Avoiding crowds

We're moving at a slow pace this trip.  The key to success is making sure the baby is well rested and fed before heading out the door.  So we got out the door around noon today and headed out for a 40 min metro ride to visit Montmartre. Marin started out smiling and making friends on the train and by the 15th stop, like us, she was ready to be off.  Out if the metro, we all headed up the hill towsrds Sacre Couer.  There were big crowds, tons a selfie sticks and an older man persistently yelling at some young petitioners - and he eventually chased them down and tried flinging some water from his water bottle on them.  I was quickly ready to continue on, skip the church and walk along the less busy roads of Montmarte.

We happily found a All Good Things cafe serving a 3-course Monday brunch and the day was saved.  We then wandered around, passed by Moulin Rouge and took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe were more crowds and wild scooters abounded. Brian showed interested in scaling the monument, wondering if there might be an elevator we could take up with marins's stroller.  I expressed doubt and no one was determined enough to try to find out.  We kept walking by the arc to a cafe for some beers before making it to our ultimate destination, the Bois de Boulogne park.  A nice change of pace, the walk through the park where Paris goes jogging, took us back to our home in the southern 16th arrondissement. 

First day in Paris with baby

We made it to our apartment in the 16th arrondissement after a sleepless overnight flight from Newark with baby mb on our laps.  Marin was great on the flight and before that, her cute face helped us cut ahead of the check-in and security lines.

Once we got to CDG, we walked to the train station, but as we were puzzling through the machine screens to purchase RER tickets, the station was evacuated and train lines suspended due to an abandoned bag.  After maybe a couple hours, things went back to normal and we were on our way.   Once we got to our place, we ended up falling asleep for the rest of the day.

So today was our true first day.  We headed towards the center of the city to wander around to eventually walk by the cathedral of Notre dame.  Lots of other people were also stopped to look at the fire damage outside the new fence that surround the church.  From there we walked over to Le Marais which was filled with people and families and lots of delicious looking brunch places.  We found a good place for lunch which accomodated Marin's stroller inside and where momentously, marin tried her first ever green bean and seemed to like it. She also found a nice woman to lock eyes with during our meal which kept her occupied and happy.  Not wanting to push our luck with Marin, we started heading back to our neighborhood taking the opportunity to go by Roland-Garros stadium were the French open final was happening.  We watched the last few sets from the apartment while Marin napped.  We took one more walk through the neighborhood, found a boulangerie and bought one flute and walked far enough to see the Eiffel Tower from the emille Zola