Paris is for Lovers

Paris as Seen by the Seine

We started our last day in Paris at the Eiffel Tower, followed by a wonderful boat ride down the Seine. It was a most charming and memorable way to see Paris!

Here is the family under the Tour Eiffel:

The beginning of our beautiful journey along the Seine:

We hopped out at Notre Dame:

The Gothic architecture is truly magnificent:

Back to the boat where the boys continued to enjoy the sights:

We hopped out again to stroll along the Champs Elysees:

We truly loved our time in Paris and the boys continue to be such good travelers. G seems to be soaking everything in and amazes us with what he knows about history and events as they relate to where we are at the moment. He continues to be engrossed by the details of World War II and he especially enjoyed seeing the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysees knowing Hitler had marched his troops there when France was occupied by the Third Reich. What an opportunity for him to experience a sense of living history!

I'm not sure how much the little ones will retain from what they are seeing here. I truly hope that their little brains are making connections by even just viewing such beauty, be it from a sculpture or painting in a museum or from architectural details on a cathedral. Maybe, hopefully this will occur through osmosis?

More Disney Photos

Our first ride, Its a Small World:

Onto Buzz Lightyear after an autograph from Goofy:

I'm thinking Buzz may have been intended for more mature audiences:

Enjoying the pirate cove, definitely one of the highlights:

Front row seats for the afternoon parade:

Onto the carousel:

And finally a magical Dumbo flight:

A good, good day:

A Little Disney Magic

A few photos from our day spent at Disneyland Paris:

Two Days of Fun and Counting!

We did it again! Another day on our own exploring in the city. Can you read between the lines and see what a triumph this is for me, the one who imagines anything and everything that could be dangerous or cause problems for her wards while they are in her care, and being in a new city only compounds those crazy, irrational thoughts!

Not to let these worries get the best of her, this mamma set off again this morning with the Cite des Sciences et de l'Industrie as our destination. And it did not disappoint! The children loved every moment of our time there and I enjoyed watching their enjoyment of it all!

Here are the boys before we set out this morning. Can you tell I run a tight ship? I snapped this photo right after my "shoes on, coats on, by the door" instructions. Maybe I just think I run a tight ship and the children have learned to laugh at me, who knows?

This was a perfect way to spend the morning, and I was most impressed with this immense science playground if you will. All 3 boys had a grand time and this was well worth our visit.

This museum was a bit out of the city center, which is where we are staying, and the transportation was a bit tricky. My travel options included the metro, which is not very buggy friendly with flight after flight of stairs, or a taxi ride through a city renowned for its frenzied drivers. Option 2 seemed like the only choice, although my mind was filled with worry as we would be riding without the safety and security of 2 little ones in car seats seeing as we are traveling without them on this trip. That is one huge advantage of traveling by train you see!

So I had worked through the travel arrangements with our concierge yesterday afternoon. He has bent over backwards since the moment we arrived to help me with the boys. I'm wondering if he has been able to sense my fear or if my look of desperation has been that obvious?

Nevertheless, he arranged for our taxi this morning and we were on our way, G safely buckled, S in the middle seat with a broken seat belt wouldn't you know, and B on my lap. I buckled B in with me and kept my arm over S's little legs with a death grip on his thigh and prayed throughout the duration of our trip.

I'm happy to report that we made it there safely and enjoyed our museum tour. To get back to the hotel, the concierge had assured me that there was a taxi stand right outside the museum and that it would be no problem at all getting one there. Well, that just wasn't quite the case.

After a good 20 minute walk, we did located the taxi stand, which was under a bridge that apparently is the shelter of choice for the homeless population of Paris. We waited by the long line of empty taxis for someone to emerge and offer us a ride, but didn't have much luck there either. I was informed in French that all of the taxi drivers were on break as it was lunch time and that nobody there would be driving any time soon. At this point, just ahead of us, hundreds of men started pouring over the railway tracks that were just ahead of us looking as if they were in a swift retreat from who knows what. You can only imagine what was running though my mind at this point!

I did an about face with the buggy and with Gil at my side we made it back to the museum in about 2 minutes flat. I don't think I've ever walked that quickly while trying to appear as if I've got it all under control! A taxi pulled up just as we arrived and I started to load the kids in, only to be informed that he is a private hire and has another customer to pick-up and that he cannot take us back into the city. He pointed me in the direction of the taxi stand from which we had just fled ourselves and wished us luck. My distress must have again been quite obvious because at that point he hopped out and helped me with the boys and took us back into the city. I paid him more than double the fare as he was our savior for the day and safely returned us to our hotel, no worse for the wear!

It's a good thing my mind is always working these details out ahead or else we could get ourselves into some precarious situations!