Day 5 - Castles!

Isla slept through the entire night again! I actually woke up before her which felt amazing so I wandered outside our chateau to be greeted by the neighbor cows. The setting here was absolutely gorgeous. We were basically out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and old stone farmhouses.  

We left our hotel for Chateau de Chenonceau, a beautiful 11th century castle a short drive from our hotel. It is crazy how we could just be driving and spot a random castle on the hill. Castle after castle...it seemed like such a fairy tale! This one in particular seemed very Walt Disney to me but let's not debate who copied who. There was a lot of "my castle's better than your castle" kind of stuff going around back in the day so everyone tried to make their place of residence bigger and better. This one in particular was owned by a number of different mistresses. The long "bridge" portion that extends across the river on the left was a giant hall that hosted fancy balls; in WWII, it was turned into a hospital ward in WWII and was a means to pass over from the Nazi-occupied land on one side of the river to the "free" land on the other.

We grabbed vending machine cappuccinos (not bad!) and chocolate croissants and a jambon and cheese sandwich for later from the little castle food booth. Graham's allergies made their nasty appearance starting today (and continuing for pretty much the entire rest of the trip). On the really bad days, I spent the good first portion of the day doing lots of thinking to myself as Graham gets really spacey and loopy when he takes allergy meds. They would finally wear off around 3 PM and I would get my Graham back. 

The grounds even boasted an Alice in Wonderland-style bush maze, along with these gorgeous, tree-lined roads.

After our castle tour, we sat at a table to enjoy our sandwich picnic (strictly forbidden as you were supposed to only buy food from their cafeteria). I nursed Isla using my Hooter Hider but all the while a strange man kept glancing my way. As it turned out, I guess he was waiting for Isla to be done because he wanted to see her. There was probably some degree of a language barrier going on, but our conversation basically began with him asking me "So, you're still giving her milk?" And then somehow it came out that he was a dairy farmer from Germany and was here researching French dairy farms. It was just weird. It felt like we were comparing my dairy and his with the whole milking thing. Oh yeah, and to top it all off, he was wearing the most gigantic, hand-painted (by his wife) wooden shoes, one painted like the French flag, the other like the German. If only Isla had given him "the look," we could have ended the awkward conversation a lot sooner!

We had a hard time deciding which castle to visit next because there are just so many. We opted to make our way to Chevery, a chateau well-known for its beautifully preserved furnishings. Before entering, we stopped at a restaurant, Le Pinnochio, across the street as our sandwich did not fill us up. It was an Italian place so we ordered Pasta Bolognese with mushrooms and a salad with sun dried tomatoes and olives to share. By this time, all hopes at sanitary eating for Isla had been thrown out the window (not having a high chair will do that to you!) and we'd resorted to putting cut of pieces of food directly on the bare table or chair and letting her pick at them. This plan backfired as we were seated under a lovely flowering vine that was gradually showering us with its petals. Because Isla had learned anything on the table was fair game, we had to pull numerous flower petals from her grip and mouth as we just couldn't keep up. Anyway, so this meal sticks out to me as our first, true French dining experience (and by that I mean more the experience of trying to get the bill than the experience of eating). We kept asking for the bill (a new waitress would come to our table every time). Pretty soon, all the other diners had left, we saw one of our waitresses leaving and we still didn't have the bill. Isla was getting fussy so I left with her and Graham had to deal with the bill. He said that he easily could have walked out of there without paying because no one seemed to know what we had ordered. When they finally came up with a bill, it was all wrong.

The mess was soon sorted out and we headed back towards the Chateau. But, we happened upon a free wine tasting so we stopped in. Graham really liked the Rose (Pinot/Gamay blend). I don't recall anything in particular standing out to me but this leads me to another point. I'd like to give a little shout out to French Rose wines. They are nothing like the Rose we drink over here. I know it tends to have a bad rap in the states for being, well, shall we say, trashy. But seriously, if you even have the chance to get your hands on a French one, don't judge, try it! They are quite delicious and refreshing chilled.

