LAST DAY: Art Appreciation and Saying Au Revoir

Quote of the day: "Ooooh that was strong, I should NOT have shot that." EM upon gulping down a VERY strong Parisian cappuccino after linner.

VM: Our last day in Paris was dedicated to the arts (clearly at my request, but I thought it was only fair as it balanced out our day of American consumerism at Disney!) We slept in on Friday morning and once we arose, we got our luggage ready as we had a very early departure scheduled for Saturday. We then headed out to our local bakery for morning breakfast fare. We knew it was going to be a good dog day when the first thing we encountered were two pups playing in our courtyard like kids.

Cute Parisian pups out for playtime.

Can't wait to see our own pups.

As I mentioned before, our apartment building, which in the 16^th century was a convent that housed wayward visitors trying to get into Paris, has a wonderful Melrose Place-type cobblestone courtyard in the center. Each bottom floor apartment features a little patio with hedges/plants delineating each space. It is charming and we can picture how in the summer, everyone spends their evenings hanging outdoors.

The two dogs had been let out of their master’s ground floor apartment for “playtime” and they were toooooo cute.

We had a late morning breakfast picking up a croque monsieur for Emma (an amazing French ham & cheese sandwich), a quiche fromage (cheese quiche) for me and a croissant for HM. JM breakfasted with an éclair (breakfast of champions!)

JM decided The Thinker looked like he was
"taking a poop." A Griswold moment
without a doubt.

Feeling satisfied, we then tackled the Metro again to make our way to the Rodin Museum. Rodin, of course, is a famed artist, primarily known for his sculptures, who worked and lived in Paris. We were familiar with his most famous works, The Thinker, and The Kiss, but also spent some time exploring the gorgeous gardens of his once-home (which is currently under renovation so it was closed and hidden under scaffolding) to see his other works.

We all ultimately decided Rodin must’ve been a teeny bit whacked. The subjects of his sculptures were often very dark, exploring themes surrounding hell and damnation. Once we saw the sculpture of the dad eating his dead kids, we decided it was time to go!

Girls relaxing in Rodin's gardens plus Rodin's The Kiss.

The Orsay Museum is housed in an old
train station.

Afterwards, we made our way on foot to the Orsay Museum which is about 1.5 miles from the Rodin home and is housed in a beautiful old train station.

The Orsay is particularly known for its permanent collection of impressionist works.  Among others, it houses some very famous pieces from Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gaugin, Degas and Mamet. While I’m not going to lie and say the family was dying to make this stop as this was definitely something I wanted to do, I think everyone found something they could relate to.

EM studied Monet in art class. Shout-out to
Mrs. Loret!

EM got to see one of Monet’s most famous works in his “water lilies” series that she had studied and replicated in art class. HM was fascinated by the Van Gogh self-portrait and JM liked seeing “Starry Night.” The latter caused controversy between JM and HM as she insisted this wasn’t the REAL Starry Night. Turns out there are two works by Van Gogh known as Starry Night. There is the REALLY famous one that is housed in Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in NYC and the one we saw.

Van Gogh self-portrait housed at the Orsay.

The first "Starry Night Over The Rhone" painted in 1888 is housed at the Orsay.
It is much more serene than the better known Starry Night.

The next "Starry Night" painted in 1889 is a bit more intense and housed in NYC.
Reference pic from Google.

And me, well, I liked seeing them all, especially the Degas ballerina sculpture - "Small Dancer Aged 14." Degas' ballerinas are some of my favorites and I’d seen some before in NYC, but am still fascinated by their beauty.

A Degas ballerina, one of VM's favorite
pieces in the Orsay.

From the Orsay, it was just a short walk to the Louvre so we decided to at least SEE the famous pyramid entrance even though we still didn’t want to tackle the crowds (which are crazy) at this museum.

JM and his girls: Louvre edition.

By now, our linner stomachs were talking so we made our way by Metro to our last area of the city we had decided to visit – Montmartre.  Montmartre is an artsy part of Paris, perched on steep hills above the city.  It is where Monet, Mamet, Renoir and the gang hung out and worked.

