First half:

PRE-TRIP HYSTERIA:
After 6 months of planning, long hours going back and forth looking for the best price, the best outfitter, the best restaurants and many many hours on Fodor’s and Slow travel, pestering folks with questions, our departure date came closer. We were due to leave Weds Apr 5. On Monday I got a call at work: “Mom! I was just clearing some brush out back, and I’ve been bitten by a fox!” This set the tone for the trip. Called animal control, they called the health department, and we were off on a series of rabies vaccinations, and human immunoglobulin shots. $700 later, 15 year old DS was feeling very chastened and frightened and very sick and sore from the immunoglobulin and rabies shots.

The shuttle arrived at the house, finally, on Weds, we finished racing around and piled in. As it turns out, the door-to-door shuttle to the airport (IAD) was cheaper than leaving the car in the long-term lot, and so much easier. One caution: I chose to print our train tickets and found it somewhat harder to do than I would have thought – each one needed the name of the passenger and their birthday. Of course, I had originally bought non-refundable, non-exchangeable tickets for the wrong date, which was fairly hard to swallow. But, thanks to the strikes I got an email from the SNCF saying that due to the perturbations they would refund any tickets for travel on various dates, including mine! There is someone looking out for harried, disorganized people!!
We get to the airport, meet up with our traveling companions and check in. Our group is complete now: myself and DH and three DS’s - 15 and twins 10 yrs old. Also joined by my sister and her 15-year-old son. Get on the plane, pop the Ambien and we’re off.

PARIS
7 hours later, we arrive in Paris. The Ambien definitely helped. I have never tried any kind of sleeping pill before, and I made everyone take one. We had some trouble finding our Bee Shuttle driver (one of many wonderful suggestions from you all). Turns out he was right there, but did not have a sign on the van. The ride to our apartment was a great introduction to the city: our driver had very strong opinions on the strikes, and politics and life in general. Luckily we all agreed . He said that between the demonstrations and all the public works going on it had been absolutely impossible to drive in Paris lately. It was a long drive because of all the detours.

The apartment was wonderful – 61, bd de Magenta, 10 th arr, metro Gare de l’Est. In a very diverse neighborhood, it was a fairly bourgeois apartment, high ceilings with beautiful moldings on the ceiling. 4 bedrooms, 2 with large beds, 1 with 2 twins and one very small with 1 twin bed. 2 bathrooms, 1 toilet. 1430 euros the week, all included, except cleaning. I was concerned about that at first but it worked out just fine – we spent a lot more time in the bathroom than the toilet. And, the poor DH was beside himself by the end of the trip – “Haven’t these people ever heard of shower curtains!?” He is an engineer and inefficiency makes him crazy – “There’s water all over the floor!” Our landlord, Alexandre was just wonderful: the internet access didn’t work at first but after a meeting of an American geek mind (DH) and a French one (landlord’s friend over the phone) we got it worked out. MAC address filtering is the same in English and French as it turns out. I loved giving Alexandre a hard time over all the very French phrases they were using to get the Internet up. Our agency was Paris Attitude, and I will use them again – very professional. Our agent, Emeline and our landlord both speak and write excellent English, the agency takes paypal or credit cards. For some reason I took a mix of travelers checks and cash for the remainder of the rent and the security deposit. Actually, I took half travelers checks because I was worried about loosing the cash. Well, what a mistake – those travelers’ checks were a royal pain to use. We got them back when we left and had a lot of trouble using them elsewhere. We could use them in hotels or we cashed some in post offices. And, on that note, when are we going to get smart credit cards over here? That system is far better and safer than ours, and we had trouble using our American cards – they were refused sometimes. According to a man at the train station, it would depend on what network one was a part of.

RESTAURANTS

Aux Zingots
12 rue de la Fidélité
75010 - Paris
Métro(s) : Gare De L'Est
01 47 70 19 34
Wonderful! Two menus, 1 all abats, or offal, I think is the term – kidneys, brains, like that, aka Le Tripaille. Le Ripaille (the other, normal menu) was fabulous, an awesome steak, fish only OK (go for the meat). Great wine list, old time bistro décor and very, very friendly folks. Open very late.

Chez Casimir
6, Rue De Belzunce
75010 , PARIS 10 ème
Tél: 01 48 78 28 80
Breton bistro food, and awesome. We ordered a fish soup and they brought an earthenware jug filled with nectar from which we served ourselves. The rest of the meal was incredible as well.