Anyway, back to our tour of Cheverny. The owners actually still live on the top floor which is just crazy to me. Meanwhile, we tourists are constantly milling the grounds and wandering through the lower floors. I don't know, that just seems like too much of a breech of privacy to me.

I had to get a picture of the castle's birthing room. I was a bit surprised that there was an entire room dedicated to this but I guess there was a lot of birthing going on back then. The bed "linens" are made of silk and everything was pretty fancy smancy.

Isla spent a lot of time on our fronts or backs or in the stroller and got pretty good at sleeping on the go.

Enjoying the gardens. What I didn't get a picture of was the cage of hundreds of hunting dogs that are fed daily on the premises (apparently people time their visits to witness this). I do not tend to be much of an animal rights person in general but this got to me. I don't know how many dogs were in that tiny cage other than FAR. TOO. MANY. The stench was absolutely horrible that we had to leave. Ick. Poor puppies!

On our way back to the hotel, Graham spotted some people swimming in the river and he felt the sudden urge to swim. He went in search of a good place to jump in (the river ran along the back side of our lodging) while Isla and I hung out on the hotel grounds. One of the many things that stood out to me on this trip was the sound of the birds in France. Maybe it was because we spent so much time in the countryside, but I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. We shot a few videos so you can hear it for yourself.

Hmmm. Dinner. I have good memories of this meal. Because of our poor dining experience in Amboise the night before, we decided to try out our own hotel's menu as it had been written up on our guidebook. It still amazes me how such small places can come up with incredible, multi-course meals. Not only was the food amazing, but so was the ambiance. We ate in a large open-air gazebo overlooking the pond/fountain featured in the video above. AND, check out the colors of the decor/chair coverings (oh and my handsome hubby's shirt)!! How perfect!

The whole menu was in French and our waiter didn't speak a lick of English. Graham was super weirded out by him as he just seemed to hover awkwardly nearby. I think he just wasn't used to people taking so incredibly long to make up their mind about what they wanted. Not understanding the menu along with indecisiveness was an almost lethal combination. I had read that the French place their orders very quickly when dining out and sometimes get frustrated with slow Americans so I was more relaxed about it and figured it was a cultural difference. Thankfully, our waiter wasn't frustrated, he just stayed very close until we gave him our order.

In France, the "Entree" is actually the starter which makes a lot of sense if you ask me. Graham ordered a rabbit terrine (pictured above) that came with some random accoutrements. I had a green salad with mushrooms that were stuffed with fresh, creamy goat cheese.

Both of our main dishes made it in our Top 5 food favorites. Graham had delicious lamb with honey sauce-it was so tender! I had beef with foie gras sauce that was also super tasty. We let Isla eat the steak and she loved it and kept wanting more. I'm pretty sure she ate half of my steak! I had to wonder if fellow diners thought we were "wasting" gourmet food on our baby as it felt like people were looking at us funny. We had a hard time deciding what wine to try and finally decided on one that we didn't recognize with a name similar to "champagne." We assumed we'd be drinking bubbly but it turned out to be a Cabernet which we were happy about as it paired wonderfully with our meaty meals. Again, I couldn't get over how different it was from American cabs but I really liked it. Graham had ordered Brioche bread pudding with ice cream for dessert but our waiter brought him wine poached pear which was the one dessert on the menu he didn't want. He was really hesitant to tell the waiter since he freaked him out so much but finally did when I mentioned that we'd never see him again. :) I had a yummy apple tart, a regional specialty.

This was one of the few restaurants we ate in that had a high chair. The chair didn't have a safety belt but it did have a nifty built-in wooden bead toy that kept Isla entertained for a while. Just as she started to get bored, the hotel dog showed up and became very interested in her (or maybe it was all the food beneath her that she'd been dropping) which provided in a great distraction while Graham and I enjoyed our leisurely meal.

Isla closed out the meal by working on her French kissing skills.

It was so nice to be able to just walk back to our room after we finished eating. I had brought a book of food memoirs by Ruth Reichl that I ended up reading aloud to Graham. We'd read a couple books aloud to each other in the past but it had been a long while. It felt so good to have the time and energy to do it again.

