Klosterhof Neuburg

An old monastery on a hill above the Neckar just outside Heidelberg organizes a very nice Christmad market.
The view back to the city alone is already worth the trip  - in our case a 15 minute bus ride on the 34 bus

Mia remembered the farm an the animals from her summer camp which was not too far away further up the mountain

 

On the market they had real sheep for the nativity scene

They also had stands with hand made presents and foof

Ice Skating on Kornmarkt

Part of the Heidelberg Christmas Market is a ice skating ring on Kornmarkt - a beautiful square jut below the Schloss.

Good thing Mia had brought he ice skates from the US

After the skating there was also time to walk over the Christmas market

Luisenpark

On one of the first cold days of the winter we were looking for some indoor activity for a Sunday afternoon. We decided to check out the Lousisenpark in Mannheim which was only a 15 minute drive away. The indoor playground was not yet open but there was still enough to see in the big plant exhibition house (Pflanzenschaus).
One exhibition hall was for butterflies that were flying round freely

Another hall had many fish tanks with local and exotic fish

In the section with tropical plants there was a large bowl for donations where the coins could take a long spin into the center

Mia also had some time to relax on a lounge chair outside - of course she bundled up to stay warm

We might be back next weekend when the indoor playground is actually open and the some activities for the first of avdent

St Martin's Parade

In our neighborhood the traditional St Martin's parade - were children walk with lanterns and listen to the story of St Martin - was organized two days early on Monday. The children met at the schook yard of Mia's school and in the spirit of St Martin could donate some money to refugeees.
Before it started there was some time for playing

The police lead the parade to blook a major street

On the way back the reminder of a beautiful sunset was still visisble

 T
hen it was time for St Martin's story on the schook yeard

At the end each child got a special bread in the shape of a man

- the  next day it still tasted great with Nutella

A Cruise on the Seine

Our last day in Paris we got some rain and after a trip to the  Jardin du Luxembourg and Notre Dame we decided to end our last day in Paris with a one hour cruise on the Seine - starting in front of the Eiffel tower
Exiting from the RER station it was quite a sight

 The monuments at night looked beautiful - just like during the dinner cruise we took ten years ago during our honeymoon in Paris

Mia wanted to finish with one more carousell ride

..and a mouse aux chocolat

Sightseeing in Paris

On the first full day in Paris our first stop after a nice breakfast in the hotel was of course the Louvre - but just to find out if the Tulleries garden has in fact a nice playground as mentioned in one travel guide.
Before we found it Mia tried out some balancing 

There were also some statues in the park

Some chairs by a fountain invited to do a little bit of relaxing and sunbathing

Then we finally found the playground

There was also a trampoline nearby

On the other side of the park was the Musée de l'Orangerie - a rather small museum with impressionist paintings

At the later afternoon we headed to Sacre Ceour to enjoy out the viewof the city

Then it was time for dinner at an bistro around the corner from the hotel

Trip to Paris

10 years after our honeymoon in Paris we used Mia first vacation in first grade - a week of fall break - for a three day trip to Paris. Its only a three hour trip from Mannheim by TGV (High Speed Train) that goes as fast as 320 km/h (200 mph )

We left at 10 in the morning and arrived at our hotel not far from the Gare de l"Est a bit after 1 pm. The first trip was to the Champ de Mars to show Mia the Eiffel tower but she first wanted to check out the playgrounds there.

She loved the old carousel where one gad to poke with a stick at rings

Then we headed to the Eiffel tower

We took the stairs up to the first platform

 After comming down Mia wanted to try another old fashioned carousell

 Some more pictures

 And after diner it was back to the hotel room with its view of the train station