Driving to Deutchland!

On this day, the 26th, we woke up really Really early! We lest the house in Paris around 8am, but the of us kids slept until about 1pm. We were staying at a friend of the family's place in Landshut, Germany. 

Landshut is a very cute little town, here is the town at night

And during the day!

That night is was sooo cold, so Daniel's dad was running/jumping/ kind of doing a dance to stay warm. 

So all Jasmine wanted was real German beer and sausages! We looked all over for this restaurant the Gomez's friend recommended, and after searching and searching we found it... but it was closed :(. At that point we were all so cold we found a restaurant that was open and looked warm. We thought maybe it was German... until we got an English menu and realized it was really a greek place. 

When we got inside Jasmine had some trouble getting her hood off. She is still not used to this cold. 

It turned out to be wonderful! And Daniel and Jasmine got their beer too! 

Christmas Day Park Adventure!

It’s Christmas morning! Today we decided to go on a walk to a nearby park in Vaucresson. We were searching for swans. Here is a picture of one of the trails we followed.

 

Jasmine best impression of a tree.

 

Jasmine also found a ‘house’ and decided to pretend it was her home.

 

 

More trees, but this time with cuter decorations. :)

 

 

Weee, or since we are in France Ouiiiiii!!!!

 

Daniel pointing out on the Vaucresson map where the Gomezs live… see that red dot, we were far from home :D

 

Jasmine excited to be home, down on the right where the two cars are is the Gomez Residence, you can tell by the look on her face.

Christmas Eve

We did a lot of cooking

Here is Jasmine’s French Apple Tart, the Tart Tatan. She was not used to the gas stove so the first try was a bit black… Daniel’s dad was nice enough to take her back to the grocery to get more apples and try it again. It was much better the second time.

After dinner we went to an English mass in a church right down the street from the Arc de Triomphe.

And then back home to open gifts at midnight!
Here’s Jasmine and Stef all dressed up by the Christmas tree.

In this picture Daniel’s mom is laughing hysterically because Daniel’s dad accidently opened one of Jasmine gifts…little grey tights. He held them up and said he wasn’t sure if they would fit but he liked them.

Daniel’s parents got us these wonderful aprons from Belgium!

Here is Daniel’s dad learning how to use his new i-pod.

And to end the night, here we are, with all of our new French clothes on, trying to look as French a possible. 

More Paris

This day in Paris started off a bit more challenging. After waking up too late again, we rushed to eat breakfast, and realized if we missed the next train to Paris we would have to wait over an hour for the next one. So that’s when we decided to run. It normally takes about 20 minutes to walk there, we ran there in about 8 minutes. As we ran we became further and further spread out on the sidewalk, so imagine you see one person run by laughing, and then 3 seconds later another, and then another… people were staring. One man said bonjour to all three of us, and Jasmine yelled bonjour back as she ran past. 
So we got there just in time, rushed to buy tickets, and realized that the train was not coming. It just never came… a strike or something was happening. Everyone was very annoyed, and they were all making the “French Face” as Stef calls it. It’s like you’re staring into the sun while smelling dog poo. Here are our attempts at the French Face. 

Daniel is still working on perfecting his French face. 

An hour later the train came and we took it to La Defense to go shopping in a little Christmas market. Jasmine over estimated her hunger and accidently bought 9 Euros worth of potatoes a-gratin, which the three of use slowly forced ourselves to eat over the next 2 or 3 hours. 

Then we went to Sacre Coure!

There were lots and lots of steps!

But what a beautiful view!

At the top everyone sits on the stairs, looks out over Paris and listens to live music. 

On the way down Jasmine was tired to Daniel dragged her back down the stairs. 

Then to Moulin Rouge!

Stef and Jasmine stood on this grate that had air from the metro shooting up out of it. This was an interesting pose. 

Daniel tried it too!

And again, we ended our day at the Eiffel Tower!!! This time we actually went to it, and all the way to the top!

From the second level

Going up!

From the very top!

so romantic…

Then we climbed back down…

…just kidding.
we took the stairs

On the first level they had little things build out of compact snow. Here is Daniel inside the mini-ice Eiffel Tower. 

We ended the day the way it started… at the train station waiting for a train. We soon realized the trains were still not running correctly, but this time the text train wasn’t coming for almost 3 hours! So Daniel’s dad was nice enough to drive into town and pick us up. We came home to an amazing dinner of wine, cheese, bread, and meats!

 The perfect ending to a wonderful day in Paris!

Paris!

PARIS!!!

day 1

On this day, the 22^nd, we were going decided to go to the modern art museum, the Pompidou. It was interesting… but not as interesting as he had hoped.

The Pompidou is the building that looks very exposed, with pipes, and escalators that you can see from outside. Here is Daniel and flat Santa standing outside of it.

It is a tall building with a wonderful view at the top.

And a view of us at the top. (A German couple stopped and insisted that they take a picture with both of us in it.)

This was one of the most interesting art works in the Pompidou. It was a small room, with a little door, like a cave. The ground and the walls were very uneven and the lines were all over the place.

Colors!

Daniel was very confused about this one.

And this was the best part… the children’s light gallery!

Then we ate a quick lunch of quice and choclate tarts! Yum!

 
You knew this was a good place because they had these pictures framed on the wall.

And then we decided to walk to Norte Dame. 

Looked around inside for a bit.

Then we met Daniel’s mom and sister at La Defence. Here is the giant arch outside.

Back at the house I tried to look like a fasionable French woman…hahaha

Later that night on the way to pick up Stef we drove by the Galeries Lafayette

Around Christmas time the stores in that area set up elaberate, crazy window displaies.

Then Koki and Jasmine had some bonding time.

We ended the day in the perfect way… in front of the Eiffel Tower!!!