Today I just want to stay in the immediate neighborhood and keep it simple and fun for the kids. So Stefan suggests we rent bikes and bike across the entire city to the Eiffel Tower. He’s nuts! And of course we rode bicycles.

//Stefan Note: it was nuts but awesome

The kids had a great morning playing with the toys in their room. It’s fun playing with other people’s toys.

Then we went to the dragon slide playground again, across the street in Parc de la Villette. These kids love playgrounds.

After returning Oliver to the apartment, we headed to the bike shop.  We get two bikes and a trailer to pull behind one of them. The shop is on the canal, and one of the guys there advises us to just stay along the canal to have the most success. So the plan is to bike down to the Seine and then perhaps (if there’s energy remaining) over to the Eiffel Tower. Of course I don’t think there’s any way we will get near that far, so we’ll just play it by ear. We rent bikes around 1pm, and the rest of the day is bicycling Paris!

//Stefan Note: Olaf’s excitement lasted 9 blocks.  Not sure where it went.  Maybe we hit a bump.  Ll loved every block of the trip

We headed down the canal, and it was gorgeous. It’s the hottest day of our trip thus far, and the wind blowing in our faces felt nice. The ride was fairly easy, as the bicycle lanes are completely separate from the street at this point.

Oly was having a hard time, so we stopped in a shaded square, where Lillian played in the fountain. As we neared Bastille, things got tricky. Many streets and sidewalks were closed, and police were everywhere. There was a huge union demonstration. I got a little nervous with the crowds and police in riot gear, so we got off-course from our original plan. We biked down a street running parallel to the Seine, several blocks to the north. Because of all the street closures, it was a nice ride with minimal traffic.

//Stefan Note: I thought it was big street festival but than they had these huge 10 foot street blockers on cars and we than left quickly.  I think it was the auto union.

We stopped for some water and ice cream. We sat outside to get a little breeze because at this point is was very very hot. But on we went. Stefan was amazing biking with the children behind him this whole way. It was awesome.

It’s unbelievable, but we made it all the way to the Eiffel Tower! To our surprise the entire park there was closed for Euro2016. We had hoped to go to the playground there, but it too was closed. Sad. We took a couple photos and started heading back.

This time we rode along the Seine. It was lovely. We stopped for snacks at a place we went last time we were in Paris. It’s a cool little spot by the water that was tapas and pizzas. They didn’t have the pizza oven going yet, so we just had meat and cheese.

//Stefan Note: Lance

Continuing our ride east, we realized we were in the middle of rush hour traffic. The bicycle lanes are now shared with buses and ambitious taxis. Not ideal. We made it back up to the Canal St. Martin, where the bicycle lane is completely separate again. Phew.

//Stefan Note: below is proof of a solid 20 plus K ride.   This should count as a run Zacha

The kids are hot, tired and fighting with each other. It turns out that it’s a lot to ask of two siblings to sit next to one another in a tight space for hours in the heat. It was awful for a few blocks having them tearing at each other in that small carriage while we cycled on busy streets. Now we can get out and have some dinner.

We dine at Les Bancs Publics, where we had lunch the other day. Salad and pasta for the kids. It was so good. And big beers were refreshing.

//Stefan Note: The best thing about Oly’s jersey other than the fact its Swedish is that everyone in Paris is a fan of Zlatan, everyone.

We walked home with the kids sitting on top of our bikes, and they thought that was super cool. The kids went straight into the bath tub when we got home. We were all super sweaty and gross. Then straight to bed. It was 10:30pm. Wow. What a day.

//Stefan Note: Its 24 hours later and Papa is sore.