44 Weeks

Isla is learning so many new things so quickly. I feel like she's growing up so fast!

This week she has figured out how to point. She loves pointing at pictures on the fridge or at people in hopes that they will point back and maybe even touch her finger.

She tried blueberries and grapes for the first time this week.

Isla continues to be quite clingy, particularly with me. She is fine with strangers or other family members when she is well-rested, but when tired, she shys away a bit and hides her face. I wondered how she would do in the nursery on Sunday given this new development but she did just fine.

Isla's night time sleep has been so wonderful this week. For 3 of the past 4 nights, she has slept through the entire night. THE ENTIRE NIGHT!! From 7:30 or 8 PM to 7 AM or later. It has been a huge, much-needed blessing. I'm thinking we completely screwed up her sleep schedule for the better by changing times zones twice so now she is going down a little later which means her long stretch of sleep coincides better with mine (i.e. cutting out the 5 AM business).


HOWEVER, her napping is another story that is really taking its toll on me. I think the trouble with naps has been going on for 4 months or so now and I've decided I have to try something for sanity's sake. She cries every time she goes down and then, when she finally falls asleep, she only stays that way for 20 minutes and then wakes up crabby and tired. We repeat this cycle 3-4 times a day because she just never seems to sleep long enough to keep her awake and cheerful and she fusses and rubs her eyes. Thanks to the advice of friends, we are going to see what she does on a 10 AM and 2 AM nap schedule. So far she has cried and cried, slept for 20 and then cried and cried. I think what we're going to have to do is let her cry again until she falls asleep again after her first 20 minute stretch until she falls into a pattern. Ugg, it's already been a hard week and I think it will get rougher!


Isla LOVES walking around hanging onto fingers but be careful, once you offer her your fingers, don't expect to get them back for at least 20 minutes! She could walk and walk and walk and never grow weary and will throw a fit if you take your hands away from her. Her Grandma W taught her to walk and kick a ball last Thursday-perfect timing given that 'tis the World Cup season.

I caught Isla bopping to some music on her own today. Usually she will copy when she sees others dancing, but this time she initiated it all by herself which was pretty cute.

Another new development today is that Isla starting arching her back and trying to flail out of your arms when she is done being held. It's an odd combo with her clingy-ness as she'll want up then down, up then down.

Isla is really into tearing things now. At first she just tore paper and napkins into little pieces but now she also tries to eat them so I have to be careful not to leave anything out.

We are finally beginning to babyproof. Ugg. Why didn't I do this sooner!? I did a good majority of the rearranging when I was home alone with Isla and I almost feel like it did more harm than good as she now knows all the cupboards that she really wants to get into. :)

Now that Isla is crawling, it is so adorable to watch her when Graham comes home from work. Her faces lights up and she squeels and makes a beeline for the door. She loves him to pieces!

Day 4 - To the Loire Valley

I woke up feeling so amazing. This began what turned out to be the best week of sleep EVER for Isla which made for a very happy mommy. We managed to alter her bedtime on our trip so that she more or less went down for the night when we did. That way, we were able to stay out later AND, even better, I got longer stretches of sleep. Anyway, she slept through the entire night from midnight to 9 AM. We checked out of our hotel and grabbed a ham and cheese croissant and a chocolate crossiant (pain chocolat) and then sat down for our daily cafe au lait outside on Rue Cler. What a life!

We made another long, hot trek back to Les Invalides where we were to pick up our rental car. It probably was about 90 degrees and I was loving it. We got to the Hertz branch just before they took their 2 hour lunch break. Phew! After lots of instructions, we were handed the car keys and told to go walk and pick up the car in a parking garage a few blocks away. It was an odd system because we found the parking garage basically deserted with absolutely no one to direct us (we'd intentionally chosen an in-city branch to avoid extra fees charged when you pick up at airports and train stations). But we found a car parked in the spot with the number we'd been assigned and the key fit so we took it! It took us a long time to figure out how to open the hatchback but we got it eventually.

