A French Experience

Well we're in Paris - city of ....well we're finding out!
But first, we left home at 4.20am and drove to Edinburgh, checked in and sat around for a while before boarding. Small plane (ask Mase for all the details about it if you want!)... but good leg room. Flight lasted about 1.5hrs but the taxiing into Charles de Gaulle airport was another thing!! it's huge and I reckon we were taxiing to our drop off point (not a gate into the terminal) for at least 15 mins before we disembarked. Then we boarded a bus which took us to the terminal - I guess it was the shortest way but that too took about 10mins - but the kids enjoyed seeing some of the planes and different vehicles involved in refueling, baggage carrying etc. One thing Mase is finding quite frustrating/testing is the toilet stops that 3 children and a wife need to take. As I try to pour at least a litre of water down their throats each day and 2 litres down mine it makes for frequent ablution - which means we get to the airport and we go straight to the toilet, then onto the plane and straight to the toilet and then on the flight the kids make frequent trips to the little room. Arriving at the terminal, we walk fast and even though we get to the customs desk close to the front of the line - nature calls - and so we go to the back of the line...queueing is not a Linden family custom - dating back to Father John Linden!!! (or as Mase is in the habit of saying "I come from a long line of people who avoid standing in long lines"). Anyway leaving the airport we got to the train station and funnily enough someone's absolutely busting for the toilette - so off we go but this time it's 50euro cents for each person (most expensive toilet trip we've made in our entire stint away). The train station was another 'underground type experience' - our photo is taken with the train schedule in the background...On to the train and finally to our hotel....Hotel Favart - a petit hotel which has retained the old french style of furnishings (in a slightly more modern way). What matters most is that the bed is comfortable and the pillow not too thick - which after a night's sleep has proven to be tres bien! However the children have now been introduced to a bidet and a very interesting tiled bathroom - there's a bath with a detachable shower hose nozzle in each bathroom but no shower curtain - so it's a sit down bath/shower affair - different.
This is our first experience in a country speaking a foreign language primarily, so we've been practising our french - au revoir, bon jour, bon soir, merci, excuse moi, pardon, sil vous plait, d'accor - but Jo and I have had some fun trying to translate different things (with some success - at least we think so). Anyway we unpacked and went out to do an initial reconnoitre of Paris. We walked past the Academy of Musique - a grand and beautifully ornate building - stunning to see the sun glinting off the 'gold' statue at the top. We then walked along a few more streets seeing many cafes and restaurants to finally arrive at des Gallerie La Fayette. Having walked thru this massive shopping gallerie (it doesn't seem appropriate to call it a centre - that wouldn't be posh enough) I can only say that Perth has nothing like it. Here's some photos of the dome ceiling and lower floors. The Xmas tree is suspended from the roof. The entire complex covered three blocks and had heaps of exclusive brand shops etc - but what I liked wandering through was the gourmet food market. There were gorgeous little stalls selling french cold meats, sausages, cheeses, chocolates (Mase bought a little something here), vegies, fish, asian food, indian spices - very aromatic, candy section (kids chose to share a soft nougat bar - it took them ages to chew through it and kept them quiet while we explored). Des Gallerie La Fayette had huge Xmas light displays on the outside of the building and also automated stringed soft toy scenes in the outside windows. We took lots of photos and the children were entranced with the window displays. One thing we haven't been able to miss noticing is the number of beggars and street people on blankets/beds on the pathways. It's been more confronting here than in London or Singapore, though Aberdeen has a few people that you see regularly sitting on the main street. In Paris many of the beggars have signs asking for money or a ticket (to a restaurant). This has provoked lots of discussion with the children. There is one man whose 'outdoor lodging' is on the same street as our hotel. Last night we saw him lying on his mattress as we went out around 6pm then when we returned at 7pm he was well stocked with some Baileys and cigarettes. This morning we walked past again at around 8.30am and he was lying on his mattress on the ground in a sleeping bag with a mate beside him, both sound asleep. Today it's Saturday, 28 November - after an early night we woke feeling much better. Breakfast was included in our accommodation and was a french breakfast. Each of us were served our breakfast on a silver tray which had a basket of pastries, butter, jams and a bowl of cornflakes - much to the delight of the kids. I managed the croissant and a wholemeal seed roll but that was enough. However the boys managed to polish off their entire tray, Mase and Jo left their rolls. Then we were off for the day. We had to catch a train to Arc de Triumphe at one end of Champs de Elysees and then we walked to the Louvre at the other end - a couple of kilometres walk in. Mase handled the whole underground train system with great ease and so our train experiences in France were pretty good. What was interesting was the children's worry that we would be separated - some on the train and some left behind - I think the London experience was playing at the back of their minds and a few times I was pulled anxiously onto the train or held back by