Munich to Paris, France: Day 16

An early train to Paris from Munich. Luckily our hotel was really close to the train station, but that did not help the fact we had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep. We bought a couple of sandwiches in the train station and found our train seats (we found the right ones this time).

The first couple of hours we both slept, then I read (great book that I have had on my shelf for along time, but hadn't gotten to: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx) and Jff played video games. The last hour on the train we took turns reading through the Paris book and each writing a list of things that we wanted to do. Since we have both been to Paris before, me twice, our lists were a little on the beaten and off the beaten track. We then talked about our lists, catagorized by area of town, and ruled a few things out and starred the ones we couldn't leave with out going to. Our activities in Paris did really reflect our list.

The last hour and a half on the train, there was an announcement that the TGV (Train de Grand Vitesse- or really fast train) would now be increasing to optimal speed on our way to Paris. That was no joke, within about 5 minutes the train was moving so fast you couldn't even see the telephone wires going by out the window. At its maximum the train was going 320 k/hour- or about 200 mph. It was amazing to watch towns go by in less than 30 seconds and to not even be able to watch anything close up!

When we got to the Gare de l'est in Paris, Jff's aunt was waiting there to drive us back to their house (we had told her it was unnecessary...). When we got to their apartment in the middle of Paris (3 blocks from the Louvre, 2 blocks from the Musee d'Orsay) there was a huge group of people gathered for a late Sunday brunch. It was so fun! We got to meet some of Uncle Michel's family, and some of their friends, one of which had just had a baby a few days ago. (The baby was beautiful and so tiny). Everyone was talking in French, and so I got to practice a lot. The only problem is that sometimes I forget that I am listening in French and I forget that Jff has no idea what is going on...

It was great arriving to a brunch and a house full of family and friends. We ate petit chocolates, had omelets, potatoes, chocolate chaud, and of course brioche. The kids were all playing Wii- which Jff almost kissed the ground about- and I got to revel in the French conversation and catch up with Jff's aunt, M.P. I couldn't believe how much the boys had grown- Cam now 10, Kae now almost 4- and super wild, but super cute.

After everyone had left (kisses on both cheeks for us all) Michel, M.P., Cam, Kae, Jff, and I decided to go for a walk. We headed over the Seine (with a soccer ball) to the grounds of the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden. We played a little "futball" and then headed over to an area where the kids can go on a trampoline. It was so great just to be hanging out with family like normal IN THE MIDDLE OF PARIS. It felt really funny at first. After an hour or so, Jff and I struck off on our own, with a plan to meet the family back at their apartment on Rue de Bac in the evening.

We walked down through the rest of the Tuileries Garden, took in the view of the Place du Concord, all the way down the Champs-Elysees, through the Arc de Triomphe, and then all the way to La Defense. We walked all the way down the Champs-Elysees to revisit the Arc de Triomphe and to (this time) pay more attention to the scenes depicted on the monument originally built by Napoleon. It was a busy Sunday afternoon with some patches of sun, but a really cold wind. And so after that, we bought a book of Metro tickets, did some figuring out of the map (I love the metro system of all the different tunnels and turns and stairs, but hate how complicated it can be to get from point A to point B unless you can transfer)and then hoped on the Metro and headed back to Rue de Bac.

We spent a nice evening in the apartment two story apartment, 4 bedroom apartment that is filled with very old antiques (a few things from Ikea for the boys to play on) and original pieces of art. We had a great time reading, playing Wii, eating a late dinner, and just spending some family time. It was a nice soft landing after a lot of intense traveling with not much sleep.