Life involves misadventures; it sometimes feels like there are more of them during travel because of the unfamiliar environment and non-native languages. Here are some during this trip:

• Everett lost his retainer. He is a very responsible kid, and Chris had just mentioned the night before how responsible he was being with his retainer (this might have jinxed it). One night at bedtime the retainer was nowhere to be found, and we had another month of travel ahead of us. We looked everywhere in the apartment and found nothing. Then we went through the garbage in the apartment. Then we went to the trash room downstairs and found the bag we put in the bin that morning. We went through that and found his retainer! All we had to do now is figure out how to clean it. We considered using boiling water or gin but called the orthodontist and they said to use warm soapy water and an old toothbrush. Chemicals are appealing for their disinfectant properties, but many of them have adverse effects of soft plastic. In the end we got it clean and his retainer was back in use the next night.
• Gwen got bonked in the head with the back wheel of a road bike. This wasn’t as bad as it sounds. There was a group of cyclists who decided to take their road bikes into the Arc de Triomphe. Why? Who knows. This required carrying their bikes down a flight of stairs, under the Charles de Gaulle Étoile, through the ticket window and then up a flight of stairs to be at street level under the arch. Did they also carry their bikes up 284 steps in the spiral staircase to the top of the monument? Maybe. We saw them when they were at the ticket window when one of the spun around with his bike and bonked Gwen in the head with his back wheel. She was fine. Several strangers who watched it were the most upset about the whole thing than we were. The cyclist was so oblivious he never even realized what happened.
• Ted had a couple mishaps with the turnstiles and exit gates from the Metro because they close very fast and he hadn’t quite mastered the timing. He would approach the doors and they would open, then he would hesitate for a moment to see if they were going to stay open, then lunge through. This was not a recipe for success because the doors closed a couple times when he was halfway through. One time his hand got caught in the exit gate. Another time he got squeezed between the exit doors. We also noticed that the three-bar turnstiles would sometimes bonk him in the back of the head as he entered the Metro.
• Also on the topic of the Metro: Chris and Melissa have 1 week Navigo (proximity) passes, while for the kids we bought carnets of tarif réduit tickets. Several times Chris discovered that his pass wouldn’t work, and we would have to find an agent to help us through. What we eventually figured out was that in the process of putting each of the children’s tickets into the turnstile, the proximity sensor was detecting Chris’ card which was in his hand, and it then wouldn’t work when he went in last. We solved this by having Melissa hold the proximity cards until the kids were through.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Dads in our lives!

To celebrate Father’s Day we slept late (10am!) and had a delicious breakfast from the nearby bakery that is open on Sunday (some are open on Saturday, some on Sunday; we suspect that the times and days that bakeries are open is carefully coordinated by the Ministry of Pain et Pâtisserie). Chris had a mille-feuille, also known as a Napoleon at home. Then we got on the Metro to visit Parc des Buttes-Chaumont in northeast Paris.

It was just what we hoped for. The weather was mild and the kids had lots of time to run around and explore. This is a really neat park. It’s a former quarry with quite a dramatic topography plus lots of green space, bridges and a monument in the middle. We had a picnic lunch and the kids each got a giant lollipop with an ice cream chaser. Everett came back to the apartment with Gabby and Grandaddy via Uber. Chris and Melissa came home on the Metro with the twins. In the evening we relaxed at the apartment and watched the World Cup. Then the kids watched a movie while the adults played cards for a while. Then lots of bedtime drama and everyone went to be around 11pm.

One funny thing Chris and Cress have experienced as Dads is the incredible disparity between work life and home life. For example, the other day during dinner Everett made an offhand comment to Grandad that he would make a good waiter. This is probably true, but should be taken in context that he also had an extremely successful career at Procter and Gamble, and he is good at a lot of things. And we suspect that his performance as a waiter is restricted to a very small group of clientele mainly comprised of his family.  Grandchildren receive the finest service.

