Ile de la Cite

Just a few quick notes from today:

- Ella had another wonderful day at camp. They started preparing for their field trip on Friday to the Musee Marmottan by looking at some prints of Monet paintings.

- While Ella was at camp, the rest of us explored the Ile de la Cite. We went inside St. Chapelle, which is spectacular and defies description so I won't even try. Each 15' high stained glass window tells a different biblical story from Genesis to the Apocalypse. Jonah enjoyed finding the likenesses of animals in the stained glass and the stone reliefs. We are becoming quite expert on the best places to picnic in Paris (sounds like a possible book deal). Today we ate in the garden of the Musee Cluny - one of the best picnic spots so far, with nice wide benches and a beautiful herb garden.

- We tried out a new, larger grocery store with a very wide selection of both fresh and frozen foods that would be impossible to get in Ohio. The food here is so good. Not just the pastries and the cheeses and the wines, that everyone expects to be better in France, but also the normal, everyday foods. They are fresher, and taste more like they should. The bananas taste more banana-y, the raisins taste more raisin-y, and the broccoli tastes more broccoli-ish. Even Ella notices the difference and frequently says, "this is the best xx I've ever eaten."