Day 2 in Paris- The 20,000 step day

Our goal on these international trips, is to see as many highlights as we can, without burning every one out. We do not (normally) go from sunrise to sunset. I don’t want my kids to be so tired that they don’t remember anything. So, I usually try to schedule 2-3 things- or 1 big excursion per day; with the goal of being back at the apartment or in our neighborhood for dinner, and back in time for a regular bedtime, so that the kids (and we) have some down time in the evenings. Trust me, if your kids love the gaming and electronics like mine do- they will thank you, and yet still be willing to go see the sights with you during the day. You can read more about how I loosely plan itineraries HERE. We did pre-purchase the Paris Museum Pass for us adults (we had it shipped to the US, but you can purchase it or pick up there, too); kids under 18 are free- but ALWAYS ask if they need an actual ticket before you go to the admission line. Rodin did not require it, but everywhere else did, so I think that was a fluke.

On dining- I'll be elaborating in a separate blog. These things are getting too long if I don't. 

2^nd Day (Sunday)

You should note that many shops and stores are 100% closed on Sundays- this includes the Monoprix (grocery store). Some museums have free days, but we’d heard they are busiest then, so we avoided those. Our original plan included the Seine river cruise- because in London, it was a great way to get an overview of the city. But because of the weather, we decided to forego that. Here is what our day ended up looking like:

·        Musee Rodin

·        Hotel des Invalides  and Musee de Armee

·        Lunch at the Invalides museum

·        The skies cleared, so we decided on impromptu visit to Eiffel Tower and went to the top.

·        Crepes and hot wine at the street vendor along the Seine

·        Catacombs

·        Dinner at Les Antiquaires

Musee Rodin (Rodin Museum)

Photo by Martin Hueneke

For our first official stop, we walked to the Rodin Museum, and it was very cold, and very rainy, so the gardens were closed. We did have a short wait out in front of the building because of security. The highlight was that the boys took a picture with The Thinking Man, and I mean, who doesn’t want to do that? Besides that, the boys ended up liking it more than I expected. I was surprised by the way they examined the details of the sculptures in the museum. This *may* be due to the fact it was the very first thing that we did in Paris…. So they weren’t quite over museums yet. If you have kids with you, I would recommend doing this toward the beginning of your trip while they are still interested. Ha! I’m sure that if the gardens had been open, they would have enjoyed it even more.

*Parental note- there are several sculptures that feature nudity, and even sexual interaction. My youngest (10) giggled in the beginning at the “boobs” (Oh my gosh, I said, “boob”!), but I quickly said, “This is France, this is art, you better get used to it.” The more intimate sculptures were beautiful, but I just sped past them, and the boys kept on going and didn’t really comment on them and I’m not sure they even noticed (okay, the fourteen-year-old probably did). More on my stance on this type of art, and why we let our kids experience it- later.

Without the gardens, we got through this museum in probably about 45 minutes to an hour. If you’re a Rodin fan, you could probably spend a lot of time here, but when you have kids, you need to keep moving.  Don’t miss looking at the actual building! It’s beautiful. That is one thing that I love about French museums- the beauty of the actual architecture.  We did not do an audio guide for this museum, but did look at the signs on each piece.

Hotel des Invalides and Musee de Armee (Napoleon’s tomb and the Army Museum)*

Hours: Monday- 11-6pm; Wednesday-Friday 11-6pm; Sat/Sun- 11-7pm; CLOSED Tuesdays

It was pouring by the time we went to this museum, and this was the moment where we regretted our choice of tennis shoes for footwear. I think, if you visit   in March- go ahead and prepare yourself for rain, rain everywhere. Invest in good, warm rain coats, a scarf, a hat, and comfortable shoes. Bonus, if the shoes keep the rain out. As much as I warned my kids about puddles- it was inevitable, and miserable when it happened. I really, really liked this museum but I am a history and war buff. My kids loved it for the firearms and the swords, and World War 1 and 2 relics. Personally, I was floored by Napoleon’s hat, personal items, and his war horse. And yes, I said war horse. They apparently stuffed the poor thing and saved it for us. I mean, no words here.

We got through this in probably 2-3 hours, but if you really want to look at everything, and do an audio-guide- this museum could turn into at least a half day, if not a full day- if you let it. After touring this museum, we popped into the museum café for lunch.

