Saturday in Paris

Our first full day in Paris started with a dusting of snow along the Bassin de la Villette where our hotel was

 

After a nice breakfast we headed to the suburbs to see a housing complex Les Espaces d'Abraxas that was used as a backdrop for the Hunger Games and other movies

Another post modern housing complex nearby that was also used for movies

Then we had lunch at Mia's friend's uncle's place

By bus, RER and tram we made it all across Paris to St. Cloud to see the Lumiers en Seine light show in a park

hh

 

A ride on the carousel just like on Mia's first trip to Paris 10 years ago

A nice pizza after a long cold walk in the park 

Back home in an old metro car from the 60'ies on line 10

Trip to Paris

The first weekend of the new year we took thr train to Paris to meet the family of Mia's exchange partner from the French Island of La Réunion. They were in Europe over the holidays to visit an uncle. 
After arriving at the Gare de l'Est we header to the hotel at the Bassin de la Villette we liked at our last trip in July of 2023. 
At the hotel we met our friends and then headed by metro for an early dinner at a Japanese restaurant

After dinner we walked over the Place Vendôme

We ended at the Christmas market at the Tullerie gardens

 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we set up the three in the afternoon

Then it was time for a Christmas selfie and for unwrapping the presents

And of course we had some great food

The Glühwein Express

On a spur of the moment decision we hopped on the Glühwein Express. It is an older tram that was restored by volunteers who traditional collect money by selling Glühwein in the Christmas season

Stefan in town

Uncle Stafan came for his traditional visit in December between Mia's birthday and Christmas. He could also admire Mia's new hair cut with much shorter hair

 

Later some friends of Mia came by and later went for bowling and a trip to the Christmas market

  

Seventeen years old

Mia's seventeenth birthday was on a school day - so she wanted to wait for the cake and unwarpping of her presents until the afternoon

A little bit of dancing: Dancing Queen only seventeen...

The birthday cake had been a chocolate cake -  from a French cake mix

 
Later we walked over to an Italian restaurant for dinner