red cafe umbrellas on the Champs Ellysee

So we’re in Paris for our summer vacation! There’s a never ending panorama of beautiful sights, but this last week has been a photographic challenge as the weather has been grey and rainy. We are thrilled with the cool, rainy weather (so opposite from Tel Aviv right now, it’s a wonderful break for us) but photographically, much more difficult to achieve great photos. Most of the old buildings are a cream color, lending themselves to black and white or sepia tone, but I’ve found a few colorful subjects in this wonderland of neutrals.

Paris metro sign

I really wanted to bring the girls to Paris so they could practice their French and experience France as French speakers; I think it gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. They all three study in a French school in Tel Aviv, they’re fluent in French, Hebrew and English; I felt that they should have the real French experience. BUT, it seems they are not the least bit interested in seeing the monuments, museums or touristy sights, all they want to do it SHOP! To the girls’ credit, the only museum that I remember visiting as a young child was the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago (I was probably 10 or 11 years old); I remember that my brother, sister and I loved dropping coins into the wax mold machines, watching the souvenir machine make wax molds of an Abraham Lincoln bust, then the mold dropped out still warm for us to take home and I remember the lake Michigan beach that was nearby. I don’t remember one thing from the museum, but I do remember the experience with my family and I think that’s the most important part.

Rue Boubourg, Paris

 I will have to say that shopping here is vastly different than shopping in Tel Aviv, there’s so much more to choose from! I’ve tried to strike a compromise, a little shopping, a little Eiffel tower, a little shopping, a little Louvre, a little shopping, a little Notre Dame….I’m hoping one day they’re appreciate the experience a little more than they seem to now.

My experience with children on vacation: 
We were in the Pompidou Center,
Emili (9 years old)-shortly after we arrive: “Can we leave now, I’m tired and bored.”
my husband: “We’re all tired and bored, that’s the price you pay for culture.”

The Eiffel Tower, Paris

When I visit a new place, my goals are to take some great photos AND I like to collect accessories like shoes or eye glasses; I search for these special things as I wonder foreign places. These accessories become my souvnenirs from the places I visit. I haven’t found anything here that strikes my fancy yet.

little dove outside my window

I’m shoving the girls out the door now, we’re going to the Louvre. I hope that as we roam the galleries of the Louvre,  my enthusiasm for art will rub off on them a little and the recitation of my art history lessons that I remember will entertain them for as long as it takes to drag them past some of the most famous art in the world. I’ll promise them creme brule if they finish the tour without driving me crazy!