It's A WONDERful 2015 - Feb Cruise, May WDW grand tour, and France/DLP! NEW 10/25 Nice & End!

[Imagineer5]

Sounds like a fun morning and probably good Aria got to burn some energy before the flight

As cool as the Harry Potter areas are I do think Disney does a better job of not having the other areas break up the theming - just being able to see those other rides in the distance while on the hippogrygh ride kinda loses some of the immersion.

Looking forward to hear, er, reading, about France!

Yeah I agree, especially when most areas of Universal are not nearly as well themed as the HP stuff.

Looks like a great ending to your trip! I can't wait for the France part of the TR to begin!!

Thank you!!

Another great report....I'm ready for the France visit now

Thanks!! Me too!

So excited!


Haha, sounds like last-day-of-vacation-breakfast to me.


I'm sure Izzy would do the same. (Well, I guess she has with the Nick Jr. characters at MoA - never seen their shows, but happy to meet them).


Absolutely! Can't wait to hear all about it!

LOL Yes, eating up whatever we had left! Thanks!

I loved this portion of the trip and look forward to reading along with France.

Thank you!

Sounds like a great way to end the trip, and I can't wait to hear about France!

I can't wait to revisit it hehe!

 

[Imagineer5]

France September 2015

A little background:

We try to take a "big" trip to Europe (or otherwise, but so far it's been Europe) every other year. Right now we are focusing on places that seem kid-friendly from my large bucket list of vacations (which include Greece, Galapagos/Amazon, South Africa, Australia, etc). Well France was on there, so that seemed like the most kid-friendly of the bunch to bring a then 3 year old. Over a year in advance I had finally settled on an itinerary after doing quite a lot of research based on knowing we wanted to start in Paris, end in Nice and have a rental car.

In order to narrow down an itinerary, I spent some time looking at various tours (Rick Steves and Adventures by Disney along with some others) to get an idea where they go, and see what sounds appealing to us. This is what we came up with:

Paris - 4 nights
Disneyland Paris - 4 nights
Loire Valley - 3 nights
Beaune (Burgundy) - 2 nights
Avignon - 2 nights
Nice - 3 nights

At the time, we were also trying for Baby #2, so we decided to take a break from that and book the trip and when the timing was right to start trying again (couldn't be 38 weeks preggo in France, or have a 2 week old!). Of course, I ended up finally getting preggo and so at the start of the trip I had just entered my 3rd trimester at 27 weeks.

We left Boston on Thursday, September 3rd, arriving in Paris (direct flight) in the morning of the 4th. So without further ado, let's start the TR!

I have no pictures from our time in the airport apparently, but we grabbed dinner while waiting to board, in hopes that we'd get some sleep pretty soon after getting on. Our last overnight flight was so weird - we boarded around 8PM, and they waited to serve "dinner" until about 12AM, then FINALLY shut the lights off for the last hour or so. Well this time thankfully they served dinner right away (although we'd already eaten) and then shut the lights down. So we all slept pretty well (Aria slept the whole way in her car seat), I got about 2 hours total and Andrew maybe 4. It is 6 hours ahead in Paris, so we arrived around 8:30 AM Paris-time and quickly went about getting the luggage, changed clothes to freshen up and soon went to grab the rental car. Our first hang up was that we could only find one ATM and it was out of order - I hadn't brought any euros with us, because the exchange rate is SO much better just getting cash from an ATM in France (and our bank, USAA, refunds any ATM charges) but that plan went out the window when we couldn't get any money out.

Then we couldn't find the rental car area! We wandered aimlessly for a while but didn't see any signs. Finally we asked someone (in English, I hadn't had the time to learn much French unfortunately, but we got by okay) and figured it out - it was in this trailer sort of building outside beyond the car pickup areas.

Once there, we hit quite a line. Aria was pretty excited to be in France but was hungry and obviously feeling a little off from the lack of sleep and being awake so "early" so I hung out with her while Andrew waited, and waited. Once he had checked in for the car, we waited another 1/2 hour for the car to be ready. We were about an hour behind schedule at this point, but it didn't really matter too much as our only plans for the day were to drive to the Monet Gardens in Giverny, then drive into Paris to get into our apartment in the afternoon.

