Day 2: A Very Paris Day

We started Day 2 off at Notre Dame.  It was actually a lot smaller than I imagined it would be, and it was also much more diverse as a structure.  The front looks nothing like the back.  There was also a very wide degree of what was cared for.  Some of the sculptures on the cathedral were actually eroding or missing.  In fact, we went to a museum where a number of the original heads for the sculptures were.  THE HEADS!  The saints were decapitated during the revolution.

This was some sort of De Vinci like machine that William was obsessed with.  The man seemed to get a lot of attention, and that seems to be all he was after.

My cousin insisted that we go to the Cluney, but it pretty fantastic.  It wasn't a place I would have gone if Shelly didn't want to go, but she said it was great, and it delivered! I am foggy on the details now, but I think it was an abby at one time. The heads that were chopped off on Notre Dame during the French Revelation were on display. It also had the famous unicorn tapestries.

On our walk back to the Louvre, we saw the padlocked bridge. The kids found this idea interesting. We all wanted to add a lock, but Mr. T. is a rule follower and stopped us.

Then we hit the Louvre.  I was, of course, amazed by the art work.  I was honestly amazed by how intriguing the Mona Lisa was.  I don't think pictures truly do it justice.  The thing that really amazed me was the enormity of humanity visiting the Louvre on a Sunday.  I live in a tourist city, but I was still amazed by the shear number of people waddling in and out if the the art work.  I guess DC just does not put it on at such a grand scale.

This is Venus de Milo and all of her admirers.  This is nothing compared to those that loved the Mona Lisa.

We ended the day with those two very Parisian things, shopping and eating.  I wanted the kids to try some very Parisian things.  So..  We had escargot and frog's legs.  They were both cooked well, but only Peanut ate them both.  BabyP would not eat the escargot.  He was at his limit.

William really wanted a stuffed animal so he could sleep better.  He decided on a stuffed Eiffel Tower.  Alison went a completely different direction and got a beret.  She is posing with it in the metro.

Chincoteague

I have an obsession.  That obsession is crabbing.  It isn't necessarily the crabs that I like as much as the crabbing itself.  Further, as a family, we are trying to decide if we want to buy a trailer.  I figured the best way to satisfy our two obsessions was to rent a trailer near Chincoteague.  Luckily, I have friends that recently moved to Virginia who understand my nuttiness, accept that it is part of who I am, and were available to take part in it.

We went rent these trailers off of AirBnB.  The running joke was "where do two families from Arkansas meet up?  A Trailer park!"  So we pull up to this trailer park/camping resort and there are golf carts in a long line with people drinking beer.  We see this sign as we are registering.

We are not in Alexandria anymore, Toto.  (funny side note is that we HAVE A RAPID FOX in our neighborhood.)  We all got registered, hung out with our fabulous friends, and went to catch some crabs.  We brought in a TON of crabs that first day.  We ate crabs late at night.  We had an absolute blast.  

The next day we hit the beach.  It was cold, but the kids had a blast.  We built sandcastles and did lots of other "stuff" that you do at the beach.  Generally Peanut goes into the water, and BabyP and I hang out and build motes.   

Then we decided that we wanted to go fishing.  Since we could not go fishing, we thought we would buy some fishing poles and try our hand at it on the pier at the camp.  We caught NOTHING, but we were hooked.  (no pun intended)  

This may be the only picture we took of the inside of our trailer.  It was actually very nice.  It is much more civilized to camp in a trailer with a toilet as opposed to hiking to go pee.  Running water is also a big luxury.  

The last full day we were there we went to see the horses.  Assateaque, which is where the beach is,  is famous for having wild horses on the island.  There are numerous stories for how they got there, but the most likely case is that people brought them over to avoid paying taxes on them.  

We found a lovely little cove and had a picnic lunch.  We messed around along the beach looking at dead crabs and seeing the very small ones in the nursery.  The weather could not have been more perfect.  It was sunny and warm, but it was not too hot to be outside.  There was a slight breeze, and we were able to do beachy things without melting.    

Then we moved back to the beach again.  This time, it was MUCH more crowded.  We did some sand burials and sandy snack eating.  A little body surfing was in order, but mostly we just hung out and enjoyed our time with one another.  

Lastly, we found another place to fish.  We managed to catch nothing again, but we did get some fabulous shots.  

We had so much fun that the littlest kid was crying when she left.  Everyone seemed to get along so well, and we can not wait to see our friends again.  

I also managed to start a new obsession.  FISHING!  I carry my poles around in my minivan now.  No lie!