aussiedreamer

Woh, this is so much fun.....I hope there is more. We are doing a very similiar trip, later this year. I can't tell you what your finer details mean to us. The walking around and finding interesting places is exactly what we will be doing. And we are staying in the same areas in both London and Paris.......a million Thankyous............Just when I think I have exhausted my foder research, a wonderful trip report turns up....and off I go again!!!

skatterfly

That evening, we celebrated my brother-in-law’s birthday with a delicious beef roast, produce and fruit from the Marche Saxe, and a gorgeous cake from one of the patisseries on rue Buci.

And, of course, more wine.

And a little more chees.

<i>Just in case our pants weren’t tight enough.</i>

skatterfly

<b>Day 16—Au Revoir Mes In-Laws</b>
Am I a total #$%!&amp; because I wasn't sad to see my in-laws leave?

<i>Don't answer that. It's <b>just</b> a rhetorical question.</i>

But the look on their faces when they got up said even <i>they</i> couldn't wait to get back to London.

We all took a quick walk up to Luxembourg Gardens, then they packed and left for Gare du Nord—hoping to convince the Eurostar officials to show some mercy and let them leave Paris anytime before their scheduled 6 pm reservations.

We used the rest of the day to pack, relax, and nibble on the remaining bites of cheese and chocolate still in the house.

<i>This was, sadly, also our last day in Paris. We would be leaving in the morning back to London on the Eurostar.</i>

skatterfly

<b>Day 17—Eurostar back to London</b>
Tickets, check.

Departure time, check.

Taxi reserved well in advance, check.

<i>Please note: I was no longer responsible for any of the above, having lost my privileges on our last Eurostar debacle.</i>

As we waited for the taxi to arrive, we took one final look through the apartment that had made our stay so memorable. With its tiny but well-appointed kitchen, the large farmhouse table where we enjoyed <i> all that cheese </i>, and the fine architectural details that the owners had insisted on when they remodeled.

Our minivan taxi arrived a few minutes early, and we scrambled to get our luggage down onto the street. We watched as we pulled away from our neighborhood, drove through the Marais, and on to Gare du Nord.

We were all a little gloomy to be leaving Paris, even though we starting to feel the pull towards home.

Our Eurostar trip was uneventful, and we arrived back at Waterloo with just enough time to run for the next train to Windsor—where we would stay our final night before leaving from Heathrow.

We stayed at the Royal Adelaide Hotel, away from the main town center and half the cost of other places in town. It was reasonably clean, though a bit shabby and the staff forgetful. I would reluctantly recommend it if you need a budget accommodation.

But if you can spend a little more I’d say go for the Castle Hotel or another place right in the center of town because it’s more convenient for quick sightseeing.

Though we didn’t get to do much in Windsor since we arrived late and had to leave at dawn the next morning, I was glad we chose to stay there instead of a high-rise hotel in Heathrow—simply because we could get out and walk a little before a day of travel.

OT

oh no! I have to tear myself away from this report, got an appointment but can't wait to get back home and read about the walk along the Seine.

This is just wonderful, any parent should read this and discover there is a life after kids. This brings back memories of our travels with ours when they were young.

skatterfly

<b>Dontch'a just hate that vacations have to end?</b>

By the end of every trip, I’m exhausted and eager to get home to my own bed. And yet, I don't <i>really</i> want the excitement and the experience to end.

I also don't particularly care for flying. Love to travel. Hate to fly. <i>I'm strange like that.</i>

And inevitably, I return to the US with severe culture shock. I avoid the large grocery stores and shopping centers for a while. I continue to think and sing and dream foreign words. I pore over the magazines and brochures and postcards I picked up along the way. And I listen to cool internet-radio stations to prolong that European state of mind.

<i>So leaving Windsor was bittersweet.</i>

There was my parents: Love 'em to pieces, but after 18 straight days with them, we all needed some alone time.

And we were exhausted, our daughter fighting of my niece's cold. We just wanted our own beds for a good night of sleep.

But our trip had flown by much too fast. We felt terrible that we only saw a handful of things during the trip, when we might have pushed a little harder and seen more.

<i>Yet in writing this report, I actually rediscovered what a great time we had.</i>

Yes, we had some <i>c-r-a-z-y</i> family hystrionics, many of which I've omitted from here because my mom might actually <i>read</i> this.

And yes, I spent a lot of time waiting for naptimes, or taking care of the baby—which at the time felt like drudgery.

<i>But our memories are priceless. And that time with family can't ever be replaced.</i>

skatterfly

<b>Day 18—Flying Home</b>
That last morning in Windsor, we picked at the hotel's version of &quot;Full English Breakfast&quot;—a salty combination of eggs, sausage, bacon, and cooked tomato. I couldn't imagine loading up on that before a long flight, so I planned to grab a snack at the airport.