Finally our car was ready, and they had upgraded us to a minivan sort of car (nice for all the luggage, stroller, etc that we had). I took a photo of it but later in the trip so you'll see it then lol.

Then we were on our way! Because we had no cash, I used the no-toll method to get to Giverny - before the trip I printed out Google directions with and without tolls. We had a GPS with Europe maps, too, so that was very useful. I had also signed us up for an Andrews Federal Credit Union CC which has a chip and pin like Europeans use, which should work with toll booths but I wanted to have cash just in case.

On the way, Aria napped, and we admired the beautiful countryside. It was a gorgeous drive and thankfully our excitement kept us going.

Finally some photos - I promise I have a TON to post, just didn't have many from our flight and all that.

We drove through many small villages

And an hour or so after leaving the airport we made it to Giverny. It was a really cute town, and the parking for Monet's house and gardens was next to a little sandwich shop so we stopped there first for lunch.

Thankfully I had pre-purchased our tickets online - this didn't save us any money but sure saved us a lot of time as there was quite a line outside waiting to buy tickets. We were able to walk right in! So Monet's gardens in Giverny is the house where Monet lived and gave him quite the inspiration for his paintings.

It was busy but not packed inside thankfully and we walked around at a leisurely pace.

We were able to tour through the house as well as the gardens. I think these are all replicas:

View from the house -

Love these beautiful large windows

Kitchen

Then we headed back out into the gardens

We made it to where there are ponds and a little stream, just stunning!

The weather was going in and out of being slightly chilly today (and it rained during our drive). It was about 70, but we were used to 80's at home so it felt cool.

By around 2PM we had seen everything and decided to head out to try and beat the traffic into Paris. I also texted the woman we were meeting to let us into the apartment to let her know we were on our way.

We actually didn't have any issues driving into the city and soon found the apartment (3PM by now). I hadn't had a return text though so I called her and she had never received it - ugH! But she was there waiting for us and came down to let us into the garage - one HUGE perk of the place was the owner had a space in a garage we were able to use. Once parked, we unpacked the car and then attempted to find an elevator or a way out. We meandered a bit and finally found two elevators. We couldn't all fit in one, so I took Aria in the stroller while Andrew, the key lady, and the luggage went in the other...

Well the elevators actually let you out in totally different buildings! Aria and I were in the lobby of one, with a door that locks. I didn't have anywhere to go, and couldn't get on the elevator without a key. While standing there hoping they could manage to come in the elevator, a 20-something guy was knocking on the glass door asking me to let him in. I sort of played dumb because, well, here I was a pregnant woman with a 3 year old girl all alone and that locked door was my only protection at that point lol. A friend of his let him in though and he gave me an incredulous look and kept going, and about 10 minutes later Andrew and the key lady appeared outside haha. THey had walked around the block looking for us.

Phew! Back on our way, we made it to the front of OUR apartment building and headed inside. Finally we made it to our floor (6th) and into the apartment. It was SO SO spacious! It is a 1 br/ 1 ba with a futon in the living area, a full kitchen ,etc and of course with the view of the EIffel tower! <3

There is a washer in the kitchen as well

View straight out

After checking the place out we did a little unpacking, and Andrew headed back to the car in hopes of figuring out the elevator situation, which he did thankfully, and we relaxed for a few minutes. We decided to go on a short walk to a small corner store to get some food for the apartment, including some soda, juice, fruit and snacks.

Coming up - our evening with Andrew's aunt & uncle from Holland who came to Paris this same weekend as an anniversary trip, and a trip up the Eiffel Tower!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow - seems like a pretty smooth flight all in all - and awesome the Aria slept through it! Sounds like a bit of a pain with the rental car, but at least you got that upgrade which is nice!

I would have freaked out a bit about not being able to get cash our, but seems like you managed ok

Those gardens are pretty darn nice - really looks like a living painting

Wow - that elevator situation seems a bit wonky! Gland Andrew figured it out for later though

For a 1br in a major city that apartment looks huge! and of course, what a view!

