Paris- Day 2

Day two in Paris was a whirlwind of activity. We knew the lines at the Louvre museum were going to be very long, so we headed there straight away in the morning. Turns out that having the stroller plus the Paris Museum pass was, again, a perfect line-skipping formula. We arrived and were immediately ushered (by a Louvre employee- at first I thought we were getting in trouble or scammed because she grabbed us so quickly and insisted that we follower her) to a special entrance with a special elevator meant for handicapped people and, you guessed it, strollers. Because of its enormity, it is practically impossible to see everything in the Louvre in one day, so we toured the Sully, Denon & Richelieu wings. Presented in these wings were Greek & Roman sculptures and artifacts and loads of paintings. Of course, the Mona Lisa is the most famous painting, but I have to admit, rather unimpressive. Its 30in x 20 in frame sits on a wall across from a 20ft by 40 ft GIANT, impressive painting…You enter the room and think, “WHOOAH…that’s a huge, amazing painting. Where’s the Mona Lisa?? It has got to be equally impressive!” You turn you head to the right, spot something minuscule in the distance, squint and think, “Is that is? Really??” Yes, really. Why they chose to stage the famous painting across from the other giant one is something I cannot fathom… Anyway, we had a lovely time perusing the artifacts and paintings, but we were all ready to move on by lunch. Eating near the Louvre is sure to be a tourist rip-off, so we ventured toward Notre Dame (our next stop) and found a nice little eatery. It was delicious and fairly cheap!

Before moving onto Notre Dame, we stopped at a little chapel called Sainte Chapelle. It was built between 1243-1248 (extremely quick construction for a building during those days), under Louis IX, and is considered a masterpiece of Gothic Rayonnant style. It is a fairly small chapel, but three sides of the chapel are made of basically a continuous wall of 50-foot high stained glass telling the salvation story of the Bible. Sainte Chapelle was built to hold the relict, Christ’s crown of thorns. Next was Notre Dame, one of the most famous gothic cathedrals in the world (remember Quasi-Modo from the “Hunchback of Notre Dame”? Same cathedral). Notre Dame was very impressive and amazing- great flying buttresses! While Bethany, Kacey, and Ben climbed up to the Notre Dame tower, I took a free English tour of the cathedral with a sleeping Isaiah. During the tour, we got to see the crown of thorns, which is encased in red crystal…very interesting.

We then meandered over to Isle St. Louis for a bit of gelato and window shopping while we tried to figure out how to get to Sacre Coeur Cathedral (Sacred Heart). After a few metro rides and hike to the top of the highest point in Paris, we found ourselves in front of a beautiful Arabian-esk Cathedral over-looking the entire city of Paris. It was beautiful! We were able to listen to part of a mass there as well, which added to its appeal. After our jam-packed day of sightseeing, we headed back near our hotel for dinner and a second try at climbing the Eiffel Tower...the lines were, unfortunately, still super long, so (after Bethany convinced Kacey that it wasn’t a good idea to take the stairs) we headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before the trip to Versailles the next day.

Sweet Gargoyle.

Flying buttresses on Notre Dame.

Ben entering the Bell Tower...Really, really small doors...maybe the Hunchback of Notre Dame is true..

Beautiful view of Paris from the tower of Notre Dame.

Outside Notre Dame with a sleeping Isaiah.

Sainte Chapelle- Beautiful!

Bethany and Kacey on Pont Neuf (Paris' oldest bridge, I believe). Also the place where a scene from the Bourne Identity movie was filmed. I'm pretty sure Matt Damon was scouting the scene from atop the building in the background.

Isaiah reaching for a water bottle- watch out!

The Mona Lisa.

The giant painting across from the Mona Lisa.

One of my favorites in the museum. Commemorating a Greek naval battle.

Inside the amazing pyramid Louvre entrance...Kacey thinking "hehe, way to go Isaiah! You got us special access again!"

Play time before heading out for the day.

Isaiah started to want to touch everything in Paris- here he is toughing the walls of Sainte Chapelle

Crazy police buses...there to watch over the small demonstration pictured below- this was directly across from the entrance to Sainte Chapelle, so we got to listen to their chants for our 45 minute wait in line.

Paris parking...Really, are you serious?!?!

Sacre Coeur Cathedral

Looking up at Sacre Coeur...before climbing thousands of stairs to get there.

Dinner on night two...Bethany scored big with a both choice of baked duck.

Paris- Day 1

Paris!

Bethany seeing if Isaiah would ride well in his carrier.

French country side- every town we passed had a steepled church.

Angie Beauvais- took this picture for you!!

It’s been a busy 2 months since I’ve returned from the US! Bethany and Kacey came to visit us in mid- March and we were able to head to Paris for a couple of days with them. We really packed in the Parisian sights, sounds, and activities, so I’m going to have to break it down and do a blog for each day. There were just too many great pictures! I (I think I speak for everyone else as well) LOVED Paris! It was probably my favorite place that we have visited in Europe so far. We’ve heard that Parisians can be very cold and rude, but honestly, everyone we ran into was very nice! One man even stopped and asked us if we were lost and needed help (which we did).

