Oooo La La A Weekend in Paris!

The fun started at 4am last Thursday - we had to catch a 6am train to London to pickup the Eurostar at 8:30. We were all so excited there were no problems getting the kids out of bed or out the door or anything!

I have to say, that I really like traveling by train - the key is to not pack too heavy or too many bags because they will be with you the whole time. When traveling inside of England there are no security checks or anything so you can bring on food and drink, pocket knives and corkscrews, and hairspray bottles larger than 1mL!


On the Eurostar, there is a security check similar to an airport, but you can have your bottle of water, pocket knife, large hairspray, etc - it just can't be in your pocket :). You go through French immigration right after security so when you get to Paris, you just get off the train and head to the Metro (subway) and go on your way! Going back to the UK from France was not as smooth... I have a theory that the French do not actually want people coming and going to and from their country... Once you are there the public transportation systems are fantastic - its just getting there and out that is a challenge...

I love Paris! It has the coolest vibe - so many amazing historical buildings and landmarks all around, but also oozing with culture and class. The people are attractive and fit and soooo put together - there is no question who the locals are when you walk around Paris!

For some reason it was absolutely mad the weekend we were there, apparently it was the end of "Fashion Week" and there was some French Aerospace Exhibition that took up the Champs Elysee and Concorde area - there were airplanes and helicopters and parts thereof all up and down the avenue, it was amazing - and there were soooooo many damn people!

Friday, Pat had to work, so the girls and I went to to an area of Paris called Montmartre - this area is known to have been the cradle of many famous artists careers, and even today everywhere you go people want to sketch your picture. Its also famous for the Sacre Couer a very unique looking basillica (below) The things the girls will remember about this area is the double decker carousel and the ungodly number of stairs you have to climb to get to Sacre Couer! :) When we got back to the hotel, we popped over to the very convenient little supermarket across from the hotel and got some snacks - fantastic cheese and meats, mustard and BREAD - my GOD the bread in that country is unsurpassed! I have more bread stories so stay tuned :)
oh and Orangina, which the kids LOVE and would drink for every meal of the day if I'd let them, and the Vin - oh so many choices, so low a cost and so little time!! If I lived in France I would eat bread and cheese and drink wine for every meal - I'm so not kidding!!

Nummy baguettes and Orangina!

That night we went out for Italian food - they have surprisingly good Italian food in France - especially the Pizzas...Dining in France is truly an experience - the restaurantaurs are so happy to have you in their restaurant, they are happy to make substitutions to accomodate your picky kids and they will be happy to have you sit at your table and enjoy your meal all night long if you want - the French know how to eat - I think I must have some French blood in me somewhere!

The next day (Saturday) was a bright sunny mostly warm day - fantastic for sight seeing in Paris! Our first stop was the Tour Eiffel. The lines for tickets to go to the top were unholy, so we decided to wait until later and we popped down to the Seine to catch a boat to Notre Dame. Notre Dame is such a work of art - inside and out, I never get tired of looking at it....


After Notre Dame it was time to eat! We found a little sandwich shop/bakery and a grocery store and gathered up a lovely lunch for all of us. Zoe had an apple and a baguette (this was her staple meal for every lunch - dinner we added yogurt and carrots :) )Pat and Audrey had ham and cheese baguettes and I had the most stunning Mozzerella, tomato and herb sandwich on olive BREAD with olive oil - OMG I have never had a tastier sandwich experience - not even at Quiznos - or Travellis - top that!!!

We found a park area to eat our lunch and stumbled on this mall which was essentially underground and a flea market of sorts - it was so cool! I ran across so may awesome things that I would have loved to bring home, but they were too big to lug around Paris and onto a train so I had to restrain myself :) the kids loved it and spent some of the 5Euro I gave them on little bits and bobs at the flea market - ahhh the apple never falls far from the tree, does it?

The Louvre





Then we hit the Seine for a nice relaxing river cruise - as the sun set we chilled on a river taxi that basically went up and down the Seine until the sun went down. I got some great photos and we all got some much needed sit down time!


It was around 8pm by the time we got in the line to buy tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower - and it was still a ridiculously long line! It was starting to get cold and we hadn't had dinner yet, so I got out of the line to go to a little kiosk and grab a snack. It took so damn long that Pat and the girls got all the way to the security check point and had to get out of line while they waited for me - DER!!! I felt like such an ass!!! So we went back to the end of the GD line and ate our sausages and fries (that's all that was left at the kiosk...) Fortunately, the line moved pretty quickly and we got to the elevator going up by around 9:30 or so it was late, but not horrible...

We grabbed some ham and cheese crepes (baguette and yogurt for Zoe) and a couple of beers and Oranginas at a little bistro that had a take away window and ate on the Metro (subway) on the way back to the hotel. We sat in the room and munched on goodies from the shop across the street until like midnight and finally got everyone in bed and asleep.

Phew - it was a whirlwind, and as usual, we crammed a boatload of activities into a short amount of time - it was fun but we were all shattered the next day when we had to battle the French end of the Eurostar system - we almost missed the damn train because it was so disorganized getting everyone checked in - man I hate that!!!

Our next adventure commences next Friday when we leave for Provence for a week - I am really excited for this one! We have vowed to try to relax on this trip and enjoy the warm and the sun and the food and the beach and the food and the food!

Ciao!

yay Paris!