Another funny thing about Dads is their fashion sense (or lack thereof). And yet, according to the New York Times, Dads are now at the center of the style universe. The adjectives used to describe this trend are roughly what I would expect: uncool, old fogy, schlubby, baggy, unsexy, chunky, fuddy-duddy. The article reads: “Brands are trying to produce mystery in this overexposed atmosphere. They’re doing it by either picking something extremely random or something extremely obvious. Dad style is both.” This movement is currently called dadcore, or normcore. It is described as “stuff that is self-consciously unsexy, or even un-self-consciously unsexy.” “It’s about wanting things that aren’t branded. Things that are worn, the color’s faded, there’s sun damage. It’s like it had another life before you had it. There’s history in the garment.” After reading the article I discovered that I could easily spend over $3000 on an outfit of sneakers, jeans, a fleece jacket and a baseball cap (oh and a fanny pack). But why is this necessary when Dads’ oblivious behavior in the first place is what cause this fashion trend? It sounds like a way for men to spend obscene amounts of money to strenuously create the appearance that they have done the hard work to make their clothes look worn. Here’s a litmus test: 15 minutes from now when the fashion world has moved on, will Dads change the way they dress? The ones who work hard will not, at least not until years from now when their clothing has disintegrated and they are forced to buy something unbranded and reasonably priced.

So cheers to all of the hard working Dads in our lives, whose clothes are now worn out as a result, so much so that they will never even be aware of their missed opportunity to walk the runway.

The main reason for the timing of this visit was Melissa’s 30th high school reunion at the American School of Paris, which coincided with with Homecoming 2018 celebration. This is the 72nd anniversary of the school; they were going to hold a 70th anniversary celebration but apparently much of the campus was a construction site at the time. Several buildings were torn down, including one that had Melissa’s classrooms, and in their place several new ones were built.

We participated in three homecoming events. First was the welcome reception on Friday night. We requested a baby sitter for the kids during this event, as did many other parents. However, of the 10 children who were registered only our three showed up. We told them this was fine because they sometimes feel like 10 children. While they were spending time with the babysitters at the playground and doing activities we walked around campus, listened to a talk from the Head of School, and had a glass of champagne or two.

The next day we attended the international fair at the school which was pretty fantastic. There were lots of bounce houses and other activities for the kids. There were also food tents from many different countries. It was like a global tapas bar. We enjoyed food from Switzerland, Iran, Korea, Argentina, France and England. We also got to see many parts of Melissa’s high school (she attended ASP for her senior year).


On Saturday night Melissa and Chris went to La Soirée at the Musèe des Arts Forains while our traveling au pairs watched the children. The Musèe was essentially a kids carnival that has been repurposed for adults. Super fun evening!

Today has been a low energy day. Melissa and Chris got up around 8am to get pastries, and about an hour later Melissa and Everett went to the Rodin Museum for the audio tour. Chris met them there around 11:30 so that the boys could go to the Catacombs. Unfortunately they were closed due to a strike, so we walked to Boulangerie M’seddi which currently has the distinction of making the best Parisian baguette. We bought three, then took the Metro to Concorde so that Everett could buy a beret.

Next stop was the Orangerie Museum to see Monet’s Water Lilies. Then home sometime around 2:30pm. Meanwhile Melissa went to the Conciergerie and got home after 3pm. The smalls and the talls have been home all day having quiet time – neither Ted nor Gwen seemed to have much energy or interest in getting out today. Unfortunately the smalls got up early today, before 9am, and are desperately in need of a nap.

We spent the afternoon at the apartment, resting and watching movies and playing Minecraft. Chris and Cress went to a market to get some produce. Chris and Everett made an afternoon excursion to print a page containing the Eiffel Tower stencil for the 3Doodler he got for his birthday. Before dinner we spent time making one side of the model, then the kids had dinner and went back to their iPads while the adults ate. Around 8:15 we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and the kids literally ran all the way to the top, then ran around the top for about 30 minutes, then ran down and home. I think we could have done this three more times before they got tired. Please remind us not to keep them home again for an entire day of rest. We got home around 9:15 and then had a one hour bedtime extravaganza. As with most of these trips the sleeping arrangements change every night. Tonight Gwen is in one bedroom while the boys are “sleeping” in a nest on the floor in Gabby and Grandaddy’s bedroom.

Today we went to Versailles to see the palace. It was magnificent. Melissa has been there many times but no one else in the family had seen it before. It is truly on a scale beyond anything Chris imagined (no wonder the peasants revolted). It feels like worlds within worlds, and it must have taken an army to build and maintain it to this day.

