Days 14-15 Paris to London to Detroit "Home Sweet Home!"

Day 14 - On Monday, Feb 26, we hauled our million suitcases out of our Paris apartment and down the tiny narrow spiral staircase, out the tiny door, down the cobble streets, and out to the main street where we packed ourselves like sardines into a taxi and headed to the Paris Nord train station. We hopped on our Eurostar train and headed back to London, a 3 hour train ride. We arrived at Waterloo train station, grabbed another taxi and headed to Victoria Station. From there we boarded the Gatwick Express train to Gatwick airport. Madeline's beautiful Madame Alexander doll fell down onto the train tracks as we were dragging our luggage off that train. Luckily Aunt Beth found a helpful employee with a long stick who retrieved her doll. We waited for another taxi, and finally headed to our hotel for the night. Many times throughout the day we thought about ditching a suitcase or two!

Upon arrival at the Renaissance Hotel, Aunt Beth promptly ordered room service for all of us, and we settled in for a night of eating, hot baths, television (in English...Madeline was so thankful!), and much needed rest.

Day 15 - Feb. 27 After room service breakfast (thank you, Aunt Beth), we took the hotel shuttle back to Gatwick Airport, and were so happy to check the bulk of our luggage!!! We did a bit of last minute souvenier shopping, and boarded our plane for home at 1:48pm. The flight was very smooth and easy and we were thrilled when the pilot announced that we were making great time and would arrive in Detroit an hour early.

After a long wait in Customs lines, and getting all of our luggage again, we headed to the exit...YAHOO!!! Dan and the boys were waiting for us, and Uncle Curt was waiting for Aunt Beth! After lots of hugging, kissing, and yes, some tears (hey, it was 15 days!!!), we all headed home.

We are so happy that this blog worked, and that we were able to share our adventures with friends, family, and Madeline's teachers & schoolmates. We loved all the comments, and knowing that you were thinking of us as we were thinking of all of you.

Thank you so much for coming with us on our adventures to Europe!

Day 13 - Paris "I ate SNAILS!"

Madeline: We spent the whole day packing. The whole bed was covered with stacks of folded clothes. We thought Charlotte would help us out, but no, she fell asleep right in the middle of the clothes instead! We had to sit on our suitcases to get them shut! After we stuffed our bags with all the clothes we had brought (which was too much!) we still had tons of boots & shoes to still pack.

After most of our packing was done we went out for a bite to eat. We ordered fondue, steak, potatoes, french onion soup, and escargot (which is snails with butter and garlic). When the food came, the escargot looked so disgusting!!! It was green, mushy, and I had to scoop the snail out of it's shell with a fork! But I just said to myself, "just don't look at it, just don't look at it." So I closed my eyes, and shoved that buttery snail into my mouth. IT TASTED GREAT! It was so good I ate seven of them! Charlotte ate escargot too! She mainly loved to suck the butter & garlic off the shells! Now she has garlic breath...P.U.! Then we got dessert. We got 3 scoops of ice cream, mango, lemon, and chocolate. We also ordered creme brulet. I'm sooooooo full right now!

Tomorrow we have to travel back to london and stay in a hotel with a pool! (Luckily I brought my swimsuit just in case! )

Bon nuit! (Good night!)

Day 12 - Paris "City of Light"

Madeline: This morning me and my Aunt were planning just to go out for about 10 minutes to get her a cup of coffee. We really spent an hour...shopping! We came home and got Mom and Charlotte, and went back out to shop some more! My Mom and Aunt Beth got the coolest boots ever!











We walked across the Seine to the church Notre Dame. It had a huge beautiful "Rose" window that I took pictures of. We walked around inside and looked around.

Then we walked across the street to another church called Saint Chapelle. It had really beautiful windows too. The upstairs was very colorful with stained glass windows from the ceiling to the floor. When the light shone in it was really pretty.

Outside there were lots of pigeons and people would feed them and let them land on their heads and arms!

Charlotte really needed a nap, so we went back to our apartment to rest. While Charlotte was sleeping, me and my Aunt Beth went out and got chocolate crepes to eat. Then we came back and sat up in the loft with the computer and we took all the movies and pictures from my camera and put them on a website. If you would like to see them visit http://web.mac.com/ebkfamily/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html.

