Paris Day 2

We rallied on our second day in Paris.  We started very early at the Musee d'Orsay and the kids lasted through several hours of us oohing and aahing over impressionists and sculpture.  They really liked the oddest things: a sculpture of a crocodile, a random house painted by Van Gogh (because it was one Charlie and Lola they said), some stained glass.  Near the end, the boys and I sat sketching outside the Cezannes while the husband finished the downstairs (J and I worked on perfecting drawing grapes; E drew robots).  During our sketching session, E had worn down several of our colored pencils, much to J's chagrin, so we stopped by a shop on our way to the Rodin gardens and bought an Eiffel Tower shaped pencil sharpener--my only Paris souvenir!

The Rodin museum is under construction, so we spent our time in the gardens (more sketching with J while E roamed with the husband).  This was the only thing the husband had on his list to must-sees for Paris; he's a lifelong Rodin fan and has seen all the other major exhibits in the US, including the museum in Philadelphia, so we let him take as long as he wanted here.  After Rodin, we headed to l'Orangerie to see the water lilies, which were impressive, though more for us than for the boys, I think.  The art collection downstairs was also great, by the way, and we picked up a fabulous Paris kids' book from their well-curated collection in the gift shop.  We bought very minimal souvenirs the whole trip, actually.  J got some postcards, a figurine with all the significant buildings in Barcelona, and a robot set (from our last day in Paris); E got a Gaudi gecko and an FCB Barcelona stuffed animal (and nothing in Paris because he blew his money on this last thing, but he loved it so much, it was worth it to him); I got a Desigual skirt in Barcelona, my Eiffel tower pencil sharpener, this book for the boys in Paris, and one Sagrada Familia photo book J and I selected after careful consideration of all of them; and the husband got FCB Barcelona and Paris St. Germain jerseys and took more than 2500 pictures of everything.  Traveling carry-on only means you take home mostly memories, which is fine with us!

Imitating Balzac.

Our first Eiffel tower sighting!

Here we are talking about the light and the colors.

That evening, after our long day of lots of museums and lots of walking, we got take away pizza on our street and let the kids play in the playground by our apartment.  Like most kids' attractions in Paris, this playground was heavily regulated: children were allowed to be in it for one hour at a time, and parents had to wait for them outside the gates.  There were three adults inside to keep an eye on the kids and organize impromptu games, but our boys mainly had fun climbing up the complicated and challenging structures that led to the high slides.  E eventually made friends with a slightly older girl who spoke a little English and wanted to practice on him, so she kept track of both boys and let them know when it was time to finish or when the adults were saying something to them.  They had a great time while I watched from outside the fence, which was only slightly disconcerting!  That evening the husband went out to try to take sunset pictures of the Eiffel tower; he wasn't quite successful, but he had an adventure.  The boys and I enjoyed the lovely quiet of our apartment and went to bed, which was less adventurous but equally rewarding!