Kodiak Haakansons: Paris!

On Saturday, Sven was up and headed into Paris by ten am to give his talk at a conference on North American art and collections. While he was gone (sad… we’re not used to being without daddy) the girls and I walked across the street to the huge shopping center to do a little school shopping, to eat lunch and to see le Père Noël in his big baroque gold chair. Another swim in the pool, a quiet dinner and we were ready to have Sven back... when he did come back, they headed again to the pool as I started to pack up for our final destination: A paris flat rental for two week before our trip home. I do believe that we are starting to feel ready to come home.

Crazy dinner without daddy.

Our mall school shopping day....

Sunday- to the flat! I woke up feeling extremely queasy and it was with extreme slowness that I made it into the car. I was amazed that I didn't throw up in the car on the way into Paris center, but somehow I made it. The whole time I was thinking about how close I was to a bed and I just had to make it a bit longer.... When we arrived at the flat in the amazing 5th arrondissement (one block away from the famous market street, Rue Mouffetard- Thank you Erin Harrington for the recommendation!) we had the perpetual Paris parking issue but eventually found a spot to unload our 3 months of disorganized belongings (This final stop is where it will all have to be sorted through, organized and stuffed into bags!).

All of us were completely floored when we saw the flat. We had expected a teeny typically Parisian apartment, but what we got was a Parisian 6th floor 'home' (I think pre-booking this flat 6 months ago and looking on holiday home rentals websites worked for us this time) for about the same cost as a hotel. Not only are the two bedrooms large with a lot of storage but they've got amazing rooftop views. The building has an ancient adorable elevator, the entrance way has adorable mosaics, the flat has high ceilings (and good heating) with gorgeous wainscotting and crown molding. The bathroom has a washer AND dryer (rare in Europe) and a bathtub! The kitchen has an American sized refrigerator. The sitting room has rows and rows of books, no TV, lots of light, a dining room table, a couch, two gigantic chairs, internet, radio- and a welcome basket with wine, water, nuts and chocolate. I think I'm in love. We poked our heads out of the balconies (five balconies!) and saw the Rue Mouffetard church square a short walk away- with slides and park equipment... vendors were busy putting away their wares for the Sunday afternoon and Monday closure.

I got immediately into bed and took a little nap, while the kids happily played with their toys and Sven organized our belongings into various piles (how are we going to get home with this stuff?!). When I didn't move, he took the girls out for an amazing Chinese lunch... he tried to get them to take a walk afterwards, but all they wanted to do was come home and play. Thankfully, my nap made me feel a lot better and we were able to play cards when they got back.

Considering that it was our last day with the Peugot we decided to take a little evening drive to see the Eiffel tower as darkness started to descend on Paris. Reluctantly leaving our parking space, we headed towards the spotlight on top of the tower, parked and took a little walk in the area. Our goal was to see the light show that happens every hour on the hour, so we made our way to the base for the 7:00 show, bought some little Eiffel Towers from the Indian illegal vendors, and got ready for the show. The show ended up just being a bunch of flashing lights, but nonetheless it did satisfy our goal of seeing the Eiffel Tower in all of its glory. As we walked back towards the restaurant district we passed by a stage being set up for a Hannukah show starting at 8:00. We decided to try to return after dinner....

Dinner was another amazing Chinese meal at an upscale looking restaurant where the clients were 100% Chinese speaking- obviously a local favorite. We slurped up every morsel (how is ethnic food in Paris SO good?). And it was no nonsense- the food was out in 5 minues and we were out by the time the Hannukah show started... The contrast was striking- between the Eiffel Tower, the large Menorah, men dressed in all black with their long flowing hair emerging from under Hassidic hats, the energetic band singing in Hebrew and French (oy! oy! went one particular ska-type song). We enjoyed it immensely! Afterwards we got back into the car and started to head home, but Sven was lured across the Seine by the ooohs and aaahs of the girls as we looked at the lights of the famous Champs Elysees. Wow! The ritzy street was lined near the ferris wheel with at least 100 stalls selling vin chaud (hot wine), crepes, crafts, chocolates, etc. All up and down the street the trees were draped with white lights and artificial lit-up dripping icicles- not to mention the amazing window displays. We were in awe.

At one point I noticed that we were heading dangerously close to the Arc de Triomphe roundabout with its madly dashing cars and motorbikes going in every which direction within the probably 4 lanes of circular traffic.... I gently asked Sven if he knew what he was going into and he said, eyes shining, "I know!". Yikes! Sure enough, we merged into the roundabout, bikes zooming around us, cars in front of us slowing down for pictures, us craning our necks up to look out the sunroof at the looming celebratory Napoloeonic arch... we made it around twice before we decided to go back down the Champs Elysees and back to the hotel (very, very proud and in awe of Sven's feet).

The rest of the way home we just stared around us at the wonders of Paris at night- lights everywhere, the views through restaurant windows of couples drinking wine, the amazing artistic window displays, little dogs everwhere... What a treat to get this one last spin in the car through Paris' streets.

The flat...

A sick Bella in our bed.

Chinese food!

Happy Hannukah!

Champs Elysees!

Monday- Our plan of taking a drive to the chateau of Chantilly was dashed by Isabella's fever this morning so instead we settled in for another day of relaxation, reading and snuggling in our new little home (I'm embarrassed to say that I looked forward to it)... Sven went off to return the car, but had to return an hour later to pick up the registration document that I had in my purse, then Eilidh went off with him while Bella continued to snooze in bed and I finished a book and watched teeny little snowflakes fall (more like swirl) outside the window... all was just fine!