Bluet and Dad go to the Eiffel Tower at night

The whole time we were in Paris, Bluet wanted two things - to go see the Eiffel Tower at night, and to buy a lighting up Eiffel Tower like the one her friend Olivia has. So the last night in Paris, after we'd returned from Versailles and eaten sushi, Bluet and I headed out on the Metro, bound for the tower. We arrived just after the twinkling lights had done their hourly twinkling, so we spent the next hour around and under the tower, until the next display, which Bluet loved, probably because the Eiffel Tower looks like a lighting up, sparkling Eiffel Tower. And then after an hour of looking at the 'most beautiful tallest building', we headed back to our Montmatre apartment for the last time.

Since we've been back, Bluet has been extremely happy with her lighting up Eiffel Tower, even hiding it so Veronika couldn't see it by herself until Bluet was able to show it to her herself. Our house is also accumulating an ever increasing number of drawings of the Eiffel Tower.


 


Here is Bluet's picture from underneath the tower, and from not that far away.



One of Bluet's many drawings

Paris/Reims/Versailles

So we spent 2 nights in Paris, checked out the Louvre and Notre Dame, then headed to Reims for the next two nights, Versailles for one night, where it was wet and miserable, from which no amount of gold can distract kids from muddy puddles, as you can see (before returning to Paris for the last night, when Bluet (finally) got to see the Eiffel Tower at night, her dearest desire for the whole trip (see next post)


Bluet's picture of the Mona Lisa



Ilona at Notre Dame


Reims (where we finally found oysters)



Kids in France drink hot chocolate for breakfast every day. (Orangina and water for other meals)





Versailles in the rain

Train to Paris

The first step in getting to Paris is to get on the train. As it takes 4 hours, we took advantage of our iPads to entertain the big kids (which surprisingly mostly brought peace and harmony), and plastic cups to entertain Wilder. Then when we arrived, we headed to the same apartment we stayed last year, in Montmartre, where Nana and Wayne were waiting to meet us.

Tomorrow, Paris

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we take the train to Paris, to spend a week in France with Emily's parents. While we are away, please enjoy these pictures of Ilona wearing the shirt she made to Kinder Krippe on Monday





And here you can almost see she is wearing wellies that do not match

Learning to crawl

Baby Wilder has decided it is time to crawl, approximately 1 week after learning how to turn over. So far I think he moves by rolling over and over, but someday soon he will be free




The last step, lifting the head, is the hardest


A plastic coat hanger is a favourite toy


Ilona watching him turn over