Paris, par two.

We woke up at eight and were out the door by 9:30 up. Packed. And in a cab. zipping through Paris on the way to the Louvre. We were in the line and inside by quarter to ten. Tickets in hand we peeled out to see the Mona Lisa. Stunning as always. It's been twenty (or so) years since I've seen her and she's aged well. Much better than myself. :(

Anyhow, le grande dame checked off, we hit some other high lights.


First had to find them. Consulted the map, conferred with the cherubs and we had a plan.


Egyptian wing. Did it.


Lady with no arms.. Check (p.s. She has plumbers butt in back).


See-Hilarious. Bet she wishes she had her arms back just to hitch up her sheet.





P had beignets at the cafe, she's a French food convert. "can I have crepes and donuts for lunch!" um. No.

By noon we had zoomed through. We learned yesterday that if you took a minute to look at each work of art in the Louvre, you would still be there four months later. Hopefully, the girls will remember the whirl wind trip. There is so much more we missed, but honestly, I truly didn't love Paris last time - and I think I've left on much better terms, still not love, but much less disdain.

The Eurostar Chunnel train was really a fun way to travel. We had a four top table big enough for the girls sticker books and our coffee. Two hours from Gard du Nord to the Kings Cross station. We were beat so we cabbed home. Our driver had four kids at home so he was a great source of checking to see that we've see quite a bit of his city. Good to know we've done a good job.

We've also decided we're going to take a "big red bus" tour of San Francisco. It's been too long since we've been tourists in our own city, could be fun..Who's coming along?

Paris

Caught the Eurostar train from Kings Cross station. On board at 9am and in Paris two hours later at Gard du Nord (lost an hour due to time differences). Arrived at the hotel and shucked our bags down the street and around the corner..





Smack into the Arc de Triomphe. Walked under the street and all around. Everywhere there are signs warning about pick pockets. Dennis untucked his shirt and put everything in his front pockets. I had my money belt and €20 in my purse. Off we trekked.

We had a mission: to see the Eiffel Tower. O when she was three made Dennis "pinky swear" that he would one day take her to see it. After getting our bearings off we peeled down the street complete with the P's sound track of "it's hot" follow by "how much further" and my personal favorite "WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BE THERE". Put those with a wicked back beat and you have the Jeske traveling sound track. .

We were almost there when we were side tracked by a fantastic street market that I made everyone march through. Cheese, fish, dresses, table clothes.. Fabulous smells and sights. I could have stayed all day but they were closing up shop.








We passed over the pedestrian bridge with an amazing view. Ten minutes later we'd arrived at the tower.

But first we had to have lunch. P can now decipher the word "crepe" and there was no stopping her. We had crepes with cheese and one with nutella. Can you guess which one they ate? Fortified we ventured to the base.





Thirty minutes later (we're a little slow on the uptake) we were in line. Purchased tickets to the top. Didn't realize how far up that sucker goes. One elevator up to the second observation balcony. The onward all the way up. I'm not a fan of heights, nor old elevators. Plus the crush of humanity and the only way I'm up there is because Dennis shamed me with "its for your kids".

Top was nice, terra firma was much better. We stopped to buy Eiffel Tower key chains that light up for the girls back packs. There are signs all around and street vendors selling all sorts of souvineers -the police bike through chasing them off like pigeons, but they seem to move ten feet and flock somewhere else.

We've had fantastic luck with boat cruises all this trip and the girls are always in favor of them so we headed for a Seine cruise. Great weather, good sights and beautiful bridges. Not half as pretty as an Amsterdam cruise but still lovely.

We cabbed home to the hotel to check in; it was already eight and we thought about room service, but 20€ a cheese pizza, we thought again. Headed out with a list of local eateries that don't shun kids. Found a spot at a local place called Clementine.





Paper hats, Pasta with butter, apple juice - can you say "happy children". We had a delicious meal with fried goat cheese and salad, ham and mashed potatoes. A couple of beers and "happy parents" as well.








Did I mention the chocolate cake? Apparently you have to make crazy eyes after you try it. It was 9:30 by the time we got out of there. The manager followed the kids out to hand the Candy Apples. As if they hadn't just consumed enough chocolate crack cake. The girls are 5' away as I type. The hotel left tiny bears on their beds. Tucked in they chorus like crickets "I can't sleep.. I can't sleep.." zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Goodnight from Paris.

