I have already noted that Sunday is a day off for the French. Well, mostly. And since I have been working on Saturdays, at least for a few hours, it is Sunday that has been my day of rest from work. I also have tried not to schedule too much activity on Sundays, so we can sleep in and enjoy the day. Herewith, an overview of our Sunday activity, or lack thereof:
Sunday #1: Bon appétit exhibition and felafel lunch in the Marais with J (see my post, “
Perfectly fine for Sunday”)
Sunday #2: E and M, the pals with whom we would spend Bastille Day, arranged for us to meet for Brunch and a trendy (the French would say branché) restaurant. E had found it on line and was especially pleased that it featured a kids’ menu. Which turned out to be a sugar-fest, but they loved it: hot cocoa, fresh juice, pancakes with syrup, and dessert (one panna cotta, one chocolate mousse). I had the house brunch, which included coffee, juice, eggs, mushrooms, bread… and fromage blanc for dessert. It was fun to catch up with them and M took some great photos of the kids!
Sunday #3: We did not make plans with anyone else for this Sunday, but chose rather to head up to Montmartre, the hilly neighborhood in the 18th arrondissement in north-central Paris. First things first: playground and carousel ride! Then we got some crêpes à emporter and ate them by the playground. Once our bellies were full of ham and cheese, we hiked up the hill to visit Sacré Coeur, the newest church in Paris, I believe, now celebrating its centennial. It looks like a birthday cake on the outside. Lots of interesting artwork on the inside (not all of it aesthetically pleasing in my book, but that’s okay). Then, because I am a soft touch, we rode the little Montmartre train around the neighborhood. It was less that 10 euro for the three of us, and proved both entertaining and relaxing (it took about 40 minutes); I was glad the kids didn’t ask too many questions about the red-light district (although I had to explain the term “peep show” to Meredith). To get home, we first took the funicular (that’s a fancy, old-timey word for tram), then continued on foot. But we did stop for ice cream, and then at a nearby park, for some better playground recreation. We got home in time to see Germany beat the pants off of England in the World Cup quarterfinal; Thayer picked the Germans to win and he’s had pretty good success by going with his gut, or by what color the team is wearing, or whichever socks he likes better. I have no idea. We also finished our 1000-piece Disneyland Paris puzzle, enjoyed soup, bread, cheese and salad for dinner, and watched a DVD that we brought from home to end the day.
Sunday #4 July 4th See previous post: “
Americans in Paris III”
Sunday # 5 See previous post: “
Weekend in the country”
Sunday #6 : This may have been our best Sunday yet! Meredith slept over at her new BFF’s house. A is Anglo-American, like some other wonderful children we know, and she lives just behind the big church, about 5 minutes from us. When Thayer and I went to pick up our girl, A’s mother kindly offered me a coffee and we chatted while the kids played with A’s hamster, Caramel, and her various Build-a-Bear stuffed animals.
We were sad to leave! A’s mom was quite fun to chat with, but we had a date with another family, so we headed home to collect our picnic food and then descended into the metro. Because we were going to the Luxembourg gardens, we had a rather long ride on the train. Thayer had staked out his favorite spot at the front of the front car, and was enjoying the view through the front window, when the conductor came into our car (we were stopped at a station, of course!) and invited us all to join her IN THE DRIVER”S COMPARTMENT! This was amazing; Thayer was in bliss. Of course, we stayed there until our stop, then thanked her for her kindness, forced Thayer off the train and went on our way.
A few minutes later, we had met up with my former classmate, S, her husband R and their 3-year-old daughter L. This is an Italian family, actually! S and I took a few classes together at NYU and I remember meeting R’s brother, H, when he was visiting S from Rome. Not long after that, H re-introduced S to his brother R and the love affair began. I saw S two summers ago (she usually teaches for an NYU film school summer class in Paris), but I hadn’t seen R since 2000, I think! He and S came to visit us in Queens and met baby Meredith. And this was my first time meeting L, who is cute as a little Italian button. She attends a centre near her home and speaks a fair amount of French.
All of the kids enjoyed the big sand pit in the Luxembourg playground, and Meredith of course was off organizing other kids in various activities. Thayer climbed the “Eiffel Tower” – a very tall play structure, one that I think would not be legal in the US, and the kids all had lunch (of various sandwiches and saladières – my beloved tuna and veggies in a pop-top tin) and the grown-ups chatted and caught up. Gorgeous day to be out, too!
The bell rang just before 4 o’clock: The puppet show was going to start. My kids were pretty ready for a break in the action, and L had gone to the 11 am show, so I wrangled my two into the theater. With some snacks that I had in my bag (why I don’t always have snacks in my bag is a mystery to me. They come in handy all the time.) Today’s show: The Three Little Pigs. This is a part-Disney, part-French, part-I-don’t-know-what version of the story. Unlike many French fairy tales, it does not end badly, although the wolf does get part of his tail bitten off by a crocodile. When all seems lost for the pigs, the hero of French puppets, Guignol, shows up to save the day. He’s a bit like the woodsman in that regard, I guess, but he can pretty much pop into any narrative at any time. And he’s great at beating up on other characters. Anyway, the kids enjoyed it for 45 minutes and then we met back up with the Italians and the kids played a bit more, but everyone was pretty weary by then. We said our good-byes and headed back to the metro.
Once back in the ‘hood, we stopped at our local Monop’ (this is like a quickie-mart version of the Monoprix, and some are open on Sundays) to pick up some essentials (milk, for example), then we climbed up the stairs to fix supper. Meredith loves the soup-in-a-box and picked “Pot au feu,” which is similar to Beef vegetable. Thayer enjoyed canned cassoulet, with white beans and saucisses (French version of beanie-weenies!) that was very tasty, whilst I finished off the duck and potato mélange from earlier in the week.
It was still early, so we had time to watch a whole movie, Kiki’s delivery service (highly recommended if you haven’t seen it!) and to savor an ice cream bar. And to savor some quiet family time. Days like this are too few and far between, in my book, but I know we’ll have more of them when our actual vacation begins on August 6!
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