Field Trip to Run

Sylvia's class went on a field trip to a soccer field on the outskirts of Paris.  It was a short bus ride.  There was no yellow school bus, but a fancy tour bus with seatbelts.  To actually run is a treat because at school there is just a pavement courtyard and no play structure for recess.  Sylvia came home talking about all of the different races they were practicing.  The three kindergarten classes went on the trip and there were older kids--grade 4?--who tried to organize and keep order.  The kids had a good time.  It made me think a lot of my time as a teacher because kids are kids.  The field was actually fake turf made up of little pieces of ground up rubber.  Some of the kids just could not stop themselves from scooping up handfuls of the stuff and putting it in their friend's hair.  I found cups of it in Sylvia's shoes when we returned home.

One group ran around and the other group recorded how many times their partner ran around the cones.  Sylvia was doing jumpingjacks while waiting to begin.





 

This race involved stealing tennis balls from the other team.  It seemed rather crazy because they were all running at each other, but nobody crashed.
We were thrilled that it did not rain!



Sylvia ran all Thursday morning and Lillian swam on Thursday afternoon; they were tired out.  Aunt Grace thanks for the blankets!  We made your pancakes this morning.  http://www.keepingupcookbook.com/

I remembered to take a photo of Friday's pastries before they were devoured.  However, there is a technical glitch and I can't get the photo to the blog.  We stopped at our neighborhood boulangerie, which is not a patisserie so the selection was limited.  Lillian had a classic pain au chocolat and Sylvia chose an eclarish thing filled with whipped cream and strawberries.  She said it was one of the best she has had.  Since I am lacking a pastry photo, here is a photo of some flowers Pierre brought to me on Friday.  A+ for Pierre.  Hurray!  The weekend is here!





La Fête du Muguet et La Fête du Travail

Today is La Fete du Muguet and la Fete du Travail--May Day and Labor Day all in one!  People give Lilies of the Valley (Les Muguets) to their friends to symbolize happiness and friendship.  The flower shops are all open and people are selling Lilies of the Valley from stands on the sidewalk.

The sun is shining!  We strapped on helmets, jumped on the elevator,  unwrapped the girls' bikes, brought them up from the cave (our basement storage),  and rode them to the park. 

 The ride on the sidewalk involved a lot of cafe table and pedestrian dodging.  Once at the park, a road was blocked off for riding.  Scooters are very popular among French kids and adults.  Being a pedestrian can be very dangerous.

Impromptu Grammar Lesson: L'accent Cironflexe

The sun is shining into our apartment and we can hear the Sarkozy rally going on outside.  I baked some zucchini bread to celebrate the return of sunshine.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread (from an ancient Cooking Light magazine)

3/4 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup applesauce

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (177 C.)

2. Mix it all up (Make sure to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the shredded zucchini)

3. Grease the pan (9x5 loaf pan) and pour in the batter.

4. Bake for about an hour.

5. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing it from pan.

This recipe is for one loaf.  I doubled it.

Cite des Sciences & de l'Industrie

Saturday Pierre joined us to finish our current museum tour.  Monday we will be back to school and our routine.  Although, Tuesday is Labor Day and Wednesday they never have school, so it is only a three day week.

The Cite des Sciences & de l'Industrie http://www.cite-science.fr/ is a huge complex that used to be the sight of a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of the city.  We reserved our time at Cite des Enfants the night before on-line.  They limit the number of people visiting at a time and if you don't reserve you might miss out.  The museum was fantastic.  Finally, a kid friendly museum.  The girls had an amazing time.

Sound

We visited the area for 5-12 year olds (There is also a 2-7 year old area).  It is divided into six sections: Le corps (the body), Communiquer (communication), Le studio TV, Les jeux d’eau (water gmes), Le jardin, L’usine(factory)

The water area was a lot fun.  There were balls, water tornadoes, pumps, and it was very "hands-on."  I saw more than one kid who could have used a change of clothes.

