Nous sommes arrivés! We have arrived!

Well, it was a fairly smooth plane flight. Not much sleep for anyone (though Adam managed to grab the most winks sprawling across his seat), but we all appreciated the personal screen with access to tons of movies.

Once we landed in Paris, a confusing delay where police were blocking access to the second floor of the airport meant we ended up in a taxi instead of the planned train/metro combination. In the end, for six of us to pay 67 Euros for door to door service to Christine's aunt and uncle's apartment was nearly priceless. And it was just a bonus that not only did the van fit our luggage, but had six seats - three facing three! The kids thought that was a kick.

We had a short but pleasant visit with Gilles and Brigitte, Christine's aunt and uncle, before they left for their country house so we could use their apartment in Paris. It's sixth floor view represents the quintessential Paris - ornate old buildings, leafy mature trees, sidewalk cafe below, boulangerie next door and a peek-a-boo view of the Eiffel Tower.   

We staved off jet lag as long as possible, visiting Square des Batignolles nearby with a beautiful grassy slope, flower beds, pond and ice cream (you can imagine what was most important to the boys). 

Finally, we collapsed into bed at 8:30pm but had midnight wakers, 3:30am wakers, then 7am until noon sleepers. It'll take a few days to adjust... Luckily we had a couple of baguettes on hand for when you get hungry at an awkward hour in the night. :)