Two Nights and a Day in Paris: Part 2

After our stop at the Arche de Triumphe, we got back on the bus and headed for a day-time view of the Eiffel Tower, soaking up stories of Parisian history along the way.

The tower was just as impressive, but different, in fully daylight.  I'm glad we got to see it both ways.  Funny Guy was dubious about climbing the stairs so My Man took him to a cafe while Young Man, Darling Daughter, and I tackled the stairs.  The sun was shining and the views were amazing.

The climb went faster than I'd expected (mostly thanks to Young Man and Darling Daughter racing each other to the top with me trying to keep up) so we took out time at the top soaking in the views before taking the elevator down for another perspective and meeting back up with My Man and Funny Guy.  Next stop, The Louvre.

Most important, of course, was the opportunity for that classic shot of each of us touching the tip of the glass pyramid.  No matter how goofy other people look posing, we still each secretly wanted our own turn.

I wasn't expecting to get to see much during our brief visit to the Louvre (after all, according to Wikipedia, "the Musee du Louvre contains more than 380,000 objects and displays 35,000 works of art in eight curatorial departments with more than 652,000 sq ft dedicated to the permanent collection."  Just reading that made me tired! 

Still, we were excited to see the Mona Lisa and a few other pieces at least.  We joined the hundreds of other tourists thronging the mysterious smiling woman. 

It was definitely the most popular and crowded piece in the museum, although we also hit all the others in the "Top 5 famous pieces in the Louvre" including a sculpture by Michaelangelo.

Although I had made my peace with seeing only the highlights of the museum, My Man had other ideas and made a valiant effort to see everything, literally everything.  

Funny Guy was more interested in finding a place to sit than in critiquing the masterpieces on the walls and soon the boys found a bench and begged a rest.  Darling Daughter was intrigued by the museum's iPad guide, however, and wanted to find a specific vase.  My Man was up for the challenge.  It was in an obscure corner of the museum and it felt like we saw most of the Louvre along the way, but finally we found it.  Still there was so much more to see.  By then, the sun was setting and the view from the Louvre was almost as impressive as the collections inside.

By then, I was eyeing the boys' bench with envy, the jetlag catching up to me full force.  

Reluctantly, My Man admitted that although it might be possible for him, it wasn't physically possible for any of the rest of us to see the entire Louvre in just a few hours.  Besides, our river cruise was waiting.  Reluctantly, he gave in and we went out to eat some dinner we'd packed and wait for our bus.  It took its time coming, so we explored the area a bit, enjoying the gorgeous architecture and cuddling together for warmth.

The river cruise was the perfect finale for our trip.  We saw many of the highlights we had already seen before, but from a new perspective.

The lights and the river combined for a beautifully romantic good-bye to the beautiful city of Paris.  The next morning, after feasting on macaroons and fresh French cheese and eggs, we re-packed our bags and boarded one last plane, ready to explore our new home for at least the next two years.

Two Nights and a Day in Paris: Part 1

I've been procrastinating this blog post for a lot of reasons.  First, even though we were only in Paris a day and a half, we took about five billion pictures.  Kind of overwhelming to think about sifting through those.  Plus, I like them all, so how to choose which ones to post?  Second, we are living in Eastern Europe and have had plenty of new adventures to take our time.  And laundry.  And homework.  And Russian study.  And, well, you get the idea.  Still, our time in Paris was magical and I don't want to forget a single part.  And I've caught the flu, so I suddenly find myself with some downtime in bed.  So here goes.

Somehow we squeezed all of us and our stuff and Grandma into Grandma & Grandpa's truck the morning of February 6, 2017.  We have a saying in our house, "How many can you fit in a car?  Always one more!"  And the same seems to hold true for bags, and adults, and cats too.  It was tough saying good-bye after spending so much time with family.  We were so grateful for their generous hospitality in putting up with us so long.  There were lots of hugs and they probably would have lasted a lot longer, except it was cold and we had a flight to catch, so eventually we made ourselves wave a final good-bye and walk away.

Then we had to consider the logistics of navigating through the airport with all of our suitcases (filled with everything we'd need to survive our first few months in Kyiv, including such essentials as Chocolate Chex cereal and gluten free macaroni and cheese--seriously, you can't put a price on such things!).  Somehow we managed and got everything checked in.

The 10-hour flight was long, but nothing compared with the 36-hour traveling ordeal we faced when flying home from Chiang Mai.  Still, Weasley was unimpressed, and even sedated he complained a lot.  And escaped.  More than once.  Seriously, this cat would have impressed Houdini with his skills (the flight attendants, however, were not impressed).  Our seats were split so Funny Guy, My Man, and I were together and Young Man and Darling Daughter were together (with Weasley).  More than once, when I was on the verge of almost nodding off during yet another movie, I'd notice a commotion and see passengers looking down and around.  And I'd sigh and realize he'd gotten out again.  Then I'd have to try to catch Young Man or Darling Daughter's eye so they could go find him.  "Make sure the zipper is tight closed!" we'd hiss across the aisle.  "It is!" they would promise.  Needless to say, that carrier gets one star from us on Amazon!

