Paris, 1
We left for Paris after school on Friday, Nov. 2. L&G were beyond excited for the flight. So excited, in fact, that they didn't sleep one wink, despite the darkened cabin and despite the sleep-friendly sounds of the airplane. We arrived in Paris around 6:30am on Saturday, well before we were able to get into our apartment. So we hung around the airport, had some pastries from Marks & Spencer, bought Paris Museum Passes from the tourist desk. Eventually, we took a cab into the city. Greta dozed in the cab, but not for long.
Our apartment is right on the Seine, in the 6th Arrondisement, right by the Pont Neuf. It couldn't be a better location. We were still too early to meet the apartment owner, so we walked over the Pont Neuf and had coffee and pastries at a (touristy) cafe. Finally we could get into the apartment, which is lovely and huge, with two bedrooms and lots of living space. We settled in for a brief nap; L&G did not sleep at all. They were so overtired but unable and unwilling to settle down.
We rallied out of the house in the late morning and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to start our trip off with the most Paris-y sight of all. After taking some pictures in front of the tower, we had lunch at a cafe in the Champs du Mars, La Bonbonnerie de Marie. The girls and I had ham and cheese crepes; Andrew had a ham and cheese baguette. Then it was time to go to the tower itself. The line to walk up the stairs was long, but it went fast (Andrew just read this and disagreed, pointing out that he was falling asleep standing up), and we all loved walking up into the tower. On the first floor there are areas where the floor is clear glass and you can look down below. This made me queasy, but L&G loved it. We spent a long time on this floor, looking at the views from all sides. Then we continued to the second floor, where the views were also spectacular, but it was much more crowded up there. All in all we climbed 670 steps up. We all loved the whole experience.
We took the train back to our neighborhood. From there, the day spiraled into a jet-lagged disaster, the details of which will remain confidential and will not be spoken of again. Anyone traveling to Europe with young children will do well to private message me about this evening and get my blunt advice about how to handle this first day. Suffice to say we all went to bed and didn't wake up until 11am the next day.
Our apartment is right on the Seine, in the 6th Arrondisement, right by the Pont Neuf. It couldn't be a better location. We were still too early to meet the apartment owner, so we walked over the Pont Neuf and had coffee and pastries at a (touristy) cafe. Finally we could get into the apartment, which is lovely and huge, with two bedrooms and lots of living space. We settled in for a brief nap; L&G did not sleep at all. They were so overtired but unable and unwilling to settle down.
We rallied out of the house in the late morning and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We wanted to start our trip off with the most Paris-y sight of all. After taking some pictures in front of the tower, we had lunch at a cafe in the Champs du Mars, La Bonbonnerie de Marie. The girls and I had ham and cheese crepes; Andrew had a ham and cheese baguette. Then it was time to go to the tower itself. The line to walk up the stairs was long, but it went fast (Andrew just read this and disagreed, pointing out that he was falling asleep standing up), and we all loved walking up into the tower. On the first floor there are areas where the floor is clear glass and you can look down below. This made me queasy, but L&G loved it. We spent a long time on this floor, looking at the views from all sides. Then we continued to the second floor, where the views were also spectacular, but it was much more crowded up there. All in all we climbed 670 steps up. We all loved the whole experience.
We took the train back to our neighborhood. From there, the day spiraled into a jet-lagged disaster, the details of which will remain confidential and will not be spoken of again. Anyone traveling to Europe with young children will do well to private message me about this evening and get my blunt advice about how to handle this first day. Suffice to say we all went to bed and didn't wake up until 11am the next day.
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