Remnants of Paris

A week after we got home I got to host book club (for a great book--The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch) and I still had Paris in my heart and taste buds... so I made or bought some yummy foods that reminded me of my trip. You might notice my toile tablecloth (happily purchased at a discount price at JoAnn Fabric) and Eiffel Tower and Fleur de Lis (also purchased here in the States at a discount store). You have to love that I bought my Paris souvenirs in the U.S. and a couple of them were more than likely made in China. Oh well... they still remind me of a fabulous trip and I didn't spend a fortune on them.

I made crepes and served them with Nutella and bananas (or butter and sugar). I made ham and cheese quiche (although I would have purchased the mini-quiches from Costco if they had been in stock). I served cream puffs (thank you Costco) and chocolate-croissants (thanks refrigerated crescent rolls and chocolate chunks). And I pulled out all the stops and served the very baguettes I had stuffed in my luggage (we froze it right when we got home) with Laughing Cow cheese (thanks to Costco again). We even had sherbet (not nearly as tasty as the sherbet from Ile de St. Louis) with ginger ale (my beverage of choice on all flights going anywhere, including Paris). I don't think anyone there was nearly impressed with everything I pulled off for that night as I was with myself... it had been my first full day at my clinic and we had a soccer game for Coleman in between, but somehow the house managed to get clean and the food got made, just in time for my lovely book club friends to come over and enjoy it with me.

The next week I had signed up to decorate a door for our PTA's Teacher Appreciation week... the theme had something to do with our teachers being world-class and so Olivia asked her teacher what her dream vacation was... she was so kind in saying that she was dying to go to Paris (I am sure she had compassion for me and knew that I could easily put something together about Paris). We came up with this rendition of the Eiffel Tower (complete with gem sparkly things for the lights they turn on at night) and put random sayings about Paris and our fabulous and wonderful Mrs. Rhodes who has been a great teacher for Olivia this year.

I think those two projects sufficiently got Paris out of my system... although we are still enjoying a baguette every few days and will likely keep the Laughing Cow cheese and Nutella a staple in our fridge and pantry....

Coming Home

Our journey home from Paris was not nearly as adventurous as my first time around in 2005 (short version of that story: It involved getting on the wrong train, then stopping at the wrong terminal, then riding the shuttle bus around a few times, then waiting at the wrong desk, then thinking for an hour and a half that I'd miss my plane, then very slowly making my way through security, then running to my terminal, then bursting through a door that was "secure" and being reprimanded, then (full of relief) sitting down on the plane and traveling without incident to Heathrow airport in London--which was wonderful and clean and organized--and then again without incident to JFK in New York.... and then the fun really began with a botched attempt to use a buddy pass which ended with me flying to Vegas instead and riding in a car to Utah with two complete strangers who thankfully did me no harm...) but Charles De Gaulle airport still caused some stress as we tried to fly back to the US...

We left in plenty of time to arrive at the airport two hours before our flight. We made a short stop at a boulangerie to use up our last cash (the worker thought it hilarious that we bought 10 baguettes and asked her to wrap them for travel, then watched as we stuffed them into our suitcases and carry-on bags...) We still had plenty of time and we hopped on the Metro and then got on the right train and got off at the right terminal, but went to the wrong area, which was on the opposite side of the terminal... so we ran (panting) back to the right place and got in line in front of an extremely drunk woman who really wanted to make conversation. There were several workers for our airline, but only four were checking in people for our flight.... the line moved SOOO slowly... and we were finally getting through security and we heard them call over the intercom "Last call for flight...." and we realized it was our flight, so when the security agent told me I had to stop at the next person for a more thorough search (I'm guessing that's what he said, it was in French) I just pretended I didn't understand and grabbed my bags and ran for it. It was all smooth sailing from there (except for the fact that Ryan and I didn't get to sit by each other for the whole 8 hour flight to New York).

