Schooooool's Out for the summer!

Well, the kids are done with school.  Morgan even had to take her End of Grade tests (momma is so sneaky).  The really cool thing is that last Thursday was the last day of school for the kids back home.  Morgan was finishing up her 5th grade year.  They have a 5th grade graduation since the kids move on to middle school.  In the afternoon, Sandy heard the noise of someone calling on Skype.  She answered it and... it was Morgan's graduation.  As a last minute thing, they wanted to include her in the graduation, so they took a chance that we would be home.  Sandy and the kids were.  They used an ipad so that they could take her around.  All of the kids said "hi" to her.  She was able to graduate with her class.  Honestly, it was very special for both her and mom.  Her teachers made it a very special day for her. 

The Happiest Place on Ea... um... in Paris

So, we went to Disney.  It was a blast.  It's less than an hour by train from our apartment, which isn't bad.  The RER train that takes you there drops you off right at the front gate.  We got there just before it opened, which was perfect timing.

The entrance is beautiful, and The Magic Kingdom and Disney Studios are right next to each other.  There were lots of trees, fountains, and flowers, and of course a Mickey to greet us.

Here is the entrance to Disneyland.  You walk through those gates, but that is the Disney hotel above it.

And here is the happy family ready to experience Disneyland Paris. 

When we were at Disney in Orlando several years ago, Morgan got into the pin trading.  Basically, if you have official Disney pins, you can trade with any employee that also has pins and they have to swap (as long as the pins are in good condition).  Naturally, we left those back in the US somewhere in our storage unit.  So, we went into one of the big stores inside and bought the kids lanyards and a basic set of pins.  That way they could build up their own collection.  Once that was done, we headed down Main Street USA toward Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Wait, what?  Yes, in Paris they have Sleeping Beauty's Castle, not Cinderella's Castle.

 

We stopped at the sign that said "Kodak Photo Opportunity" in front of the castle for an official family photo.  We found someone that understood us to take the pic.  It wasn't until we were done that we realized we stood around the sign for the picture, effectively messing up the view of the castle.

We had been watching the Pirates of the Caribbean movies prior to going there, so we naturally headed back for that ride.  Upon getting into Adventureland, we found this.  I think we're close.

We also found this ship.  Nick naturally called it The Black Pearl.  It appears to be under repair, though.  

We only had about a 5 minute wait for the ride, which was great.  The other great thing was that neither kid remembered riding this before, so it was brand new for them.  It's pretty much the same as the one in Orlando, although the narrations were in French.  I don't think they spoke French in Tortuga, though....  Here are some shots of the ride.

I think the family has decided to turn into pirates after going on the ride, too!

There was an island of pirate caves to explore outside of the ride, including a very cool suspension bridge.

Here is Morgan and me atop the overlook of the bridge

We walked around and looked in some of the shops... as well as traded some pins.  I found a great hat, but it was a little too small for me. 

We had some lunch and walked around some more until we came to the Haunted Mansion!  Again, it's pretty similar to the Orlando version, except that it's mostly in French.  

Once it got to be about lunchtime, we noticed that lines were becoming very long.  We probably went on one of the busiest days of the year.  We didn't get to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, but this is what part of it looks like.  It goes out onto an island.  We'll definitely ride it when we go back.

One thing Morgan has been talking about wanting since we've gotten here is cotton candy.  We really haven't found any, except an occasional premade version in a plastic tub.  That's not really cotton candy, though.  Well, they have it at Disney, and it comes in a HUGE amount.

There was so much there, the kids said they didn't want to finish it.  Sandy and I naturally helped out so that none went to waste. We headed to Discoveryland.  I think it was my favorite area.  It was definitely designed more recently.  From Videopolis to Space Mountain, it had a much different feel than Orlando.  

Space Mountain is one ride that is definitely different than at Orlando.  That's a picture of it directly above.  That tube that is going up is where the ride starts.  It's the type that immediately shoots you to top speed.  It was a blast.  Nick was blown away by it.

We waited a while at the Star Tours ride and had some fun until Nick's new sunglasses fell off his head and down into part of the Star Wars area.  We couldn't get them back.  He was sad.

At one point, Sandy told Morgan and me to act normal.  I think we did a good job.

We went to the Buzz Lightyear ride and I had to chuckle.  I saw this guy in line behind us.  My wife was nice enough to pose for a pic that I pretended to take while I got this one.  When you think of someone that is Thug and listens to Tupac, I'm not sure this is the guy you'd think of.

Anyway, we had a great time shooting all of the targets in Buzz Lightyear.  The ride kept stopping for some reason, so we got extra time in it. 

We finished up on the Carousel, which was a lot of fun.  The animals on it were amazing... including my kids!

Overall, it was a great, but long, day.  We had a blast.  We will go again in the fall when kids are in school so that we can enjoy some of the rides that we couldn't do this trip.

And here is one last pic of my girls.  Aren't they pretty?

