June 27, 2018

The last full day of our trip. We admittedly slept a little late, only because last night’s bike ride ran so late. But before too late we were on the metro and headed for brunch before the catacombs.

Might as well share some food photos. This was goat cheese, peppers and bread.

Crepes.

waiting and waiting and waiting for our check so we can leave. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

The line for the Catacombs was really long.

Like 3 hours long. Emma and I ended up waiting in line. The girls took turns going for fruit and ice cream and sitting in the shade. These two photos were taken before they went off in search of food and shade.

But we did finally make it inside.

It started off with some information.

and then you entered the real part where all the bones are.

No flash photography.

I got two shots of the team with the bones.

The photos did not come out great. But I think you get the idea.

They are organized with markers of when and where they are from.

And it just goes on and on and on.

I kept wondering what it was like to be the guy who’s job it was to stack them.

Catacombs video

In the end the team decided it wasn’t that great and they wouldn’t recommend it to others. We asked if it was just because of the wait to get in and they still said “nah, it just wasn’t that cool”. Emma and I both thought it was really neat. But Emma and I both read some of the information (which was in both English and French) and enjoyed the history around it. The kids informed us on multiple occasions they do not like or care much for history. So I can see why this was just not their thing.

Because of their lack of excitement of the Catacombs and everyone’s exhaustion we decided to ask if they wanted to go to the Louvre instead of just taking them there. They all told us flat out “NO” they did not want to go. When asked individually if any of them did want to go, because Emma or I would still be happy to take one, or a few of them every single one of them assured us that NO they did not want to go and to please not make them.

So we agreed to go have dinner on the lawn near the Eiffel Tower and then go home to shower and pack and get a decent. nights sleep for our early departure tomorrow.

I am currently typing this while watching our bags, laying on the lawn, under the tower, while they pick out dinner.

I think we are all exhausted and just plum worn out. It has been two weeks of go go go. And this sudden warm French weather has shocked us after the wet cold Welsh days and nights. I am also currently struggling not to nod off while I type this.

video

A little fun on the lawn.

And a little fun in a fountain

I realize there are multiple very similar photos of these two but I could not decide which one I liked best.

They are all three memorable photos.

All of us were laughing it up watching them.

And entertained us all.

For the record we were told that playing in the fountains was ok and acceptable. And we witnessed plenty of other people doing the same.

It was a warm day.

We tried for a few typical photos and were not very successful.

Then we did a little last minute souvenir shopping.

And sorbet.

This one is black current and mango with a raspberry macaroon.

Caroline got the traditional flower looking cone.

Exhausted we made our way back to our apartment on the metro, which is dog friendly.

Now we are showering and Netflixing and preparing to pack for our return trip tomorrow.

And this is what our packing explosion looks like in the living room.

So much for an early night to sleep. It’s nearing 1am and we need to be out the door before 8am. So signing off.

Hope this one is better typed than the last few. I write these as I go about the day. So they may go out in segmented thoughts – since that’s how they are written. Yesterday’s I was falling asleep trying to capture their bike ride and had to go back and edit some bad typos this afternoon. I have not had a chance to do that for many of the other posts yet.

I’ll try to find time to reread them soon. For now I am literally typing out thoughts on my phone so that you can have an as updated experience of the trip as possible. I am literally putting in hours of screen time to make this possible.

And now I am rambling. 😊

Good night from France 🇫🇷