Aux Champs-Elycees

Last night we ate dinner at the Eiffel Tower. No, not at Jules Vernes (one of the most expensive places around here on the 2^nd level of the Eiffel Tower). We ate on a park bench. Last night we didn't have much in the food department, (because I'm on grève/strike from taking all three boys the the grocery store) so I had Doug run across the street to get baguettes (I will never have a shortage of bread as long as I live this close to a Boulangerie). I had some deli meat so we made baguette sandwiches with Boursin cheese and had a picnic dinner on the grounds of the Eiffel Tower. I think I'll just have to make it my girl's night out time and go grocery shopping by myself. I need to find where to buy one of those wheelie carts to wheel my groceries home. Anyway, we had a nice time and then played on the playground. The weather has been very nice and as a result the tourists are plenty. And also the making out couples. Ah, l'amour.

Today we went shopping on the Champs-Élycées....for a Speedo. Matt needs a speedo swimsuit for his swimming class at school. We tried a couple different stores and ended up walking the entire length of the Champs- Élycées until we found a Decathalon mega store. Here are some pictures of the Champs-Élycées.

The entire road is cobble stones so it makes for a pretty bumpy ride in a stroller when crossing the street. And just because the green walking light says it's safe to cross, you still have to make sure that people actually stop. (Speaking of ride, Doug had one of his first experiences navigating around the Étoile at the Arc de Triomphe yesterday. He navigated and his co-worker drove. They had to drive out to the airport. He thinks that we may end up with some scratches on our car before we leave. If it's only scratches, then I'll be OK)

Anyway, back to shopping. We walked past places like Cartier, Hugo Boss, Jean Paul Gautier, Louis Vuitton and all sorts of big very expensive stores. Apparently the majority of the pricy stores are on the left side of the street and your more average malls and stores are on the right. There were quite a few little malls with a dozen or so stores that we wandered through as well. Mental note, never give kids pop on an empty stomach because then they will have to go to the bathroom like 3-4 times in the next hour. The boys were troopers and walked the entire distance (with minimal whining) from the Place de la Concorde all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

We decided to go to Quick to eat lunch. We went there in honor of Aunt Meg because she used to work there when Doug's family used to live in France. We told the boys and they thought it was pretty cool. (I know, with all the wonderful food around us, why do we go to a fast food place? I'll give you four good reasons. Matt, Thomas, Timmy, and Thomas' peanut allergy. Granted, there aren't too many peanuts in France, and thankfully food is labeled at the stores and restaurants label things online. But you never know what has been around peanuts during production. Even the Kelloggs Frosted Flakes here say there may be an eventual trace of peanuts. So it's better to be safe than sorry and we stick to what we know and making it ourselves. Maybe we'll have to check into a babysitter and go out to eat in a nicer place) Anyway, they got the version of Happy Meals. One of the side options was cherry tomatoes instead of fries. What child would prefer tomatoes over fries? Timmy liked them. The boys got little toy dogs that they named Gizmo and Rex (after Captain Rex from the Clone Wars)

We stepped into a FNAC (like Best Buy) and went to window shop for a new TV. Once we get settled, then we will get a new TV. Actually our stuff will be moved in on the 19-20^th, and then we will move in to our permanent place on the 21^st. Unfortunately Matt will start Spring Break for 2 weeks on the 19^th. Bummer. Just when I get him back in school.

We visited his school last Thursday. It took quite a while to get out there. It looks like a nice safe school and he got to meet his teacher and classmates. The other kids were very excited to meet him and they all knew his name. He is one of 6 boys out of 17 kids. He will have french class every afternoon so hopefully he picks up on a lot. It will help when there are other little kids learning it with him. It will be interesting to go to church tomorrow where they will experience three full hours of french. I'm personally looking forward to it. How can I expect my french to come back if I'm constantly surrounded by people speaking English? Hopefully there is a nursery class for Timmy so we can go to Primary with the boys and translate.

As much as the driving around here is crazy, the parking is even more interesting. People park wherever they think their cars will fit. And around here there are a lot of tiny cars. As we were walking around I saw some interesting parking jobs.

Yes, that car in the middle...it's parked. Apparently there were 3 cars parked at the corner intersection and the middle one left. The yellow truck to the left had his emergency blinkers on as if that makes it perfectly acceptable to park in the middle of a street. And tonight we saw a woman in a car going slower than us. So if you're lost in Paris, apparently it's ok to slow down in the middle of the street so you can get a good look at the names of the streets. And then she made a U-turn (very slowly). I'm surprised no one came zooming up behind her and laid on their horn. It's all very entertaining to watch. Maybe the next time we're next to the Arc de Triomphe I'll take some video footage of the driving around here.

Well, that's all for now.

À toute à l'heure.