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It is 01 May 2012 today. It’s supposed to be a summer feeling in Paris now. But it’s much colder than expected. May be this is another aspect of Global Warming !
The schools were off for 2 weeks and we had plans to go out. But its been drizzling and raining from last 2 weeks. It has been grey and gloomy with kids getting frustrated locked indoors venting their frustration on parents, and spouse in turn venting on each other. :-)
But today is different. It’s sunny and less cold. And I got a call from my friend and in few mins we planned to go out with kids to “Le Jardin d’Acclimatation” in Paris. Its just 2 metro stops away from my home.
It’s a 20-hectare (49-acre) children's amusement park. Its 150 yrs old park which was opened in 1860 by Napoleon III. And they have the Japanese festival going on now.
Although it was sunny we were not sure to leave jackets and umbrella, as in past 2-3 weeks we witnessed sudden clouds and rains. Never the less we risked and went out in light jackets, no umbrella, packed with snacks, cameras and bubbly kids, who got the hint that its fun time !
When we ventured out the streets were almost deserted. It was Tue 01 May and a national holiday. All the shops were closed and people who had taken off on Mon had a 4 days break and were probably out of Paris in their parents and relatives place or on vacation to warmer places.
But when we got out at the Metro station and walked towards "Le Jardin d’Acclimatation" we saw the real crowd. The road was already with a traffic jam and most pedestrians with load of kids were all walking towards the same destination. It's not just us but most families with kids had chosen the only destination, and wanted to utilize the most of a bright sunny day after many weeks of dull gray weather.
It was nice to be walking in Tshirts. The sun was bright and the entrance was colorful with counter with posters and Japanese art on display. There were counters serving Japanese food and my first instinct was to queue up for Chicken Teriyaki. The smoke from the grill was announcing its presence far enough. :-)
There were Japanese Pogo Stick walkers(Stilt walkers) in traditional costumes. Small girls dressed in Kimono. And various art on sale ranging from chop sticks to paintings.
Inside the park there was a small zoo with farm animals and colorful birds. The sheep barn had most kids visitors. The kids were queuing up to feed sheep and goat and touch their soft coat. And the sheep were also enjoying all the attention and were happily munching the cookies offered.
This was followed by a small fruits and vegetation farm with a small vineyard and kitchen greens like mint, basil etc.
And finally the activities area with rides, merry-go-round(carousel), bike and car for kids etc etc. There was few toys shop which were doing a really brisk business. It was impossible for parents to stop kids from picking whatever they fancied. :-)
After all the fun we decided to return back. It was close to 6:10 pm and we had the last attraction to take. It is the "Le Petit Train" i.e. the small train. This is an open toy train which goes slowly from the part via a green jungle to the metro station Porte Maillot. We had the tickets already but we were not the only ones who had decided to take it. :-) There was a big queue and the there was the train at a frequency of 20 mins with the last being at 7 pm.
The day had been wonderful but towards the end it was like a movie climax. Will be able to get the last train before 7 pm ? Well we realized about this after being in the queue for 40 mins. If we had known this earlier we could have skipped the train and instead opted for the regular metro route. But after a long wait with kids already half asleep in pram, this looked like a movie climax.
We got one train at 6:20 pm and it was full soon and left. We were still some 20-30 people behind and we got the next train after 20 mins at 6:40 pm. And as the climax is expected the train filled while we were 6-8 people behind and now it was the wait for probably the last train. A guard appeared at the scene and apologized to us that its already close to 7 and the last train is gone. The next train coming may not go back. :-( The announcement was in French and we are not expert enough to negotiate in French. :-)
Lucking we had some smart people who apparently negotiated well. The guard nodded slightly(which we wanted to be affirmative). He called the driver of the approaching train on his walkie-talkie and whatever was the discussion it was affirmative. The train came and we boarded as excited as kids. :-) Our kids who were deep asleep got up in the train, trying to understand when and how they landed in an open toy train from the park. Good they missed all the wait and apprehension.
And for us the movie was a happy ending one. Each minute of the day was fun, and the toy train was the cherry on the pie !
