paris (day 2)

Adventuring in a new city can be intimidating especially when you don't know the language and the city itself is so darn big!  Paris is divided up into Arrondissments (divisions) starting in the center of the city at 1e and going in a spiral out to the outer parts of the city.  We were staying in Monmartre, the 18e.  I like to leave room for flexibility and for discovery along the way and not have such a strict schedule that I don't feel free to drop into a cafe along the way, browse the shops or add something to my itinerary.  This can be a great way to travel and leaves a lot of room for having a relaxing trip.  It can also result in eating at mediocre restaurants for too much money since you didn't do that thorough research or falling victim to your own lack of planning….I thought I'd planned and narrowed things down but once we really got there and I sat on my bed overlooking the vast city I was overcome with just how many things there are to do; how many things I wanted to do in the city and just what I should do.  I'd been here before and done the museum pass and the tourist highlights but I wanted to get a bit more off the beaten path and see more of how the Parisians live and enjoy their city.

Planning and truly trusting my guide book would have been a good place to start as it mentioned that June gets about as much rain as the other months of the year.  When I told this to my husband while packing, he shrugged off the idea and ditched the rain coat/gear.  So I did the same (even though I'd read the guide book).  I wanted to pack lightly and needed a practical "warmer" coat and a "cute" coat for fancier evenings but it just seemed excessive to pack three coats so I skipped it.

And wouldn't you know the second day as we determined to do a self-guided walking tour of our neighborhood a torrential several hour rain storm hit.  Voila!  Luckily our apartment had an umbrella and we purchased a second at a nearby shop for a few Euro after realizing on the narrow sidewalks it was difficult to walk to people side by side without getting wet or running into a passerby.

Our day started with an adventurous walk to the grocery store.  It probably seems so mundane but there are all kinds of interesting things in just the ordinary when you are in a new place.  We browsed and picked up a few staples for the apartment (like toilet paper, they offered scented toilet paper: wow!).  And after regrouping, we set out on our walking tour.

View of rainy Paris from our room, love all the little terra cotta chimneys with little crinkled aluminum caps.

Typical Parisian (or W. European) front door.  Doorknobs are in the center, always very tall double doors and often with some sort of ornate decoration around the entryway.

Saint Jean de Monmartre Church.
First stop along our walking tour of Monmartre, a wonderfully unique church architecturally (one of the first to use reinforced concrete) although relatively new compared to many of the churches in Paris.  Such lovely arches and design that are mirrored throughout the balcony, window designs and embedded in pulpit, etc.

Two story carousel at the base of the Sacre Cour.  A lot of neat places to sit not just the traditional horses.  I don't know why but I love carousels and carousel/organ music.

Fountains below the Sacre Cour

Sacre Cour
Interesting how the church seems to look different depending on when you see it throughout the day and what type of weather is reflected in the sky.  Lit up at night it looks heavenly and can be seen throughout the city.  Reflected in the dark rain clouds of the day it seems gloomy and even a bit medieval.

Maison de Maurice Neumont, French Lithographer and Artist (1868-1930)
Love these art deco/art nouveau doors that look like either spider webs, moth wings or even eyes looking out at the world.  Notice the peephole as it is a little door with a spider web covering it.  I love all the attention to detail that older buildings often have.  Just taking your time walking and looking around, you notice all sorts of little gems like this.

Au Lapin AgileAlthough mostly a tourist attraction (still in operation though) this Cabaret house doesn't look much different than it did when famous (but then struggling artists) such as Picasso and Utrillo hung out here at the turn of the century.  Built in the 1850's it has gone through a series of names finally resting on the current due to the painting of the Rabbit on the exterior (au Lapin).

La Refuge (18e)
After our walking tour, we stopped at the bottom of the hill for a little snack and finally a break in the rain at La Refuge.  Roasted Camembert Cheese with Honey and salad and Ensalata with Pesto and of course coffee for me, beer for Abe and fresh baguette.

A wandering through the neighborhood revealed all sorts of specialty shops from deli's to Fromageries (cheese shops) and Boulangeries, the Bier Cave (mostly Belgian and imported beers) and book shops.  It was a relaxed browsing as we watched locals sniff and walk and gather their goods.

I'll be honest, I totally respect the amazing process of the cheese makers and all the many many different kinds of chess offered in France but the smell of the shop was a bit musty for my taste.  All kinds of "moldy" authentic cheese and we had no idea where to even start to ask questions so instead we just looked and smelled.