Can I just say that I am SO glad they charge extra to add a 2nd driver when renting a car? There is NO WAY I would have driven in Paris and I was glad to have an excuse not to be able to because, let me tell you, their driving is insane! The drive so close together and don't seem to follow any sort of traffic rules. Meanwhile, scooters apparently have the right of way and just speed around and between you, expecting you to move over for them (they beep at you if you don't get out of their way). As we drove, we listened to the sound of the Parisian sirens that were going off constantly, just like in the Bourne Identity movies. :) There was a lot of traffic leaving the city which actually worked in our favor because it slowed the locals down a bit and allowed us to merge more easily when we realized we were in a turn-only lane but wanted to go straight. Before our trip, I'd printed off point-to-point Google maps to get us from one hotel to the next. Each one had at least 30 steps and so they were a bit intimidating. They worked for the most part but we found the directions in Paris to be a bit vague. But thankfully we ended up going the right way and didn't even have to turn around once!

Our destination was the city of Amboise, right in the heart of the Loire Valley, in the region of castles and chateaus. We stopped for a picnic of tomato and mozzarella cheese baguette at one of the rest stops along the autoroute. Then we hit our first of many, many toll booths. We'd been warned by our guidebook to anticipate about $900 per person to drive for 3 weeks in France (including the rental, gas and hefty tolls). I thought that was a crazy figure and assumed we could do better. And although I think we succeeded at doing that, we were still alarmed by the cost of taking the toll roads (the side roads would have added hours upon hours to our drives). Anyway, after sweating bullets as the line built up behind us as our credit cards were rejected, we finally fed the machine the only cash we had, a 50 euro bill (even though it said it didn't take currency that large). It worked! We received a huge pile of coins in change but we were able to pass through.

We drove through beautiful countryside and arrived at our super cute lodging, Hostellerie du Chateau de l'Isle, about a 10 minute drive outside of Amboise. The entrance to our room was the first door you see on the left wing.

Isla was happy to be out of her carseat and able to explore the room.

Our drive had taken longer than anticipated and it was about 5 PM so we headed into Amboise to explore and find some dinner. We wandered the streets of the small town and then selected Chez Bruno, a Rick Steves cafe recommendation. Graham ordered turkey with spaghetti and cream sauce (which Isla got to try) and a glass of cab/gamay blend. I had a salad that supposedly came with "bacon" (turned out to be ham), andouille sausage and rillette (a French whipped pork specialty). I don't know if I have ever tasted anything so nasty in my life. The sausage smelled like poo and probably tasted similarly too if I could say with confidence that I knew what poo tasted like. It makes me feel sick even thinking about it now. At least the sparkling brut blanc I drank was good. It was still really hot out and I'd mistakenly chosen to eat outside because I thought that was what Graham wanted. There was no breeze to be had, we were sweaty, the sun was in my eyes, there were little knats swarming around us, Isla wanted food NOW and my food tasted like poo-not a good meal! Thankfully, this was an isolated experience. We tried to forget about our yucky meal and took a walk across the Cher River to see the full view of the Chateau d'Amboise. The lighting was perfect so it looked like it was glowing!

Isla was pretty pleased to be out of her stroller and able to flab those limbs.

The driver and his lovely blue Peugot. It's crazy because everyone drives hatchbacks and this car was pretty much the biggest on the road (I don't think I saw any mini vans and there certainly were no suburbans). I would totally get one of these as my "Mom" car over here if they had them.  

The sunset over the Cher.

Day 3 - Paris, I Love You

I love, love, LOVED Paris. Like seriously, I'm not sure I've ever liked a city more. You probably aren't shocked, but I was. I assumed I wouldn't really like it as I'm not really a big city girl. I didn't care for Rome so I thought I'd feel similarly about Paris. Oh man was I wrong. Honestly, it was probably the first time I've visited another city and really truly thought, "I could live here." Don't worry, I have no such plans at present other than to make a return visit someday.

Day 3 got off to a late start after our long night with Isla but we managed to cram in most of the major sites given that this was our only full day in Paris. I don't think we made it out onto the street until around 10 AM. Bleary-eyed Isla was not sure what time it was but she was in a good mood, though unordinarily quiet.

