Sukkot Party

Today we attended a synagogue potluck sukkot party at the home of a congregant in a western suburb of Paris. The people were again very warm and welcoming, and we had a nice time. The kids enjoyed hanging fruits and vegetables in the sukkah, and playing with the other kids.

On the way home our train's route unexpectedly ended at La Defense (although it was scheduled to go all the way into Paris). We took advantage of this serendipitous stop to check out the grand arch. The ultra-modern arch is only a third as high as the Eiffel Tower, but still very impressive. We took the elevator to the top where Ella and Jonah watched mesmerized as a man undressed the mannequins who had been featured in the special exhibit on haute couture. We looked at several other exhibits and, of course, the view.

A couple of other notes about the kids:
Their new favorite game is to play "street performer." One of them puts out a cup in front of them and then sings or dances. The other one walks by and drops money in the cup. Then, they switch.

Tonight at dinner, Jonah volunteered, "My favorite thing - the Pompidou Center" (Yes, our two year old's vocabulary actually includes Pompidou Center, along with Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, Bastille, and of course, Eiffel Tower). We asked what he liked best at the Pompidou Center and he told us "the potty" referring to the Duchamp urinal from the Dada exhibit (it made quite an impression on both kids). I jokingly asked if you could really use that potty. Ella immediately said, "No. It's art." To which Jonah replied, "That not art." It sounded just like a debate we had in my Art History 101 class in college. Fortunately, Jonah did agree that you could not use that potty (because it's too big), hopefully sparing us a future embarrasing museum moment.

One sad moment of the day was when Jonah, who had insisted on bringing his purple bear to the sukkot party despite our warnings that he might lose him, left purple bear on the train. He grudgingly accepted to sleep with Ella's puppy instead, and luckily was tired enough to fall asleep. Fortunately, carebears are popular in France and a stop at the monoprix tomorrow morning should set things right. I don't think the replacement purple bear will be taking any more train rides.