Wonder of wonders, as we left the café, lo and behold, the clouds parted, and there it was- the Eiffel Tower, right across the street. We had originally planned to reschedule this visit because it was so cold and rainy, but as the clouds and rain moved out, and ushered in a bit of blue sky and sunshine- we realized that there was probably no line and the timing was good… so off we went…

Eiffel Tower: Hours- Tours every day 9:30 am – 11 pm is the winter schedule. Sparkles for five minutes on the hour I think starting at 9pm.

·        Tickets to the top- 11 euros per adult, 8 euros for teenagers, 4 euros for under 13, I think. Total for all four- 58 euros. There is also a ticket to the second floor only, which is still pretty high.

We had read numerous blogs and warnings to beware of pick pockets and scammers in this area and I must say I think my youngest would make a great policeman. Security was very good. There is an outer perimeter fence around the tower, and you must have your bag inspected and walk through a metal detector. This raised my alarm because C had purchased a letter opener that looked like a sword at the army museum (we weren’t planning to go up the Eiffel); but they did not open the souvenir box. I had already been practicing my French for “Can you please hold it for us?” and they waived us through. Huh. Okay. But then, there is another security check point to go up the tower. This one is in an airport style xray machine, as well as a metal detector. Needless to say, we were flagged. I unleashed my French phrase, to no avail; and we were the spectacle to some British visitors. And poor C had to surrender his precious letter opener, which ended up being a big deal by then end of the trip…. More on that later. 

Next up, we waited in line for the lift to the second floor- and it’s much higher than you might expect- when the doors opened I thought we were at the top. We got off and got some good pictures, and then waited for the lift to the top. The top is as you would expect it to be, with champagne available for purchase, with a price tag that was as you would expect it to be. I got my kiss at the top of the Eiffel, though. The boys liked the inside level because it had pinpoints of how far you were from famous cities. I liked it because it was warm. We caught a quick elevator down to the second level, and then, for some reason- time seemed to stand still while another huge storm rolled through with drenching rain, wind and cold. Yep, I mean, it’s always fun to stand in that for 30 minutes. We bonded with some Americans though, from Iowa I think- as we shivered and suffered in solidarity in the cold. For some reason, the other lift line moved faster than ours, and we never figured that out. All in all, I would still say it’s a must do. For this, I was thankful for a winter visit that had winter lines.

         Street Crepes and Hot Mulled Wine- Street vendor close to the Seine- better picture location! 

The Catacombs- Open Tuesday- Sunday 10am- 8pm; Under 18 is free; Recommend pre-book as the line is very long- even in cold winter.

As you can imagine at this point, we were starting to fade, but we had done the recommended and pre-booked our tickets to the Catacombs. So, on we went…. We had to take a train over to this location- it’s not ideally right beside where we were or anything, but our itinerary being what it was- Sunday was the best day to do it. Note that there are no restrooms below in the catacombs- we popped over to a McDonalds to handle that before entering. The audio tour was approx. 30-45 minutes, and I don’t think I would have found it as interesting without the audio guide. So do that. My kids thought this was super creepy and cool- but if you have little ones, they might be spooked. If you have a problem with caves, note that it is underground, without light. I’m fairly claustrophobic, though and I did ok. All in all, the catacombs were among the top favorite spots for my kids. You can read the full trip advisor review: HERE. 

Photo by Martin Hueneke

Dinner- Les Antiquaires; 13 rue de Bac, Paris; reservations accepted and probably recommended

That concluded our really long first official sight- seeing day. I just referenced my steps on the activity log on my phone, and yes, this day banked over 20, 500 steps and 29 flights of stairs. So, needless to say, we were ready to get off our feet. This was our heaviest walking day in Paris, but what a good one.

My next blog will be on Day 3, and I’ll cover the Louvre, Notre Dame, St. Chappelle, and our fantastic river cruise on the Seine. Check back soon! 

Day 1: Jet Lag Day in Paris

In the next few blog posts, I plan to break down a 7 day itinerary for our trip in Paris. I actually had a hard time finding a seven day version- as most were 1, 2, 3, or 4 days. We obviously did not see and do everything in Paris, and since the weather was quite cold and rainy, we did not get to experience the parks and picnics that a summer visit would allow. However, I believe that the crowds were significantly reduced, thanks to the timing of our visit- which was March 4-11. Keep in mind, that I'm writing this for the traveler who is newer to these experiences, and might be stating the obvious to experienced travelers.

