Ryan's just written a good, long post on his and Jill's blog and it's inspired me to put up something new.
As you can see from Ryan's post, we've been pushing the kids faster than they've wished. Sandy and I have different rhythms and we're trying to get in sync. For the kids their ideal day seems to involve:
1. Getting up very late in the morning, having breakfast;
2. Afternoon: sightseeing, shopping or strolling for 3-4 hours. Of these they prefer strolling or shopping to sightseeing. Museums are number 55 on Ryan's list of Top 100 favorites; Jill would prefer having her teeth pulled rather than visit one. As Ryan mentions, we walk a lot. Sandy has her pedometer, and typically we'll clock 5 miles or so during our wanderings. This tires Ryan, Jill and I the most, I think. (See below for Sandy's preferred regimen).
3. Late afternoon: a cafe or ice cream wherever we are, which revives them -- but not for long;
4. Enduring boredom during the hour or so it takes us to buy groceries;
5. "Hanging out" at the apartment for a couple of hours, typically with a nap of an hour or more. Sandy and I often have to rouse them for dinner or they might sleep through until the following noon;
6. A two-hour dinner, with lots of conversation. Dinner doesn't start until at least 8:30 p.m.. The sun is still up. The kids are at their most animated. Dinner doesn't end until after 10 p.m., when the sky is still quite blue.
7. An after-dinner stroll of a mile or more. While our immediate 'hood is quiet and residential, we are within walking distance of at least three areas with lots of street nightlife -- cafes, restaurants, music clubs.
8. By now it's usually past 11 p.m. and it's time to start the cycle again.
This is a bit different from Sandy and my natural traveling rhythm, which admittedly is more intense than anyone we know. When we travel with other adults -- say, Pat or Margaret or Connie and Gary -- they voice the same complaint of Jill and Ryan: we go too much.
Our ideal day is, admittedly, too long. It exhausts even us. Or at least me (Sandy has more stamina). Here's the way we typically travel:
8 a.m. -- out to buy breakfast croissants
9:30 a.m. -- head out for sightseeing experience 1 -- a museum, an organized walk of a district, typically with commentary from a guidebook, possibly a shopping expedition.
1 p.m. -- informal lunch (sandwich or baguette/cheese) on a park bench.
1:30 p.m. -- Sightseeing or shopping experience 2. If the morning involved a museum, well, we won't do another that afternoon. I typically search the local newspapers and entertainment publications for street fairs, art gallery stuff, etc. This involves great coordination (or at least I spend a lot of time doing it) because galleries and museums are closed on different days, etc.
5 p.m. -- Revive with coffee/tea, then do the marketing. In Paris cafes are relatively serious places for adults. In other cities -- Barcelona comes to mind -- street cafes are more of a family affair. We recall spending many "cocktail hours" in the street behind our apartment. It was a wide pedestrian area and intensely family-oriented (as was much of Barcelona). Parents and friends would gather to drink, grandma would sit at the table or nearby watching the children play. The infants would simply chase each other. Those over the age of four played at soccer. Dogs ran free and got their exercise. There's not much of that in Paris. Even on the car-less pedestrian streets there are few children. And those who are present are at table, not milling about.
6 p.m. -- Hang out, fix dinner. When it's just the two of us we'll sometimes have a quick dinner at home -- bread, pate, cheese -- then head out for...
8 p.m. -- Sightseeing experience 3. Most shops are closed now, so there's little shopping. But it's a great time to stroll restaurants, examining their menus and making notes for later.
Hi, Roger and Sandy,
Danny and I are loving your funny journalistic tour of Pareeeee!! Somehow, we feel there is a role reversal with Jill and Ryan. The two of you should be pleading for a respite while they try to rev you up to LET'S GO! How did that get switched?
You are providing them with memories they'll never forget. Their e-mails are hilarious too. Each one analyzing their impressions of what they're seeing and doing in Paris. Maybe they'll rest up for some more adventure.
Have fun!
Abby
Posted by: Abby and Danny | June 07, 2005 at 07:09 AM