And Jeff and Leigh Arrive!

Today marks the start of Round 2 of our trip to Paris as son, Jeff, and daughter-in-law, Leigh, arrive - not from America but from London on the Eurostar.  They love Jenny, Dave, and the girls so much that they, first, flew to meet them in London for a couple of days before leaving there today and taking the train through the Chunnel (on my bucket list) to Paris and arrive shortly.  We plan on having dinner at La Grande Coulbert where we had lunch with Connie on our first day here - it was elegant and delicious French food and drink.

Since we had the morning open and me feeling about 90% of my normal self, off we went to Le Petit Palais (across Winston Churchill Avenue from its bigger brother, Le Grande Palais).  It was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle and now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine arts.  The other facades of the building face two other Parisian landmarks:  the Seine and the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.   Every time I see the latter I can't help but think of the Nazis goose-stepping down the Champs-Elysees upon their occupation of Paris in 1940 - a full two years before America entered the war.  Today, it is a thing of beauty.

Its center held a beautiful garden just on the verge of going full bloom.  We walked around it for a few minutes and then returned inside to enjoy the magnificent sculpts and paintings.  And, best part of it all?  Admission was free!  

After about an hour (and half of the museum completed), we ventured back outside and headed for the Place de la Concorde and the famous obelisk.  Place de la Concorde (Harmony Square) is a full 19 acres of public park and the famous location of Marie Antoinette's beheading in front of heaving crowds of thousands.  Supposedly, when the guillotine fell you could've heard a pin drop!

The centerpiece of the Place de la Concorde is an ancient Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics, exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II. It is one of two which the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th century. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology at that time.  This one, which originally guarded the Temple of Luxor with its matching pair, was hoisted into place in 1836.  The government of France added a gold-leafed pyramidal cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998, replacing the missing original, believed stolen in the 6th century BC.

Not far down the street lies the magnificent Eglise de la Madeline (Church of the Madeleine), The story of La Madeleine began in 1757 when King Louis XV envisioned a grand church dedicated to Mary Magdalene to celebrate his recovery from a serious illness. The project ran out of money and since then, La Madeleine’s purpose has shifted with every regime!

In the 1800s, Napoleon decided to convert it into a “Temple of Glory” to celebrate the French army, rather than a church. But after his defeat, it transformed back to its original purpose as a church. Over time, it’s been a military monument, a railway station proposal, and even a national food market idea before becoming the parish church it is today. Napoleon's presence isn't missed, though, as the very large painting over the altar depicts Christ and the Apostles, but guess who is watching them with his crown and ermine wrap? Yep, Napoleon.

As we emerged from Eglise de la Madeline we saw a very large and old building just down the street so we had to go down and check it out. It, too, was a church - Saint-Augustin - built between 1860 and 1871 by the Paris city chief architect Victor Baltard. It was the first church in Paris to combine a cast-iron frame, fully visible, with stone construction.  It, too, was beautiful but not of the same grandeur as Eglise de la Madeline.

After this, my energy was flagging so we Ubered back to the apartment to await Jeff and Leigh.  Since they've spent a couple of days in this time zone (in London), I'm hoping they're relatively fresh and looking forward to a nice dinner tonight at Le Grande Coulbert.  We didn't have reservations there when we went for lunch - and seems like most of the nicer restaurants count on them - but tonight we do.  

Between this break and dinner, Cheryl decided to go ice skating!  Ice skating in Paris, France!  She had brought her old pair of skates and intends for Jenny to take them home to England with her so she can skate over there on her visits.  I napped.  She skated.  I was, as always, duly impressed with my wife for her adventuresome nature.  Her concession was that I made her promise to Uber to/from the arena - La Patinoire de l'Accor - as it was a few miles away and by herself.  And, going by herself?  She never flinched and had a great time.

Upon her return, it was time for dinner and c'est magnifique!  We began with a couple of lovely appetizers, including escargot which were just scrumptious.  The kids had a fish dish and I had a fish soup, while Cheryl enjoyed a roasted chicken.  Of course, I had to have the best champagne on the menu to celebrate "family" and "Vive la France" to wash it down for Jeff, Leigh, and I while Cheryl sipped Perrier.  For dessert, Jeff and Leigh shared a flaming crepe suzette while Cheryl had a scoop of beautiful chocolate ice cream.  I was simply too full and ready for night-night.

We walked back to the apartment and Jeff and Leigh said they were "going for a walk" starting at 9 p.m.  I figured they'd just go up around the corner onto Grand Boulevard for a short jaunt, but Monday morning when they woke up, they reported that they had, in fact, walked a whopping 6 miles last night!   Down to the Seine they went, through the Latin Quarter in the Left Bank, and back.  I'm not sure I'm up to that jaunt in a normal daytime environment, let alone starting at 9:00 to return here about 11:30.  Kids!

Our other guests for week 2, Ray Creamer (Cheryl's nephew) and his consort, Brenda, should be arriving here on Monday early afternoon about 1:00 p.m. so we'll have 6 staying at our lovely 3 bedroom apartment.  Not sure what the day holds for us but will report back faithfully!