Our taxi picked us up at the hotel promptly, at what felt like the crack of dawn. Much earlier than we'd been getting up, but early enough so we could be at Heathrow with the requisite 2-hour window.

Unfortunately, the return flight is entirely daylight going back, so it was hard for the baby to sleep until the last few hours of the flight, and we all arrived home like walking zombies.

For days after our return, we struggled with the jet lag and our daily cravings for pain au chocolat.

Even now, rereading my notes, I wish I could go back.

Tonight, while watching The Amazing Race 7, my husband and I were giddy from the few quick glimpses of London on this episode. <i>Hey, we were there. Oh, we didn't go on that. Ohmigod... that's so cooooool.&quot;</i>

For us, it's those giddy memories that remind us why travel is such a part of our life.

<i>Hope you enjoyed the report. Thanks for reading along.</i>

sfowler

What a wonderful report!
The italicized comments give the report a nice perspective -- I think you and your husband are saints to survive so long with both sets of parents.
I know you didn't get to do much of what you wanted, but for Paris at least, the strolling is my favorite way to see the city.
Thanks so much for taking the time!

awbaker

I very much enjoyed your report!! Thank you for the wonderful stories!

It is SO MUCH MORE difficult traveling with babies or young children, but I agree with you that it is better than waiting until they are older. And, it does get easier, er, or at least even more rewarding -- my 4 y.o. is soooooo excited about our upcoming trip to Italy. He makes sure that he tells strangers and friends alike about the trip to &quot;ID-ali.&quot; Yet, it seems like yesterday that I was pushing him around London in the stroller, stopping for those same nursing breaks!

I'd also be interested in the Paris apartment information. It sounds wonderful!

skatterfly

<b>P.S. Some thoughts about packing</b>

Some of you may recall I posted a few questions about what to pack with a toddler. I was even so optimistic <i>(or na&iuml;ve)</i> that I thought I might possibly avoid checking luggage—on Virgin no less.

It’s just that we’ve always prided ourselves on packing light, sauntering off the plane and right into our vacation without waiting at the luggage carousel or risking lost luggage. We had our little system, our handful of black and tan basics that would make Rick Steves proud.

Then we realized that with the baby paraphernalia by itself would require checking. (Little did we know that our goal <i>should have been</i> to carry on as little as possible.)

<i>But somehow, once we conceded to checking luggage, we got stupid.</i>

I threw in a couple bold outfits that I rarely even wear at home, thinking I might be inspired by the sophisticated Saint Germain des Pres. Then a cute pair of strappy sandals to match. Then I wanted <i>more color,</i> tired of the boring drab Fodor’s black.

<i>“Hey,” I thought, “we’re c-h-e-c-k-i-n-g luggage. It's all good.</i>

But I way overdid it—packing twice what I should have. Even my husband got in on the action, and packed a few more dress shirts, an extra pair of dress shoes, and his running clothes. With the washer-dryers in both flats, we wore the same handful of favorites, and regretted the rest.

skatterfly

I just had a chance to go back and read the comments. Thank you all for the nice feedback.

Re: The apartment in Paris, I'm unfortunately not able to mention the location or contact info because it's a private home booked through a friend of mine. Her friend/cousin own it and live there on and off. Must be nice...

London was booked through the same agent that found my in-laws corporate housing, and I don't have any contact info.

Sorry...

Re: Kew Gardens... my dad's a horticulturist so he was in plant heaven. I don't know if he had a favorite section, but he had dozens of photos of the waterfowl in the various ponds, all various species of birds which I know he really enjoyed. Honestly, they were probably excited to get out of the congestion of London—not to mention way from us .

Ani

Fantastic!
We are taking our daughter to England and N. Wales in September and she will at that time be 18 months so all of this is very helpful to me. It is a return trip for us, and we will not spend any time in London at all (Windsor our first night, and thats as close as we get). Although I am a sleep nazi when it comes to her, and she's been sleep trained since she was 8 weeks old, we plan to sort of wing the naps-hopefully to be had in the stroller or car seat on many occasions-we'll see how it goes. I'm not b'feeding anymore so thats not an option but I would love to know what you brought on the plane snakc wise, toy wise, etc.
Thanks for the great report!

kinsey17

wow! Thanks for the great report- it definetly makes me want to go to Paris and London! You are a fabulous writer- such great descriptions, that i felt right there with you. As a college student traveling with my parents and brother, I can definetly relate to how you felt being in close proximaty for 18 days!! Not always easy, but well worth it.

skatterfly

<b>Hmmm... what to bring on the plane</b>
I brought a lot on the plane, but what worked best were: stickers (literally hundreds of them, packed into little ziploc bags), so I could pull out a couple sheets at a time. And postits... like 10 stacks. Endless fascination pulling them apart.

I had a small empty coin purse that she zipped open and closed. Also good was a mini magna doodle.

