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!
2 comments:
Girls,
I hope you're continuing to enjoy your trip, and not getting burned out. When are you coming home? There is a major winter storm they're forecasting here for Sunday and Monday.
The impressionist museum sounds wonderful. That's one thing Nickie and I did not get a chance to see when we were there, and I've always regretted it. One more reason to go back. I see you, Molly, liked the Van Gogh. Have you been inside Notre Dame yet? I did not recognize Maddie's choice.
Did Maddie see Marie Antoinette's "playhouse" at Versailles? That certainly punctuated the appetites of the royals for material excess. As for your thoughts on the divide between the royalty and the people at large, I say "let them eat cake"!
Actually, we too found the Parisians quite pleasant on the whole, notwithstanding my little story about the Creation. They are certainly nowhere near as abrupt and assertive as New Yorkers are.
We love you. We miss you. We are charmed by the images and narratives of your experiences. Hurry home!
Love,
Dad/Gramps
Well, here I am getting ready to go on the air with my show and brag about your wonderful blog. It is so exciting to share your adventures, but to be honest, my dream would be to take your mother, grandma Ginny, to Spain and visit Madrid! I once did a language course with some business people that used the city of Madrid for a video in the course and it was fantastic, much like the Paris you have show us.
I am so glad that the Parisians have been kind to you and I bet it did have something to do with those sweet girls. If they hadn't I would have had to join Uncle Curts expeditionary force that seems to have gotten lost hunting somewhere!
We just had lunch with Wayne and Cindy Shabaz and we bragged about the blog to them. Their kids are 32, 30 and 28 but still not married! I can't imagine a world with out lots of grandchildren. We are certainly blessed.
I have to run and grandma is right now at Carson's soccer game.
A tout l'heure,
Foster
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