Day 2: An American's Birthday in Paris...

Good Day Everyone,

Well... we had our first full day in Paris. It also happens to be Sydney's 10th birthday, today. Can someone treat me to ummm... Greece for my birthday? The jet lag caught up to us and we did not quite make the full day, as expected, yet a crazy night we had, tonight! When we got up this morning, it was 1pm in Paris, we all needed a little extra sleep. Needless to say, we will get up in the morning, tomorrow, for a date with the Mona Lisa.

We went for lunch at a Middle-Eastern/French (Orient) restaurant near our hotel. The gentlemen were quite nice and in the back room of this tiny restaurant, there were Moslem women (10+) singing, so beautifully and looking beautiful (sorry, no pictures)! The owners understood that we were from the United States and spoke no English (again... shhh we don't speak French... AT ALL) and the first thing they wanted to talk about was Obama. ( It's crazy.. there are French people that have written books on him, ALREADY and specials on television.) Sydney left her umbrella, but when we returned they were happy to see us again and kept it for her.

The girls did homework after lunch. Ms. Arvelo and Mr. Quinn, Madison wanted me to tell you that she is getting her work done and doing some good reading! She misses you!

We decided to hop on the Metro and to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Rue Montmartre. We had a great time and Sydney had the crew sing 'Happy Birthday,' French-style (see pictures). We took pictures with Jimmy Hendrix, Jayson Kay from Jamiroquai, Tom Jones, and others. We also ran into a group of 15 Americans that were from Indiana. They were so happy to see us and they are leaving tomorrow, so they gave us a million Metro tickets! How sweet! We left with two new members of the family. Sydney's bear is named Madeleine and Madison's bear is named Aimée.

NEXT, THE REAL ACTION STARTS! We decided to head to Arc de Triomphe... it was quite beautiful, especially with the Eiffel Tower in the background. Our camera doesn't take the best night pictures, but hopefully you can see both together. Place de l'Etoile/Place Charles de Gaulle (street) is the known as one of the busiest streets in the world and like everyone, we headed underground to see this monument commemorating the dead of Napoleon's victories and soldiers of World Wars I and II. The site was closed, but the gate was open, so we went under Arc de Triomphe and took pictures. As we were leaving the Police stopped us (see pictures). They did not speak English, but I understood that they closed the gate entrance behind us, so we could not leave, back through the tunnel. One police officer was nice, one was not so nice. They told us the only way out was to cross Place de l'Etoile/Place Charles de Gaulle with no help from him. Of course I told the girls that this was one of the most dangerous streets to cross in the world before we went in the tunnel (what an idiot, I am). They were scared, but I did not want to give them a chance to think... As soon as I saw an opening, we ran (carefully, mothers... and holding hands) as they screamed a little. Once we crossed, the girls could not stop laughing at how much fun it was... I have to admit, after crossing, it was a great feeling, but I don't want to ever do it again!

We concluded the evening catching the Metro and singing 'Lady In Red' and 'Careless Whisper' with a saxophone player at one of our Metro stops. The girls are writing in their journals as we conclude the evening...

Tomorrow... Musee du Louvre! AU REVOIR!