We were greeted again by warm sunshine which led us to grab breakfast from our local Patisserie (pastry shop) and eat at an patio table at Cafe du Marche. This street is far too cute!

Graham had a chocolate almond pastry and I had a sweet crepe. We both ordered a cafe au lait (coffee with hot milk) which I must say is TO DIE FOR. I am so hooked (we are currently looking into espresso machines that will make similar cups of coffee if that tells you anything).

The weather was so lovely that following our breakfast, we returned to the hotel to change. Our trusty companion Rick Steves recommended taking bus #69 from Rue Cler to get a much cheaper above-the-ground tour of the big Paris landmarks. We had a bit of a hard time locating the bus stop but then spotted the bus as it sped by us. We ran for it and made it on, only to enter through the back door which is apparently a big no-no (Graham received a stern look and a mouthful of French when he went to the front of the bus to pay the driver). Oops! We admired the beautiful sites from the bus window and then exited when we reached the Seine River and took a stroll until we reached Notre Dame.

Such an ornate church! It looked very different from each different angle (and personally I liked the front the least which is what is pictured). It wasn't at all what I expected given that my only prior to exposure to the church was courtesy of Disney's cartoon movie. I didn't get to see the Hunchback but was pleased to see the gargoyles really did exist. We had downloaded Mr. Steve's self-guided Paris walk on Graham's I Touch which included a detailed description of Notre Dame so that was very enlightening. I'm sure we were quite the sight as we walked around, pushing the stroller, each with one earbud in our ear (and therefore quite literally inseparable!) The support beams inside and the stained glass were most striking to us. And we were priviledged enough to be there as a mass was taking place so heard the organ play which was powerful!

We continued our "guided" walk through Latin Quarter where we saw some crazy streets, one with houses leaning every which way, and another with the skinniest building in Paris (only 2 windows wide). I would like to spend more time in the Latin Quarter next trip as it seemed quite fun. We grabbed a prosciutto (jambon) and cheese crepe to-go from a little stand continued on our merry way. It's amazing that something so simple can taste so amazing. Meanwhile, Isla discovered a new sleeping position...

Next we made the trek to the Louvre where we met fellow North American travelers who were took one of the very few non-self-portrait-group-shots of the three of us. It was Isla's cute pink jelly sandals that first drew their attention to us. Everyone in France loved them (see pic of her sleeping above)! I was beginning to wish I'd bought 20 pairs to sell over here as I would have made bank (apparently Old Navy fashion flies in Paris!) 

Isla enjoyed a picnic on the Louvre steps since she'd slept through our crepe lunch. We had a great system down for her meals and had what we called the "Feeding Bag" that went with us where ever we went. It contained her bib, bowl, cheerios and a little necklace box filled with utensils, including a pairing knife for cutting fruit. It worked so well! However, as we went to enter the Louvre and realized our bag would have to go through the x-ray belt, I started to question my brilliance in packing a knife. I thought for sure it'd be confiscated, but they didn't even bat an eye! Doesn't that make you feel so safe? If they aren't stopping people with knives, then who are they stopping? Probably those dangerous people carrying 5 oz tubes of toothpaste...

We more or less whizzed our way through the enormous Louvre, focusing primarily on the most famous pieces (da Vinci and Vermeer). I was quite excited to see the Mona Lisa but it definitely is much smaller than you imagine (thankfully, I'd been warned). It doesn't help that it hangs solo on a huge, blank wall. Isla really enjoyed the Louvre as well. She was tickled pink by the Mona Lisa.

But her favorite part was when we let her roll around on the museum floor...I mean, a girl's gotta get out and stretch!

