Dragonfly Boating: Paris, France

Friday, Dec 26: After a typical slow start in the morning, we boarded the Metro (subway), headed for the center of Paris, the capital and largest city in France, with a metropolitan population of 13 million. It was a chilly day, with temperatures in the mid-30s and a moderate wind as we shuffled around several tourist areas among large crowds. We stopped at Sainte Chappelle, a beautiful 13th-century chapel covered with stained glass that we visited in 2023, but all tours were sold out for the day. Next was Notre-Dame cathedral, reopened a year ago after suffering significant damage in a 2019 fire, but the long line to enter the church wasn’t moving and we weren’t interested in standing out in the cold for an indeterminate amount of time. We found a cozy creperie, La Petite Bouclerie, for lunch, then took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower, which also had a huge crowd—we stood in line to visit the base of the tower but did not go up. Our final stops were a Christmas Market on the Seine, where we warmed up with hot red wine, then across the river and up the hill to the Trocadéro, where we had amazing sunset views of the Eiffel Tower. Back at Marjorie and Murli’s apartment, we were treated to dinner, a children’s string recital by Nathan, Pia and Bertie, and pleasant conversation until 10:45 PM, when we walked back to the house where we’re staying, just an eight minute walk away. Map link: Paris, France

Bonus Question: How many bones are in the human body? (Multiple choice, answer at end of post). A. 106 B. 156 C. 206 D. 306

Saturday, Dec 27: In the morning Danielle and Jay toured Rolland Garros Stadium, the home of the French Open tennis tournament, while the rest of us visited Kathleen’s sister Elizabeth and her husband David, who moved to France many years ago and also live nearby. Also in Paris from Nashville are Liz and David’s youngest child, Robert, his wife Danielle and their daughter Bertie. We all met up after lunch and the 13 of us took the Metro to the west side of Paris to see Les Folies Gruss, a family troupe of equestrians and acrobats who put on a fantastic two-hour show to live music. A special treat after the show was VIP access to the horse stables, where got to view the 40+ animals up close. Most of us then ate dinner at Saravanaa Bhavan, an Indian restaurant chain and a favorite of our local relatives, before returning back to the house.