We were so excited to see our kids and Ryan's dad picked us up from the airport. The kids had a fabulous time with Bruce and Terri while we were gone, but we were all happy to be back together. Bruce was good enough to drive us around New York City for a bit until we had to get to the other airport... Ryan got dropped off at the New York office (where I spent the night on my way TO Paris in 2005 when I got stranded on the street outside of my brother's apartment... different story for a different day) and the kids and I went to Battery Park so the kids could see the Statue of Liberty. It was pretty foggy but we could faintly see the Statue of Liberty in the background.

You can't even see it in this picture, but it's back there somewhere. Olivia is holding her Flat Stanley (a school project which traveled all over the country--from Utah to Connecticut to Utah to Washington to Utah to San Diego to Connecticut again and even to Paris (by proxy)... big huge thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Harper, Traci and family, Grandpa Cole and Heather for your help with Stanley).

There were several artists in Battery Park offering to draw caricatures for only $5. We resisted in the beginning, but then the kids and I were convinced that we needed to have a drawing of us in New York City to remember our brief time there. We walked toward one of the artists (none of which spoke English very well) and he said, "I draw, $5." I asked if it was all three for $5 and he smiled and nodded. He asked if we just wanted cartoons or if we wanted the sketch... I clearly said, "Just the cartoon, just the $5 picture." We sat on this bench and he began to sketch. For five bucks I expected a quick cartoon-like drawing, but it was taking a really long time... he finally finished Olivia's picture and moved on to mine... then did Coleman... all the while I was thinking what a great deal we were getting and my heart was full of compassion for him. I imagined a wife and children in a cramped apartment and him trying to support his little family with meager earnings of an artist. As he was finishing I pulled out two five-dollar bills, thinking we'd give him a great tip for his time. We walked over to his station and he said, "$20." I told him he had told us only $5 for all three... and he shook his head and acted like I was trying to rip him off. Then he pulled out a cardboard to put it on... he said, "This for only $20 more..." at which point I was furious and fuming. I didn't want to cheat him, so I handed over the $20 and he tried to talk us into the cardboard... he wouldn't even put another paper on top of it to keep it from smudging.... so he rolled it up and taped it together and I gathered what very little pride I had left and walked off with my children now imagining him going home to his wife, laughing, and telling him of the way he had swindled this stupid tourist out of twenty bucks... I should have known better...

When Ryan saw it he laughed and said it doesn't even look like us. You'll notice that it was flattened in my carry on bag, so there are creases in the drawing. A great investment, no?


**Do you get stressed in airports?
**Are you ever swindled out of money?
**So what do you think--does the drawing look like us? Was it worth $20 and my pride?

Paris Jour 6

It was our last full day in Paris... we felt like we had seen most of what we wanted to, so we did a few miscellaneous things...

We returned to Montmartre so I could look in the fabric and linen stores (they were closed on Sunday). I had it in my head that I wanted to take home a tablecloth and dishtowels made of toile fabric. Of course I didn't find any... so then I got the brilliant idea to purchase fabric and make my own... and I loved what what I found in the fabric stores.

It was all so beautiful... and so expensive...

...and I made the mistake of looking online at a local fabric store (local-close-to-my-house) and found similar fabric for a much cheaper price and I just couldn't justify the extra cost just to say I had bought it in Paris... but I did love looking and feeling all of these gorgeous fabrics. In 2005 my dad and sisters and I found so many neat tapestries, but that store had closed down so I was really glad that I had purchased the ones I did then.

We debated about taking a day trip to see anothe chateau such as Fontainebleu or Chantilly. We decided to stay a little closer to Paris and see Vincennes because they described a mote and dungeon which we thought would be neat (and might buy some sympathy from Coleman who still wished we had gone to the catacombs).

It was very old--maybe built in the 1300s--and really cool. It had been closed for many years for restoration.

I was a little disappointed that the mote didn't have water (or alligators for that matter).

There was a Sainte Chapelle here too, patterned after the Sainte Chapelle near Notre Dame. It was closed for restoration, but I loved the way it looked from the outside.

Don't you think it looks like a real authentic castle? I half-expected to see Rapunzel letting down her hair out of one of the tower windows.

This was by far the most sunny day of our trip. The weather was beautiful!

This view of the mote shows the water line.

I liked this view of the black turret.