 

[wiscbugs]

Boy that is quite the view from your apartment!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

The hotel has an art deco sort of look, and I do like the aqua color scheme

I love the décor of this hotel! So retro! You mentioned Aria had stayed asleep in her stroller while you went downstairs to picked up the rest of your belongings from the car - I admire how you were able to push a sleeping little one in her stroller and still balance all of the bags at the same time!

 

[cindianne320]

Wow! That apartment had an amazing view! So far your trip looks wonderful and I can't wait to hear more!

 

[Dugette]

which include Greece, Galapagos/Amazon, South Africa, Australia, etc

Great list. Dug's aunt and uncle just got back from Greece, so I enjoyed seeing all of their photos on FB. My dad and stepmom are going to South Africa later this year and they are making a 4-night stopover in Paris on their way back!

Our last overnight flight was so weird - we boarded around 8PM, and they waited to serve "dinner" until about 12AM, then FINALLY shut the lights off for the last hour or so.

Yikes, glad it was better this trip!

Aria slept the whole way in her car seat

Yay, Aria!

Then we were on our way! Because we had no cash, I used the no-toll method to get to Giverny - before the trip I printed out Google directions with and without tolls.

Glad you happened to have the no-toll directions ready!

Ah, yes, I remember the no-gestational-diabetes baguette plans.

We made it to where there are ponds and a little stream, just stunning!

The whole place looks beautiful!

one HUGE perk of the place was the owner had a space in a garage we were able to use.

That's a really nice perk! I hadn't even thought about that!

Well the elevators actually let you out in totally different buildings! Aria and I were in the lobby of one, with a door that locks. I didn't have anywhere to go, and couldn't get on the elevator without a key.

Wow, how weird! And scary. Glad they found you.

It was SO SO spacious! It is a 1 br/ 1 ba with a futon in the living area, a full kitchen ,etc and of course with the view of the EIffel tower! <3

Looks amazing. If we go, I think we're likely to try to book it!

Gotta love that view!

Coming up - our evening with Andrew's aunt & uncle from Holland who came to Paris this same weekend as an anniversary trip, and a trip up the Eiffel Tower!

Can't wait!

 

[chookie94]

That view is absolutely amazing! Cant wait to hear more about your trip.

Your Disney trip is Aria sounds like it was a lot of fun and her disney outfits are adorable.

 

[Imagineer5]

Wow - seems like a pretty smooth flight all in all - and awesome the Aria slept through it! Sounds like a bit of a pain with the rental car, but at least you got that upgrade which is nice!

I would have freaked out a bit about not being able to get cash our, but seems like you managed ok

Those gardens are pretty darn nice - really looks like a living painting

Wow - that elevator situation seems a bit wonky! Gland Andrew figured it out for later though

For a 1br in a major city that apartment looks huge! and of course, what a view!

Yeah, the Monet's Gardens were definitely a must-do. I'm not super into art, but I would say Monet is my favorite artist.

It was huge, way bigger than I anticipated really (photos can be deceiving!). That view is why we chose it though, of course!

Boy that is quite the view from your apartment!!!

Yes, we enjoyed it daily. I'd stay there again in a heartbeat!

I love the décor of this hotel! So retro! You mentioned Aria had stayed asleep in her stroller while you went downstairs to picked up the rest of your belongings from the car - I admire how you were able to push a sleeping little one in her stroller and still balance all of the bags at the same time!

I've done that a number of times, too

Wow! That apartment had an amazing view! So far your trip looks wonderful and I can't wait to hear more!

Thank you, it was a great start for sure.

Great list. Dug's aunt and uncle just got back from Greece, so I enjoyed seeing all of their photos on FB. My dad and stepmom are going to South Africa later this year and they are making a 4-night stopover in Paris on their way back!


Yikes, glad it was better this trip!


Yay, Aria!


Glad you happened to have the no-toll directions ready!


Ah, yes, I remember the no-gestational-diabetes baguette plans.


The whole place looks beautiful!


That's a really nice perk! I hadn't even thought about that!


Wow, how weird! And scary. Glad they found you.


Looks amazing. If we go, I think we're likely to try to book it!


Gotta love that view!


Can't wait!

Yes I did a LOT of pre-work for the trip so we were prepared - in case the GPS was faulty we had those directions handy for every car trip thankfully. Hahaha I forgot all about the week leading up to the trip and worrying about not being able to eat all the yummy foods - phew!

