a rainy day in Paris

The next day is the Louvre for the group and there is no way that

Bored baby says, "that's their new bridge?"

I’m taking Oscar there as early as they are going.  They’re going to hit St. Chapelle and Notre Dame afterwards and I was thinking of joining for that, but it is cold, rainy and windy to the point that it is not nice to be outside.  Oscar and I went on a walkabout to L’Invalides  to see if there was somewhere we could go in the morning, but it was too miserable, we only  went out for lunch, to take in laundry at the laundromat next door and to grab some more

 diapers.  So far, I have been lucky in finding his same brand of diapers in Italy and France.  He is drinking the local milk, which I love because it doesn’t need to be refrigerated until it is open.  So, when you get little pint sized boxes, you never need a fridge and it can go in his diaper bag.  We are not having the same kind of luck with the squeeze packets of food that are so easy to carry around and give him on the go when he is in the stroller or we’re at a site, they only really have applesauce in the pouches, 

Oscar doesn't appreciate all the stained glass

  but the kid is eating his weight in fries.  I’m pretty sure that is John’s genetics in action.  I finally get a text when I’m thinking about a nap even though Oscar isn’t at 3pm saying that they are on their way to St. Chapelle after eating lunch and I think “screw it”.  It’s not currently raining, we are in Paris, and we survived the day before getting rained on.  We’ll take a bus and head to Notre Dame to meet the group there.  This sounds like a plan, but of course, nothing 

 goes to plan.  I’m in France, so there is a disruption in the bus line that I’m taking because of a parade or protest or something going on at L’Invalides.  I had seen the police getting things cordoned off earlier in the day, but didn’t think about it disrupting my bus until there is police tape in front  

of the stop I want.  No big thing, I’ll just walk to the next bus stop up the line and I sit there for a good 20 minutes before I realize that everyone else who is thinking about taking this bus, sits for a second, looks at the sign again and then leaves.  Well, I get up 

I told them to go look "Gothic" 

  to look at the sign again and even my shitty French is able to discern that the bus is not coming and has been deviated from this stop.  So, I’m going to walk toward Notre Dame and look for a bus closer, but all the stops on the Rue du Bac do not appear to be going anywhere toward the Ile de Cite.  So, I

lighting a candle for Florence in Notre Dame

 keep walking and find my original bus line where it is finally coming again and get on, get off at the Pont Neuf stop.  A couple of shots of Oscar and we are at St. Chapelle, where the group is standing outside getting a lecture about gothic architecture.  Rachel is giving information and John is staring off into space so hard, he looks   

right through me, so after talking to one of the student’s and confirming that they have already been inside and are going to Notre Dame after this, I head into St. Chapelle.  I expect Oscar to be fascinated by the light in here, but true to form, he looks like he could care less and would rather go pull on some rope that is keeping people out of a certain area.  I just wish that he could work with me here on this cultural education that I’m trying to give him.  We head out and let me tell you, one of

 the scariest things that you can do is to walk down a spiral, tight, stone staircase that is indented from years of use with a baby in your arms.  I just knew that we were going to tumble at some point, but Oscar is too enamored of stairs to struggle or move much which helps us get down alive.