Mahtab Syed
Paris, 01 May 2012
It is 01 May 2012 today. It’s supposed to be a summer feeling in Paris now. But it’s much colder than expected. May be this is another aspect of Global Warming !
The schools were off for 2 weeks and we had plans to go out. But its been drizzling and raining from last 2 weeks. It has been grey and gloomy with kids getting frustrated locked indoors venting their frustration on parents, and spouse in turn venting on each other. :-)
But today is different. It’s sunny and less cold. And I got a call from my friend and in few mins we planned to go out with kids to “Le Jardin d’Acclimatation” in Paris. Its just 2 metro stops away from my home.
It’s a 20-hectare (49-acre) children's amusement park. Its 150 yrs old park which was opened in 1860 by Napoleon III. And they have the Japanese festival going on now.
Although it was sunny we were not sure to leave jackets and umbrella, as in past 2-3 weeks we witnessed sudden clouds and rains. Never the less we risked and went out in light jackets, no umbrella, packed with snacks, cameras and bubbly kids, who got the hint that its fun time !
When we ventured out the streets were almost deserted. It was Tue 01 May and a national holiday. All the shops were closed and people who had taken off on Mon had a 4 days break and were probably out of Paris in their parents and relatives place or on vacation to warmer places.
But when we got out at the Metro station and walked towards "Le Jardin d’Acclimatation" we saw the real crowd. The road was already with a traffic jam and most pedestrians with load of kids were all walking towards the same destination. It's not just us but most families with kids had chosen the only destination, and wanted to utilize the most of a bright sunny day after many weeks of dull gray weather.
There was a big queue to enter. Kids were getting excited and some babies were crying. And there was no shortcut or priority for kids as almost all parents were with more than one kid. Luckily we had got the entrance ticket online and we could avoid the long queue(which was for people who had to buy tickets) and went in directly.
It was nice to be walking in Tshirts. The sun was bright and the entrance was colorful with counter with posters and Japanese art on display. There were counters serving Japanese food and my first instinct was to queue up for Chicken Teriyaki. The smoke from the grill was announcing its presence far enough. :-)
There were Japanese Pogo Stick walkers(Stilt walkers) in traditional costumes. Small girls dressed in Kimono. And various art on sale ranging from chop sticks to paintings.
This was followed by a small fruits and vegetation farm with a small vineyard and kitchen greens like mint, basil etc.
And finally the activities area with rides, merry-go-round(carousel), bike and car for kids etc etc. There was few toys shop which were doing a really brisk business. It was impossible for parents to stop kids from picking whatever they fancied. :-)
After all the fun we decided to return back. It was close to 6:10 pm and we had the last attraction to take. It is the "Le Petit Train" i.e. the small train. This is an open toy train which goes slowly from the part via a green jungle to the metro station Porte Maillot. We had the tickets already but we were not the only ones who had decided to take it. :-) There was a big queue and the there was the train at a frequency of 20 mins with the last being at 7 pm.
The day had been wonderful but towards the end it was like a movie climax. Will be able to get the last train before 7 pm ? Well we realized about this after being in the queue for 40 mins. If we had known this earlier we could have skipped the train and instead opted for the regular metro route. But after a long wait with kids already half asleep in pram, this looked like a movie climax.
We got one train at 6:20 pm and it was full soon and left. We were still some 20-30 people behind and we got the next train after 20 mins at 6:40 pm. And as the climax is expected the train filled while we were 6-8 people behind and now it was the wait for probably the last train. A guard appeared at the scene and apologized to us that its already close to 7 and the last train is gone. The next train coming may not go back. :-( The announcement was in French and we are not expert enough to negotiate in French. :-)
Lucking we had some smart people who apparently negotiated well. The guard nodded slightly(which we wanted to be affirmative). He called the driver of the approaching train on his walkie-talkie and whatever was the discussion it was affirmative. The train came and we boarded as excited as kids. :-) Our kids who were deep asleep got up in the train, trying to understand when and how they landed in an open toy train from the park. Good they missed all the wait and apprehension.
And for us the movie was a happy ending one. Each minute of the day was fun, and the toy train was the cherry on the pie !
Mahtab Syed
Paris, 01 May 2012
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