There were some really neat doors inside... I loved these.

We took a walk in a hallway that overlooked the mote. We think it's where they'd shoot arrows at enemies trying to break in.

Another view that shows the water line.

After a nice tour of the chateau we went back to Paris and went to Tuileries (where we had been kicked out before closing time on our first day) so we could go to Musee L'Orangerie. I laughed at this sign too... you must NOT walk on the grass.

I loved the outside of the building. Downstairs they have many paintings by Picasso, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, and others. I wished (again) that I had taken an art history class so that I could appreciate the art that I saw.

In the upstairs L'Orangerie houses the large water lily series by Monet called Las Nympheas. Before donating them to France, he required that they be displayed in an oval shaped room and this museum was built. I thought they were lovely!

Outside the museum was another of Rodin's "The Kiss" statue. We were going to try to take our own picture kissing in front of "The Kiss" but a nice American couple stopped and offered to take a picture of our cheesiness. Interestingly enough, the same couple was on our flight home. I saw the wife by the bathrooms on the plane and she said, "Hey, weren't you at L'Orangerie yesterday?" Small world!

We walked over to Ile St. Louis and got our last ice cream treat... I had vanilla and raspberry and Ryan had peach, banana, and raspberry. The vanilla seriously had so much real vanilla bean in it that it was light brown. It was amazing!

We walked back through Notre Dame's courtyard and decided to try La Conciergerie one more time. They were open!

This was the women's courtyard area... I imagined Marie Antoinette strolling around during her incarceration, but more than likely she stayed in her special quarters. It wasn't as amazing as some of the other things we saw, but it was interesting (and included in our museum pass :)).

We loved the metro signs that were all over the city.... as a funny side note when I was there with my dad he told us that those metro signs were pretty rare and then we saw them all over the place. Common or not, they were very cool.

We spent some time in the Cite metro station snapping photos. This was by far the best metro station with all of the hanging light fixtures and tiled walls.


We went and saw the Madeleine...

The sign told us we had missed a concert (darn it!) but at least we got there before closing so we could see the inside.

...inside the cathedral there were more mosaics but the lighting wasn't great.

We walked a block over to see the Opera, but we didn't go inside.

On our way back to the hotel we purchased this lovely eclair in Sally's honor--it was her birthday and we had already eaten a baguette in her honor, but we decided she needed an eclair too. It was filled with chocolate cream and was delicious! I was glad Sally had a birthday so we could eat yummy things while we thought of her.

It was a great day to end a fabulous week in an amazing city! We got up early the next morning for our adventure in getting home. I have to say, the Charles de Gaulle airport is my least favorite airport in the world... I'll share the 2005 and 2009 dramas in my next post... another day... I'm sure you can't wait!

Paris Jour 5

Our fifth day in Paris was Sunday, so we started out hopping on the Metro to go to church.

The metro was usually really busy and crowded, but on Sunday it was pretty empty. We were glad to have a seat together!

We found the address okay, but were a little dismayed to find a door with no handle on it. It wouldn't open... there was a box where you could key in a code or buzz (we thought) so we pushed the button a few times and waited... we heard voices and footsteps... and waited some more and buzzed again... but no luck. No one opened the door for us. It was a strange feeling to want to go to church and not be able to get in. Finally another member came down the street and pushed the button and opened the door (all it took was a little coordination... and the knowledge that pushing the button WOULD open the door) so we snuck in behind.

It opened up into a big courtyard and we could see many members and cars parked, so we figured we could go on in. We found lots of missionaries and members and visitors from all parts of the world. The meeting was in French, but they had headsets for translation into various languages. We didn't get there early enough to snag one of the English headsets, but between our knowledge of Spanish and English we caught a few words here and there. We recognized the hymns from the titles and the music ("Seigneur je te suivrai" (Lord I Would Follow Thee) was the opening song and "Viens et suis-moi!" (Come Follow Me) for the Sacrament hymn). Then they had a combination meeting with talks slash testimony meeting. The speaker said several words that I recognized like Pere Celeste (padre celestial-Heavenly Father) and Livro de Mormon (Book of Mormon) and then I think he spoke about the story of the loaves and fishes (I heard 2 poisson (fish) and 5 pain (bread)) which was significant to me because the other Sunday I spent in Paris (in 2005) we discussed this miracle as well. We were in the Cathedral of the Madeleine and my dad offered a new interpretation to that miracle, which I don't think diminishes the miraculousness of it at all. He said that he believes that baskets were passed around, that started with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. People who needed took and ate while those who had extra added their contribution to the basket. The miracle is that as Christ was teaching he was able to feed such a large group with only 5 loaves and 2 fishes--but in order to bring the miracle to pass, his followers were required to give what they had. I like thinking of it that way, that for Christ to do His work, we must do our work and give all that we have.

