Denise has Arrived!

Denise, her husband Jean-Michel and family arrived Friday from Geneva at the Gare de Lyon.  Denise was a student on with our first study abroad group in Paris in 2005 and has become a part of our family.  She married Jean-Michel three years ago and lives in Geneva, Switzerland.  When we were here in 2012 we went to Geneva to visit for a long weekend and they had just found out Denise was pregnant with twins.  A lot happens in two years!  Denise and Jean-Michel now have 3 children--the twins who will be 2 next month and a 3-month old baby.

Kelly met them at the train station to bring them to the apartment on the métro.    We thought it wouldn't be a problem with the double stroller because the new No. 14 métro line has elevators.  But it turned out not one elevator worked.  Ah Paris.  And it was 97 degrees on Friday.  They were all glad to arrive at our air conditioned apartment--a luxury in Paris!



Jean-Michel, Denise holding Luke
and twins Joseph and Lillie

Jeanene holding baby Luke

After cooling down and eating an early dinner, we decided to brave a walk in the heat to the Eiffel Tower.  We chose a shady path under the trees.

Kate and Kelly

The Gang at la Tour Eiffel

Just looking at these pictures makes me hot!  You can almost see the heat.  We walked home down rue de la Bourdonnais and then along rue de Grenelle to the rue Cler.  Those sidewalks get a bit narrow as the merchants take advantage of extra selling space to lure in shoppers.  We were a big group weaving in and out with our stroller.

Flower shop on rue de Grenelle

We stopped at Amorino on the rue Cler for some gelato.  There was a band playing in front of a café just down the street and people were dancing.

Dancing on the rue Cler

Kate in front of the "White Bakery" on our street

It was Kriegers' last night in Paris so we met them at our apartment to say goodbye and so they could see Denise and meet the rest of her family.  They were headed to one last dinner in Paris at the little café below our building.  This time Mike and Ski decided to try the duck paté and gizzard salad.  Sande thought it looked gross but Ski claimed it was really good!

Denise, Luke and Sande

Ski and Kate

Lillie saying goodbye to Sande

Denise's twins are so darling and full of personality.  They mind well and are real charmers.  It was so much fun to get to know them.  And Luke is a happy, calm baby.

Saturday was not quite as hot as Friday.  The morning was a bit cloudy which helped.  We went to the Saturday marché on Avenue Saxe behind l'Ecole Militaire.  We needed more fresh pasta and fruit.

Denise and Luke
Walking to the Market



Denise, Jean-Michel and Luke



Strolling the Market

We stopped for samples at the Greek stand.  He had us sold on an eggplant hummus and a spicy sun dried tomato sauce for our pasta.  And he filled a big bag with tabbouleh. 
Joseph liked the fish stand.

Joseph pointing to the shrimp

Homard

More fish

Denise and I checked out the heirloom tomatoes and bought a huge red one called coeur de boeuf and a yellow one.  They were very flavorful.  Everything at the market looked so good.  Denise said she would love a market like this near them, but that it would also be very dangerous because everything looked so good.

Denise and Luke at the tomato stand

Our huge tomatoes



Lillie chasing a pigeon

Lillie decided she wanted to get out and run.  We let her chase the pigeons for a bit until she tried to follow them into the street.





 

Lillie wanders the market

I took a picture of this man because of his capri pants.  French men of a certain age seem to love wearing these--with a fanny pack.  In France they call a fanny pack a "banane", which makes a lot of sense.




On the way back to the apartment we stopped for a picture of the Ecole Militaire and the Eiffel Tower.  A nice young Parisian woman offered to take our picture so everyone could be in it.

Then we walked to the Military School to watch the horseback riders.  There are riders every Saturday morning.

Jean-Michel with Joseph



Lillie and Denise

L'Ecole Militaire et la Tour Eiffel

After lunch I ran some errands with Kate while Kelly went with Gillets to the Grand Palais and la Musée Quai Branley.  The twins fell asleep once they were in the stroller and they later found a little park with benches where the twins could run and play.  I met them at the Quai Branley museum up avenue de la Bourdonnais near the Seine with cold drinks.  Everyone was hot and tired and we had a nice walk back to the apartment.
After dinner we ordered a taxi to take Gillets to the train Sunday morning.  It was called a "Maxi" van with three car seats and plenty of room for luggage, parents and children.  Much better than negotiating the métro with a stroller, children and luggage!
It was so good to see Denise and her family and to get to know the children and their personalities.  We were sad to see them go and hope to see them soon.