The Trip to London and Paris with Three Kids
Feb 18th, 2011, 08:42 AM
#22
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"while the food may not be at the gourmet end of the scale, it was good, fast, and everyone was satisfied!"
With kids, this counts as a resounding success.
Such a fun read - you've got my travel bug all in a twitter.
~M
With kids, this counts as a resounding success.
Such a fun read - you've got my travel bug all in a twitter.
~M
Feb 18th, 2011, 10:28 AM
#23
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@ Patrick - They were done for the day... the only thing they remember even now? It was dark and stinky.
@mebe - do it! Plan that next trip! London was really fun and very kid-friendly.... Our next trip is Norway and Sweden in about 2 months - I'm getting excited about it!
@mebe - do it! Plan that next trip! London was really fun and very kid-friendly.... Our next trip is Norway and Sweden in about 2 months - I'm getting excited about it!
Feb 18th, 2011, 10:31 AM
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Day 4: Sunday – One activity was a bust, one activity was the best!
We awoke to more rain, so we enacted part of the indoor plan. We decided to head to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It is intended for kids and I thought they would enjoy it. Everyone was disappointed, however, in the experience. While there were lots of buses, trains, etc. to look at, most of them were not able to be climbed on. And the ones that you *could* climb on were limited how far you could go. For example, on the London red bus, while the kids could sit in the driver’s seat, there was plexiglass beyond that, so they couldn’t sit down. These Things could have entertained themselves with everyone having a turn playing driver and passenger, but other than the one driver, it wasn’t much fun. And we ended up behind a boy that wouldn’t move – and his parents were nowhere to be found. He just didn’t want to take turns… he wanted it to be all about his turn. So by the time my kids got a turn, there was a line of kids waiting to be the driver and we encouraged them to be quick to be respectful of others. Overall, we wouldn’t go back and were disappointed.
As we left, the pouring rain had changed to light drizzle. We decided to walk to St. Martin’s in the Fields to do some brass rubbing. The kids very much enjoyed this! I think had we allowed them to done multiple plates and colors, they would have, but we didn’t want to spend all afternoon there. This is also a very family friendly area – the café is adjacent to the brass rubbing centre, so you can actually bring your adult refreshments while the kids do their activity. This was a big hit and we wished that we had done it the night before instead of the Cabinet War Rooms. This would be a “not to miss” activity for kids on my next London trip.
When we departed St. Martin’s in the Fields, the rain had virtually stopped so we decided to do some outside things. Along the way, we saw a bookstore which the kids were very excited about. We ended up with a rather large bag of books, so Mr. Surf went back to the hotel to drop them while I continued on to our next activity - Tower Bridge. The kids very much enjoyed this and we had to stop and read every panel along the way (this was an example of reading <u> everything </u
. We skipped most of the movies at either end, but enjoyed walking across the top and looking down. They have a nice exhibit of different types of bridges with photographs around the world and the kids enjoyed filling out the kids’ activity books and looking at each of the different bridges.
We went to the engine room, but they were ‘bridged out’ by this point, so we quickly walked through. I had tried to plan our visit when the bridge was going up, but every time I checked the list of when it would go up or down, it wasn’t on the days we were in London, so we just decided to work the Tower Bridge visit into our schedule when it was convenient.
We walked over to the Tower of London and decided to visit things we had missed from our earlier visit. We decided not to do a Yeoman Warder’s tour since we knew many of the things from Thing 1’s report. One of the fun things that I had never done before is to walk around the inner wall itself – they have steel silhouettes of soldiers on the wall which was neat. We did talk to a Yeoman Warder for about 20 minutes with Thing 1 (and siblings, too!) impressing him with the amount of trivia and knowledge she had learned. Thing 3 (6yo) was excited that he remembered a detail that Thing 1 forgot (the name of the oldest raven who had ever lived at the Tower). We also stopped in the cafeteria for some snacks – we ended up not sitting down and eating a “real lunch” this day, but grazing throughout.
We decided we’d been ‘toured out’ for the day and headed back to the hotel. For dinner, we ate at Giraffe, in the Southbank Centre. We would eat there again – with kids. It was very kid-friendly and everyone was able to find something they liked. We had some time to kill before our London Eye time (I had bought discount tickets on line about 2 weeks before when I saw a special), so we walked and people watched along the pathway next to the Thames.