We knew we were heading to something a little different when we got off the Metro and were met with a spiral staircase decorated with beautiful Impressionist mosaics along the walls. What we didn’t realize is that the staircase kept going and going and going. 90 steps in all to make it to the top!

And this was just the start. 

We took some time to first check out a tiled mural named Le mur des je t’aime (I love you wall) that says “I love you” 311 times in 250 different languages. It is such a simple yet powerful piece.  We all loved it.

The I love you wall in Montmarte is in a small park. Photo creds: HM.

Montmarte is one hill after another.

We had consulted Trip Advisor for a good lunch spot and started making our way to Chez Plumeau by climbing, climbing and then climbing some more. Montmartre reminded us of San Francisco, it has a similar vibe and all the crazy stairs!

The French know how to do crepes!

Our hilltop linner spot was perfect.

We finally found our lunch spot and were so glad we did.  Our final linner of our ‘cation was delish. We enjoyed eating outdoors and JM even had steak tartar.  We ended our meal with yummy Parisian crepes. And of course, JM and I polished off our final bottle of French Bordeaux. It is no doubt that while California wines are good, we have found the Italian and French reds to be outstanding. Maybe it’s the setting and the fact that we are relaxed, but JM and I have LOVED the wine culture.

Fortified after our linner, we set off to explore the area. Along the way, we visited the main square that bustled with artists peddling their wares. The girls each bought themselves Paris-inspired artwork for their rooms.

We then trekked upwards again to the highest point in Montmartre that is where the Sacre-Coeur Basilica (Sacred Heart) is located. It is a beautiful Catholic church considered “young” as it was built in the early 1900s. It was really stunning and the view of Paris from this vantage point was really great.

JM and his girls: Montmartre edition.

Built in 1914, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica sits atop of Paris.

The inside of the Basilica is magnificent.

JM & EM supervising Corporal LeBeau as he drew.

The real Corporal LeBeau.
Maybe it was just the beret that caused the resemblance.

Because the girls needed a potty pit stop, we stopped at a local café/bar for a drink. Here, the girls were seduced by one of the MANY local portrait painters. They negotiated their price for a charcoal painting of both of them. 

Since I had refreshing French champagne to sip upon, I was more than happy to watch as the artist made his attempt. I kept chuckling as he reminded JM and I of Corporal LeBeau from Hogan’s Heroes probably more due to his beret than his looks.  And his drawing talent was probably about the same as Corporal LeBeau, although he did seem very sincere in this attempt. Ultimately, we’re not sure whom he was drawing, but it’s safe to say it wasn’t HM and EM. Made for a good laugh.

JM starts looking dubious.

Not sure who LeBeau was painting, but it wasn't the McCarty girls.

By this point, it was close to 8:30pm and we decided it was time to wrap things up. As EM & JM had not been able to see the Eiffel Tower at night, we hailed a taxi to make one last stop on our way.

The Lord was smiling down upon us as we got yet another SUPER NICE Parisian taxi driver who spoke excellent English. He explained that there was a marathon going on at the Tower and that trying to get there would be crazy, but that he was going to take us to another vantage point so we could see the “sparkles” that happen only every hour on the hour, starting at 9pm. They are beautiful and only last for 5 minutes.

True to his word, he got us there just in the nick of time and we were able to end our Parisian experience and incredible ‘cation on a high note with the incredible sparkling Eiffel Tower as our backdrop.

Beautiful final stop on our 2015 'cation. 

It is hard to believe that this journey that has been literally years in the making has come and gone! It is amazing that with all the with all the trains, planes & automobiles (and even boats) that we took, everything worked out perfectly and that all our rental apartments made us feel right at home.

And I’m so happy that we waited until the girls were old enough to appreciate it and remember it. While I know at times they might’ve been overwhelmed with all the history and “educational” moments, I think overall they were able to have an appreciation for new cultures and all that it entails – navigating new languages, trying new foods, being open to new experiences and trying on someone else’s “normal.”