After his talk they opened it up for testimonies. A sister from Russia (who was currently living in the Netherlands and visiting France) shared hers in English (and it was then translated to French) so we were glad to understand her. She was so earnest and genuine and she said so many great things. I jotted down a few of her choice phrases that I'm sure won't mean a lot to you, but they touched me that Sunday and still bring a smile to my face:

"And now I know and you know and there are millions of people on earth who know."

"I've been to churches everywhere and the most fabulous thing--we preach of the same Christ everywhere."

"...and it all started in the middle of nowhere in America."

"...our favorite loving brother Jesus Christ."

We closed the meeting by singing a hymn that was more popular in Chile than I've seen here in the states, "O Toi, Verite!" (O Say What is Truth).

We were glad that we went to church!

I think French is so beautiful, and I like the way the name of the church looks in any language, but particularly in French. (Side note: could my hair look any poofier?)

The church building is very close to the Pompidou Center which is a very unique building (and it houses a museum). All of the pipes are color-coded for their function (i.e. blue is for water pipes, green is for the cooling system, etc.) and are on the outside of the building. It's a very interesting concept!

There was a pool (or fountain of sorts?) with moving sculptures. We thought our kiddos really would have liked these works of art.

There was a street artist who spent some time gathering a crowd and spun his canvas around on a tripod, making all of us feel very intrigued with what he was about to do.

He started painting with various shades of white, and it became obvious that he was doing a portrait of a man. Pretty early on I turned to Ryan and said, "Hey, it's Barack Obama!"

The artist spun the portrait...

...and revealed that I was right. He drew big applause for the final product. It was pretty neat to see him do something so accurate so quickly and upside down nonetheless.

After going back to the hotel to change our clothes we made our way to the Basilique du Sacre Couer (Sacred Heart Basilica). I think it's such a neat building on the outside, and the inside is amazing (but they don't allow photography inside) with incredibly detailed mosaic works of art.

There are a lot of steps going up to the building or you can bypass the stairs and ride on the "funiculaire" which is like a hillside elevator (they had these in Valparaiso, Chile but they were much older and called ascensors). We decided to give the funiculaire a try.

We rode up in a large car (sort of like riding in a tram) and got to the top without breathing heavy--which we surely would have been had we climbed all the stairs.

There were more street performers there and it was much more crowded than my visit in 2005.

The view of the city was pretty incredible... you can see it was a little bit misty outside. We toured the inside and were amazed at the tile work. I wish we could have taken photos!

Around the corner from the Sacre Couer is an area called Montmartre and there are all sorts of shops and restaurants and cafes. It was busy with tourists and locals shopping and eating.

Ryan actually found a geocache there! (See this website if you want to know more about geocaching: www.geocaching.com).

We went into an art gallery and kind of laughed at this painting because we hadn't eaten any vegetables since the salad on the plane ride. It wasn't enough to motivate us to actually EAT vegetables, just enough to make us chuckle softly to ourselves.

You can see how many people are there, milling about, shopping, and enjoying the atmosphere.

There were rows and rows of artists, many of whom were sketching people from the street. It was an amazing sight!

We stopped at a creperie for lunch and loved watching the guy make them. I'd love to get my hands on an industrial crepe maker like this!

He used a wooden spreader to make them thin and even all the way around. He didn't mess up on any of them!

Ryan got jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) and I got sucre et burre (sugar and butter). Both of them were delicious!

