Luxembourg Gardens

 After the burger, Oscar’s bacon and a beer, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to take my meds and brush my teeth before falling unconscious into bed.  But I was able to go with Rachel to find an ATM around the corner and all the other good things in the Plaza de Republique that I didn’t realize was right around the corner from the hotel.

   

Like a McDonalds for Oscar when I have to, a grocery where I can probably find his almond milk, and an ATM that is sister bank to ours.  I am able to brush my teeth, but can’t find my floss because of the harem scarem way that things are back in my bag after going through security and it’s just going to have to wait, because we’re all in bed by 9pm.  It’s still light enough out that we can see the room really well even with the curtains closed.  John gets to sleep for almost 10 hours before getting started and leaves me and Oscar sleeping.  I get up after 12 

   hours and then Oscar has to be woken up after 13 plus hours.  It’s lunch time by the time that he and I make our way out of the room and over to the McDonalds for him to find out if the happy meals is the same.  The computer won’t take my credit card because our chips are still inferior to European standards and we go to the cashier to order in broken McDonaldese…then we’re off to a part of Paris I have never been to, Luxembourg Gardens.  Hauling

 Oscar’s stroller, the diaper bag, my purse and holding his hand up and down staircases and on and off metro stops with changes to trains stations is really still a pain and I don’t want to do it a lot.  We finally get there and come up into paradise.  The sun has come out, there is a little warmth, but

definitely not hot and we find the kids’ playground which has bathrooms and everything for a couple of euros.  Oscar plays with several different kids and needs one reminder not to always be driving the truck or train or car.  Then John is able to meet us for their afternoon off and we watch some Palenque being played until the whining for an ice cream is enough to drive one mad.  We find the ice cream right by the lawn and spread out the picnic blanket to just sit for a second in the middle of Paris and look at what has to be my favorite palace in world right now.  This one is beautiful without being too terribly gaudy, but when we told Oscar that it was someone’s house, he asked, “why?”.  A 3 year old knows that no one person should have a house that big, why can't the rest of us catch up?  John had to tell him that a lot

of other people had the same question a couple of hundred years ago.    There is no language but French being spoken all around us and John only realizes that we forgot to bring wine or beer, which everyone else has.  I also notice that it's not really cigarettes that being smoked around us and thought that we wouldn't run into the marijuana so early in the trip when we were on our way to Amsterdam.  The couple at the end of my feet were also so "tres" French because he was reading Victor Hugo to her.  I thought at first that we might be on a movie set that I didn't know was happening...