Day 179: From Bike to Amaluna

The girls have a new favourite sight in Paris - the spinner apparatus behind Notre Dame. Luckily, we were early for our 9:45 bike tour meeting time, so they had fifteen minutes to spin while Beth and I had some quiet time in the sun staring at the back of the beautiful church.

The bike tour we signed up for was recommended by the Versly, though they did a private tour and we chose a group tour - yeah, other adults to talk to! We were met on time next to the huge copper statue of Charlamagne, and led to an underground parking lot under Hotel de Ville where we got suited up.

Our guide was Anna, an Aussie freelance guide moonlighting as a writer, or visa versa, who had a great sense of humour and brought a lot of positive energy to the group. The group was great - mostly Americans and a couple from England. We were all pretty pumped to get going - the weather was once again fantastic.

Our first stop was in the Jewish quarter, a quiet little borough where we stopped and went over some of the history on the "resistance" and lack thereof in the Second World War. Anna had a great way about her to get through the history in an entertaining, easy to follow manner. We compared back to the stoic, dry, fact and date heavy delivery from Ali in Istanbul - Anna won hands down.

Next stop was Place des Vosges, a great square park surrounded by multimillion euro estate townhouses. The place is long on history but also has some interesting recent history (the creepy former head of the IMF who assaulted women in hotels while on business used to live there up until a little while ago).

Anna was delivering her overview while telling everyone that this was one of the few parks in Paris that A) had grass and B) permitted you to walk on the grass.... She told us this as she happily jumped up and down on the grass (she's a country girl from outside Perth so I'm sure she missed open fields!) while most of listening were facing a sign saying walking in the grass was not permitted. I softly pointed it out when the group was in picture mode. Lol.

Speaking of picture mode....proof that we are indeed a family of four!

Like Nepalese Cities and Rome, you have to peak through doorways and alleys to see the hidden gems of Paris. Anna had us go to the corner of the square and through a small doorway that opened on to this picturesque courtyard.

We headed to our hood - Bastille place. Anna continued to layer in history with fun and riding. She described the site of the first French Revolution and also went over the differences between the actual history and the story that is largely written in the history books, which was pretty interesting. I never really connected the end of the American war of independence with the dates of the French Revolution, but those two huge dates in history (1776, 1789) really changed the course of history of the Western World.

It was time to drop down to the Seine level, so we crossed a bridge to the left bank, and descended a ramp to some great, rolling concrete boulevards for bikes and pedestrians. I wanted to take off, pass everyone and zoom down the river by myself, but I put that on hold for a couple of weeks....

The view here of the East end of Ile de Citi is really cool.

Back on the bike, we continued heading downriver.

We left the river road and climbed into the Latin Quarter for a little exploration. What a great little area. Periodically, Anna would give us little missions to do off the bike. The little alleyway lined with old shops and restaurants had one restaurant that housed part of the original wall that Louis the 14th (I think?) built around the original city.

So Abby has had "ride in Paris with a baguette in my basket" on her bucket list for a very long time (most likely six to twelve months), so after we finished our allotted twenty minute quick lunch, we bought a baguette for her to fulfill one of her dreams....

We stopped on one of the bridges that crosses over to the right bank. The view up and down was spectacular.

We pedalled into the middle of the very busy Louvres. Every time I see the famous museum, I am shocked at how big it is. Beth and I didn't go the last time we were here and it's not going to happen this time. I would like to come back to Paris like my parents just did here - rent an apartment for a couple of weeks and take my time going though the Luvres and the Museum of Modern Art.

The kids very much enjoyed the wide open courtyard of the Louvres.

The girls really blew off some steam on the bikes, and shortly, Beth and I joined them zooming around. I. managed to sneak up to Abby's bike and steal her baguette. I didn't go so far as to take a bite, but it was a good lesson for her..... Watch for pick pockets and bike mounted baguette thieves.

