Paris was even more beautiful than Jean and I remembered it from our time living here (separately in the late 70's) when we were students. Springtime could be seen everywhere with elegant tulips making up bright lemon yellow flower beds and pink cherry blossom trees scattered throughout the city.

Paris in the Springtime

Jean and I dreamed of a week in Paris with our 6 1/2 year old Zoe-Pascale with high expectations of walking the streets of Paris as free souls as we had done in our 20's. First mistake!In traveling with Zoe-Pascale this past year we were so impressed by her ability to walk the streets of Prague, tour Budapest, visit the Souk in Morocco and travel in the south of France. Paris however was different. First it is a BIG CITY. A city that is easy to get around with the metro and walking, but nevertheless it is BIG and as a result takes longer to get from place to place and requires extra stamina. She was a trooper walking over 5km a day and managing the metro from one end of the city to the other with certain contingencies. The contingencies basically took the form of stopping at every carousel we saw and there is one at each metro stop, every park, and every toilet not to mention a drink or ice cream periodically. In asking Zoe-Pascale what she enjoyed about Paris, her reply is �the carousels on each corner, the playgrounds and parks, the Eiffel tower and Paris Disneyland." What more could a child ask for?For Zoe-Pascale it was a luxury to hangout in our rented apartment in Montparnasse and watch the French cartoons in the morning (remember we don't have TV only DVD at home).This meant the earliest we got on the metro to our destination was 10 am except the day we left for Disneyland. A stop at the first carousel was 5 minutes and a quick play in the park another 15 minutes. We finally came up with a deal that she could ride one time on each carousel she saw instead of multiple rides and then we realized how many have popped up all around Paris. But what could we do a promise is a promise.Approaching the Eiffel tower she spotted a park and bee lined right for it. An hour later we descended up to the top of the Eiffel tower which she confidently announced was completed in 1985 as told by Carmen San Diego (a cartoon detective). Nothing could change her mind as she heard it from the source. She did acquiesce later and said it was probably finished being painted in 1985 but built a bit earlier. Later we realized she probably didn't comprehend the difference between 1885 and 1985 (what is a century to a 6 year old?).

Luxembourg Gardens

Chasing Mona and VenusOn our second day we arrived at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. Interestingly Zo� was enthralled with seeing the Mona Lisa and watching her famous eyes follow her from one side of the room to the other. Was she the mysterious seductress or femme fatale? As Zoe-Pascale learned, the subject is a young Florentine woman, Monna (or Mona) Lisa, who in 1495 married the well-known figure, Francesco del Giocondo, and thus came to be known as ``La Gioconda''. The work should probably be dated during Leonardo's second Florentine period that is between 1503 and 1505From the beginning it was greatly admired and much copied, and it came to be considered the prototype of the Renaissance portrait. In the essay ``On the perfect beauty of a woman'', by the 16th-century writer Firenzuola, we learn that the slight opening of the lips at the corners of the mouth was considered in that period a sign of elegance. Thus Mona Lisa has that slight smile which enters into the gentle, delicate atmosphere pervading the whole painting. To achieve this effect, Leonardo uses the sfumato technique, a gradual dissolving of the forms themselves, continuous interaction between light and shade and an uncertain sense of the time of day. (http://www.ibilio.org/)Winding through the many halls we finally reached the grand and beautiful Venus de MiloThe "Aphrodite of Melos" otherwise known as the Venus de Milo is an ancient Greek statue and one of the most famous of the art of ancient Greek sculpture. It is believed to depict Aphrodite (called Venus by the Romans), the Greek goddess of love and beauty. It is a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life size at 203 cm (80 inches) high, but without its arms and its original plinth. From an inscription on its now-lost plinth, it is thought to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch; it was earlier mistakenly attributed to the master sculptor Praxiteles. (http://www.wikipedia/) After delving into art for the past hour it was time to find a toilette, which of course was through another long hallway at the other end of the Louvre. In a nice toilette such as found at the Louvre, Zoe would sit on the toilet and tell stories like there was no where to go and she had all the time in the world. Her imagination was full of surprises as she weaved Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo into a story with Scooby Do and Harry Potter.

