Walker Wanderlust: Museum Carnavalet

Life stays busy no matter where you live. We usually wake up in the morning, and make our plans for the day. Although I would like to plan ahead a little, Thursday was no different. We made plans to ride the metro to the Bastille stop, and then walk to 2 nearby museums (Museum Carnavalet and Maison de Victor Hugo). In addition to a little planning, our morning routine also includes getting everyone ready and out the door. This means grabbing "go-go-squeezes" and pears; bundling up in our scarves, hats, and gloves; and hitting the streets. We have one decent stroller (a Maclaren Bobby found on Craigslist here) and then a really old cheap umbrella stroller. It is so worn out that the frame has bent and actually makes an A. So, the child cannot sit back in the stroller as their shoulders are being pinched together. It is sad. The good news is this was the last day it has to be used. Bobby has found another fancy stroller (for cheap on Craigslist) that we will begin using tomorrow. It has a feature that allows a second older child to stand on the back, if needed. It's REALLY nice! I can't wait to use it! I now understand why people pay thousands of dollars on nice strollers. These are our vehicles and they are getting A LOT of wear.

Okay, back to our day. We got off the Metro at the Bastille, and walk around the plaza taking pictures. The kids loved running around, as they always do. We then started walking to the Maison de Victor Hugo. Somehow, we got turned around. We were not too far away from our goal, but we did end up by Museum Carnavalet instead. At this point, it was lunch time and we had to search frantically for somewhere to eat as the natives were beyond restless. We couldn't find anything but expensive places. As we were walking we realized there were a ton of clothing shops. It finally hit us that we were walking through the Marais District. It was fancy and beautiful. We are definitely going to come back to this area and explore more. It was fun happening on this iconic part of the city.

Cars did not travel through very often but I didn't get many pictures of the area...another reason to go back!

We got hustled into a falafel restaurant only to realize once we sat down and disassembled all of our winter gear that it was way more expensive than what was advertised on the sign. We hastily exited to find a patisserie nearby. The tables were VERY close together. We were eating in a small room with around 20ish people. Our two servers were older women who immediately adored Liam. Being the ham that he is turning into be, he politely said "bonjour" over and over again. In walking past our table, they would occasionally stop to feed him a bite of his food or ruffle his hair. A couple that was sitting next to us was also talking and having fun with him. I'm beginning to think he knows what they are saying and we have no clue. We just smile and nod. Right now he can say as many words in French as he can in English, does that make him bilingual? Haha! The waitresses also talked to us in broken English about how Liam likes to eat and is a big boy. It was a fun experience. As we were leaving, Liam said "au revoir." He didn't just say it to the waitresses. As I was holding him walking through the room he was holding up his had saying "au revoir" to every single guest...and loudly. Thankfully, everyone loved this and was saying "au revoir" back to him and laughing. Since it takes us a couple minutes to get all wintered up again, the waitresses kept making their way by us continuing to talk and play with Liam. Once we were outside, one even opened the door to say "au revoir" one last time. This was such a funny experience!

This is where we ate our lunch.

The Museum Carnavalet was a short walk from where we ate lunch. For a free museum, we were pleasantly surprised by the large number significant artifacts. This museum showcases the history of France. The museum itself is two neighboring mansions so the inside was stunning. Amelie liked to look at the paintings and talk about who lived here. I couldn't read the information so I just agreed with her. ;) Bobby had the most fun in the French Revolution area since he teaches this topic in his World History Course. By the end of the museum experience, we were ready for home. With a stop by a patisserie for some sweets, we all made it home in good spirits.