Schmid Traiteur
76 boulevard de Strasbourg - 75010 Paris
Tél: 01 46 07 89 74 - Fax: 01 46 07 83 92
Email: [email protected], http://www.schmid-traiteur.com/home2.html
Métro: Gare de l’Est/sortie Boulevard de Strasbourg
Parking: Gare de l’Est
Magasin ouvert: Du lundi au vendredi de 9h à 20h, le samedi de 8h30 à 20h
Yummy Alsatian take out. We had a killer choucroute, with some very decent Riesling.

FUN THINGS

2-chevaux tour – if you haven’t caught the thread about this, it was really fun. DH, DS and DN (nephew) went and enjoyed it. They had the 50 euros each tour. The guide spoke good English and pointed out all sorts of cool, different things on the standard tourist tour.
http://www.4roues-sous-1parapluie.co...langue=anglais.
Normandy tour: with Roel Klinkhamer at Victory tours. http://www.lignerolles.homestead.com/victorytours.html. They also have a B&B, which seems very nice. But Roel’s tour was great. I did not go but the rest of the group did a really liked it. They missed the 7:10 from Paris, but Roel knows the area so well that he could condense the trip a little so they got a full day tour in about 7 hours. It was particularly good for the kids. The DN studied WWII in school so he used this tour to get an excused absence from school. They went to Arromanches, explained very well, Omaha Beach where it got cold , wet and windy. Roel, there and everywhere had a lot of great stories, with interesting details. The kids still remember whose soil they were on at the American Cemetery (hint: not French), at le Hoq he made the kids be rangers and scrambler in and out of all the craters. He had pictures and maps and notebooks full of information, which impressed the youngest DS. He said that he was still grateful to the Americans for what we did in the war.

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie
http://www.cite-sciences.fr/francais/indexFLASH.htm
30, avenue Corentin-Cariou
75930 Paris 19 ème
01 40 05 70 00 (standard – du lundi au vendredi)
01 40 05 80 00 (serveur vocal)
Metro: Ligne 7, station "Porte de la Villette"
Autobus : 75, 139, 150, 152, PC1 et PC2, station "Porte de la Villette"
Wonderful! Kids have to go!! We split up here because there was so much to do and we all wanted to see different things. My sister her son the DN and the youngest DS all went to the Star Wars exhibit. Some of the others went to the Geode, and the middle son and I went to the Cite des Enfants, an all hands on discovery place. You are let in at precise times and you have 1.5 hours to explore, touch, manipulate, push, pull, fiddle with and play to your hearts content, in different content areas dealing with the different sciences. I have never been to a better museum.

Pasteur Institute
And French medicine in general. My oldest had to get rabies shots while in Paris so we saw a part of France that tourists, if they are lucky, don’t always get to see. The first shot was at my friend’s boyfriend’s ex wife’s sister in law, who is a pediatrician. Her office is in a very nice area in the 17th. It was very simple – no receptionist, just an office suite, simply decorated. It was very obvious that this was not a high dollar (or Euro) operation. Kind of refreshing. The second shot was at the Pasteur Institute where Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization, and the first rabies vaccine was discovered! Very cool! The institute was huge, covering at least 1 whole city block. Their equivalent of NIH, I think, with research, clinics, and all kinds of stuff. http://www.pasteur.fr/english.html. Still, the financial side was pretty small, by which I mean it didn’t have the soaring ceilings, fancy décor, and all the rest of the by products of our dollar driven, private medical system. They saw us quickly, were extremely competent and efficient. The serum that we had cost us $225 per shot. That’s what we had to pay after my husband’s excellent insurance picked up some of the cost. The visit and the shot at the Pasteur Institute cost us 50 euros – 30 for the serum and 20 for the visit. And the doctor apologized for charging us that much! I guess this forum isn’t the place to discuss socialized medicine, but from what I saw, I like it.

SOME THOUGHTS
We are not city people – we live in the suburbs of a pretty important city (Washington DC) but it isn’t really big. So, Paris was mind boggling to us for that reason, as well as the fact that it is PARIS! We take the kids downtown pretty often, but, I know that some of our culture shock was due to the fact that we just aren’t that used to big cities. I had to keep reminding the family that there is just as much dirt, noise smells and craziness in New York, London, Moscow, Beijing and any other really big city as we saw in Paris.

I'll write up Dordogne and biking soon...

Hi, Momliz,

I didn't know you were a neighbor here in the DC suburbs, but what a great report so far, and I can't WAIT until you get to the Dordogne to hear your adventures there...

Fabulous report. Maybe we'll be neighbors in the Dordogne some day, too!

Thanks, StCirq, I would love to be your neighbor! The Dordogne was wonderful, the biking less so...

Did I mention the biking when you were in the planning stages? I have one word for it - roadkill. Too scary!

Darn, Momliz, I was hoping to have you as a neighbor in far west Burgundy! Best trip report I've ever read. If you're not a full-time writer, you should be.