Other ideas that I've heard work but they weren't such great hits for us are some little stacking rings, and small balls.

We also brought a bunch of books, but my daughter wasn't so into them except at bedtime. But I know other toddlers who LOVE books. So go figure.

We also found one little toy in LHR for her, a mini double decker bus, and she held onto that thing for dear life for the rest of the trip.

Since you're not nursing anymore, let her drink whatever gives her most comfort, whether it's a bottle or a sippy cup. Milk, formula, whatever, even if she's drinking it the whole flight. You'll all be happier. And if she has a binky, or a pacifier, or a particular soother, bring that, and a replacement one in case it gets lost.

<i>I have to break it up in order to post...</i>

skatterfly

<b>More about toddlers in flight...</b>
It was the return trip that was especially hard, and we just had to grin and bear it and keep her occupied with one toy after another. The idividual movies helped, and I think Shrek was on so we watched it over and over.

On the other hand, most flights leaving the US late afternoon/evening anyway, so going over was easier. It was essentially her bedtime anyway, and we did a sort of modified bedtime routine—changing her into her footed jammies, singing bedtime stories, eating a little dinner, even a little &quot;pretend bath&quot; with a wet rag to wash her face and hands, then nursing. That worked pretty well.

I brought along a small sports bottle of my favorite iced tea (herbal) that I could drink and share with my daughter (who was fascinated by big girl drinks at the time). Kept us both hydrated and was something new for her to put in her mouth.

And I brought along a couple jars of her favorite food to serve on the plane, but she was pretty excited by the barbequed beef dish on our flight over too. Then I checked a couple jars of the fave foods so we could have hit handy when we landed, but as you can imagine there <i>are</i> babies in the UK and their baby food was better than here.

I did bring along her favorite munchie at the time, a whole box of &quot;Teddy Puffs&quot;, a cereal I buy at Whole Foods shaped like bears. But that was only because I hadn't yet introduced dairy to her. If she had eaten dairy, I would say bring a bag of goldfish or whatever cheesy cracker she likes.

And I brought along a tube of wet ones, and literally washed down everything in the seat area so I felt better about her crawling around, licking, and touching it all.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it. Have a great time!

Ani

Great! Well, we've just made a trip to the East coast this weekend (about 6 hours travel time) and none of it was during the night...so we've had a little experience with the wanting to crawl around, etc. In fact, we're sort of feeling that the NON-bulk head seats were best b/c she didn't have the option of getting down to crawl around (when we had bulkhead thats all she wanted to do).
Also, she boycotted all jarred foods months ago-eats only table foods-so that will, again, be a challenge (even with child menus at restaurants-she lived on grilled cheese and the off chance of an avocado in the kitchen for 3 days). Sadly, she doesn't like any cracker-type thing, not even cheerios. Basically a picky eater.
That said, stickers are a great idea, and we bought a portable DVD player as well and have her baby einstein dvd's and the wiggles...sounds like that may come in handy-also b/c we have several 3-4 hour stints in the car during our trip.
I'm wondering about the car seat. Do you recommend renting one through the car rental agency instead of bringing? We also have a backpack we are planning on bringing for the many many castle ruins and non-stroller-ish places we are visiting. Did you bring one? Sorry for the questions...if you feel it would be better to email me (if you have the time) me email addy is [email protected].
Oh ya-did you just by diapers when you got there and not bring a ton with you?

ally67

I really enjoyed your trip report. Your writing style is terrific. Almost makes me want to have a child so I can see travel through his or her eyes......

rsb99

Thank you for a very helpful (and entertaining!) report. I always swore I would travel with my child, but so far have found it intimidating. It helps a lot to see a realistic description of the pleasures and compromises of such a trip. Thanks for being brave enough to try, and for sharing your experience.

claude13

Hi Skatterfly,

Thank you for the wonderfully vivid report. I'm inclined to think you're more of a trooper for travelling w/ in-laws and parents than w/ a child, but that said, we're heading to France for two weeks w/ our 10 month old next week, so your adventures and advice couldn't be more timely for us.

Can you provide some baby packing advice? I'm surveying the ever-growing mountain of baby gear laid out in our spare room w/ a sense of pending dread. Good god, how are we going to carry it all? We have an excellent reclinable umbrella stroller, a backpack carrier, and her enormous car seat, which we need only for the flights there and back. Since i understand that de Gaulle still hasn't reopened either their checked luggage service or lockers where we had thought to stow the car seat, we're going to have to lug it w/ us; i am, therefore, debating what to ditch from our pile. Did you and your husband take some sort of carrier for your little girl or did you stick w/ the stroller? What were the three handiest items you had for your daughter on the trip? What were the three least handy? If you can provide any advice, there would be two very happy, and perhaps less stressed, travelling parents out there. Thanks!