Back in the Marais, Anna told us the story of why the area was known for rats. There used to be a huge food market and distribution Center here for hundreds of years. They eventually decided to shutter it, and when they finally removed the last building, it was said that a sea of rats streamed out and invaded the area. She took us to the very famous exterminator that was also featured in one of the early scenes of one of the kids favourite movies - Ratatouille.

It was just after two and it was time to say goodbye to our velos. Sniff... Sniff....

We met the company owners at their newly opened "le Peloton Cafe".... With a name like that, I could have stayed all day. But we were off!

They did a nice follow up with route maps and lots of local recommendations. What a great experience - thx Versly!

On our way out, Abby filled up at one of the local free, cheap and clean water fountains that are found throughout the city. The fountains were donated by a rich man who soon became a citywide hero for introducing clean, free water to the masses.

We walked back to the hotel, had a little change of clothes for some potential colder weather later, and were back out heading for Bastille Place. On the weekend, the tree lined Boulevard running north of the roundabout has artists and other craftspeople set up. There was some nice stuff, but we luckily escaped empty handed.

We headed due west, though sometimes veering down little street is they looked full enough of people to warrant exploration. The main street turned into Rue Rivoli, which is right up our alley.

We were kind of in between meals, hungry but too early to eat, so we sat down to a drink (even the girls got mocktails!) and some cheese. The cafe overlooked a square near the Centre Pompidou which houses the museum of modern art. The building was built to look like it was inside out. Like the Eiffel Tower, the locals did not like it at first, but it kind of fits in now.

The sidewalk cafe scene is alive and well in Paris, but I wonder if one of the reasons it is so successful is that there are so many smokers here. You know, every country and city we've been to is way behind the North American effort to reduce smoking, and I would say Paris might be leading the pack. I imagine it's almost another way the French can thumb their noses at the Americans "stupid Americans can't do as they wish!".

We made our own attempt at some modern art using some cool sculptures and wall paintings....

During the bike tour, Anna showed us some examples of the so-called "space invader", an urban artist that has put over a thousand pixel mosaics throughout the city and has also invaded 65 other cities in 33 countries. It's actually quite cool and makes looking for them pretty fun for the kids. Robin, no surprise, has spotted quite a few.

We walked to a quieter, local area not far North of the Louvres. We told the kids we had a plan to go see the new movie The Walk, so we killed time while walking west until it was time to hop in a cab.

The cab took us to the far west side of the city, to Plain de Jeux de Bagatelle, which is just to the west side of a park that must be last as big as Central Park. Beth and I had gotten tickets to Cirque du Soleil's new show called Amaluna as a surprise. We got out, and started walking up to the tent - Abby was quite confused as to where the movie theater was....well, I will let her tell the story.

We had a fantastic time. The kids were so surprised and so grateful. The show itself was very female - directed by a woman with an all female band and 70% female perfomers. We will never forget the balancing act one performer did with a bunch of sticks... Hard to describe but Abby said mid-way during her act "this is so stressful!". There was also an amazing solo balancing pose act that is traditionally done with men by this petite brunette on the edge of a huge glass bowl full of water - incredible.

After the show, we walked about twenty minutes to the nearest metro. The kids were bubbling with energy and chatter, though I suspected they were running on fumes at that point. As soon as we got on the train, Robin was thoroughly unconscious. [Editor's note: Beth would like to point out that that's just underwear and socks in the H&M bag... It was cheaper than paying $10 per pair of underwear for the Novotel laundry, and let's face it, after six months....you get the picture].

Paris is everything the girls expected and more. I'm loving their energy and enthusiasm. Unlike Rome, you have to tackle small parts of Paris in chunks - it's a walkable city, but much bigger than Rome. London will be like Paris on steroids and with even less time there, Beth and I are trying to come up with a plan that will balance sightseeing and chilling.

I can't believe we only have....no....I'm not going to do it. Countdowns have been strictly prohibited.