Saturday, April 30, 2005

Trocadero

Sophia getting assistance from Dadddy on the small slide.
We have been doing lots of practice walking around the grounds - needless to say our backs are a little sore from the slight bend.
Troy & Sophia watching Jacques Chirac on the big screen (he is just off to the left of the photo).
Sophia trying to "crab walk" along the small hedges in the gardens of Trocadero.

Since we are going to be living about 3 blocks from Place du Trocadero, I thought I would show a few more photos of our time there, both at the play park and near the buildings. There are so many things available in this small area - the Musee de la Marine, the Cafe de l'Homme, Musee de l'Homme, Theatre national de Chaillot, a children's play park, fountains used for swimming during the summer (so we have heard), an aquarium (somewhere?), and grass you can actually walk on - a rarity in Paris.

Sunday afternoons the grounds are filled with families picnicing and playing football in very condensed areas on the hill, and every evening the top of the square is filled with people waiting to see the Eiffel Tower light up while listening to bongo drums, street musicians and dancers, all the while drinking (excellent French) wine out of paper cups -c'est damage!

Weekends often bring out political groups either protesting something, or the President giving a speech in the middle of the street. It is an interesting place to people watch.

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

So as I write this it is 9:30pm on April 26th. Sophia is 14 months old today and it is still twilight out. It is so unreal on a daily basis to have the world opened up to us. The rooftops over Paris are incredible, but especially as the sun is setting somewhere in the sky and it allows you to see the small community of lives that you are apart of.

So it turns out the latitude of Paris is 48n52, where as Seattle is “only” 45n36. I am actually further north than Seattle, not so strange when you think of the winters we will have in the coming years, but the summers… well it is no wonder Paris is called the city of lights. Also the lights on the Eiffel tower sparkle every hour on the hour until 2am in the summer for 10 min. These are the lights that Sophia refers to as bubbles. She is amazed every time she looks at her tower. It surprises all of us when we turn a corner & can see a part of the tower. Sophia goes crazy when she sees it. It reminds us every day of the opportunities that we have.

One of the amazing things that has happened is the lack of Paris “attitude” we have experienced since moving here. We have a favorite cafĂ© near the tower, where the waiters are turned to mush every time my daughter smiles; a favorite “marche” where the women at the checkout “coo-coo” Sophia whenever we leave, and how Sophia makes every day, every experience new.