A rest day for some and the Pantheon and around for others

Thursday 26th May - Connor is exhausted! After doing around 15,000 steps on his little legs, lots of late nights and busy days I decided Connor needed some down time and a home day and he was really happy for this to be today.  So Connor and I were having a home day.  Once mum realised we were staying home - she too was keen to have a home day.

We relaxed, played cards and I updated our blog and did some research for future adventures.  Both Connor and mum had a nap in the afternoon and were then revived for our dinner out that evening - the last with Dean and Emma before they head off to Switzerland and surrounds and we head to Normandy to explore the D-day beaches.

Information and photos about the rest of the crew and their day still to come...........

Lachlan's story - Yesterday we went to the pantheon. The pantheon is a great big building that was originally built as a church, however Napoletana decided it should be used as a national building as well.  They decided to do an experiment there as they needed a place of a certain height to meet the requirements of a pendalunium science experiment. The pendalumion science experiment was an experiment to show that the world spun. 

The giant pendulum swings in a straight line back and forth and the earth underneath it rotates. As the earth rotates the big panel underneath that show the time spins but the pendulum just keeps going straight. This proves the earth is the one spinning. When we first saw the pendulum it was swinging over the 12.30 part, and when we came back an hour later the earth had certainly moved as it was swinging over the 1.30 part.

Because we were in Paris it was spinning clockwise, but in NZ it would be spinning anti clockwise.

Thinking about this was mind blowing.

The string was 67 metres long and 1mm thick and the ball weighed 28 kilos.

Underneath the pantheon there was a humongous crypt where there were lots of famous dead people buried there such as Jean Moulin, the leader of the French resistance, Marie Curie, who won two Nobel peace prizes and Jean Braille who created the raised dots for the blind, so named Braille. 

A day exploring our key sights in Paris

A day out and about in Paris 

Today we had a bit later start after such a big day yesterday - we had our usual scrambled eggs made by Dean which were great and then we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral.

Loki checking out how it is all made.......

As we arrived at the cathedral there was a big white tent sent up near it and Karl said that he had seen on the news there was a major boulangerie competition on and so we headed in to have a look.  This was amazing,  people were rolling, kneading and baking all sorts of delish looking food and of course we had to try lots - mmmm, that should keep us going on our tourist travels.  Then it was time to explore the cathedral.

The Notre Dame Cathedral Paris or Notre Dame de Paris (Meaning 'Our Lady of Paris' in French) is a Gothic cathedral which origins date back to the 12th century.  Some 300 years after this construction finally came to an end.  It is now  one of the most prominent cathedrals in France and one of the oldest ones too.

Over its vast history the Cathedral has suffered considerable damage, not least during the French Revolution in 1786. Fortunately it was sympathetically restored - in 1909 Joan of Arc was famously beatified in the Notre Dame Cathedral by Pope Pius X.  

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is probably best known for its relation to the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, made famous by the numerous cartoons and movies inspired by it. But it is the French Gothic Architecture that remains the biggest draw for visitors from around the world, an unrivaled,  perfect example to this day.

Needless to say - this cathedral is very impressive and is so large - the stain glass windows are beautiful and huge

Connor at the famous Notre Dame

This building is huge and intricate

The stained glass window - parts of which date back to the 12 century

From here we headed to a most famous bookstore - Shakespeare and Company, arguably the most famous independent bookstore in the world, occupies a prime piece of real estate facing the Seine in Paris, not far from the Latin Quarter, Place Saint-Michel, and Boulevard Saint-Germain. Loki was most excited, not because of its history or the fact that it has featured in many movies but because the books were in English - needless to say - books were purchased! And they even give them a special stamp to say where they were purchased - cool.

The cool bookstore - it had ladders to climb up to check books that we up high and great little coves.....very cool

We then strolled along the river, seeing what used to be the padlock bridge where lovers sealed their love however these have now all been taken off and glass has been put up to stop more locks being put on - spoil sports - although apparently the weight of the padlocks was affecting the stability of the bridge!

