Versailles

Sunday was a beautiful day and we decided to take the kids to Versailles. When we arrived, a short ride later, we realized we'd been fooled (silly west-coasters that we've become) by the clear blue-sky. It was frickin' F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G. So afer fueling up with chocolat chauds we braved the windy Palace plaza and got in line for our tickets. Wandering through the amazingly elaborte rooms, the kids got nearly dizzy starting up at the painted ceilings. In Marie Antoinette's bedroom, Sedi kept asking incredulously: "But where is the queen? The queen is NOT here! Where is she??" The highlight for Jake was finding and picking up a large sheet of ice from one of the many frozen puddles in the gardens where the kids enjoyed stomping and splashing while we silly grown-ups just shivered nearby. We will return--in the true Spring!

At Last, a Fabulous Kids' Museum!

It's not really at last, since we did go to the same museum our first weekend here, but on that visit we A) did not know that you needed to make a reservation for a specific 90 minute time slot, and B) that if you show up on a Saturday morning the chances of getting said slot before dinner are nil. So on that day we wandered around the science museum being surprised that a major national capital had such a lame science museum.

Yet, not to be discouraged, we decided to try again. The kid's school had a day off today, a staff workshop, not a big holiday, so we decided to take Jake and Sedi to La Cité des Enfants, the children's section of the Science Museum. What a difference. It was fantastic. Perhaps the best children's museum we've ever been to. It has 2 sections one fore 3-5 and one for 5-12. It's a good thing Sedi is tallish and can pass for 3 around here. A full-on construction area with hard hats and vests where the kids push wheelbarrows of rubberized "bricks" and trains (complete witht a kid-operable crossing guard station) and load them up and down using buckets on pulleys then can fit the different sized-bricks together to make walls, roofs etc. A machine where they use levers and wheels to move the parts that then move a ball through a maze. A scorpion that you can climb inside of an operate its claws and a kangaroo who's pouch you can crawl into and pretend to be a joey. And this is about 1/30th of what was there. Jake and Sedi both had an excellent time. And while it was a 40 minute metro ride the first time around, it's just 15 minutes from our apartment by car. We will be back for sure!!

We then lunched at a ubiquitous Hippopotamus restaurant which, turned out to have adequate food and was over-the-top kid friendly: a goody bag for each kid, a nice steak frites with applesauce for dessert and a self-contained kids play area where we could watch the kids play while we relaxed at the table.

EATING OUT

Pizzeria d'Auteuil
81 Rue Fontaine, Metro Michel-Ange Auteuil, 16me
Wednesdays school gets out at noon, so Erik and I pick the kids up together and we all go out to lunch En Famille. This place is sure to become a regular Wednesday afternoon spot. There must have been 10 other children there, including a toddler all having a good time. And the food is generally tasty (although my Pappardelle with Aubergines was too salty). The Pizza Bambino is a Roman-style cheese pizza which is amusingly shaped with ears, olives for eyes, and a puffy cheese nose. The Rigatoni Arrabbiata was delicious, Sedi devoured it. Jake pronounced the glace dessert the "Most delicious thing ever." But let the waiter know you would like everything to cocme at once. We ordered a haricot vert entree and this resulted in them not bringing the grown-up main dishes until the kids had finished theirs.
Best to get there before 12:30 or reserve.


Brasserie de la Poste
54 Rue de Longchamp, just off R. Poincare, 16me
This is the first place we went with the Kids on Day One. It was a business crowd on Thursday for lunch, but we were thoughtfully seated at a banquette at the back where we wouldn't disturb. They quickly brought milk with straws 9without our even asking for the straws) and offered us several options for kids menus (steak hache, salmon, noodles). My lamb was delicious, something I could hardly imagine finding in Seattle, Erik was lukewarm on his Pot au Feu.

Kiosque
1, Place de Mexico, 16me
Fun, kid-friendly atmosphere (a bike hanging from the ceiling, chritmas lights on the trees). Food was above average for a Brasserie, but service was a tad slow.

Il Conte
Ave Raymond Poicare, next to Cafe Le 16me
Can you believe that the closest retaurant to us, just three buildings down, is a kosher Italien? It is, and it's great. Filled with families on Sunday (closed Saturday). Croweded with a business clientele during the week, but kid-friendly in a blase way. One day when I found that Sedi and I were locked out of the apartment I decided to take her there while I waited for Erik or Jeri to come home bearing keys. She sat on her side of the banquette, like a perfect 2 year-old little lady, complete with a napkin bib, and enjoyed a fulll bowl of minestrone soup and a good portion of my spaghetti with pomodoro e basilic. The food is really good.

Le 16me
corner of St. Didier and Ave Raymond Poincare
Wonderful velvet seats, fun bordello-fringe in the windows (perfect for kids to hide in). Friendly staff. Delicious salads. Yummy pizza for the kids. A non-smoking sectioon. A regular place for us.