I've been procrastinating this blog post for a lot of reasons. First, even though we were only in Paris a day and a half, we took about five billion pictures. Kind of overwhelming to think about sifting through those. Plus, I like them all, so how to choose which ones to post? Second, we are living in Eastern Europe and have had plenty of new adventures to take our time. And laundry. And homework. And Russian study. And, well, you get the idea. Still, our time in Paris was magical and I don't want to forget a single part. And I've caught the flu, so I suddenly find myself with some downtime in bed. So here goes.
Somehow we squeezed all of us and our stuff and Grandma into Grandma & Grandpa's truck the morning of February 6, 2017. We have a saying in our house, "How many can you fit in a car? Always one more!" And the same seems to hold true for bags, and adults, and cats too. It was tough saying good-bye after spending so much time with family. We were so grateful for their generous hospitality in putting up with us so long. There were lots of hugs and they probably would have lasted a lot longer, except it was cold and we had a flight to catch, so eventually we made ourselves wave a final good-bye and walk away.
Then we had to consider the logistics of navigating through the airport with all of our suitcases (filled with everything we'd need to survive our first few months in Kyiv, including such essentials as Chocolate Chex cereal and gluten free macaroni and cheese--seriously, you can't put a price on such things!). Somehow we managed and got everything checked in.
The 10-hour flight was long, but nothing compared with the 36-hour traveling ordeal we faced when flying home from Chiang Mai. Still, Weasley was unimpressed, and even sedated he complained a lot. And escaped. More than once. Seriously, this cat would have impressed Houdini with his skills (the flight attendants, however, were not impressed). Our seats were split so Funny Guy, My Man, and I were together and Young Man and Darling Daughter were together (with Weasley). More than once, when I was on the verge of almost nodding off during yet another movie, I'd notice a commotion and see passengers looking down and around. And I'd sigh and realize he'd gotten out again. Then I'd have to try to catch Young Man or Darling Daughter's eye so they could go find him. "Make sure the zipper is tight closed!" we'd hiss across the aisle. "It is!" they would promise. Needless to say, that carrier gets one star from us on Amazon!
Funny Guy missed most of the excitement, sleeping almost the whole way. The best part of that was that when we arrived to our hotel (all 10 large suitcases, 5 rolling carry-ons, 5 backpacks, and the 5 of us somehow smashed into a minivan for the trip from the airport), he was ready to party. Perfect timing! The rest of us were ready to sleep. We compromised. He gave the rest of us an hour to rest while he read before I caved and took him swimming. Sidenote: Our apartment from airbnb was wonderful. An old house just a block from the river and Notre Dame Cathedral with this beautiful pool in the basement, two bedrooms, and a kitchen! We couldn't have asked for better. But I digress . . .
Funny Guy was dying to go swimming, so we snuck down there while Darling Daughter, Weasley, and My Man slept. Young Man thought about swimming too but decided he wasn't done dreaming.
And with such medieval surroundings, who could blame him? I think I caught some winks somewhere in there, but mostly I was too excited to care too much about sleep anyway. After a couple hours, Funny Guy and I set out to explore the neighborhood and track down some groceries.
My phone was dead, so I didn't get any pictures.* That's a pity because walking around Paris was enchanting. We found that we were less than a block from the Cathedral of Notre Dame! So beautiful. The winding alleys and cafes were bustling and wonderful. The little shops we found were fantastic but a little overwhelming.
I had a cheese sales lady take pity on me and recommend a type of cheese that "even Americans can appreciate." She also set me up with fresh butter and eggs.
The shop next door was overflowing with beautiful vegetables and fruits, of course you couldn't choose anything yourself and since I don't speak any French, there was a lot of pointing and pantomime.
I passed longingly by the bakery with all it's delicious smells and vowed to sneak back later without our little celiac man to grab a fresh croissant. He caught my longing glance and said, "Mom, if you eat any of that, then you are a traitor." Well, so be it, I wasn't going to leave Paris without eating a Parisian pastry. Sorry kid. I'm not the one with celiac disease! Still, the blow was softened when we discovered that macaroons are gluten free. So the next day I used up all our left-over euros on macaroons for My Man and the kids and a beautiful melt-in-your mouth heavenly croissant. I didn't even try a macaroon, just to make it fair. I think Funny Guy figured it was an okay trade.
*These shop pictures are not mine but representative of what we saw; still it was all better in real life! In fact all of Paris was better in real life (and yet we took a million pictures and I can't bear to delete any of them, even the 873rd picture of the Eiffel Tower . . .)!
I'd packed some food as well, so when we returned I fixed a simple dinner to lure everyone awake from their naps, then we set out for the Eiffel Tower. The walk was enchanting, past bakeries, beautiful old buildings, cafes, chocolate shops, and more.
My favorite part of Paris ended up actually not being anything in Paris at all. It was the reaction of Young Man and Darling Daughter to the Eiffel Tower. As we approached, I saw these kids, who are seemingly unfazed by anything--jaded by too many awesome travel opportunities and growing up in Asia--these kids who put up with our trips and respond to my near-constant exclamations of "Isn't this amazing?!?!" with "Sure, mom," I saw these kids literally stunned speechless, jaws hanging open as they stared, drinking it in.
Young Man, who had reminded us that no, actually, visiting Paris was not on his bucket list, but he would go along with it for our sake, stared up at the massive, beautiful structure, and said, "Wow, this is way more impressive than I thought it would be."
Darling Daughter glowed with excitement. Funny Guy decided it was worth the excruciating walk after all. I was in love. With Paris. With the Eiffel Tower lit at night. With this moment with my family. With our lifestyle that makes it possible.
I'd planned to have everyone walk up the stairs to the viewing platform, but unfortunately, my research didn't uncover the fact that the stairs close much earlier than the elevators. We considered taking the elevators but the lines were long and it was cold. Darling Daughter was sure that her life would not be complete without a trip up, however, so we vowed to return the next day for a new perspective. By then, Funny Guy couldn't walk another step, so My Man and Young Man gallantly offered to take him back on the bus. Darling Daughter was enchanted with the city, so we opted to walk home along the river for some more views of the sites.
We got more pictures that don't do the evening justice, saw so many beautiful sites, and ended up at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, beautifully lit for the evening. It was perfect. An evening with my daughter that I will always treasure.
We slept in a little after a jetlaggy (aka restless) sleep, enjoyed breakfast, then set out to see the Cathedral up close. It was amazing. Absolutely huge and wonderful and beautiful. Pictures really don't do it justice, though of course we shot a bunch trying.
The day was cold and we underestimated it a bit. I was freezing all day (I think everyone was) but amazingly no one really complained--there was too much to see!
After the cathedral, we walked down the island to get onto our hop-on, hop-off bus to see the rest of the city. It had an audio guide and was a great way to see everything without subjecting Funny Guy to any more cruel and unusual punishment (aka "walking").
We stopped for a few minutes at the Arch de Triumphe, the beautiful memorial that honors all those who fought for France in the French Revoloution and Napoleonic Wars (as well as housing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for World War I). Although we didn't opt for the trip to the top, it was a powerful monument.
That was not the end of our adventures in Paris, not even close! By then it wasn't even noon. But the rest (including climbing the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, exploring the Louvre, and our Cruise along the Seine) will have to wait for another blog post. Let me just say that up to this point, things had been going even better than we could have hoped, with happy kids, happy parents, and a great itinerary, pretty much everything I could have hoped for.