We feel so blessed to have had this incredible opportunity to visit these marvelous countries and are so grateful to friends and family who gave us wonderful recommendations along the way.  Can’t wait to start planning the next one….

Au revoir to 'cation 2015! Photo creds: HM & the selfie stick.

DAYS 12, 13 & 14: Friendly Paris, Astounding Eiffel & The House of the Mouse in France

Quotes of the days:

Tuesday upon arrival in Paris: “Your life is a hot mess.” JM upon surveying HM’s suitcase. HM’s split-second rebuttal: “Emphasis on the hot.”

Wednesday at the Eiffel Tower: “I want drugs for the deaf / mutes. I don’t really know.” JM after being accosted yet again by a gypsy asking him to sign some random survey answering EM when asked, “what did she ask you Daddy?” 

Thursday at Disney Paris: “Our waiter must have gotten the part he tried out for in that play, because he is gone.” JM after our waiter in Disneyland Paris appeared to abandon us after delivering bread and salads.

VM: We have been on the go since arriving in the city of lights, Paris, on Tuesday. So much so that we’ve come in late every night and have not had the stamina to write!

Tuesday we arrived in our Parisian flat at around 1PM. As we were early, it wasn’t quite ready for us to move in yet, but our wonderful landlady, Carole, took our bags and sent us into our new “neighborhood” for some lunch and exploring.

Like all cities, Paris is divided into a number of different neighborhoods or what they call arrondisements.  The apartment we chose is located in the 11^th arrondisement, right in an area called The Marais.  This could be somewhat compared to New York’s SoHo neighborhood. It’s got a little bit of everything. 

EM was happy to find her first store with
her beloved macaroons.

Our first linner spot in Paris was delish and everyone
was super friendly.

We had a delicious “first linner in Paris” at a local bistro close to our apartment. We also had our first introduction to super nice Parisians. The French have been infamously known for not being friendly, but we can only say the exact opposite. EVERYONE and I mean everyone from waiters to taxi drivers to people on the street who we ask for help with directions have been terrific. Especially because we don’t speak a word of French and my Spanish doesn’t help much here.

Spring is in the air in Paris! Beautiful flowers are budding everywhere.

This is why French women don't get fat...
wouldn't you eat better if you walked by this
every day on the way home from work!?!?

Yummy fresh blueberries for dessert.

We love that Parisian stores "specialize"
in everything -- cheese, bread, fruits & veggies,
and our personal favorite -- CHOCOLATE!

We finally were able to “check-in” around 4pm. The apartment was worth the wait.  Although it is a third floor walk-up and JM had the unhappy task of lugging our large bags up all three flights, the effort paid off. We have a sunny, top floor duplex apartment overlooking a green courtyard.  It reminded me right away of the 80’s show Melrose Place (without the drama)!

Each of the girls has their own space with HM sleeping in a third story loft under a skylight reachable only by ladder. Clearly a perfect spot for a teenager.

After a long day of travel, EM ended up falling asleep early. Not wanting to wake her up, JM stayed with her while HM and I went to go walk and explore the city.

We had no destination in mind and just wandered for about 2.5 miles. As the sun sets quite late here (around 8:30ish), we decided to go check out the Eiffel Tower at sunset and were sure glad we did. We had a beautiful night and loved watching the sparkles on the tower as we tried to snap pics capturing its magic. It was a fun evening.

HM happy to be in Paris.

Eiffel Tower at sunset is magnificent.

The Eiffel Tower is TALL. It is the equivalent of a 81-story building. Photo creds: HM.

The base is massive.

Wednesday, we fulfilled one of EM’s trip requests – actually visiting and climbing the Eiffel Tower. She was well rested after her 13-hour sleep so she was eager to go. We had booked a behind-the-scenes tour for 10am & were really glad we set out early as morning rush hour traffic is a bear in Paris (as in any city!)