Boulangerie Alexi

All that walking worked up an appetite and I'm never one to turn down a fresh made pastry, especially if it is a fresh made Flan.

Sometimes when all else fails and you get exhausted and intimidated reading through your guidebooks for the "perfect" restaurant, you realize you are hungry and a Pizza will likely do.  The food was decent but the service was great, friendly and just like pretty much any other time we were there we dined outside on the patio people watching and chatting

Walking home after dinner.  It always involved lots of steps but it felt great to always walk after a meal and enjoy the sounds of the city and feel the cool night air.

paris….after 15 years (day 1 recap)

Le Beau Paris, Day 1:

Taking off from Seattle for our 15th Anniversary Trip.  Alone for 9 whole days without kids.  The dream begins!

First stop after getting off the plane and catching the bus to downtown Paris.  A cafe for coffee and pastry.  Perfection.

Our studio apartment.  Nothing fancy but a perfect place to lay our heads and call home base for a week in Paris.   

Lovely view out our 5th floor studio apartment window and plenty of sunshine.

View of the Sacre Cour (Church of the Sacred Heart) in Monmartre (18e).  This beautiful landmark was only 1 block from our apartment.

Dinner the first night at a lovely little Togolese restaurant called Le Mono.  Eating out in a foreign country is always an adventure especially when encountering new foods and attempting to translate your desires into a foreign language.  The restaurant staff here were extremely friendly and spoke plenty of English.  Our food seemed authentic and was quite tasty.  A nice place to eat for the first night.  We left full.

One of only 3 metro stops in the city that still have the glass roof along with this amazing art deco design.  This stop was at Abesses in Monmartre and where we stopped to go to our apartment every day.  The stop was pretty far down underground and had a warning before you climbed the steps…..181 in total.  Needless to say every time we came up, it was a good workout!   

Nearby park below the Sacre Cour had these neatly designed steps that were shaped/looked like logs/wood steps.  The afternoon of our first day we just sat at a bench right below these steps and people watched and read our book in the afternoon sun.  Lovely.

Street Sign by our apartment.

View out our apartment window at the end of a first beautiful day.  Bienvenue a Paris.

miss elodie's first birthday party (a few months late)

Birthday Girl:
Miss Elodie Clementine

Miss Elodie turned one two months ago and yet I haven't updated this blog.  Sad, I know.  I thought I'd be so much more on top of things and keep up more with my second; in fact I vowed not to let her pictures be so few and far between and neglect all of her milestones.  It is crazy how fast time goes and how demanding life can be and how little free time seems left at the end of the day.

The birthday trek story:

Having a birthday 9 days before Christmas makes things hard and I'm sure it won't get any easier throughout the years.  I should know having a birthday 12 days after Christmas how hard the logistics can be.  For Elodie's first birthday, we didn't want it to be overshadowed by Christmas or passed over just since it was so close to the holiday.  So, we planned (albeit a bit last minute) to celebrate again in Portland by renting a house and getting the family together to celebrate the one year mark.  My Mom and her husband, my Dad, Abe's parents and my brother and sister and law were all able to come help us celebrate.  We rented a cute little place (4 bedrooms and 2 baths) in the Alberta Arts District of Portland, Or.  It was a great little spot with walking to so many cute shops and wonderful restaurants and coffee shops.  We arrived Friday night after a full week and got the kids to bed after a bit of snoozing in the car along the way.

We started our celebration on Saturday morning with fruit, my favorite (and Elodie's too) cottage cheese pancakes, bacon and morning star sausages and coffee.  It was nice to just hang out and spend time together and not have to worry about the logistics of a large group of people eating out (see Sunday ahead….).  After breakfast we walked to nearby coffee shop (awesome) Extracto Coffeehouse.  We then attempted to drive to Beaverton for some indoor, blacklight mini golfing (agreed upon by the group).  After a drive and some wandering around, we discovered our location….well…didn't exist.  So, on to the next plan?  We drove back to Portland with plans to do the same activity.  Along the way people got a bit grumpy and a bit hungry so we delayed the activity in lieu of eating lunch.  Abe voted for Lucky Lab brewery but we chose the location closest to downtown.  After caravanning there and parking, we realized this location was cool….but no pizza (the agreed upon lunch).  Aven fell asleep in the car and then subsequently slept on the bench in the restaurant.  Plans were falling apart but we were determined to have a good time :)  After lunch the day had gotten away from us already so we opted to head back to the house and give the baby a nap and hang out for awhile.  After such a late lunch, we decided against going out to dinner and planned on viewing the Christmas lights at the Portland race tracks.  We watched Elodie open her birthday presents (with help from big sister) and then had some snacks before heading out.

