Bonjour Mes Amis!

 Well.  It's been 12 years since we last posted to our Shanghai Surprise blog, which makes sense, since we haven't lived in Shanghai for 14 years.  Maybe we should've come up with a more general blog name?  I guess we never thought we'd post, post-Shanghai.  But it seems handy once again, more than a decade later, as we find ourselves out in the world again, and now with two, new travel companions.  

Yes, as you can see from the photo above, we had kids!  Like, a while ago.  But blogging about your own kids seems excruciatingly boring (sorry kids), not to mention it's the last thing on our sleep-deprived minds.  But, now that Sydney is 10 and Georgia 7, we thought it time to introduce them to passport-required travel and maybe even fun to memorialize it through our trusty blog.

As the title implies, we are in France.  Specifically we'll be in Paris for the month of June, then chunnelling (is that one "l" or two?)  to London for a week.  While both of us have been to France before, we are finding the experience to be very different this time around.  Specifically, we've been here less than a week and already visited three different park playgrounds and a circus (photo above), none of which either of us had ever seen before.  Plus we've tried 18 different pastries and eaten ice cream and/or crepes every day.  Ok, that part is the same as before.  But truly, visiting Paris with kids has been a wonderful, new experience.  It's seeing some of the same, amazing sights, like Sacre-Couer, but having a race up the 300 stairs to the top, which may or may not turn out to be more exciting than the church itself.  Or spending less time admiring classic paintings, and more time cooing over the very well-behaved French dogs.  And of course, mastering our ability to always find a nearby bathroom! (and no, it does not matter if they just went 20 minutes ago...)

We are looking forward to seeing much more of this version of France, and hope to share it here!

Sydney looks taller than the Louvre.  It might be close.

We love all the Adirondacks in public parks!  I think we've averaged 5-6 miles walking per day, so periodic rest stops are a must.

The incredible Bois de Vincennes, site of 8-10 different playgrounds that the girls spent all day running around.

No humans were trampled in the making of this circus.

Post-circus visit with the animals.  The llama wasn't part of the circus today, perhaps due to mandatory French vacation laws?

At the bottom of Sacre-Couer.

At the top of Sacre-Couer.

Steps have never before been so exciting.

Lovely view from the Bon Marche department store.

Lovely view from our apartment in St. Germain.