My family is creating energy!  Sylvia is making a radio work (50 kilowatts) Lillian has the TV (100 kilowatts) and Pierre was making the lamp light up (150).  Each crank was progressively harder to pump.  Sylvia stuck with the radio and danced.  Lillian tried them all and became very pink cheeked.  The thing that used the most energy was a baby bottle warmer and the girls couldn't turn the crank.

The TV studio was a favorite.  There were six different channels where you could either be on TV or operating the cameras.  You could then watch TV or control which channel was on TV.  Sylvia was in the rock band and Lillian was on camera.

We did not make it much farther than the Cite des Enfants.  There is an IMAX theatre, a planetarium, a simulator, a submarine, and the main part of the museum.  We have a pass, so come visit and we can check it all out.

L'Arc de Triomphe and the kind people who work there

Friday was the last official day of the girls' April break. The two weeks that loomed endlessly in front of me has now come to and end.  It is the weekend and the girls and I get to hang out with Pierre!

Every time we leave the house the girls want to bring a stuffed animal or some other treasure to share in our adventure.  Lately, they have been bringing a small stuffed animal (Sylvia) and a rubber dog given to her by school friends (Lil) in socks taped shut with painter's tape.  Yes, weird.  Each time, I say something smart and motherly like, "I wish you wouldn't bring them because if you lose them you will be very sad."  Usually, the friends stuffed in socks come anyway.  Yes, this is foreshadowing.

Yesterday we went to the l'Arc de Triomphe.  The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.  Construction began in 1806.  When Napoleon was married in 1810 only the foundation was in place and a wood and canvas mock arch was erected for the celebration.  After Waterloo, construction was put on hold and the Arc was finally finished in 1836.  Napoleon died in 1821, but there was a big procession to bring his coffin through the arc in 1840.  It is now the sight for France's tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the eternal flame. 



L'Arc de Triomphe l'Etoile is in the middle of the world's largest roundabout (at least I read it was the largest).  12 streets radiate out from l'Arc.




If I had my minions build me a victory arch, would I want a laurel wreath and an angel?



Of course, for us the real reason for going to the L'Arc was not to learn history but to climb to the top!  The girls were very fast up the 284 stairs.

So fast I almost couldn't capture them on film

Crazy girls reach the top. 
Notice that Lillian has something zipped in her pocket.  Notice that Sylvia does not have zippers on her pockets (foreshadowing alert!)



If you look to the left of the tall skyscraper (montparnasse) you will see the gold dome of Les Invalides.  This is  where Napoleon's coffin is today.



The Champes Elysees
The view from the top is amazing.  You can watch the crazy traffic swirl beneath you and walk around the top for a 360 degree view of Paris.

When we reached the ground, we strolled down the Champs Elysees and looked in the shop windows.  The girls thought the prices were hilarious and we were joking about what they would buy me for Mother's Day.  There was a 60,000 Euro watch in the Cartier window.  After the second or third window, Sylvia let out a cry and began sobbing as if she had been seriously hurt.  Yes, you guessed it, her stuffed animal was gone.

We retraced our steps and I attempted to comfort her, while at the same time letting her know that it was doubtful we would ever find her friend again.  She was sobbing and people were wondering what in the world I had done to the poor child.  After what seemed like an interminable walk, we finally reached the window at the bottom of the steps and I explained my dilemma as the people behind me got impatient.  "In a what?"  "Yes, she lost a stuffed animal in an orange sock."  They radioed the news up to everyone on top of the arch.  Then, the nice young man walked us over to the elevator and explained our situation.  We zoomed up to the top, and there was an angel holding an orange sock!  A woman working at the gift shop was on her way down with it.  "What is it anyway?"  "A stuffed animal."  I was beside myself with relief and thanked her and told her she had saved my day.  We thanked the elevator operator, the ticket collector, and the man with walky-talky and headed home.  A miracle.

