In February the kids had their next 'half term break' which was one week off from school. The school year here in the UK is broken into three terms and each term has a break in the middle, usually 1-2 weeks off. We like the schedule and the frequent breaks are perfect opportunities to see Europe on the off-season. For this break we ventured to Paris! We decided to fly EasyJet which is actually cheaper then taking the bullet train. We were very lucky with weather considering it was February - it was brisk but not too cold to walk around, and one day was sunny and in the low 60's (that's 15 degrees here, where they use celsius instead of farenheit).
Our hotel was right down the street from L'Arc de Triomphe! Very nice accommodations thanks to John's Marriott points.
The first day we went to see the Eiffel Tower and even climbed up to the first level. The kids were surprised by the size of it - not as tall as they expected, and wider then they expected. John and I were surprised by all the security, we had to wait in a long line to go through metal detectors and have bags searched.
Amazingly enough we were able to find a cooking class in English for kids. The kids learned to make Eclairs from a French Chef. Bon Appetit!
The ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde reminded us of the London Eye. No takers for the ride today, we preferred watching it from the ground.
Gazing at the Eiffel tower over the Seine River. Below that is a bridge over the Seine where you can see hundreds of padlocks attached to the bridge. People leave them as momentos, most of them are engraved with names and dates.
Here's Carson just outside the Musee D'Orsay, a wonderful art museum. Carson's gamer tag on Minecraft is MrRhino so we couldn't pass up this photo opportunity.
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| An artist drawing the kids outside Le Sacre Coeur. |
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| The Louvre |
We went to see Notre Dame one day, a beautiful cathedral. Not only did we see the inside, we also decided to climb all the way to the top!
Almost all the cathedrals we have been to offer the option to purchase a candle with a small offering. You light your candle from another then say a prayer after setting it in place. The kids know they can light a candle as long as they say a prayer, and this is now something we do regularly at cathedrals. Its nice to have a quiet, reflective moment in the midst of a busy day of sight-seeing.
The view from the top of Notre Dame did not disappoint - we could see all of Paris from up there.
If you ask the kids what their favorite part of Paris was, they will tell you it was the foosball table in the hotel lobby. It was right inside the front door and they snuck in a game every time we walked by :)
Other happenings in February: Rachel had a disco dance at her school which was also attended by the local boys school. Here she is with her friends before the dance.
Carson is learning about Hinduism at school so one Sunday we decided to venture into the Hindu Temple in London. It is a beautiful temple and it was fun to learn more about the Hindu religion and culture. We even had lunch at the Indian restaurant across the street.
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