Today is a travel day, but we don’t have to drive far. Paris is less than two hours from Reims, so we are relaxed about the day ahead.

It was a nice relaxing morning. I went for a run (the first this week), and then Stefan was jealous so he had to run too. A good start to the day. We soon realized we had one hour to be out of the apartment and we got all ready and loaded up the car in one hour! Woohoo! I was super impressed with us.

We parked elsewhere in town and walked to Les Halles, which was unfortunately just closing. It was still very interesting to see all the stalls in this space filled with flowers, vegetables, cheese and meat sellers.

We meandered out a side door and stumbled upon a cool space behind the shops on a walking street. It was perfectly hipster, with umbrellas hanging from lines overhead and seats made from reclaimed wood and tin barrels. There were a few food carts selling champagne, beer and hamburgers. Perfection. The kids ran around in a way that was the perfect balance of crazy to get out energy and restraint to not irritate everyone else there. Or so I hope.

After lunch we walked a little downtown to buy milk for Oly (he still likes a bottle when we are riding in the car), and then headed out of town. Paris here we come!

We arrived at our Airbnb around 5pm. It is absolutely lovely. It’s my favorite place we’ve stayed thus far. The kids have a bunkbed and an assortment of toys, and there are lots of windows overlooking the canal and La Villete. It is very cool. And this is a part of town we have never ventured into before now, so it feels like a completely new city to us! Maybe it’s the return to a city after two weeks in smaller towns (and suburbs), maybe it’s this apartment or maybe it’s Paris itself, but I think we all felt at home. 

After settling in a bit, we decide to walk around and explore this new neighborhood. We walk along the canal to a sweet little bistro. As we approach it, the rain begins. Perfect timing once again. I can’t believe how lucky we have been with the timing of the weather! We have rotisserie chickens and a fresh salad (finally!). It’s all delicious. The kids are remarkably well-behaved too. I say this because it was surprising after the time they had to spend in the car this afternoon. Maybe they were just super hungry.

We walked home a different way, through the edge of La Villete across the canal. It looks really interesting. I hope we have a lot of time to explore it this week, especially given that it’s supposed to rain and storm most of the week. The kids were ready to explore and bummed we had to head home (about 8:30pm!).

Bath time in a beautiful bath tub. We listened to the soundtrack of Mamma Mia, which Lillian must listen to at school because she knew every word to every song! She thought she was introducing me to Abba. It was so cute. We’ll definitely be listening to more Abba now. Then some stories and bedtime. I’d like to say it was that simple. It used to be. But tonight they were up past 10pm. Stefan eventually stayed in there settling them until he fell asleep himself. Poor guy. Let’s hope this is a phase that passes soon.