Branching Out: Paris edition

It's daffodil season in the Paris parks.  We've had enough sunshine and warm temperatures that the daffodils are blooming.  Many parks around Paris have had daffodils re-germinating for years which means planters and fields are full of these bright beautiful flowers.   With the sun shining, even though the temperatures haven't been too warm, we have been exploring different playgrounds around Paris.  First we journeyed to the Bois de Vincennes near our 2006 apartment.  I feel I could start an Instagram thread of "Things in Paris the US would never allow.    There were several play areas but the one the boys enjoyed the most was a 2 story spider web climb.  It was supposed to be for 11 years and older.  They did a good job in making the low ropes far enough apart that small kids can't reach to get started so they can't climb partially up and get stuck.  Kenyon quickly found a loop hole an just chin-uped his way on at a place he could rea...

    Our next ski break adventure was the town of Fontainbleu.    At one time, prior to the run of Kings named Louis, the Chateau at Fontainbleu was the royal residence for the King of France.  It is an enormous house and beautiful grounds.  The Chateau is closed for viewing but we wandered around the grounds and forests. The boys can only look at old things that don't move for so long so as a reward, Scott, Kenyon, and Quimby rode a carousel in the town square.  It was a fun experience but this would not have passed Disney standards. Needing to burn some energy before the car ride home our last adventure of the day was a hike in the Fontainbleu woods.  I found a swing spot on Google maps and we set off.  The swing turned out to be broken but we had a lot of fun with the hike.  The boys loved the "bouldering" that we got to do but they both need a little more practice.

   The boys have had 2 weeks off of school.  No, this isn't an early spring break; Spring Break isn't until the end of April.  This is ski break.  In a non-Covid year we would be heading to the Alps for a week or more of skiing.  This year things are a little different.  Some French ski resorts have ski school open but not general lifts for Adults.  Switzerland has skiing available but with recent numbers a PCR test would be required to cross into Switzerland, another when we come back to France, followed by a 7 day quartentine period and another negative test.           I Briefly looked into a French ski resort and almost booked an aparotel (apartment/hotel).  But ski school only allows for 2 hours of skiing a day and restaurants are still closed.  I really didn't want to be stuck in a studio apartment with only a microwave to cook.  We are in a funny place with our visa so besides not wanting to ...

   I meet a fellow American that lives in the same neighborhood as us and she let me tag along on her grocery trips one morning.  She showed me the good wine store with English speaking clerk, the cheese store that speaks English, and which produce stand allows you to self-select vs the stand that you aren't supposed to touch the produce.     I find myself intimidate the first time and I need someone to make introductions and show me the process.  After that, I'm good to go.   Scott and I are committing to one dinner a week of just cheese and wine.  I even have a cheese loyalty card.

 It has been awhile since my last entry, because We Moved! We are now in our log term apartment.  We are getting settled slowly but I wasn't able to write and entry for a bout a week because we had no internet for the first six days in our apartment. I am old enough to remember the days before internet was our life line.  But we had a lot stacked against us, International move, global pandemic, cord cutter family.  It was a lot. France/Paris gets a bad wrap but the almost celebration of bureaucracy and inefficiency matches the stereotype.  It took 4 appointments and six days to get our internet working and the thing we were waiting on the most...the post office.  Yep, they mailed us our router.  All the technology available today and we were waiting on the Pony Express. So now starts my life in cardboard.  21 boxes of personal possessions.  And every appliance and piece of furniture is the box inside the box.   My goal is 2 boxes un...

   Saturday found us with some patches of blue sky and around 50 degrees so we made arrangements to meet some friends at a park near their home.  We took the opportunity to have our first scooter adventure in the city.  The boys had so much fun playing an climbing.  Kenyon is so enthralled with everything new around him, he has a little trouble remembering to watch where he is going.

The day started out with a plan to meet a friend at a well known and iconic bookstore that sells books in English.  As goes with the best laid plans, the opening time was different than expected and traffic was heavier than predicted.  I ended up with a little time to burn and started to wander.  Where should my feet lead me but across a bridge to...  La Cathedral de Notre Dame.  Watching this beautiful church burn on CNN two years ago made my heart ache and my eyes tear.  It great to see so much of the church is un damaged and the restorations are well underway.  The city seems to be using the opportunity to educate passers-by on the façade of the church and the meaning behind all the parts of the doorways.  The picture don't do it justice; this is a massive structure.  Time will tell if we will be able to enter before our time in Paris is up. When the bookstore opened, we spent about an hour browsing and exploring the upstairs of used books...