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| Kate, racing toward the city center. Will, racing -- as usual -- away from the camera. |
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| Beautiful sculptures like these were scattered all over the city |
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| Place Stanislas. I really must remember to bring my real camera, not just the iPhone. |
Click here for better pictures!
As you can see, Place Stanislas was enormous and car-free, which made it perfect for the kids to race around. Can you believe it took Will 74 seconds to run from one side to the other and back? Of course, he had to do it several times to try and beat his record, which conveniently wore him out. Mom's no dummy. :)
The Place has beautiful fountains like these, which also helped entertain the children.
In this way, Mom got to spend a very relaxing couple of hours lingering over a delicious lunch on the plaza while the kids -- after gobbling their lunches -- ran around like little maniacs. It was so nice, and the weather couldn't have been better.
Incidentally, as we were driving into the city, the kids spotted a McDonalds and the clamoring to eat there began. Like we'd go to France and eat at McDonalds. Silly kids. They pouted a little but ended up being delighted by the salmon they ordered. It was really good. Wouldn't it be nice if someday I had to try to talk them into eating at McDonald's? I'm always hoping that if I keep exposing them to really good food, they'll end up preferring it. Too much to hope for?
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| Kate insisted on a photo in front of the beautiful fountain. |
We really didn't have much of an agenda, and I knew that since we didn't have much time we'd only be able to see a part of the city. So the only thing on our must-see list was the Place Stanislas and the nearby Parc de la Pepinière, which I'd heard even had a small zoo. It did, but even better, it also had a carnival! The kids were in heaven!
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| Parc de la Pepinière |
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| I bribed Will with carnival rides to pose for this one. I should've insisted on a smile for the price of those tickets! |
He was surprisingly good, popping two out of the three balloons with only three shots!
Then we wandered over to the zoo, where we found this guy. The kids loved him. He delighted them by hurling leaves and sticks at us.
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| More bribery. This time for a crepe! |
My French friends keep raving about Nancy. I think this is the city (or is it Metz? I think it is Nancy) that is the birthplace of Art Nouveau.
ReplyDeleteYour photos look amazing and as always the kids look like they are having a great time.
ReplyDeleteThat's the one thing I still get surprised about when I am in Luxembourg, how close it is and easy it is to travel to another country in a few hours!
I love going to Trier in Germany (don't know if you've been there.) If you have and any of you love chocolate let me know and I'll tell you the name of my favourite cafe!!!
Expatresse, I hadn't heard that but very interesting. I saw and read about a couple of museums that looked promising but we didn't have time to visit on this trip.
ReplyDeleteChele, thanks! I love Trier though we've only been there a couple of times. We'd definitely be interested in hearing about this cafe! What kind of chocolate do they have? Chocolates, hot chocolate? Not that it makes a difference; we love chocolate in all its forms!
It's called Suite au Chocolat
ReplyDeleteGlockenstraße 9, Trier, Germany, 54290
http://www.suite-au-chocolat.de/
They have eating chocolate, hot chocolate (made with real chocolate) fritz cola (in my book aeven better than coca cola), good coffee and a little area for kids. Now I'm trying to judge the ages so I don't know how suitable for your two, but I'm thinking Kate will love it because the furniture is brown leather tables and chairs - but at every table there is one pink fabric chair!!!).
They also had a supply of gluten free and wheat free tasty chocolate (my niece is coeliac and the man in the shop was sooo helpful)
Every time I'm back I have to go at least once (which isnt often enough). I wont be back again until the week before christmas and thats my run away and relax place... :)