the kids. The morning was pretty chilly and we had numb lips at one stage and the usual drip on the end of the nose. Anyway, we got to the Arc de Triumphe (the start of our day) - we looked at the names of people and countries listed on the arch, saw the flame commemorating the unknown soldiers of world war I and then began searching for the closest la toilette! After this slight diversion, we then walked down Champs de Elysees taking a slight detour at the Arcade Champs de Elysees. Another shopping complex, many of these shops weren't open at 9.30am but nevertheless we got a good feel for the place and the sort of people who go there. Put simply, it's way out of our range - we showed the kids some shoes priced at 2250 euros, small girl's dresses for 200euros and higher, some fur coats for 2380+ euros - some of the price tags have been almost beyond belief. How people justify shopping here when there's people without homes/food just outside is something to wonder about.Continuing further along Champs de Elysees we saw McDonalds with a french twist - some pastries and briochs. So many of the buildings have stunning sculpture and carvings on the exteriors - a lot more than ornate than London was. As we walked along Jo spotted the Eiffel Tower in the distance and took a photo to prove she was first to see it! Finally past an ornate light post, to the jardine la tuilleries (not very impressive in winter - trees are mainly deciduous and so the branches are bare, the grassed areas and fenced off and it's freezing cold. But this jardine brought us to the Louvre which is an absolutely stunning building - both inside and out - lots of statues of presumably famous people along the outside of the building. As you approach the Louvre there is another arch similar to la Arc de triumphe (but much smaller) though just as ornate. Once at the Louvre, we queued for the security check at the glass pyramid - at this point the children had the foresight to suggest we time our wait in line...in total we waited 50 minutes to get thru security and purchase our tickets - the lines were huge and it was only 11am. Tickets in hand we decided to view a section of the Egyptian Antiquities
display. To be honest though I could have spent just as much time looking at the Louvre interior (which is art in itself) as the displays. We saw some egyptian gods carved from stone, hieroglyphics on stone tablets (we imagined similar to the tablets of stone for 10 commandments), sphinx, jewellery, wooden combs, razors, tweezers and bronze mirrors, some egyptian wooden carvings of boats and people...not all of which was to the children's taste. Then we went into the French/Italian painting exhibit. Here the Louvre interior architecture was even more amazing - some photos of the painted ceilings etc give a small idea of what it was like. We saw many paintings of Biblical scenes - the wedding of Cana, Jesus and the apostles, Mary and the Child etc, which was interesting for the children...and much more - including the Mona Lisa. The kids ascended some temporarily empty raised displays and posed as the latest Louvre exhibits representing the entire
Australian modern art collection. After we left the Louvre we had some lunch and then crossed la Seine. Everywhere we go there's beautiful buildings. We also visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame which again is a beautiful building inside and outside. We walked past some seats reserved for people awaiting their confession with the priest - this was something the children couldn't understand. Jo particularly had lots of questions about the process - why tell the priest, what does he say, does God want this, is he able to forgive sins etc, etc. We had quite a discussion about God's views of the Catholic system based on Revelation. Sam was really impressed with a circular stained glass window in the cathedral and to my surprise described it as awesome - so maybe they are appreciating some of the sights we're seeing together - unfortunately the photos of the cathedral interior didn't turn out due to the lighting inside. Then we walked past St Michel - presumably
depicting the scene of Revelation 12 where John says michael and his angels cast the devil and his angels out of heaven. Then down a small alley to reach a labyrinth of lanes lined with cafes, restaurants and other little eating places - very nice! Mase resisted the kids pleas for a treat until we got to the last shop which was icecream - his achilles heel! The
kids exploited this knowledge and with great skill got him to walk in and buy!! Then to the train station - past the latest cold weather fashion model walking the street and past the long line of hire bikes and motorcycles that everyone seems to ride on (at their own peril)! We're also trying to get used to the cars driving on the wrong side of the road and most drivers on the wrong side of the car - makes crossing the street a little more hazardous! For tea on Sat night we went to a little French restaurant in St Michel (one of the cafes we'd seen earlier when we walked thru the labyrinth of lanes lined with restaurants). The children tried french onion soup and choc mousse and creme caramel. The menu even had escargot on it but we declined to order it. I had a salad nicoise (tuna and salad) and profiterole, Mase had duck l'orange with creme brulee. We all had a try of each other's desserts and Mase's was definitely the nicest. Then back to the hotel to get the
kids into bed before 9pm after a long day.Sat night/Sunday morning we were woken many times during the night to hear the drunken, happy singing and shouting of men in the square opposite our hotel - the window opened out onto the square - but we all went back to sleep fairly quickly. Sunday morning we had breakfast - I opted for some fruit we'd bought as the thought of pastries/bread to start the day was not good.
