June 20, 2017. Tuesday. Paris. Hot. The heat-stroke inducing weather continues here, slowing us all down. We lug around tons of extra water (no public water fountains anywhere) and still end up buying more. But: onward! Just a little more slowly. Today we started by heading to the Place de la Bastille, the site of the famous prison that was stormed during the French Revolution. There is no “there” there, per se — just a memorial column and a few plaques.

From there it was a short walk to see the Place des Vosges, a lovely little square park with fountains, shade, and cool breezes. On the southwest corner of the Place des Vosges is the home of Victor Hugo (of Les Miserables fame), so we toured (for free!) his astonishing collection of art and marveled at the wide array of furniture and Asian-themed items.

The next stop was something a few of us had been looking forward to mightily: Picpus Cemetery, where the one and only Marquis de Lafayette is buried. We arrived well before the opening hours, but the kind docents allowed us full range of the property for a few extra Euros. Ahem. We had a picnic in the park section of the grounds and were sobered by the slaughter of 1,300 innocent people by Robespierre in the 1790s — and then dumped into an unmarked grave on that site. Lafayette’s wife, Marie Adrienne Francoise, was among those killed, so he was buried there, too, when he died many years later. Still, we may or may not have played parts of Hamilton and even rapped along with Guns and Ships at his grave, in his honor.

A long-ish metro ride got us to the Tuileries Garden, which ended up being almost too hot to enjoy. We crossed the Seine to check out the Musee d’Orsay, but, alas, we realized too late we should have come there first thing in the morning (we were thinking more about timing the museum at the peak heat of the day, but apparently so was everyone else). Unwilling to wait for an hour+ in the sun to get in, we instead headed to our happy spot, the Luxembourg Gardens. But, alas, the sailboat guy was not there — too hot and too few customers. So we headed to Hertz to pick up our car, and, alas again, they did not have the car I specifically ordered (even though I called yesterday to check on the reservation). Our only options were a smaller 7 seater that would not hold our luggage properly or a much larger 8 seater van that would make us stick out like the Americans that we are. In the end, we chose the larger vehicle. 17 days is a long time to be squished! #American

On the way home, the kids were really moved by the Syrian refugees asking for money in the metro stations. We’ve seen them a lot, and have given more money than we usually do, but tonight one boy asked Elliot for his sunglasses. He didn’t quite get it at first, but later lamented not giving them. After dinner, Harrison spent close to an hour putting together a little care bag for the Syrian refugee kids in case we see them again. It is one thing to read about the refugee crisis; it is another thing to see just a sliver of it up close. It definitely brings it closer to home.

Tomorrow we start the driving portion of this trip, heading to Versailles and Normandy.

Peace to all.

(Note: you can click on the pictures for larger versions.)