Rain

7 August 2011 · 3 comments

Did I wish for rain? AND HOW. Are we getting it? AND HOW. After a year of blistering heat and dry, dry air, Paris is treating us to cold, rainy days. We love it. We got caught in a ridiculous downpour near the Louvre. Though we found a large covered spot to shelter in, the driving rain got us anyway. Some of us were more thrilled than others:

The best part of this was being treated to a sight few people see at the Louvre, I’m guessing:

Can you believe how uncrowded this area is? It’s normally teeming with people. Oh, yes, there is a rainbow, too.

You can tell that the whole motley crew has shown up in Paris now. Since hubby showed up we don’t do much besides travel from restaurant to restaurant, looking for just the right one. It’s not a bad way to see Paris, I suppose. You know you have found the right one when it is advertising like this:

But I digress. The big surprise this trip is how interesting the kids find EVERYTHING. They have been reading the Percy Jackson series, so they are very into Greek mythology now. The visit to the Louvre involved taking a picture of every single painting and sculpture that might be a Greek god. I’m not sure why, but both of them were completely jazzed about seeing the Mona Lisa – and here she is!

A very nice security guard let the kids cut to the front. I stood around nearby to be able to say I’d been to the real thing. I think I caught a glimpse of her nose.

We are currently riding boats and buses around town and taking in the lovely sights. For some of us this includes looking at our iPhones and our own elbows:

Or playing with our new cameras:

Or just people-watching in the city of love:

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Shopping!

3 Aug 2011
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Oooooh! That is a random picture of a pretty building, because yesterday I was TOO BUSY for the camera! We needed a pair of shoes urgently so we headed for the Galaries Lafayette. I can’t really recommend this place for shoes. In fact, their selection of shoes is pretty terrible. But they have EVERYTHING ELSE. [...]

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Apartment

3 Aug 2011
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My friend R casually mentioned one day months ago about staying in apartments when they travel instead of hotels (hi, R!). I did a little searching around and there is no going back. We are staying in an apartment for the whole month. We got a big one that sleeps 8 people, because we have [...]

3 comments

Ramadan

2 Aug 2011
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When I woke up the kids to catch the plane to Paris, the first call to prayer for Ramadan was calling. 4:15 a.m. It was a lovely way to say au revoir to Muscat, with a good singer (for once!) wailing a haunting tune from the mosque tower across the street. I’m so thrilled to [...]

8 comments

Dream

31 Jul 2011

Dreams don’t come true in big firework-y displays. They happen quietly and almost go by unnoticed. A million years ago I remember dreaming that if I had all the money in the world, and all the time, I would put aside one month per year for traveling. I would pick a destination and learn about [...]

6 comments