Keeping Up With the Joneses

Our last day in Paris we visited the Louvre. It ended up being perfect because it was pouring rain all morning, so it was a good day to be inside. I didn't get the requisite picture outside the Louvre because of the rain, but this was right inside the triangle.  The main thing Mason wanted to see (along with everyone else who visits the Louvre) was the Mona Lisa, or La Jaconde in french. He went to the information booth and asked for directions in French. The attendant thought he was so cute and complemented him on his French as she explained the complicated directions which he totally understood.  Mason in front of Venus of Milo.  We pushed our way through he crowds to get a good view of the Mona Lisa. Mason was pretty excited and impressed.  So was I. We explored some more of the museum and Mason copied some of the poses of the statues.  Another thing he really wanted to see was the mummy. After searching and searching we fina...

One of the things that Mason was most excited to see in Paris was the catacombs. His friend's mom showed him pictures of it before our trip, and what 12 year old wouldn't be excited to see piles of bones? We were smart and bought the tickets online ahead of time. They only let 50 people in every 30 minutes, and the line was around the block, but we were the first ones in when it opened in the morning. Mason wanted to be the first through the tunnels but something about being the first people through a tunnel with a bunch of bones first thing in the morning totally freaked me out so I made him wait for others to pass.  We rented the audioguides which told us about the cool history. In the 1800s the graveyards were too full so they moved all the bones to this area.  Mason loved the bones.  Me not so much. . . creepy.  One sign I had no trouble obeying.  After the catacombs we of course visited another crepe stand.  ...

On day 4 we spent a hot day in Versailles. When we got there the lines were very long, so we went to the gardens and to the other parts of the area and had a nice picnic by the canal. In the afternoon we took a tour through the castle.  Did you know the Palace of Versailles (and gardens) is TWICE as big as Central Park in NYC? Me either.  In front of the castle.  In front of the rear of the castle.  The hall of mirrors.  Me and my guy.  Mason pretending to be one of the members of the mob in the French Revolution who stood outside Louis the 16th bedroom window yelling at him to be arrested.  We were trying to find somewhere to have dinner and came across this place and it was too good to resist. It had 5 different kind of poutine! There was a grocery store right by our hotel and one night Mason couldn't decide what to buy so we bought it all. That is a bucket of chocolate mousse, two eclairs, marshmallows,...

We started out strong on Day 3,  feeling really well rested. We walked to the Pantheon which was just a mile or so from our hotel.  Mason in front of the Pantheon. The Pantheon houses the original Focult Pendulum which was hung to prove that the earth revolves around the sun.  There is a replica of this in the Eyring Science Center at BYU, but the original was way better :) We went to the crypt and saw the tombs of some famous dead people (here is Voltaire).  When we were in NYC last year Mason saw Les Miserables on Broadway. I explained that Victor Hugo wrote the book (and also Hunchback of Notre Dame) so Mason wanted to pay his respects.  Later in the day we took the tour bus up to Montmartre and saw the beautiful Sacre Coeur. This is also where Mason couldn't find a bathroom and finally peed in the bushes! Another beautiful view of Paris.  We passed Moulin Rouge and all its surrounding sex stores. Fortunately t...