We rested our weary legs and took the very hot and crowded (think I'm gonna pass out from claustrophobia crowded) metro to the Arc de Triomphe. We debated whether or not to pay to go up to the top but I'm really glad we did. They gave us a special pass to use the elevator since we had the stroller. Unfortunately, there was some sort of ceremony (it looked like a funeral) taking place underneath the arc and so they had police surrounding it and wouldn't let anyone pass over to the other side which was where the elevator was. We tried to go around the thing and a policeman pounced on us, holding up his arms in an "X" and telling us to stop. We showed him the special pass we were given for the elevator and told him that we were instructed to go that way but he wouldn't budge. The stupid thing was that while he was busy keeping up from crossing over, swarms of people behind him were crossing freely over to our side. Finally, after we told the ticket sellers that he wouldn't let us get to the elevator, they sent an escort for us who put that cop in his place. It would have been one thing if it was really a funeral for a very important person (as it appeared), but we later found out that it was some daily ceremony that they do...

The view from the top was amazing as the Arc is located smack dab in the middle of the biggest roundabout I have ever seen. There were probably at least 10, tree-lined streets converging into this one circle, creating what looking like a round sun with its rays (the 10 roads) streaming off of it. The view of the city was awesome.

Isla was quite intrigued by what she saw. Do you want to know what captured her attention?

THIS! Absolutely, positively the most insane merging of traffic I have even laid eyes upon. And this documents only 1 of the 10 roads that flowed onto the giant roundabout! I don't know how we didn't witness any accidents! Look closely at the picture and you'll see scooters weaving in and out in the tiny spaces between cars. This in and of itself was worth the fee we paid to go up the tower.

Our last stop of the day was Sacre Coeur, a beautiful white church up on a hill overlooking the city. We intentionally made it our final destination as we wanted to see Paris at night. The hillside leading up to the church was covered with partying, drinking teenagers which really ruined the scene for me. This was the only place we visited in Paris that felt like it could be dangerous to me. There were a bunch of guys selling cheap-o souvenirs who approached Graham. They were selling some little finger trap or something and wanted to tie his arm up as a part of their gimmick. Graham wasn't about to let him but the guy kept pushing himself on Graham, trying to grab his arm. Finally Graham gave him a little shove because he wouldn't back off. The guy started yelling "Hey now, don't push me!" or something like that and I was sure there was going to be fight. But we walked off as fast as we could, hanging tightly to our backpack and camera, and they left us alone.

We wandered down the hill from the church to a cafe recommended by Rick Steves for dinner. Graham ordered veal with mushrooms and rice with a cream sauce that made it on the Top-Five-Foods-He-Ate-While-In-France list. I again had the most amazing salad. If only I could figure out what it was I was eating! The menu listed it as a salad with goat cheese, figs and a "girdle cake." Yum. I love girdle cakes! Maybe they meant griddle cake? Still, I'm not sure what a griddle cake is. Whatever it was, it was good! The goat cheese was served with these small pink berries/seeds of some sort sprinkled over top. Isla got to try her first veal and figs and enjoyed them both.

The view of the tower after dinner.

Okay, I lied. We made one more stop for ice cream on Rue Cler before retiring for the night. We ordered a dish with 2 kinds of chocolate, tiramisu and coconut to share. I don't know what they do to their ice cream in France but it is MUCH better than ours! We arrived back at our hotel room to discover it was almost midnight. What a full day!

Under Construction

Please pardon the mess....I am in the process of re-designing my blog. Forgive the simplicity of the title until further notice. Thanks.

Day 2 - Welcome to Paris

So we landed in Paris at about noon (which was 3 AM Seattle time). Literally just before leaving our house in Kirkland, as Graham viewed the final luggage count, we decided to go ahead and fork over the extra $$ and reserve a ride on our hotel's shuttle (rather than try and squeeze ourselves and all our luggage on what we were told was a very crowded metro). This was a great relief to me as my biggest worry for the entire trip had been how we would makes these transfers with all of our luggage until we picked up our car. Anyway, because we'd "reserved" the shuttle at the very last minute, we weren't sure whether or not we could count on it being there to pick us up. And because we lacked internet access, we were unable to check our e-mail to see if they'd responded to our reservation, letting us know when/where they would fetch us.

