Charmis loves Paris

Day 10

today was a walk-o-rama
paris style
we started out at the bakery
of course
buying some chocolate croissants
(health food)
for breakfast
then we headed for the Luxembourg gardens
trying to start out with something
that would entertain Gavin a bit
so he would let us look at the “boring” cathedrals
and museums later
unfortunately the main part of the gardens was blocked off
for some kind of film crew
we couldn't get very close to the overlook without a French PA
with an afro and headset
who looked like he was in a french pop band
shooing us away
we sat on a bench and entertained ourselves by watching all the tourists
come unwittingly too close to the park's inner sanctum
only to be brushed away
we ate our croissants and watched Gavin kick his feet in the sand
chase birds and squeal with delight
i lamented the death of our video camera
(thank you Canon)
the film crew eventually left and we enjoyed a casual stroll around the park
next we decided to walk to Notre Dame Cathedral
once there
Jayme wanted to climb the stairs to the top
she was thinking of the spectacular view
i was thinking of
the heavy camera
extra heavy lens
broken video camera
purse
backpack
stroller
and child
i thought it might cause me to drop dead
which was not worth the risk
right?
so we crossed to the other bank and headed to the Pompidou
the weather was not nearly as good as it was the day before
it was very cloudy and kept threatening to rain
so a museum seemed wise
the Pomidou was fun
although it took us a full 15 minutes to figure out
where to actually go to get in the exhibits
there was a hilarious and stupid exhibit
in the main lobby that i will call “bag of boobs”
there is a section in the main floor that looks down into the floor below
with a railing
suspended above this were several black nets or bags
about the size of an armchair
that each held a giant overstuffed body part made out of colored vinyl
there was a bag with two red arms
a bag with one big red hand
a bag with black legs and a butt
and last but certainly not least
Gavin’s very favorite
a bag of 3 large red boobs
every once in a while one of the bags would drop to the floor
almost touching it
and then would slowly rise back up to the top
Gavin was mesmerized
every time we tried to go see something else
he would start whining and saying “no no no!”
"i want to look at the bo-bo's!!"
we were finally able to see the rest of the museum
and enjoyed it very much
i kinda hated the rest of the “bag of boob” art
it was not disturbing enough to provoke thought
not interesting enough to provoke anything beyond an urgency to move
to the next room
and it felt like someone was trying really really hard to be
“out there” and to “blow our minds”
it felt completely contrived
i could not find the exit door fast enough
after the Pompidou we walked to the Louvre
not IN to the Louvre
just to it
we decided to admire it from the outside
we then sat in a slightly dodgy café
because it was getting cold
and had some over-priced slightly crappy coffee and hot chocolate
but hell
we were in Paris!!!
it was now 3:00 and we were exhausted
we had been walking for 7 hours and could not take anymore
on the way back to our hotel
Jayme popped into a little store that happened to be playing
G's favorite
Charmis Cocker
she ran outside to get him to come in and listen
he was very impressed
as, you see...
i had previously informed Mr. G money
that Charmis lives in Paris
so we'd just begun a 3 day hunt to find him
Gavin was convinced Charmis would be waiting for us
around the next corner
possibly sipping a cappuccino in a crowded cafe
or ordering an Indian take away
either way
we were gonna find Charmis baby
and hang out!!!
we got back to the hotel around 5:00 and rested until dinner
it started to rain so we decided to go somewhere close
luckily there was a highly recommended Indian restaurant around the corner
it was magnificent
i had the best spinach paneer ever
and Gavin had his usual Mr. Bread fiesta
poor little bugger
he's eaten mainly pretzels
bread
croissants and the occasional PBJ sandwich during this entire trip
we're worried he's going to end up with an impacted colon