Meat Fast

We set off this morning for Parc Villette because they have some of the best playgrounds in the city - including the Jardin Dragon which is a huge dragon-shaped climbing structure.  Well, when we got there, we found that it was closed for renovation, which, in retrospect, was a good thing because otherwise we would not have discovered Jardin Des Dunes.  The neighborhood playgrounds are not unlike what you would find in the US (except they don't do swings here) but their destination playgrounds are *awesome* and this one was no exception.  The kids enjoyed the zip lining (again something you would not find in the US and totally dangerous), the hamster wheel, the bounce field and all of the novel climbing equipment.  This place has been well loved over the years and is probably next on the list for renovation but it provided a great morning out for everyone.

We dashed home to put Natalie down or her afternoon nap and made it just in time to avoid yet another rain shower.  On the metro, Jack and I were reflecting on all the carbs we are eating here - a croissant for breakfast, a huge baguette with exactly one slice of cheese and one slice of ham for lunch, a pastry for tea and, at 10 pm, fois gras en croute for dinner.  Atkins certainly has not reached Paris!  (Yet somehow they all remain fabulously trim and chic … hmmm.  Could be all the smoking and climbing up and down the stairs in the Metro.)  So with all of the carbs and rich meals we've been having with lots of stinky cheese and random organ meats, I decided that, when I get home, I'm going on a juice fast - I need to cleanse.  After all these carbs, Jack's decided he's going on a meat fast!

Knowing that we had a late night coming up, Jack and I had a little siesta (oh how I love vacation) then headed out into the cool evening in search of a little pastry and tea to tide us over until dinner.  We got shut down at Jean-Paul Hevin because they were out of all their signature pastries by the time we got there.  We walked along and stumbled upon Eric Kayser and grabbed a couple of small bites to go, then happened by Storher, another patisserie in our book and tried their chocolate covered nougat.  We continued our walk through the 11^th  to the theater where we had tickets to see a one-man show entitled “How to Become Parisian in One Hour”.  Although the audience was mostly young Parisians, the play was entirely in English and it was a hoot!  All I can say is, don’t take the cheese!  Afterwards, we walked over to Bistro Paul Bert for another rich but satisfying meal.  Eschewing the metro, we found a city bike stand and decided to grab bikes and ride home.  We enjoyed an exhilarating and picturesque midnight ride through the city streets of Paris – a fun way to end a great day.