We all enjoyed the London Eye! It was about 8 pm and the sun was beginning to set. While we were up, you could see the lights of London come on – definitely that “blue hour” that photographers talk about! This was something that we all enjoyed very much. There were no problems with lines or loading – we were in a capsule with about 20 other people – so there was plenty of room to move about or sit if desired.
Since we were staying at Marriott County Hall, it was easy to get everyone settled for the night (while I packed).
Next: a new country! And a looooooong tunnel.
We awoke to more rain, so we enacted part of the indoor plan. We decided to head to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. It is intended for kids and I thought they would enjoy it. Everyone was disappointed, however, in the experience. While there were lots of buses, trains, etc. to look at, most of them were not able to be climbed on. And the ones that you *could* climb on were limited how far you could go. For example, on the London red bus, while the kids could sit in the driver’s seat, there was plexiglass beyond that, so they couldn’t sit down. These Things could have entertained themselves with everyone having a turn playing driver and passenger, but other than the one driver, it wasn’t much fun. And we ended up behind a boy that wouldn’t move – and his parents were nowhere to be found. He just didn’t want to take turns… he wanted it to be all about his turn. So by the time my kids got a turn, there was a line of kids waiting to be the driver and we encouraged them to be quick to be respectful of others. Overall, we wouldn’t go back and were disappointed.
As we left, the pouring rain had changed to light drizzle. We decided to walk to St. Martin’s in the Fields to do some brass rubbing. The kids very much enjoyed this! I think had we allowed them to done multiple plates and colors, they would have, but we didn’t want to spend all afternoon there. This is also a very family friendly area – the café is adjacent to the brass rubbing centre, so you can actually bring your adult refreshments while the kids do their activity. This was a big hit and we wished that we had done it the night before instead of the Cabinet War Rooms. This would be a “not to miss” activity for kids on my next London trip.
When we departed St. Martin’s in the Fields, the rain had virtually stopped so we decided to do some outside things. Along the way, we saw a bookstore which the kids were very excited about. We ended up with a rather large bag of books, so Mr. Surf went back to the hotel to drop them while I continued on to our next activity - Tower Bridge. The kids very much enjoyed this and we had to stop and read every panel along the way (this was an example of reading <u> everything </u
. We skipped most of the movies at either end, but enjoyed walking across the top and looking down. They have a nice exhibit of different types of bridges with photographs around the world and the kids enjoyed filling out the kids’ activity books and looking at each of the different bridges.We went to the engine room, but they were ‘bridged out’ by this point, so we quickly walked through. I had tried to plan our visit when the bridge was going up, but every time I checked the list of when it would go up or down, it wasn’t on the days we were in London, so we just decided to work the Tower Bridge visit into our schedule when it was convenient.
We walked over to the Tower of London and decided to visit things we had missed from our earlier visit. We decided not to do a Yeoman Warder’s tour since we knew many of the things from Thing 1’s report. One of the fun things that I had never done before is to walk around the inner wall itself – they have steel silhouettes of soldiers on the wall which was neat. We did talk to a Yeoman Warder for about 20 minutes with Thing 1 (and siblings, too!) impressing him with the amount of trivia and knowledge she had learned. Thing 3 (6yo) was excited that he remembered a detail that Thing 1 forgot (the name of the oldest raven who had ever lived at the Tower). We also stopped in the cafeteria for some snacks – we ended up not sitting down and eating a “real lunch” this day, but grazing throughout.
We decided we’d been ‘toured out’ for the day and headed back to the hotel. For dinner, we ate at Giraffe, in the Southbank Centre. We would eat there again – with kids. It was very kid-friendly and everyone was able to find something they liked. We had some time to kill before our London Eye time (I had bought discount tickets on line about 2 weeks before when I saw a special), so we walked and people watched along the pathway next to the Thames.
We all enjoyed the London Eye! It was about 8 pm and the sun was beginning to set. While we were up, you could see the lights of London come on – definitely that “blue hour” that photographers talk about! This was something that we all enjoyed very much. There were no problems with lines or loading – we were in a capsule with about 20 other people – so there was plenty of room to move about or sit if desired.
Since we were staying at Marriott County Hall, it was easy to get everyone settled for the night (while I packed).
Next: a new country! And a looooooong tunnel.
