Independence day in France? Sacrilege

July 4 – day 3 in Paris

I must say our 4th of July celebration in Paris was anti-climatic by American fireworks standards, but a great day, all the same. We were, after all, in Paris.
I started the day with another walk around the city and down the other side of the Seine, then had a cappuccino in the hotel courtyard. They do make a mean cappuccino. I’ve also enjoyed espresso here. Very rich and smooth.

After we got moving we stopped for a quick breakfast at a different patisserie with full view of the Arc de Triumph in the background.

We headed for the Louvre. Our concierge’s tip was to get tix downstairs in the shopping mall rather than the museum – worked great – no lines and we zipped into the Louvre, which was surprisingly not too crowded. We headed for the Mona Lisa, perusing Italian Renaissance and Middle Age art en route. We sought out the others on our list (the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Michelangelo’s Slaves, Venus de Milo, etc.), spending a couple hours total. Perfect amount of time -- no museum fatigue.

From there we metro’d to Jardin de Luxembourg to get a quick outdoor lunch (baguette sandwiches) and to watch the puppet show in a theatre in the park.

The Jardin du Luxembourg is the largest public park in Paris and is the garden of the French Senate (housed in Luxembourg Palace). Great park – tons of flowers, trees, fountains, a couple of cafes, play areas, tons of green folding chairs. Many Parisians were out reading the paper and napping in the sun around fountains and in green spaces.

We had some time before the performance so the kids took pony rides, then hit a cool playground. While Joe played w/ the kids (you had to pay a small fee to get into the playground, so the three of them ante-d up) I watched the ticket office and bolted for the window when sales started).

The people running the show rang a bell to announce sales, then another bell for kids to grab seats. The first four rows were reserved for children, so I sat in row 5 behind Ava, who was reluctant to march up to the front row w/ Claire.

The play was in French with music – some version of the three pigs and the big bad wolf, huffing and puffing houses down – straw, brick, stick. A goat and a narrator factored in, too. Despite the language gap the kids seemed to enjoy it very much. Lovely staging and puppetry – vibrant colors, detailed costumes, the scenery changed mid-way through.

At intermission every French kid in the place had a snack. They also participated heavily in the production and were encouraged to do so by the performers.

Following the puppet show we hit the merry go round, where kids on the outside were given stakes to capture rings as they went around.

We then proceeded back to Montmartre as Joe and I opted to get our portrait done. We looked for our artist but no go so opted for a Vietnamese man who said he’s been doing portraiture for 20+ years in Paris.

It was fun, actually, to pose as lots of people were perusing and commenting on the process – the area was much busier than the prior evening, given it was the weekend.
Joe and Claire, after making the rounds watching people model, smoke, chat and peruse the artists’ quarter, landed an outdoor table near our artist and had beer and fries. I opted for champagne when it was my turn to take in the scene.

Afterward we ate at a cheesy touristy place that was chipper, then sought out a good gelateria and ate outside so as to enjoy the view over Paris.