Tuesday April 13 in Paris

Family travel is a great way to spend time together without too many distractions, plus it's so fascinating to be away from our everyday life back home! Here's a recap of a typical day in Paris for us!
Whether I woke up at 7am or 9am, we tended not to actually leave the apartment until early afternoon. Sometimes DOJ would go to the nearby boulangerie to get pan de'chocolat, baguette, and other fun goodies. Thanks to staying near a Monoprix grocer as well as a traiteur and a weekly farmer's market on Raspail, we had a good selection of food so we'd have breakfast, and occasionally lunch, at home.

We stayed 5 minutes from the Western entrance of the Jardin d'Luxembourg, and we'd walk here frequently. It's a huge garden with a children's playground, theatre for puppet shows, tennis courts, gigantic lake, and much more. Outside the garden was even a huge National Geographic quality photo display of children around the world.

Tennis in the Luxembourg Gardens: men's doubles. This was fun to watch!


By the lake, preparing for a photo shoot. This is in the center of Le Jardin d'Luxembourg!

We departed Le Jardin and walked to the Marais, down Rue St Michel (and past the major fountain). The Marais is a fascinating neighborhood to visit... although that could be said about many if not all of Paris! We had a very nice stroll there - it sounds like a lot of walking, but since I'm in my chariot, it's no problem for me. And my parents love walking, especially in Paris!


In the courtyard of Merci, one of Paris' many concept stores - this was on the major Avenue d' Beaumarche, near Bastille and the Marais. It's a block parallel to the gorgeous Avenue d' Bernard Lenoir (one of France Radio's famous DJs). Merci had clothing, a bookstore, a cafe, housewares, kitchen and dishware, and this cute red car!! It was recently touted in The Daily Candy (May 27 or 28 issue)!


Sandbox by Places des Vosges, one of the most beautiful squares/parks in Paris, in the Marais. After a few hours of walking, we wanted to have a little break before dinner. We met another mother who told us about being from South Korea (Corea, as they say in France) and being married to a Frenchman.


Dinner at Bofinger, one of Paris' more famous brasseries which is close to Places des Vosges. The best way for us to dine at restaurants was similar to what most parents do everywhere: eating early, during "family and baby" hour. DOJ kept referring to Bofinger as Bowfinger or Goldfinger. We loved the interiors of restaurants and shops!

We then hopped a bus to return home. We loved riding the buses. But that'll be another blog post...

Love,
Julien the Baby!

Provence pictures

Hi everyone!

I'm so far behind with blogging... and I know that we say that all the time here. Here are some pictures from our trip in Provence - as Rick Steves says, it's the vacation from the vacation, ha ha. Provence is quite laid back but with the many places to visit and explore, there are still ways to keep busy. We had a fabulous time here!

We stayed in the small town of GOULT, in the heart of the Luberon part of Provence; my parents rented a house from an American expat. Each day was a fun adventure! Goult is a hill town of its own, but there are also a lot of other fun hill towns in this area.

Saturday April 17: the view from Bonnieux, a nearby town where we had amazing Provencale pizza for supper!


Tuesday April 20: sitting on the visitor train in Arles, a port city that has a Roman amphitheatre (coliseum).


Goult - that's where we stayed!


Friday April 23: in the heart of L'Etang! Woah.


Friday April 23, Evening: A view from the windmill in Goult. It was hard to believe that we would depart on the following day. The only drawback to staying in Provence is that we're not in Paris... we loved both Paris and Provence. And I think that if we had gone anywhere else... we'd also love it!

My parents were married in Toscana (Italia), and they said that a lot of the towns in Provence reminded them of being in Toscana. I've never been to Italia so I can't make the same comparison!

Love,
Julien the Baby

It's April in Paris...

Hi everyone,
We are back home from France! I had a great trip in Paris and Provence - of course, I'm happy everywhere I go, since I'm a baby! Here are some initial pictures. My parents are a bit jetlagged so I'm going to keep them company as they sleep!

Here's our fun family shot in front of the Eiffel Tower. Of course, the only way to get a picture like this is to walk across the nearby bridge and go to Trocadero, and then take the picture.

Pont Neuf - the most gorgeous and famous pedestrian bridge of all the bridges over the Seine River!

By the Louvre - I had more fun looking at the water than at the Glass Pyramid!

By a pond in the Tuileries Garden. I met Arthur, a local Parisian who was very nice and chatty with me.

Here we are in front of a fountain in the Palais Royal garden!
There are so many great large public parks and fountains all over Paris. We had a lot of fun walking through some of them. I loved being in my stroller and seeing everything happen.
I'll post more pictures as I have time!
Love,
Julien the Baby