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This update
is being written by Scott, because the boys are very sleepy.
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Traveling in Europe with two-year-old twins is the most exhausting
and exhilarating thing we have ever done. It must be overwhelming
for the little guys to be taken out of their daily routines and
whisked from one strange situation to the next. But Alex and Jeremy
embrace every new adventure. They wake up in the morning anxious to
explore, and have not had a single tantrum. Jeremy cries sometimes
when he doesn't want to stop doing whatever he is doing at the
moment, and both boys often put up resistance (sometimes very
resolute resistance) when asked to climb into their strollers.
Jeremy sometimes wistfully announces that he misses Mr. Bear’s
restaurant (the Hickory House in Aspen) and asks when we are going
home, but then he rallies and races off to the next adventure
shouting "Here comes Jeremy!".
We
spent a lot of time talking about and looking at pictures of Paris
before we left Aspen, and Jeremy was anxiously looking forward to
the trip – talking of eating little cakes, riding on carousels, and
seeing the Eiffel Tower.
Jeremy
likes practicing his French words. He says "bonjour" to anyone who
will listen. Meanwhile Alex insists on pressing every light switch
and door-release button he encounters (and there are many between
the street door of the apartment building and the eventual door to
the apartment itself). When he isn't riding on a train he is
pretending to be a train – chugging along cracks in the sidewalk
making train noises.
In the
preface to Dad’s collection of letters about the Paris portion of
our 1965 sabbatical in Europe he wrote what could be a description
of Alex and Jeremy: "Scott was always sweet and inquisitive if
somewhat shy and reserved at times. He was fascinated by European
trains, and he was always a steadfast joy on the trip, as he always
is. Todd was a loquacious five year old, to say the least, and kept
us on our toes in trying to explain things." |
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Jeremy
and Stella love reading the Madeline about book about twelve little
girls in two straight lines who live in Paris and who smile at the
good and frown at the bad and Madeline who says 'pooh' to the tiger
in the zoo. |
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Family visits and Nôtre Dame
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One of our
favorite chants at Tuesday’s anti-government demonstrations was the
Solidarité chant of
"Tous
ensemble, tous ensemble, tous ensemble!" ("All together!"). When we’re
not chanting "Fries and
nuggets,
fries and nuggets!" we like to chant "Tous ensemble!".
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In the spirit of tous ensemble, Ella, Patrick, and
Muriel Jacubowitz come by our apartment to visit with us on
Wednesday afternoon. Ella’s mother was the best friend of Halina’s
mother in Poland before the war. |
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Ella and
Patrick have a son named Jeremie (we like that name!) but he couldn't
join us because
his PhD
advisor called him in for meeting this afternoon.
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We like having visitors... because plates of special
cookies always seem to appear! |
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Jeremy took time out from his socializing to watch
some Looney Tunes en français… |
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Before
dinner we went out to the playground at the end of the street…but
it was padlocked.
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Mummy and Daddy were worried we would be upset. They
needn't have worried. We can have Laughs and Fun anywhere there is
space to run around and be silly – and we did Very Silly Dancing
with a row of metal pipes in the middle of the sidewalk. |
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Hooray
for Silly Dancing! |
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After we
had gone to bed for the night Granny & Grandpa went out to dinner at a
little bistro near the
Bastille.
Mummy, Daddy, & Auntie Harriet had a comfy dinner at home. And then
Mummy & Daddy went
out on Date
Night. They walked from the Hôtel de Ville across the Seine to Nôtre
Dame.
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A film
about the history of the cathedral was being shown on a huge
rear-projection screen hung from the middle of the nave; the rest of
the giant cathedral lit only by candle light. |
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e.e.
cummings once wrote that the cathédrale Nôtre Dame does not budge an
inch for all the
idiocies of
this world. Without the daytime dusty blue light and penetrating red
light filtering
down from
the immense stained glass windows, and without oceans of tourists
floating through,
tonight the
old cathedral seemed particularly timeless.
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From the cathedral they wondered along through the
bustle of rue de la Hachette, then across Boulevard San Michele and
up San André des Arts – where they stopped at a crêperie for a
perfect lemon & sugar crêpe. |
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Just up the street was a vending machine selling
paperback books for 2€. Mummy bought a copy of "Contes et Legends de
France". When she picked up the book fit fell open to a story
entitled "Les Deux Jumeauex" – "The Two Twins". Cool! |
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Then it was
time to stroll home across Paris.
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Our apartment on rue
Oberkampf
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Grandpa arranged for the
most amazing place for us to stay while we were in Paris.
Rather than staying in
separate hotel rooms, we all stayed together in a little two-story house
built around a garden
with a fish pond. The
house is owned by Mme. Held, who occasionally rents it out.
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From the street
12, rue Oberkampf looks like any other building.
But when you open the
big blue door you step into a little entryway with a big metal gate.
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Behind the
gate is a long narrow courtyard with apartments on both sides… |
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At the
end of the courtyard is a Big Green Door. |
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The door
opens into the private garden, with the L-shaped house on two sides. |
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And
stairs leading up to Granny & Grandpa’s room, offering end- less
possibilities for naughtiness. |
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Mummy & Daddy’s
bedroom is at the other end of the house,like a little tree house
upstairs above our bedroom. |
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Mummy & Daddy
like lounging in their bed in the morning listening to the Alex &
Jeremy Show from downstairs. Sample: Jeremy: "Oh Alex, I went up the
Eiffel Tower. I saw Kai and Jaymin. We're not going up the Eiffel
Tower today, we're going to the park. The Eiffel Tower is closed."
Alex replies (when he is able to squeeze in a word or two): "Are you
twenty Jeremy?" Jeremy: "I'm two. It was my birthday. I had a cake
and candles." Alex: "WHAT was that?" Jeremy: "I think it was a
sneeze." Alex: "Wow." Jeremy: "I think Mummy sneezed." [Editor’s
note: she did.] Alex: "BIG sneeze!" Jeremy: "Yes sir, yes sir. But
she doesn't know the territory." [Editor’s note: When all else
fails, Jeremy quotes The Music Man.] |
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In the
evenings we like looking at pictures from the day with Daddy… |
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And
all times of the day we love reading books with Granny! |
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Thank you
Grandpa for our cozy place to stay on our first visit to Paris!!
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Goodbye to Paris
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We couldn't believe our
time in Paris was so soon at its end.
On our last morning we
went down to the playground at the corner, in front of the Cirque
d’Hiver for one last romp.
And then it was time to creep
through Paris traffic in a slow-motion taxi to the Gare du Nord to board
the
Eurostar train for the return home to London. Alex was very excited
about going for another train ride!
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On
board the train to London lots of books were read... |
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and some naps were
taken... |
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Heading into Waterloo
station Jeremy looked out the windows, excitedly spotting red
double-decker buses,
black London taxis, and
giant construction cranes. He was Very Happy to be back in London again.
But we’re both already
looking forward to spending more time in Paris. |
