Une galette, les Poupees and Disneyland

When I last wrote I was happily oblivious to the fact that all too soon our good luck with health would run out and we would all fall ill with various different ailments. This blog is not the place for me to list them all! However, in between a few rest days, we have still managed to get out and see a bit more.

We celebrated the evening of January 6 in true French fashion with 'une galette'. In France this is to celebrate 'La fete des Rois', or the Epiphany, when the 3 wise men reached Jesus in Bethlehem. The galette was divided up and Ella, from under the table, called out the name of who would get each piece. And who found the lucky feve hidden inside.....?





Yes, it was James who was crowned King - luckily though we had 2 crowns so the girls soon took them for themselves.


The last time I had a galette in French the feve inside was a little plastic figurine of a queen. This time, it was a silver token from the patisserie Lenotre in conjunction with Harley Davidson. I'm not quite sure why...? I'll have to read up on it on their website.

The next day James took the girls to the Musee de la Poupee (the Doll Museum), which they loved, and then for a walk around the Marais. Both girls thought the Pompidou Centre was very funny, with everything that should be on the inside, like pipes, escalators etc, on the outside.





Another day we visited the Cluny Museum, or the Musee du Moyen-Age (the Museum of the Middle-Ages). I remember visiting this museum when I was about 9 and living in Paris on a school excursion and I loved it. It's in a beautiful old building,which was a small castle built at the end of the Middle Ages. Much of the castle is original and also contains the restored remains of Roman baths on the site. The girls loved the exquisite tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn, which actually represent each of the 5 senses.

The Cluny museum

In the afternoon we took advantage of another sunny day and took a river cruise on the Seine. Here is a rare shot of James and I together on the Pont Neuf, about to go on the cruise, taken by Ella!


We saw all the main sights of Paris on the cruise....

the Eiffel Tower, of course...


and for a minute, the girls thought they were back in New York! But no, it is the original model of the Statue of Liberty, given to France by the United States. We also saw le Grand Palais and le Pont Alexandre III.

Le Grand Palais

Le Pont Alexandre III

Back on land, we enjoyed a walk along the Seine towards Notre Dame, looking at the many artists and sellers of artwork and vintage postcards.


And of course, another carousel ride, this time outside L'Hotel de Ville.

Yesterday, we had a day at EuroDisney - we were so lucky to get a sunny day amidst all the rain we have been having. There are about 5 different 'lands' in Disneyland. Pia and Ella wanted to spend the most time in 'Fantasyland', where we saw Sleeping Beauty's Castle, went on Dumbo's ride and the Mad Hatter's tea cups, through Alice in Wonderland's Curious Maze and the scary forest of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

We did venture into Adventureland so that James could go on the Indiana Jones rollercoaster ride, but alas, it was experiencing technical difficulties! So no adventure for James.

Ella enjoys a special cuddle from Mickey Mouse

Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen were a big hit in the parade, along with many other Disney characters.

A final shot of Disneyland on our way out.

Tomorrow is our final day in Paris and we are planning to actually go inside the Louvre and Notre Dame, as we have only walked past so far. We have enjoyed our time in Paris but are looking forward to getting back home too. So thank you again for having followed all of our adventures and we will see you back in Australia tres bientot.