Surviving the Heat Wave!

We survived the heat wave!  Although by the last night we were all really missing air-conditioning!

The worst of the heat was last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  On Tuesday, we headed out to Neuilly to a pool I had read about.  Once there, we found out it was only open to Neully residents.  I think the security guard felt bad for me, because they let us come in and buy a one day pass.  Hallelujah!

In France, they are very specific about what boys can wear when swimming in a pool.  NO baggy shorts or swim trunks.  In fact, they actually sell swim suits for boys in vending machines at the pools.  Luckily I had read this and purchased Will these cute shorts from the Monoprix near our home. Isn't he adorable?  There are no restrictions on females though!

Always confident!

This is just one of the four pools we swam in!

On Wednesday, we went to FLY 360 Paris and did a virtual flyover Paris experience!  The best part?  It was air-conditioned!  It was actually pretty amazing, especially since all the footage from above of Notre Dame was taken before the fire.  It was incredible to see it from that view.  We finished our outing with gelato from our favorite place called Amorino, while continually spraying ourselves with the best French product we have come across - Evian Facial Spray!  Everyone carries this around, along with little plastic fans, to keep themselves cool.

Fly Paris 360!

Ready for take-off!

Trying to stay cool in our shades!

Evian Facial Spray!

On Thursday, we decided a movie would be our best bet.  When searching for a movie in English or with English subtitles you need to look for the letters VOSTFR (original version with French subtitles).  Toy Story 4 was it!  We were excited to spend a few mindless hours not worrying about the heat.  The only problem, the movie theater was not air-conditioned!  So we decided afterwards the best way to combat that was to shop and get a tasty treat from the mall (Les Halles) that was attached.  As you can see, there is a Lego Store, also not air-conditioned, but Will could have cared less!

I decided we needed to do one cultural thing before the movie.  Here we are walking through the very cool Saint Eustache. 

Waffles from The Waffle Factory!

Starting her young - shopping at Zara!

Creating a mural at the Lego Store!

Have you ever lost a tooth on the Metro?

Finally, on Thursday evening a few drops of rain fell.  It was enough to get us outside and do a little dance.

We were all ecstatic for a cooler weekend.  We spend Saturday doing our two new favorite things, going to the neighborhood market, and visiting The American Library.  We also took in one cultural thing - the Eiffel Tower!  You might be wondering why it has taken us so long to visit.  Well, it is no longer the beautiful structure you can just meander under with your loved ones.  It is now surrounded completely by a 12 foot glass wall.  You need to wait in a long line of security to have your bags searched and yourself scanned.  Every time we tried to go, the line was just too long.  So today was the day!  After all of that, we had to get the obligatory photos:

Taking the Metro home by themselves for the first time!

Yesterday, we decided to visit the church we have been interested in attending this year.  It is The American Church in Paris.  Not only is it a church, but also a huge resource for many expats living in Paris.  What an amazing morning!  Not only did we enjoy the service, but both kids got to see what kind of programing is available for them to attend on Sundays.  They both left really excited to go back.

Jeff and I decided to take advantage of their new found freedom of taking the Metro home on their own, and went out and had an afternoon date.

Our first date of the year in Paris!

Cafe au lait for me and something chocolate for Jeff!

We ended the weekend by dashing down the road to see the Tour de France come into town for the final stage of the race.  It was so festive and fun! What surprised us the most were all the cars and motorcycles that came with the group.  There was almost one car and one motorcycle per rider.

Waiting for the riders!

They rode by so fast!

Tour de France 2019!

And that is a wrap of the week!  While it all sounds amazing, and most of the time it sure is, I promise to write a "Keeping it Real" post later this week, of some of the adjustments and missteps we have made along the way.  It sure does add to the overall experience...

Bonne journée!
Betsy