October 20
Sam:
Today we went to a place nearby that was called “Le Palais de la découverte” and we got some breakfast from a bakery on the way. Le Palais de la découverte is a science center inside of an old palace. Inside of the palace there were some exhibitions about optical illusions, light, and the heart. We went to a presentation about how science and math can be used to recreate dinosaur bones. It was all in French, but I understood most of it.
We did a bunch of interactive things, and then we went downstairs to another presentation about how rats can learn. The scientist showed us the rat could get through a maze with a part where they had to pull a string and release a ball. It had to push the ball into a hole and then it got treats. It could do all of this in less than a minute.
There was also an electricity exhibit that was “shocking.”
We went home for a dinner of pasta with emmental cheese and lardons (little sticks of bacon). We got a very special dessert from our bakery.
October 21
Charlotte:
In the morning we went to the bakery to get some pastries for breakfast then we went on the RER and the metro to get to the Arc de Triomphe.
We climbed 284 steps, but we were getting a little used to it because we have done a lot of climbing so far. We got to the top and got lots of photos. The views were really pretty – we could see the Eiffel tower, the Sacre Coeur and Napoleon’s Tomb. I learned that Napoleon had the Arc de Triomphe built but he had already died when it was finished.
When we walked along the Champs Elysees, we saw lots of shops. We went in some but not all of them.
As we were walking, we saw a chocolatier named Jeff de Bruges. We went in it to check it out, and we got a hot chocolate. They gave us four straws, and we went outside to drink. Mom said, “It’s very hot, so be careful,” but Sam didn’t hear her so he took a big gulp and spit it on my hand. I yelled, “OWWW!”
Once it cooled down a bit, we tried some with the whip cream, and it was sooooooo delicious! I’m not just talking about the whip cream but also the hot chocolate. It was too rich for Dad.
Sam:
We had lunch at a place called Pomme aux Pains, which is an outdoor Cafe, and got some croques monsieur (common lunch food like a grilled cheese with more cheese on top).
We rented an electric scooter to ride around on it. There were a lot of other scooters rentals but we decided to use Uber to rent ours.
We got on another train to the Notre Dame cathedral, but it was closed because they were trying to rebuild the spire that burnt down. We walked around the cathedral to see it from the front.
We walked past an accordion player and got some crepes from a stand. I got salted caramel and Charlotte got strawberry jam. All along the river there were market stalls that sold a lot of different things like handmade paintings, books, and souvenirs of the cathedral.
Sam and Charlotte take on the world! 