Well, I guess it wouldn't make a good story if everything went as planned (in life it rarely does) so here goes.  We headed out to see the Christmas lights.  An affordable activity that we could all do regardless of weather.  By the time we waited in the insanely long line snaking around the entrance to the race tracks (1+hours later) Elodie, Aven and even my Dad fell asleep.  We were able to rouse everyone but the baby to enjoy the lights though.  Sunday morning we gathered our things and got ready to head out to breakfast.  Well, as Abe says, "a failure to plan is a plan to fail."  Which sort of happened with our breakfast.  We wandered around the restaurants searching for one where we wouldn't have to wait an hour and who could accommodate our large group only to end up back at the first place (Petite Provence) which although the food was amazing, we were all eating split up throughout the restaurant. The baby was getting exhausted and breaking down, people were a bit grumpy from wandering around waiting to find breakfast and some parents (Abe and I) were a bit exhausted from lack of sleep (we were all 4 sleeping in the same room; or sharing the same room I should say).

Overall it was a good time mostly because we were all together.  That was really the point and I am always so thankful when we get to spend time together as a family whether it is eating, wandering aimlessly around a neighborhood looking for food or going on a wild goose chase looking for indoor black light mini golf.

Extracto Coffeehouse (Portland, Or)

Extracto Coffeehouse (Portland, OR)

Lucy Lab Brewing (best place for a nap sleeping beauty?)

Boppa & Elodie snuggles

Digs curiosities (waiting for breakfast finds)

Auntie Elisa & birthday girl

Elodie opens her presents (with a little help from big sis)

Thank you to our family for helping us celebrate and to take the time to spend with us commemorating Elodie's first birthday.  We love you.

getting away (California sun trip)

Aven loved playing on the huge King Sized Bed!

Last day with Grandma Geneva

View from our room, interesting!

Family photo @ Torrey Pines State Park

Torrey Pines State Park hike

The essentials, sun, kid and coffee!

Balboa Park

Zia's Bistro Little Italy San Diego

Ava & Aven

Balboa Theater in Gaslap District, SD

SeaPort Village Carousel

Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Aven and the Jump Jump (Mommy, help me)

Extraordinary Desserts (SD)

Aven entertaining herself on the plane with stickers, sure, put them anywhere!

Fun (or sort of) in the sun/vacation:
A few days after I got back from my quick out of town trip, we went on our first "real vacation" with Aven.  Last year we went to Winthrop but it was only for a few days.  This was a full fledged vacation with plane rides and rental cars and motels and family and tourist activities and nights out on the town!  It was busy and fun but exhausting with a toddler.

Short run down of the trip:

