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.
7 comments:
That luggage thing? Quelle domage! Don't feel so bad; it's genetic, you got it from your mother who must travel with her own pillows, first aid kit, etc., etc. So Molly, Comment s'a va en francais? Is it all coming back to you and are the Parisians as snooty about people trying to speak French as rumored?
I do envy you all your adventure; thanks for sharing it with us. Get lots of rest and bon nuit et bonnes reves!
Avec beaucoup amour,
Grandpa Foster
Welcome to Paris! I got hungry just reading about the stuff you had to nibble on as you explored Paris! I am SO GLAD I did not have to navigate the stairs with MY luggage, or listen to your complaints if you dragged my stuff up those stairs! But I would love the view, the little kitchen, and the washer and dryer! Of course, I have about had my fill of laundry with the twins here. They never wear anything twice! Alicia tells me she did NOT get this from her mother!
What was the chunnel like? How long did the trip take? We love your news!! Au Revoir, Grandma xxxxoooo
Welcome to Paris! Your place sounds so European. Hope you don't pick up too many Bohemian ways on the "left bank".
When we were in Paris, the hotel clerk told us that at the end of the creation, God realized he had given the French the most beautiful country, romantic people, and beguiling language in the world. He (or is it she?) realized that it was unfair to all the other countries. So to even things out, he created the Parisians! Good luck with them.
Can't wait to hear your adventures in Paris. I hope Maddie does not create yet another international incident; we'll all stay tuned. Molly, has your command of the language survived? Tell us all.
Love,
Dad/Gramps
Hi, Mom, Maddie & Charlotte,
We just looked at the new pictures and we like them. We are spending the night with Grandma & Grandpa, and we're going to make spagetti. Do they have spagetti in Paris? We're having fun but we'll be glad when you come home. Have a good time in France! Love, Jake & Carson
I'm glad I'm not the only one who is warning you off those Parisians! I was beginning to feel paranoid, but know that I am simply NORMAL now. Hee hee.
I won't say "I told you so" about the luggage, but .... It will be great to have something to giggle about when you are remembering your trip in years to come.
Hope you are having fun! Can't wait to read more.
Dear Ladies – so glad to see you settled and comfortable in your Paris apartment. Too bad about the many winding narrow steps. How French to mix a little misery with your pleasure . . . more on that shortly. First, there is bad news I must deliver:
Operation “Tea and Crumpets” has been derailed – and most likely for good . You may be familiar with the famous Napolean Bonaparte quote: “An army marches on its stomach.” Well, I now know this to be true (due to an oversight in preparation). Our strike team found itself about midway across the Atlantic, when hunger overcame them. Immediately they went to their back-packs looking for rations – but none were to be found. (Not to finger point, but I have to tell you that it was Uncle Chris’s job to put the venison jerky in the back-packs, but he just plain didn’t do it (what is with them over there?!))
Anyhow, our hungry soldiers decided to take a quick detour to Iceland, just get a few happy meals or something – and then they were going to be back on target. However, they ended up talking to one of the locals, and apparently the ptarmigan shooting has been excellent recently in the Iceland hill country . . . Anyway, to make a long story short, I think we can safely say: “Mission Aborted!” Maddie, all I can tell you is that you’re still a very young lady, and the queen isn’t exactly a spring chicken . . . and as far as we are concerned, the gauntlet has been thrown, and there it remains!! So, this isn’t over.
On the upside, we now think it’s perfectly safe for you return to London, if you should fancy the idea. Moving along . . .
Regarding Paris and the French. I suppose we should get our props out of the way: “Thank you, France, for pasteurized milk, and the rabies vaccine, and for some really tasty wine and food, etc., etc.” Enough of that then; the pandering stops here! Ladies, please pay close attention to what I have to say now:
In England, we feared for your lives. In France, we fear for your souls!
As Americans, who live in a free, beautiful, and generally upbeat society, we are not always sensitive to spiritual malaise – even as it slowly, methodically surrounds us, whispering its lethal propaganda in our innocent ears. So, I’ll put it to you plainly: the French are a depressed people with pathological attraction to the tragic and sorrowful – and you know what they say about misery? It loves company.
Now, standing in the shadow of the Eifel Tower, or strolling through the galleries of the Louvre, this may not be obvious – so I offer proof:
• Exhibit A: Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring (1986) - Have you seen a more depressing box set DVD ever?
• Exhibit B: Madam Bovery - Have you forgotten that poor little club foot, Hypolite?
• Exhibit C: Jean Paul Sartre, “ . . . so reflection is fated to a form of anxiety, i.e. the human condition” - Right from the lips of one their most respected intellectuals.
OK. Sorry. Maybe that was too much. I didn’t mean to freak you out. Besides, there are two key ways to preserve your light hearted American souls: 1) Don’t speak the language! Only speak American English - - and speak it very loudly (which will help them figure out what you mean); 2) Only eat American foods! If they don’t serve any American foods, then go ahead and order the least exotic entrée on the menu – and insist on getting it served with “Freedom Fries”.
Remember, the goal here is to get you through this “cultural experience” completely unchanged.
BTW, France is even wimpier, according my research, that England, so if you feel like things are getting out of hand, I might be able to pull the boys off the ptarmigan for a few days . . .
hello,
i stayed in that same apartment with my grandparents when we went to paris
in 2005. I loved it!! The stairs i could have lived without though. I hope you enjoyed your trip :)
shelby
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