On to the Eiffel Tower for the morning - it was raining lightly at times and we walked through the green parkland area to the Eiffel Tower taking a few photos from spots along the way. The photo of us all together in front of the Tower was taken by some Americans girls we met. From this viewpoint I felt that the Eiffel Tower was a little disappointing -it looked like a huge mess of dirty metal rather than the impressive, warmly lit attraction that you see on postcards (possibly because it was an overcast day)...anyway as we got closer it began to look better and by the time we were underneath, it's reputation was restored in my mind. We searched for la toilette as Mase lined up for tickets - we all
wanted to climb the 600+ stairs to the second level (you can only reach the top by lift and we weren't going to worry about that). The kids loved the climb - it was the morning's exercise and by the time we reached the top I was glad to stop. The view was fantastic - a full 360 of Paris and suburbs. We were able to see the Arc de Triumphe and track our walk to the Louvre which was a lot further than I'd realised. Also, on the first floor they have information points around the platform pointing out important landmarks - this was really interesting as I found out a little more about some of the buildings we'd seen. They also had some interesting facts about the design and building of the Eiffel Tower - it took 2yrs, 2mths, 5 days to build. For the engineers out there they hammered in 2.5million rivets - Mase tells me that's an awfully big job and a horrible way to have to do it - but that was how it was done back then. Apparently Gustaf whoever- he-was (designer) expected the Tower to last about 20yrs but as he was smart enough to let weather forecasters and TV
broadcasters use the tower for their broadcasting it has proved invaluable. So the Eiffel Tower continues on until today as the symbol of France - proven by the number of hawkers trying to sell us 5 mini eiffel tower key rings for 1 euro...and we succumbed! Fortunately the rain held off while we were up the Tower but the wind made up for it. Then we headed for the quarium la Paris - this was for the kids as we'd dragged them to all the places we'd wanted to see and we thought this would be more to their interest. There were lots of individual windows showing ocean habitats of the world and they had coral, anenomes, small coral fish, large cod, leopard shark, reef sharks...heaps of varieties - many different to what we've seen in Perth. There was a huge aquarium and a touch pool for the kids which they loved and ended up with soaked sleeves but very happy with their efforts to touch the fish. Matt says that the fish were too slimy and slippery too catch and that when he had one it moved it's muscles and they were so strong he lost grip. They also had some 'green' movies - we watched a couple - one was about polar bears and the impact of global warming causing the ice to melt quickly, leaving them little area to hunt food, having to swim in freezing water for long distances (causing a huge loss of body weight) only to die from weakness and starvation - this was the only movie with english subtitles - the rest were in french and while we could pick up the odd word or two, it was a bit hard for the kids to follow. However Sam/Matt still wanted to watch the one on tiger sharks.
After this we returned to the hotel to get our baggage and head to the airport hotel as our flight left at 6am the next morning to Switzerland. When we got to the hotel the kitchen staff and receptionist were having a birthday celebration. They invited us to join them for some cake - we thought we'd better show our thanks by singing happy birthday in english which they seemed to appreciate and then one of the men sang happy birthday in Gambon - he sang and clapped in true african style. The kids had strawberry gateaux - we declined.
On to the hotel at the airport where we relaxed for the afternoon - this hotel had a shower (blissful sigh). The children spent an hour or so in the bath having a wonderful time while we got a few things organised for departure. I'll post this blog here as the end of our French experience and will add photos later....au revoir