Gung Hay Fat Choy

Happy Chinese New Year!

This year, the kids enjoyed making paper Chinese Lanterns and Glitter Fireworks. Then we went outside for the real fun - Sparkler Fireworks!!

Here they are showing off their crafts (notice the lanterns hanging in the back):
Daddy showing how it is done:
Tyler trying it out:
Tyler trying to burn the house down:
Dylan seems to be a natural at this:
Except when he got a little close to the car!

Paris Part 3 - Final Post!

The next day was our last day of our trip. We went to Montmarte, the highest point of the city. One highlight of Montmarte is the beautiful Sacre Coeur Basilica and views of the city. We also walked around the streets making sure to take note of Picasso's home and other well-known attractions.

Moulin de la Galette

Moulin Rouge - don't worry - we were there in the daytime and I wasn't about to let Arthur get much closer!

We ended our day walking the Champs Elysees. We started at the Place de la Concorde. This square is the location where the guillotine stood during the French Revolution. King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were both dismembered here. Now there is a giant Egyptian obelisk to mark the spot. During the holiday season, there is also a ferris wheel. Unfortunately, due to the extremely low value of the dollar, we were unwilling to spend $30 to ride it!

Champs Elysees - 3 days till Christmas!

We celebrated our final evening in Paris by eating dinner in a restaurant! As I mentioned before, the dollar's low value made this trip very expensive! We found ourselves eating at roadside stalls for every meal to try to save some money. Unfortunately, even this "cheap food" cost us a pretty penny! So, even though this picture does not show my mood, I was quite relieved and happy to sit in a warm restaurant, be waited on by a nice waiter, and devour a hot meal!

Paris Part 2

On our 3rd day, I was so thrilled to visit the Palace of Versailles. I had visited it before when I was in high school, and was eager to show Arthur the opulence and beauty of the architecture and gardens. This is where Louis the 14th reigned and where Louis the 16th and his wife Marie Antoinette lived lavishly. It is a perfect symbol of the division between the elite and the poor in France before and during the French Revolution.

Once we got there, I was shocked and horrified to see that some guy name Jeff Koons was allowed to desecrate the Palace with things he called "art".

Yes, those are plastic inner tubes climbing a fence:

They actually replaced one of the chandeliers in this room to make room for a hanging lobster:

Michael Jackson and Bubbles (no comment needed):

Why would you want to look at the artwork on the ceiling and walls, when you can admire the giant balloon-puppy in the middle of the room?

So, those are things I didn't expect and didn't really love about Versailles. Here are pictures of what I did like:

Palace Entrance

This is where Marie Antionette wed Louis VI

Artwork
Hall of Mirrors
Gardens
Marie Antoinette's Bedroom
War Room
And a cute guy that let me take his picture

After a long day of touring Versailles, we headed back to Paris to view the Christmas decor at the Galleries Lafayette. This is a famous shopping center in Paris. Although the lights were spectacular, we realized how close to Christmas it was by the crowds we encountered!

Paris Opera House

Germany & Paris Part 1

I really want to take the time to thank our parents for making this trip possible. There is NO WAY I would have wanted to travel to Germany and Paris while being pregnant and having to tote around 2 wild kids. So, a HUGE THANK YOU to our parents for taking care of our rascals while we toured around Europe!

Arthur had the opportunity to teach a workshop at an animation school near Stuttgart, Germany. So, I joined him at the end of his week there and then we headed over to Paris for a long weekend. Here is a long summary of our trip!

I need to pull some pictures off of my other camera, but here are a couple shots of the Christmas Markets. This was my favorite part of the trip. Being in Germany at Christmas time is truly a special thing. The towns set up little markets where you can buy Christmas decorations, food, and of course, beer. It seems that the entire town congregates frequently at these markets with family and friends.

A strange thing you might see at a German train station:


Our first day in Paris. We had to head to the Eiffel Tower first, of course!

Then, we made our way to the Champs Elysees to view the famous street and the Arc de Triomphe


Views from the Arc


After meandering along the Champs Elysees, we walked back to the Eiffel Tower for our Evening ascent to the top.
At the top of each hour, the Eiffel Tower would sparkle like this:
The next day, we headed to tour the Louvre Museum. Top sites here were, of course, the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo:
Ever since Arthur's education at MIT, he has had a thing for "floating" architecture. We had to get a picture of this "floating" staircase at the Louvre:


Me studying Rick Steves along the Seine River:
Arthur and I standing on the Pont Neuf - the oldest bridge in Paris. If you look closely, you can see the Eiffel Tower next to Arthur's head.


Front and back views of Notre Dame:


This street performer reminded us of our college days and our many visits to Harvard Square


We couldn't resist ourselves on our walk along Ile Saint-Louis:


Cheese Shop:


Chocolate Shop:


And of course, it would not be Christmas in Paris without Bouches de Noel:


Eating our Creme Puff along the Seine:

That is all for now. Check back again because there are so many more pictures to come!