T-5 days and counting...

We leave in 5 days to go back home.

We have a long list of things to do before leaving. (I'm referring to the list the kids and I made. Marc has his own, even longer, list.)

On Monday, we went to the Army museum at Les Invalides, which Lucas has been lobbying for now for quite some time. It was cooler than I remembered. Also, Max went to a cello concert at a church that night.

Yesterday, we went to the Musée de la Musique and the Cité des Sciences, which Max has been lobbying for now for quite some time. It was so great, we wish we had discovered it earlier.

Today, we discovered that the museums are all on strike. (Strikes are like a national pastime in France.) Whew! We could not have timed that better!

Also today, we returned Max's cello -- and got all of our 500 euro deposit back! I planned meals and went grocery shopping, strolling down Rue Cler and visiting the butcher shop, the bakery, and two other stores. Then we finally went to Carl Morletti, a fancy, relatively new pâtisserie we discovered. Oh my, oh my. Probably for the best that I didn't go there until now...

Yesterday, my left knee suddenly started to hurt so much that I couldn't take a step without tears coming to my eyes. Max had to take over stroller duty, and I could only walk down stairs by holding on to the rail and holding my left leg straight, actually causing small children to stop and stare. I was stranded way out at Porte de la Villette, where there are stairs upon stairs upon stairs and I actually wondered for awhile if I would be able to make it back to the apartment.

Today when I woke up, my knee had returned to its pre-Tuesday dull pain. I have no idea what is going on.

We have much (to attempt) to do in the next few days. I am trying to balance resting my knee, helping the kids to squeeze in the things on their list, and knocking some things off my list as well. It's a busy time, but a good time.

And I have some very good reasons for wanting to get home. So, once again, Paris is bringing out the conflicting feelings in me...