This Sunday began with a walk through the bird market in the center of Paris. Sure enough, there were birds galore and small pets of all sorts- guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits, and the like. As predicted, Maggie wanted to take some sort of furry or feathered creature home with us.
There were many beautiful birds, and they were sometimes five or six in a cage. Suddenly, all the caged creatures made me very sad. Neil Young's haunting song "Expecting to Fly" entered my head. I was then finished with the market.
Soon after, we continued our Sunday tradition of checking out a Church. This time it was Notre Dame. Fortunately, part of the mass was in Latin so Sean could follow along. There was a children's choir which helped lighten the somber mood of the organ music. Quinn enjoyed taking these pictures of Notre Dame.
Next we headed to the Institute du Monde Arabe. A very cool building with mechanical walls that move to let in more or less sun. THere is a great view of the Notre Dame from the top floor. Across the plaza was a bazaar with a cafe serving tasy Northern African specialties. We gobbled up every last bit of the chicken schwarma, baba ganouj and tabbouli.
The Jardin de Plantes was nearby , and as we headed there we passed through the outdoor sculpture museum. In the park there is a zoo (menagerie is their word), which Q and M were eager to enter. We saw many different animals- gorillas, monkeys, snakes, owls, etc., in an environment that was a bit more cheerful than the bird market where we started the day.
Kids and parents alike were exhausted and thankfully the RER was right next door to take us directly to our apartment (well, a block away).
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