Sunday, March 2, 2014

Spring break in the Pyrenees

Day 1, the drive in: Toulouse









Day 1, afternoon: Estoher Arrival







Day 2: Hiking around Estoher







Day 3: Eus







Day 4, morning: Prades market




Day 4, afternoon: Skiing






Day 5: les Orgues








Day 5, afternoon: Perpignan




Day 6: Hike on the Grand Randonée (local)








Day 7: a local drive








Day 8: Carcassonne








Saturday, March 1, 2014

Paris for a few days

For the first week of the boys' spring break, we took the train to Paris. We visited the Musée des arts et métiers, housed in the Prieuré Saint-Martin-des-Champs. The museum is full of vehicles and machines of every kind. 



The Paris herbarium (in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, MNHN) was renovated this past year and is really stunning. The herbarium, geology museum, libraries, and other components of MNHN are all housed together in the Jardin des Plantes, right across the street from where we were staying on this visit. The photos below show the public exhibit space at the herbarium, focused on plant biodiversity and collections. 





In the Jardin des Plantes, a place for bees to make their hives. 

At the tea room of La Mosquée de Paris, adjacent to the garden

The next day, we visited la Cité des sciences to see their hands-on exhibits. The boys enjoyed the television studio and exploring outdoors.





The last day, we squeezed in a trip to Montmartre / Sacré Coeur and a crepe lunch before catching the train back to Bordeaux.