Europe- Part 5- Paris
So I wrote these posts so long ago and realize I never posted them! Then I naturally froze my computer since I hadn't turned it on since December and lost a lot of things!
I love explaining everything and talking details, but I might just do a condensed version so I don't have to type so much.
Paris. What can I say. It was so pretty and I love it and my life is now more complete because Barrett has been there and can imagine it when I dream of it out loud.
We took a train Sunday night and first class was only five more dollars so we went for it. We ate a little dinner (mmm, cheese) while Addison slept on my chest in the carrier and I even got Barrett's cheese because he found it repulsive! He did not, however, give me his chocolate mousse. I love trains, enough said.
When we arrived (around 10 pm) at the train station we followed the 1,000,000 signs to catch the RER to our part of town and off we went! I would like to congratulate myself on the fact that I navigated 100% from train across Paris to hotel (including walking) without using a map or anything! I have studied maps of Paris a bit too much I suppose, but felt super accomplished navigating metro stops and little streets and knowing exactly where I was!
We got to the hotel, and in true French form, the man working the night shift was a total jerk and also our room hadn't been reserved correctly, though I checked at least 5 times to ensure a crib. After and hour or so of Barrett walking to other hotels to check for a crib and Addison half crying as she crawled/dragged herslef around the floor of the lobby, they found a broken pack and play, we gave her a quick bath in the shower (yay, routines!) and we went to bed. It was awesome because midnight their time is about late afternoon here in Utah, so it wasn't actually crazy late for her. Ironically, Home Latin ended up being our favorite sleeping arrangement because they had to give us a suite and Addison got her own room!
In the morn I let them sleep in and I walked around St. Germain and went shopping, then picked up some croissants and pastries. We headed out 11ish, dropped our bags at our new hotel, and wandered over to the Louvre. I could have just walked around all day enjoying the feeling of the city.
Louvre: Awesome. Passed the line. Did a tour of the most awesome things. Addison slept on Barrett's back, which is hilarious, she slept at all the famous places. Barrett loved it. We picnicked in the Garden de Tuileries. Walk walk walk walk walk. Mostly uphill. The map was NOT to scale and Montmartre was way further than it seemed, but hey we saw, like, tons of the City.
Sacre Coeur: The prettiest. So glad I could show it Barrett. Dinner outside a cafe. Ideal life moment. He had duck and I had steak and it was amazing. We took the Metro back to St. Germain walked around a bit and, voila, our day was done.
Day two condensed: We left the hotel by maybe 10! Nice work.
Notre Dame: Pretty. And pretty packed. We opted out of the tour and went to the crypt for a little. We walked to pic up bus tickets and took the bus over to the Musee D'Orsay.
Musee D'Orsay: It was cool, but not my fav, especially after already being to the Van Gogh Museum and Louvre, which pretty much can't be topped. To be honest though, the view of the river from the balcony/ deck was worth the entire trip.
Hopped on the bus again (it takes you in a round-about way to see sights), passed the Arc de Triomphe, headed over to the Eiffel Tower! Yay! So pretty.
River cruise! Addie fell asleep while waiting in line and woke up upon disembarking, so that was nice. It was amazing. I'm a total water person, and I think last time I was in Paris, my cruise was at night so this was a totally different view. The most amazing view of anything ever, obviously. Also: boat, Paris, need I say more.
We walked around the Eiffel Tower for a bit, took a few pics, hopped on our bus, got a super awesome tour of the rest of the city as we finished the loop and ended up over by our hotel at Notre Dame again. We stopped for dinner at a cafe right next to the cathedral and again- ideal life moment. Barrett got duck (again! who knew he liked duck!) and I had delicious salmon.
Everyone all day gave Addie treats and love and chatted with her. People in Europe love babies! And I love Paris!
The next morning we woke up early and metro-ed over to the train station. We hopped on our train with honestly, maybe seven minutes to spare. Oops. Back to Amsterdam we go!
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