We had our first trip! It included telling people we live in London. That was interesting and didn't feel true. Where are you from? It's complicated.
But anyways...I grabbed the kids from school and ran back to drop heavy and bathing suit-y stuff and we took the tube to St Pancras Station. Other than having to carry bags on stairs, it was so super easy. Got to the station, went through security and immigration and waited for a bit before we got on the Eurostar to Paris. The kids were head-deep in ipads and I survived without getting motion sickness. The train went up to 280 km/h and went under the English Channel to get to France. The last time I was on that train was in 1999 in the smoking car when I went to visit Jill in Sussex, from Paris, my junior year abroad. There are no longer smoking cars. It was gross.
We arrived in Paris and took the metro to our hotel. We ventured out to find dinner at 9pm local time. I thought that was late. Everyone else thought that was normal. Lots of people having dinner.
Saturday we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower (by bus) to make sure to get to it on the trip, and online tickets had been sold out since we decided to take our trip. We got there at 9:15, they opened at 9:30, and we were in within a few minutes. We went to the top, and the kids were impressed with the technology (and the view a little bit).
We then walked from there to Arc de Triomphe and up Champs Elysees. Kids were slightly impressed. I could walk around Paris for days. We found lunch at a cafe somewhere and ice cream and tea in a little place in Tuileries Gardens. It's all about food breaks with kids. Then past the Louvre, walked down by the river towards Notre Dame. We couldn't get close, but we got a nice view of scaffolding from afar. The kids were definitely not excited about that, but I guess that makes sense, since they have no idea how cool it is. We kept walking and headed towards Pompidou Centre and then found a bus near-ish there to head back for a rest before we headed out for dinner. Nine miles. Saw many of the Paris highlights. Matt and I loved it. Kids hated the walking.
Sunday we were up early again for 9:30 tickets at the Louvre. We went to see some of the highlights (including, of course, the Mona Lisa) and wandered a lot. We made it until about noon before we completely expired. The mummy at the end was pretty cool. We found lunch back at another place in Tuileries and kids played on a carousel and in the park for a while before we headed to a river cruise. Other than the super drunk group behind us, the ride was so cool! We went in three locks on a canal, in a super long tunnel that went out to the Seine and then up and back the Seine, seeing a lot of what we walked by the previous day. Elie slept for nearly all of it. Koby and Sam were mildly interested. Matt and I loved it. The tunnel was crazy. It was nearly 2 km long and from the 1860s. Super cool. That night I insisted on a French restaurant. It was a mostly-success. I had my french food (some meat with risotto, greens, creamy stuff and deliciousness), Matt had a pasta, Koby had a burger, Elie had a cheese board, Sam had schnitzel and chips.
Monday we were leaving at night, and when I booked the tickets, I didn't realize nearly everything else we wanted to do in Paris would be closed. Musee D'Orsay. Versailles (ok, outside of Paris). Every other interesting museum. We considered a walking tour or baking lesson or something, but in the end, the kids just wanted to sleep in and relax. So we slept until 9, had a late breakfast, and then we headed to Monmartre and slowly wound through the streets and (ridiculously touristy, but kids loved) shops. I tried to stop at as many boulangeries as possible all along the way there and the way out to sample different croissants, pan au chocolates and baguettes. Kids also chose chocolate hot dogs - I mean eclairs. We walked from there back towards Les Halles where we had seen lots of shopping. We went in a bunch of shops. Ate more. Stopped for smoothies. We gave the kids 10 euros to spend on something Paris, which we thought would be fun, but that ended up being stressful for them. Though this day was their favorite. I think because we had no agenda other than eating and shopping (though we probably spent about 30 euros total - we're not great in the spending money department). We took a bus back to the area near our hotel, ate some great Italian food, grabbed our stuff and went to Gare Du Nord, grabbed our train back to London.
SUPER EASY trip. In the end, while there were a lot of complaints, the kids had fun and they all want to go back. Turns out Matt and I really just like to walk around a lot and see cool stuff. I also like to eat a lot. Kids like to sit. Can win 'em all.
Separately - we have now spent more nights in our house in London than we did in Paris. We grabbed that fourth night last night, though it was a short one, since Matt and I were up super late putting together IKEA furniture that was supposed to arrive Thursday but instead arrived as we were leaving for Paris. Parents' plane landed at 7am today, and they needed a couch! Matt left at 9:30 this am for a trip to the US for work. It's a revolving door around here. (not by accident)
We had a great first day with Papa and Savta. Savta, Sam and I went grocery shopping. Then we all went to Primrose Hill Park to play football (American), football (rest of the world) and check out the view. Then we went to get new shoes for the boys, grabbed some dumplings from the guy who sells them on our street and headed back for dinner. Chill, nice. Kids had yesterday and today off for fall break. Hectic life resumes tomorrow.
Pics in almost completely backwards order, other than this eiffel pic - which I think is bc it's from Matt's phone. Weird.
1 comment:
What an exciting time you're having! I was worn out just from reading about your adventures. Glad the transition has been so successful. 💕
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