Natural History Museum

I think we may have won the temperature war (Paris vs. Seattle) with a high of 98 today.  The day was beautiful but the dispositions were not pretty.

We had planned to go to the Jardin de Plants to see the Natural History Museum or the little zoo there.  But I worried about being outside in that heat.  I suggested an alternative that involved riding the metro and a beautiful air-conditioned building (ok, it was a mall, but it was a pretty one and was air-conditioned in 90 degree heat in a city who is completely unaware of the invention of ice!!)

The boys complained that “we always do what you want to do!”  and while the boys could not remember going clothes or shoes shopping for Mama, or having a maid clean the house while Mama read a book on the couch, or eating at a fancy restaurant, somehow they won the argument…and we headed to the Jardin de Plantes.

The monkeys insisted on riding their scooters and it wasn’t long before Jack was dripping with sweat and wondering why Notre Dame was only a block away and we had been gone “forever!”

It took quite awhile to get there, and much pain and protest, and a large amount of euros spent on semi-cold drinks because there were no water fountains along the route to fill our bottles.  Everyone around us looked miserable and lethargic, so it helped me feel a bit better.   So did the fact that mopey kids still look cool when we have to rest in places like this!

There was one point that we crossed a very big vent (which usually throw off hot air from the metros) and it was pouring out very cold air like we were in front of an air-conditioner. I think it was the smiles that gave away our secret and other began to head our way to experience our little vent of heaven.

Sweaty Jack

The Natural History Museum was a real treat.  First I have to show you how cool their “bag check” was.  They had different sized lockers and you typed in your own secret code to lock it and unlock it.  See our scooter and helmets and bags there?! (the one next to Jack) Tres cool.

The majority of the animals and creatures in this place were real. As in really real – stuffed real. With the fur and marks on their skin and everything.  It was slightly creepy, and so darned cool.  It was amazing to be able to compare the size of the real animal to yourself.  Especially those you don’t usually get to see right through glass if you see them at a zoo. It was just amazing!

The lighting was really low, I assume to protect the objects – like at an art museum.  It made it hard to take photos (of course, no flash allowed) but it was so tempting to take photos of everything anyway.

Like this one - the moose.  The photo is fuzzy with the bad lighting, but it is for Dock!

Most of the big animals were just out in the open and it was on faith that people wouldn’t touch them.  Some of the smaller animals and creatures, like beetles and birds were mounted in glass cases so that you could see them from either side.  Some big extinct or rare animals were also in glass cages.

The building itself was pretty cool.

Owen became very studious and took notes the whole time – writing down the names of interesting animals and sketching them.  

Jack made up stories about the animals – generally hunting them or being hunted by them…

In the end, the building was air conditioned and it made all the difference on our dispositions.  Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter than today.  We all agree that we will stay in our apartment of go somewhere air-conditioned!