Paris Adventure

We have been in Paris for a little over two weeks, and it has been an incredibly memorable trip.

Of course, not all of it has been good. We arrived late at night and had to wait an hour for our AirBnB host to show up. That was frustrating after 14 hours of travel and delayed flights. The weather was also incredibly hot. And to top it off, Brad got a stomach virus and, a couple of days later, passed it to me. But we're recovering and making the best of it.

Despite this, we have had some pretty amazing experiences. Amalia only had four days in Paris before we took out to the countryside for her two week summer camp. So we tried to make some good memories for her. She has been on this Marie Antoinette kick recently, and all she wanted to do was visit Versailles. We spent practically the entire day out there, and she loved it. Her favorite part was spotting the hidden passageways in Marie Antoinette's bedroom. She also loved going out to the Hameau de la Reine, which served to feed the queen's cottagecore fantasies.

We also took her to see the Catacombs, which were sufficiently spooky, and she swore she could hear ghosts peeing. Notre Dame was mostly for me, and she did kind of have an attitude because she wanted to wander around on her own. But she did light a candle and say a prayer for her Aunt Kitty (my sister, who is currently battling leukemia). We also walked along the Seine, wandered the parks and gardens, and spent nearly an entire day at the Louvre.

The Louvre was amazing for me. So much incredible art from so many places and times in human history all in one place! I'm not ashamed to say I actually got emotional when I saw the Mona Lisa. I did my best to detach from the crowd, the Instagram girlies and their selfies, and just take in the beauty of that one small image. Brad and Amalia couldn't be arsed, but I made my way to the front. And when I got there, the person behind me offered to take my photo. It made me happy.

We also took Amalia to a sing-along restaurant. We all sang as the old woman played traditional songs on her accordion. There were, of course, some of the songs we typically sing at home. We all had our favorites: Amalia's was "Champs-Élysées," Brad's was "Non, je ne regrette rien," and mine was "La Complainte de la Butte."As we were walking back to our apartment, we had a good view of the Eifel Tower from the top of the hill, which I think was a good end to her time in Paris.

On Sunday, we drove her down to her horse riding camp. We took a little detour for lunch and to see an old chateau, which is now an artist's residence, workshop, and music venue. Then we said goodbye, and she's been enjoying her time at camp ever since.

The next two weeks are kind of a blur because both Brad and I got sick, and that knocked us on our asses for several days. Still, we had some good times. The weather finally improved, and we got to enjoy some time in Montmartre, fireworks at the Eifel Tower, gelato on the Canal St. Martin, a walk through the Père Lachaise Cemetery, and a picnic at the Jardin des Tuileries. We went to a few museums—most notably, the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature and Musée de Cluny, which were both inspiring and a bit whimsical. I really wish Amalia could have experienced them. We will be spending quite a bit of time in Orleans, so we may decide to take a day trip up to Paris if we can.

We still have some time left in France before we head back home to Tokyo. Tomorrow, we'll pick Amalia up from camp, drive out to Dinan, then Oreleans, where we'll explore Bretagne. I'm especially excited to have Amalia back with us, even though I know we'll probably be butting heads within the first 30 minutes. XD Still, this will give us the opportunity to do some of the fun summer stuff outside of the bustle of a big city. I really can't wait to see Mont-Saint-Michel.

I'll leave it here for now. My next check in will probably be on our return to Tokyo. But until then, À bientôt!