The Iversons' Franco-American Blog: A Visit from Grandma

Milo David got a special pre-first-birthday visit a few weeks ago at the end of April when Grandma flew all the way from Minnesota for a whole week in Paris.

Milo certainly seemed to remember exactly who Grandma was, and jumped right into her arms for all the hugs and stories and games he could get.

Grandma immediately got to work making sure that Milo's English was going to be just as good as his French, reading him books and checking on his pronunciation!

Milo is more antsy than ever these days, and was ready and waiting for all the walks and daytrips we could handle.

We spent a nice morning walking around our version of Central Park, the Buttes Chaumont, which is just minutes away from our apartment.

Of course, for all his enthusiasm, Milo can sleep whenever he wants, and he does...

But he's not always so patient with the rest of us when we struggle to keep up with him...

Milo was snoozing again the day we went up to the Montmarte neighborhood and stopped in a park for lunch of chicken sausages, fennel salad and apple cider. But he woke up in time for the visit to the Salvador Dali museum.

I don't think Milo has ever seen anything quite like a Salvador Dali statue, and he took a while to process it all...

The works apparently left an impression on Milo, which was clear by the time we'd finished snack time outside the museum and he was wearing a Dali-esque mustache of his own...

Our next big day trip was to the Château de Versailles. We met up with Papitou / Grandpa Jean-Guy in the morning to take the train out for a relatively rare event, the first day of the Spring and Summer season when they liven the grounds with music and water, bringing to life the dozens of centuries-old fountains throughout the Versailles gardens. It turned out to be a very rainy day, but we were well equipped and remained in good spirits throughout the day.

The Versailles grounds have multiple 'bosquets', gardens conceived for various purposes, such as the ballroom garden we visited, which as you might imagine was used for balls.

Bosquet de la Balle - the Ballroom garden. The musicians were said to have stood along the top of the waterfalls.

Fountain of Apollo

A soggy snack time

Bosquet de La Colonnade

We were slightly offended by a 17th century statuary representation of America, complete with a severed head at her feet.

But we all enjoyed watching a 300-year-old plumbing system being turned on for a final water and music show before we left for home.

That night we had a well deserved hot meal of linguine and clams, or fettuccine and cockles to be exact, straight from the seafood vendor at our neighborhood market and our Sicilian olive oil importer!

Another evening we enjoyed the company of great aunts and uncles, Jean-Guy's sister Catherine and husband Jean-Loup as well as great great uncle Henri and great great aunt Maryse.

And one day we got another knock at the door – auntie Becca over from London to share in the fun!

It was nearly an overload of loving for Milo, who was quite thoroughly spoiled before the first morning was over.

Milo of course was ever ready to get outside again for another dose of oxygen and culture, so it was off to the Pompidou Modern Art museum, with who better as a guide than auntie Becca?

Milo and Becca pondering Picasso

Auntie Booboo even brought Milo to see some works by über depressing painter Francis Bacon, but Milo didn't seem phased, life still looks pretty cheery from the perspective of a 11-month year-old!

The view from atop the Pompidou...

It was a lovely week for all of us, and mom topped it by bringing us out to dinner at a very creative young restaurant that recently opened in the neighborhood. (Which even agreed to do vegetarian and dairy free versions of dishes for us, which was much appreciated!)