The children were fantastic today. We got them up early (9am counts as early on this trip), fed them and walked to Charles de Gaulle – Étoile Metro, took the train to Bir Hakeim Metro, and then took the RER to the Versailles Chateau station. Much faster than we expected, and the childrens’ tickets cost less than 2 Euros each. From the train station we walked to the entrance, went through security twice and then toured the first and second floors. Afterward we headed to the gardens and ended up walking for about eight miles total. We stopped at a garden cafe for lunch, took photos and explored many parts of the palace grounds including Trianon and the Queen’s Hamlet. Among the favorite things to see for the children: the farm animals at Le Hameau, including sheep, goats and a cow who walked up to sniff us; the gift shop because it had swords. One curious thing about getting back: Chris and Melissa agreed that by the time we reached Le Hameau we were far from home with no easy return trip if one or more children became exhausted and refused to walk anymore. We are still able to carry Ted or Gwen short distances, but they are now too big for us to carry them for 1-2 miles (which was the distance back to the train station). Chris thought about calling an Uber but we had no idea where they would be able to pick us up. We were getting pretty concerned about this but at the moment we left Petit Trianon we found one of Les Petits Trains waiting with seats available. Chris and Melissa really wanted to walk back, but out of concern for the kids we bought tickets and settled in. Each of them ate a couple handfuls of granola and Ted fell asleep quickly afterward. About 20 or 30 minutes later we were back at the Chateau, rested and ready to head home. Melissa and Ted went to the gift shop to pick out his special treat from Gabby, then we walked to the train station and were home by about 6:30pm. The kids were starving – they were asking for food the whole way home and at one point on the Metro Ted just kept his mouth open like a baby bird in the hope that Melissa would put some food in it (which she did, and the grandmotherly woman sitting next to him thought this was hilarious).

On every long trip we eventually get into a rhythm. This changes from trip to trip, partly because the children are constantly changing, and partly to take into account whatever is special about the place we are visiting. On this trip our rhythm has been to sleep as late as 11am (unheard of for our family!), then have an outing for 6-7 hours, return home for dinner and then “bedtime”. This is the time of year when bedtime evaporates. The sun sets around 10pm here in June.

Each of the kids has their own iPad on this trip. Everett has had one for some time, but the twins have only had iPod Touches before. We told them this change would happen at the beginning of the trip, and they took to the iPads instantly. Chris loaded them up with movies and apps beforehand. However, the only game they seem to be interested in is MineCraft. This is a game Everett has played for some time and he taught the twins. After a few days, through some mechanism that no one quite understands, Ted joined Everett’s world in Minecraft, followed by Gwen. This was interested in that they could work together. It was also infuriating for us because this allowed them to simultaneously fight in the real world and in a virtual world at the same time! We had never before imagined that more fighting an bickering might be possible, but we were wrong. If only Chris and Melissa were also on Minecraft then we could have understood the magnitude of it firsthand, and could have issued multidimensional proclamations such as “No one is to touch anyone every again in this world or any other!”

The kids could be happy browsing souvenir shops all day every day. They don’t insist on buying much, rather they are just interested (as the parents are) about the things you find in other countries. Along the way we have picked up a few souvenirs here and there. Some are treats payed for by the parents or grandparents, and some things Everett pays for with his own money. Today we went to the Galeries Lafayette to shop for upscale souvenirs. Everyone looked around for some time when Gwen found a unicorn that turns into a rainbow neck pillow – probably the most perfect gift ever for her! The boys saw how this worked and then each of them wanted something similar so they got whale pillows, later named Herman (Everett’s) and Sherman (Ted’s).

Afterward we stopped at a boulangerie to get each of the kids and individual quiche, then walked toward to Musée d’Orsay. It seems astonishing that it could take 3 or 4 hours to make one brief stop and walk to a museum, but we don’t seem to do anything quickly. There are several standoffs a day with each of the twins (curiously never at the same time), but they are consistently walking about 5 miles a day with good endurance. We keep a stash of candy bars and lollipops on hand for bribes. Everett has saved the day more than once by giving everyone Swedish fish candy.

We usually have 1 to 2 hours at each museum before the kids reach their limits. At the Orsay we focused our attention on the impressionist gallery. Everett wanted to see paintings by Monet, and Ted took an amazing interest in many of the paintings with Melissa. He started explaining the subject matter and feeling behind each of them. Fascinating to see him so engaged, and not entirely surprising given how much creative energy he has had over the past year. At the end of the impressionist gallery is the most comfortable couch ever made.