The original plan was to ride and bus or the train to Paris, but I was able to find a cheap parking garage on the outskirts of the city. So, we ended up driving, which took about 3 hours, parked and then rode the metro 30 minutes to our hotel. Our two star hotel was nothing special, but it was clean and in an excellent location. We settled in and then walked along the Siene River (passing many of Paris’ famous bridges) to the Orsay museum. It was a bit chilly, but not raining and the sun was shining at a great angle that caught the gold accents on the buildings and bridges and made them truly shine. Walking along the river and taking in Paris was probably my favorite part of our weekend. It was neat because in most cities there is a historical downtown area with nice, old buildings (like the Grand Place in Brussels). But in Paris, the ENTIRE city was full of old, really ornate buildings- it was beautiful! We arrived at the Orsay museum 2 hours before it was supposed to close thinking we wouldn’t have to wait in line, but the line was HUGE! We almost left when a guard came up to use and motioned us to a much smaller line because we had a stroller- nice job Isaiah! The Orsay museum picks up where the Lourve museum leaves off (about the Impressionist era). There were many beautiful paintings and sculptures. Finally, we rounded out our evening with dinner at a great little Italian place with free water (yea!) and walked to the Eiffle Tour. We planned to climb it, but there was a 2 hour line, so we decided to skip it. Seeing the Eiffle Tour at night was beautiful! During the first 10 minutes of every hour there is a spectacular light show. So fun!

Ben & Kacey descending the millions of stairs to the metro...happened a lot...

Hmm...How are we going to fit the stroller through the ticket taker to get to the metro?? Each time was different, and each time we had to come up with a new solution...usually this meant lifting the stroller & Isaiah over the gate...security cameras always caught us, but we never got stopped!

Don't know if you can see it in the picture, but the sign says "McCoy Cafe Open." Go McCoy's!

Ben & Kacey outside the hotel.

Our very small hotel rooms.

Our first view of the Eiffle Tower...we were walking and one of us turned around and shouted, "Whoah! There it is!"

One of Paris' many bridges.

My favorite bridge- The sun was shining perfectly on the golden statues- awesome!

A governmental building.

Lamp posts on my favorite bridge.

Locks of love on one of the bridges.

A view of Paris.

A view of Paris.

Dinner

Our Italian restaurant with free water!

The light show on the Eiffel tour.

The Eiffle tour at night. WOW

Rolling Over

Pre-roll over face...
Post- roll over face...

Isaiah has a new first! Sunday he rolled over (tummy to back) for the first time! He took a break from this new skill Monday & Tuesday, but he was back at it this morning in an effort to get to a brightly colored ball. Good Job Isaiah!

Isaiah's Dedication

A few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to dedicate our precious little boy to the Lord. There were two other babies at our church that were also being dedicated. Isaiah wore the same outfit that Grandpa Smidt and Ben wore for their dedications. It was a bit skimpy…both for the weather and for the size…a couple more days and this outfit would not have fit! On the day of the dedication it was very cold outside and everyone was confused as to why Isaiah was wearing white Daisy-Dukes and short sleeves. Once we explained the legacy of this third generation dedication outfit, most understood (some were still fairly mystified…oh, language barrier). No worries though, Isaiah spit up on the outfit not long after the dedication, so he wasn’t cold for long!

Isaiah in his 3rd generation dedication outfit.

Isaiah, Caleb, and Renee

Joke's on you, Ben!

Last week, Ben sent me a great article excerpted from CatFolks 1956 entitled “Wives On the Job.” The article explained how during his 8-hour work day, “he is never too far removed from his home life…” and “the important person behind him is his wife, who gives him a sense of worth and well-being.” The article included “time-tested suggestions on how a wife can send her husband off to work in a good frame of mind that is conducive to doing his job effectively and safely.” Cat wives sent in suggestions such as “give him something to look forward to when he returns home,” “Keep the house looking orderly, even after an evening of socializing,” “have you husband’s clothes ready when he dresses for work,” “harmonize with his mood” and my personal favorite, “final impressions last longest.” I’ll include the entirety of that entry below”

“ ‘Final impressions last longest’ holds true for your farewell to hubby going to work. Give him the pleasant picture of the gal he took for his life’s companion by grooming yourself to be attractive and neat as Jean Baker does for her husband, Walt of York plant. A little make-up, a comb through the hair, and a clean dress or housecoat can enliven, stimulate, and please him. Eager anticipation of the household tasks ahead of you for the day can reassure him he made the right choice.”

Well, as you can imagine, I felt thoroughly out-performed by the Cat wives of 1957, so I decided to take action. After all, I wanted to reassure Ben that “he made the right choice” for his life’s companion. So, I told Isaiah the plan (he was very excited as well.) We dressed Isaiah in his Cardinals onesie (of course), got the house cleaned up, and made a delicious, creative dinner of spinach-rice bake, meat & cheese kabobs, homemade garlic bread and fruit. I also did my best to look “nice” for Ben in a 1950s-esk hairstyle and outfit. I pulled up Ben’s favorite websites (facebook, email & MLB rumors) so that he could sit down right away and enjoy his evening. When Ben got home, I welcomed him, took his coat and offered him an ice-cold Fanta. After dinner and seeing his clothes all picked out for the next day, he assured me that he has in fact “made the right choice.”

Isaiah in his Cardinals outfit-Ben's favorite