I forgot to mention my trip to Versailles in my last blog. I took the train out a couple weekends ago to visit the extravagance that is Versailles. It was actually sort of an annoying experience. Don’t get me wrong, the palace and the grounds were breathtaking…but the crowds and lines were ridiculous. I went on a Saturday…but not during tourist season. I waited in line to buy a ticket to get in for 40 minutes. Then had to elbow my way through a mass of people in a “line” to get my audio guide…and the rooms were a bit hard to get through because of the number of people. They have some art on display inside the palace by Jeff Koons
that is….interesting. I understand that many of the pieces had some kind of significant meaning to their placement, etc…but I felt like a big purple balloon dog sculpture and an inflatable lobster hanging from the ceiling sort of took away from the experience of Versailles. Maybe that’s just me. The kids grandparents- Mimi and Papa were in town for a few weeks…so we had a lot of people in our little apartment, but we all had fun visiting museums, playing at the park and spoiling the kids with all kinds of new toys. Those two left and Rob’s friend Jean and her son Sean came in for a long weekend visit. Sean is ten and Cory just idolizes him.
Last weekend was my last “free first Sunday” at the museums. I went to the Pompidou- which is a modern art museum. The building itself is very modern- one of those places that Parisians can’t decide if they like or can’t stand because it stands out so much against the old stuff. It is huge and had some really cool art in it. Sometimes I think it is really interesting, and 
sometimes…like in the case of the inflatable chair exhibit…I think, ummm- pretty sure I had these pieces in my college dorm room. How does one decide that is art…but it generally has some kind of social implication. I’m not sure what that was for the inflatable chairs, as most of the information was in French. I also visited the Louvre...which was pretty crowded. I had already spent a few hours in the Pompidou and wasn't up for too much at the Louvre...I visited a couple areas I hadn't seen before- went to the Napoleon apartments area which was actually almost more impressive than Versailles. But that was all I could take for one day. The kids are really enjoying school- and I am enjoying getting to know the other moms. We have started taking the kids to a nearby park right after school gets out. It is the cutest thing…there are 6 kids involved in the transport from school to the playground…and there is so much hand holding, hugging, running, yelling and laughing that takes place en route. Very cute. The moms asked me about my plans after the family goes home- am I interested in staying in Paris…they figure between the 3 of them, they can give me enough babysitting work to make a living. It was very nice…and not a bad option considering thecurrent job market at home. I could work part time at Disneyland, part time babysitting, make my own schedule…and enjoy Paris for a bit longer. Definitely something to think about after the holidays.
Cory has his 4th birthday tomorrow…I made a trip out to Disney Village today to buy a few birthday presents. And did some good old fashioned outlet shopping at the outlet malls…is there some rule about having an outlet mall near Disney? They don’t even have outlet malls out here, but there was one just a short walk from Disney.
I think that is all I have to report for now. I have been sick with a cold for the past week, so haven’t been out much. I have been doing much research about my 3 weeks of traveling after the family goes home…still unsure of my exact plans, but definitely narrowing it down.
Hope all is well with you…be seeing you very soon.