Now we're watching a French movie, listening to all the people in the street, and we're about to eat dinner. Tomorrow is our last big day here, and after that we have to get ready to leave.

Day 11 - Paris "Downtown fun!"

Maddie: This morning we took the train to Versailles. It is a huge castle where the royal Kings & Queens used to live, including the famous French Queen Marie Antoinette. Everything was so pretty there. There were paintings on every ceiling, and everything was gold! It was kind of sad though, to think about how rich the King & Queen were, when lots of their people didn't have enough food or money.

Next we went on the train back to Paris. We went to a restaurant called Angelina's for hot chocolate. The chocolate was very thick and rich, and it came with a bowl of whipped cream! To go along with it we got Quiche Lorraine, salad, and a big plate of different cheeses.



We walked across the street to Place de la Concorde. In the middle of the square is a giant Egyptian obelisk with hieroglyphic writing all over it.

We spent the rest of the night window shopping on Champs-Elysees, a huge busy street with tons of places to shop.



At the end of that street is the Arc de Triomphe, a big stone arch. We got on the Metro (subway) there and rode home.

Molly: We had a great time seeing some of France's greatest monuments today. The Chateau of Versailles was quite amazing. We talked about how different the royal life must have been, versus the lives of the regular people of that time. While Versailles was home to Kings Louis XIII-XVI, the Place de la Concorde, which we visited later in the day, is Paris' largest square and during the French Revolution is the site where they beheaded Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Down at the end of the Champs-Elysees we were impressed with the size of the Arc de Triomphe, built to celebrate Napoleon.

Overall, we have found the people here to be very nice (maybe it's because of the kids). Everyone loves the girls...people stop on the street to coo at the baby and smile at Maddie, and we often get offers of help getting on/off the Metro with the stroller. The restaurant owners in our neighborhood are getting to know us, and they always get down to greet the baby as we come by. We've been pleasantly surprised! Maddie and Beth are using lots of French words like "Bonjour", "Merci", "Bonsoir", "Oui", etc. Maddie is noticing lots of similiarities between French and the Spanish she is learning in school. I'm speaking French to Charlotte here and we bought her some baby books in French, maybe we'll get bilingual kids out of the trip! We miss our families so much, but this has been such a neat experience!

P.S. The pictures on Day 9 are fixed!

Day 10 - Paris "Luxembourg? I thought we were in Paris!"

Madeline: Today we took a train to the Luxembourg Gardens.

Charlotte and I rode on a carousel. She was a little scared and very dizzy!



Then we went to the playground. There was an area for babies, and a bigger area for older kids. Charlotte loved the slide and wanted to go down over and over.

We walked to two famous churches, St. Sulpice and St. Germaine des Pres (the oldest church in Paris). We went shopping along the way. Charlote got the cutest little French shoes (2 pairs)! We had to run store to store because it was pouring rain!

My mother insisted on walking another 2 miles to a museum, but it actually turned out to be fun! It was the Orsay Museum. There were tons of really cool paintings by Monet, Degas, Renoir, and other impressionist artists. My favorite painting was "Water Lillies" by Monet.
We took the train to a restaurant across the street from our apartment (Le Grand Bistro). Me and Charlotte LOVED the french onion soup, and the cheese fondue! We dipped everything in the cheese...meat, bread, chicken, little potatoes, and even pickles! For dessert we had chocolate mousse...Yuuummm!

Day 9 - Paris "Americans in Paris"

Madeline: We went to church this morning at St. Severin here in the Latin Quarter, just across the street from our apartment. It's Ash Wednesday, and we got ashes on our foreheads. We walked across the bridge over the Seine River, past Notre Dame, to the Right Bank.

We walked down the river past three pet shops, lots of cafes, and a bunch of garden stores, to the Louvre. We saw lots of statues and paintings, and even the Mona Lisa! We went outside to the Tuileries gardens for lunch.