Feb 18th, 2011, 04:56 PM
#26
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since I am working on our family trip to London and Paris this coming June your report is very helpful. Our boys are 19 and 16 but I always try and plan as if the are kids because a slower pace is always enjoyed by everyone. Can't believe the high price of hotels and we are from California where we are used to high prices but for two rooms we are shocked. Thanks though for sharing.
Feb 18th, 2011, 08:47 PM
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Surfmom...hats off to you. You walked from St Martin in the Fields to the Tower of London with three small kids! My map says it is a 45 minute walk. I hope my teenage boys do as well! We are going in March and I will hold you up as an example. Sounds like you had a fun trip to London.
Feb 20th, 2011, 04:45 AM
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@cw, thanks!
@jeri, I agree that getting 2 hotel rooms quickly can become a budget buster. We find that we'd rather skimp on other things and get 2 rooms because the space is so appreciated. As the kids grow and we spend less time in our hotel rooms, our opinions may change, but for now, that works for us. It is a tough call though when it doubles the lodging budget!
@grandmere, it really was fun... you know how much fun it is going with kids! Have you thought about your next trip ?
@reddy, wish I could take that credit.... however, we didn't walk from St. Martin's in the Fields to the Tower... we took the tube. However, one fun thing was that the kids quickly figured out the tube and would take turns being in charge of which line to get on, which direction, etc. They also really liked the electronic boards that listed how long until the next train.
@jeri, I agree that getting 2 hotel rooms quickly can become a budget buster. We find that we'd rather skimp on other things and get 2 rooms because the space is so appreciated. As the kids grow and we spend less time in our hotel rooms, our opinions may change, but for now, that works for us. It is a tough call though when it doubles the lodging budget!
@grandmere, it really was fun... you know how much fun it is going with kids! Have you thought about your next trip ?
@reddy, wish I could take that credit.... however, we didn't walk from St. Martin's in the Fields to the Tower... we took the tube. However, one fun thing was that the kids quickly figured out the tube and would take turns being in charge of which line to get on, which direction, etc. They also really liked the electronic boards that listed how long until the next train.
Feb 20th, 2011, 04:55 AM
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Next: a new country! And a looooooong tunnel.
Day 5 – Monday – we had reservations on the Eurostar for 9:30am (technically 9:22 I think?). We had debated taking an earlier train to get to Paris earlier, but decided that we didn’t feel like departing our hotel at the crack of dawn (when you plan for traffic, to be there early, etc.) As it turned out, we had plenty of time with leaving the hotel at 8ish. We were at St. Pancras with plenty of time to spare and in retrospect, I should have parked Mr. Surf with bags and taken the kids outside to see what a cool train station it is from the outside.
The entire trip was happily uneventful. I thought that we would be more cognizant of when we were under the English Channel, but with the other smaller tunnels as warm-ups, we really didn’t notice. In some ways, I felt like I missed something! I don’t know what I expected but big signs saying, “you are under the English Channel” would have been cool.
We pulled into Paris on time (12:47 I think?). When we got to the front of the taxi line, I told the taxi man that we were five and needed a taxi that could accommodate us. He just pulled us aside and asked us to wait until a larger vehicle came through. While we were waiting, a few men approached us and asked if we needed a van. When I asked them the price, and they quoted me over 100 E, I told them ‘no way’ – these are the ubiquitous gypsy cabs. While I don’t remember what we finally paid, even with the extra passenger and luggage, it was less than 40 E with about a 10-15 minute wait for a cab that could take 5 people.
We had chosen to stay at an apartment at Palais Royal. We stayed there 3 years ago and loved the area and found another, larger apartment that could accommodate all of us (since we were now 5 instead of 4). We loved this apartment as well as the agency and would stay there again! I called the contact from the train station and they were waiting for us in the apartment. We rang from outside and they met us at the elevator.
We were met with fresh croissants and flowers in the apartment and had a quick orientation how things worked. I was impressed that she had noticed a few lightbulbs that were burned out and wanted me to know that she asked their maintenance man to replace them. We were thrilled both with the location, the size, and the appointments in the apartment! After allowing the kids to explore and decided who was sleeping where, we decided to head out for a walk and find some lunch.
Since we didn’t want to take a lot of time, we just went to the Carrousel du Louvre (the indoor food court in the mall attached to the Louvre). While it was only pizza, we were happy that it was quick and solved the hunger problem.
