Arc de Triomphe - check

Since the parents have been in India for almost a week, I've had a large fill of French kids. Morning and night, I am with them. Of course there are fun times, however, I miss my bed and my quiet times. The long week started last Wednesday when Zac didn't have school and we spent the whole day together and Starbucks and the Eiffel Tower.

When I was putting him to bed on Tuesday night, he said "Connie, what are we going to do tomorrow?" I was confused by the comment. He clarified and said, "I don't have school tomorrow", in which I replied, "AT ALL???" There you have it, two Wednesdays in a row, no school. He said he wanted to go to the Arc de Triomphe. C'est comme ca.

Wednesday came in a cloudy haze. All the kids left for school and Zac and I stayed in for a bit to watch the weather. I washed some clothes, he read some comics. At about 10h00, I thought it was time. He wasn't ready yet. He wanted to play a game. I suggested Scrabble. There was agreement, then I found out that it was French Scrabble. We looked pretty hard, but found two French dictionaries. I learned a few new words. I won. I beat a 7 year old native French speaker. Not sure if I get bragging rights yet.

Taken with my phone...


At noon, we were ready to leave. That's when Barth walked in and asked what was for lunch. I wanted to bang my fists. I forgot that I had to make lunch on Wednesdays. So the longest week of my life ensued. I made a couple gourmet sandwiches and Zac complained, "Why do you always do sandwiches? You never do crepes anymore." My evil eye made a debut and reminded him that we were going to Starbucks and the Arc de Triomphe later and he would be a really smart boy if he never made a comment like that again. He smiled sweetly and said "I love you so much." Smart boy, I tell you.

We finally made it out, just in time for the rain. I brought my umbrella. We took the metro to the Champs-Elysees to walk a bit before going to the Arc. We reached the end and went through the tunnel that goes under Etoile, the 12-lane roundabout. It was kind of busy, but it was still hard to really enjoy because of the drizzle. We looked around and took some pictures before heading up the stairs. The stairs are spiral and Zac, yet again, counted everyone of them. I didn't get the exact number, but it was in the 200s. We made it up, I bought a few things at the museum, then we checked out the views. It was fantastic. Paris really is the most breath-taking city. Do I really live here?


















This is underneath Etoile going towards the Arc de Triomphe




After about 30 minutes, we headed back down toward the metro for Starbucks. I brought my French homework, Zac brought his Les Dinosaures book. He had hot chocolate and a donut, and me, the mocha frappaccino. We had a great time, just relaxing. He is so fascinated and addicted to Starbucks. I've got him sold.