Weekend in Paris - Jour Deux

Day two in Paris started with breakfast at La Salle á Manger on Rue Mouffetard. The spot is lovely on a sunny day and perfect for kids. The tables outside are surrounded by the liveliness of a market Sunday and right across from a small playground. Kevin and I took turns sipping our coffee after we'd finished our basket of breads and spreads while the other played with Lucienne on the playground. The street performers were a hit as well, giving Lu a chance to shake her bootie and for their trouble she tossed the band a Euro coin after.

Not a long walk away is the Jardin des Plantes which includes a menagerie which is fascinating for the kiddies and quite historical (the price is right too at €7 for adults; >4 are free). If you have less time, like us we opted for a ride on the dodo manége. It's not your ordinary carousel, at least dodo birds, armadillos and a triceratop weren't on the ones I rode as a kid. Other carousels around town are at the Jardin des Tuileries, Parc du Champ de Mars and on the hill at Sacré Coeur. There is supposed to be one in Luxembourg Gardens too, but we couldn't find it.

Luckily we didn't need to resort to our rainy day plan, although next time rain or shine we'll give the Batobus a try. The biggest lesson I learned from this trip is that if the baby's happy, Mommy and Daddy are happy. As I'd visited Paris many times, seeing it from a toddler's point of view was definately a fresh perspective.

A Weekend in Paris

A weekend in Paris with an 18 month old may seem like we hadn’t really thought the idea through, that we may have a death wish or just were plain crazy. Well, none is true and we had a marvelous time with our little bundle of energy. One big plus of travelling in Paris with kids is that the sidewalks are wide and paved. It’s a perfect environment for pushing a stroller around all day. We have a large stroller that Lu can sleep in which allowed us to stay out instead of running back to the apartment to put her down for a nap in the middle of the day.
I’d researched plenty of things to do with a toddler before we left, with plans for rain or shine. So after having driven down from Brussels the night before, we were able to get an early start Saturday morning. Lucienne is happy with a croissant for breakfast so this made the first meal of the day very easy in Paris. We went to a great bakery called Bread and Roses, just outside Jardin du Luxembourg. I wouldn’t recommend it strongly for kids as the tables are very close together, but if you can sit outside junior can eat in the stroller. Regardless of the close quarters, it is a fantastic bakery.
Lucienne needed to run off some energy after sitting still through breakfast, so we took her to the Poussin Vert playground in the Jardin du Luxembourg. There’s a small fee to get in, but the bonus is that it’s completely enclosed and very extensive. There is a separate section for kids 7-10 and a sandbox for toddlers. The Jardin du Luxembourg also has pony rides that we thought we’d save for next time.
Shopping for kids is irresistible with many unique and chic shops. One of my favorites is Du Pareil au même near the Hotel du ville. Its creative styles look much more expensive than they are. One of the most unique shops in Paris is Celis located in the Marais. Upon entering this tiny shop you are surrounded by finger puppets hand knitted by the proprietor. She creates at least 100 different characters which sell for €6.90 each. Leaving with a miniature Snow White we rushed to make our 14.45 appointment at Coup’ Kid for Lucienne’s first hair cut. The salon caters to children and is a colorful riot of toys and cartoons. Coup’Kid is located in the Joué Club Village du Paris complex which is a shopping mall devoted entirely to toys. Lu wasn’t too happy about getting her hair cut, but she looked very cute with her new do.

We found that stopping for lunch in any of the cafés is great with kids as most serve crepes or croque monsieurs. Also two restaurants recommended for kids are Chez Clement, a chain and Cremerie-Restaurant Polidor. We tried the Polidor which dates from 1845, but even this place which claims cuisine familie doesn’t have high chairs or a children’s menu. There were however many families with young kids eating at the long tables. We ordered Lu oeuf mayonnaise which she liked with some bread and frites. Not the most balanced and nutritious meal, but the service was very quick and the prices were good.

Carless Brussels

One of our favorite days of the year is Carless Sunday in Brussels. If you can believe it, a city of over a million people park their cars for one full twelve hour period from 7 am to 7 pm on the third Sunday of September. We dust off our bikes and head to the streets, unhasseled by horn and exhaust fumes. The focus is on sustainable energy, organic products and healthy living. A little fair is set up in front of the Royal Palace complete with sod carried in that transforms the normally busy street in from of the Palace into a verdent parkland. Lucienne had her first whirl in a bike carrier and really loved it.

Our perpetual motion machine...

Well Lucienne is almost 18 months old and a lot has changed! She's running now and is interested in everything. She loves to see how things work and is extremely social. It's rare that we take a walk now and don't make a friend along the way. I think she thinks she's part of a parade, waving at people from her stroller. Lu has quite a vocabulary now too. She says 'puppy' and 'kitty' and will point when she sees one. A favorite role play that she's picked up is talking on the phone. She will use anything as a phone; a bookmark, remote control, or of course her play phone. Another playtime activity is putting together puzzles, stacking things or filling items in a cup. Lucienne loves books and will bring me a book and say 'story' which is asking me to read it to her.

