Paris Parks!

We have experienced a lot since being in Paris! In order to best blog about our time here, we’re going to break it down into several themed posts, such as tourist attractions, life in Paris, people in Paris, our visitors, what we do day to day…etc. I’m going to start off my talking about the parks in Paris!

One of the things we do very often is picnic in a park! Sometimes Ryker and I meet Eric at a park for lunch, and once or twice a week Ryker and I will venture out to a new area of town, bring lunch and enjoy! I pack Ryk some snacks and usually pick up a sandwich from a nearby Boulangerie (on an AMAZING baguette – the bread here is delicious) or a salad and croissant (I should do a whole post one day about the croissants haha). There are so many parks here – some huge and some tiny. Some with play structures, some with ponds and waterfalls. Some in epic building courtyards, and some in quiet relaxing neighborhoods.

I tried to organize these park pictures by Ryker’s age, with the most recent ones being last. It’s crazy to see how’s he changed in the couple months we’ve been here!

This is our closest park – a great neighborhood park with sand, play structures, grass, and lots of other kids!
Another picnic at our close neighborhood park – Thomas Jefferson Square
Picnic in Montemarte at Square Marcel Bleustein Blanchet – my favorite park in Paris!
Some random park day, this was when Ryker was just starting to scoot/crawl and he really wanted to get that small flower.
This is how Ryker and I take on the town when we go for adventures!
Front pack baby at Square of Saint-Jacques Tower
Enjoying some cheese and cucumbers at Jardin Anne-Frank
Picnic (after a family run along the river) at Square René Viviani, chewing something yummy!
I can’t remember where this one was, but we were eating raspberries! :)
Picnic right outside of the Louvre at Jardin des Tuileries!
Stopping on a bench for a strawberry snack!
Meeting dad for lunch at Parc Monceau. This is a big park that is always packed with people enjoying the day! Kids playing, people on lunch breaks, school’s “recess” etc. Fun place! Eric is taking Ryker to go look at the leaves :)
Picnic at a park near the rugby stadium – taking a break from watching the rugby 7s tournament!
A play area in the Parc Rives De Seine – another one of my favorites. Bonus points because it is close to one of my favorite coffee shops! (Le Peloton Café)
Yum! Another delicious picnic at Square Marcel Bleustein Blanchet in Montemarte.
Nice summer day :)
During the first heatwave, we (and a lot of other Parisians) took a dip in the Trocadero Fountains!
Back at Parc Rives De Seine – Ryker is excited to be able to crawl through this structure!
Place des Vosges
Look at this park loving cutie!! Who is starting to stand! (At Jardin Villemin near the canal St. Martin)
Family park picnics are the best! A great way to get out and enjoy the city and the sun!

Amanda & Ryker go to Strasbourg!

Hello! Eric and I have been terrible about keeping our blog up to date while living abroad in Paris – but now we’re going to try and catch up! Living in Paris has been a really cool experience, and we’ll write a few posts about that soon. For now I’m going to catch you up on a trip Ryker and I took, and then the next post will be about our trip to Greece!!

Last week, while Eric was in Africa, I decided to take a spur of the moment overnight trip with Ryker to the fairy tale picturesque town of Strasbourg, France. This adorable town is right on the boarder of Germany. It actually used to be the capital of Alsace Lorraine, so there’s a huge German influence (yay pretzels!!)

Strasbourg is a two hour train ride from Paris, and Ryker was great on the train ride! He made lots of friends, played with cups – throwing them off his seat over and over, and took a short nap! For the two days we were there, we pretty much just wandered around the town – it’s one of the cutest towns I’ve ever been to!! We stopped in a few cafes, played in a park, and even found a coffee shop that had a bunch of baby toys and books to play with. It was raining most of the time, but that didn’t stop us from adventuring out with our umbrella! Our little Aribnb was cute and quite quirky, the floor was very slanted haha, so all of Ryker’s toys and balls would end up in the same corner of the apartment, but it was great for a night!

I highly recommend a quick visit to this town! Check out the pictures!

Happy boy getting off the train and into a new town!
Happy boy getting off the train and into a new town!

Cute Strasbourg! Walking along the canal.
Cute Strasbourg! Walking along the canal.

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Had to stop and get a pretzel - yum!
Had to stop and get a pretzel – yum!

More wandering the town
More wandering the town

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Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg!
Cathédrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg!

So beautiful! Sun came out on Sunday!
So beautiful! Sun came out on Sunday!

My date buddy! Glass of rose for me, puffs for him! :)
My date buddy! Glass of rose for me, puffs for him! :)

He LOVED crawling around this park, and especially the dirt (especially eating the dirt haha)
He LOVED crawling around this park, and especially the dirt (especially eating the dirt haha)

Sunday morning Coffee date!
Sunday morning Coffee date!

My little boy!
My little boy!

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