Stuck in Paris

Happy Belated Memorial Day, friends!  In Paris, we obviously didn't have a holiday on Monday.  We do get this Thursday as a holiday, though.  It's Ascension Day.  My office is also closed Friday because, well who takes off Thursday and comes in on a Friday? 

Apparently, the rule in Paris is that once nice weather hits, everyone leaves the city on the weekends.  For holiday weekends, I think even some of the animals leave.  Camping is a big deal here for holidays.  They have campsites that have pitches where you bring your own tent, or you can rent little cabins.  Some of the places have a lot of activities and such.  We decided to go to the Normandy area a couple of weeks ago and booked one of the cabins.

This past Saturday, however, we got an email that our reservation wasn't valid.  We'd booked online, but apparently, they really had no space.  Sandy and I spent 2 days trying to find other places.  There are literally hundreds of campsites in Northern France, and nobody has accommodations to rent.  So, we're "stuck" in Paris for the weekend.

We will still have plenty to see and do here, including a trip to Disney Paris!  It is about a 35 minute train ride on the RER from our place.  The RER drops you off right at the front gates, too. The Sandy got tickets for us through an online group she joined.  The tickets were very reasonable and are good for 2 visits each!  Woohoo!

There will definitely be blog updates this weekend.

Quick Hitters #3

Back by popular demand is Quick Hitters.  Yes, the request of 1 person does make it popular demand. 

Sandy and I went to see a 1 man show titled "How To Become Parisian in 1 Hour" a few weeks ago. It was hilarious.  The man is French, lived in America for many years in the restaurant industry, and returned to Paris to start his 1 man show.  It poked fun and Americans and French mostly.  I highly recommend it!

The only souvenir I got while we were in Geneva were the socks above.  They are comfy and go well with my toe shoes.  I made several attempts at taking pics, but they all turned out blurry.  I think the sheer awesomeness of them prevented the camera from properly focusing.


We had something rather amazing happen a few weeks ago.  I've mentioned how Parisian people keep to themselves and they don't tend to make friends with others.  Well, there was the lady that lives in our building that introduced herself to us in the lobby of our building after we'd been here about a month.  A few weeks ago, she knocked on our door during dinner and said that she was going to the open market the next day and wanted to know if Sandy wanted to go to get some inside tips.  Of course she would!  So she went and learned a lot of great stuff.  That night, she made us this for dinner.  It was awesome!

This weekend, someone on our street decided it was finally time to get rid of their Christmas tree.  Typically, the end of May is the limit.

A few weeks ago at dinner, my 7 year old randomly says, "Dad, can you make a drink out of meat?"  I love that kid so much...

Just behind us a few blocks is the open market I talked about earlier.  It is on Thursday and Saturday.  They setup poles for the different booths on Wednesday and take them down later on Saturday.  Nick got to use his scooter and Morgan got to use her Heelies through there the other day.

Here is a night time view down the middle of that setup.

There is a big rollerblading community in Paris.  They go on tours through the streets on Friday evenings, and also do it occassionally on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  Yesterday, they came down our street.  Best guess is that there were about 2000 people, complete with police escort.

This is what the kids look like when you take random pics of them on the Metro.

I'm thinking... I'm thinking...

We live right down the street from the Rodin Museum.  It was a 5 minute walk from our apartment to get there.

The museum is in the house where he lived for the last 9 years of his life.  The property is about 5 acres with a large wall all the way around. Here is the entrance:

The entrance must've originally been a servant's quarters.  There was a gift shop and there was also an area with special collections.  Included were works by Rodin, as well as other sculptors.  In the special collections area, I decided to take a picture of a casting of The Kiss, one of Rodin's most famous pieces.

And shortly after taking this, I was told you weren't allowed to take pics in the Exhibition area.  So, I got a picture that apparently very few people get.  From there, we went to explore the grounds.  There were roses all over, lots of trees and bushes, and beauty everywhere.  Amid all of the flora and fauna are various sculptures of Rodin's, including his most famous piece.

The Thinker was surrounded by bushes and flowers.  Just around the corner was the sculpture Balzac.

There are paths all over the edges of the property, and you can stumble upon random sculptures.

From the garden there are amazing views of both Invalides and the Eiffel Tower.

The view from the back of the garden to the front is amazing.

In the background is Rodin's house where most of his work is located.  There were so many rooms with various works by Rodin, as well as some of his friends.

The detail in his work...  I'm not sure what I can say.  Click on the pictures to see the detail.  I had pictures that just didn't turn out as well as I'd liked, so I didn't post them here.  Also in the house was a room dedicated to the relationship that Rodin had with Monet, including a Money painting and personal letters between the 2 of them.  There were also paintings from Rodin's personal collection including Renoir and Van Gogh.

Before leaving, we saw one of Rodin's largest sculptures titled The Gates of Hell.

It was a lot of fun and absolutely gorgeous.  I think Sandy and the kids might go to visit the gardens since it was so peaceful there.

To wrap it all up, I have to post this pic.  I kept waiting to see how low this guy would crouch while taking this picture.