I was going to do a whole post on food but then that seemed a bit excessive. The food looks so scrumptious and healthy. Here is my top 10 list for Paris, food ofcourse has a lot of prominence.
1) Patisserie items. We have had croissants for breakfast which are delicious and all but it's the sinful pastries that always catch my eye. Every time I pass by a bakery, I peek inside and drool for a few seconds before moving on. I have yet to eat a pastry, we always seem to be full or it's the wrong time. I did taste some macarons which are yum.
2) Crepes, ratatouille and wine on the go. I have seen small creperie joints and ratatouille at a fast food joint but I always seem to find them after we've already eaten. Wine is being served everywhere but so far we have only had wine at our hotel, we need to drink like the French.
3) The best vegetarian food is available at the Latin quarter, at least this is what Prasad and I remember from our last trip. We have been trying to go there for the past 2 days but our days are pushed out late so we have been running out of time. I remember eating falafel and Moroccan food last time and I'm still waiting to get there to see if it's still as good.
4) The Louvre ofcourse. I asked the information center to highlight the most interesting rooms for children. She pointed to the temporary exhibits, the Greek exhibits (by the end of which Rushil was asking us why all the men were naked in the sculptures), the Egyptian exhibits (Sindhu was like why are we seeing this all over again, didn't we do this in Egypt already?) and finally the Mona Lisa (to which we had to uselessly walk through the Itailan painter's exhibits according to Sindhu). Rushil is curious about the stories behind the dramatic Italian paintings so I think if we have a good guide, he will enjoy the Florence museums. So overall, we were probably there 1 hour too long for the kids but it was memorable anyway. Prasad had a good idea and enticed them with McDonald's if they asked him interesting questions as we walked through the museum, this actually worked quite well because they had to compete with each other to get the required number of points.
5) The Arc de Triomphe - enjoyable place for the kids and the explanation behind it is easy enough to comprehend. (again the naked sculptures raised questions)
6) Notre Dame Church, Saint Chapel, Conciergerie - The first two must be seen but the 3rd was the most interesting because it was our first time visiting it. It is the palace and prison in which Marie Antoinette was executed, you can see the cell that she was confined to for a few months before her execution and there is short slide show on the French Revolution and her story. The book store even had an interesting book for children on the French Revolution which Sindhu flipped through.
7) Hop on hop off buses - There are a number of companies that offer this service but we went with L'Open Tour. I was a bit hesitant to sign up but S&R were intensely excited about taking a double decker open top tour bus. We used it only once today so we'll see if the excitement continues through tomorrow. It is a lovely way to tour the city with ease and take some interesting pictures too. It's a break from the subway system, S&R find it overly crowded and tiring but I love it!
8) Shopping - We gave S&R a budget and said they could buy whatever they wanted, it was my sister's idea and I must say, a great idea. You would be surprised at what they are not willing to buy when they have to shell out their own money. Sindhu picked up a Yves Rocher perfume for girls (50% off) and some keychains and Rushil selected a Paris t-shirt. This was Sindhu's favourite part of the trip, she really enjoyed strolling down Champs Elysees and wants to go again! There are sales at pretty much every store but with the exchange rate, it's still too expensive. But it doesn't hurt to browse....
9) Eiffel Tower - This was the sight that S&R were waiting to see. We experienced a small unforseen adventure today. I wanted to take the elevator up to the 1st level and the kids and Prasad wanted to take the stairs and there were two separate lines for each option and we realized this after standing in line for 45 minutes. One security guard tried to get us in the front of the other line so we wouldn't have to wait again but that guard would not budge. S&R and Prasad finally bought their tickets and walked up the 300+ stairs to the 2nd level. I dropped out of going up the tower and was initially going to wait for them but since there wasn't much to do in the area, I decided to head back to the apartment. Unfortunately, one of the cell phones had run out of battery and I had no way of telling Prasad and the kids that I was heading back. They were worried I was lost when they came down from the tower and couldn't find me. They were finally able to convince a policeman to call my cell phone, by then, the kids were hysterical and sure that |I was kidnapped or something. Anyway, Rushil has decided that we won't be separated for the rest of the trip.
Top10 and pictures to be added tomorrow. Maybe Musee D'Orsay will be on the list, we shall see.
1) Patisserie items. We have had croissants for breakfast which are delicious and all but it's the sinful pastries that always catch my eye. Every time I pass by a bakery, I peek inside and drool for a few seconds before moving on. I have yet to eat a pastry, we always seem to be full or it's the wrong time. I did taste some macarons which are yum.
