Paris in a different light

It's hard not to love Paris, and being there fills your mind with so many ideas, plans, and thoughts. It is everything everyone says it is -- beautiful, romantic, dreamy, inspiring, vivid, bustling, gorgeous. Katie, for one, didn't want to leave. She told me that in between visiting Jack in Alaska (where he is going to raise sled dogs) and Olivia in Hawaii (where she is going to be a surfer girl and never, ever wear socks), she plans to live in Paris and be an artist.

What is a little surprising to me, though, is that the thought that raced through my mind the most often throughout our brief stay in the city of lights last week was this: I am SO glad we are not living here.

Paris with children is a wonderful place to visit. Paris with children can be full of jaw-dropping, take-your-breath-away kinds of experiences. Our children saw so many things they had heard about, and read about, and thought about -- and they got to see it all, for real, right in front of them: the Eiffel Tower, Degas's Dancer, all of Ancient Egypt at the Louvre. I am so glad we went, and so glad they got this experience.

But I am also so glad we ended up spending this sabbatical in tiny Villers-la-Faye and not the monstrous metropolis to the northwest. Navigating the wine roads of Burgundy is so much more manageable than keeping track of little ones on a subway or crowded city street. Being able to live in a stand-alone house with three children whose voices have never been what you could call quiet and who have room to run around outside makes our own life so much easier than if we were in an apartment or shared dwelling worrying about the pounding of footsteps, the cries of bad dreams, and the shouts of excitement that can occur at any time of day or night. And then when you factor in the high cost of everything, the crowds, the lines, the traffic... the trip reaffirmed many times that we made the right choice for us.

So while I still (and always will) love Paris, and while I am glad we went (and will go again), I was so glad to get home. Being close enough to visit (we can even go there for a day -- it's just over 90 minutes on the fast train from Dijon) is probably the best of all worlds for us.

And all of that said -- we still had a great time. We stayed in the first arrondisement in a fifth floor mirrored "studio" which had a little loft for the kids (which they LOVED). It was a long walk up the rickety wooden stairs, and I tried to not dwell too much on the fire hazard those stairs presented -- but it had a little kitchen and best of all, it was two blocks away from the Seine and we walked easily to the Louvre, the Musée D'Orsay and more.

Our first stop Tuesday morning was the Les Tuileries, the most central park in Paris.

We then headed over one of Paris's 36 bridges to the Musée D'Orsay, a former train station that was transformed into a museum in 1986.

First on the list of things to see (once we stopped looking up at the incredible ceiling and giant clock and maneuvered past dozens of marble statues) was the Petite Danseuse de 14 ans by Edgar Degas. We have been reading about her a lot (as well as about some of Degas's kittens in another children's book) and she was the one piece of art that Katie and Livie knew they wanted to see. In the third picture below, you can see Liv trying out the little dancer's moves.

There are great long benches in the museum where you can rest, observe the art, and check out your pictures for a bit, too.

This was Jack's favorite piece -- a young prince of France and his loyal hound. It made us all miss Kaia very much.

We decided to splurge on lunch at the VERY fancy museum restaurant. They had a great children's menu (as well as an amazing regular menu) and it was one of our favorite meals and restaurant experiences so far.

After leaving the museum, we headed in the sunshine to what is probably the most memorable (and unusual) store any of us has ever seen. At our friend Alli's recommendation (and with help from a kid-friendly Paris guidebook sent by my oldest friend, Suzanne), we found ourselves at Paris's last taxidermy store, called Deyrolle (you must read more about it here and here.) 

Nearly destroyed by a fire in 2008 (as one writer explained, it was quite creepy to think of those dead animals having to go through it all over again), the store was rebuilt to its magical splendor and we could have spent a whole day there, examining the butterflies, bugs, fowl, furry creatures and more.

We did not purchase any of the multi-thousand euro stuffed animals at the store -- but we did walk away with one North American-approved, well packed and preserved bug that Jack plans to give to some bug-crazy family friends.

We then walked back to our studio and had a bit of a rest. Kate and Liv said they wanted to stay and have a tea party, so Jack and I struck out again at about 4 p.m. for the Eiffel Tower. The line to ride up the elevator was long, and it was cold, but Jack did not complain a bit. He just couldn't wait to get to the top.

We were exhausted when we finally got home -- but thrilled, too. Because of the long line, by the time we took the elevator down from the top and stopped to see the view on the second story, we were able to enjoy hot chocolate as the sun was setting. Talk about a memorable moment.

The next morning, we slept in and John went out for baguettes and croissants at the neighborhood boulangerie. We then packed our bags, left them with the front desk, and headed straight for the Louvre.

Again, there was a huge crowd but we made it in eventually and decided to check out Ancient Egypt.

In this section, Katie and Livie liked the ancient jewelry best. They picked out their favorites and wondered if we could get some jewelry like that some day. Um, no, I said. Probably not.

We also faced the usual run of four-year-old non-stop questions. Why does that man have a tail (I think he's a merman). Are mermen real (no, I don't think so). Then why did they make a sculpture of one? (Because someone thought it would be beautiful or interesting?). Katie's other insightful comment was that a lot of those sculptures (including the Venus de Milo and one of my favorites, The Three Graces), would look prettier with clothes on. Well, à chacun son gout, I thought (to each her own).

At Jack's request, John and Jack did a high-speed detour to head over to the Mona Lisa (which Jack said he liked -- although it wasn't a favorite) while the girls and I made our way through the palace-turned-museum at a bit of a slower (and more direct) pace. Eventually, we met up with John and Jack again and said goodbye to the Louvre. We picked up our bags, took the subway to the train station, and within minutes of settling into our seats on the fast train home, the kids were all asleep -- dreaming of Paris, maybe, or of other adventures to come.