A Weekend in Paris

The view from our hotel balcony

September 2, 2007
Paris

What a treat it was to find a note on my pillow informing me that Chris had planned a weekend in Paris for our anniversary! Chris keeps very busy at work, so much of our family travel has been initiated and often planned by me, and Chris had made it clear that it wasn't in the budget to take a trip. Sneaky fellow! He arranged for my brother and family to come over from Germany to stay with the kids and everything!

The thought of a weekend with just Chris and me was delightful! Chris booked first class train tickets from Aachen to Paris and a room just blocks from the Eiffel Tower. Thank you to our friends Margaret and David who have vast Parisian travel experience and who gave Chris loads of pointers!

We stayed at the Hotel Eber Mars, which can be found in Rick Steves' Paris book. It is 'famous' for having the smallest elevator in Paris. I didn't double check that fact, but would agree. It was 'coffin sized.' We put our suitcase on, pushed the button for our floor then ran up the stairs to meet it! Only one person OR one suitcase could fit in it...not both!

After checking in, we walked around a bit and found a cafe for dinner. Given that Chris and I love French onion soup, we stopped at a cafe in the Latin quarter advertising theirs. I think we are very spoiled by Chef Elmo's famous French onion soup from the Sovereign, because while it was okay, it was not great. Oh well...we enjoyed a very nice, quiet dinner and good wine, too!

The next morning we got up early and hit the Eiffel Tower line. We bought the works...the ride up and tour. Then we spent the rest of the day walking the entire city. In an effort to not remind Chris too much of the kids, I kept my mouth shut until about 5 pm when I couldn't take it anymore! We walked and walked and walked. There was so much to see and do. After walking much of the city, Chris promised a sit-down, night bus tour after dinner. My feet were happy about that!

On Sunday, we had planned to try to catch the Louvre before our train departed, but chose, instead, to sleep in a bit and plan to see it on our next trip (along with the Sacre Coeur and Montmartre).

Many thanks to Ed and Shelly for watching our brood so we could celebrate our anniversary in style!


The Eiffel Tower at night...spectacular!










































The Arc de Triomphe at one end of the Champs-Elysees....





















...and the Tuileries Gardens at the other.





















Children sailing boats in a fountain/pond near the Louvre





















The Arc du Carrousel with the famous Louvre pyramid behind it.
















Notre Dame de Paris, me at 'point zero' and the lovely garden behind.....









































The Bored Gargoyle....






















Photos from our night bus tour.....

Showband Antonius

Last spring, while camping at the JFC Sportsfields, we overheard a marching band practicing in the parking lot. Sean's biggest regret when moving from the states was that he was going to miss out on high school marching band, as the band at AFNORTH does not march. Chris, Sean and I talked to the band director and they arranged a time for Sean to meet with them and audition. They loved him and invited him to join. He's been practicing with them since April, but has yet to start marching, as they were already deep into their performance season. He'll start marching sometime before April they say, as they begin a new program in February.

Anyway, most of the band members are adults, so they custom made a uniform for Sean and transitioned him from trumpet to flugel horn. He loves it! He's pretty excited that they bought him a uniform and a horn.

The band had a joint concert with a choral group in October. This was Sean's first performance with them. He did very well and was very excited about it after. Below are some photos of him during and after the concert.

Sean in full uniform. They don't wear the hats when performing indoors.




















Sean showing off his new horn


















Sean, in the middle front, hidden behind his music stand.






























After the concert. Sean was a bit nervous before, so he's happy all went well.

Firsts, Fun and Final Farwells this Fall

The First Day of School

This fall Maryn started school at AFNORTH in their IY1 program (the British curriculum reception year, basically...to us it is full time preK). While I have been more than ready for her to have an outlet and social life that involves more than me, her dad and brothers, I have to admit I got a bit teary when she climbed onto that big bus. I followed the bus to school and made sure she was situated before heading home to do my happy dance. :-)

Early up and breakfast. A rude awakening to the teen and tween who have been sleeping past noon sice we returned from the States.

Daddy made blueberry muffins, everyone's favorite breakfast treat.

Will is going into 6th grade and Sean into 10th. Where has the time gone?

At the bus stop, ready to go!

A tentative looking Maryn getting on the bus.

At the end of the day. Maryn had a great time and can't wait until tomorrow!

The first day of school was also the first day back for scouts. Chris took over as Scoutmaster as the previous one moved. Chris and the upper level scouts have planned a great year, beginning with a canoe trip. Below are some photos from troop meetings. Will, our newest Ballard Scout, left a piece of silverware at the campout and the video is him singing to get it back.

Sean trying to look cool.....and testing out the nifty color features on his camera.

Will receives his Arrow of Light....beautiful and worth the wait!

The Scouts at the school Fall Fair selling chili pies.

Halloween...er...Book Parade

Given everyone's quest to be politically correct, the school's Book Week/Character Parade coincided with Halloween...therefore the kids could dress up and no one be offfended by our Pagan rituals. (Jeez!) Enough of my soapbox....someone pull me down. :-)

Will's class has been studying the Egyptians, so mos tof the 6th graders are dressed like Egyptians (I told Will to Walk Like an Egyptian and started humming for him, but he didn't get it..I feel old!). Maryn dressed like Snow White and brought along the book as a prop.

Will with his reading buddy, Alex. She's the Little Mermaid. I'm psyched that Will has a reading buddy now, as it reinforces in him all the work he's done to read so well even with dyslexia!!

Maryn's class pre-parade. Maryn is in the back row, far right.

Maryn took our first harvest from our pumpkin patch to share with her class. She was so proud!

Saying a Final Farewell to Ed, Shelly and Madison

We have thoroughly enjoyed Ed and Shelly living only 3 hours away this year. We've been so lucky to have traveled with them, visited them and them visit us quite often during that time. We've also enjoyed being able to watch Madison while Ed and Shelly did some traveling alone. We visited them one last time before Ed left for the States with Madison. There are no photos documenting it, but I went to Hanau again to assist Shelly with the pack out. We were too busy...and tired, to take any photos then!

Madison loves having the kids around. They keep her entertained.

We took one last trip around Ed and Shelly's local area, ate at our favorite Ice Cafe, and went to Ronneburg Castle. One of the coolest things about this was the deep well. You could pour a bucket of water down it and it would take FOREVER for it to hit bottom.

Ed and Shelly had to leave early to get some pre-move things done, so we kept Madison the rest of the day and fed her dinner before heading home. The cafe at the castle was a pleasant outdoor cafe with very good food!

Madison wants what I'm having!