Les Paquets a Paris- Part 1

We're in Paris until tonight! Four full weeks of vacationing in France (minus some light work) and one week in Spain for a super high profile conference. It feels good to go back to places you grew up in.

I've been really enjoying taking the kids to the playground and the toy boat area in the Luxembourg, drinking too much wine and coffee, and going for shopping sessions at le Bon Marche.

I'm not used to miss Paris, but it can only be because in the past when away from it I was either in London or one hour away from New York. Even New Haven had little cafes, good bookstores, good theaters, and amazing museums. Now that we live in the country side Brisbane, I certainly appreciate more than ever being in the city... Pariiiis!!!!!

There are so many things to do and so many places to go to. Here is a little selection of what to do with kids or at least what we did, not necessarily in this order.  1- Galeries d'anatomie comparee et paleontologie

La galerie d'anatomie comparee

 2- Le jardin des plantes and especially the Alpin garden (it feels like you're in the Alps for real if you're lucky enough to be there on a sunny day)

3- Les Invalides: Napoleon tombs and the Army Museum. Girls and boys alike will love this museum (and parents too!). There, you can see all kind of armors including those of the child kings, when they would reach the throne at 8-10 years old and had to represent. Antoine now wants to be a Prince, and possibly a Musketeer as well.

It was a bit of a shocker/ reality check for me to realize how little our children know about French and European history. This is to be expected as they are growing up overseas. But Tiare also knows very little about modern history, including the WW1 and 2, which is a bit more concerning as these are everyone's business on the planet...
Let's stop relying on school programs and teach more stuff at home!
I guess we'll use it as an excuse to make more frequent trips back to civilization in the future!

4- Gardens, parks and playgrounds are everywhere, just as in most European capital cities. Le jardin du Luxembourg is my absolute favorite and a must to do if you bring kids in Paris. There are puppet shows on Wednesday and weekend days, there is one of the best playgrounds in Paris, and plenty of very French things. I'll develop that in a later post!

We've done quite a few things while here, but I'm meant to pack the family bags and kiss goodbye today, not write blog entries! In the next day- or in the plane, I'll do my best to update our trip report ;-) In English for touristic attractions and in French for family news! So long everyone!