BTW, i think planning for our daughter's birth was simpler than planning a trip to Europe w/ her!

skatterfly

Claude,
In the interest of time, I'll answer some of your questions quickly... but I suspect a longer post about packing with a toddler or baby may be in order.

We skipped the carseat, simply because we knew Virgin wouldn't allow it. You should check with your airline to see if they will allow it. And we didn't purchase her her own seat (hence the spluge into Premium Economy), since she was under 2 and would be in my arms the whole time anyway. (Won't be able to do that again, though.) You have to know your own baby, and your comfort level in the flight with a baby in arms. Our domestic airlines are all about getting kids in child seats so they probably encourage them. But On Virgin over and back, there wasn't a single child seat (again, probably because they don't allow it), and most kids were in arms.

For safety in flight, I kept my daughter strapped to my body using the &quot;baby b'air&quot; harness, which was tight to my body during takeoff and loosely attached to me in flight. This was top on my list of things to bring. My husband thought I was a madwoman keeping her strapped to me, but I couldn't quite get out those warning voices about the &quot;what ifs&quot; of in flight turbulence. So our compromise was she wore the vest and was strapped to one of us at most times, except for the few times we walked up and down the aisles for exercise.

In future trips, if we're planning to have a car where we'll be, we'll probably bring the car seat. We just knew we were staying put in an apartment in 2 very urban cities, so no driving for us.

But it's definitely a hassle carrying around an awkward carseat. We made it easier by buying one of those luggage straps at the travel store and basically strapping the carseat to our largest (24&quot rolling suitcase (kind of like a turtle on the back of a shopping cart).

I will say that when we got back from our Europe trip, we immediately went on a business trip to MN, and put her in the carseat on that flight. It was nice, not having to hold a squirming toddler for 4 hours, even though she was in my arms almost half of the flight anyway. So I would probably recommend having the baby b'air harness even if you plan on having a carseat, for those times you're holding the baby in flight. (Turbulence can come on suddenly and be nervewracking especially for a parent with a small baby.

We also brought a mountan of stuff... an inflatable booster seat, our maclaren stroller, a backpack carrier, a sling, you name it we had it. Unfortunately.

She only rode in the backpack once, and that was a huge regret. Then again, she was 18 months old. Your 10 month old might be perfect for it, especially if you like long walks. And it depends on where you're going... I would have felt ridiculous carrying ANY baby around on my back with the trekker backpack we brought. We did use the backpack once in London at the british museum, but I will never bring a backpack carrier again.

I'm a big sling user... used it religiously from about 3 months old till 16 months. That, hands down, was the best thing I brought. I could have her in the sling on my hip, and leave 1 or both of my hands free to help carry a duffel bag or drag a rolling suitcase behind me, and keep me useful to the group. Sometimes, I'd carry her in the sling, and then load up the stroller with luggage and push that. Especially at the airport, or in train stations.

My daughter wasn't a huge fan of the baby bjorn, and at 10 months your baby probably is too big for it anyway. But if you she is, you could bring that. And if you've never tried a sling, it might be a little too late for you to get used to one before the trip, but they're great. Either way, mine is fleece, so it's strecthy, and came from Kangaroo Korner http://www.kangarookorner.com/k_shop...s_custom.shtml

I also brought an inflatable bathtub, mostly because my daughter has a relatively benign kidney condition that makes us particularly careful about bladder infections. (Didn't want a flare-up overseas so we were really overcautious.) But if that's not a concern for you, you could easily skip bringing a bath and make do with what you find there.

As far as the other most handy or non handy things... I'd have to look back at my list. My daughter was hard about sleep, so I carried her favorite pillow, her sheet (still smelling like home) and bedtime blanket, eventhough our apartments provided packnplays and bedding. I wanted it to smell and feel as much like home as possible, and it worked pretty well.

I'd also say that for a 10 month old you really won't need to bring half as many toys, books, etc. as I did for my daughter. At that age, just about anything can be fascinating to them.

I would add that if you have favorite medicines, or even just ones you're familiar with, bring them. Even if they won't use it. It's hard finding the exact product you might need or want overseas... and for us at least my comfort level was using something familiar, especially with the baby. Our pedi also said to bring one each of an infant cough suppressant, one bottle of antihistamine liquid, and analgesic like Infant Advil or Infant tylenol. (As I mentioned in my report.) We never needed the cough medicine or the antihistamine but was glad I had them.

Can't think of much else right now... hope some of this helps.

Like you, we had all the stuff for the trip piled into the room, and then whittled it down.

Some of this depends on your and your baby's personality. If the baby's easy going, sleeps well, etc. you'll need far less than if you've got a high needs, high intensity toddler like we do. It was really important to me to make some things &quot;just like home&quot; for her down time. Other babies like my niece can just go go go and don't mind being dragged around from place to place. So you'll know best.

Good luck,

~kat