Paris, redeux

A few more shots. On this trip I didn't go into the Louvre, I could tell D wasn't in the mood and kinda, neither was I. So we just walked around outside. Also, Dessi can say "ball" really, really well and I am sure none of you have ever really noticed but around the perimeter of the Louvre courtyard there are approximately 2,840 big round metal ornamental balls. Boy was that fun.

Here she is dancin'



Then not so much



Resting after a wipeout



And then here at Notre Dame, where she at one point had complete command over a circle of 20 people who had gathered round to watch her dance, babble and throw kisses at the crowd. I had to drag her away.

Our Friend Emilia

I have a great friend in Dakar. Her name is Emilia.

Here she is at her 30th (Surprise!) birthday party





And here she is with Eric and our other great friend Vasso -- the three go-getters swam across the bay and back. (Not me -- too cold and too lazy!)



and here -- look at those guns! I would not want to arm wrestle her.




Here she is trying to read a book to our children, who began to care much less about the story than about lap space. Dessi LOVES her auntie Em.



Good stuff.

More Germany

This was an enormous slide. Very long with a big turn in it. I went to the top with Dessi, Eric waited at the bottom. And waited. Because I could not let her go!! (I envisioned her shooting off at the turn.) She got as far as an arm's length down the slide when I grabbed her shirt and dragged her back. Eric had to go down with her. (This photo doesn't do it justice. It was BIIGGG!!)



Here we are on the banks of the Nektar river, where we spent our evenings eating Indian take-out and watching the boats go by. You can kinda see a big red castle across the river and behind us a bit. It's beautiful.





This is another one of the great kids parks -- there were three of them within a few minutes' walk all along the river. So fun.





I think this is Brussels, actually. I just wanted to include it because my hair looks fab.



And here in Baden-Baden, eating cheese sandwiches



sniffing flowers



and walking along the river where a bazillion different trees and flowers are in bloom.

A few last things we will remember ...

- Bunnies in the park at night and their little white tails shining as they hopped away from us (they were skittish). Dessi LOVED them.
- Bella! Bella! Bella!
- Free hotel minibar, so, sipping champagne by myself durring D's afternoon naps.
- H&M on every corner. Literally.
- Paying $20 roundtrip in taxi fares (because I couldn't figure out the metro) to get to a laundromat and then not being able to figure out the machines. I left after ten minutes of looking pathetic / watching other people do their laundry, and ended up washing clothes in the hotel sink. (The homebound taxi driver said I should have just stood in the middle of the laundromat and shouted, 'Who can help me!?!" It's true -- I didn't try that.)
- Girlie porn shop next to Frankfurt hotel: Inside (h)er. Gay bar one block from Brussels hotel: Homo Erectus. Realization that I'm getting old: Immediate.
- Eric taking a train to the airport and ending up in a wheatfield. (Really, the German metro is difficult to use.)

Week Two: Brussels and Germany

Brussels, there's not really much to talk about. The people were kinda rude, but the shopping was fun and there is a beautiful central square that had really unique and cool architecture. Glad we went, glad we only stayed two days.

Then on to Germany, which I wasn't particularly excited about but I have to say, Germany rocks! It is beautiful and green, health-oriented and multicultural. We had five days in Frankfurt, then a few days in Heidelberg and Baden-Baden (ooh, two hours of mineral baths and saunas for me!!!) (Eric babysat/searched fruitlessly for a new kayak paddle.) There were lots of surprises (great Thai food) and things to remember. A few favorites:

Finding the exquisite Chinese gardens on a rainy morning walk through the interlocking greenways of inner Frankfurt



The merry-go-round!! This was really fun for me. Dessi only liked it after we were done. (I dunno, can you tell? I actually have a lot of photos like this. Poor kid.)



The parks! It actually rained a lot, but the kids parks were so great that we just went out and played anyway. Here was a particularly muddy day







The Stroller! After eight days of hauling my pretty little 30-pounder around the cement streets of Europe on my back, my knees and feet and I just couldn't stand it anymore. I thought I would long for my light-on-our-feet parenting approach and feel sad by this cumbersome addition, but it turns out, it's one of the greatest things ever. No WONDER everyone uses strollers!! Dessi picked this one out herself (she climbed in at the store and didn't get out for two miles), and I couldn't have been happier myself.



More Parks! Heidelberg had lots of great and innovate kids' parks, including this really fun waterpark along the river. She doesn't look very happy in this photo, but really she loved it.



Here we are walking along the Nektar river in Heidelberg. This is how Dessi was all week -- babblling and being a goof. We had such a blast with her.



Muesli! She's using utensils pretty well -- reasonably neat and accurate now, which is no surprise really -- look at that concentration!



Here we are, somewhere. These self-portraits never come out well.



and here she is in Paris at the airport, killing time before the flight home. She continues to be the most amazing traveller - very adaptable and good-natured.

Parisian Vaca

We've been in Europe!

First, Dessi and I flew to Paris for five days with Aunt Jodi. We rented a little apartment in the Marais and spent our days walking around town, drinking tea and eating crepes.

Here we are at my all-time favorite Paris spot, Sacre Coeur.



We had an absolutely perfect afternoon walking around Montmarte before and afterward, including this quiet little children's park.



I should say, Dessi's favorite thing on this trip was sticking out her tongue and then also opening her mouth up really wide. She would do it to people, and they would laugh and do it back to her. So that while she was on my back (in her pack) on the metro or wherever, I wouldn't be able to see her but then I'd look around and there'd be all these people making faces ... It was pretty funny. The other thing is, she often engages people who are old or all alone or sad-looking ... the people that most of us kind of just look away from. She will wave and wave until they look up, until they smile at her, until they stick their tongue out .. whatever. And she really brightens up the world this way. I wish I had the nerve to do it! Then again, I'm not quite as cute as her so the effect probably wouldn't be the same ...

And here we are missing our friend Stephanie, who works at Century 21 in America. We took this picture in the midsts of a sidewalk flea market and it was ridiculous how long it took to get the photo taken and how annoyed the Parisians who were waiting to cross in front of us were about it.



And here, in front of Le lapin agile, an old pub that was frequented by Picasso, Braques, and other artists of the time. I wanted to go in and sit on one of the barstools, but it was closed in the afternoons.



It was all very easy, except for when it wasn't. Like this time: We were late, we couldn't get the metro to work for us (part of it was closed for construction), and then even my favorite New Yorker (Jodi) couldn't hail a cab. But instead of helping, a Parisian came up and took a picture of me taking a picture of Jodi. He must have been an artist.



I'll write more about Brussels and Germany later. :)