Vacation In Paris

This past weekend was a holiday weekend here in Germany. We took advantage of the extra time off and headed into Paris, France for 3 nights, 4days! This was our families first over night while living here! I had a ton of nerves, what to pack, will the kids last, the language! The kids had a ton of excitement eating ice cream, the Eiffel Tower, and shopping (I have raised them right, right!).

So Saturday morning we set the alarm clocks for 6am and packed up to go! We carried all of our stuff down to the Ubahn, and made our way to the Bahnhoff (train Station). Our train was due to depart at 8:54am, so we decided to get down there early for coffee, and English mags (only at the train station, and still from the UK).

Four hours later, we arrived in the city of lights! Amazing! I can't believe that we went to Paris in 4 hours! We found a hotel (Novotel) a little bit outside of the main drag, so we hopped on the Metro (the subway) and begin to find our way to the Hotel! Now introduce a bit of shock....we are in Paris in a stinky, hot subway with two kids! Yikes! However, within 10 minutes we are outside enjoying the fresh air and lovely views of the French City!

We decided to drop our bags and hit the city in search of food, and the sites! First stop LUNCH! We found this lovely little cafe and sat down to enjoy a quiche! So yummy! Ethan and Abigail even managed to find a hamburger and fries to share! Than off to explore! I looked at the map and we picked Hotel of the Invalids! Wow, who knew such a lovely museum with war memobbila, the armory and Napoleon’s tomb!

Than more walking! We wanted so badly to make it to the Arc! We walked forever...and ever...and ever! We saw so much of the city, great old churches....lovely markets....

Than we made it to the Arc! Wow 282 stairs later but the view is amazing! You really can see for miles! The kids loved it! They could see how far we just walked! They could see all the places we wanted to go! And the photos! Wow!

We made it! Paris! The heart of the city! The top of the world! Once up there Abigail was exhausted and we still had 9:30pm tickets for the Tower, and dinner to get through! Oh no! So 282 stairs down, with a quick stop at the shop..Time for metro planning. However, Scott had a better idea have a bike driver take us on a mini tour and recommend a place for dinner! Save the legs a bit of pain!

We ate dinner at this oh so very small Italian restraint about 4 city blocks away from the Tower. It was so small that they had to move tables in and out so you could sit down! We enjoyed cocktails (mojitos) and ate great pasta and pizza! Wrapping up the night with Tiramisu and Coffee! Than we headed up to see the lights! A friend had told us to buy our Eiffel tickets online so we were due to head up at 9:30pm! We waited in line and made it to the views on the 2nd floor only to learn that the top floor had huge lines due to some delays! So we decided to enjoy the views, and break dancing (Ahh French Teens) from there! The kids loved it! They especially loved the sparkling lights that go off on the hour! So cool!

especially loved the sparkling lights that go off on the hour! So cool!

Sunday was the day we devoted to the Louvre! It was a free day so we (and 5,000 other people) decided that it would be a good day to check it out! So after an hour wait in the screening line we were in! Ethan wanted to check out the Egyptian Art first.

The kids loved the Museum! They wanted to see everything! They wanted to understand why things were special (the Mona Lisa), they wanted to know why cats were art; they wanted to understand death scenes! It was great! Half way through our day there, the kids did get tired! What saved us from having to leave were the language headsets! The kids were able to listen to stories, and facts about the piece they choose on their individual computer! This gave us an extra 2 hours in the Louvre.

That night we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner! This was a belated birthday request from Abigail! We dined on American food, nachos and margiritas ( not the kids, they had milk shakes)! We listen to music videos and bought chessy t-shirts! Than full on sleepy kids took over and we headed back, had to get some sleep in before our last full day in Paris!

Monday greeted us with our 3rd straight day of good weather! We had highs in the low 80's and nothing but sun! Great weather for city walking, shopping, and Notre Dame! I really wanted to explore the area that my mom and I had explored some 13 years ago on my first visit! I wanted to show the children the simpleness of the Latin Quarter! It was just as I remembered it, with little roads, quite tiny shops, fresh markets, and tons of people!

Fist Stop Notre Dame:

Than shopping in the Latin Quarter and the Champs! Scott wanted me to have the chance to pick out some new things for my birthday! What a great place to do so! Shops filled with amazing clothes, and jewelry! He was such a sweetie and brought me a lovely silver braclet, and even talked me into a new purse ( not a hard task)! After a very busy day of shopping and site seeing we were hungry! We stumbled into this cafe on the corner of the seine river over looking the Eiffel Tower! We ate a great dinner, and enjoyed an even better desert before embarking on a river boat cuirse! So fun! We spent an hour aboard a boat peacefully enjoy the city lights and eachothers company! Abby even did an impromtu dance! It was so neat to see everything glowing !

For our first vacation in Germany I would have to say that we did pretty well! We really enjoyed the city! The kids survived the walking and late hours, and Scott and I survived the kids!

Paris is a great city with so much to explore! I can't wait to visit again! Now if only I could catch up on sleep :)