Exploration buddies

Once again, this week I just have to reiterate how much fun it has been having Gideon home. It has been awesome to have his help and a delight to watch how much Pierce and Gideon adore each other. It was so fun to have time to explore new parks, play with toys at the ludotheque, go to the zoo, etc. It just felt so good to have my little exploration team back together.

One of the fun adventures we went on together was a trip to the Hôtel de la Marine. This is a museum right on the Concord square. So, from the beautiful balcony of the museum you can look down on the obelisk, the Seine, a bridge built out of the stones from the Bastille, the square where the guillotines chopped and of course the romantic Eiffel tower in the distance. Inside the museum they give you some head phones that talk to you based on which room you are standing in. Gideon was all about the headphones! Via said headphones, we learned that this building was where they housed all of the best that France had to offer. It was essentially a museum/show-off building for the royal family. They had one room for textiles (the finest silks, etc), one room for armory (finest swords, etc), one room for the crown jewels, one room for the most fashionable furniture, etc.

When the revolutionaries decided to revolt, this place was a prime target for looting. They broke in and stole tons of things including a decorative cannon (a gift from the prince of… I think Siam…) Anyway, the armory stuff they stole was used the next day in storming the Bastille! 

We had a great time walking from room to room and only got yelled at once by the security guards! Win! Walking out Gideon said, “Mommy, thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For taking me here. That was so fun!!” Double win!!

From there we met up with Benjin and walked around the corner to the original Laudurée shop (which is attributed for popularizing macarons.) So, we walked in a bought a few to share. We got passionfruit, pistachio, black licorice, and orange blossom. I will admit that overall, I do not see the hype of macarons. Given the choice, I would choose a patisserie any day over a macaron. Having said that, the passionfruit one was delicious!

Another fun outing was our lunch date with daddy. We went to an African wrap place and it was DELICIOUS!! I got the spicy veggie wrap and it seriously knocked it out of the park with warm sweet potatoes and plantains and crisp greens and a fantastic kick of heat!! I am converted… African is the new Mediterranean in my book.

Thursday night I went out solo to the Memorial de la Shoah. It is an interesting mix of museum, memorial and archival library (all focused on the Holocaust). I walked through an exhibit that talked about the various ways music was used in concentration camps. I looked at trumpets used to "welcome" work parties back into the camp after a long day of forced labor. I saw walls of index cards filled with the governments records of the French Jews who were deported. I saw the front of one of the camp barracks that had been reconstructed on the wall of the museum. And I saw an endless see of names of the men, women and children who's lives had been destroyed. It is amazing how quickly your heart gets overwhelmed by the emotions involved in trying to make sense of such senseless violence. But, while looking at the walls of names that seem to go on forever, I noticed a bird nest perched in the single lonesome tree in the courtyard. For me, this little nest acted as a beautiful symbol of the hope and rebirth.

On Saturday we took the family out to the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. It was a bit of a train ride, but the park was beautiful and the boys loved the playground. I seriously think we need to make a collection of all the most picturesque playgrounds we have played at over the past year. There are some pretty spectacular playgrounds out there! Anyway, we hung out at the park until Pierce was turning into a popsicle. Then we went and found a place to grab some baguettes and have lunch. After lunch, we returned to the castle and went inside where we found a museum with pre-roman archeological finds from all over France. It was incredible to see things from around the time of the caves of lasco! It also awakened us to the fact that I know nothing about the Gaul's, but based on the stuff they left behind, they were pretty sophisticated, talented people! On the way home Benjin left his wallet on the train, but miraculously was able to meet up with the lady who found it and get it back. Huge blessing!

Sunday night we had a bunch of Spanish speaking friends over from church (as well as the Spanish sister missionaries) We had a blast. It is sometimes hard to make all the stars align to get people into your home, but I am a big believer that sharing your home and sharing a meal builds unity and community like few other things. 

One day this past week while we were walking back from somewhere a little old woman stopped us on the street to talk to Pierce and tell him how cute he is (a common occurrence). Anyway... this lady stopped to chat for a minute, asking how old he was, etc. She was so excited to tell me about her grand-kids and great-grand-kids. She proudly declared that she "had a beautiful family!" We got to talking about where we were from and then she told me that her parents had also been immigrants to France. She told me that they had moved here from Poland during the war to try and escape all the horrible things going on in Poland. She then told me that they are Jewish and her husband’s family was not so lucky. Her husband’s entire family was burned in the gas chambers. Her husband was the only one who survived. 

It brought back the image of the nest in the courtyard. Here was this family that was all but destroyed and yet, years down the road they had a beautiful family.

Sometimes it is hard to not get desensitized by the onslaught of amazing history all around us. It can be tempting to think, "oh, it's just another priceless heirloom, just another historic building, just another grand chateaux...But when you talk to real people on the street or actually taste the debatably overrated macarons or nod your head as your dinner guests all speak Spanish, it helps me remember that the people that made these places/things historic were real. And maybe they had little exploration buddies too. 

Another week of bisous! Love, 

La famille Facer.