Fam time !!!

The time finally came!!!! I was thrilled on the metro ride over to the 5th to Censier-Daubenton, where my parents had just arrived and were staying, right off of Rue Mouffetard. Why stay in a hotel when you can stay in someone's lovely Parisian apartment, and for less money too? Awesome. It was so wonderful and bizarre to see them here - it had seemed like it would be forever until they came, thinking about it back in late January when I arrived slightly scared and lonely like the first day of middle school, but by the time the day finally rolled around it seemed like it snuck up on me from nowhere and couldn't believe it was already late March.

We'd already been to Paris together and seen the sights, so we had a relaxing, laid-back time, which was more than fine with everyone. I got to spend all of Sunday and Monday with them, went out to dinner Wednesday night with them and some friends, and then we packed up and left Thursday afternoon for Spain.

Daddy at the crepe stand.

Liz later that night at a great, tiny little authentic French restaurant our lovely cousins and English/American expats in Paris, Sophie and Chris, took us to for dinner. It only had about 8 tables, its walls were covered with old photos and posters with seemingly no rhyme or reason, the food was delicious - the kind of place where you don't exactly know what any of the dishes are but you order one and hope for the best and everything is just really good - and the owners were very personable and funny when we talked to them as we finished our meal, the last ones in the place.

Zach runnin' the show looking up "loisirs" in Paris as we took a soup/coffee break at a cafe with a surprisingly stereotype-confirming rude French waiter. I definitely experienced the worst service of my whole time here, when my parents were around! Weird.

my fam! Well, almost...

...There he is! The boy is taller than me! Eeeek!

the Jardin des Plantes in the lovely 5th arrondissement, where we began our walk. Another beautiful park to take a break in when you're sick of being in a city. It's incredible how many there are here, and how beautiful and different each one is...

aww.

Liz is really enjoying our next park break along the Seine, as Zach and James play frisbee.

FALAFEL from Rue des Rosiers, consumed happily inside the Place des Vosges.

Dad digs in.

Zach and the ADORABLE little french boy who walked right up to him and joined the game of catch...

...Who made a few catches, a lot of exclamations, and later turned out to in fact be the adorable little Italian boy - and I thought he was just being shy when I asked what his name was and he didn't answer me! His parents explained that they were from Italy on vacation. Oh, European children... adorable and well-dressed, and so intelligent-seeming, I mean, do you hear how well they can speak that foreign language?? Damn, better than me...

The next night at dinner on Rue Mouffetard, where the rents get to meet a few of my "pots"! (Friends.)

The girls

The whole gang. At left is James and his mom Anne, our neighbors in NYC, who joined my family for their France/Spain let's-take-advantage-of-our-kids'-spring-break trip.