It was then time for a wee morning tea break (although it was actually more like lunch time) and we headed to the home of the macaroon - Laduree - Emma’s must do for our trip to Paris.  We found the little store tucked down a side street and headed in for coffee and macaroon - this was pretty cool - amazing décor and the home of macaroon.  Mum and Karl both had the same look on their face when looking at the menu and more specifically the prices - it was 8 euros for a coke and 6.50 for one macaroon! Yes expensive but it is “the home of the macaroon”.  Karl also gave me a look of horror when I ordered a platter of 4 mini macaroons, closely followed by Loki ordering the same - hilarious! Karl only ordered coffee wanting to share my macaroons!!!!  They were delicious - salted caramel were my fav!!! Great experience and mum paid so that was even better - thanks mum!  Great choice Emma.

mmmmmm Macaroons

We then headed to the must see Louvre and the must do photos by the pyramide! We then walked through the Jardin des Tuilaries, a big park like area with grass that you are not allowed on!  The boys had lots of fun bargaining with the sellers of little Eifel towers - great attempts to try and get a better deal than they got last time - fun to watch - and then fun to listen to others bargaining too and most exciting when our deals were better! 

The tourist must do photograph..........cliche! 

Sliding around - boys will be boys

We then had fun attempting the traditional photographs.,..................

It was then off to the Arc de Triomphe - wahoo - we could not wait to watch the traffic chaos from up above!  We jumped on the metro and headed there - cool.  On arrival we saw the impressive size of the arc and we then headed underneath to get tickets to go to the top! There was a bit of a wait to get tickets and then another line to get to the stairs.  No worries though - about 30 minutes and we were heading up.  As we went through security and got to the stairs - the lady at the desk asked if mum wanted to be taken up in the lift rather than walk the 250+ stairs - she said yes and they said someone needed to go with her and so I went - perfect! Great way to get to the top! Hehehe! We met the others up there and spent a long time looking at the views and watching the traffic.  Perfect day!  Then of course there was the must-do shopping - wahoo.

Mum excited after her lift ride to the top and seeing others walk out nearly dead! 

 Some of the views from the top - beautiful

The beautiful tree lined streets of PAris

Mum at the top of the arc

The traffic is crazy at this roundabout - apparently there is no insurance if you drive your hire care here - I can see why! 

It is crazy having the Eifel Tower behind us - makes me smile every time I see it 

At the base of the Arch de Triomphe stands a torch. Every evening at 6:30 P.M. it is rekindled, and veterans lay wreaths decorated with red, white and blue near its flickering flame.   It burns in the darkness to recall the sacrifice of an unknown French soldier who gave his life during World War I. 

 

Action shot of the boys standing in front of the Champ des Elysees  

It was then time to wander down the Avenue des Champs Elysees, holding hand of course - I am not sure if this is for romance or to stop women shopping!!  Such a groovy streets with lots of really nice shops - and also lots of Lamborghinis, Porsches and Ferraris that you can pay 90 euro for a ride in!  The kids were keen - the adults not so much! Then it was time to head toward home to a local bar for happy hour!

The famous street itself..................

A romantic stroll down Avenue des Elysees - yeah right...................we are travelling with children!

 Another perfect day in Paris.   

Roland Garros - our day at the French Tennis Open - a grand slam!

Today we were all pretty excited - off to the tennis.  We had our metro travel all sorted - one line and about 20 stops and we were there! We stopped and brought water, baguettes and ham and some snacks to see us through the day and then we were lining up with thousands of others to go through the multitude of security checks - this went really fast and they were a well-oiled machine and within the hour we were sitting in our seats on Court 1 - amazing.

Here is Connor ready for the tennis and pretty excited! 

At Rolland Garros court 1 is the 3^rd major court at Roland Garros - the 1^st being the Court Philippe-Chatrier and the 2^nd being Court Suzanne-Lenglen.  

There were also 14 other general courts which we also had access to.  These were the best tickets we could get when they came on sale - we were pretty happy and we had some great games lined up on our court -

First we got to watch Tomas Berdych who is seeded number 7 play Canadian Vasek Pospisl.  Berdych was the victor in 3.  Such hard hitters and serves we could hardly see at over 200km an hour!  Great up first game which kept us all enthralled both tennis and crowd watching.

