Ikeas of France

Ikea, that's not really the first place that comes to mind as "fun." Yet, that is what this post is about. The day started up bright and early, breakfast at about 7:00, normally on a school day, that's not unusual, but these days I've been lying in bed, reading from 6 to 9. At about 8:30, dad and I went to rent a truck. The truck was huge. The trunk was so large, it could have easily fit all the things we needed, and with room to spare! The front had three seats, so there was a seat for anything that might be to delicate to put in the back, or maybe just dad's backpack! So, it took us a while to get to the first Ikea, 15 minutes or so. We got there, and we looked all around for parking for big trucks, but the only place there was, was for 18 wheelers, delivery trucks for Ikea. We went around, and around, tried the normal garage, but our vehicle was to tall. Dad just decided to park in the back, and hope those gates were still open. We went inside and looked around the top floor, we were looking for one thing there, an egg chair, and they had it. We went downstairs to look for the other things we needed, we couldn't find them on our own, so we had to ask some people who worked there for help. Dad showed them the papers, and what we needed to find, they said they had none of it. "But we looked online, and they had it all!" Dad protested. The people said, "Nope, don't have it" (in French, of course.) They said they had it at Ikea Nord! Ok, so right about now, I think I'm missing a few things about the car ride, and some other things. I'm going to see if Dad will take the mic for a minute to fix things up, and to tell of the next car ride.

So this is Ethan (Dad) and I'm going to try to set the story straight.... I mean Lili got it right for the most part but there are subtle nuances....like the fact that I asked for a small delivery truck and got an enormous van, or that the frickin' Ikea didn't have a parking lot for anything bigger than a Honda Accord. Honestly, I don't know how anyone got anything home from that Ikea! Then again, since they don't actually carry any of the products they advertise I guess it isn't really an issue. I'm starting to think that the Ikea in the south of Paris is a front for the Swedish mafia. But the point is that after we said goodbye to the truckers parked next to us we took off for an Ikea on the completely other side of Paris. This is where Mabel comes into the story (you remember Mabel? our GPS from the trip to Switzerland and Italy). So we asked Mabel to get us to Ikea Nord and because she has a sense of humor she decided to take us through several small suburbs outside Paris before putting us back on the highway. I mention this because she took us through the center of these small towns and down all sorts of windy roads that definitely were NOT designed for a big honkin' van like the one we were driving! If that wasn't enough, Lili was starting to fade as it was getting close to lunch. She did not look good and to top it all off Mabel decided to do this weird thing where her screen would go dark until somebody touched it...talk about starved for attention. Well finally we found the autoroute and Mabel and I got our bearings. Ikea was in sight and I knew that this one had an outside parking lot that could accommodate our van. I got Lili into the store and as quick as I could into the cafe: "one order of salmon and another of Swedish meatballs STAT! Oh and a soda too, and some fries!". Once we had eaten things started to pick up. We got the egg chair, found the furniture and made it out alive. We even got Lili a really cool lamp but I'll let her elaborate on that. Now we just had to get back to the apartment which we managed in no time and then it was just a matter of getting the 400 Ikea boxes up to the apartment. I'll save the long story of assembly for another day........ I guess that does it. Did I forget anything Lili?

Not much Dad. I can describe the rooms after the furniture was put in. So, Noa's room is really, bursting with color. It's very, woodland fairy-like, just the sort of thing Noa loves. Can't tell you much about Mom and Dad's room, except that they got a dresser very much like the one at home. My room, is very cool, it's pretty much all black and white, except for sometimes when my sheets are green. I have this really cool dresser, that's black, and the drawers are like white, but a little see through. The lamp Dad was describing looks like a fortune ball, which goes perfectly with the dresser. Since it took me a couple days to actually get to doing this blog, more has happened which you'll hear about in my next blog. Please, please, please comment.

Lili(an) Belle in PARIS!