a line for a while, got cold and left for Sainte Chappelle which was just spectacular. The two chapels are right on that same little island in the Seine. I've never seen stained glass windows like there are in Sainte Chappelle and I can't imagine a time when it would have just been some congregation's every day parish. Surely it must always have been a monument, a piece of art. Notre Dame's got nothing on that church (other than a humpback but who wants a humpback hanging around? Not me.)

Our Lady

Sainte Chappelle

After we hit the Latin Quarter in search of Boeuf Bourgigion and any other typical French food. It was a shmorgasborg. We did a prix fix for €15 and each of us got different appetizers and main courses so I finally devoured some mussels, Jude gobbled down salmon in bechmal sauce, Mimi got her Bourgionon and Silas his plate o' meat. It was our best meal in Paris, but I must say Mimi's version could compete. They tasted very similar and she was quite pleased.

Silas with his meat plate.

The following day we were all up and ready to go by 7 am for no reason at all. Jude and I keep waking up at 5 and I was out of benedryl.

So we made a day of it (though it was still dark out) and headed straight to Angelina's fancy tea room for their amazing hot chocolate. After that we waltzed at dawn through that main park between the Louvre and the Champs Elysee to the Musee D'Orsay subway and off to Versailles. Because I am a questionable parent I let Mimi watch that Claire Danes movie Marie Antoinette a few weeks ago to get her interested in all things French.

Mimi pretending to be the star of all these people's pictures.

When we arrived in Versailles there was the most magical mist that prevented seeing even the building from the gates. It was like walking in a cloud. And then it was like waiting in lines in a cloud. Followed by waiting in crowds in gilt rooms. On this visit Versailles charms were rather lost on us being so oppressed by all of the people and the rather boring audiotour. But, being that we ARE the fun, we had a grand time dodging crowds and photobombing other tourists. We made it about an hour and a half and hopped back on the train for home. Versailles done, and it'll be waiting for us should we want to explore it in more depth sometime down the road.

We finally just sat in a corner.

Naps. My magic sleeping trick beyond running these kids into the ground has been to use my meditation app every time I want them to go to sleep. Calm is my favorite app ever. They like the body scan ones to help them settle and moderate their breathing. The guided meditation only lasts about ten minutes but they're always out five minutes in.
When we woke we headed over to the Musee D'Orsay and blitzed the line with our Paris pass, but when we got inside it was a complete zoo. My ideal museum experience is like the Getty in LA: few people, some important paintings, not too many rooms. The D'Orsay is such an impressive building the art is almost secondary, or tertiary when you're fighting crowds to even see the paintings. So we dined and played cards in the cafe behind the clock and then wove through some rooms to see the much requested by Silas "paintings that are a mess close up but when you stand back they look like something" Monets. The highlight was the grand ballroom we happened upon where we performed our classy whip-nae nae. We walked 6 miles that day. It was time to retire.

The ballroom where we danced

Silas instructing us on Monet