We loved this "Le Consulat" shop. I hope Ryan posts some of his pictures from this corner, they turned out really well.

We kept walking and found the wall of love... there are tiles with "I love you" written in many different languages.

Ryan was looking for another geocache but only found little remnants. We had some other tourists take our picture in front of the "second most romantic place in Paris" (next to the Eiffel Tower?). Please take note that I tamed my unruly hair by putting it in a ponytail :).

Next stop: Arc de Triomphe.

This is the view of the 284 steps to the top (from the bottom)...

We made it! This is the view from the top of the stairs and includes Ryan shoe.

I thought this sign was humorous for some reason--we saw "Passage interdit" signs all over the place, which I had loosely translated to mean "No entrance". I loved this translation though "No way!"

Here's Ryan on top of the Arc. I love the tall spikes they have to keep people from falling (or jumping?) off the edge.

There are twelve large roads that lead to the Arc and around it is the biggest roundabout I've ever seen. I don't think I'd love driving there! This is the most famous of the roads leading to the Arc... Champs Elysees. It has lots of high end stores and shops, many of which were closed because it was Sunday.

Ryan's trying to take pictures above the spikes.

There was a good view of the Eiffel Tower from the top.

This sign made me laugh too. I get most of the pictures... no cell phones, no tripods, no smoking, and the last one, no food or drink... but what's the person symbol supposed to mean? No underwear? No people allowed? What the?



We walked down to the bottom and started walking down Champs Elysees--we found the restaurant we were looking for, just off of the main road. Kristen (my sister-in-law) recommended this place for their chocolate mousse. Since we had fairly recently had eaten delicious crepes, we decided to order dessert only (no reason to break our no-veggies streak).

One of my favorite desserts is Creme Brulee, so that was one of our choices.

We couldn't NOT order chocolate mousse, since that's the whole reason we went there! It should be noted that neither of these desserts are among Ryan's favorites, but he knew that they were mine, so he indulged me and we ordered what I wanted to. I'm not sure he enjoyed them as much as I did...

...but if it had been socially acceptable in an any form or manner I would have buried my face in the dishes and licked out every last drop, or at the very least scraped what I could with my fingers. I decided that it wouldn't be very polite... so I sadly left these little morsels of heaven in the dishes. Both of them were so delicious and rich and filling!

With full tummies we continued walking down Champs Elysees and found this beautiful flower bed.

I was so impressed with the colors--it smelled so good there too.

I liked this view with the trees that lined the street in the background.

We kept walking until we got to the Grand Palais. It's a beautiful building! There was an Andy Warhol exhibit there that I was mildly interested in going to, but decided against.

I liked this flower bed too--the bushes were trimmed with exactness.

This is another view of the Grand Palais. You can tell it is immense!

We made it to our destination: Pont Alexandre. There are four pillars with gold statues on top of them and it has a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower. I took lots of photos (although I'm SURE Ryan took more :)) so just scroll to the bottom if you don't want to look.

There were such neat lamps there.

I love this view of the Eiffel Tower and the lamp.

This was a pretty view of one of the pillars with the sunlight coming right onto it.

I love that the bridge had an ornate stone saying what it was... "Pont Alexandre III."

There were all sorts of magical colors with the sunset.

Here's another pillar (or maybe the same one?) with great sunset sky coloring.

I think this is the same view of the Tower and lamp post, just with different coloring in the sky, and perhaps a slightly different angle.

I love this view of the Seine (which Pont Alexandre spans) with boats and the other bridge.

There was a big spider web on the bridge right by where I was standing. I don't love spiders in any way, but I thought the web with the lighted Eiffel Tower in the back was intriguing.

After much picture taking, we made our way back to our hotel and realized that we didn't have any bread to eat. All of the boulangeries were closed, but we found a Lebanese restaurant that was just closing... we asked if they had any bread to sell and they said "Yes!" and brought out this flat bread. We were pretty desperate, so we went for it. It wasn't bad... but it certainly wasn't the caliber of the baguettes we'd become accustomed too :). La Vache Qui Rit cheese made it tasty.

Stay tuned for day 6....