Day 1- Jet Lag Day

               We landed in Paris at CDG at around 9:20ish am, which felt like about 2:20am our time. We do not sleep well on planes, and this part is a bit of a beating. Thank goodness Martin had booked a driver recommended by our VRBO.com rental agent, to pick us up at the airport. We had learned from our London experience that this is money well spent. There is nothing worse than trying to manipulate a foreign city, metro or subway system, while dragging 4 suitcases, 4 carryon bags, and 2 kids behind you; all while in a jet lagged fog. Our driver spoke great English, loaded our suitcases, and saved us loads of time and walking; much less the agony of processing French and a subway system in a foggy state of mind. Also, the stairwell of the apartment was extremely narrow, and about three flights, so it was nice to have another guy to help haul up luggage; elevators are scarce in European buildings. I highly recommend asking your rental company for a driver recommendation if you’re traveling abroad. He was also a fun and willing guinea pig for our French skills. 😉

               We headed to our apartment- which was booked through VRBO.com. It was listing #139630. This rental apartment was a 2 bedroom with 1.5 bathrooms (2 showers, 2 sinks, 1 toilet closet), a living room, and a small kitchen that was equipped with all modern conveniences except an oven. We made do without the oven, just fine. It was perfectly located in the 6^th arrondissement of central Paris on the Rue Saint Germain des Pres. This is a main street in Paris, but that afforded us the convenience of plenty of shops, a grocery store, and a metro stop just a couple blocks away. The double pane windows helped buffer the street noise, and if you’re going in the winter, this would be something to check for. If you’re going in summer, most units do not have AC, so you will have to open the windows to the street traffic. Security was good- even though our apartment was literally on a main street between a restaurant and a boutique- we felt very safe because we had to use a key remote to get in the first door, and use it again to get into the second door in the hallway before climbing the stairs to our apartment. 

If you are going to “travel like a local” then you really do need to take care in researching the location of your rental for safety, as well as walking distance grocery stores. Nothing is worse than carrying bags of groceries for blocks. Except of course, the aforementioned 8 bags coming from the airport with kids in tow. We were able to secure a better rate on this rental because of some work that was being done on the façade of the building. We were pre-advised by the owner that this was going to be the case. We quickly learned that the French work day started promptly at 7:50-8am, but also ended just as promptly sometime around or before 5 (we were not always there to know). Since most of our day was spent sight-seeing, it was not an issue, but it is something to consider if there will be construction going on near or at your rental (which seemed to be the case in a lot of Paris). They did work on Saturday morning, as well.

Tip: To get an idea of your rental’s safety, convenience, and even the construction situation- jump over to google earth and plug in the address for your rental and take a look around the nearby streets. You may have to contact the rental company or owner to get the address as VRBO does not provide that information on the website until after it is booked.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a box of Julhes Parisian chocolates and a bottle of wine greeting us at the apartment; as well as a booklet to familiarize ourselves with the idiosyncrasies of the rental, instructions on how to work equipment, and wi-fi instructions and troubleshooting (which we did end up needing as this was our only challenge). We also found that this rental was well stocked with paper towels, toilet paper, soap, even laundry detergent, fabric softener, and dish detergents- this was a nice surprise since some rentals we've stayed in do not provide all of that beyond the initial start up supply. We really did feel that Ala Carte rentals thought of everything we would need. 

There was a grocery store about two blocks away- the Monoprix, which you will find all over Paris. These stores have everything from women’s clothing, children’s clothing, a Starbucks, a bakery, toiletries, all in addition to a well-stocked market and grocery area. They do have rotisserie chickens, an extensive meat and cheese counter, and sushi as well. We found that the produce tended to be less expensive than the US, while the meats- poultry, lunch meats, etc. were more expensive. We did bring some things from home, and packed in our suitcases- based on our experiences in London. We brought pre-packaged almonds and cashews, kids snacks (if it will smoosh, then put in hard plastic school boxes), paper plates and napkins (short supply and really expensive in Europe), plastic cutlery for potential picnics (our weather did not comply- but good to know for summer); as well as a cooler bag, Ziploc bags in sandwich, snack, and gallon size; and a collapsible grocery bag- as almost no one uses store bags in Europe. I would say the ziplocs bags and the grocery bags received the most use on our trip. I carried the collapsible zipped up grocery bag in my cross body purse each day, and we used it almost every single day. 

For lunch the first day, we picked up some prepared foods from the Monoprix- pasta salad, olives, wraps and sandwiches. This allowed us all to eat at our leisure- before or after our naps; C did not make it very long and napped first. That night for dinner- we ventured back and since we were feeling more refreshed- we picked up chicken, pasta, pesto sauce, cheese, salad and bread to make an actual meal.