We deplaned and thankfully all our luggage made the trek safely and the checked items were pretty much the first off the belt (for the curious minds, we had a backpack, one large suitcase, one small suitcase, a fabulous craigslist umbrella stroller, and Isla's carseat/base which we decided to bring at the last minute). We figured our best bet was to go to the hotel shuttle section of the airport and just hope we had a ride awaiting. But alas, our hotel name was not listed under the shuttles that came through the loop so we moved onto plan B which was to ask the information desk if they knew where we could catch the shuttle to the Hotel Grand Leveque. The lady behind the desk was less than helpful, telling us that our hotel did not have a shuttle (I think we were experiencing some language barrier issues). Plan C involved an attempt at calling our hotel to see if they'd sent the shuttle for us. This plan proved be be enormously difficult as we could not figure out how to work the pay phone, let alone how many numbers we were expected to press (Do they use area codes over here? Is there such thing as long distance? Do we need to dial 9 first? etc etc). We tried many combinations of our hotel's number but were unsuccessful. So we opted to go with our original plan which was to brave the metro.

I wore Isla in the front pack, slung the carseat/base in it's handy dandy carrier bag onto the stroller and hung the backpack from the stroller handles. Graham somehow managed to lug the 2 suitcases which thankfully had wheels. Because the airport was the first stop on this metro line, we were prematurely reassured that "This won't be so bad." Wrong. Really though, it wasn't horrible. It's just that at one stop, what seemed like an entire campus of highschoolers filled the train to the brim and they didn't show signs of getting off anytime soon to ease our exit. We were trapped, pretty much as far away from the door as we could possibly be. Just when we thought no one else could possibly fit on, another 10 people crammed their way in. Somehow, and honestly I'm not quite sure how, we were able to force our way off at our stop, with all our luggage in tow. Phew! One metro down but unfortunately now we had to figure out how to transfer to the next one. We literally stepped onto the platform just as what were pretty sure was our train pulled up. We ran and tried to jump aboard but this train was higher than the other and I needed Graham's help to get the stroller up the steps. The doors started closing on the stroller (with Graham still on the platform!!) but some kind souls came running to the rescue to pry the doors open and get myself Graham on. I was beginning to see why Rick Steves recommended "families with a lot of luggage should take a shuttle." Oh well, it's all a part of the adventure. And yes, we did jump on the right train.

Our last hurdle was to trek to our hotel. We emerged from the metro smack dab in the middle of the gigantic Les Invalides, a large complex of beautifully ornate buildings from around the 1600s separated by a lovely green mall of grass. Straight ahead, we spotted the Eiffel Tower. We were in awe. We were in Paris!

It was gloriously sunny which meant Graham's idea of wearing his extra layers (long sleeve shirt and fleece) to save space was probably not the greatest. It was close to 90 degrees so our walk to the hotel was long and HOT. We chose to stay in a really cute area called Rue Cler, a neighborhood within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower. We loved it! Our hotel was on a pedestrian only street which sported it's own small fruit market, cheese monger, meat shop, bakery and many cafes with outdoor seating. Our room must have been the smallest in the entire hotel. It got even smaller when the baby cot (pack n' play) was added.

Our cute hotel.

Our "home sweet home," Rue Cler

After checking in at our hotel, Graham took a quick shower while I made the mistake of laying down on the bed. I didn't quite fall asleep but I most certainly lost my momentum. Isla was wired at this point, how I'm not quite sure. We had made reservations to go up the Eiffel Tower at 4:30 PM to keep ourselves busy (and awake!) until bedtime to ease time zone transition. We headed out, admiring all of the buildings along the way.

Even the apartment buildings were beautiful and ornate with their wrought iron railings.

And then of course the iconic Parisian tower came into view.

If you ever plan to go up the Eiffel Tower, I highly recommend you make reservations. We waited a mere 10 minutes to go up, thankful NOT to be in the seemingly-endless line of people without reservations. We opted to only go to the 2nd deck as it was increasingly more expensive the higher you go up. You would be surprised how high up that second deck feels, even though it is only about 1/3 of the way up. The elevator ride took a while and it felt like we were really high so I thought for a bit that we got a free ride all the way to the top! The view was amazing with all of Paris spread out before us. It is such a huge city!

Isla seemed to enjoy being up so high and made Graham really nervous as she grabbed the wires and leaned out to admire the view.

