The playground was great- we tried another one near our apartment. Joey was admired by a smaller boy who chased him around in awe of Joey's prowess. Really a win-win.
We took the subway down to the Louvre, excited to see the beautiful building and of course the amazing pyramid in the middle.
Then, we were foiled again by the number of people who also wanted to see the Louvre. When we arrived, the line was long. Very long. At least in this case, the Louvre adopted the Disney strategy of telling you how long you were going to have to wait in line. In our case, we decided that 1.5 hours was too long. So we used the power of modern technology to buy tickets for the following afternoon, while Sammy sat underneath some intellectuals. And we were off to do something else!
We walked into the Tuileries garden just on the other side of the Louvre. The garden was lovely, and of course it had pigeons and ravens to chase. We found some dry seats near the central fountain, which was off but still full of ducks. And we had our Paris picnic of bread, cheese, and apples while admiring the birds and the Eiffel Tower view. Perfect!
After a quick trip to the bathroom, we found an amazing playground. There was a large ladder up to a high rope tunnel which finished with a big steep slide. At first, Joey was too scared to make it to the top and Sammy wasn't even considering it. But after a few trips around the playground exploring the other equipment, first Joey and then Sammy made it up the ladder, across the rope tunnel, and down the slide. Then we couldn't get them off!
And Lanna had fun too!
Finally we lured them away with a carousel ride. The nice man let us ride 3 times for the price of 2, and the boys and Lanna loved picking out different things to ride on each time.
And they had a great time playing in the leaves near the carousel too!
We continued walking through the Tuileries, coming across another cool fountain surrounded by animal sculptures. The kids had a great time running up and down the ramps, one of Sammy's favorite activities in the world!
We ended up right near the Orangerie, which houses Monet's water lilies. We had missed the Louvre, so we figured that the kids could handle one museum. And since the Orangerie is quite small, it seemed about right for our family. But yikes, another line! Luckily this one was relatively short (just enough time for Sammy to have a snack and give some kisses like the Rodin sculpture).
The kids enjoyed the water lilies immensely, picking out their favorite parts and taking lots of pictures! Lanna as usual tested out the acoustics, to which the guards said "Shhhhh." It is supposed to be a place of quiet reflection.
Who would have thought... Sammy loved it!
And a picture within a picture
After the Orangeries, we headed out on an epic March to the Arc de Triomphe. Wow, it was seriously epic. We went through the Place de la Concorde, where Joey, Sammy, and I explored a life size kaleidoscope made by St. Gobain glass. Sammy also avoided a man with a giant head performing a play. He was pretty creepy.
We then went through the park part of the Champs Elysees. We got popsicles for the kids near the Grand Palais. Everyone needed the energy! We passed into the shopping part of the Champs Elysees, where we mostly admired the fancy cars and Disney Star Wars.
Finally, we arrived at our destination. Alas, by this point Sammy was completely done. I sat with him at the base of the Arc de Triumphe while Joey and Jay explored. Sammy promptly fell asleep. On the good side, this meant that he stopped whining. On the bad side, it meant that I had to carry him home.
Another crazy busy wonderful day in Paris.
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