Funny Guy missed most of the excitement, sleeping almost the whole way.  The best part of that was that when we arrived to our hotel (all 10 large suitcases, 5 rolling carry-ons, 5 backpacks, and the 5 of us somehow smashed into a minivan for the trip from the airport), he was ready to party.  Perfect timing!  The rest of us were ready to sleep.  We compromised.  He gave the rest of us an hour to rest while he read before I caved and took him swimming.  Sidenote: Our apartment from airbnb was wonderful.  An old house just a block from the river and Notre Dame Cathedral with this beautiful pool in the basement, two bedrooms, and a kitchen!  We couldn't have asked for better. But I digress . . .

Funny Guy was dying to go swimming, so we snuck down there while Darling Daughter, Weasley, and My Man slept.  Young Man thought about swimming too but decided he wasn't done dreaming.

And with such medieval surroundings, who could blame him?  I think I caught some winks somewhere in there, but mostly I was too excited to care too much about sleep anyway.  After a couple hours, Funny Guy and I set out to explore the neighborhood and track down some groceries.

My phone was dead, so I didn't get any pictures.*  That's a pity because walking around Paris was enchanting.  We found that we were less than a block from the Cathedral of Notre Dame!  So beautiful.  The winding alleys and cafes were bustling and wonderful.  The little shops we found were fantastic but a little overwhelming.

I had a cheese sales lady take pity on me and recommend a type of cheese that "even Americans can appreciate."  She also set me up with fresh butter and eggs.

The shop next door was overflowing with beautiful vegetables and fruits, of course you couldn't choose anything yourself and since I don't speak any French, there was a lot of pointing and pantomime.

I passed longingly by the bakery with all it's delicious smells and vowed to sneak back later without our little celiac man to grab a fresh croissant.  He caught my longing glance and said, "Mom, if you eat any of that, then you are a traitor."  Well, so be it, I wasn't going to leave Paris without eating a Parisian pastry.  Sorry kid.  I'm not the one with celiac disease!  Still, the blow was softened when we discovered that macaroons are gluten free.  So the next day I used up all our left-over euros on macaroons for My Man and the kids and a beautiful melt-in-your mouth heavenly croissant.  I didn't even try a macaroon, just to make it fair.  I think Funny Guy figured it was an okay trade.

*These shop pictures are not mine but representative of what we saw; still it was all better in real life!  In fact all of Paris was better in real life (and yet we took a million pictures and I can't bear to delete any of them, even the 873rd picture of the Eiffel Tower . . .)!

I'd packed some food as well, so when we returned I fixed a simple dinner to lure everyone awake from their naps, then we set out for the Eiffel Tower.  The walk was enchanting, past bakeries, beautiful old buildings, cafes, chocolate shops, and more.

My favorite part of Paris ended up actually not being anything in Paris at all.  It was the reaction of Young Man and Darling Daughter to the Eiffel Tower.  As we approached, I saw these kids, who are seemingly unfazed by anything--jaded by too many awesome travel opportunities and growing up in Asia--these kids who put up with our trips and respond to my near-constant exclamations of "Isn't this amazing?!?!" with "Sure, mom," I saw these kids literally stunned speechless, jaws hanging open as they stared, drinking it in.

Young Man, who had reminded us that no, actually, visiting Paris was not on his bucket list, but he would go along with it for our sake, stared up at the massive, beautiful structure, and said, "Wow, this is way more impressive than I thought it would be."

Darling Daughter glowed with excitement.  Funny Guy decided it was worth the excruciating walk after all.  I was in love.  With Paris.  With the Eiffel Tower lit at night.  With this moment with my family.  With our lifestyle that makes it possible.

I'd planned to have everyone walk up the stairs to the viewing platform, but unfortunately, my research didn't uncover the fact that the stairs close much earlier than the elevators.  We considered taking the elevators but the lines were long and it was cold.  Darling Daughter was sure that her life would not be complete without a trip up, however, so we vowed to return the next day for a new perspective.  By then, Funny Guy couldn't walk another step, so My Man and Young Man gallantly offered to take him back on the bus.  Darling Daughter was enchanted with the city, so we opted to walk home along the river for some more views of the sites.

We got more pictures that don't do the evening justice, saw so many beautiful sites, and ended up at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, beautifully lit for the evening.  It was perfect.  An evening with my daughter that I will always treasure.

We slept in a little after a jetlaggy (aka restless) sleep, enjoyed breakfast, then set out to see the Cathedral up close.  It was amazing.  Absolutely huge and wonderful and beautiful.  Pictures really don't do it justice, though of course we shot a bunch trying.