It's especially amazing to us now how much she understands. We can tell her it's time for a walk and she'll crawl into her stroller. A favorite thing for her to do is put money in her piggybank. Lu has developed an attachment to her soft green blankie and likes to take it to the créche.

Apparently she's learning some French at the créche too. The other day at le Pain Quotidien she repeated 'bonjour' back to the woman at the counter. She also will say 'caca' about her poopy diapers. Lu loves to give kisses too. She will kiss the women at the créche goodbye for the day and loves to kiss mama and dada good night.

One of Lu's antics that really make us laugh is when she wants a bite of something we're eating she'll open her mouth as wide as she can and stand right in front of us. She also tells us she's hungry by moving her fingers to her mouth in a sign language motion.

As a baby of the 21st century, Lu loves Skyping. She know the ring and runs over to the computer and wants to talk and see who's calling. DVDs are another favorite. She will walk over to the TV and tell me that she wants to watch a particular movie. Lucienne is very responsive to music. She can turn on the iPod herself and likes to dance. We've signed her up for Music Together classes, which we're really looking forward too. Lu especially likes songs with hand motions like 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' and 'Pattycake, Pattycake'.

Kevin and I are having so much fun with her now. She is such a bright, smiling ray of sunshine.

North to the UK

We began our summer vacation in the UK. We took the ferry from Belgium to England where we camped near Cambridge the first night. Lucienne loved playing on the jungle gym there at the campground. She slept very well in the tent, bundled up in her fleece and thick blankets. Summer hadn't completely arrived in England, but at least we avoided the rain (for the most part). Lu got the hang of eating dinner at the pubs and loved HP sauce with her 'chips'. It's an added bonus that the UK has outlawed smoking in public buildings. Since Lucienne has recently learned to walk she was able to practice at the campground. After a night in southern England, we made our way up to the beautifully stark North York Moors.

The historic town of Whitby proved to be a pleasant stop on our way then to Edinburgh our ultimate destination for the big wedding! Whitby was the site of Capt. Cook's departure around the world and the setting of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Lu had her first fish and chips with mushy peas and loved them. We realized that we are now in a new phase in our travels with Lu. She doesn't like to sit still anymore and we must do a lot of running around to keep up with her. She likes to explore and is always asking, 'dat?' It sure is more exhausting, but great fun. She garners much attention from people because of her smiling disposition.

Arriving in Edinburgh we had lots to do to prepare for the wedding. Since dada was the best man we attended the rehersal dinner. We met up with friends who we hadn't seen in a while. Kevin had to get fitted for his kilt while Lu and I hung out at Starbucks. On the day of the wedding we dodged the raindrops and made our way via taxi to the Cathedral. Lu looked really cute, but unfortunately, she wasn't ready to make her debut as a flowergirl just yet. She insisted on walking around the church throughout the long ceremony, except when she was to walk down the aisle ahead of Norah. Oh well, she still looked awfully cute in her Belgian lace dress. The reception at, The Hub, kept Lu running and dancing until way past her bedtime. She was delirious when we got into the taxi to head back to the hotel. The next day was our 10 year anniversary. Niall's sister agreed to babysit Lucienne so Kevin and I enjoyed a romantic dinner at The Witchery inside Edinburgh Castle. Our vacation wasn't over yet! We left on Sunday for the Lake District and camped at an old farm near the town of Keswick. We had just enough time to talk a walk through the Beatrix Potter-Perfect countryside along Lake Derwentwater. If Lu hadn't gotten her fill of sheep in the York Moors, she was able to enjoy the scores we saw grazing along the shores of the lake. I was expecting to run into Peter Rabbit around the next bend as Kevin carried Lu in the Ergo carrier.

With one last stop at the ultra-cute coastal town of Rye, we boarded the ferry to head home to Brussels and pack up again for our 6 week trip to the USA.

Walking

Lu decided it was time to start walking on Monday, June 9th. Of course I wasn't here to see it and either was Kevin, but it was very special because Grandma Myrna and Grandpa Larry were visiting. Lucienne stayed home from the creche to have some special time with Gramma and Grampa so I supose she thought it a special occasion and decided to show off! As Grandma tells it Lu stood up in the middle of the room and took about 8 steps! By the time her Daddy and I got home from work she was running from one end of the apartment to the other. Lu is still a bit unsteady on her legs, but we're hoping she'll be walking well enough by Niall and Norah's wedding that she'll be able to walk down the aisle as the flower girl!

14 months and still crawling

I don't know if it's because she's subborn or she has impossibly long legs, but our Petite Lulu is refusing to walk, well that is until today! She took three steps towards Mommy and felt very proud of herself. She has become rather skilled at standing on her own without the aid of any prop, but hadn't been able to kick it into forward gear.

Lu is laughing lots and finds humor in ordinary things. She's becoming an artist now, her chosen medium is felt tip which inevitablely ends up all over her face and hands too. Thank goodness for washable ink. She spent her first few art sessions interested only in removing and replacing the caps of the pens. Once she tired of that, began to set pen to paper.

Mama is her favorite word now when she wants something, or doesn't know what she wants and is deciding to just be cranky. Dada is her happy word. Go figure!