We got lunch from a cafe out by a big fountain and we had a picnic at the fountain. We ate croque monsieur (hot ham & cheese) sandwiches, and quiche. There were lots of kids at the fountain sailing little sailboats. We rented one for 2 euros, and the boat man gave us a long stick to push it along the water. Some kids had races with their boats, and others just splashed around in the water with their boats. Charlotte only cared about the stick, she kept stealing it from me and chasing pigeons with it! The boat man saw and brought her a little stick of her own. We had so much fun!


We went back into the Louvre, and saw the famous statue "Venus de Milo", and lots of paintings. We stayed all day!

We walked all the way back home. Our feet were killing us so we got straight into bed! Now we are listening to all the people in the streets below our window. Bon nuit (that means goodnight!)

Molly: We had a nice long walk to the Louvre this morning (it wasn't quite as nice walking home tonight when we were all so tired!) The outside of the Louvre is so impressive. I was here once before all on my own, and I can't tell you how much more wonderful it was to be here with family. We had such a nice day. The highlight was our impromptu picnic lunch out at the fountain in the Jardin des Tuileries. Beth and I had such fun watching the girls sail their little sailboat with the other children. Many people stopped to take pictures of the girls. It was really sweet. The Louvre itself was huge and amazing. We all loved the famous masterpieces best.

Day 8 - Paris "View from the top"

Maddie: This morning me and Aunt Beth went to a coffee shop and I got a grande chocolat (hot chocolate). We went shoe shopping on the way back to our apartment, but I didn't see any shoes that I liked. We got home, then we all had breakfast and we took a train to the Eiffel Tower. It was HUGE!!! We stood in a long line with a million, trillion, billion people, and we were at the very end. When we finally got our tickets, we rode an elevator to the very top! We took so many pictures that my memory card on my camera is full. We were soooo high up in the air. We could see all of Paris!

Afterwards, we walked through a big park called Champ de Mars to a street called Rue Cler.
It had lots of little markets on it. We went to a fromagerie that sold cheese, it was really smelly. Then we went to a restaurant called Cafe du Marche for dinner and ate outside at a little table on the cobble stone street. I guess people in Paris love dogs, because there are dogs everywhere! Even in the restaurants!


We got dessert at a boulangerie (bakery). It had layers of custard and raspberries. It was really yummy!

When we got home I took a long bath in the deep bathtub. Then I ate some of the stinky cheese and baguette that we bought on Rue Cler. It actually tastes a lot better than it smells!


Molly: The Eiffel Tower was opened in 1889 as a celebration of the 100 year anniversary of the French revolution. It has 3 viewing levels and is 985 feet high! We went to the very top, where on a clear day you can see for 40 miles!

We visited many little specialty shops today including two fromageries (cheese shops), two boulangeries (bakeries), a wine shop, and two little grocery stores. We had a lot of fun on the busy market street of Rue Cler.

Several of you have asked how I am doing with the language. I was very nervous (I haven't taken a French class in 14 or so years, and it was almost 16 years ago that I was here!) It's actually going fine. I didn't have time to brush up before our trip, but I'm amazed that it is coming back to me. I'm making transactions at the shops, ordering from restaurants, buying tickets, getting directions, figuring out the Metro & RER trains, and basically getting us by. I remembered more and more over the course of the day. Maddie & Beth are cheering me on! We have not found the Parisians to be overly rude. In fact, as long as we are buying things, they're downright pleasant!

We LOVE Paris! It is such a busy, cool city. There are little parks in the midst of the buildings, and people are there juggling, on skate boards, etc. There's no end to the entertainment. The streets are small and curvy, and the buildings are so charming. We just love it here!

P.S. Keep the "comments" coming. We read them every night and laugh & laugh. It reminds us what great family & friends we have.


Aunt Beth says: Hello! I'm too stuffed with wine, cheese & bread to give further comment, but Bon Soir!

Day 7 - London to Paris "Our new home - Rue Xavier Privas"

Charlotte says "Bonjour!"

Maddie: Today was very fun, but also very tiring. It all started when we woke up at 8:25. After we ate breakfast, we rode a taxi to the train station, and we dragged all our stuff into the Eurostar train. We have 4 HUGE suitcases, plus smaller suitcases, and Charlotte in the pram (stroller)! We were on the train for 3 1/2 hours. When we finally got to Paris we rode on another taxi to our apartment and dragged all our luggage up the million tiny little stairs (it was really hard).