Sarah

A serene day at home

Another day of sloth, I get it. The Bob that is a Sponge is entertaining. So I caved. We have a short list of 'must sees' left to do and have been running for a good month straight. So, sure, sit back lets put our feet up and hang out.

Not. How. It. Went.

From the start both were in there underpants surrounded by their stuffed animals zombied to the point of drool. I fed them thinking that might get them off the couch.

It did- just with the volume turned up so they could hear the show from the other room. I made them get dressed during a commercial break. Oh the inhumanity! You would have thought I had asked for them to travel to Greece to slay and retrieve the head of Medusa. I felt like I had after getting them in pants.

It's a damn shame that it's not socially acceptable to drink Guiness in the morning as it might have made the day tolerable. From that point I picked up my book and tried ignoring them for a bit.

I'm not proud to say I let them O.D. on TV. Then on to their leapsters and back. Breaks for sandwiches and drinks.

Around two the TV was turned off and the snipping began:
"you can't be in my club", (a blanket set on the floor) met with
"you can't be any of my sticker girls" and degraded from there. At one point it was pointed out that the others hair was a "disaster" tears fell. I judiciously left the room with my book and tried to hide, thinking maybe they could work it out themselves. (Stop, I can hear you laughing from here.)

Unfortunately, I had one chapter left; shortly finished it and was forced to come back and actually parent before they drew blood.

Here's my confession. I was raised with boys. If insults were exchanged couple of WWF type moves or a slap upside the head and one left the room. The end.

Girls, wow, my girls can go on and on.. snarky, snarling about the others insecurities -real or imagined. Part of me wants to use the "both of you come here" and knock their craniums together with a satisfying 'thump'. The other part wants them just to freaking get along without me wearing a striped jersey and a whistle. Are eight and six too young for boarding school?

Not sure I've mentioned that the rooms have long windows from the upstairs bedrooms so you can hear everything from the down stairs. It's like even when they're out of view, we can still hear them. (I'm pretty sure it's the basis for M. Night Shyamalan's next flick.)

Love my kids but they're exhausting me. Being around them 24/7 for the past month is taking it's toll. We've hiked, we seen the sights, we've crafted and stickered. Pretty sure they're tired of me too.

Was thrilled when Dennis walked through the door. Pretty sure I was cheering loudest.

Hopefully, tomorrow, looking at another day of the same they might choose to get out into the sunshine -honestly they'll have no choice, I'm out of books.

Natural History Redux

Perhaps you remember the "lip heard round the world" when O found out the dinosaur wing of the Natural History Museum was closed. Today we went back.

Late start because Sponge Bob was having a marathon.

Now, I'm the first to admit, Sponge Bob is not my favorite cartoon. You might even go further and say "gee Sarah, didn't you say you hate him with the burning intensity of a thousand suns?" Yes, yes I did. "What happened?" you ask. It's one of four tv channels we get and Noni said it was okay.


All I can say is I can't wait to get home. They can sleep in their own beds, I can wean them off gelato and jolly ranchers and purge their mind of the Sponge named Bob..

I digress.

So we ping up to the museum taking the train to a new tube stop. Pop up twenty feet from the museum. And walk up to a line that is three times as long as last week. Down the front, zigzagged around the lawns. All we wanted to see are the dinosaurs. P's reaction "who are all these people". First time we've seen kids O's age. But it moved fast.

Might I comment (again) on personal space? If you can see my freckles on the back of my neck and I can feel your creepy moist breath -you're too freaking close. If your child keeps whacking me with their stuffed animal and I happen to turn around and look at you on your cell phone, feign interest at my annoyance and at least mouth an apology- goodness knows I've had to multiple times in the past. If you come from a country that doesn't 'line up' yes, I'm trying to tell you something when I link hands with my children and not let you push past.

I will now take off my cranky pants.

We were in the museum saw all the dinosaur stuff. It was fantastic. Lots of bones, a great animatronic t-Rex. There's not much really else to say, but I'm not the Dino fan.. And for the record we did see a Gallimimus fossil. Spoiler alert, looks like a big chicken, with a tail.

We peeled out maybe thirty minutes after we arrived. Had carmel gelato on the grass while I soothed my nerves with a latte.