• Left Easter Sunday (had to wake up Aven @ 5:45 am) she did great on the plane although she was tired and a bit restless after having to stay in one place for so long.  Schlepped bags and car seat through the Seattle airport and ate breakfast before schlepping to another terminal with hot coffee spilling all over ourselves!
• Arrived at LAX and rented a car- drove to Huntington Beach to visit Grandma Geneva (Abe's grandma).  Aven had seen her when she was about 7 months old so it would be a lot different this time.  Aven took a 20 min nap the whole day in the car ride from the airport to Geneva's so she was a bit tired that night!  Went to a fun Japanese place with a literal gondola of food!  The servers were so friendly and accommodating of Aven though.  Put Aven to bed and Grandma came over to the guesthouse where we were staying to chat for awhile.
• Took a beautiful warm morning walk to Starbucks for some snacks and caffeine.  Met a nice gentleman from Hungary.  Drove to Laguna Beach for brunch at "The Beach House" a seaside cottage of Slim Summerville in the early 1900's (Hollywood actor) turned restaurant overlooking the water.  Had a wonderful lunch with amazing Lemon basil martini and looked out over the water.
• Drove back to Huntington beach and relaxed for the afternoon with grandma.  Had a dinner of leftovers and relaxed before turning in for the evening.  Put Aven to bed and then swam and relaxed in the Jacuzzi under the night stars and crisp evening air.
• Had some breakfast with Grandma and headed out to San Diego~arrived mid afternoon and checked into our motel.  Out of our room was an interesting logo "Jesus Christ is Lord not a Swear Word"- found out the owner has a trucking business with this name!  Interesting.  After getting settled in and after Aven's nap we headed out to downtown San Diego's Gaslamp district.    Had dinner at The Beer Co.  Cheap eats and good bear.  More of a sports bar and nothing to brag about but we had a great time listening to the early-mid 90's music and sharing a meal together (no baby drama).  We walked around Gaslamp a bit and found some awesome Gelato at Cremolosa restaurant with some very entertaining waiters!
• The next day after breakfast we headed out to Torrey Pines State Park.  We loaded up Aven in the backpack and wandered around most of the trails along the ridge even going down to the beach.  There were some super interesting formations from the sandstone where the water has worn away parts of the minerals.  The whole time we were in beautiful weather and overlooking the beach.  We must have been near a military base because we saw what looked to be bombers and helicopters and all sorts of air crafts.  Aven loved it.  We saw some wild bunnies, all kinds of birds and new flowers and some lizards too.
• That evening we headed down to Seaport Village a little outdoor group of shops right on the water.  It was a bit touristy and some of the shops were cheesy but it was a beautiful evening and the ambiance was great.  Aven even got to ride on her first ever Carousel.  I love the music, makes me feel nostalgic of years past.  After this we headed to San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood.  It is filled with mostly Italian Restaurants and shops.  It has a really neat feel.  We chose Fillippi's a place boasting great atmosphere and a little Italian grocer up front.  The pizza wasn't anything to write about but the place was fun.
• Our last day "on our own" before meeting up with my cousin Gina and her family, we started our day with a breakfast in Pacific Beach at a little cafe.  We sat outside and ate delicious fresh fruit and relaxed in the morning sun.  We ended up befriending another couple sitting beside us with their two kids.  They were down doing some touristy things for Spring Break.  We hopped across the street afterwards to the beach and walked around for a few minutes, taking in the sun.  After this (and I won't go into laborious details about what to do with getting a kid a nap when you have no place to go) we drove about an hour east to Mt. Laguna.  We saw a bobcat there and enjoyed the cool afternoon and then ate our lunch in the car while driving back to SD.  Wandered around driving for (too long) trying to find Balboa Park (found it at last, horrible signs if you are coming from the back side, even with GPS).  Wandered the gardens and buildings, very very beautiful and does truly remind me of Spain.  Ate dinner again in Little Italy at Zia's bistro.  There were linen napkins, live classical guitar and glass water glasses and then then Aven really started to go crazy.  It was about the straw that broke the Daddy's back.  While we had had several nice moments and times there were a lot of frustrations traveling with a toddler and they seemed to come to a head that evening!  On we went though.
• We headed to my cousin Gina's (and husband Matt's) house to stay for a few days. They have a daughter, Ava, who is 1 month older than Aven.  We had seen them when the girls were 7/8 months old but it was fun to watch them again and we had a bit more time to hang out this time.
• Gina and I took the girls to a little play place for the morning so they could do a kid-centered activity and we gave Abe a break.  It was fun to watch the girls play and the place was packed!  Had dinner all together that night and gave the girls a bath together.  The next day we had breakfast all together (with Matt) and then headed out to the La Jolla Aquarium (Birch Aquarium at Scripps).  It is right up on the cliff overlooking the water and there were plenty of new things to see there.  Afterwards we had lunch together and headed home to put the girls to bed!  After getting the girls some dinner and giving them some play time on the Jump Jump the Daddy's put the kiddos to bed and the Mommy's went out for a night on the town.
• Gina and I went to Extraordinary Desserts.  It was a super fun atmosphere and had the most beautiful desserts I have ever seen.  We sat at the bar and talked about motherhood, life, family, husbands, work and just about anything.  It was a really nice evening of just relaxing out together.  After turning in about midnight that night, we set our alarm for 4am (had to wake up Aven @ 4:45) to go to the airport.  She did excellent on the airplane again (the longer trip was first this time) and didn't even get grumpy or cry but she did fall asleep on our final descent down into Bellingham- the girl was tired!
• We arrived home a bit tired and a bit "done" but we all survived and had plenty of good memories to jot down for the record.  It was such a treat to see our family and the sun!