Paris: Part II

On Saturday we enjoyed a full day in Paris, and on Sunday we went to church in the morning (here) then did a little more sight-seeing before making the nearly 5-hour trek home. Jesse's driving on Sunday afternoon was impressive—including tackling the traffic circle at l'Arc de Triomphe (an insane circle 10 lanes wide, no street markings/signs/lights, with 12 large avenue "spokes" emptying into it simultaneously). Of course he relished it!

William especially loved going on a pony ride around Luxembourg Gardens. He was non-stop grins the entire walk.

 

No surprise, another fan favorite was renting wooden sailboats...a quintessential Parisian children's activity. We sailed under the Moroccan and Portuguese flags. We were amazed at how well the boats went; with a good shove off the stick, they'd head clear across the wide pond, never capsizing even in stiff winds (or with overzealous pushers!).
 

And then there was a carousel ride, where each child was given a wooden stick/wand and tried to loop on as many rings as possible while whirling past. The rings were dispensed from this little gourd-shaped thing held by the carousel operator; as soon as one was pulled out, another would drop into its place. Both boys loved it (although, as the photos show, Josiah was more mature and restrained in his I'm-almost-8 enthusiasm).  :)

We visited a section of the national natural history museum on Saturday. It was amazing inside the great hall. (Less amazing was the fact that Jesse spent 45 minutes of that visit holding an obstinate, shrieking 4-year-old under a stairwell. The kiddo still has his really, really tough moments, that's for sure.)

Just prior to the tantrum, Will enjoyed the butterfly exhibit. We'd also seen a bunch of butterflies at, of all places, a crazy-amazing taxidermy shop we visited earlier in the day, no photos allowed.

The weekend included a HOPE meeting for Jesse with a colleague-to-be. The boys and I spent time at a playground, collecting chestnuts, and picking flowers (er, dandelions).

Of course there's lots more I could share, but I'll conclude by saying how nice it was to come back to our house in Thouars. We've only been here three weeks, but it definitely felt like coming "home" on Sunday night, and that was very nice indeed!