Fourth of July weekend in Paris

I've never been the kind of girl that needed to go to Paris, but if the opportunity arises, you take it! So we did. For our first major (as in, leave the country) trip, we decided we were going to see what all the fuss was about. Paris--you did not disappoint.

All five of us-and Khloe-piled in our little Kia and drove the slightly over five hours from Wiesbaden to Paris. Surprisingly, there wasn't much to see on the way. It was so funny to see nothing for miles and miles and miles, and then BAM-a bustling little town. Then miles and miles of nothing again. We learned a few valuable lessons on this trip, and most of them were centered around the restrooms. Lesson 1: when we stopped to use a rest area somewhere in France, the toilet was a hole in the ground that flushes the whole room! Have you ever tried to teach someone how to use the bathroom like that? Add that to the list of mom duties I could live without. 

Lesson 2: Stop for gas when you are at 1/4 tank. Don't assume you can make it to the next one. There might not be a next one. We almost ran out of gas looking for gas. Someone (who shall remain nameless), didn't want to stop at the first one the GPS directed us to. He wanted to find one closer to the route. Needless to say, we ended up going 20 minutes in the wrong direction, paying extra tolls and getting totally frustrated in the process to find a station. But we did get to detour through an adorable little town on the way. Too bad the first station we came to, someone ran out to tell us “NO GAS” while waving their hands completely over drastically. We did end up with gas and no one had to push the car, so all's well that ends well. 

Once we got into Paris, we hit tons of traffic since it was rush hour.  Lesson 3: we learned that motorcycles do what they want. They were weaving in between cars and acting like the cars were at fault if they were in the way. I almost lost an arm hanging it out the window at 0 miles per hour. We tried to keep everyone entertained while we waited, and in honor of our French friends, we started singing “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. When we got to the line 'don't believe me? ask the dishes', instead of singing, “ask the dishes”, Jill said “ask the b*tches”. We couldn’t even stop laughing enough to act mad! Sometimes kids are just too funny to reprimand. (now, read my previous post and ask me if I still think it's funny...)

Instead of staying in a super expensive hotel where you have to eat every meal out or have vending machine snacks for dinner, we decided to do something different. Notice how I say 'we' as if I had a say in the matter. Josh decided to do something different, so all the credit goes to him. We stayed at EuroCamp International park. We basically went camping outside Paris. We stayed in a really nice two bedroom trailer with a kitchen and a deck, in a trailer park/camp ground. Another benefit was that Khloe could come with us, so we saved on boarding. Every park is different, so some have water parks, golfing, fishing, live entertainment, etc. Ours didn't have any of the bells and whistles, but we were in PARIS! Plus, how much time do you really spend in the room on vacation?? When we arrived at the EuroCamp, the girls were a little surprised. You could hear their gasps in the backseat when they learned we were staying in a trailer at a campsite. Despite their initial hesitation, they loved it. They got to sleep in bunk beds, so they were sold. 

We dropped our stuff and the dog and headed for the metro station, which was a few blocks away. Trying to figure that out was fun. We finally got going in the right direction around 8pm. We decided to head straight for the Eiffel Tower—man was that impressive! Peyton just kept saying “up, up, up”. From then on, it was named the Up Up Tower. I'm pretty sure at some point that night, I actually pinched myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming about seeing this magnificent sight in person. We didn't end up staying out for long that night because everyone was a little tired and we wanted to be fresh for the next day. Plus, I reaaaally had to use the potty and (lesson4) the street facilities close after a certain time apparently. Imagine Josh and the kids' faces as I dragged them from street toilet to street toilet and every one says 'out of order'. I didn't see THAT info on TripAdvisor! 

 

The next day, we started by taking the metro out to the Eiffel Tower. From there, we boarded the big red bus and saw all the major sights of the city from atop a tour bus. We ate lunch at the Trocadero, where we had a perfect view of the Tower. We just ate at a little cart selling French foods. Josh had a Ciabatta sandwich with jambon (ham). Kyla and I both had a hot dog in a giant baguette stuffed with gruyere cheese. Jill had the croque monsieur (hot toast with ham and cheese topped with more cheese). She obviously hated it, since she barely ate any. At any rate, we can say we've eaten French street food IN France, with stunning views of the Eiffel Tower. 

