Paris

Beyond the 30° C weather and the lack of air conditioning, Paris was beautiful and amazing! Here's a sampling of what we did:

Climbed the Eiffel Tower. Call us crazy, but we took the stairs. 704 stairs up to the 2nd observation desk. Allison LOVED riding on daddy's shoulder's all the way up.

Took a Shetland Pony ride in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Its a beautiful garden with lots of fun activities for kids. Allison wasn't too sure about touching the horses at first, let along riding one... but she warmed up and didn't want to leave when we were done.

Toured the Catacombs. They were pretty cool. Napoleon, who ordered the arrangment of the bones along the walls, must have had some serious OCD.

Visited Notre Dame. We wanted to climb the North Tower, but we had the stroller with us so they wouldn't let us (which they didn't have posted and didn't bother telling us until we'd stood in line for 45 minutes). It was still beautiful inside.

Its was a pretty cool visit to Paris, but we are so happy to be home now.

Number 13

So I told you earlier about 12 reasons Brian and I look forward to home. I forgot one. A big one. Here, in all is glory, is number 13.

AIR CONDITIONING!!!

Europe is largely un-air conditioned. It hasn't been a big problem... we had a mild summer in Berlin and London is mild by nature, but Paris has been hot. Nigh unto down right miserable. We're talking close to 30° C every day (thats around 85° F for all your non-metric gurus out there) and humid, and the evenings stay very warm. I think it goes without saying that we are so anxious to get back to our nice, centrally air conditioned apartment.

Allison Turns One!

I can't believe that my little baby is officially one! Allison spent her birthday at the Lourve.

She wasn't too much of a fan of all the crowds at the Mona Lisa...

All the looking at old stuff sure tuckered that poor girl out...

Her favorite part was splashing and dipping her feet in the fountains outside.

And she LOVED the chocolate cupcake mommy and daddy got her from a French patissarie (no, Brian's not helping her shove that in her face... he's keeping it from ending up in her lap!)

Happy birthday, little munchkin! Love you so, so much!