different names for the same thing: I’m on a BOAT!

We’re in PARIS! After months of saying: “Guess what kids? We’re going to PARIS!” , we are really here. Dave got up and got our cell phones all set up for France, so we’re connected and a bit safer now. We then headed over to buy our “Navigo” passes. We now have our own pass for the Metro, bus, and biking. We bought passes for the month of July and it started to hit home that we are going to be here awhile!
We headed over to the Notre Dame and Hotel De Ville. It was another warm, sunny day here. We got lunch and shared a Nutella crepe in honor of Rachel Dahl (yum!) We then got on the “Batobus”. It is like a hop on/hop off bus, but it’s a boat! It goes down the Seine and stops at several sights along the river.
We first got off the boat at the Louvre museum. We wandered around the grounds and the gardens. It was overwhelmingly huge (and beautiful). We rode awhile longer, and then got off at the Eiffel tower. WOW! It was pretty amazing! None of us could really believe that we were seeing it in person. We did not go up today as it was more of an “overview” of the sights day and it was CRAZY crowded. We wandered around a bit, then sat on the grass and talked.
When we got on the boat again, we met some nice American ladies. It was so much fun to talk to them. They ended up being LDS, so funny! We are reminded every time we meet someone new of what a unique experience this is and just how fortunate we are to be able to do this as a family.
We got off the boat back where we started the day, at the Hotel de Ville and started the walk home. We stopped in at our new favorite grocery store, Monoprix. (Dave had been there twice before) The store was pretty amazing. It has everything you could ever want in a grocery store and more. As a homemaker who spends several hours of my life in grocery stores, I was a little excited. So many fun, new things to try. We bought what we thought might be peanut butter, it ended up tasting like creamed cookies! It is far too delicious, I simply cannot have this around!
Anyway, after the grocery store, we walked home Everyone was pretty tired after a long day in the sun, so we ate in. Our kitchen is very well-equipped here, which helps make eating at home easy. I was ready to sleep about an hour after dinner, but Mali had her mind set on gelato (how many desserts do we need a day, this has to stop!) So, we finally gave in around 9:30 and walked a little over a mile to a gelato place called “Pozetto”. It was delicious, though I am not sure it was more delicious than sleep. ;) Still, it was great to walk home along the streets as the sun was going down. We were on the street when Spain made their goal and it was very exciting! Go Espana!
It was a great day, we like it here! I am amazed at how many people speak English. I am attempting to speak French, and I think the effort is appreciated. It is so hard not to be able to communicate like I did while in Spain, so hopefully I will get the hang of it soon!