We walked thirty feet to the Science Museum. You could feel the air vibrate with child glee. We headed to the IMAX counter to see what was playing, I thought a space adventure sounded good but was shot down for orphaned elephants and orangutans. That settled we went to get lunch. (yes, the sequence is correct, gelato then lunch) Between juggling three plates and drinks I had no energy to assess the lunches until we got to the table. Fries, pizza, cheese sandwich, yogurt, two desserts, two different apple juices.. > than stellar.



Oh.. And the dinosaur? Let me go back..thirty or so years.. My mom purchased a 'dinosaur stick' (basically a dinosaur head that you can manipulate its jaws with a trigger control.. on a stick) for a 4 year old Pete that he traumatized unsuspecting airline passengers, waitresses and NYC pigeons. We found a replacement and had a great time with him all day. Oh, and he likes fries.


And pizza.

Happy full cherubs.

We hit the IMAX, show was wonderful.





And the glasses..speak for themselves. Jackie O eat your heart out.

We walked out into a fantastic museum space with airplanes





Space crafts


Cars

And a huge room much like that of the Exploratorium. We caught an explosive show for kids that was perfect. Freaked out enough to keep checking on me and yet thrilled that things kept blowing up. At one point the performer had Barbie stuffed in a cannon giving the audience a choice of chanting "fly Barbie fly" or "die Barbie die". Unfortunately, the cannon didn't light. :( <-- my very sad face.

We walked through the floors all over again and into the gift store, overwhelmed by the choices the kids were paralyzed. I was loosing my mind. So much so temporary insanity took over and P was allowed to buy a flute. The only saving grace is that it has to be filled with water and therefore can only be used in the tub.

By five thirty we were over done, but mission accomplished showing P all museums aren't boring.

We coordinated with Dennis to meet in Richmond for dinner. Hit a book store (P picked up her eighth sticker book) and asked the clerk for a child friendly place. Giraffe Cafe complete with plastic giraffe's hanging on the edge of the drinks. Perfect ending to a long day.

I haven't figured out tomorrow. But we'll let you know what we're up to ;)

Mas love,
Sarah

Sunday at Hampton Court Palace

After yesterday, we regrouped and decided to spend time at Hampton Court Palace. No rhyme or reason, it's just been recommended so much by all of you friends and family we had to go; and it was worth it.

We took the train to Clapham Junction and entered a warren of tunnels like hamster tubes. I am always amazed that in a 4' closet sized space someone is selling papers, candy and.. potholders. Up to the proper platform, then rerouted to another. The Hampton Court train was delayed but not by much. It arrived jam packed with tourists. Sat next to a woman from Pennsylvania, they were visiting three countries in two weeks. It was their last day in London. Said 'bye at the station and followed the crowds to the palace. Hers and ours are very different trips.

Red bricks and amazing iron and stone works all around. The palace is on the banks of the Thames and we hit it at a perfect day. Sun and mild temperatures. Dennis went to get tickets while the girls raced up and down the lawns. They acquired a couple of tiny French children who raced along side. You could tell the natives as they were half nekkid soaking up the rare bits of sunshine.

Sadly, I don't know enough about Henry the VIII but I do know not many (okay, one) of his wives survived (don't worry, I've bought books). We toured the kitchens, complete with a creepy pot of stew that was like a scratch and sniff -almost stew like, but with a touch of plastic smell.





The girls in front of the Tudor kitchen fires and plastic hunks of meat on spits.

We passed through Henry VIII as a child exhibit, the Georgian rooms, Mary II's rooms





Here are the girls are pitching me ideas on how to redecorate their bedrooms.

We slid into the cafe for some lunch







It's beef pie, sloshed with gravy. It was, okay. I'm starting to think gravy is on my list of "things the world could do with out"
1 gravy
2 Bo Derrick braids
3 Fox News

.. I could go on, but I'll spare you.

Then we walked the garden. First up the maze. I sent Dennis in with the two cherubs, they made it out before I could even read a chapter of my book.

Then off to the yards.. 300 year old trees, beautiful garden beds bursting with blooms.

















And a couple of fountains.

The girls saw a sign for 'carriage rides'. Now you hear that and think 'cinderella' or at least a NY type open carriage. Nope. Two amazing Clydesdale like horses pulling what looked like modified golf cart type vehicles.






