Fête Paradiso

When I first heard about Fête Paradiso coming to Governors Island this summer, I thought, "Wow! That sounds awesome..." followed quickly by, "...but I bet it will be full of single hipsters from Brooklyn and I'll hate everything about it." You see, Fête Paradiso bills itself as the world's first traveling festival of vintage carnival rides and carousels from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and uses language like "a French film miraculously come to life" to describe the atmosphere. I mean, how horribly pretentious, right? But still, the images I saw from the press release were absolutely beautiful and my interests were piqued enough that I knew I had to see it for myself. Would it be enjoyable for young kids? I didn't know. But I was feeling optimistic and so I decided it was worth a shot. Luckily, Nacho was up for the day trip as well, since it would be a one-hour ferry ride each way to the island and we didn't exactly love our first ferry ride this summer. But oh, what a difference a few months made. This time, we made it to the Hunter's Point stop bright and early (9:54 a.m. to be exact) and the new waterfront park was open and welcoming. We took seats up top under the covered deck on a perfectly gorgeous day and the girls were amazing. They sat calmly through most of the ride, taking turns laying down on Nacho's lap. And when they needed a change, they sat with him on the side  looking out over the water and pointing at other ships. Carolina screamed "BARCO!!" (Spanish for boat) more times than I could count and we were loving this peaceful start to the day.

We made it to Governors Island around 11 a.m. and it was like a little jewel box just waiting for us to discover it's hidden charms. The girls spotted the FIGMENT NYC exhibit on the open lawn and took off running. And who could blame them? The wide open green space was such a perfect place to let them roam free and get their land legs after that boat ride. I skipped adding photos of this part of our trip, but there was a mini golf course, tree house and plenty of cool, funky sculptures and things to explore. After about 30 minutes, we decided to wrap it up and head over to the carnival to get all Frenchified. And what a treat it was. Everywhere you looked, there were beautiful, ornate carnival rides and little antique touches to the signs and set up of the event. There was French music wafting through the air, vendors with cotton candy (or barbe à papa), and a full French bistro courtesy of Le Gamin. 

After getting situated with tickets, Nacho took the girls on Le Dragon, a beastly looking mechanical ride.  In hindsight, this might have been a mistake, but they went for it. And surprisingly, all three managed to refrain from puking even after it switched directions mid-ride and finished on a reverse loop.  I was watching Carolina squeal with laughter and Elisa holding on tight as they chased the dragon's tail faster and faster. It made me so happy to see them enjoying the rides since that was the whole point of the day. We listened to the organ music from a vintage machine and then made our way over to the swinging boat rides which Carolina didn't love as much (no doubt because her father got a little overzealous with the pushing).  The crowds were just starting to swarm around midday, when we bumped into some friends from Sunnyside who had made the trip out.  We all ate lunch and let the kids hang out for a bit before joining forces to hit some more rides.  And I have to say that even though we were there on a Saturday afternoon, it never felt hectic or overwhelming. The lines were completely manageable (usually waiting one turn), and though the day started off cool, there was plenty of shade when it did warm up.  There was something fun for all of us and that made it pretty damn near perfect.

By 3 p.m. we were verging on collapse with Carolina so I decided it might be wise to catch the next ferry home. After a short wait, we boarded around 3:30 p.m. and had made it back to Hunter's Point shortly after 4 p.m. Of course, naps were beginning to look like they were out of the question for both girls--a truly rare occasion--so once we made it to the new park at HP, I gave in to their demands to run around on the new turf. Nacho summoned the energy to run and play and tackle them both, and watching it all from the sidelines, I realized how lucky I am to be part of this wacky family. We managed to have a big day out in the city with both kids and kept everyone fairly happy, intrigued and well fed throughout. It reminded me of an article I read recently about a family in New York City. The mom was recounting how her young daughter had seen a special performance piece live and during the show, she turned and told her mom that she loved "being me." That is to say, the girl recognized how fortunate she was to be living her life in this magical place and she loved the life she had. It's something I feel every so often too, especially when I get to experience something that's really unique to this city.  And that's how this day on Governors Island felt to me. I loved being me that day. It was a great experience seeing Fête Paradiso and being able to dance and play among its beautiful scenery for an afternoon.  I have no idea if it will return to NYC next year** or ever again, but I really hope so. I will definitely be back.

**Fête Paradiso on Governors Island runs through September 29th, 2013. Hurry!