Ideas for side trips from Paris with a rental car

- Giverney (Monet)

- Reims (Champagne)

- Versailles (heard there are lines, consider VIP tix, wait for kids to be older, 3 is probably too young)

Here we all are, partying at 2:08 am.

Got home at 9:30.  So tired that I actually fell asleep in the driveway. It was 5:30 am in Paris, and we woke the previous day at 6, so it had been 24 hours that we'd been awake and traveling.  

I feel like I could sleep for a century.

But here we are, after 4 hours of sleep, whooping it up like its the middle of the day.

After that, we all sat down at the table for a bowl of cereal... A cup of decaf... And got in Skype with Australia!

Just landed in ELP

Still have to get bags and drive home

This trip ain't over yet.

Exhausted

Air sick

Lots of details about a rough return trip, starting with leaving the hotel this am

Will post later

Made it to Dallas!

That's all for now!

10.5 hours in a plane with 2 kids who will be awake

It's 8:30 pm Paris time. We left Chantal's today at 10 am. Chantal made crepes for dessert last night, breakfast this morning, sent us off with crepes she made this morning to snack on today.  She was an overly generous hostess and we're going to be indebted to Tata Chantal for a very long time!

We drove straight through other than an hour lunch, and got to the hotel around 5.  Paris traffic was pretty crazy.  A 4.5 hour drive (per GPS) that took 7 hours... 

When G left us to return the rental car, Louis slammed Marcelles fingers in the bathroom door.  That was fun running to the ice machine with my hotel ice bucket to deal with that. All is fine. But there is never ever ever a dull moment.  (Wouldn't  dull be divine?) 

We did the math on our flight tomorrow.  Our flight takes off at 11:30 am Paris Time, which is 4:30 am CST.  We land at 3 pm CST which is 10 pm Paris Time.  

Think about it for a second:

By our body clocks, we take of at 11:30 am and land at 10 pm.  The flight over was 7.5 hours in the middle of the night, so L slept a good 4 hours, and M slept more.  This flight is three hours longer AND the kids are going to be fully awake like it's daytime. Oh. My. God.  All I can think about is that flight to Philly that was so awful because the kids were awake... And it was only 3 hours long... 

Help!

Please.

Pray for us. Do a rain dance. Send us good vibes. Talk to the good flight gods. We are going to need all the help we can get.

We are heading to the airport 3 Hours before our flight time tomorrow.  We realized when you arrived 2 Hours Before, the kids spend the whole 2 hours sitting because you're at the ticket counter, going through security, getting to the gate, then flights board 30 mins early (domestic) or 45 - 60 mins early (international).  They're already sitting for 2 hours (plus drive time) before you board.  I'm hoping 3 hours early should give us an hour to run around Charles De Gualle and play before we are cooped up on a plane for an entire day (following a full day of driving). 

I'm also worried Marcelle and I are coming down with a sore throat. I really would have preferred to run this marathon at my best.

Once we get to Dallas, we just have to make it back to ELP under the state of complete exhaustion of being awake with 2 kids on a plane all day and it being like 5 am or something crazy. I don't want to do the math on that one. 

Wish us luck! Bonne nuit!

Day 16: Paris or bust!

Today is the 4.5 hour drive back to Paris. No Loire Valley (as much as we loved it) because it added 4 hours to the trip down (2 hours visit, 1 hour driving, separate hour stop for lunch), and Marcelle was totally melting down and wanting dinner when we rolled into Longeville at 8 pm-ish. So we decided today our best bet is:

- Get on the road ASAP.

- Power through to Paris.

- Plan a midway stop which is also lunch and a place where the kids can run around while we eat. Feed the kids first, the let them run.

- this prevents us from driving into Paris during evening rush hour traffic.

- Run the kids around at the hotel or elsewhere to burn off energy before tomorrow.

In Paris, G drops us at the airport

Hotel, then drops the rental car at the airport, then takes the hotel shuttle back to the airport.  

We take off tomorrow at 11 am, which means we have to be to the airport by 9. It also means that the kids are going to be awake the entire time, other than their naps. I have no idea how we're going to survive this flight.  I'm sure booze & Benedryl will be involved. 

Day 13: Soiree 2 of 2

We went back to Chantal's. For the first time the whole trip, we had both kids in bed by 8 and were able to have an adult dinner.

We were joined by Manoelle & Regis, Julien, Marie & Stefan, Anais, Chantal, Clement, Hugo, Maude.

We started with a yummy sardine "dip" Chantal made and a cold dish with mussels and pickled onions (that I really like and we had a few other times. They said they eat this all summer, need both recipes), as well as salami, radishes, cherry tomatoes, olives.  

For dinner, Regis made a delicious stew with chicken that fell off the bone.  The entree and fromage were served with nice red wines from Saint Emilion (Bordeaux), then ice cream for dessert, and Bundy Royal with Milk for a nightcap.

We sat down at 8 or 8:30 and left the table at 1 am.  We had a great time, but were exhausted by the end and had plans to be at another party at 10 am the next day!

Photos on the big camera.

Day 15: Happy 3rd birthday, Louis!

Louis had a wonderful 3rd birthday!  We were a little worried about not having our own kitchen (heck the ingredient over here aren't even the same. Try to buy flour in France...) to bake a cake or be able to run to Party City for helium balloons, but we did lots of special things we could not have done at home.

Louis started the day by running to the boulangerie with Daddy for pain au chocolate. When Daddy tried to pick up the cake he ordered, they said they didn't have it (turned out he was at the

Other bakery in town) so he let Louis get the treat of his choice. G said there was a huge display case but L went right for the chocolate eclair.  And we let him eat it for breakfast. Chocolate icing and chocolate filling.

We stopped by the grocery store for some party plates and balloons.

Then we went off to this beautiful Chateau that's been turned into an educational adventureland for kids.  

We started with a picnic with quiche and sandwiches from the boulangerie. 

We all had a perfect day at the Adveture Chateau.

Then back to Chantal's for a

Fraiser (strawberry cake) with Great Grandma "Mami Marcelle."

We all felt pretty sad to say goodbye to her today. 

After cake, we want to the beach.

Oh yeah: Marcelle decided she really needed to step up her game on the cute factor since Louis was the star of the show. So she took her first few steps this morning!

Then back for dinner, Louis finished off the last slice of cake. Here's the birthday boy playing with the train that was Gwenael's when he was little and living in France.  It's Louis's favorite. 

and Mom & Dad had oysters, asparagus with yummy sauce, and crepes with Chantal and Anais.  A good birthday indeed!

Driving back to Paris tomorrow!