Elevators which were put in place in 1889 still function today,
they go up on a diagonal on the tower's base.

The view from up above is really great despite fog and pollution.
We could even see the famed Arc de Triumphe. Photo creds: HM.

Eiffel gets all the credit although he wasn't
the designer.

EM finally gets to visit the subject of her shirt. Photo creds: HM.

The tour was well worthwhile as in addition to sharing some historical information about the tower, they also take you in some restricted areas to understand how the tower was built and how it functions today. And of course, best of all, it lets you skip the line to go up on the elevator to the middle level of the Tower. And given the cacophony of people at the Tower at any given time of the day, this was money well invested.

Stunning, simply stunning. Photo creds: HM

While I don’t know anyone who doesn’t recognize the Eiffel Tower, or know that it was built for a World Grand Expo in Paris, it was interesting to hear that this project went through its fits and starts like any other. To start with, Eiffel himself really didn’t design it, two men from his firm did. Next, funding for the tower became problematic especially when the backers thought the project “ugly” and that no one would come to visit it, much less pay money to climb it.

Eiffel finally funded the $56 million tower himself and he laughed all the way to the bank, when he recouped all his money within 6 months of opening. How’s that for a business plan!?!?

And while the Eiffel Tower was scheduled to be demolished after a decade of when it was first built in 1889 (it just celebrated its 126^th anniversary!), Eiffel figured out a way of keeping it alive by making it first a radio transmission tower, and then later, it actually housed a TV station in an underground bunker which we were able to visit.

It truly is beautiful and marvelous to see this iconic structure upfront.  We had a wonderful morning.

HM ready to meet the Phantom at the Palais Garnier.

In the afternoon, we had planned another “behind-the-scenes” tour at the Palais Garnier which is Paris’ original opera house. This had been an HM request as she’s majorly obsessed with the story of the Phantom of the Opera. It is a story which originated from a French writer, Gaston Leroux, and which was later used by Andrew Lloyd Weber to create his famous Broadway musical.

HM was really happy to be here.

The tour was wonderful as we had a passionate tour guide who did a good job of explaining the history of the opera house and its architect, Garnier, and how the story of the phantom came to life. While Leroux’s work was a fiction novel, it was a based on very real events that happened at the opera house, including having a real “box number five” which was to be reserved for the phantom and a real lake underneath the building.  Those of you who are fans, will get this. Those who don’t, just skip this paragraph!

Box number five really exists!

Much of the work reminded us of the
Sistine Chapel.

In addition to all the Phantom tidbits, we enjoyed hearing the many stories of how the Italian Renaissance artists which we had just seen and learned more about in Rome and Florence greatly influenced the work created at the Palais Garnier. In fact, one of the reception rooms in the opera had amazing fresco work on its ceiling which mixes Greek mythology with Christian stories. 

It was all greatly influenced by the Sistine Chapel and the work of the Italian masters. It was really something to experience it all and having it all come full circle for us.

Ultimately, HM loved the tour and EM did a good job of masking her disinterest.

Once the tour was over, we walked. And we walked. And then we walked some more. All in all, we probably walked about 3-4 miles as we moseyed our way back through the city to reach the River Seine for a 7pm evening cruise.

Paris is truly a beautiful city filled with beautiful people. We enjoyed all the people-watching as we walked through Place de La Concorde and Tulleries Gardens which are near the Louvre. The beautiful people dressed in cool clothes just hang out and truly enjoy life. There’s something to really be said for that.

EM enjoying the Tulleries Gardens.

Parisians know how to "hang out."

JM and his girls: Paris edition.

We ended our touring with a one-hour cruise on the Seine. It was a nice way to admire the Parisian architecture and to see Notre Dame from the water. We all enjoyed it.

EM was happy to see one of her
favorite shows was also here in Paris.
VM is happy that the TV hasn't been turned
on not even ONCE on this whole trip.