The $16 ride took us about 15 minutes around the edge of the garden. Truly felt like a tourist.

By hour three attention was waning and we were ready to call it a day. The we ran into





Anne. P has declared this is who she wants to be for Halloween. Thank goodness I have a couple months. The hat alone would take me a month. Maybe I'll push for another year of 'rainbow puppy'.

We escaped and had ice cream. O and Dennis wanted to take a Thames cruise to Richmond while P was adamant she "just wanted to go home". We split up. P and I exploring the bus routes and got home in an hour. Dennis and O went on a leisurely two hour cruise up to Richmond. O navigated from there orientating from the Ben & Jerry's shop. If there was orienteering in an urban setting, I'd enter both my kids.

Oh and fresh from the P: "Mom, I'm pretty sure that thing on the front of his armor was for his penis". She was totally right, so I just nodded in agreement.

Home no worse for wear, I'm spending tomorrow going through ticket stubs and accumulated papers. Our table is full of bits of tickets, receipts and tags from all over. I'm hoping we can get them into the girls scrap books and pitch the rest.

But for now, it's the last chapter of "Indian in the Cupboard".

xo Sarah

PS: Remembered Deb's stealth photo taking advice.. Paused, looked like I was checking messages, sound off.. Click.





At the bus stop. Moccasins, horizontal ill fitting striped knit skirt (with roses) Fur purse. Her hair was cherry red with many Bobbi pins and a red bandanna. I'm sure her style came straight from the pages of French Vogue.

Snakes and Ladders

Yesterday we said goodbye to Noni and John. Spent the day doing laundry and picking up the house. Had time to pop out and visit the Lion and the Unicorn book store. P and O found new sandals. Not much to report.

Today Dennis and I and cherubs headed out to Syon Park. We'd heard good things about it from Dennis' office mates and our neighbors. And it's much closer than Princess Dianna's playground. Out we went with cloudy sky's and high hopes.

Quick bus trip and off we hopped down the road. Unfortunately we hopped off a stop too soon and entered the loooooong way around. Past Isleworth Cemetry, through the car park. After hiking a good mile (sorry you missed it Mom). We came to the Syon Park Waldorf Astoria and across the lane, the Syon Garden Center? Very odd combo. And the full on garden center had, a restaurant inside. Yes, to answer your question: of course we ate there. P and O had jam and butter sandwiches. They were in heaven. Had to go back for a second one for them.

We explored the garden centers aquatic center, £250 for a 15 lb koi. Beautiful plants and..


Um, and of course, frog fountains? If you can see his one foot is on the floor, and the other is protruding from the other side. Kind of endearing in a real creepy sort of way.

We continued on crossing our fingers for a playground of some sort. We came to find "Snakes and Ladders" a 'child's play place' that you reached by going down a winding dark lane following a brick wall and coming to, what looks like a huge abandoned garden shed. Bright sign out front, had to check it out.

We entered the maw of the beast, complete with teens dressed in primary colored uniforms, and it hit me:'ruuuun, it's-the-rats-house'. Too late to turn back.. We entered a huge open space that buzzed with kids on birthday highs full of cake and fruit juice. Everyone under 5' tall ran in socked feet as if rumors of Michael Jackson had come back to life and was in the building.

We herded the girls out past the huge play structure to the outdoor part of this place and set them free.


It lasted about five minutes before they wanted to go play inside.


See the green house like roof up top? The play structure to the left of the photo was three levels about two stories high. I'm pretty sure it would not pass anyone's idea of safety or hygiene but the kids went mental for it. Dennis and I found a table and a wad of napkins to swipe it clean and hunkered down.


This is where they entered. We would catch flashes of their clothing or whoops of joy as they passed the mesh enclosures. It was like being at the chimp exhibit at the zoo. Every ten minutes or so a child would emerge in tears, holding a limb or lip. The parents would collect them, dust them off and send them back in.

I know I mention people frequently, but at this place, we didn't even try to take pictures. It was like a honkey tonk turned on the lights at 2 AM and everyone had procreated. Soak that up for a moment...

Two hours later they emerged. Parched from all the screaming, red cheeked from climbing and ready to be hosed down with Lysol. As soon as we had them corralled together we bolted across the sticky floor to the exit.



