Paris

After a mostly uneventful (but very long) day of travel we arrived in Paris at our apartment in the Etienne Marcel neigborhood which is about a 10 minute walk from the Louvre.

The biggest event of our travel day was when I left my cell phone on the airplane - it took almost 2 hours to get my phone back. The worst part about it was that it cut our visit with my old friend Ralph very short. He did still meet us at the St Pancras train station but we only got to say hello and have a quick hug before we had to check in to the eurostar train headed for Paris.

The apartment is great - nothing super fancy but very functional and clean with really comfortable beds. There is a small grocery about a 1/2 a block from the front door of our apartment building and several restaurants within a few block radius (including a Subway right across the street.)

Amazingly the kids actually slept almost through the night. They woke up once right about 4 AM and went right back to sleep and didn't wake up until almost 11 AM this morning.

They have had a pretty great 2nd birthday today - after we left the apartment (around 1 PM this afternoon) we bought crepes - Sam especially couldn't get enough. We carried them in our Mei Tai's on our backs and walked to the Jardin du Luxemborg. There is a beautiful very clean playground for children there (it is pay admission). We played there for almost 2 hours and then they got to ride the carousel and to top it off they got to go for a real live pony ride.

Chelsey & Lindsey took the kids from the park and Darin and I got to go for a stroll by ourselves. We went in a few shops and both bought some shoes and then went to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Notre Dame was just beautiful - so cool to see things in person that we've only seen in books before.

Being in Paris is so amazing - we are just really soaking it in. The architecture, sidewalk cafes, shops, and people - soooo much fun.

Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure!


Sam & Syd still asleep - we thought it was so cute that they were sleeping in the same position.




Sydney woke up first - happy as usual!





Giving sleepy Sam some big loves.




Sam & Syd exploring our balcony




Our family at the Seine River near the Palais du Justice




Jardin du Luxemborg




St Michel



Playing at the playground:








Riding Ponies - Sydney wasn't nearly as much of a fan as Sam!








Hotel de Ville - maybe we should have stayed here!



Notre Dame Cathedral: