The perfect day in Paris!
We left the house around 11:30 am. The weather outside was perfect -- warm
Enough to leave the
Jackets at home but cool enough that we didn't sweat on the 20 minute walk to the train station. Somewhere in the 60s and expected to reach a high of 72. The sun felt good! It was such a nice chance from Brussels, where it was 10 degrees cooler.
First stop: L & M's first train ride!
Here's L on the platform and then in the train.
He was in complete awe of the train. G & I could not hear what we was saying,
but he was talking the entire way downabout the train, how it was working, where is was going, and who knows what else. Sometimes we would hear him say, "Bye bye, Station," and see him waving, and then, "Here we go!" G & I were looking at each other laughing the whole time.
We needed to change trains to get to the Eiffel Tower. Since we had the stroller, we took the elevator up to change trains. Or so we thought. When the elevator door opened, it wasn't sunlight and fresh air. We had accidentally taken the elevator out of the Metro. Gwenael was upset we'd have to find out way down again. But then we looked straight ahead and saw Notre Dame, and her bells were ringing. What a happy accident!
It was already 1, and we were all hungry. Luckily, Abel & Lucette had insisted we pack a picnic, so we are our sandwiches on the benches in front of Notre Dame alongside the well-fed pigeons of Paris.
Louis had fun throwing the crusts of his bread to the pigeons. He saw of the other tourists holding out food to get their pigeons in their hands Snow-White-style for a photo, so L started chasing the pigeons and got a thrill when he touched one (which G said was more like a slap upside the head).
I had imagined that we'd walk in Notre Dame, but I forgot about all the lines. It was way too long so we skipped going in. Louis was disappointed until we found the playground next to the church.
Here we are on the love lock bridge behind Notre Dame. (There are love lock bridges all over Paris now. There is one just behind Notre Dame if you're looking to do this. We opted out, since we know they just cut all the locks off anyway!)
Here we are taking a potty break at a cafe.
Then, right at the base Notre Dame on the Seine is the Batobus. Batobus is a hop-on hop-off boat that goes to about 8 major tourist sites in Paris. (Translates to boat-bus.) The line for Batobus was long. We had to wait one or two boats before we could get on. They were really nice about helping us carry the stroller on and off. What we liked about Batobus was that it was Louis's first boat ride, it was easier than navigating the metro (let alone with a stroller), and kept you oriented by allowing you so stay above ground and see where you were. We were happy to be on it, and the kids had a good time. But it was not an efficient way to get around, and it was also not an efficient way to see the Seine with all the stopping and going. If you want to see the Seine and do other things too, you are probably better off taking the classic Bateux Mouchee boat ride. Their boats had plenty of seats and room to spare, plus you get a voiceover history. The whole thing is done in about an hour. If you are not in a hurry and don't mind the tourist crowds and waiting in line every time you want to get on, then the Batobus is an okay way to combine transportation and sightseeing.
We took the Batobus to the base of the Eiffel Tower. We had to walk quite a way to find a ramp for the stroller and, in the end, just ended up carrying it up the steps anyway.
Louis saw all the tourists eating ice cream, so he had to have one. He requested chocolate. Boy was that a big mistake. Ha ha.
And look at our girl standing!
The L got involved in a multi-national game of soccer under the Eiffel Tower, and had the time of his life. We stayed quite a while letting him run and chase the ball with the little boys. He was screaming and yelling and having so much fun. When we got in bed that night, we agreed that watching Louis play soccer under the Eiffel Tower was the highlight of our day. It had nothing to do with the famous Paris landmark (although it was a lovely backdrop) and everything to do with the joy on our little boy's face.
One last stop before we headed back: the carousel under the Eiffel Tower. Louis picked the boat to ride on.
I left Paris feeling like we had the perfect day. You can't ask for much more than that on an international trip with 2 young children.
When I was putting L to bed that night, I said, "What was your favorite part of Paris today? Was it the train or the pigeons or the playground or the boat ride or playing soccer or the carousel?"
And he said, "I like staying at Abel and Lucette's. Their house is really cool."
I said, "You do? What do you like about it?"
He said, "I like all her special things."
A lucky little boy to already know that the true beauty of Paris is her people and their way of life.
❤️
Takeaways for the Traveling Mom in Paris:
- With kids, your time is limited by naps/energy levels, moods, hunger, finding potties and waiting in the line to use them, and traveling only as fast and far as little legs can go. If you want to go in Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower or the Lourve, buy VIP passes or tour packages that allow you to skip the lines. It will be well-worth your money.
- There is a small playground on the East side of Notre Dame for ages 2 to 6 with a sandbox and some ride-on toys.
- Pickpockets target tourist in train/Metro stations and at big tourist attractions like Notre Dame and Eiffel Tower. The pickpockets are those you least expect like 14-year-old girls or the young boy who asked us to sign a petition for deaf children under the Eiffel Tower. Tourists distracted with children are easy targets. Be aware. Keep track of your bag. Consider minimal jewelry.And don't be afraid to wear a money belt.
- Potties in Paris - This could be a blog in its own rite. What an ordeal! The best way to go is to go a block off from the tourist attractions (to avoid tourist crowds and prices), sit down in a cafe, have a drink and use the bathroom. You can eat too, but just be prepared to sit for a while if you order food. Eating in Paris is not something that happens quickly or with a sense of urgency. When we had to go potty, we stopped at a cafe for drinks. Then we went across the street to a Carrefour for baguette sandwiches that we could eat on the go. We saved ourselves quite a bit of time and money by doing that. We put L in pull-ups to avoid accidents. I also threw the potette in my Longchamp bag so he could go anywhere he needed, as well as to have a clean place to sit when we were at a potty. We were only in Paris for a day. Honestly, if u was going to be in Paris for a week, I might map out all of the Starbucks locations as a larger stroller friendly space to use the restrooms and buy a bottle of water. We made the mistake once of getting in a short toilet line, but realized that the toilets were 1 person in and out, and they toilet would self clean after each use. It took forever!
- I did not do this, but there must be a list of handicapped accessible Metro stations in Paris. We were in one station that did not have an elevator, so they are not all handicapped accessible. (In this station, I carried M and walked L down about 50 stairs. G carried the stroller. I could not have done this if I had been alone.) If I was going to stay longer in Paris or be alone with 2 kids, I would look up a list of stations that are handicapped accessible in Paris.
- Right next to the Batobus stop under Notre Dame, there was a parked boat restaurant. I saw several local looking families with very happy children leaving as we walked past. It looked like a great place to dine with kids. It also had American stand up comedy on Saturday nights. Looked like a good place worth checking out.
- Carry cash! Many places all over France don't accept MasterCard and only accept Carte blue (a French card). We ran into this all day long. We need to look into a better Card to carry internationally.
- I looked all over online for the Paris puppet shows and found nothing... But one message board said times and details are listed in the Pariscope, so I'd check there.
- one message board said that the Marionettes in Champs du Mars (park under / at Eiffel Tower) are between Avenue Risler and Avenue Motte Piquet, close to the children's playgrounds, at 3:15 and 4:15 on Weds, Sat, Sun and during school holidays. Entry is 3.50 Euros (in 2012), only cash accepted,
No comments:
Post a Comment