Mebe, loved your photos and this is what I wrote:

Superb! Staying at a hotel with parking is inspired and your "readiness" activities with the kids obviously paid off.

The crepe photo is adorable.

Can't wait for the next installment!

nikki,

it's been a few years now, but from memory it was down past the etruscan vases.

did i say that it took us 6 hours to tour the vatican museums? [not deliberately, we got lost].

we did the egyptian room twice!

Tdudette -- thanks for the comment on my blog

I love how a trip report about children is now about naked ladies and "willies". Gotta love Fodor's. :)

mebe - for my part in reducing your thread to the lowest common denominator - mea culpa.

Annhig -- no worries!

(working away on the next installment...)

~M

Finally! Sorry for the delay. I've been busy with holiday crafts and my new obsession: learning to crochet.

<b> First Day in Paris</b>
(with lots of pictures!)

http://tinyurl.com/2uonlgn

Super first day! Happy Holidays.

Nice work mebe. Lots of interesting pics.

tC

Great report. Your kids are adorable. I can't wait to read more.

Very nice pictures, thanks.

Great, fun report!

I'm really loving your report. You have a great sense of humour and enthusiasm, 2 essentials for traveling, especially with kids.

We hope to take our grandson to Paris in 2012 (he'll be 8) so I am reading your report with great interest and anxiously waiting for more!

Jo

Thanks for sharing your story and pictures! I am eagerly awaiting more.

Thanks everyone!

I've been distracted lately.We're having a holiday craft and baking bonanza at my house.

Next post will done by Monday - swear it! :)

Until then, a sneak peek....

http://tinyurl.com/26lwe3d

mebe, what a great report. I followed 'live' your two other trip reports and cannot believe how big your kids are!!! They are just adorable.

Love your wit and humor. Please, keep it coming.

Love your blog! We are heading to Paris in April with two wee ones (newly 2 and almost 5) so I am looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

Thanks Marigross and jonesie!

Now that the holidays are over and life feels almost normal again, I can concentrate on this trip report. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

What surprised me the most about taking the kids on this trip was homesickness. I had researched how to fly with children, how to take kids into museums, and riding the metro. But nowhere did I read about how to deal with kids who just wanted to sleep in their own beds and play with their own toys.

When my daughter started to cry and asked to go home - I was stunned. Was I the only Mom to experience this? Where did I go wrong? How could I fix this problem?

And that is how we began our second day in Paris. How could we make this day so cool, the kids would forget about home.

Did we succeed? You'll have to read to find out. ;-)

<b> Birds, Buses and Homesickness: Our Second Day in Paris </b>
http://tinyurl.com/49vu589

Hi mebe,

Looking forward to a nice diversion from life in the real world.

Tell us all about Paris and your little darlings please!

gruezi

mebe,

Loved the photos and admit to being underwhelmed in a few important churches myself...

BTW, a million years ago, a woman I worked for and respected said that the first thing she did whenever she got to a new city was to take the double decker bus ride to orient herself. I have done this many, many times since she shared this advice and find it a good first afternoon in a new city. Ada and I could travel well together at least for a few hours!

gruezi

Can't wait to read about day 3! :-)