By this point, I was really starting to fade. Nausea from my exhaustion had set in and I was ready for dinner and an early bedtime. Graham, on the other hand, kept talking about seeing this museum and that museum and taking the bus here and there to see the city at night. But after seeing the glazed over look on my face, he agreed dinner was in order.

We headed back to Rue Cler where we ate at the cornerside Cafe du Marche. Graham ordered fried duck (which we let Isla try) with potatoes and I had what seemed like everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salad (greens, prosciutto, foie gras pate, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, couscous and raisins). It sounds really bizarre but I loved it and wish I could even begin to replicate it. We sipped Bordeaux and visited with the fellow Rick Steves travelers at the table next to us.

We were in bed by 8 PM. In bed, but not asleep. Isla cried for about 3 hours on and off. We had downloaded her Baby Einsteins CD on Graham's I Touch so that played throughout the night. We took turns holding her and rocking her and trying to get her to fall asleep. She is such a light sleeper! If one of us even slightly changed positions and made the sheets russle, a whole new set of cries would commence. She finally fell asleep at about 11 PM only to awaken again at 2:45 AM. But then she slept for a 6 hour stretch until 8:40 AM which made us so grateful. If that was the worst of it, we could do this!

43 Weeks

For those of you wondering if these weekly posts are going to end, I've officially decided to continue for 2 more months (until Isla turns 1). Since time for blogging is hard to find these days, and I seem to only be able to write but once a week, I'd like to diversity my subjects a bit since it was never my intention to have a baby-only blog. :) It has been amazing to me to look at Isla's life week by week though. I always think, "This week will be a short post" but then when I sit down to write, I realize just how much she's learned in seven days time.

Now on to the topic of interest...I think I already mentioned that Isla grew obsessed with French bread on our trip. At the beginning of the trip, we were ripping the bread into pieces but toward the end of the trip, we let her have a big chunk. She figured out how to clamp on with her gums and tear off pieces herself and she could do it really quickly (so much for using bread as a mealtime distraction)!

She pulled herself up to a standing position for first time on a stair at a restaurant (on 6/16). I think she would have done it a lot earlier except for the fact that we don't really have furniture low enough for her to reach at home.

I can count on one hand the number of times there was a highchair for Isla to sit in on our trip. She must have gained some arm strength this week because she also figured out how to reach up and pull on the head rest and turn completely around to what would have been a standing position in the chair if we didn't grab her first (French high chairs don't have straps...)

Isla became an efficient crawler this week and cruised around our hotel rooms and under the bed. For some reason she always made a bee-line for the bathroom whenever we set her down. Gross.

Her new favorite game this week is having her Daddy chase her. We accidently discovered this when I was carrying her in the backpack and Graham was behind us. He wasn't intentionally coming after her but she looked back, saw him, and starting squealing and burying her head into my back in attempts to "get away." So it began. I've never heard her laugh so hard! (Graham's making a guest appearance in this post as Isla is having some very clingy days of jet lag and refuses to be put down for more than a second).

We coined a new term this week and decided that Isla is what we call "spacially challenged." I know some degree of this is normal, but she appears to have no concept of space. For instance, she'll try to crawl right off the bed and do a nose dive toward the floor. Or she'll be at the table eating and reach repeatedly in the same direction, each time bonking her forehead on the table. Sometimes she'll also run into walls repeatedly when crawling. I'm sure she'll grasp it all eventually but it sure cracks us up now (until she does actually manage to fall off the bed...)

Something really happened to Isla this week. It was like BAM, her personality erupted out of nowhere. Long gone is quiet little Isla who would sit happily in your lap playing as long as you gave her attention. Now she is loud, loud, LOUD! She'll make constant noises and humming (sometimes whining) sounds, particularly during meals, for up to a half hour at a time. She also likes to make these sounds anytime she hears we are having a conversation. I think she wants to be a part!

Isla has really got her wave skills figured out. It was like a parade boarding and deplaning the airplane on our trip home. She waved at everyone and did whatever she could to capture the attention of strangers. She is such a joy and boy does she make us LAUGH!