Today we had no plans, so we slept in a bit. After breakfast, we spent some time in our rooms going through all of our things to separate them, since Bill is leaving with the boys early in the morning, and Willow and I are heading to London.
We set out on foot to Luxembourg Gardens. We stopped for delicious açaí bowls on the way.
At Luxembourg gardens, we rented a little boat that the kids could push around the lake.
They had two chair options – regular metal park chairs, and a lounge version that was really nice.
The kids did some running around.
As we wandered the streets, we saw some cool things.
I liked the way all of these building fronts were slightly curved.
I love how much sweet family time we get when we’re on vacation.
We went to Tuileries Garden, where they have trampolines that the kids can bounce on.
Under one of the bridges, we found a walkway down to water level.
We walked along the Seine for a while, enjoying the scene.
The kids found a ladder down to the water, so of course they climbed down it. River found some flowers growing in the wall.
Pont Alexandre was gorgeous. There are stands built on it right now, so we assume that there will be races on the river during the Olympics. It turns out that this is an area with a lot of government buildings and embassies, which we know because we were trying to find a bathroom, and there were none. We did a lot of frantic running around until finally, a fancy restaurant took pity on a child in crisis. Paris has been trying to add public bathrooms, but they are still scarce, and many are in areas that are cordoned off for the Olympics.
I can’t get over how even the undersides of bridges and the entrance to the metro stations are pretty here.
We came across a protest march, which seemed to be against extreme right wing ideas.
We got the most incredible strawberries from a little fruit stand. We stood on the sidewalk and ate two baskets right there.
We came across a cool knife shop, and Liam bought himself a knife. He got to choose the handle and the tattooing on the blade.
We had come across a kilo shop earlier in the day, which is basically a thrift store where everything is sold by weight. After lunch, everyone wanted more thrift shopping, so we went to the Marais neighborhood for that. Some of the shops were too upscale for us, and were selling vintage designer things that were way outside of our budget, but we found a handful that were right for us.
It was, surprisingly, enjoyed by all. Liam got a really nice trench coat, I found a perfect sweater to wear to Taylor Swift, and River got the cutest hat. Liam’s jacket will look better with pants though 😂
The neighborhood of Marais was really pretty.
We kind of all had different things for dinner. River and Bill shared some Lebanese food (we had that for lunch too, and River loved it so much he asked to have it again) while I had a savory crepe, Liam shrimp, and Willow a baguette sandwich. For dessert, crepes for everyone.
Bill and the boys went to bed, since they needed to leave before six to get to the airport for their flight. Since Willow and I could sleep in, we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up at night, and to see the sparkle that it does for a few minutes every hour. It did not disappoint!
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