I'm a little anxious about traveling to Greece right now with all the upset in the country and its proximity to the middle east as well.

That view is absolutely amazing! Cant wait to hear more about your trip.

Your Disney trip is Aria sounds like it was a lot of fun and her disney outfits are adorable.

Aw thank you!

 

[Imagineer5]

Moving on while my internet at work seems to be working again -

Before we left for France, we mentioned to Andrew's Aunt Marina and Uncle Erik who live in Holland that we'd be going there and when. They have a sweet 3 hour fast train ride to get to Paris so they decided to spend their anniversary weekend the same time we were going! So we proceeded to figure out what we wanted to do together and what we wanted to do separately (since this was our first time, we were doing many things they didn't feel the need to do again). It worked out great!

Our first evening we planned on meeting up and finding dinner, although I hadn't made a reservation in case something came up or we were sick or whatever. So after having a couple hours to get settled and get a few groceries, they showed up and we hung out at the apartment for a while.

Aria was excited to show all the toy's we brought for the plane ride (that she never played with lol)

After catching up, we headed out for an "early" dinner - it was about 6PM and we had 9PM tickets to go up to the Eiffel Tower (PHEW!). We walked through the park, chatting and scouting for a restaurant along the border of the park.

We settled on a place (I had 3 in mind with good trip advisor (TA) reviews) and they were able to give us a table to keep the stroller with us - we aren't in Disney of course!

Aria was super silly despite the crazy day and we had a wonderful time with Marina and Erik.

I don't remember what exactly we ate here, although the food was good. We did have time for dessert and I ordered a crème brulee while Andrew had a trio of desserts. Marina & Erik shared a pear cake that I don't remember the name, but it's a very French dessert. I tried one later in the trip.

After dinner we parted ways. Now you may ask WHY I thought it was a good idea to make Eiffel Tower reservations SO late after a terrible nights sleep on a plane lol, and the reasons are twofold:

1) I couldn't get tickets for any other time
and
2) We learned from our long trip to Italy that staying up and making that first day a full day got us right into the time change and the next day it would feel totally normal. On that trip we took a walking tour of Rome until 10PM and felt great for the rest of the trip.

So, we headed over to the Eiffel tower.

There were a ton of street vendors selling everything from light up tops to beer and wine. Actually another day we saw a grate slightly out of place and I looked in and saw a cooler with beer inside, so they must hide them there in the park? So weird. It was definitely more sketchy and add in the dark and we were happy to have the Pacsafe backpack which has lockable zippers and a stainless steel mesh lining to prevent anyone slashing it open.

We couldn't believe we were standing here, under the Eiffel tower.

It was seriously AMAZING. Way bigger than we had ever imagined, and just stunning from every angle.

The workmanship is just mind blowing.

In order to get to the top, you take two elevators - one that is at an angle inside one of the legs, and another that takes you straight up. We had pre-purchased tickets in order to avoid long waits, and boy are we glad! There were lines 100's of people deep to go up. We actually were a little early however for our visit so we spotted a carousel nearby and killed some time by going on that.

Aria wanted to ride the "moootercycle" - that is what she called motorcycles. She has since started calling them motorcycles, but it was so cute when she called them mootercycles

And then we headed back to go on up. Andrew and I fought here. We couldn't bring the stroller up unfolded, so he quickly was shoving the stuff underneath into my hands, folded it up and propped it against the side of the building ?!?!?!?!?! Like seriously planning on leaving our City Mini at the base of the Eiffel Tower. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I am still dumb founded by this idea. I quickly told him in no uncertain terms we were bringing it with us, and unfortunately for the rest of the visit he huffed about carrying it. We *should* have stopped at the apartment at dropped off the stroller but didn't and instead he had to carry the stroller. Oh well. I'm still mad about this dumb encounter.

Anyway, we had to go through a security of sorts, putting everything through an xray and then walking through one ourselves. But soon we were in the first elevator.

From there you have to get into another line to get into the 2nd elevator to get to the top. After the 2nd elevator, you had to climb a few stairs and you finally were at the top. You can imagine how that all went with a huffy, tired husband. But we made it and were loving the view.