Tra-la-la down the lane to the bus stop, 15 minutes away from home. It's a double decker so kids scrambled up top and took a front window seat.

Next stop, we hear some yelling, then shouts, slaps and cursing "move the bloody pram you f&:ing whore!" Dennis and I look at each other then notice our kids are wide eyed looking down the stairs watching two moms beat the hell out of each other. The bus keeps going, next stop one of the "ladies" gets off with a huge purple lump under her eye, scratches down her neck and her shirt ripped open.

And the bus driver just pulled away.

Dennis and I just look at each other incredulous.

As we come up to our stop we notice a body in the street. A body of an older woman who had tripped off the curb and was in the fetal position bleeding from the head. As she started to move people came to help her up, her glasses had cut her temple. Copious amounts of blood. We got off the bus and hustled past.

It's been a day and now we hear Angelina Jolie is in the neighborhood. This day just keeps getting weirder. Thank goodness it's time for bed.

Natural History Museum - Camagna-geddon, the final chapter.

For Jo..





Today we met John, Nora and all THREE cherubs at the train station. (welcome back N). And caught the train to Waterloo. O, P and V are now fully aware Krispy Kreme has a stall in the station. We no longer can just sashay out the door unless you want to be turned on by rabid children foaming at the mouth for a donut. Ankle biters in a pack are scary. In part as well we thought we should get some because N missed them the day before, and in true teen logic he refused our peace offering. I think next time we'll just try a group hug.

From there a cab to the Natural History Museum. And the dinosaur exhibit was closed. DOH! Can you hear O's lower lip hit the floor from here? Ya sure? Fortunately we walked in to an amazing skeleton and a huge grand hall. The Brits do "impressive" well. At the far end of the hall? One of my favorite sights we've seen.


Mr. Darwin I presume. If he wasn't roped off I would have sat on his lap and asked for Michele Bachman to be the republican nominee for Christmas.

Great displays everywhere. Darwin wing with the original jars from his travels. He was certainly prolific; starfish, turtles, squid, birds, fish.

All sorts of beautiful animals stuffed and mounted. Creepy? Yes. Awesome anyway? Yes. This is one place we could have spent a few days. We purchased great quizzes from the information desk that helped the girls navigate the huge collections of stuff. I actually got P to write and draw a few pictures.


The exhibits weren't the only fabulous stuff, people watching was fa-boo.

Mom peeled out to meet her friend Clair for tea at Harrods. £25 for scones and cucumber sandwiches. John, Nora, Dennis I and kiddos ate at the cafe and had baguettes. Both girls ended up with slices of chocolate cake half the size of their craniums. The girls and V talked Dennis and Nora into taking them to the animatronic dinosaur exhibit and I peeled out to peruse the gift shop. P was terrified. Apparently there were only 3 of them. Wasn't the best money spent on vacation.

After a solid three hours of museum we headed out to meet up with mom at Harrods. Nora was on a quest for Hermione wand so we headed up to the fourth floor. Lush would be an apt description.


Lego Harrods door man. Huge floor of all sorts of toys. And of course you couldn't swing a dead cat without coming across an employee doing a demo. Dennis always one for any infomercial anywhere, back me up Jackie. (ahem) Which is how we ended up with a £20 pack of stickers. From O, "but Mom they're gold". Read that again $36 for stiiickers.

Suitably fleeced we departed Harrods and headed back to Waterloo and trained home.

We posed the kids with their "Mind the Gap" shirts with Noni for one last photo op.
My iPhone camera didn't do it justice so you'll have to wait until I can download a good shot for you.

We had dinner at Bistro George and introduced the boys to pazzerotti. Tomorrow every pore will gush the stench of garlic, perfect for their flight 10 hours home. Mmmmmm, Garlic, the gift that keeps on giving.

And, heart be still, (defibulators ready?) John picked up the check.

The Camagna's and Mom head for home tomorrow. They will be greatly missed. Even the teens.

We'll be flying solo for two more weeks and still have a few things on our 'to do' list. Let me know if we need to see something or you have recommendations for us. Science museum will probably be up next. P is saying she's tired of museums so we might do a couple days just at home, plus the public schools have just let out I'm sure the lines will be longer from here.



Much love,
Sarah

Greenwich, it was a mean time..

Dennis had to go back to work today :( so kisses at the door and off he went.