Taking the Big Stroll down the Tuileries
Tuillerie Gardens, Paris

After leaving the Louvre we decided to take it easy and stroll down the Tuilerie Gardens and the Champs-Elys�es with not a care in the world and no clock to guide us.For glory and grandeur, this is the most beautiful street in the world with the French symmetrical landscaping keeping the eye trained to look down the Champs Elys�es from the Louvre to the Arch du Triomphe. The name Champs Elysees means "Elysian Fields" which indicates that someone thought this street was heaven on earth. Zoe's vision of the Champs Elys�es was from the book "Charlotte goes to Paris" a must read for every 6 year old describing Paris in the late 1800s in the days of Monet and other impressionist painters. She agreed the street was big enough to hold 6 carriages across and the buildings were beautiful as well as the outdoor cafes, but to our eye the commercialism and globalization of modern France had gone to far on the Champs Elys�es and it's elegance has been diminished as a result.The most beautiful portion of this walk however was in the Tuilerie Gardens themselves and the large fountain with old wooden boats for kids to rent. In the springtime (different than summer) it is possible to get one of the famous green iron chairs that are found throughout the parks in Paris. After obfuscating two of them, Jean and Zoe went off to sail the old wooden boats in the fountain for over an hour. I basked in the sun, watched the people go by and enjoyed relishing in the giggles of Zoe-Pascale leaning over the fountain in attempts to get her boat to sail across the pond.Traipsing down the Champs Elysees we set our eyes on the Arche de Triomphe commissioned by Napoleon who wanted it to commemorate his victory at Austerlitz, as well as show off to his new young bride Marie-Louise. In future research we found out that the monument was not finished in time for his marriage but had a painted backdrop completed for the procession. It was however, completed for his funeral. Twelve grand avenues intersect at the arch which makes it look like a giant star from above. (This is why the French call it the l'Etoile, or star, not to be confused with la Toilette). It is amazing that so many cars can traverse l'Etoile and not have multiple fender-benders. A friend told us later that if you have an accident in this particular spot, the insurance companies will split the fees 50/50, no questions asked.By the third day we shifted our expectations to see one thing a day and many carousels and playgrounds. We would be leisurely and bar all expectations and be in the moment. A much better way to travel! Luxembourg Gardens was one of our favorite with a �pay park� built to keep a child happy for hours. It was well worth the money and happiness that it brought Zoe-Pascale.The gardens were full of students, retirees, unemployed, tourists and what seemed like the entire world lazing on the great green iron chairs just as it should be in Paris. No place in the world depicts the relaxed state and quality of life as this garden. We imagined Sartre and Simon de Beauvoir sitting in these same chairs philosophizing about life as we were doing. What is life all about? How should we live our lives? How do we change the quality of our lives? and the ultimate question, How do we want to live the next half of our lives taking into consideration we have a young child and do have to bring in income?While we philosophized, Zoe dug in the dirt and gathered prehistoric rocks that she strongly believed were buried here years ago. Who were we to tell her differently?

DISNEYLAND PARIS Disneyland Paris was Zoe-Pascale highlight and to our surprise we enjoyed it more than we expected even in the morning rain. We took a morning train directly to the park and found the crowds manageable and the lines moving fast for each ride. Having grown up in Los Angeles I have probably been to Disneyland at least 40 times in my life and wasn�t sure what to expect with the newer version I grew up with. Overall I applaud Disney for keeping the essence of Disneyland alive in Paris while making it even easier to access and enjoy. The design of the park was laid out exactly the same but with a larger Fantasyland for the many families with small children and extra attractions added while you waited in line. For example in, It's a Small World (our favorite) after the ride and listening to the song It's a small world at least 100 times, you visited a Lilliputian like city where the kids ran from house to house peeking in the windows of all the different countries they had just visited in the ride. We felt like we won the lottery as the experience continued when we least expected.Now that Zoe was older we were also able to spend more time in Adventureland and Tomorrowland which seemed less crowded. Overall it was Zoe's favorite and we were pleasantly surprised with the great day we all had together.

THE UNDERGROUND STREETS OF PARIS ...� THE SEWERIf by chance you ever dropped a key or ring into a sewer in Paris there is an emergency phone number that you can call and the crew will respond with a 75% chance of recovery if the call is made within one hour. Now what other city service could be more valuable than that? Looking more into this, I found the Paris Sewer Tour at the Musee des Egouts de Paris (Museum of the Sewers of Paris).Early one morning I dragged Zoe-Pascale and Jean to explore beneath the streets of Paris and join the �Paris Walks tour of the Sewer.� Not one of the most popular walks as you can imagine. 2100 km of sewers were built between 1850 and 1920 after being planned for 50 years. The sewer includes 26 thousand manhole covers, street cleaners and sewer workers (egoutiers). It is thought to be the most efficient system in the world even though its technology has never been updated in over a century. Evidentially though the roman sewer systems that were left to rot were even more advanced during their time.Before 1970 they provided a boat ride through the sewers as part of the tour but after a bank robber got off the boat without being noticed they closed the boat tour down and now provide a museum and a short ballade through a working sewer. Zo� and Jean were not as impressed as I was but the thought of an entire underground city made for moving the waste and garbage we produce is amazing. One point in fact that Zo� did find interesting though is that there is one rat for every 3 people in the sewer even though a female produces 8 babies every 20 days. They say most of them drown in the grungy waters and the remaining hidden below.The workings of the sewers whether in Paris or our own village or town are one service we all take for granted. Something we should all be grateful for and thank our next egoutier or street sweeper when we see him or her hard at work.
Egout, The Sewers of Paris