The day was cold and we underestimated it a bit.  I was freezing all day (I think everyone was) but amazingly no one really complained--there was too much to see!

After the cathedral, we walked down the island to get onto our hop-on, hop-off bus to see the rest of the city.  It had an audio guide and was a great way to see everything without subjecting Funny Guy to any more cruel and unusual punishment (aka "walking").

We stopped for a few minutes at the Arch de Triumphe, the beautiful memorial that honors all those who fought for France in the French Revoloution and Napoleonic Wars (as well as housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for World War I).  Although we didn't opt for the trip to the top, it was a powerful monument.

That was not the end of our adventures in Paris, not even close!  By then it wasn't even noon.  But the rest (including climbing the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, exploring the Louvre, and our Cruise along the Seine) will have to wait for another blog post.  Let me just say that up to this point, things had been going even better than we could have hoped, with happy kids, happy parents, and a great itinerary, pretty much everything I could have hoped for.

Kyiv Adventures: Out and About in the City

We arrived to Kyiv on a Thursday night after a great trip to Paris.  Friday morning, when my body was complaining that it was finally time to fall asleep, My Man was already heading out the door to his first day on the job.

Jet lag?  What jet lag, he scoffed.  My Man hit the ground running in Kyiv and never looked back.  His colleagues were ready for him, having decorated his desk in welcome.

Saturday, he and Young Man joined other colleagues for some cross-country skiing in a park across town.

By that afternoon, he was already out at the store shopping for supplies for his mini-homesteading plans (garden, microgreens, rabbits, and bees) and had already ordered red worms for our kitchen composting bin (he figured out how to navigate the web page in Russian, placed the order, paid via kiosk, and picked them up at a public post office a few blocks away just a few days later).

I am seriously in awe at his ability to adapt to new places and situations.  Meanwhile, I was home trying to win a world record for how many boxes of tissue I could blow my way through in 24-hours, exhausted and bed-ridden with a nasty cold that developed just as we were leaving Paris.  We definitely adjust differently to life in a new country.  One of these times, I'll figure out how to move without getting sick!  In spite of my cold, however, I was figuring things out as well.  On Friday I went shopping with a friend who taught me how to ask for the correct cuts of meat, which stores could be trusted for fresh produce and which were better for meat and dairy, and that you have to bring your own bags shopping or pay for bags during checkout.

I learned how to weigh and tag our produce and what cheeses are most likely to be palatable to our picky American kids.

I got our suitcases unpacked, got the kids off to school on Monday, got lost, made some new friends, went shopping at several different stores, and managed to prepare meals with a skeleton kitchen and foreign ingredients.  I figured out how to walk to the metro, how to walk to the Embassy, how to walk to the store (OK, that last one is cheating since we got lucky enough to have a little grocery store right across the street!), and how to catch an Uber taxi anywhere too far to walk.  We rearranged furniture, shoveled snow, and went out to dinner with friends.  The kids started after school activities, made friends, did homework.

We fell in love with sunsets from our dining room window; Funny Guy built a snow fort (and was dismayed when it started to melt the next day); we explored our neighborhood and the nearby parks.

All in all, it was a hectic but productive week for all of us as we settled into our new lives here in Ukraine.

Somehow we won the lottery and ended up in Kyiv with a long weekend (for My Man) and a week off from school (mid-semester break) for the kiddos after only one week of the daily grind.  That was perfect timing for some good old tourism and exploration.

Friday night My Man and I tried out one of the only Mexican restaurants in town: Tequila House.  The place was cute, the food was delicious, and the guacamole was superb.  However, the fajitas and burritos did not taste Mexican (or anywhere south of the border!).  The chicken and veggies were superbly cooked and tasted great, but the lack of any Mexican spices (chili powder anyone?) was a little distracting and slightly disappointing.  Still, the guacamole was great and we'll probably be back again.  Afterward we walked around enjoying the newness of downtown, stumbling across a "Chocoladnitsa" (chocolate cafe) where we stopped for dessert.

We had considered a trip out of town to Bukovel ski resort or Lviv for the long weekend, but were glad we chose to stay and explore closer to home.  Here are just a few of the highlights from our weekend.

We took a city walking tour.  When I planned the outing, I didn't realize it would be more than three hours long, or quite how cold the day would be (not to mention drizzly and gray).  Still, we enjoyed learning more about the history of Kyiv, seeing some of the most famous churches and monuments, and even taking time to look at some unique souvenirs and parks--at least I enjoyed it and the kids were good sports.

When we first exited the metro downtown, we were surprised to walk into the middle of a large gathering, commemorating the third anniversary of the Euromaidan Revolution.