Last night we took the kids from our apartment uphill to the Arc de Triomphe, then through the tunnel under the circle to get to the base, and then climbed the stairs to the top. They never stopped running, jumping or talking the entire way there or back. So much energy! And this was after a full day out during which we went to the bird market, then Chez Flo for lunch, then the Musée des Arts et Métiers. Then the Gabbys took the kids home on Uber while Chris and Melissa had an adventure around the Eiffel Tower.

Whenever we travel, especially to other countries, there are always a few things we struggle to figure out. In Paris there are far fewer of these events because of everyone in this travel group, 3 of the adults used to live here. One curiosity is that the dryer doesn’t actually dry anything – it makes lots of noise and spins and beeps but it doesn’t actually remove any water from the clothing. Upon closer examination it’s clear why: there is no air flow into or out of it. The inputs to the washer/dryer are water and power, while the only output is waste water. Centrifugal force doesn’t dry anything. On a related subject, all of the appliances in our apartment like to make the same beeping sound for reasons that are usually unknown because we don’t speak beep. Each of them have controls with very detailed icons and no text, so we spend a lot of time trying to figure out which appliance is beeping and what it wants. We imagined that this might be a funny new Muppet that only communicates by beep, acknowledging that this might be funny for a couple minutes but is less so when it goes on around the clock.

We have heard from many Europeans that American public spaces are over air-conditioned (we agree). However, there must be some compromise between the chilled public spaces in the US and the similar places in Europe where the only climate control is heat, and there is never any moving air (apparently it’s deadly).

We have gotten into a routine of sleeping late in the morning, having an afternoon activity and then returning home for dinner. Everyone is on a similar sleep schedule, which makes this much easier! Today we left the apartment late in the morning and took the metro to Pont de l’Alma to ride the Bateaux-Mouches up and down the Seine. Several photos are here: https://gallery.dromomania.net/Travel/2018/Paris-2018.

Then we took the metro to the Latin Quarter and split into two groups for lunch. The Gabbys ate at a seafood restaurant while the Butsons had gyros for lunch.

We walked from the Latin Quarter past Notre Dame and made our way to Angelina’s for an afternoon treat which turned out to be dessert dinner: each of the kids ordered hot chocolate (this is seriously the best hot chocolate in the world) and two desserts. Amazing!

Today is Everett’s 10th birthday. It is also our third day into a visit to Paris, so all of us are recovering from jet lag. Everett, Ted and Melissa were up for a couple hours in the middle of the night last night, but eventually everyone settled down and slept in (i.e. after 9am, which might as well be all day). Everett and Melissa went out for breakfast bread treats and then we all sat down to eat and open presents.

For the next hour or two Chris and Melissa continued to try to figure out how the clothes dryer works. There are two appliances in the apartment: a washing machine and a combination washer/dryer. Neither of them are remotely intuitive, even though the designers seemed to think they are by using a nonsensical set of icons (with no explanation) to convey what they do. We could not find a user manual in English, but we did find a printed user manual in French, so we decided to try to figure it out. We thought this shouldn’t be too difficult because between us we have 8 advanced degrees, of which Chris has 3 in engineering, and Melissa speaks fluent French. We spent hours on it and then conducted several experiments to try to get our clothes dry; each one in fact made our clothes wetter by adding water. Finally on Everett’s birthday morning we mastered it, and came to the realization that after running the dryer for the maximum amount of time at the highest temperature the clothes would merely be damp, also known as French dry.

Around 10am there was a knock at the door: the Gabbys had arrived! They were amazingly energetic after a long flight but it was important to them (and all of us) that they get to join Everett for his birthday.

In the afternoon the Gabbys rested while Chris, Melissa and the kids made a trip to Sacre Couer and had a picnic lunch. Afterward we walked through the Place du Tertre, and then Melissa took the twins home while Chris and Everett had an adventure and went to the Louvre and the Opera House and then home. In the evening we had dinner at Relais de Venise et son Entrecôte. Dinner was just as delicious as we imagined. Everett has now eaten at Entrecote in Geneva New York and Paris. He keeps falling asleep in his profiteroles.

It is now almost 10:30 and the twins are both wide awake despite being “so tired” for most of the day.

Happy Birthday Everett!