Saturday- After we got into Paris this morning, we meandered over to a little Cafe close to the Eiffel Tower where we had a breakfast of crepes and lattes. Lattes, we discovered, were 7,50 each. Yes. But we did enjoy them. After breaky we split up for awhile. All of us were super tired from minimal sleep on the bus so it looked like a long day. Morgan and I had climbed the Eiffel Tower last time we were here so Madison, Levi, and Abe went this time. Morgan and I found grass and watched people and then lay looking up at the Tower for awhile. I napped and Morgan did Sudoku and then we went for a quick decaf coffee-its way cheaper than regular- and a chocolate croissant at a little place with wicker chairs and a red awning. When the kids came back we walked in the rain over to the Arc de Triomphe. Took the train home to our apartment and got French McDonald’s for lunch on the way back. We got home and all relaxed. We have an apartment a bit outside the city that we found and we can even see the Eiffel Tower although it’s a ways out. Morgan went to the store and bought food for supper and made a delicious meal for us and then we went to bed early.

Sunday- This morning we slept in for the first time since we left. We took the train into the city mid-morning and went to the Lourve. We spent a delightful few hours wandering the marble halls looking at statues and the Mona Lisa and other tremendous paintings. Along with thousands of other people, I may add. I wish I could portray the immense amount of ground the Lourve covers. It is all white marble inside with wide, high ceilings, well lit halls and lots of stone pillars. We were overwhelmed after a few hours so we went out and got sandwiches from a shop and sat eating in a square close to the Lourve. I overhead an English speaking couple behind me so we chatted with them for awhile. They turned out to be psychologists from Boston which was interesting. We took the bus over to North Dame cathedral later in the afternoon. It looks different without the spire, but beautiful nonetheless. We spent some time watching boats floating down the Seine, mostly tour boats but a few private too. One of the private boats had a hot tub on the deck with an older gentleman sitting in it, sipping champagne!

For supper we wanted something traditionally French so we went to Cafe de Flore, which is a celebrity haunt we were told. We were served by a little man wearing a bow tie and carrying a white towel over his arm. Morgan and Madison had duck confit, Abe had smoked but raw salmon, Levi had carpaccio, also raw meat, and I had duck pate in a pastry crust, which I was thinking would be like quiche or something. Well. The pate was just a chunk of crust with duck and lard in the middle. It was also served cold. I can safely say I ate most of it but would I get it again? No. But it was fun to try because we don’t usually eat at places where those dishes are an option. We took the train back to the apartment and the guys got pastries and sandwiches to finish their meals for the evening.

Monday- Madison and I stayed home today. I’m still fighting some bug which we now discovered was maybe covid and we had a good sleep while the guys went exploring in a big park thing. I did a couple loads of laundry and cleaned up the apartment and wrote on my blog so it was quite a relaxing day and we loved it. The guys came back mid-afternoon and Morgan made delicious spaghetti and garlic toast for supper. Tomorrow we are leaving our apartment for the last time and going to try to find our way to Normandy. We went there with Ja last time we were here but it was off season so it was a whole different procedure than it will be this time.

On another note, Dad Kevin has been gone a month. One whole month. I think of it every time I write that I have to clarify which Dad it is. We are in Europe but we miss the family. Morgan and Dad always had this thing that whenever they would be traveling without the other, if they saw survey markers when they were out walking they would send a picture to the other. We often would stop in weird places so Morgan could send Dad a picture of one. We think of it lots now while we are walking down the streets of Paris or London and see one along the dirty sidewalk. So we are happy and sad. Also, please continue to pray for us as we make decisions for school next year.♡

Some notes: 1. There are no bugs here. Like I saw a gnat today for the first time since we’ve been in Paris. Its weird. 2. Morgan got a haircut from a Ghana man down the street. It looks really good.