My turn for a rough draft

[Colleen27]

With all the big pieces in place, I'm working on the day-by-day details of our rapidly approaching trip to Paris (June 9 to 15). Paris was honestly a bit of an add-on to a trip spent mostly in the UK and Ireland, because it seemed a shame to cross an ocean and not check another castle park off our "see them all" bucket list, so we don't have nearly enough time to do the city justice. But I'm trying to strike a good balance between seeing the highlights and not running around like crazy the whole time. This is what I have so far, and I'd love any feedback you have to offer:

We land in Paris around 11am local time on Thursday and will be heading straight to DLRP, where we're staying three nights at Art of Marvel. For this leg of the journey, it is me and my DDs who are 13 and 20. No plans for arrival day other than getting settled and fed and working on adjusting to the time change.

The next two days are for the parks, with two-day tickets plus a hard-ticket evening event on Saturday. We have Restaurant Agrabah booked for one day and Walt's for the other. On Sunday morning, we'll sleep in a bit after the late night, pack up, and head back to Paris.

DS24 lands in Paris around 11am local time and we'll meet him at our rented flat in the 2nd Arrondissement. I expect he'll want an easy day to adjust to the time change too, though he might not need it as much as we do because he's used to changing shifts at work as needed. The girls and I plan to spend the afternoon at Musee D'Orsay and Luxembourg Gardens, two sites he's not super interested in, and he can join us or not depending on whether he was able to sleep on the plane. I don't really have plans for the evening yet, but it will probably involve exploring some on foot. Recommendations are absolutely welcome because evenings are a bit of a mystery to me right now with how early the major sites all close.

Monday is the whirlwind tourist day. We have tickets for the Louvre at 10am and the Eiffel Tower at 3:30p, which isn't ideal but we're working with what was available by the time I got the bigger pieces settled. The kids aren't all that into art so I know going to the Louvre is more about the pyramid, the gardens, and saying we went to see the Mona Lisa than anything, and the Musee D'Orsay is the collection I'm more excited to see so I'm not overly worried about how little time we have for the Louvre. The Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe will round out the daytime wanderings, and in the evening we'll head to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur and catch the 9pm show at the Moulin Rouge.

I've dedicated most of Tuesday to Versailles, palace, grounds and gardens. The plan is to pack a picnic lunch, since our AirBnB conveniently offers a kit for guest use, and stay until mid-afternoon. The only other plans I have for the day are 7pm tickets for the catacombs, though since we have to change trains near Ile de la Cite, this would be a natural place to fit in a walk by Notre Dame and a visit to Sainte Chapelle if we get back with a little time to fill.

And on Wednesday, we won't have time for much more than breakfast and checking out because we've got tickets for the Eurostar to London at 11:15.

 

[LovesTimone]

Wow... You have packed days...

I will say that we did find that you can not depend on the hours shown to be the actual hours... We did find that in several cases that they would close early for whatever reason. Demonstrations while not in the area, the issue with the trains stopping I think was a big deal, to get people to and from work... even the hop on hop off buses stopped running one evening about 2 hours earlier than what we thought...

The Louvre is amazing, we only did about a 1/3 of the museum and we did get to see the Mona Lisa..., We can not wait to see more of the museum.... I will say be very very careful here, with your stuff. While we were in the line up for the Mona Lisa, I had a man... well... kinda grope my rear-end... I said something to DH, and the man said "sorry accident"... and was moving backwards in the line, instead of moving forward to see the Mona Lisa... so nothing in the back pockets...

As far as day bag, We have a small locking back pack that DH carry's, and as well I have a locking Crossbody - it takes 2 hands to unlock it, it's slash proof and has RFID... I think that they are "Travel-on"... another thing is I have my wallet secured inside the bag, I use a small credit card holder, with a key ring, and a cord that is attached to the bag on the inside... so it keeps everything secured...

 

[Colleen27]

Yes, we burn the candle at both ends when we travel. In our Disney World years it was rope-drop-to-EMH-close days, one after the next. We'll slow down some on the London and Scotland leg of the trip, because DH and MIL are meeting us in London and they aren't quite up for the pace I keep when it is just me and the kids.

I've been looking at the slash-proof crossbodies and wondering if it was worth investing in one. I have an under-the-clothes money belt, but it is small enough and hard enough to access that I don't want to rely on it as my only bag. I mostly use it when we're hiking or on excursions, just so I don't have to leave my cash and cards in an unattended car parked in a place that screams "tourist" all day. My usual purse isn't suitable for urban travel - I use a Loungefly backpack if I must carry a purse, which I know is a huge no-no in crowds in most European cities because of the easy access for thieves - and my everyday habit of carrying a men's wallet in my back pocket is even worse. So I'm going to have to order something new but I still haven't decide on what. Travelon is actually the brand I've been looking at, just because Penneys carries them so if I order one and don't like it, returns are easier.