Our apartment is SO CUTE!!! There are 2 beds...a loft bed and the couch pulls out into the other bed. I wish I could live here! The loft bed is sooooo cool! Right next to my pillow is a door, kind of like a little cupboard, and there's a little pink lamp and a pink & green jewelry box too. I called the loft!

We explored the streets of Paris. We went to a bakery and bought 4 croissants, 2 pain au fromage (long cheese filled bread), and a big long baguette.

Outside there's all these little booths where they make crepes right in front of you. We bought 2 chocolate crepes. Mmmmmmmm!

A couple of streets away is the church, Notre Dame. We walked there and Charlotte found a little playground, with a sandbox and a see-saw, so she had her fun too. We are now unpacking and I am watching french TV ("Malcom in the Middle" in French!)! Au revoir! (that means goodbye)

Molly: Ok, we brought WAY too much luggage! People are staring and pointing as we try to get in and out of taxis (picture a clown car at the circus). Leading up to our apartment is the narrowest spiral staircase, you can imagine Beth & I trying to haul all of the bags & children up two flights, we were laughing and huffing & puffing.


This apartment is fabulous! It's a studio apartment with a full, albeit tiny, kitchen (with a washer/dryer), a full bath and the best part is...giant ceiling to floor windows looking out into the streets of the Latin Quarter!

What a view! It's so charming, and very French! This is such a neat, busy neighborhood...every space is filled with restaurants, cafes, and life! I can't believe how close we are to Notre Dame...it's right here! This is such a great location (good choice Beth!). We can't wait for tommorow.

Day 6 - London "Have you seen the Muffin Man?"

Maddie: Today we all went to Hyde Park. We walked around and saw a football game (football is soccer here). We also went to Speaker's Corner, where we got to hear what people have to say about things.

Then we walked all the way through that huge park to Kensington Palace. We ate lunch at the Orangery. We had a fancy royal lunch with tea, except me, I hate tea, so I had apple juice. We toured Kensington Palace. Kings and Queens lived there for a long time. Princess Diana lived there, even though she wasn't a King or a Queen. We got to see royal dresses and how they lived back then.
My feet were so tired, so I sat down and read a book in the King's Gallery.

For dinner we went to "Rock & Sole" to eat the traditional fish and chips. We even walked down Drury Lane! We tried to find the Muffin Man, but he wasn't there today. Have you seen the Muffin Man? The Muffin Man? The Muffin Man! We haven't seen the Muffin Man who lives on Drury Lane.

Now we are trying to get to bed a little early because we're taking a 3 hour Chunnel ride to Paris in the morning. So pip, pip, cherrio for now!

Day 5 (for real) - London "Day of fun"

Madeline: Ok, let me tell you what I did for real on Saturday. We started out the day riding a double decker bus.
Charlotte made a friend who was the ticket guy. When we got on the bus me and my mom got car sick so we got off at the next stop and walked around a bit. Then we went on a Thames River cruise on a blue and yellow boat and we went under a lot of bridges including the London Bridge, and no, it did not fall down! On that boat we went to the Tower of London. It's lots of towers connected by big stone walls. The Tower of London is two things. If someone was threatening the royal family they would go to the Tower to hide and be safe. The second thing is, if someone was being bad they could use the London Tower as a prison. Now they keep all the Queen's crown jewels there. I went and looked at them. It was really cool. We saw crowns with all sorts of jewels in them. We had lunch on the green where they used to chop people's heads off! We even got to see the axe and the wood block that they used! We also saw all the old weapons that they used to use, and all the old armour that they used to wear. There was a brass rubbing table where you took a gold crayon and rubbed it on black paper over a brass picture and it made a cool design.

That night me and my mom went to the musical Les Miserables! It was one of the best shows I've seen in my life! I laughed in some parts, and I was ready to cry in others. I think the actors and actresses did a really good job. I was especially excited because I'm in the high school version of Les Mis next month. Now I know the whole story!