Friday, June 10, 2005

Sundays in Paris

Sophia over looking the Dean's garden at the Cathedral. She keeps looking for kitty cats! Apparently there is one in the tower...


Sophia & Troy on our way home thru Trocadero. She is one tired little girl after all of the play she does in the nursery.
Sometimes there are actually people swimming in the fountain!


Sundays are becoming great family days for us in Paris. We usually attend mass at the American Cathedral, and then a walk home by the park at Trocadero, just to look at the Eiffel Tower & enjoy the sunshine a bit, before heading back to the apartment for naps. It is a lazy, wonderful day, and we hope this pace continues.

The Cathedral has been a great entry into Paris & a community for us. Ideally, we would like to attend a French church. However, understanding the service is pretty important to us, and we have been so impressed with the homilies, and the friendliness of everyone in the parish. There seems to be a lot of couples our age, it helps they have a young priest who is heading up a 20s/30s group, and they have a nursery where Sophia can go & play while Troy & I have a date, at church.
Sundays are also so lazy because there is nothing open that doesn't revolve around food! The corner markets are still there, ready with plastic glasses, cheese, & a wine opener for impromptu picnic. Of course we still have 2 bakeries to choose from, by law there must be a bakery open every day of the year within a certain distance from each other. We are trying out all of the bakeries in our neighborhood. So far they are all good, but I'm sure we will start picking favorites soon!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Overnight in Chantilly

Sophia peeking around a stairwell - good practice for walking!
The Zs in the grounds of the Chateau.
The horse stables at the Chateau. Apparently the King was convinced (probably by his horse trainer) that he was going to be reincarnated as a horse, so he built a separate palace for the horses - fit for a King. Today there are still very posh horse races every season, sponsored by Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moet & Chandon, etc. Still fit for a King.



Troy had a speaking engagement at a Chateau near Chantilly (lots of lace & cream), so we decided to go with him. It was an easy overnight, only an hour from Paris, but gave us a little bit of an escape. Plus the hotel where we stayed was a converted Chateau, and when else would we be able to stay at a place like that?!

We had a great time wandering around thru the gardens of the Chantilly Chateau, however because it was a Tuesday, the grounds closed for lunch - you've gotta love the work hours here for civil servants - so we had to come back on Wednesday afternoon. It was so beautiful, and we never even made it inside! (from what we have read the inside of the Chateau isn't that great, heavy on the tapestries).