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Published: November 3rd 2005
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Entrance to Reims Cathedral
Below the arches there are HUGE wooden doors, but you can't see them in this picture. The cathedral is just too big. When does a four-hour drive take eight hours? When you’re traveling with a toddler, of course!
We left for France at 9:00 a.m. and didn’t arrive until 5:00 p.m. The drive was pretty, though. Both Germany and France have lovely fall foliage right now. We had planned on driving straight to Reims, stopping for lunch, touring the cathedral, and then continuing on to Paris, but Katherine got cranky way before Reims, so we stopped for lunch near Verdun. We ate at another truck-stop over the autobahn. (Same kind as we stopped at in Belgium. It‘s a chain, but I forget the name of it.) The best thing about this stop was that Katherine’s kid’s meal came with a Sponge Bob (“Bob L’Eponge”) comic book in French. I’m not a big Sponge Bob fan, but it was pretty cool.
We left again and stopped in Reims as planned. We visited the beautiful Cathedral where French kings were crowned. Joan of Arc went there with Charles the Seventh. There’s a statue of her where you can light a candle and pray. They had really nice key rings with her image on them, and I almost bought one for Heather, but they were 7.50
euro, and I’m not used to spending that much for key chains.
David had to take a bathroom break, so he went into the library next door. Fine for him, but I was going mad trying to keep our toddler quiet in the silent building. She REALLY wanted to pull all the cards out of the card catalog and was furious that I got in her way. It was raining outside, and I wasn’t sure where in the library my husband had gone. When he emerged again, I was really relieved to see him. He managed to get her diaper changed, and I went to the ladies’ room, then we were back on our way. (Although, I must say convincing Katherine to get back in her car seat again was difficult. We were finally able to bribe her with apple juice.)
Just a few miles before we reached our destination we had to stop for gas. They sold Eiffel Tower Cow key chains for just 4.50 euro! In case you’ve never seen an Eiffel Tower cow key chain, it’s the shape of the Eiffel Tower colored white with black spots with a cow’s head on top and pink udders underneath.
No more muddy boots!
Katherine learns how to scrape her shoes on a boot-scraper-thingy. Now that’s a good key chain! But for some reason I didn’t buy it. Sorry, Heather.
We arrived at our Novotel in Noisy le Grand (just outside Paris) at 5:00 p.m. The place is near Disneyland (that‘s why we chose it), so there were lots of kids around. Can I just say that kids with British accents are adorable? They really are. While waiting for the hotel restaurant to open for dinner, Katherine made friends with some cute little British boys. Well, really she was only interested in the baby. He was just old enough to toddle around holding on to furniture. Katherine followed him around, talking to him and handing him toys when he dropped them. The four-year-old brother was very friendly and talkative. He followed Katherine around chatting her up. (She didn‘t reply; she was too focused on the baby.) He reminded me of a young version of Harry Potter. “I’ll be five on my birthday…She’s quite shy, isn’t she?…” Imagine his voice sounding really cute. The way I sound when I impersonate cute British kids, not the way I sound when I sing “Consider Yourself” in an obnoxious cockney accent. Later they were sitting at the table next to us. Both the older boys ordered coca-cola light (otherwise known as diet coke in the States). The father asked the boys if they wanted straws. The four year old said yes, but the older boy said no. When the drinks were delivered the four year old got to drink his out of the bottle with a straw, but the older brother had to drink out of a glass. This lead to a lot of conversation about “Why can’t I drink out of my bottle? I don’t see how it’s fair if he’s drinking out of his bottle, but I’m not…”etc.
Okay, maybe you think this blog is boring, but remember to imagine the little boys with British accents. That makes it much more adorable. (Unless you happen to be one of my British friends, you guys probably hear British kids all the time.)
Okay, one last British kid quote. At one point the mom (or should I say, “mum”) commented on how well the baby was eating and that he was being a very good boy. Then one of the brothers said, “Well that’s his nature, isn’t it?”
Enough about the things British kids say. After dinner we went to bed and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, Katherine wasn’t cooperating. She didn’t want to sleep on the small bed we set up for her. In fact, she didn’t want to sleep anywhere. She kept getting up and turning on the hotel room lights late into the night. It drove us crazy, but sometime after midnight we were able to get some sleep. Katherine slept next to her Papa, and I moved down to the bed on the floor.
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