After lunch, we went to the Pont du Arts to ‘lock our love’. I had read about it beforehand, so I knew to bring a lock (and not pay the 8 Euro they were charging on the streets)! You are supposed to decorate it how you want, lock it, and throw the keys in the River Siene as some grand romantic gesture. When we tried to throw our keys in the river, they hit the bridge and came back at our feet- return to sender—OOPS! We did eventually get the keys to sink though. Later that day we walked from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame. That's quite a longer stretch than we estimated, so by then everyone was exhausted and overheated. We headed back to the trailer, and after we cooled off some, we walked into town, Maison Lafitte, and got some pizza.

We started the next day at the Arc de Triomphe. Since we didn’t go to the top of the Eiffel, we decided we’d wait to go to the top of the Arc. What a great idea! We could see almost everything in the city, including the tower. Since we had Peyton in the backpack, we didn’t even have to climb all the stairs, they let us ride the lift! Bonus.

After the Arc, we walked down Champs Elysees. We had promised Peyton we’d go see Mickey to avoid a major meltdown on the Arc. By the time we got there, of course he was asleep! Peyton got his first Disney store shirt and the girls each got a bag with all the Paris sights (and Mickey). They carried them around for the rest of the day like they were little Parisian shoppers. Being on Champs Elysees, I knew we had to find the world famous Laduree-I was dying to try a macaron, just to see what the fuss was all about. OH. MY. WORD. They did not disappoint! I fell in love with the chocolate/coconut. I was ready to stock up before we left. The guy checking out in front of me spent 99 Euro, but at the time I couldn’t see why. My mind has changed. That macaron was worth the whole trip. While we waited in line, the girls were each given a free sample, which was really nice. The whole experience was just so cute and girly. The packaging, the storefront, the displays: this was what I pictured when I thought of Paris.

After macarons, we walked back to the big red bus stop to catch a ride to Notre Dame, which was about a thirty minute ride. When we got to one of the stops we had to wait on the bus for a while. One of the guys pedaling the mini Eiffel Tower key chains reached in and gave one to Peyton. I was pretty sure Josh was going to spike it back out the window at him, because he thought he was just trying to sell it, extra pushy style. It turns out he was just being nice. I had always heard how rude Parisians were to tourists, but we didn't really experience any of that while we visited. 

When we got to Notre Dame, we were all hot and tired (again), but determined to experience the sight. We started to make our way to the Saint Jean Garden around back. As we’re walking this guy comes running past. A minute later we see a cop car zooming down the dirt road towards us. We literally had to jump out of the way of the car. Jill said she was picking gravel out of her eyes an hour later. That made for some excitement. Jill had to use the restroom while we waited, and when she came out she said they were playing “Red and Black” from Les Miserables inside. Go figure my child would be able to recognize show tunes while she washed her hands! We decided to cool off with some frozen drinks, and stroll around the outside. The line to get in to the cathedral was ridiculously long, and we knew there was no way Peyton could handle that in the heat, plus the hour+ tour inside. We’ll have to put that on our next trip’s itinerary. After the cathedral, we tried to find the Shakespeare and Co. bookstore, but that one eluded us, too. All the more reason for a next trip!

We ended up taking the bus back to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees. We walked around and did some window shopping, then grabbed dinner at McDonalds. Or Les McDonalds if you will. That’s life with small kids: trade the fancy snails for chicken nuggets. 

So, we are definitely planning a return trip, because we didn't get to see a lot of things in detail like we wanted. My parents will be here this summer, and Paris is on the list of where we HAVE to take them (even though my dad has been before). Hopefully, we can stay longer than a few days next time, and maybe even see Disney while we're there. When we do go, we will be armed with all the lessons we learned the first time around, plus a few we've picked up in other cities so far. Our travel plan has definitely evolved, and I might even be able to offer up a few tips in a future post! 

Oh! Lesson 5: Let your children watch Disney. Everything I know about France, I've learned from Disney and Les Miserables. (And one line in Home Alone where Kevin's sister says he's "les incompétent")