The animal in the sock was a very nice little white polar bear given to Lil years ago by Susi Merk.  She is now washed and good as new.  This girl loves her stuffies.  Here is Etoile in her new crown and cape.



Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle and more rain

Despite my choice of the longest possible route by Metro to the Museum, we did (eventually) make it  to the Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle.  On the Metro on the way there, I had a chance to take a good look at the map and the trip home was much shorter.  The rain continues to fall and the girls were great sports.  We skirted the Jardin des Plantes and I saw the sign for the museum.  We were blown through the door, unfolded our umbrellas, and looked up at the guard.  He looked perplexed.  I told him we were looking for the museum.  We were in the museum's library and headed back outdoors to find the right entrance.  It was a busy day and we had to wait outside in the gale for several more minutes.  We were very happy to get inside.



The museum is immense and divided into three main areas: The Diversity of Life, The Evolution of Life, and Man's Role in Evolution

Lillian was put out that Man should have a whole floor

   There is a new Children's Gallery, which is meant to be more "hands-on" and "multimedia."  I think I am spoiled by Ottawa's new Museum of Nature because I was not blown away.  There were lots of neat National Geographic videos of animals, and neat stuff for the kids to look at, but very little for them to actually do.  The girls did enjoy checking out this part of the museum.


Neither Lillian nor I could see much in the microscope, but that didn't stop us from trying



Better than a puppy?

Lillian read about zooplankton and phytoplankton and Sylvia read about sea life.  "You know, the food chain.  The whales are the biggest and the plankton are the smallest."

Our quick metro ride home also took us over the Seine and gave us a nice view of the Eiffel Tower



Grand Palais and more rain

Week two of April school break and the rain continues to fall.  This weekend we hurried back to Parc d'Acclimatation during a break in the weather.  The girls got to climb and bounce and get some energy out before it began pouring.

Today it is raining so we went to the Grand Palais for the Beaute Animale exposition.  http://www.grandpalais.fr/grandformat/exposition/beaute-animale/  The exhibit is all sorts of art depicting animals.  It is a great show for kids and it was busy with parents and kids looking for something to do on a rainy vacation day.  The girls really enjoyed the exhibit.  They spent some time sketching and they especially enjoyed the tactile area.  Blindfolds were provided and there were lots of little sculptures to touch. 

The Grand Palais was builtfor the 1900 World Fair

 Photos were not allowed.  Here are the postcards I bought:

Tete de Lionne, Theodore Gericault (vers 1819)
There was a whole area that talked about how  it used to be the rage for artists to go to the Jardin des Plantes zoo to draw and paint the animals.  Many of these animals had never been seen before.  When the first Giraffe was brought to France in 1826 it was a huge event.  The giraffe was a gift from Egypt and was shipped to Marseille and then walked to Paris.

Lievre entoure de plantes, Hans Hoffmann (vers 1591)
Will cousins Miki and Ida be allowed to get a rabbit??

People kept peeking over these artists' shoulders to see what they were up to
Etoile, Sylvia's puppy, came along for the show

Les Oiseaux, Anonyme Allenmand--? (vers 1619)


 

My plan was to take these artists across the street to the Petit Palais for a treat, but apparently it is closed on Monday.  To get to the cafe inside the Petit Palais, you have to ask for a free ticket.  It is a great secret.  The Petit Palais, which was built as the same time as the Grand Palais, is a museum.  The permanent exhibitions are free.

I once had a lovely cappucino inside--today it was not to be

Locked  out in the rain

We headed home for lunch and dried off.  The girls are now painting with watercolors.  You will never guess the theme they have chosen.

Sylvia is 6

And I have a loose tooth!

I wanted a puppy.  I named her Etoile.  One step towards keeping Paris sidewalks clean.

My Canadian Cousins' birthday package arrived today and my Dad bought me some flowers.  I am a lucky girl. 
P.S. I am bringing my colorful, layered, glittery  look to Paris!