Day Two of the Marathon with Carter

Everyone's feet hurt after our tour de force on Carter's first day in Paris.  But we didn't let that stop us.  We needed to check things off "Carter's List" that Kate had made for him before his arrival!

We started the morning by arriving at the Musée d'Orsay just before it opened at 9:30.  We headed straight up to see the Impressionists.  First we passed this clock that looked out over the Louvre and the Ferris Wheel in the Tuileries Gardens.

Carter and Kate at the Clock

My favorites at this museum are the Van Gogh paintings.  I love his self portrait and his room in Arles.  

Elephant Statue at the Musee d'Orsay



Statues outside the Museum

We took a long walk from there along the Seine over the bridge to Sainte Chapelle, the next item on Carter's List.

Endless Walking

Stopping to watch the boats on the Seine 

Sainte Chapelle was a little disappointing this time.  It is usually one of our favorite places.  Luckily the line moved quickly, but they are restoring the windows and there is a lot of scaffolding.  The chapel is quite small and it was crowded.  But the tall stained glass windows were still amazing.

Sainte Chapelle

We exited past the Palais de Justice--the French courts.  This is also one of my favorite spots with the big gold-trimmed gates.




Palais de Justice



Gates in front of Palais de Justice

By now our feet were really getting tired and we were starving and ready for lunch at a café.  We went over to the right bank past Paris Plage again.

Seine Bridge



Paris Plage

We went to the Café Beaubourg in front of the Pompidou modern art museum.  Carter tried a Croque Monsieur--the typical French ham sandwich with melted cheese on top--and we were served the best French fries.  Kate ordered an omlette and forgot to tell the waiter "bien cuit."  It was a bit too runny for her to stomach so she just had to pick around the edges and help us eat our sandwiches.



The empty French fry bowl next to Kate's runny omlette

We were surprised there weren't any street performers in front of the Pompidou.  But pretty soon we noticed a copper man who seemed to be sitting on an invisible chair, with his hand on a pole.

The Copper Man, sitting on air

We kept watching him while we ate, trying to figure out how he was doing it.  He would beckon to people and they would walk up and look underneath and around and nothing was holding him up.  Carter just couldn't figure it out.

Carter and Kate trying to figure out the Copper Man's trick

Carter walked all the way around the Copper Man and could not see him sitting on anything.  We left very puzzled.
Sunglasses for Carter was next on Carter's List and we found a good pair in a shop near the Pompidou.  We made our way to the art nouveau métro stop at Châtelet just past the exterminator shop.  This is where they display rats caught in the sewers of Les Halles around 1925.  If you've seen the movie Ratatouille, you have seen this shop.

Exterminator shop displaying its rat catching skills

Carter with his new shades and Kate at the Art Nouveau metro entrance

Carter noticed this  Boys's shop by the métro.  The French supposedly don't like English infiltrating their language, but you see it everywhere.  Evidently this shop did not really understand the finer points of English grammar and spelling!


We went back to the apartment to regroup and have Kelly join us for churros at the fair in the Tuileries gardens. Kate and Carter wanted to see the city from the big Ferris Wheel.


Kate and Carter at the
Churro Stand

Kelly enjoying his churros



At the Ferris Wheel

 

They had a great view of the city as they rode around.


Selfie with the Eiffel Tower

Next to the Ferris Wheel was the Penalty soccer challenge with the swinging goalie.  It was very tempting for the little kids--they were pretty sure of their goal scoring abilities and easily convinced their parents to let them try.  The second kid came pretty close to making a goal but it was a lot harder than it looked.

We went next to the Champs-Elysée to the Paris-St. Germain soccer store.  On the way we checked out the Toyota showroom.  They had some interesting racing cars.

Toyota Showroom

We chose a PSG t-shirt to take home to Carter's little brother, Jake.  Carter thought the store was pretty awesome and they even had his new soccer cleats.

Kate and Carter at the PSG store

In front of PSG store

The next item on Carter's List was a boat ride on the Seine.  So we made our way over to Trocadero to see the Eiffel Tower from the Right Bank as we walked to the boat.  We thought this view of the Eiffel Tower was awesome.

Kelly, Kate and Carter
and Li'l Eiffie
 



We loved the boat ride on the Seine.


Cruising on the Seine



Notre Dame

Eiffel Tower from the Seine

We walked home via rue St. Dominique to the Apollon restaurant where we buy our Grecs.  Carter loved how they stuffed the French fries right in the pita with everything else.  After dinner Kate and Carter still had the energy to go back out sans parents to the Champ de Mars to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle at 10 and then home to watch a movie.  What a great day we all had.  Our feet really hurt, but it was so much fun.

Sparkling Eiffel Tower at Sunset