Musee de OrsayThe most manageable and beautiful museum in all of Paris is the Mus�e d� Orsay once a train station built in 1900 for the Worlds Fair. As Paris grew the train station became too small to handle the needs of the area and was then used for a number of activities such a post office and TV film studio. In the late 70s Paris decided to turn the station into a museum which was finally opened to the public in 1986 to host the artistic creation of the western world from 1848 to 1914.Jean and I wanted to see the impressionists such as Monet, Pissarro, Cezanne, and Manet close-up. Agreeing to tag along as Charlotte from Charlotte in Paris, lived next door to Monet and was best friends with Manet�s daughter Julie. Upfront and close she saw every brushstroke, sunbeam and artistic impression of these masters. At one point she asked, �Are these real mommy, we can get so close and almost touch them.Yes, I replied they are real (wondering in my own mind if they were as we stood 2 inches from each painting. Later in the bookstore we expanded our learning and bought Charlotte in Giverney. Our next stop on the trail of great artists.Zoe like the paintings but loved the statues on the first floor. She walked around each one asking what 3-Dimensional meant overhearing us talking about it. At each statue she would stop and imitated the art piece. Her favorite was �Pan� half goat, half-person a major character from the book The Chronicles of Narnia.�It was such a pleasure to see her initiate a love of art in such a gorgeous setting and so we followed her posing at each statue throughout the hall.

Our favorite Restaurant � Le Relais de Venice son entrecote for meat eaters only!On a work trip to Paris 15 years ago, we discovered what has come to be our favorite restaurant in Paris, Le Relais de Venice, situated in an out of the way two story building near Porte Maillot. The client at that time took us to the restaurant making sure that we were there right before 7pm. Why I asked, it seems early for dinner. This restaurant is so well known by locals and business people that it fills up by 7:30 and the next sitting isn�t until 9 or so. How right he was. Each time we go we arrive at 7 and there is a long line of people waiting to get in when we leave after a mouth-watering dinner.At 7 pm we all walked into an elegant restaurant laid out with white tablecloths, crystal and mirrored walls. Tables were tightly squeezed and it was hard not to quickly become friendly with those across the way. Even 15 years ago to my delight the upstairs was reserved for non-smokers (much smaller of course) which continues today. The proprietress, a beautiful elegantly dressed woman in her 70s (who has not aged in 15 years) greeted us at the door and welcomed us to the restaurant and our waitress. Waitresses dressed in black and white uniforms with little white aprons adorned the place with smiles on their faces.The menu consists of the following:- salad- steak (thinly sliced in a fabulous sauce- frites- bread- desert of your choiceYour only choice is how you want your steak cooked; rare, moyenne, cuit, bien cuitThe surprise is that they will continue serving you as much steak and frites as you like. The deserts were superb as we shared a lemon tart (Musee's favorite) and a fromage blanc.If you get the chance to go you can get there via the metro at Porte Maillot. 271 Blvd Periere. It�s a bit difficult to find but well worth it (across from the Club Med Gym and across the street from the convention center.)

Wallace Drinking Fountains.
Wallace Fountain, Paris

300 of these Wallace fountains (yes it is an old fashion water fountain) were donated to the city by a gentleman named Wallace in the late 1800�s. The story was told that he went into a bar and asked for a glass of water. The waiter told him that it would cost him the same as a mug of beer. Appalled at the thought that you had to pay for water, he decided to do something about it. At that time evidently the water in Paris was not suited for drinking (remember the sewers were just being built) and good drinking water was scarce. As a gift to the city he designed and built over 300 beautiful fountains that still stand today albeit no water. Every time we spotted one in the city we would run up to it and test to see if any water was still spouting. To our dismay we could only look at the beautiful fountain and not get good free clean water. History does seem to repeat itself as we walked into the nearby store and paid 2 Euro for a bottle of water.

On Traveling with Child in ParisHaving an apartment in Paris was much easier with a child, but we learned a few things:- Next time we would rent an apartment near the center of the town (i.e. Luxembourg garden area) allowing us to go home for a rest in the afternoon and back out again for dinner.- We would plan to do less and chill out more- We will definitely plan to return alone to the most romantic city in the world sans child.- Pack lightly. We once again broke our rule and brought more than we needed and suffered from it as we carried our luggage up three flights of stairs in our Paris apartment.