Days 16, 17 & 18 -- Following in Gaspard & Lisa's Footsteps: Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower & Notre Dame
Day 16 (Versailles & Arc de Triomphe)
DH and I were very excited to share Paris with our DDs because this is where we got engaged. A million years ago, DH proposed at Gerard Mulot by asking them to write the proposal on a cake. It's a whole other story for another time.
I know this part of my TR isn't purely Disney related, but in a way it was made possible (and interesting to my 4YO DD) due to Disney-ish things. We sparked DD's interest in travel to Europe by letting her watch shows/movies such as Gaspard & Lisa, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Beauty & the Beast. When watching these shows, we tried to find a landmark that was recognizable so that she'd feel more involved when we went sightseeing.
I also let her do silly things like, scream "Baileywick!" when we were in the Palace of Versailles. Versailles was the first place we went on our "2nd" day in Paris.
We visited the Gardens of Versailles, where I convinced her that she could chase butterflies like Sofia. When the butterflies were nowhere to be found...we decided they were still sleeping.
DD looking for butterflies:
After Versailles, we went to the Champs Elysee for DD's first glimpse of the Arc de Triomphe. She was genuinely excited about seeing this, since she's seen in on the show Gaspard & Lisa. I made her scream "Triumph" (like they do on the show) at the Arc. Yes, I'm a nut. But I like to get my kids involved. She doesn't understand embarrassment yet so I still have years to go on that end. Here's a rainy shot.
We hopped into the
Disney Store for shopping break, then called it a night.
Day 17 (St Chappelle, Eiffel Tower & Notre Dame)
St Chappelle is a beautiful little church with 360 degrees of beautiful stained-glass windows. There is a stone spiral staircase that leads you from the chapel downstairs to the 2nd story upstairs. It's breathtaking when you finally see the entire church covered in stained-glass. DD loved it since it reminded her of the glass from Beauty & the Beast. It also helps that there were castle motifs actually on the columns. She said it looked like Sleeping Beauty's castle.
We did the HOHO Tour (boring), but it brought us to DD's obsession: the Eiffel Tower. Poor thing. She's been screaming "Eiffel Tower!"at every electrical pole, light tower and freeway off-ramp we've passed by for a year now. She was ecstatic to see the real thing.
DH took my aunt to the airport after our HOHO tour ended. We said teary goodbyes and rested at the hotel. At night, we walked to the Notre Dame and saw an amazing street performance--a fire show. I can't really describe it. It was kind of like fire burning at the end of strings and people swinging it back and forth. The man put fireworks powder all over the floor and ignited it, with fireworks going off around him. Great way to cap off our night.
Macarons near Notre Dame:
Day 18 (Louvre, Shopping & Goodbye)
Since the Louvre was closed today, we thought it'd be a good idea to let the kids run that area around to take pictures.
We spent a nice afternoon here and then headed to Galleries LaFayette for some gift shopping. Picked up 3 boxes of Macarons from Pierre Herme. YUM.
Pics of Baby Ems with the Eiffel Tower in the background from LaFayette Cafe:
We were all too tired to eat out, so we bought take-away and ate in the hotel room. DD, Baby Ems and I watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame, "Cendrillion 3" and Lilo & Stitch (all in French) on Disney Channel. Couldn't understand a word.
DD giggled when they sang songs which were familiar to her in French. Very amusing. This was our last night....good bye Paris!!
Up next -- Home Again and Some Thoughts