Paris

Once again, our travel planning was lacking.  We booked super cheap tickets to "Paris" not realizing we were flying into an airport 45 minutes outside of the city instead of the main airport.  The shuttle into Paris ended up costing as much as our plane tickets.  After being in Ireland for four months, it felt a bit disconcerting for the shuttle to be driving on the right side of the road.  I had a bit of a surreal moment on the ride.  Here we are -- an American ex-pat family living in Ireland on a trip to Paris and my Mexican-born husband starts chatting in Hebrew with the shuttle driver.  It's a long, long way from life on Iona Avenue.  

I had been excited to see Paris but at the same time I wasn't really expecting to fall in love with the city.  Paris is amazing!  The architecture is breathtaking.  The amount of art, sculptures, fountain, gardens is mind boggling.  The food is divine.  

Only Alfonso goes half way around the globe to meet
a family friend from Buena Ventura

First outing was to the Louvre.  Even if the building was empty, it would be worth the trip.  The detail of the walls, ceiling, the sheer scope are impressive.  But it is filled to the gills with countless works of art.  With the kids, we could barely scratch the surface of what it holds.  We went to see the Mona Lisa which ended up being the least exciting item on display.  There were so many people and you were so far away, it would be easier to study a postcard print.  We spent most of the rest of our time wandering around the Greek and Roman sculptures.  I felt practically giddy walking around.  I would love to have a month or so just to wander the halls.  Someday...

We stayed a couple blocks from the Jardin de Luxembourg where we met up with David, the French runner who had stayed with us for a couple months when Nadia was a baby. 

The second day, Paris lost a bit of its allure for me.  Spent the day in swarms of people.  Smoking people.  I felt like we were walking in a haze of smoke the whole day.  My throat was so sore by the end of the day.  Took the subway to the Eiffel Tower.  It was nice to see and I'm glad we did it.  That said, if we ever return to Paris I wouldn't bother going up again.  The crowds were a bit insane.  The view was nice but not spectacular.  **Blogger's note: Alfonso disagrees with the blogger's viewpoint and believes the view is beyond spectacular. The author thinks he needs to get his own blog.

Nadia's favorite thing about Paris:
the carousel

We went down to the Arc de Trioumphe.  More crowds.  David and his girlfriend, Pauline, met us and took us to a restaurant, Le Procope, which was founded in 1686.  It is just bizarre to be eating at a place that is older than our country.  The food was delectable.  I always thought the French were a bit snobby when it came to food.  Well, they have every right to be.  French food is so unbelievably tasty.  We ate pastries daily.  I am running out of adjectives to describe it.  Yummy doesn't quite capture the essence.  

It is so hard to get a decent family picture...

The last day, we went to Notre Dame for mass.  The building is so impressive both inside and out.  The mass itself was lacking of any spiritual aspect.  It was the "international" mass which meant that it was in French but they gave a 30 second summary of the homily in English.  Most of the people were tourists; so you are sitting in a sea of people that aren't participating and don't understand anything other than the ritual of sitting and standing.  Wandered around, seeing more fabulous buildings, eating more delicious food.

Paris is an incredible city -- so much history and culture. But its beauty is very different from the natural beauty of Scotland. That said, we didn't get to explore the French countryside. Someday, someday...

I want to go back just for these.