We met up at the train station with John and Nora ..minus a teen. Dun dun duhhh.. I don't know how it happened but Nora gave N the option of not coming and he took her up on it. Too much togetherness? We did stop to take a photo to make him feel better.


See what you missed?

Hopped a tour boat up to Greenwich with 30 French teen tourists who apparently couldn't translate "SHHH", and three irritating ladies who did jack-in-the-box imitations after repeated requests from the captain to "SIT DOWN". Funny bit was they kept posing like it was for an Internet dating sight.

The boat's first mate was hilarious with a great running commentary all the way up the Thames.



We decided to sit up top. Most people got off at the Tower but we soldiered on up the river. Nice day, cloudy but not too much rain.


Noni in front of the London Tower Bridge, (don't worry we were docked.)

We disembarked and walked up to have lunch. After a quick trip into the visitors center and museum brought us to try on armor!


O trying on a helmet..




P wants some of these for wearing around the house. Bruce Lee had fists of fury, P wants Knuckles of Steel.




This had me singing "Love.. Loooove will keep us together.." sing along, you know the words... If not, shame on you. Get thee to iTunes.

We went to the Maritime Museum. Saw Admiral Nelsons uniform. Found the kids exhibits where they were fascinated with loading and unloading a boat/crane simulation trying not to capsize the craft.


Enough boat stuff we were off up the hill. And up. And up. To see the royal observatory.

We stood in line for 25 minutes to wait our turn to take our picture on the Prime Meridian as I passed off my cell phone to my brother, who is an engineer, who has his masters.. He took this.


After fixing the view finder


We at least got a shot of us.

It was a long day. We hiked down the hill, caught to ferry back to Waterloo and made it home around seven. Tomorrow British Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert museum tomorrow, our time with John and Nora has gone by too fast they leave with Noni on Friday. :(

Love from abroad,
Sarah

'M not dead yet, think I'll go for a walk.."

Just a day of sick that shall not be detailed here.

Dennis took a call in the morning from Nick the property manager that a real estate agent was coming by to check out the house at 4:30. Good to know so I could have a goal to feel human again by..

House Note: Also after being here for 3 weeks, the shower leaks, there's a wicked draft, you can't walk 3 feet without the floorboards singing you a symphony- that said it's a lovely house, but I don't think I wanna live here.

Dennis took the girls to meet up with Camagna-geddon at West Minster Abby -"they saw dead people".

Nick cancelled coming by, which was a huge relief, because after watching bad tv and eating two biscuits all morning I wasn't moving too far too fast.

Dennis called around 5 and said la familia was coming for dinner. We had pizza in the red room. V showed me his purchase of a rubber bouncing egg he named Jim. To go with his two rubber duckies picked up from British museum.

Tried to blog but wisely went to bed early.

Love ..

Bath, bed and beyond..

Woke up early to catch the bus to Stonehenge. Picked up Camagna familia at the hotel and we were off. Natalie was our blue badge guide and Neal drive the bus. An hour and a half out of London. Through the sleet we rode.


To get to.. rocks. That no one can tell whence or why or who put them there. But man they're neat.


But it gives the locals reason to sell rock cakes. Scones with raisins or chocolate chips, so light and fluffy they melt in your mouth. Made the drive worth it to P.





And the early start meant we missed all the marauding hoards.

A Camagna Kodak moment..on some of the original stones you're allowed to touch.


And off to Bath!


The excavated Roman ruins with real actors playing characters from the times. We had audio guides and 6 out of ten of us listened to the kids version. I have to say they're really more fun. Plus they have quizzes! I'm pretty sure Natalie was disappointed in us.


See the gargoyles.. Um, I mean my lovely nephews?

We cruised through the ruins, leaving barely any time to explore the city. We drove by the Jane Austin house but all I took was a picture of my finger (sorry Jo!) but the good news is that while Nora and I wandered around a bit, Dennis found the place and has a picture of him in front of it. Whew! Will post when we download the photos.

At 3:30 we peeled out and hit the road. Traffic traffic traffic and a head ache that could have been mistaken for a boa constrictor wrapped around my head helped us along the way. We arrived home with sparkly dots floating behind my eyelids and impending stomach distress. I came home and crawled up the stairs to bed. Not to move more than 20 feet for the next 24 hours.