Dying to know…

Dan

It is always important to factor in toilet stops when travelling with children.  The obligatory ‘go before you leave’ has been instilled in ours from a very early age. However, when you’re out and about for most of the day, it’s very easy to be caught in less-than-optimal conditions for such necessities.

From our experience, most Parisian café toilets are located down a steep flight of narrow stairs, often with no room to pass another who is alighting or descending, and usually with only one restroom available.

Yesterday after lunch, some of us were exposed to much more than anticipated. We were in line (for longer than hoped), when a man pushed his way down the stairs and into a door-less room alongside the adjacent locked cubicle. He unzipped and proceeded to use a urinal that was tucked away in the corner, oblivious (?) that he was in full view of the waiting female masses on the stairwell.  Daisy wanted to see what the man was doing in there, and with little room to move it was a case of blocking her view and talking over the sound stream!

Not one to be fobbed off, Daisy loudly insisted on knowing what was going on and asked why she couldn’t look.  Given the situation, insisting on ensuring the man’s privacy didn’t quite cut it, but I tried to explain that it wasn’t something that she should be looking at…the smirks from the onlookers didn’t help my cause!

Thankfully it wasn’t long before the lockable cubicle was free, and we could escape the ‘stream’ of males who were making their way down the stairwell.  Who would have thought there was a blog in a bog in Paris?

Jac

Easter Sunday in Marais!

The French Easter bunny delivered chocolate on a stick – and fine chocolate it was. The girls had an Easter visit at home last week so couldn’t believe their luck when EB delivered again today. Dan is very protective of her ‘before breakfast’ chocolate and snarls if you get within a measured bite of her Easter Sunday treat. Some traditions never change, and there must be some genetic influence, as all the Bresnehans were chocolate-less by 7.30am, with moi completing my chocolate eating duties by afternoon tea.

We had fresh raspberries from the street market. The market was full of colour and a gastronomic delight, with a huge range of fromage, fresh fruit and vegetables. We got another type of French cheese to try tonight. Continuing the “ Express” thread, we discovered a 24/7 pizza dispensing machine. Might be good for convenience but makes you wonder whether you get the “hold the pineapple” option!

We thought it best to avoid the Champs Elysee as there was news that the protesters might redo their thing today. Rather than risk our lives, we decided to visit the Père-Lachaise cemetery, final resting place of some very famous people. We saw the graves of Moliere, Chopin, The Doors front man Jim Morrison and Edith Piaf. We managed to be on the tail end of a tour guide commentary about Edith Piaf which was very interesting. She was blind when she was 3 years old until 7 and was discovered singing in a bar in Montmartre. She performed for the last time 3 months before she died from cancer. It sounds morbid but the cemetery was a very peaceful and decorative celebration of life.

We are having a pretty restful day today, recharging the batteries to go again in tourist mode to the Champs-Elysee tomorrow. If anyone’s looking for a good holiday read, I’d recommend Boy Swallows Universe.

Stella

Mum and mumma decided that it would be a good idea to go to… Sorry emergency   joke of the day. “What do you call a pharaoh in busy traffic? Toot-en-car  man…
Ok…they thought it would be a good idea  to go to the grave yard. We saw all the famous graves. Oh and I forget to mention Mum got a nice shirt  on the way.

When we got back from the grave yard we went to sit down at a park. Then a bit later when we left, Mum forgot to pick up the bag  and when Mum noticed and Mumma went back for it, Mum’s shirt  was stolen. I felt sorry for mum. We didn’t get the shirt  back but mum said it didn’t matter. Today was fun

Daisy

We had a homey day in a graveyard. We looked at all of the famous graves and wondered what it wood be like to be Dead  I think Stella knows!

After Descending from the graveyard we wandered around to find a good place for lunch. On the way we stopped for a rest at this place. It was a clothing shop. Dan bought a top and put it in a bag  along with the receipt. We went to a park as well, but alas when we sat down at the restaurant later, the bag, the shirt and the receipt were stolen. Luckily her pin wasn’t on the receipt. Poor Dan!