Paris - Day Four

As much fun as I was having in Paris, I was getting ready to get back home to America. I was missing my kids, English, cheeseburgers, American television and yes even missing my dogs. We did not have any huge plans for the day, just some general ideas of stuff we'd like to do. I really wanted to see Musee D' Orsay, so I could see original Van Goghs and Monets, so we decided to head there.

Remember how I told you that my feet were hemorrhaging and that I was going to wear flip flops the next day? Yup, I sure did. I got up and put on my black big foam bottomed flip flops. I did a little dance in the hotel room for my hubby, showing him how comfortable I was.

We got outside and the ground was wet from some rain, and it started to sprinkle a bit, but no big deal after all, I'm in Paris, you just pull out your umbrella and keep going (at least that's what I've been told).

We take the metro down to the museum and get out. Everyone seems to really be dressed for winter, wearing boots, walking shoes and carrying umbrellas. I'm starting to feel a BIT out of place with my flip flops. I can feel my panic start to set in, but I can't say anything at this point because I'd be eating crow.

We walk across the garden and cross the seine river to get to the museum. I see ahead of me marble steps and marble tile in front of the museum. Panic begins to set in. I'm wearing FOAM flip flops. When foam gets wet on tile it is NOT a good combination. Add pregnant and clumsy in to that equation and you have a recipe for disaster. Now I grip my husbands arm a little tighter (who by the way is now holding the umbrella for me like I'm Miss Daisy or something). I manage to get up the steps without falling down but my luck does not last very long. I biff it and slip as soon as I hit the top. Wonderful.

I can see my hubby's ears turning red from the embarrassment. I get in the line for the museum trying NOT to attract any more attention to myself but I can hear my shoes screaming loudly (you know like the stain on the guys shirt in the Tide commercial?). A little 8 year old girl in front of me turns around. She sees my shoes and her eyes grow wide. She then POKES HER MOTHER and speaks something in French and points at my shoes. Wonderful. Just wonderful. I now have a precocious eight year old French child laughing at my shoes.

I manage to make it through the line and into the museum without attracting any more attention to myself. I see a couple more American teenagers there with flip flops on so I feel a little more justified in my decision.

The museum was incredible. Amazing paintings totally LOVED it. We left the museum and again, panic sets in as I have to cross the marble entryway which is more wet now from rain. Yes, I biff it again a second time, this time I start to laugh hysterically over the whole situation and about pee my pants. So I'm slipping, laughing, with tears rolling down my face. So much for not attracting attention to myself. I think now is the time I deserve a big "I TOLD YOU SO" from my husband.

We manage to get me back to the hotel without breaking my neck or me falling into the Seine river (but we joked that my shoes COULD be used as a flotation device)...We rest for a while then decide to do some shopping.

We went to the shops at LaFayette. It was pretty amazing, but also pretty packed, so we did not stay long. We went back to the hotel to drop off some bags and bottles of wine we didn't want to carry, then headed back out for dinner. Jamin and I got seated right in between two French couples, which we were used to giving up our personal space by this time. Nothing seemed to phase us, from how long it took to get our dinner and dessert, to how long it took for coffee to arrive. Jamin ordered coffee, and I guess they thought he wanted an expresso, because it came in an Evie sized little cup. I started laughing again. This whole day was one odd experience, from my flip flops to Jamin's tea party sized cup.

We went back to the hotel, packed our bags, thankful that we would see our kiddos the next day and be on American soil.