Paris, en famille

The Champ de Mars -- a peaceful place to walk.

July 4, 2017 --  A morning walk on the Champ de Mars by myself is energizing.  The Champ is halfway overtaken with the set-up for two events.  One of them is “Longines Paris Eiffel Jumping,” an equestrian show that took place on July 1 and 2.  I’m not sure what the other event will be; it involves many small square tents with peaked tops.

The Peace Pavilion, at the war college end of the Champ, is now inaccessible for “security reasons,” and is waiting for future work and renovation, according to the web site at equipement.paris.fr

Merry-go-round set up for the Paris Jumping event

A large section of the Champ fenced off for the Paris Jumping event.

Speaking of security, the jazz concert that we had planned to attend on July 1st in the Luxembourg Gardens was cancelled because the authorities would not allow any large trucks inside the Gardens’ fence (for security reasons).  The band was going to have to move all their sound equipment, etc., 250 meters from the truck to the bandstand.  The band elected to cancel the concert instead.  I don’t blame them.

In spite of the tents, bleachers, fencing, and barriers, I still had a lovely walk in the Champ because it is vast, and large parts of the park have not been affected by all this equipment.  There, peace and calm rules.

Even the “do you speak English” scammers didn’t bother me.  They seemed to be squabbling amongst themselves – perhaps about some territorial issue.  Shortly after I passed them, two bicycle-riding policemen passed me, evidently headed for the scammers.  I did not go back to see what happened.

Instead, I walked on to gaze at flowerbeds and broad, shady walkways.

Flowers on the Champ de Mars

In the middle of the day, Maria the cleaning lady came, and our granddaughters and Dan (my step-son) also arrived from the airport.  Dan and the girls (Olivia and Sarah) were jet-lagged and hungry, so we fed them a very French brunch while trying to stay out of Maria’s way.  That was a little chaotic, but we had a great time talking around the dining table for an hour.  Part of that time, I asked the girls about books they’ve read.  I was impressed; they’ve read many of the classics.  Sarah boasted that she got an A in math.  School is of great interest to them. 

Then we cleared out of the apartment, leaving Maria to do her thing, while we walked around the neighborhood, through the Saint Lambert park and then to the AirBNB studio apartment where Dan is staying on the rue de l’Abbé Groult. 

Painter attracts attention at the corner of the rues Theatre and Commerce.

The girls are staying with us, upstairs in the maid’s room.

The five of us shopped for groceries at FranPrix.  It is rare to see an entire family shopping together in a Paris grocery store.  But we did, and now our little refrigerator is very full.  Kitchens and refrigerators are small here.

After Dan and the girls rested and Tom and I watched the Tour de France on TV, we all went for another walk, this time up to the Seine.   We walked along the riverbank for a little while.  The girls were tired and hungry again, so we walked back to La Terrasse brasserie and had a good dinner en famille. 

A pretty passage near the rue de l'Abbe Groult.

It was fun to watch the girls consume large hamburgers and then crêpes, stuffed with a layer of Nutella.  We all shared a paté foie gras as a starter course.  Dan also had one of his all-time favorite dishes:  escargots.  As usual, Tom had a beef carpaccio with fries and salad.  Dan had noisettes d’agneau – lamb medallions.  I had a simple but beautifully poached piece of salmon with a little rice.  Tom and Dan shared a baba au rhum for dessert.

We let the girls taste red wine.  They didn’t like it much; they’re now 16 years old.  Olivia likes to walk and talk with me when we go on these outings; during our conversation on the way home, she asked me several times how far it was to the apartment.  Most of the time, she notices things around us and says, enthusiastically, “That’s really cool!”  They both retired to the maid’s room soon after we got home, and they’re sleeping late this morning.  I think they’ll really be ready for Paris this afternoon.