Return to Colorado

Back in Colorado, we had a couple days to rest and repack before coming home to Seattle. Sophie hung out.

Versailles

Versailles, at the risk of sounding like a tourist pamphlet, is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The excesses of the builidings and interiors are somehow balanced by the sheer vastness and tranquility of the gardens, the two worlds combining to create a most lovely place to pass a day. Here are some photos of ours.
The Apollo Fountain, quiet for the winter, yet an opportunity to see the sculpture unobscured by the water gushing from it in high season.

Nanny Gigi wheeling a sleepy Sophie among the gardens.

Lunch in the gardens at a restaurant that was once the stables for Marie Antoinette.

Brian and Sophie in the Hall of Mirrors.

After touring the palace, one can go outside and, I kid you not, RENT A GOLFCART to toodle around the gardens in! When Brian and I were here last, I thought it was a joke, but no. You can really rent a "skippy" as Brian refers to them, and good thing, as those gardens are big, and it allowed us to see much more of it than if we had just been on foot. Here is Gigi and Grandpa Fred with - is that a big marshmallow? Oh, no, that's my daughter! In their skippy outside the Petit Trianon.

Of course the race is on at 31/2 miles an hour - catch up, ol' timers!

H & B self portrait a la skippy.

Sunset shot at the Grand Canal. This was our last day in (and near) Paris, what a calming way to round out the most wonderful of vacances, what a beautiful day.

Au revior, Paris, et merci.

Oh, Champs Elysees!

There is this great old-timey song that Brian sings about the Champs Elysees;
Oh, Champs Elysees, oh, Champs Elysees,
Il a midi, il a minuit, il a pluie, il a nuit,
Il y a tout ce'que vous voulez au Champs Elysees,
BOP!
Et voila, la famille sous L'Arc de Triomphe!

Sophie et maman a Cartier, oh la la!

We found a great pizza place (the pizza is amazing in Paris) on the Avenue, which also happened to have quite amazing sundaes!

Gigi's Birthday in Montmartre

Today we celebrated Gigi's 65th birthday in the beautiful neighborhood of Montmartre.  Also, I just discovered that I can add text through this fancy "compose" tab, and for some reason everything is underlined.  Not sure why, maybe I'll figure that out eventually.  Anyway.  Here are Sophie's grandparetns making out in front of the Moulin Rouge.  Typical.
After a stroll through the market streets, (mysteriously, the underlining is gone.  Hm.) we rode the funiculaire to the top of the Butte and toured through the Sacre Coeur, then ambled to the Place du Tertre, a wonderful tiny square where all sorts of artists camp out with restaurants all around the sides where one can sit, literally for hours sipping appertifs and munching cheese, watching the artists and tourists and the sun set.
Soon it was time for a nap walk in the Moby Wrap for Miss Sophie, but dad still got his whiskey!
The Sacre Coeur is stunning at any hour, but all lit up like this it is simply heavenly.
After our cocktail hour, we walked to Brian's and my favorite restaurant in all of Paris, the Moulin de la Galette.  It is housed beneath one of the two remaining original windmills on the hill, dating back nearly 600 years.  The gardens that were once behind the windmill was a dance hall, made famous by several impressionist painters who lived in Montmartre, including Renoir and Monet.  It is now a small and excellent restaurant where, each of the four times now that we have been there, we have had amazing food, and felt welcomed like family.
Gigi and Sophie discuss entrees and plats...
After an amazing dinner, the staff surprised us with a birthday plate of petit fours, decorated with "Joyeux Anniversaire", Happy Birthday!

La Tour Eiffel!

On our first visit to Paris together, Brian and I had opted to CLIMB the stairs to the second tier of the Eiffel Tower - it was January, and I don't recommend it! - so this was a nice change of pace to do it right. Like, for instance, taking the nice, warm elevator to the top:

This day was pre-puffy purchase (for those of you who are familiar with our little marshmallow!), so we bundled as best we could for that stiff breeze at the top!

But it does make for a once-in-a-lifetime family portrait!

Sophie and mom, diggin' the view!

And after the cold and excitement outside, it's into the "Altitude 95" bar for some Irish Coffees and a warm up!

We hung out until sunset to see the lights come on...

...and I just refused to leave the area until we gave Sophie her first carousel ride on a Parisian double-tiered carousel below the Eiffel Tower!

I think Sophie enjoyed it, she's just concentrating.

Still.

We ended the evening with dinner across the river with a gorgeous view of the sparkly lights on the beautiful Eiffel Tower.

Christmas Windows and Fun!

This evening we hit the town to window shop and appreciate the ridiculous amount of holiday decorations beginning to sprout up around town. One of the original Department Stores, the Galleries Lafayette, had some extraordinary windows, which Sophie was fascinated with, not to mention (ahem) my amazement as well!


This was my favorite - I call them Snow Fluffies - and Sophie tried to talk to them in the same voice she uses for the cat!

The store is built with balconies around the open center with a gorgous stained glass cupola at the top - Nordstrom eat your heart out!!!

A Very Parisian Thanksgiving

As ex-pats around the globe are sure to tell you, one can find ways to celebrate and be thankful just about anywhere, and with what the local fare will afford you. Here we had what felt a very Thanksgivingy Dinner: Fresh roasted chicken (turkeys don't happen in Paris...), mashed potatoes, green beans and bacon, and fresh bread and desserts from our neighborhood shops, bien sur! It was a wonderful dinner!

St. Germain des Pres

Today was mainly about shopping. We headed to the this very literary of neighborhoods to find a daily market street open so that we could purchase some fixings for our Very Parisian Thanksgiving Dinner. After that success, we lunched at Paul, a fabulous boulingerie, where they had the coolest high chairs!

Cheers!

Just a perfect example of the views we had while nap walking Sophie in the early evenings, the moon over the Seine on the Pont des Arts...ah, Paris!

Musee de Louvre

Today was a visit to the amazing Louvre Museum. I think I could spend all the remaining rainy days of my life in these beautiful buildings, stuffed as they are with so much history, art, and beauty. Here is Gigi appreciating just that...

Gigi and me in one of the atriums with the Greek statuary.

A look from inside the Pyramid.

After taking in so much culture, we headed across the Rue Rivoli to the Hotel de Louvre Restaurant, where we had a lovely dinner, and Sophie quenched her parched little throat...

Musee D'Orsay

Aujourd'hui, La Musee D'Orsay. J'adore cette Musee, c'est petite, and tres jolie! Voici Brian et Sophie a cote de le grand montre (is that clock in french? I can't remember just now...) dans la Musee.

Mon pere (Grandpere Fred) dans un Salle de Bal dans la Musee.

Le diaper change dans l'apartement - ooh la la!

Et temps de jouer (okay, I'm totally making up "playtime" in french - hey, sometimes it turns out to be true!) avec les Grandparents a la maison.

BatoBus & Tour Eiffel

In lieu of the Metro, we took the BatoBus on several occasions. Just a covered barge-type boat, for a flat daily rate makes a circle up and down the Seine, stopping at major points of interest.

Gigi and Grandpa Fred and La Tour Eiffel, a classic shot!

Guess who slept her first whole ride on the BatoBus???

After a day of wandering around, Heather and Gigi partying it up in the Marais!

Whew! That was a big day!