It was chilly, so I was wearing Andrew's jacket, and carrying a blanket we had brought for Aria and her milk cup lol.

Some views, this is the Seine river

There are a number of museums and other things in this building, one of which was the maritime museum we visit on another day

We even got a family photo

And after maybe 30 minutes or so we headed down.

I attempted a quick photo of Aria in her Eiffel tower dress but it came out blurry

And from there we called it a night. What a crazy, fabulous, exciting and LONG day! haha. But we were in Paris and so excited to see more the next day!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Awesome update. What an adorable dress.

 

[Dugette]

Before we left for France, we mentioned to Andrew's Aunt Marina and Uncle Erik who live in Holland that we'd be going there and when. They have a sweet 3 hour fast train ride to get to Paris so they decided to spend their anniversary weekend the same time we were going! So we proceeded to figure out what we wanted to do together and what we wanted to do separately (since this was our first time, we were doing many things they didn't feel the need to do again). It worked out great!

How cool that you were able to spend time with long-distance family members. Glad it worked out well!

2) We learned from our long trip to Italy that staying up and making that first day a full day got us right into the time change and the next day it would feel totally normal. On that trip we took a walking tour of Rome until 10PM and felt great for the rest of the trip.

So, did it work for this trip?

So, we headed over to the Eiffel tower.

So gorgeous all lit up like that.

Pacsafe backpack which has lockable zippers and a stainless steel mesh lining to prevent anyone slashing it open.

Didn't know about these, but that's pretty cool, especially for travel.

Aria wanted to ride the "moootercycle" - that is what she called motorcycles. She has since started calling them motorcycles, but it was so cute when she called them mootercycles

Cute! I am going to have to show Izzy this update! Not only does she love the Eiffel Tower, but she is obsessed with motorcycles. She wants a pink and purple one with only ONE seat...nobody is allowed to ride with her.

Like seriously planning on leaving our City Mini at the base of the Eiffel Tower. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! Um, yeah, given the sketchiness you described, I don't think it would have stayed there long. Maybe a vendor would have sold it back to you for a big markup. At first, I was thinking it was your City Select and I could see why he'd be grumpy about that, since it's so heavy - but the City Mini wouldn't have been too bad - I think it's about the weight of our B-Agile and can be carried by a handle, right? Not so bad.

Gotta love the sign reminding people not to throw their trash off the Eiffel Tower.

Some views, this is the Seine river

Beautiful!

I attempted a quick photo of Aria in her Eiffel tower dress but it came out blurry

Still cute! Love the dress!

 

[Imagineer5]

Awesome update. What an adorable dress.

Aw thanks! It was a great first night.

How cool that you were able to spend time with long-distance family members. Glad it worked out well!


So, did it work for this trip?


So gorgeous all lit up like that.


Didn't know about these, but that's pretty cool, especially for travel.


Cute! I am going to have to show Izzy this update! Not only does she love the Eiffel Tower, but she is obsessed with motorcycles. She wants a pink and purple one with only ONE seat...nobody is allowed to ride with her.


Wow! Um, yeah, given the sketchiness you described, I don't think it would have stayed there long. Maybe a vendor would have sold it back to you for a big markup. At first, I was thinking it was your City Select and I could see why he'd be grumpy about that, since it's so heavy - but the City Mini wouldn't have been too bad - I think it's about the weight of our B-Agile and can be carried by a handle, right? Not so bad.


Gotta love the sign reminding people not to throw their trash off the Eiffel Tower.


Beautiful!


Still cute! Love the dress!

Yep, timing was fine. I was surprised we all made it so late, but the next day was fairly normal.

We first purchased the Pacsafe for our trip to Italy in 2009 (or 8, I can never remember lol) and have used it since, so it certainly holds up well. Definitely worth the hefty pricetag. I also use it for Disney trips (so it's probably been on a total of 20 vacations!)

I'm still flabbergasted he thought that would be a good idea!! And yes, it was the city mini. Granted we had to hold a few things that we had stuffed in the base, but it was okay.

 

[schmass]

Whoo hooo - you started the France part!

That is a GREAT apartment you got - what a view! That balcony with the Eiffel Tower in the background is amazing.

