iParis

It hit me the other day that I see SO MANY interesting things just wandering around the city. I often bemoan the fact that I do not have my camera with me (but seriously, you try carrying your kid's diaper bag everywhere you go; it gets heavy! Not to mention the fact that I carry my kid, too... oh to have a car...). Anyway, it occurred to me recently that I have a trusty little gadget known as the iphone. A lifesaver. Truly. So here is my first attempt at documenting random yet interesting things. Please forgive the quality of many of these pictures; I am NOT talented at iphone photography, especially not one handed.

Walking through the Tuileries Gardens a few weeks ago (the Louvre in the background) and admiring the highly sculpted French landscaping:

Admiring one of those looks the I could NEVER pull off myself:

Waiting to cross the street and almost being run over by crazies on bikes who were sporting an anti-oil protest:

Enjoying a 10-piece orchestra in the Chatelet metro station:

Pacing a bridge (with a crying Oliver) and watching the sun set behind Notre Dame:

Spotting random occurrences of our son's name, French-style, while on the way to a friend's house:

Peering down a small side street to find this adorable church:

And last, but certainly not least, the main attraction in Paris for two-months running... Oliver (pondering why his mother would want to take such an awkward picture of him):

Bastille Day

Bastille Day: France's celebration of the forming of the Republic. A celebration of liberty, fraternity, and equality. And, like Independence Day in the US, an excuse for food and fireworks. As mentioned in my previous post, the weather let us down tremendously... But it had cleared by late evening, so we made our way (with half of Paris) towards the Eiffel Tower to see the fireworks.

We chose a spot two bridges away because we were concerned the noise might be too much for Oliver (who was asleep in the Moby wrap).

There were TONS of people, even that far away from the tower.

The river boats floating by on the Seine entertained us while we waited for the show (it doesn't get dark until after 10:30 pm...).

As the night sky darkened...

The show began!

The best part to me came when we began walking home (before the show was over... we didn't want to face the crowds). We crossed several streets and realized that all the traffic around the tower was stopped; people had simply gotten out to watch the show.

Not exactly a 4th of July picnic, but a great way to celebrate independence nonetheless.

Explore Ile de France: Moret sur Luong

July 4, 2010: the last day my mother was in Paris... Clearly, I'm a little behind. Regardless, on that evening, we decided to try another suggestion from our One Hour from Paris book, and I was pleased with the result. For what it's worth, though, the book seemed to suggest that the town was just ok, while the river was particularly picturesque and interesting... But I found myself feeling the opposite.

Anyway, we visited the little village via train from Gare d'Austerlitz and entered via the medieval gate:

Which Chris pointed out for us:

The streets were charming - a mix of medieval buildings and modern signage:

This particularly beautiful building was for sale. Tempting, non?

We entered a little courtyard off the main drag:

Where we found this fabulous Renaissance facade:

Further off the main drag was a charming church:

Across the street from which stood one of the crookedest buildings I've ever seen:

And in the shadow of which stood the former home of Alfred Sisley, impressionist painter:

As we exited the main drag through another medieval gate (and after a fabulous crepe dinner, by the way), we found this gorgeous scene:

And took a picture sporting our red, white, and blue in honor of the homeland:

A bit further on down the river, we were able to look back to this view of the church:

Although the commercial scene along the river seems to have dried up long ago:

We did gain access to some beautiful views along the canal as we left the town:

Makes Your Heart Melt!

Oliver fell asleep (for all of about 10 minutes because this boy still refuses to nap anywhere but the Moby wrap! Grrrr...) on a pillow the other day.

And when he woke up, he made the most hilarious faces while he talked to me! Just thought I'd share.

Oh, for the record, Megan, I'm running about 50/50 on posts about Oli versus others... Honestly, I think that's pretty good. ;-)

Oli and Daddy

My in-laws were here this week, and my belle-mere (mother-in-law en francais, literally translated "beautiful mother," which she is!) said something that struck me. She asked my father-in-law, "Can you believe our son has a son?" And that got me thinking about how crazy wonderful he father/son generational thing is. So in honor of that and as a belated shout out to father's day, here are some pics of my two main men.

From days 1 and 2 at the hospital, where all Oli did was sleep...

To his first week at home, where almost all he did was sleep...

To last week, when Oli interacts so much more. Can you believe the adoration in that face?

And, of course, dad tried to trap Oli's arms in the pants that are too big for him... But Oli broke free.

Oli is even ready for piggy-back rides.

But he still likes his downtime, too.

And, thankfully, he's not above a little snugglin' once in a while.

I love these boys!!