My Grandparents in Paris

The week before my grandparents arrived in Paris I had finally started observing at Lycée Rabelais, which is where I am an assistant for the year.  I won't actually start assisting until the beginning of November because we have the last two weeks of October off for Toussaint.  I'm not complaining and have been enjoying my time off.  Anyways, on Friday the 18th I officially moved out to the south suburbs with the wonderful Kleville family.  They are kind enough to let me rent out one of their rooms.  It has been lots of fun living with a French family because I get to speak in French and there is always lots going on since they have four kids.  Anyways, now to the more exciting part of my break...my grandparents came!!!

My grandparents had not been to Paris in 30 years and decided to come out and visit me for my first week of break.  They arrived on Tuesday the 22nd of October in the evening.  They rented a studio in the 4th on Place Ste Catherine and let me tell you, it was really nice!  I went into Paris on Tuesday evening and was anxiously awaiting their arrival.  They finally arrived and I walked (swiftly, almost a run) over to them and said hello and gave big hugs.  It was so great to see them!  We were let into the studio and given the low down on how everything works.  Afterwards, we went to a café on the square for dinner and I had a delicious chèvre chaud salad.  We then hung out in the studio and they gave me all the goodies that I had asked for from home and then I went back home to go to bed.

On Wednesday the 23rd, I headed into Paris bright and early and of course came bearing croissants for breakfast.  We went over to the local Monoprix and picked up some much needed groceries for the week so we could also do some cooking instead of going out all the time.  We then headed over to the Louvre and saw the pyramid (which wasn't there 30 years ago when they were here) and we went inside since they didn't have time when they were here last.

Grandma & Grandpa in front of the pyramid at the Louvre

Grandma enjoying a fresco by Boticelli

The lovely halls with all the statues

Looking out a window at the Pyramide

After we were done at the Louvre we walked over to les Jardins des Tuileries and enjoyed the beautiful weather that we had.  We even sat on some of the famous green chairs that are in some of the parks of Paris.

L'arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

View of the Eiffel Tower

Grandma, Grandpa & I in les Jardins des Tuileries

Les Jardins des Tuileries

Fall colors in les Jardins des Tuileries

We then went to Place de la Concorde

Grandpa got the true Parisian welcome by being pickpocketed on the métro, thankfully he didn't lose anything of super importance but his métro pass was taken so on Thursday we had to go to the Tourism Office and buy a new one.  We then went and visited la Conciergerie where Marie-Antoinette was held before she was beheaded.  We then visited Sainte Chapelle, which is the church with all the stain glass windows.

Sainte Chapelle

They were restoring some of the stain glass windows but it was still nice

We then went to Notre Dame and looked around there.  After that we went to Ile St. Louis and had galettes for lunch and for dessert we had Berthillon's ice cream.

Notre Dame, they were celebrating 850 years so this structure was there

Grandma, Grandpa & I at Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

A view of Notre Dame while walking around

We also walked past l'Hôtel de Ville and then walked back to the studio

After resting for a bit we walked over to Place des Vosges and just sat on a bench for a while and enjoyed the nice day.

Place des Vosges

On Friday we went to Musée D'Orsay and that was fun because when my grandparents were here last it was a train station and now it is a museum with my favorite style of art, Impressionism.  We didn't do much else and sadly there are no pictures because they do not allow pictures in the Musée D'Orsay.  Saturday I went into Paris and we went on the Bateaux Mouches ride in the morning.  It was rather gray but there was blue sky occasionally and it only drizzled for a minute so it wasn't too bad.

Musée D'Orsay from the Bateaux Mouches ride

Grandma & Grandpa enjoying the Bateaux Mouches ride (Notre Dame in background)

Paris in the fall

We had lunch at the studio and then we visited Musée Carnavalet which is just a short walk from where they were staying.  We had a nice time looking at the paintings and whatnot that shows the history of Paris.  In the evening we went to the Kleville's house for a wonderful dinner.  It was so generous of the family I am staying with to open their home and make a delicious dinner for my grandparents.  We had a nice time and I took the train back into Paris with my grandparents to make sure they made it. 

Sunday was their last full day and it was so much fun getting to hang out with my grandparents in Paris.  It was such a blessing to have them here and to get to share Paris with them.  I truly enjoyed having them here and am thankful for the time we had together.  We went to the Holocaust museum which was not far from where they were staying and it was a very humbling experience.

The Holocaust Museum

After lunch we headed over to Sacré Coeur since the last time they were here they didn't have the time to go and it is one of the major attractions.

Sacré Coeur

Grandpa, Grandma & I at Sacré Coeur

I am so glad that they were able to come and visit me during my break.  It was such a wonderful time and I will always cherish the memories we made and all the fun adventures we had around the city that means so much to me.