Today was full of highs and lows. Aren’t all days? Especially when traveling? Especially with a 4-year-old? I feel self conscious that this blog is becoming a “Millie’s mood report” but it is the #1 indicator on how our days go, so it will continue to be the main subject for now.

Anyway, the day started on a low. She wanted to bring Judy out for the day’s activity, we didn’t allow it, and it turned into an all-out fit. A full on kicking, screaming fit in our small Airbnb. We can hear the neighbors talking at a normal volume so I can only imagine what they thought. Eventually we left, listening to “I want Judy” whines on repeat from the moment we left to when we got on the metro, the whole ride, and into the walk on the other end. We waited outside the Louvre for it to cease before going in.

Eventually she was ready and we headed in. It was packed but it’s so massive that it felt okay once we were through the crowds. Millie lasted 3 hours in the museum. This was 2 hours and 45 minutes more than I expected, so we took it as a win. She walked around for a while with her hands looped behind her back like a little old man.

There was a great exhibit on Couture scattered throughout the rest of the collection which kept her engaged for much of it.

She liked the fancy apartment wing. We made our way briefly to the tiny tiny Mona Lisa, got this close, and decided that was good enough.

Nick was an excellent docent and told her stories about everything we saw. My favorite parts of the museum weren’t the artifacts, but the other visitors. There were lots of people dressed to the nines, capturing very authentic poses for their social media feeds. I enjoyed guessing where people were from based on their sartorial choices. I observed how couples, no matter where they’re from, start to merge into identical twins as they age.

Quick subject change. They had a great family bathroom situation with two side by side toilets, one for a parent and one for a kid. This is better than the Mona Lisa as far as I’m concerned.

We promised a carousel ride for good behavior in the museum and Millie held up her side of the bargain, so we followed through. It’s hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago she had never heard of a carousel, and now she has been on 4? 5?

We walked around a bit checking out the local park, but at this point it was raining and a bit cold. It was 3:45pm: too late to go to another museum, too early for dinner. We attempted dinner anyway, but they told us the kitchen didn’t open until 7. We had a glass of wine and juice and then went back to our Airbnb to hang out and wait it out til 7. Here is Millie discovering strawberry juice.

This is when another low came. As we were trying to leave our airbnb for dinner, Millie got into another nonsensical meltdown about needing to use the bathroom, but not wanting to use the bathroom. Yeah, I don’t know either. This was another 20m screaming fit that all of a sudden stopped and then she was perfectly fine.

We walked to dinner. Millie ate 90% bread but tasted escargot and beef tartare, and didn’t spit them out. We wrote postcards to her friends and class. For dessert we shared my favorite dessert of all time: chocolate mousse. Nick taught her how to close her eyes and savor it, which she did mindfully.

We walked home in the rain at 9pm.