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The Champs E'lysee is a busy street - we getting down with everyone we meet. Yes, we've made it - we are now in Paris - the eternal city, the city of love... Oh how we love Paris- in the morning, in the spring time, every moment of the year.
But first we must tell about Disneyland - a day at the happiest place on earth is probably not enough for the kids and in retrospect we probably should have done a 2 day visit.. the kids just thought it was the most awesome place ever and were so sad at closing time. The most exciting thing was seeing the Disney castle for the first time when we walked in. We did Fantasyland - full on fairytale wonderland for Ava - highlight being the "It's a Small World" boat ride. Then onto Futureland where Jud got to go on the big spacey roller coaster. Adventureland had a roller coaster for Deb and Ned - pretty awesome with a full-on loop. Then the whole family lined up for the wild west roller coaster at Frontierland - it was wicked and Ava was so brave and just loved it. The day finished with the big show parade and Ava got hugs and kisses from so many characters - Buzz Lightyear, Sully from Monsters Inc, Jessie from Toy Story - she was in Disney heaven. We finished the night in the Disney village and had dinner at the coolest kids restaurant ever - the Rainforest Cafe. Amazing with monkeys hanging from trees, gorillas in the jungle, snakes on vines, elephants - all life size and animated along with noises and every now and then a storm would start and the rain, thunder and lightning would start. Set our bank balance back stupidly but it was so worth it for the kids reactions - esp. Ava. So it was with much sadness that the kids said goodbye to Disneyland. More sadness to follow the next day when we also said goodbye to Penelope our fab little Peugot, which did 4957 kms and did it well. Jud drove all but 60 metres of it!
But it was all made up for when we settled into our cute little boho latin quarter Paris apartment and headed off on the metro to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time (well for the kids anyway) and see it all lit up at night. They were amazed and every half hour they do a spectacular light show that looks like blue sparkles all over it. Great start to our first day in Paris.
We're in Paris for 5 nights which is a great length of time to get comfy and settle in and see a lot of the major sights.
We love where we're staying - so handy to all - the Louvre, d'Orsay Museum, Notre Dame - all walking distance and the beautiful Seine at the end of our street which is off the Boulevard St Germain. Love it. What's changed however in the 20 years since we were last here are the hawkers and scammers - they've really taken over a lot of the touristy spots and it is quite tacky, annoying and really in your face.
Anyway we are having an awesome time and we've done the climb up the Eiffel Tower - had lunch at the restaurant there, a boat cruise on the River Seine, walked the Champs E'lysee - had lunch and dinner on it, climbed the 274 steps to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (phew!! - le pant, le puff) fab views tho. We've found a great little couscous and tagine specialist local restaurant. We've walked the Latin quarter and caught the red bus around the city highlights - Place de la Concorde, the Opera, the Grand Palais, Trocadero, the Pont Neuf and more. We did Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacre Couer, Montmartre, the d'Orsay Museum - saw Van Gogh, Renoir and Monet up close and personal. And on our last day we finished with the mighty Louvre Museum - could easily spend a whole day here however when traveling with a 4 year old you get out if it what you can - so we concentrated on the biggies - the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory, the lovely The Lacemaker, and the magnificent Eygyptian antiquities including the Code of Hammurabi. Ned was awestruck and once again Jud was our very own personal tour guide. The kids loved all the stories he told of each work we saw. Especially the one about how Napolean discovered the Rosetta stone through the need for his army to poo! Go figure. Ned and Molly thought it was hysterical and what a great hands on way to learn history.
Paris has been great - not so expensive, easy to get around, friendly and lots for kids. So that was our stay in Paris and also the continent. Next stop London. Eurostar tomorrow and goodbye to Europe, foreign-speaking and driving on the wrong side of the road. What a whirl-wind it's been and we finish with eight days in London. Looking forward to it but at the same time not - it means our trip is coming to an end and none of us are ready for that...
- comments
amanda Slide night at the Bakers in two weeks!! Woohoo!! We'll bring nibbles!
Wendy I'll bring the envy, Amanda!
Aisha Yes a party will be enjoyable. Media group is AWESOME!!! Ned get ready to make up a name for media group. I'm Faustous Beastofillusions, Sophie's Regina Youllnevercatchmynamebecauseitalksofast, Maconachy( Belinda spelled that) is Harry Schnitzelburger and Choo is Mohammed Sushi. BYE!!!!!
Nanny&Poppy Grover is fine and enjoying his holiday with us.but he is being spoilt by Nanny.he loves the beach and chasing the ball.