Wonderful report. Can't wait to hear about your family's adventures in the Dordogne.

I hope DS is feeling better now (and has not met anymore foxes in his travels). But it certainly provided you with an alternative side of travel (healthcare system) that most people don't (have to!) experience.

Paule

Wow, Dave, thanks!

And, I think I wouldn't mind paying over 50% taxes to get health care like we received. Their system isn't perfect either (can any one system be perfect?) and we really did not see much, but I was impressed by the little I experienced. And, the doctor telling a very frightened and anxious mom how handsome and strong her son was didn't hurt at all either - LOL. Incredible bedside manners from both Docs! Who said the French and Parisians particularly are snooty and mean? I found them to be friendly, fun and playful.

Yes, healthcare in France is awesome. I haven't set foot in my HMO back home for the past 10 years. Who would, when for about $30 I can visit a French doctor and get his full attention, and far better care than in the USA, for as much time as I need?

Excellent report and I can't wait until you start on the Dordogne.

Hope your son has finished his treatments, I've heard they are rough!

Momliz,

I had a colleague who was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, a pretty conservative fellow. Post-surgery, which took MANY hours, and during long follow-up care, his thinking about the French medical system changed radically, and to his credit he wrote about the whole experience. The bill for his care under the French health system? None.

Momliz,
Thank-you for the great trip report.
I will soon be traveling to France with my 3 children (ages 15, 9, & 8).

A few questions:
I'm looking at our 4 TGV tickets which we received in the mail. Each ticket has our last name, my first name, plus an "adulte" or "enfante" identifier. There is no birthdate printed anywhere. Does the train conductor examine each of the tickets and ask for identification?

Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie sounded like a real winner for all the kids. Were there any other sights that they particularly enjoyed? Did you take them to the big musueums? If yes, how did it go? Any outings that you would suggest we skip?

Thank-you!

Saratoga,

I am looking at my PREM tickets, and under the name it states: né(e) with the date of birth.

Saratoga - actually I totally messed up printing out the tickets, so some of us had two fares to the next stop, and no return and others had two returns. I explained to the conductor who just laughed and said it was OK. We had 7 paid up tickets and 7 people, that's all he cared about. He did not ask for ID.

As for sights, the Cite des Sciences is an absolute must. The sewers were also a huge hit, forgot to include them in my report. Catacombs would have worked as well, didn't make it there. Jardin du luxembourg were big, and the Normandy trip was a definite favorite. Eiffel tower of course. They really liked the metro, and Berthillon, forgot that as well. Went there with the little kids while the big ones went on the 2 cv tour - Berthillon was a huge hit. The Louvre went over better than I expected, the littlest actually was into it. Seeing the Mona Lisa was a OK, we all agreed that it is the most overrated painting around (sorry, hope I haven't offended anyone!). But, we were in and out in 1.5 hours - had to, they were starting to lose interest. They all loved chasing after pigeons everywhere. Nutella crepes, also, and hot chocolate in a cafe watching the world go by. My oldest is a total car freak and was beside himself looking at all the cars and motorcycles, as was the youngest.

And, they did so well in the restaurants - I was really worried, we usually don't manage sit down meals well, but, as I have mentioned somewhere, they all played poker, mostly blackjack, and 5 card draw and had a ball. Bet many jelly beans and used metro tickets. Probably not appropriate for the little ones but who cares. Not me...

Momliz,
What a horrible thing to happen right before a trip, arent those shots really painful? Your report was really enjoyable!!

Very enjoyable, thanks!

I will post the one downside of socialized medicine I have seen. I was on a Girl Scout tour where one of the chaperones broke her arm and shoulder in three places.

She was 67... this became a big issue. Basically the nurse we had with us was told by the doctors that "at her age we just wait and see" The nurse pointed out that in the US the standard for this would be surgery with a pin. Response "At 67 loss of mobility is acceptable" It wasn't to us... we got the travel insurance company to fly her home to the US where she got the pin immediately and has FULL mobility in the arm...... Her treatment costs in Europe were free, but.....

Forgot to mention..
Great report. Reminds me of one of my Girl Scout trips where we got to do IV thearpy every morning....Travel with teens just ads to the adventure.

Hi Saratoga_CA
>I'm looking at our 4 TGV tickets which we received in the mail.

You have standard tickets. Have your passports ready, just in case.

Momliz had PREMS tickets printed at home. They are restricted to the buyer only, and ID is required.

Darn! I got all excited thinking Momliz had come back to finish her report!

"The first shot was at my friend’s boyfriend’s ex wife’s sister in law.... who .....

Momliz, I'm not sure whether to commiserate with you on your son's discomfort or the complexity of your relationships.

Enjoying the report.