"I want go on 'nother choo train, Mom!"

Bobby has been working on his colors for a while and I found this France Colors Board book at the library.  It was a bit risky to bring it out into the city of Paris, but I took my chances since he needed something to read on the metro, right?  It made it home (and back to the library) safe and sound.

Bobby called the metro a "choo train" and he loved them.  It's a good thing because we sometimes had to get on and off them to get to where we were going.  A big shout out to my dear husband who took care of the logistics of the metro and leading us where we needed to go!

So cute!

This day was Sunday and so we planned on going to Notre Dame for the Gregorian chant Mass at 10am.  We had to leave a little earlier than the day before to get there.  When we arrived at Notre Dame's square, the line to get in was long.  Turns out there was another line for people going to Mass, but when we figured that out and switched lines, so did everyone else.  We were still in the front of the line though.

On this trip we really figured out what keeps this one happy on long days.  It's this backpack.  Brian tried to get him to walk more and it was quite the disaster since he can only take about 5 steps before deciding he can't go on.  Quite a fiasco!  I would trade Brian since he has back trouble for the lighter kid, but then Bobby wouldn't be happy.  He likes his Mama a lot.

Another rainy day in Paris, but I brought better shoes this time and didn't have soaking wet feet all day.

We looked around after Mass this time.  During Mass our camel back leaked all over the floor.  Smooth move, eh?

We found some unexpected relics of St. Genevieve in Notre Dame.  We thought the only ones were in St. Ettienne's church next to the Pantheon.

Having a sweet father-daughter moment by St. Genevieve's relics.

By the time we were leaving it was drying up already.

The plan had been to go get ice cream at this place that had been claimed to be the best ice cream in the world.  It was really good, and they had some super awesome flavors, of which I remember none.  I just know they were not your average flavors.  I always get chocolate unless they have cool flavors that you can't find anywhere else, like the time I got Tarragon and Pepper Gelato in NYC.  Why I can remember that and not these, I can't tell you.

Then we stopped to get gallettes on the way to the Musee d'Orsay.  Gallettes are like buckwheat crepes.  We'd never had them before.  The kids decided buckwheat was not for them and wanted regular crepes in the future.

Someone isn't into impressionism.  Can you guess who?  

So this was my spot.  The Musee d'Orsay is full of impressionist art.  I love my Renior, Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Signac, Seurat, Cassat, and Degas.  Hannah and her daddy, on the other hand, do not love them.  Brian said he likes some, but when he gets too close to the paintings he starts to change his mind.  He doesn't like the brushstrokes showing.  Although how could I expect him or Hannah to get these paintings?  They are all about emotion, and these two family members of mine are not.  They like the realistic stuff.  Hannah's favorite painter is John Constable, after all.  So, I was alone in my awe in this museum.

What a goof!  He was embarrassed that he had to stand in front of a ballerina for a picture.

Did I mention small children don't really love museums?

I had read ahead and planned our route so that I'd get to see the paintings and sculptures that I really cared about the most first in case people were too tired for more.  Good call!  So if you are short on time or energy and head to the Musee d"Orsay, go straight to the top (5th) floor and look at it all.  Then go down to the 2nd floor and go to rooms 68-71 for the rest of the famous impressionist paintings, and if you are a Rodin fan and didn't make it to the Musee Rodin (I went there on our last trip to Paris.)  go to the end of the floor where it makes a U and look at the few sculptures they have there instead of at the Rodin Museum.

We stumbled on this room on the 2nd floor in route to rooms 68-71, and I had to go in.  The rose and gold color made it a stunning room.  I wish my house was trimmed in these colors.

Tired?

Our ever joyful Genevieve!

Pretty awesome room!

On the second floor is where we found the Paul Signac painting for Drew and Van Gogh's the Church at Auvers for Isaac.  The girls' paintings were on the 5th floor but they didn't seem to excited about getting their picture taken in front of the painting that hung (as a print) on their nursery walls and still hangs in their rooms today.

This is the artist, Paul Signac, that did Drew's paintings.  Drew has a print of this painting in his room.

Here is a painting by Van Gogh that Isaac has a print of in his room.  I've seen a lot of Van Gogh's paintings lately.

After the museum, we had to go to a totally different area and ditch St. Chapelle on our list because this church was really important to us on this trip and was only open Sunday, not Monday.  St. Etienne-du-Mont is the church next to the Pantheon where they moved a few of the remaining relics of St. Genevieve, even though most of them were destroyed.

St. Genevieve Street..hard to read the sign.

Looks like we gained extra people in our family, huh?  Those tourists!  You can't get away from them.  :)

This didn't turn out perfectly, but I may still use it for my blog title picture because everyone is in the pew except for me.

Behind the spiral staircase are some side chapels where the relics lay.  This was a small, but beautiful church.

St. Genevieve's relics at St. Etienne, another father-daughter moment.

Lighting a candle in front of the relics.

St. Genevieve's burial stone, encased

We also had to drop the Pantheon because of this change.  It was already closed by the time we got to the area of St. Etienne.  We didn't want to come all the way back out that way the next day so we decided to nix it as well.  We found a pizza place and shared pizzas for dinner before going back to the apartment.  It was another late night.  Some kids were getting really tired by this time.  Bobby was having one or two naps on me that lasted no more than 40 minutes if that.  Poor guy never learned to sleep on the go.