That is so fun that you got to spend time with relatives while you were there.

Beautiful pictures from the Eiffel Tower, but sorry it was sketchy and you and Andrew got in an argument. My own memories of the Eiffel Tower involve crying up at the top due to an argument. One day I'll have to go back to Paris so I can have some better memories there!

 

[cindianne320]

Wow! That view from the top is amazing! I can't believe DH wanted to leave the stroller at the bottom! But that so sounds like something my DH would try to do!

 

[khertz]

I missed so much!!!

Great wrap up to your Disney/Universal trip. I'm glad you ended up getting a bonus MK day, and what a great list of things you were able to do that day! I remember Universal being tough with DS the first time we took him and he was still to short for almost everything, so that was probably the best idea! It is SO much more fun now that he is bigger & more adventurous!

Also love the pics of Aria after BBB. What a pretty princess she made!!

So excited about the start of your France TR! I'm glad Aria did so well with the plane trip over and the long arrival day. But you are so right, it is best to just push through and get yourself adjusted to the time. We did the walking food tour until 10 pm the day we arrived in Rome for our ABD trip, and although I was super exhausted at the time, it made the rest of the trip so much easier to adjust to. If we ever do another ABD abroad again, we will absolutely do pre-nights again!

Can't believe the view at that apartment. Gorgeous!!! And the pics from the Eiffel Tower are beautiful. I could see DH and I having that same argument about the stroller too. lol

 

[Imagineer5]

Whoo hooo - you started the France part!

That is a GREAT apartment you got - what a view! That balcony with the Eiffel Tower in the background is amazing.

That is so fun that you got to spend time with relatives while you were there.

Beautiful pictures from the Eiffel Tower, but sorry it was sketchy and you and Andrew got in an argument. My own memories of the Eiffel Tower involve crying up at the top due to an argument. One day I'll have to go back to Paris so I can have some better memories there!

Oh no!! I'm sorry you had a bad experience there! LOL I tried to make the best of it, and thankfully Aria doesn't remember us fighting about the stroller haha.

Wow! That view from the top is amazing! I can't believe DH wanted to leave the stroller at the bottom! But that so sounds like something my DH would try to do!

Hahahaha yeah it was pretty ridiculous, but glad we made it up and had such neat views.

I missed so much!!!

Great wrap up to your Disney/Universal trip. I'm glad you ended up getting a bonus MK day, and what a great list of things you were able to do that day! I remember Universal being tough with DS the first time we took him and he was still to short for almost everything, so that was probably the best idea! It is SO much more fun now that he is bigger & more adventurous!

Also love the pics of Aria after BBB. What a pretty princess she made!!

So excited about the start of your France TR! I'm glad Aria did so well with the plane trip over and the long arrival day. But you are so right, it is best to just push through and get yourself adjusted to the time. We did the walking food tour until 10 pm the day we arrived in Rome for our ABD trip, and although I was super exhausted at the time, it made the rest of the trip so much easier to adjust to. If we ever do another ABD abroad again, we will absolutely do pre-nights again!

Can't believe the view at that apartment. Gorgeous!!! And the pics from the Eiffel Tower are beautiful. I could see DH and I having that same argument about the stroller too. lol

Aw thank you!! I'd like to go back to Universal now that Aria is older (taller) but with DH or Lynda or something.

Yes exactly - so nice to start out the trip acting like you're already adjusted to the time, then it just evens out so quickly.

 

[Imagineer5]

France Day 2 - Paris

Paris has a Museum Pass which allows you entry to almost all of the museums and attractions in the city (and beyond). It includes the Louvre, Versailles, and tons more, and for many of the museums it allows you to skip the ticket line altogether (although if there is security you still have to stand in that line). The passes come in 2,4, and 6 day lengths, so our plan was to get 4-day tickets and use all 4 days. It was nice because it was cheaper than individual tickets at the places we definitely wanted to visit (Louvre, Versailles, Les Invalides, Arc de Triumph etc) and also allowed us to enter some others even for a few minutes without worrying about the cost of admission. They had a 24 euro delivery fee however, so the plan was to purchase the tickets this first morning at a less busy museum. Since Les Invalides was right by our apartment and didn't open until 10AM, we thought that would be a perfect first morning.

