Batobus and more playgrounds

So, Monday morning and the sun had arrived.  We decided to take a break from all the walking and explore Paris from the water.  We thought it would be the most efficient way to "see" some of the sights without subways, walking, buses or long lines.  The kids really just wanted to see things not always go in, around and through them HA.

So we booked ourselves, Andre, myself, Jake, Sofia, Sara, Lillian and Sylvia, passage on a Batobus ride along the Seine.   

Here we are on our regular walk through the Palais de Chaillot on route to the the boat and the eiffel tower.

Our excited tourists ready to board the boat

We managed to snag some great seats at the window

The Batobus is a hop-on-hop-off boat tour of the city.  Similar to the bus tours in many large cities.  This is one of the many bridges in Paris (there are over 35 bridges on the Seine).

We decided to get off the boat at the Notre Dame stop and explore the beautiful Cathedral - celebrating 850 years!

The crowds at the Cathedral were so large and the lines so long we decided to stroll through the gardens instead of venture inside - I'm sure the beautiful sunshine also swayed our decision

It truly is amazing!

Fabulous playground equipment providing a wonderful distraction and many giggles

Fabulous gargoyles all around Notre Dame.  The gargoyles are used to divert rainwater from the beautiful stone work and mortar of the building. I read somewhere that there are over 5000 gargoyles adorning Notre Dame - I'd believe it!

From Notre Dame we decided to walk the (seemingly) short distance to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  Sara, our fantastic navigator, got us there without a problem!

And everyone was happy when we arrived :)

The Medici Fountain

It truly is amazing!  Originally a Medici home it's now part of the French Parliament I think. 

Again, more fabulous playgrounds.  This one had a small fee, but well worth it!  a little zip line in the corner.  Seriously, North America, we need to improve our playgrounds!

The kids did great - we walked and walked and walked. Here we are waiting at the dock - a much needed rest and quiet space. 

The Pont des Arts - those are little locks "of love" on the rails.

Finally back on dry land and a ride on the carousel at the foot of the eiffel tower is in order - of course! :)

lucky kids!

After a very lovely break we decided to quickly take a trip to the area of town with the arc de triomphe.  I am in love with a boot company called Le Chameau from France and they had a store just a block away.  So it my quest for nice rainboots we decided to take a detour to a tourist attraction as well.  Sadly, they didn't have the style, colour and size I was looking for but it was still a lovely detour.

Walking to Le Chameau

ahhhh...arrival...so hopeful...

After this photo we hopped on the metro again in search of another area of town and dinner.  We ended up in a very posh shopping area with some beautiful stores and food halls.  sadly everything was closing so we had to find a restaurant.  You'd think that would be an easy task in Paris but I think we managed to choose the only area that was all about shopping and not so much about eating.  The kids were very patient and we did end up enjoying some yummy pizza and pasta.  After a very long day we all flopped into bed....Tomorrow we venture out of the city to Normandy!!