Then we followed our tour guide on a route that visited St. Michael's Cathedral, where we stopped to go inside and admire the intricate paintings and decor.  We learned more about the terrible famine during Stalin's time and how many churches (including this one) were destroyed during the Soviet communist period.  We stopped at an art gallery to see art by a local artist named Evgeniya Gapeniya (the kids have been excited to notice her artwork throughout the city since), then walked up to St. Andrew's church, which is beautiful but under restoration.

I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition to see how different the pictures could be with some careful cropping. :)

Although I enjoyed the tour very much, I hope we will go again when the weather is better and the trees are green.  This area is famous for street vendors and artwork, so it will be fun to come back.  As it was, there were a few hardy vendors out despite the cold, and we enjoyed browsing.

Our next stop was a colorful Alice and Wonderland art park, where Funny Guy especially enjoyed playing.

St. Sophia's Cathedral, where a Ukrainian rock band had set up and was blasting music, was our last stop.  We didn't have time to go inside, but hope to come back (at least I do--the boys were pretty much churched out at this point!).

By the end, we were ready to try some real Ukrainian cuisine.  It didn't disappoint.  We feasted on soups, meat, cheese, potatoes, and hot chocolate.  It was delicious.  We enjoyed appetizers, meals, drinks, and desserts for less than $30 for the five of us.  We added a star to our Google Maps!

As we finished dinner, we got an invitation from new friends to come play games, so we headed there for the rest of the evening, trying several new games, eating ice cream, and feeling lucky to have made such good friends so quickly.

By the time we got home, we were exhausted, but it was a great day.

The rest of the week is kind of a blur, but here are some highlights:

We discovered a beautiful forest (can't wait to return with cross country skis or bikes and a picnic when the snow melts!) and explored several parks near our home.

There are pigeons everywhere (along with lots of crows, magpies, and some beautiful little songbirds).

I have loved finding ways to get out and walk through the parks near our home, whether on the way to the Embassy or metro station.

There are lots of street markets around.  This one features old coins, Soviet war medals, and other war paraphernalia, including guns and ammo.

Across the park from our house we discovered a great little Ukrainian restaurant called Taras.  

The food is delicious, ambiance is nice, and the location is great.  In fact, we've already been back a couple times.

The metro stops each have their own theme.  This medieval theme was my favorite.

Without our car, we've spent a lot of time in the metro system.  It kind of grows on you, and for less than 15 cents per trip, the price is right!

Although the metro gets extremely crowded in the evenings (standing room only), it is usually pretty empty in the mornings.

Weasley has adapted to life in Ukraine surprisingly well, even exploring our snowy backyard.  Darling Daughter is very happy to have him here.

Cats are very popular in Kyiv, with several sculptures of them (as well as the real deal) throughout the city.

Saturday My Man went to an Soviet antiques market, a UNESCO world heritage site (the Lavra Monastery), and a farm market.  He took no pictures of the antiques market (except of his friends and the hot chocolate they got at the end), 10 pictures of the UNESCO world heritage site (three if you don't count duplicates), and more than 20 pictures of the farm market.  I guess we can see what he thought was the most interesting part of the day!

Of course he did come home with rabbits, so who can blame them.

My Man hopes to eventually breed them for meat, but for now, we just have two little girls more than 6 months from maturity, so they'll just be pets (and provide lots of material for our compost bin).

There are a ton of fun-filled malls in Kyiv and we've already explored a few.

They feature iceskating, roller blading, arcades, strange rooms like mirror mazes and ninja rooms (where the rooms are upside-down or slanted with obstacle courses), laser tag, bumper cars, and more.  Seriously a kid's dream world.

No wonder our kids are liking this place!  Of course the gelato doesn't hurt either.

Even the elementary schools are a reminder that they are using a different (but not too different) alphabet!

Young Man refuses to admit that it's cold here.  It's very alarming to the locals who think a healthy fear of the cold is essential to a long and healthy life.

Kyiv is a beautiful city!

Houseplants make me feel happy!

The longer it takes for me to finish this blog post, the more places we explore and pictures we take!  I could write more, but my Russian instructor will be here soon (My Man and I both get four hours of instruction per week) and I need to finish prepping dinner before then.  The snow is melting and friends say we might not get much more this year (or we might get another huge storm--it really all depends on the year).  Either way, we have now been in Kyiv about two and a half weeks and already it is starting to feel more natural.  The sights and sounds and experiences that were strange and exciting and overwhelming when we arrived (like walking across the street to the grocery store or seeing Cyrillic and hearing Russian everywhere we go) are already settling into the comfortable familiarity of every day life.  We are finding our routines and recognizing our neighborhood landmarks.  We have houseplants and pets and even some of our things (our first shipment arrived this morning!).  We are starting to figure out which light switches turn on and off which lights (which was a major mystery in this house originally!).  We are starting to make ourselves at home.

It looks like we are breaking in those new shoes without too many blisters.