However we were all up by about 6AM anyway LOL.

Andrew went in search of a local patisserie while I figured out the coffee maker and got Aria some juice and milk and a banana. He came back with a really nice variety-

I don't know how the French stay thin.

After enjoying those, we headed out for the day. While I know Paris has a wonderful underground metro system, we never used it and instead decided to walk everywhere. Today we were headed to Les Invalides, which is the Army/ war museum and also where Napoleon's Tomb lay. It was the gold domed building we could see from the balcony of our apartment.

We had to go through security to enter the grounds, which didn't have a line or anything and we saw these gardens on our way to the ticket office.

Inside we purchased the two 4-day museum passes and they gave Aria a paper Napoleon hat. She was thrilled.

The museum is pretty massive so we had to plan out the things we really wanted to see. Since we entered from this side, Napoleon's Tomb was the first thing we visited.

And then we headed inside the main part of the museum which had multiple levels of military artifacts. We started at the oldest and worked our way up to WWII. There were elevators that we were able to use due to having the stroller, which was nice.

And lots of benches that I utilized to rest my weary feet!

The individual signage was all in French but there are many signs and descriptions in English.

This room was dedicated to how horses are outfitted for battle

Also at Les Invalides, is a museum for relief plans (separate entrance ticket required, but included on the museum pass). This room was so cool, and this is the biggest compilation of maps such as these. These are all hundreds of years old - pretty amazing! They were made to plan out attack strategies for various wars.

More info thanks to Wikipedia:

The construction of models dates to 1668 when François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois and minister of war to Louis XIV, began a collection of three-dimensional models of fortified cities for military purposes, known as 'plans-relief'. The models gave particular attention to the city fortifications and topographic features such as hills, harbors, etc. In 1700 Louis XIV installed the collection in the Louvre. Initially the models were constructed in the field, by military engineers, but in 1743 two central workshops were established for their construction in Béthune and Lille. A large number of models were built during and after the War of the Austrian Succession (1741-1748) to represent newly captured sites. The collection was updated in 1754, but then fell into some disuse; the final models built under the Ancien Régime were those of Saint-Omer (1758) and the fort Saint-Philippe aux Baléares (1759).

In 1774 the collection was nearly destroyed when its Louvre gallery was rededicated to paintings, but was in 1777 moved to the Hôtel des Invalides where it remains to this day.

From the Les Invalides, we headed just a block or so over to Musee Rodin. We couldn't take photos inside, but there was a traveling exhibit of other sculptures on display. By now Aria was getting a bit weary of museums and we ended up having lunch at this museum. But first we attempted a The Thinker pose

After this photo, Aria had a bit of a breakdown and couldn't settle down so she ended up in time out.

I took a photo because she was giving me some evil looks. But after the 3 minutes was up she apologized and was in better spirits. Thank goodness time out works so well right now!

We decided we all needed some lunch so we found a café in the grounds of the museum. There were a ton of pastries and sandwiches to choose from, but I found a chicken one and Andrew had ham, plus we got a fruit tart to share, and Aria had some of each of our sandwiches.

After this photo we were sort of swarmed by bees so quickly moved inside!

After lunch we checked out the grounds (which is why most people come to Musee Rodin I guess)

It was getting late though and Aria needed a nap. We had toyed with the idea of the metro today since our next destination was a good walk away (over near the Notre Dame and that island), but with Aria napping we decided to do the walk vs. dealing with stairs to the metro.

 

[Imagineer5]

While walking we enjoyed just taking in the scenery and architecture

At this point we received a text from Marina asking where we were, and we said we were about to get to the Conciergerie, which is where Marie Antoinette was held until her execution.

Andrew and I ended up taking turns to go in, since Aria was taking a really good and much needed nap and there wasn't much of a line to get in (And lots of stairs). I noted that Paris would be VERY difficult in a wheel chair, I just can't imagine.

I didn't take any photos but we each spent maybe 15 minutes inside while the other relaxed. There was a neat kitchen area with a doorway that directly accessed the Seine for food deliveries. Marie Antoinette's cell was reconstructed as well so that was interesting.

