Of all of the places in Paris, when we look back at our year there the one that will probably stand out the most over time is Parc Monceau.
Located about a five minute walk away from our apartment, it was so central in our lives. For the kids, it adjoined their school so this is where they went every day for recess. After school, we all went there, for most of the year in the freezing cold, where the parents would huddle and talk while the kids disappeared in groups and played.
There would be times when we wouldn’t see our kids for half an hour at a time as they played with their friends. But we somehow felt safe there and allowed the kids to have a taste of independence that they would never have back home.
The parents were a village, keeping an eye on each other’s kids, breaking up quarrels, and helping each other track kids down when it was getting too dark (or too cold or too rainy) and it was time to go home.
In the fall the boys played soccer, in the spring the girls did cart-wheels and saved (and hid) money to buy candy. In between they just roamed around and played.
We celebrated Clay’s birthday in the park with a group of his friends and celebrated the end of the school year with a great picnic.
And, like many local Parisians, I used it to exercise. A lap around the park is about 0.7 miles and I would usually do five laps on spring days after dropping the kids off at school.
I’m not sure what we would have done without Parc Monceau nearby. It was an oasis of outdoors that kept these suburbanites sane in the urban landscape of Paris.
Located about a five minute walk away from our apartment, it was so central in our lives. For the kids, it adjoined their school so this is where they went every day for recess. After school, we all went there, for most of the year in the freezing cold, where the parents would huddle and talk while the kids disappeared in groups and played.
There would be times when we wouldn’t see our kids for half an hour at a time as they played with their friends. But we somehow felt safe there and allowed the kids to have a taste of independence that they would never have back home.
The parents were a village, keeping an eye on each other’s kids, breaking up quarrels, and helping each other track kids down when it was getting too dark (or too cold or too rainy) and it was time to go home.
In the fall the boys played soccer, in the spring the girls did cart-wheels and saved (and hid) money to buy candy. In between they just roamed around and played.
We celebrated Clay’s birthday in the park with a group of his friends and celebrated the end of the school year with a great picnic.
And, like many local Parisians, I used it to exercise. A lap around the park is about 0.7 miles and I would usually do five laps on spring days after dropping the kids off at school.
I’m not sure what we would have done without Parc Monceau nearby. It was an oasis of outdoors that kept these suburbanites sane in the urban landscape of Paris.
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