Yesterday was another good day overall. We got up late, Lionel got us breakfast again, and we then got ready for the day. We knew it would be hot and sunny once again, so unlike the previous day I decided not to risk it and put sunscreen on me and the girls. By the time we got out of the house it was 11:00am already, and we knew we had to be back by 6:00pm to take a shower and get ready for Lionel's grandma's dinner. So we did not want to get too ambitious with our itinerary. I just wanted to go to Notre-Dame, and the Eiffel tower.
Bella was not too happy to have to walk yet again, so we had to start the day with me carrying her. "You walk two minutes, and I carry you two minutes, I told her", that was our deal for the day. We first walked to Notre-Dame, as that was the closest to us. I didn't really have any intentions of going in since I fully expected it would be packed, which it was, but I wanted the girls to see it at least from the outside. What I didn't expect, and neither did Lionel, was the awful "bleachers" they built right in front of it, so tourists can sit of them. It appears they built them for some anniversary celebrations, but they never took them down. I personally think they look awful and tacky, and I hope that they take them down.
After Notre-Dame we headed to the Eiffel tower, which turned out to be a little adventure in itself because the city train to get there is being repaired. But we figured it out, and eventually made it there. By then the kids were hungry, so we had lunch first. Unfortunately around there all restaurants are very touristic, so as one might expect we had an overpriced lunch. The girls had a nutella crepe - yet again - and sadly some of it ended up on my white shirt. So I had to turn it inside out for the rest of the day, which was ok. The labels on the back and the side were sticking out, but I don't think it will be that obvious in pictures. We didn't try to go to the top of the tower because there is always a wait, which is not a good thing with kids, and Lionel and I had done it before. So we focused our energies on trying to get at least one good picture of the girls. There was also a small playground where the girls played for a little while, while Lionel and I sat on a bench in the shade.
From the Eiffel tower we headed back to Lionel's uncle's apartment, where they were getting ready for the party. The girls played around for a little bit, and I fell asleep on the couch for a few minutes. We then came back to our apartment to take showers, and head right back to the party.
At the party I finally met Benoir, one of Lionel's cousins who I had heard a lot about, but had never seen face to face before. He was nice and turns out we are the same age. There were also a lot of other (older) people I have never met before, but apparently on that one I was not alone. They were either relatives of Philippe, or relatives of relatives, but it was difficult to keep track. I was nice and smiled at everybody, but I was also quiet. I could only basic conversations with people, so it is not that I didn't want to talk, I just couldn't keep track of everything they were saying. So I just did the best of it. The kids, in the meantime, were playing together even though the French cousins had no idea what Sofia and Bella were saying. Bella was exhausted but she didn't want to sleep, she just wanted to keep playing while we were there. By 11:00pm we finally made it to bed, and luckily this time around there was no meltdown related to who got to sleep with me.
Today we get to have breakfast and lunch in Paris, but after that we are packing out stuff and taking the train to Avignon where we will spend the week in a rental house with Lionel's brother and his family. That is supposed to be the relaxing leg of the trip, so let's hope it turns out that way. We have never met his kids, it has been over 5 years since we last saw Thierry, and over 9 years since we last saw his wife. So needless to say, we are not at all familiar with each other. So being all together in a house for a full week could be a great thing, or we could end up driving each other crazy.
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