We hadn't heard from Marina (uh oh) so we headed to our next destination, Saint Chapelle. I had read this is a must-not-miss sight and is even more impressive than Notre Dame. There was an incredible line to get tickets, which we were able to bypass, a short line for security which was fairly lax since Aria managed to continue sleeping through lol, then a huge line to get into the church which again we were able to bypass thanks to the museum pass - this museum alone we saved about 2 hours of waiting!

You enter on this level

And then take stairs to the next. We again took turns going up.

Absolutely breathtaking.

Really truly stunning stained glass! We were so glad we stopped in, and once outside we decided to call Marina to see where they were. Turns out they never got our return texts, so we said we would meet them at Shakespeare & Co. in about 30 minutes (as they had already moved on and were quite a distance away).

We were a little hungry so on our way we decided to wake Aria up with a stop at a gelato place.

This is such a nice way to wake up!

And soon we made it to our destination -

No photos are allowed inside

Erik offered to stay outside with the stroller (they had already perused the books today) so we went in. It's really packed but so neat. The bookstore has been featured in a couple movies and is a recreation of one that used to be a gathering spot for writers in the early 1900's. It also is an English language bookstore, and we found some really neat kids books there and bought some for Aria. She also picked out a cute baby book for Maya which she got for Christmas.

After the bookstore, we headed to Luxembourg Gardens with Marina & erik where we planned to spend the afternoon just hanging out. The walk over was again made fun by admiring the architecture. How neat are these buildings?

And look at these rounded ones?

Soon we made it to the gardens, which are a public park of sorts to the Luxembourg palace (built in the 1600's by Marie de Medici and still used today by the French Senate).

The park is massive. This is a pond you can rent these little sailboats to sail for 30 minutes. We missed the window so ended up just watching them for a while.

The sun was finally coming out too, which was warming us up nicely.

We instead went in search of the playground, but I spotted this photo op

And then we found a carousel (you will see this becoming quite the trend for the trip!)

These carousels are neat - if you're seated on an outside horse you get a stick and try to grab rings on it. There is one similar on Martha's Vineyard - but these horses are really tough to get. I mean parents are slipping their kids onto the seats as your kid is climbing up! It's brutal! I didn't have the nerve to do that so Aria got to ride on the inside here.

And then we found a huge playground - which had an entrance fee!! It was around 2.50 each but still, I was a little dumbfounded at that.

Yes, we did pay to get in.

After letting Aria play for quite some time, we headed off to Rue Vavin which is known for its children's shops. But first Marina took a "Luxembourg Pose"

On Rue Vavin, I didn't find any clothes for Aria but we did see a really cool toy shop, and I let Aria pick out a small toy. She found a flying fairy (you pull a string and the fairy flies) so we got her that but put it away for now. From there we parted ways with Marina & Erik as we had separate dinner plans. We were headed to a typical Parisian brasserie, La Coupole, which touts itself as the most well known Brasserie in Paris, and has been open since 1927! It has a cool art deco vibe and a nice menu, but also featured a children's menu so I booked a reservation here.

The evening started off a little slow - we waited 15 minutes to get menus, and another 15 minutes to finally order. Thankfully after ordering, things picked up. The children's menu was a good deal - 12 euros for an aperitif juice, milk, grilled chicken with veggies and a molten lava chocolate dessert. We passed the time by taking a few photos

Aria's chicken which she did a good job eating

I started off with Gazpacho, which was delicious and beautifully presented

 

[Imagineer5]

Andrew ordered oysters and enjoyed them

For our mains, I had a salmon dish and Andrew had a beef dish with gnocchi. Food overall was good. Desert was really fun - I ordered this chocolate dome which the waiter then poured hot chocolate over to melt the dome and ice cream with fruit was inside.

And Aria had a delicious dessert of molten lava chocolate cake with gelato

After dinner we rolled ourselves home...actually the walk felt SO long. We felt very safe though considering we were walking the back streets of Paris at night. Just as we made it back to the apartment and put Aria to sleep, it was time for the Eiffel tower to twinkle (the lights twinkle on the hour!) and we sat outside for a few minutes savoring our view and relaxing our legs.

And then we called it a night!