Three-day weekend

Friday was Armistice Day, and we entertained the notion of going away for the three day weekend. However, making plans at 10 pm the evening before a holiday weekend is not easy (few rental cars, hotel rooms available) especially when you don't know where you want to go! So, we put the trip on hold and decided to have a sightseeing weekend in Paris instead (it's hard to believe how many Paris sights we have yet to see).

Friday morning we had an errand to buy a Wall Street Journal International edition for a colleague of Abe's who is coming to Paris this week. We figured the surest bet for finding an international paper on a holiday was the Champs Elysee, so we headed over there. We found the newspaper right away and then did some window shopping on the Champs Elysee. Window shopping there turned out to be somewhat disappointing as the stores along the formerly exclusive boulevard are now mostly chains, and not that interesting. So, we headed over to the Grand Magasins to see the rest of the Christmas windows there. The sidewalks were packed with small children, but the windows were impressive despite the crowds. We returned home via the Marais, just in time to buy a challah before the bakeries closed for shabbat.

Having failed to make travel plans for the weekend, we spent the evening making many travel plans for future trips. We booked train tickets for our winter trip down to the southwest of France with Grammy Ruth and Grandpa David. We also booked our flights home from Paris in July (currently the only available seats for frequent flyers involve a mind numbing combination of flights through Rome, Atlanta, and probably several other European and U.S. cities taking roughly 24 hours, but we're on the waiting list for some better options should they become available). Finally, we used some airline vouchers that were about to expire to book a trip to NY and VA next July/August.

We spent Saturday morning at the Musee Carnavalet. There was an excellent photography exhibit showing the work of Dorothy Bohm called "Un Amour de Paris." She photographed Paris (among many other places) for over 4 decades, and each photograph had a story to tell about the little everyday things that she loved about Paris. Meanwhile, Ella went to an atelier on portrait drawing - the result of which you can see above. We got home in time to watch French Sesame Street on TV. Our whole family was enchanted, and France is now perfect as far as Jonah is concerned. Elmo speaks French - what more could Jonah want? (unfortunately, during the week it's on at 6:50 am, we'll have to find a way to tape it, even Elmo is not worth getting up that early!). In the evening, we walked down to rue Charonne, a very happening street about 10 minutes walk from our apartment (near the Bastille) where we discovered dozens of great things (including a bagel store, a toy store, a Monoprix, and lots of nice restaurants) which we had never seen before (despite being so close to our home). Given it was a rainy evening, a bowl of soup and some crusty bread at the soup-bar hit the spot perfectly.

Today, after lunch we took a long walk along the Seine, collecting fall leaves as we walked. Then, with a final burst of sightseeing energy, we visited the Palais de la Decouverte. This natural history/science museum is in the heart of Paris in a grand old building near the Grand Palais. We were stunned that there was a 45 minute wait to get into the museum (there are two temporary exhibits that end soon), but we figured with a line like that, it must be good. We were glad we waited. For Jonah, a science museum pretty much means running from one exhibit to another, pushing as many buttons as he can. However, even he slowed down a bit for an incredible exhibit on dinosaurs, with life size animated models of dinosaurs (see night photo above). Some other highlights included an exhibit on the properties of light and colors (including measuring the temperature of white and black objects, and seeing a plant that released oxygen bubbles faster when a stronger light was shone on it), a cool astronomy room, a good exhibit on animal communication, and much more.

At dinner, we played the "what if" game. I asked, "what would you buy if you found 100 euros?"
Ella - I would pay back my lost library books (she's so responsible!)
Jonah - I would buy 2 moneys.
Abe - I would take us all out to dinner.
Dara - I would buy gifts for my family.

Next, Ella asked "if you owned a store, what kind of store would it be?"
Dara - a boulangerie (bakery)
Abe - a bank
Ella - a store that sells food, toys, clothing, pictures, and furniture (a.k.a. Walmart)
Jonah - a grocery store

Then Abe asked, "where in the world other than Paris would you like to live for a year?"
Ella - Italy
Abe - Australia
Dara - Italy or Israel
Jonah answered with disgust - in my grocery store.

Thus, painting a picture of Jonah as extremely task focused - he will invest his money, open a store, and then live there to keep an eye on the business.