During the freezing cold last week, I was sitting there looking outside and a thought popped in my mind: I went to France! From the moment we landed, life has been a bit crazy with traveling, birthdays, holidays, and I just got sucked back into reality too quickly to sit down and reminisce and share! Even our families haven't seen our pictures...crazy! So here goes:
At 2:00 am, when you are awake with a kid who had a bad dream, then 2:40 am with a kid who's knee is hurting and then 6:00 am with a kid who has decided to become a rooster, it is hard to see any good out of your husband being gone for work week after week. But when you are standing on top of the Eiffel Tower because your husband flew you over for FREE with all of his travel miles, it is easier to think "long nights were worth this!" It took hours of planning, packing, and an insane number of lists, but yep...it was worth it.
After months of talking about it and a trip we had to cancel in June, we finally pulled the trigger and booked a flight for France last September. Ryan went ahead and worked a week, then flew me over at the end of his work week so we could have 5 days in Paris, France. Awesome! He had already been over to do his work, so he was all mine to explore Paris with - email off!
My flight over was the typical fly-through-the-night flight and I had quite the character beside me on the plane. Good thing it was an overnighter and you were supposed to be sleeping or else there is no telling what kind of conversations we would have navigated through. Let me just say one time I woke up and he was gone..out of his seat..only to find him laid out asleep, ON THE FLOOR under my feet and the guy next to me. Yes, 100% true. I can't even say anything else.
Moving on, I landed a zombie, found Ryan in the massive Charles De Gualle Airport and we hopped on the train to the hotel. We used a lot of recommendations from our friends who went a year ago. It was from them we got the recommendation to stay in the amazing, adorable, cute, quaint neighborhood of Rue Cler. We could walk to the Eiffel Tower, hop on the metro right outside our door, go get fresh pastries and bread each morning for breakfast...simply perfect. We hit the ground RUNNING it felt like. I landed mid morning and got to our hotel around lunch. We had our first Parisian lunch, outside on the street, with bread and cheese (my love language), and went straight to the Eiffel Tower. Talk about a change in 24 hours! Dropping my kids off what felt like all over Wake County, to on top of the Eiffel Tower in a very short amount of time. Beautiful! A truly magnificent view of the city on all four sides.
We could see just about any major "must-see" thing from the top. We walked the stairs to get some exercise - it really was not a big deal. No line and much cheaper! Across the river is Trocadero Park - one of my favorite spots (below). It is the best spot to see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. I LOVED it!
This is standing on the new "see through" floors they installed on the lowest level. Yep...lowest level and people still look like ants.
From there we took the Metro to Sacre-Cour. A really beautiful church on top of a strange hill in the middle of the city. As much as I made fun of him (and highly insulted Caitlin hehe), I can't say enough about using Rick Steves' guides if you are not with someone familiar with the city/culture. We used his "guided walk" tours in each area we went to. You could download them on your phone and just listen with your earpiece for free and not pay for the tours provided by each landmark. We learned SO much and saw so many things we would have walked right by without him. Thank you, Rick (and Caitlin).
Afterwards, we walked around that area and headed back to our "home base" neighborhood to see the layout of where everything was. The French eat SO STINKIN LATE at night, we actually had to kill some time before going out for dinner that night. We had what was my favorite meal the entire trip that night almost right outside our hotel. An adorable neighborhood restaurant that served very typical Parisian food and drink. YUM. That was enough for that day so we crashed pretty quickly after dinner.
The next day we took a train to Versailles and let me tell you - it was my FAVORITE thing we did. Versailles is breath taking! Makes Biltmore look like a Mother in Law Suite. During certain times of the year, on weekends, they charge a little extra to enter the Gardens which have hundreds of fountains. During these special weekends, they have all of the fountains running with classical music playing everywhere. Amazing! I can not even get close to explaining how many fountains there are, in every little nook and cranny. You think it is just a side path with beautiful greenery, then turn the corner to a magnificent fountain!
