Paris or bust

So yesterday was a bust.  Hilarious.  After a lovely morning of shopping and going to Poilane Bakery where I with my fractured french actually was a translator for several Americans, now THAT's funny, we set out for the Picasso Museum.  One of the only museums open in Paris on Monday.

There is no rhyme or reason to when shops are open here and it's the most anti-American thing in the universe.  When we were in Bayeux we tried to go out to dinner on a Wed night and could not find a decent place open. I mean, its Wed night?!  Don't you want to feed people and make money?  The restaurants, when they are open, are only accepting customers from 7 to 9 anyways.  And they turn over the tables only once per night.  How do they make any money? 

So in the AM, we cram some education into Declan's unwilling brain and then we all head out for some shopping before we got to the Picasso Musee.  Cal gets some Adias shoes, very cute, tres cher.  Declan decides to spend some of his spending money on some artisanal chocolate fish that he saw in a window.  21 euros makes for one fabulous chocolate fish.  This shop is one of 21 artisanal chocolate shops in the area near our apartment.  Their display windows are amazing.  ( More pictures anon - we don't have any wifi currently and it's hard to upload pics).  We come back and consume 1/2 the fish.

We head out to see some Picasso.  We take the Metro. We get off and walk for a while.  Blake is the leader.  He did live here for a year. We stop.  The boys run around us as we look at the map.  I yell.  They sulk.  We walk some more.  Then we stop to look at the map again.  The pattern repeats. 30 minutes later.  One tired slap happy 5 year old later.  We find the museum. Its's closed.  Not just closed for the day. ( I thank my stars that I read the guide book correctly)  Its closed until 2012!!!  That's a long wait.  Meantime, about 8 - 10 other Americans gather around the closed sign and pout along with us.  The boys razz us.  We laugh and adjust our plans.  I think they were mainly glad that they didn't have to look at any art.  And now we have something to talk about.