Here is Tomas in action.....................on the clay courts they really slip and slide around

The serve speed - 

Our second game was one that was already three sets in due to the rail delays of yesterday and it was two French players; an older guy who is nearing the end of his career Julien Benneteau and a young gun Lucas Poulle, Pouille was two sets to one up.  This game had the crowd in full voice cheering for their favourite French player…….and it was great, they were very closely matched and while Benneteau had some set points it was Pouille who was able to finish off and win the tie break and ultimately the match 3-1.  Fab game!

Here is the young gun doing his post-match interview

Connor just having a wee rest - this tourist business is pretty exhausting........

The crowds below that we could see from the top of our stand - there are seats that you can sit and watch the big screen - at this point there were some quite big ques to get into the general admission courts.  

Next up we had the girls game and our first match was Venus Williams (seeded 9^th) vs Annet Kontaveit from Estonia.  It was pretty exciting getting to see one of the famous Williams’ sister live in action.  Venus won in straight sets although there were some long games and close sets and there were times when it looked like she might go down - both sets ended in a tie-break with the experience of Venus coming to the fore in these.  Venus is super tall and athletic and the players certainly give their all in each and every point. 

Venus warming up - 

Venus in action - full stride 

A happy Venus wins = I missed the shot where she jumped for joy at winning - she was clearly relived after two close sets! Great effort by both.  

The sweeping of the courts in between matches - very cool and efficient.  It is amazing how clear you can see where the ball has landed on clay.  The umpire at times though has to jump in and out of their chair to check when there are challenges!

Our last girls game and the one Karl was looking forward to was Victoria Azarenka number 5 seed in this tournament and former world number 1 (and the ex-girlfriend of Red Foo!)  and Karin Knapp from Italy.  The first set was really close and there was some great tennis.

Great moving in the first set

At full stretch and hitting winners! 

The kids and Bub watching intently

The fist pump showing her desire to win

And then Azarenka got hurt, required some medical attention and while she continued she was unable to move as freely as before and she lost the first set.  By the middle of the second set she was clearly not going to be able to make it through and retired but not before having a wee meltdown and smashing her racquet multiple times on the ground during a break - great for the boys to see - not!

Injury break - gutted for her! 

The little plane camera - pretty cool

As people moved around the complex watching different games there were often spare seats and so we were able to move around and trial sitting in different area which was great.  We did, however, prefer our seats which were at the end of the court.

The view from some different seats for the boys and Bub

By this time it was nearing 7pm and while there was a last game scheduled to be played on our court it was shifted to Court 2 so it could begin earlier - we had access to Court 2 and all other courts below Court 1, but we decided to explore the shops more fully and wander around the whole complex which is pretty big............................... 

We also did a little bit of shopping - so cool! Got a few balls, towels and bags so are all set for our tennis at home………… it really was crazy being at Rolland Garros and Emma and I kept saying to each other “here we are at Rolland Garros in France……” and saying to the boys - you are 6 and 10 and the first games of tennis you watch are at a Grand Slam - unreal times here on our sabbatical!

We did this and also had a quick look on Court Suzanne-Lenglen and then could hear a match going on in Court Philippe-Chatrier and as there was no security at the steps decided to pop up for a look at “Centre Court” and who happened to be playing but ...............................

Wow - way cool -

Serena Williams - world number 1 - wahoo! We took our seats and watched the remainder of her match against Magdalena Rybarikova from Slovakia.  It was a quick match with Serena winning 6-2, 6-0.  She is amazing - athletic, fast and a different level to what we have seen from the other girls matches today - impressive! And her winners speech was done in French - you go girl!

Watching Serena at a grand slam with the Eifel Tower in the back ground - life is good.

Winning with ease! 

Congrats Serena - another win - and yes Number 1

The amazing centre court! 

Hubby on centre court at Roland Garros 

Wow, the end of a great day.  Now for the metro ride home and a very late dinner.  It was after 9pm by the time we got home - all still buzzing after a great day at the tennis!

A wee misadventure that occurred today was as we were leaving the train station - the hard plastic doors that let you out closed on mum and she walked straight into them breaking her glasses! Thankfully she was okay and the lenses were not smashed and a bit of DIY from Deano and she is still able to wear them - thanks to very sticky NZ plasters! She will need a new pair but is keen to wait until she is in NZ……………where she can converse in English - we will see if they last that long - poor mum!