On the way home, we decided to learn how to take the Metro. After walking another 2-3 miles, and several asks along the way, we finally found the station. And then we were able to make our way back to the Marais. We were very proud of ourselves and feeling very accomplished. And we felt ready to conquer the Metro and train as we were scheduled to go to “happiest place on earth” Thursday, Disneyland Paris.

We awoke early this morning ready to tackle the Metro again. We stopped at our local bakery for some fresh croissants and pan au chocalat (my absolute favorite!) and we headed out.

It appears well-marked, but it truly is confusing!

And we did pretty good until we caught the Metro in the wrong direction at our changing point. It was an honest mistake as the stations are a bit confusing, and we probably had a bunch of Parisians laughing about us all day. When we realized we had made a mistake, we approached one of the Metro information officers, she quickly pointed us in a direction and opened the gates for us. Still confused, we went through as she commanded and must’ve looked like some lost puppies as she was YELLING at us from behind her glassed in booth that we were going the wrong way. Still not understanding, the folks waiting in her line got involved, everyone yelling at us and pointing in which direction we should go. Ultimately, it was comical, but we DID make it on the right train.

Even with all our nuttiness, we were still at the Disneyland Paris gates promptly at 9:30am and YES, we spent the whole day there. As many of you know, this had been JM’s ask for the trip. Being the uber Disney fan that he is, he wanted to be able to experience the Disney parks here and the girls were also very excited about the prospect.

JM and his girls: Disneyland Paris edition.

Disney has two parks here – Disneyland Park (our Magic Kingdom) and Walt Disney Studios (our Hollywood Studios). They are both situated across from each other just like Disneyland in California and the California Adventure, so it’s really easy to walk back and forth between the parks. And walk we did.

The castle was very pink, but not as big as
JM had imagined it.

Ultimately, we had a really good time, although the parks were a bit more crowded than we had counted on. It seems a lot of folks were still off for the Easter break. We had a primarily crazy mixture of French, English, Americans and Spaniards in the park. We even had some Brazilians!

We love Remy!

There are two rides that are really unique to this park – Crush’s Coaster and Ratatouille: The Adventure. Crush is a spinning coaster in the dark while Ratatouille uses some glide technology mixed with 3D animation that none of us had ever experienced before. We all deemed these two rides super cool.

In fact, we all really liked the Ratatouille area of the park.  It was really well done and the attention to detail is pure Disney. We even ended up having linner in the bistro here and had a really nice meal in a super fun ambiance.

One of our favorite parts about Disneyland Paris - the
Ratatouille area.

The attention to detail in Remy's bistro
was terrific.

JM and his girls: Ratatouille edition.

EM and HM try out their French driving skills in
the Ratatouille area.

All in all, we had a nice visit to Disneyland Paris, but we were all happy to board our train to head home.

After a full day, we were ready to call it a wrap!

JM & EM relieved that we were heading
the right way on the metro!

On the way home we experienced some heightened security on the train line and on the metro line, with random ticket checks and stations that were guarded by soldiers with machine guns. It was a bit unnerving and a reminder of the recent problems they’ve experienced here in Paris. We have seen soldiers heavily guarding the National Assembly here (the equivalent of our Congress) and even patrolling the Eiffel Tower. 

Soldiers patrolling the Eiffel Tower. Photo creds: HM

Signs supporting Charlie Hebdo.

We have also been reminded by graffiti in the city that says “Je Suis Charlie” (I am Charlie) and we also saw some banners in support of Charlie Hebdo. It sadly shows us that terrorism can and may strike at any time. And while I know there is very little we can do about that, it certainly makes me sad for those who have been affected by it thus far and for those who it may affect in the future. Prayers, lots of prayers.

Tomorrow is our last day of ‘cation. We plan to do a couple of museum stops including Rodin and the Orsay, where many Monets are housed. The Mona Lisa and the Louvre will have to wait for another trip as none of us are feeling up to dealing with the crowds.

While we are super sad for our journey to end, we are all excited to get home see our family and friends, and of course, our beloved pets!

 Random pic of the day

Even the dogs wait if line for the Parisian bread.