This is all we did the first day. If you are traveling internationally with children, and there is a significant time change, I do not recommend planning anything for your first day- if you can help it. We’ve done this on all three international trips we’ve taken across the pond, and it has worked well in all cases. We usually land, head to our location, eat, and then nap and then take the rest of the day easy until the proper bed time. I find this is the best way to avoid grumpy, tired "family drama". If we feel good and want to go out after our nap, then we do- but we keep the expectations at zero so that no one is grumpy or disappointed.

Additional jet lag tips- drink lots and lots of water; pop a vitamin C/Zinc supplement to combat anything that might haunt you from the recycled air on the plane.

Experienced travelers, what do you do your first day to combat jet lag? I look forward to sharing Day 2 with you tomorrow, and we'll get into even more details about the sites we visited, with tips and tricks for when you go!

Leche Vitrine- Watching the Window Watchers

Today was our first day to be in Paris as a family. Although, I would call it half a day since the first half was in the air, or in transit, or napping to catch up and recover from jet lag. So, after our “introduction” to Paris, we found ourselves maneuvering the rainy streets and puddles of "our" street- Saint Germain des Pres, in the sixth arrondissement of Paris, on a very gray first day.

 I tried my best to look “Parisian” but despite my best efforts and to my great frustration, apparently, I was spotted as American even before I opened my mouth, and even though I tried to instigate and carry on French conversation. I asked my boys about this later, and M said it was because I was too nice, and didn’t carry my “Bonjour!” greeting with a bored face. LOL. If I’m too friendly, well, then so be it.

This evening, we headed home with our meats, cheeses, pastas, wine, and yes, the quintessential and necessary baguette- to make dinner at our “home” apartment. As we entered, I decided to move a chair towards the windows, which open up out onto the street, overlooking some very pricey shops with extremely creative window dressings. Currently, our unit façade is being renovated, and therefore, we were able to negotiate a better deal on the week’s stay. However, the netting over the scaffolding still affords a clear view of the street, the shops, and people passing by.

 I found myself completely absorbed in people watching. TV off, phone put away, nothing in my hands, but a glass of red wine. As I watched the people passing by, I noticed that even in the rain, they slowed down to peruse the shop windows. After watching a while, I pondered it aloud to Martin- remarking that I had read somewhere, in preparation for our travels, that there is a slang saying in Paris (“leche vitrine”)- “licking the window”. When I read this, I immediately pictured the moment of “licking a bowl” of the dish that appeases your senses but leaves you wishing for more.

 As I watched the Parisians walk by, I noticed that not just one, but two, then three begin to slow their steps to peruse the window and/or the one next to it, obviously “leche vitrine”. The one window had a blue/gray background, and a set up that looked a bit like a kitchen with the blue/gray counters behind the mannequins- both dressed in men’s clothing- one with some very trendy narrow legged French jeans, and a dark blue puffy vest. Nothing too striking, in my opinion. I laughed aloud and commented to the boys that it was funny to watch the people walk by and get “caught”. After a few minutes I started to notice people not only slowing their steps, but doing full on double takes, slowing down, and going back to look at the displays. A few actually followed up by going in. What in the world was so effectively catching their eye? I wondered aloud that this must be some kind of art form for them to stop what they’re doing and look at a set up of clothes, because in the US, well, we run past this stuff without a second thought. We talked about how de-sensitized we must be to walk past all that beauty and intentional art, and not even see it. How we always have heads down, mission on, and miss things around us.

 After a while, I was laughing and laughing, because it happened over, and over and over. It became such a spectacle that the boys became curious and came over and sat by the window and started to watch, and laugh…. “Here comes the next victim!” We laughed and laughed as over and over the passerbyers became caught in the “web of the shop window”. At one point, I had to leave my spot at the window, and the boys said, "don’t worry mom, we’ll keep watching!" One of the last victims of the night was a guy riding by on a unicycle, who elected to double back, stop and pause at both windows….. that became a highlight of the night’s spectacle. We lost interest at some point, but decided that the next day we would watch to see if candy and chocolate displays garnered the same respect as fashion.

In the days that followed, I slowed down at the shop windows- letting my eyes take in the vibrant colors, well-made products and intentional art that had been created for me. And while I soaked it all in, I will say, I’m pretty proud of the will power I exercised at only “licking the window” and not buying what was in it. Well, with one exception…. You’ll hear about that later.

 I’d like to challenge you to slow down, double back, take a look around you; and let me know what commonplace, every day things you begin to appreciate and see.