2) Crepes, ratatouille and wine on the go. I have seen small creperie joints and ratatouille at a fast food joint but I always seem to find them after we've already eaten. Wine is being served everywhere but so far we have only had wine at our hotel, we need to drink like the French.
3) The best vegetarian food is available at the Latin quarter, at least this is what Prasad and I remember from our last trip. We have been trying to go there for the past 2 days but our days are pushed out late so we have been running out of time. I remember eating falafel and Moroccan food last time and I'm still waiting to get there to see if it's still as good.
4) The Louvre ofcourse. I asked the information center to highlight the most interesting rooms for children. She pointed to the temporary exhibits, the Greek exhibits (by the end of which Rushil was asking us why all the men were naked in the sculptures), the Egyptian exhibits (Sindhu was like why are we seeing this all over again, didn't we do this in Egypt already?) and finally the Mona Lisa (to which we had to uselessly walk through the Itailan painter's exhibits according to Sindhu). Rushil is curious about the stories behind the dramatic Italian paintings so I think if we have a good guide, he will enjoy the Florence museums. So overall, we were probably there 1 hour too long for the kids but it was memorable anyway. Prasad had a good idea and enticed them with McDonald's if they asked him interesting questions as we walked through the museum, this actually worked quite well because they had to compete with each other to get the required number of points.
5) The Arc de Triomphe - enjoyable place for the kids and the explanation behind it is easy enough to comprehend. (again the naked sculptures raised questions)
6) Notre Dame Church, Saint Chapel, Conciergerie - The first two must be seen but the 3rd was the most interesting because it was our first time visiting it. It is the palace and prison in which Marie Antoinette was executed, you can see the cell that she was confined to for a few months before her execution and there is short slide show on the French Revolution and her story. The book store even had an interesting book for children on the French Revolution which Sindhu flipped through.
7) Hop on hop off buses - There are a number of companies that offer this service but we went with L'Open Tour. I was a bit hesitant to sign up but S&R were intensely excited about taking a double decker open top tour bus. We used it only once today so we'll see if the excitement continues through tomorrow. It is a lovely way to tour the city with ease and take some interesting pictures too. It's a break from the subway system, S&R find it overly crowded and tiring but I love it!
8) Shopping - We gave S&R a budget and said they could buy whatever they wanted, it was my sister's idea and I must say, a great idea. You would be surprised at what they are not willing to buy when they have to shell out their own money. Sindhu picked up a Yves Rocher perfume for girls (50% off) and some keychains and Rushil selected a Paris t-shirt. This was Sindhu's favourite part of the trip, she really enjoyed strolling down Champs Elysees and wants to go again! There are sales at pretty much every store but with the exchange rate, it's still too expensive. But it doesn't hurt to browse....
9) Eiffel Tower - This was the sight that S&R were waiting to see. We experienced a small unforseen adventure today. I wanted to take the elevator up to the 1st level and the kids and Prasad wanted to take the stairs and there were two separate lines for each option and we realized this after standing in line for 45 minutes. One security guard tried to get us in the front of the other line so we wouldn't have to wait again but that guard would not budge. S&R and Prasad finally bought their tickets and walked up the 300+ stairs to the 2nd level. I dropped out of going up the tower and was initially going to wait for them but since there wasn't much to do in the area, I decided to head back to the apartment. Unfortunately, one of the cell phones had run out of battery and I had no way of telling Prasad and the kids that I was heading back. They were worried I was lost when they came down from the tower and couldn't find me. They were finally able to convince a policeman to call my cell phone, by then, the kids were hysterical and sure that |I was kidnapped or something. Anyway, Rushil has decided that we won't be separated for the rest of the trip.
Top10 and pictures to be added tomorrow. Maybe Musee D'Orsay will be on the list, we shall see.
2 comments:
oh ohhh. give my love to My Pareee. I am soo jealous! Remember when Prasad gave you the diamond pendant atop the Eiffel Tower last time? Any such repeat performances? :)
Eat lots of Berthillion ice cream for me.
Love the list - definitely will try to do most or all of them when we do take the kids.
I liked your idea of "points" to keep them interested in the museum.
How did you explain the naked sculpture piece?
Thanks Raji for sharing the pendant moment - you lucky girl! Prasad is just such a sweet heart
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