Versailles was the home of Louis XIV and this guy had beyond expensive taste. He had a bit of a garden fetish and built the most magnificent "garden" I have ever seen. (He re-routed a river so he could create enough pressure to have these fountains back in the 1600's). Crazy.
Look at that! And then imagine beautiful classical music being played from speakers all across the gardens. ahhh. Remember how I said there were fountains down every little ally? There are 300! And that is just the "few" that remain. Originally, there were 1,500 fountains in these gardens.
Versailles was my favorite. Without question. The gardens make it complete. The house is impressive with the history that took place there, but the gardens will take your breath away. We dedicated an entire morning/ lunch to Versailles and I'm so glad we did. We had lunch outside by the canal right there on the grounds. Then headed back for our Boat Cruise on the Seine River. Another no-brainer. A wonderful way to see the city from the river. We scheduled ours for sunset and wow....I felt like I was in a movie. Such a great experience with the love of my life!
Afterwards, we were ready to crash and see my babies on Facetime so we did not go to Trocadero Park to see the Tower sparkle. Mistake - would have done it every night if I had known! (We ended up doing it our last night in the city so we got to see it, but I surely would have been running to the park each night to watch it light up each night.)
The next morning we overslept a bit :) but still got to Notre Dame at a good time. It was a Sunday morning so Sunday morning mass was taking place. The building is phenomenal. Pictures do not do it justice. We walked around the inside a bit wanting to shout out and worship JESUS over the prayers and silence. It always strikes me as odd that these big, beautiful, ornate Cathedrals are so dark and heavy inside.
Anyway, we definitely wanted to climb the stairs and go to the top. That meant waiting in line about 30 -40 minutes. Ryan was getting a bit cranky without his coffee so I sent him searching the French streets to get him some kind of java.
At the top he was much happier after the caffeine kicked in :) More spectacular views of the city with our Gargoyle friends.
We were able to walk right in the Sainte-Chapelle. It is just stunning. The stained glass windows each tell a different story in the Bible. The Chapel was built to house the supposed Crown of Thorns. They now keep it at the Notre-Dame and bring it out on Good Friday only.
We climbed so.many.stairs. Had to keep moving so we could enjoy that amazing bread and cheese!
We are not "artsy" folk. Meaning, we can not appreciate a piece of artwork or sculpture...just can't see it! So this is as interested as we were in the Louvre.
Next we walked through some magnificent gardens down the Champs - Elysees Walk. Millions walking all around us. Very expensive "strip" of Paris - as in the flagship store of Louis Vuitton and the most profitable McDonalds in the WORLD. Yep, right there in the ritzy section of Paris. Your new fact for the day. At the end of the boulevard is the Arc De Triomphe (below). We walked to the top and saw more awesome views.
So, make a note...Paris shuts down Sunday night. We got ALL dressed up to have a super nice, do-it-right dinner in a nice district and nothing. All closed! Of all the research we did, somehow we missed that. Anyway, we found a typical cafe and made the best of it.
Our last day in France we took a train across the country to the coast of Normandy. That will be a post on its own. No movie or book does justice to what those boys did that day. Wowza. After being gone ALL day, we ran over to Trocadero Park. Each night at the top of the hour they "turn on" the tower so that it sparkles and twinkles (couldn't think of another word) for a few minutes. It is amazing! I felt like I was back in the States at July 4th. Everyone started cheering and clapping when it turned on...just beautiful.
Just a fun shot of our "elevator." TINY. Room for the two of us in there comfy, or our luggage...not both. ha!
To wrap this megathon post down, I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend 5 days in the City of Love with my Love! We had the best time, and I had maybe one second of worrying about the kids. As soon as I was on the ground in Paris, I really did just enjoy my time and my husband. Our kids had a BLAST with loving friends and family who took such great care of them. Thankful, thankful!