Next, we walked through the Tuileries with the Orangerie as a destination. When we arrived, there was a line of about 30 people, so I went to the front and inquired about using the Museum Pass and we were directed to a different line with about 5 people (I had already purchased the Museum Pass). We skipped the downstairs paintings and headed straight to the Water Lilies. As always, I’m amazed at the beauty and we enjoyed the paintings as well as the building they are in. As we left, we stopped by the ice cream cart in the Tuileries for day 1 of the Paris ice cream tastings. (It was a bit chilly for me for ice cream, but when you are a kid, the outside temperature is immaterial when it comes to ice cream!)
Next part of the plan was a bit of a mistake with regard to timing. We headed to Monoprix on Avenue de l’Opera to get some provisions for the week. Mistake #1: time of day. By this time, it was the end of the work day and people were stopping to do their regular Monday shopping for the week. Mistake #2: Dragging everyone along. However, I needed Mr. Surf help to carry everything and he needed my help to translate for purchases and the kids weren’t old enough to be left alone, so we didn’t have many options. Mistake #3: I was a bit hungry by this time since I’d only had a taste of the ice cream above. We ended up buying a lot of food! (which did get eaten!) Mistake #4: Buying a watermelon. The cashier couldn’t figure out how to weigh it and while the sign downstairs had said 5 E/piece, she kept ringing it as 5E per pound. I finally went downstairs and brought the sign to her and she was able to figure it out. Unfortunately, the line behind me was not happy about this either.
We were happy to be out of there and head back to our apartment! I’ll add a sidenote on eating here. I’m sure many of you will be horrified when you hear what our meals consisted of, but we are not ‘foodies’ (as you’ve probably figured out by now). For me, Paris isn’t about the meals… it is about the history, the architecture, the buildings, the art. The Things are asleep by 9pm at the latest, so eating out every night can become challenging. This is one of the things that we particularly enjoy about getting an apartment… we can just make a pot of noodles and fresh fruit and they are happy. So, after their dinner of noodles …. Oh, need another sidenote here. We thought we were buying elbows and instead we discovered that we had purchased cavatappi (or double elbows). Thing 1 especially like these and they became known as ‘silly noodles’! I meant to purchase a few boxes before we left and was dismayed to remember on the way home that I forgot. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find something similar at home, so I made a little Thing happy! (Oh, and that watermelon…. Wow! It was great!) end embedded sidenote. …. So, after their dinner of noodles (or whatever), I tended to go out and get big people food. There was a little sandwich shop around the corner that was easy and convenient, so we tried a few different panini’s.
I also like to take pictures and something else fun for me was to go out each night when the kids were in bed, take my camera and wander a little. I’m in love with the Louvre courtyard at sunset – as you can see by my profile picture. So I would spend some time each evening with my camera before I brought back dinner.
Our apartment. As mentioned, we wanted to stay at Palais Royal and were somewhat limited since we had 5 people. We were thrilled with our apartment and recommend it. One of the reasons that we wanted to stay here was that our kids loved jumping on the black and white columns (Buren’s columns). We stopped there at least on the way home each day, but also on the way out some days to run, jump, and burn some steam off. It was a fun way to feel like we were “home” to play there. One fun thing about this apartment was that there was a door that entered into the actual Palais Royal. While you couldn’t enter from that door, you could exit the apartment into Palais Royal.
http://www.parisvacationapartments.c...id=179&lang=en
I don’t know why the link is so long?
This is a 2 bedroom apartment that with couches that also fold out. Honestly, I can’t imagine using this for 8 people, but for our family, it was ideal. The kids moved around each night with who slept where, but the couches were big and deep enough that we just put the kid on the couch without unfolding it. It was also nice to have 2 bathrooms – certainly not needed, but a nice convenience. The kitchen was great with a table in the middle. The fresh flowers lasted almost the entire week! Another thing we particularly enjoyed about this apartment was that there was space to put “stuff”. When traveling, we have a backpack and I don’t like to unpack suitcases (I left things behind in a drawer once and never again!), so having ‘floor space’ to put stuff was great (without tripping over it). There is also a little entryway, so there was a place to put our shoes, daypack, etc. I also appreciated the little supplies that were left behind – the detergent (laundry and dish), etc. We would stay here again and would probably be disappointed if we couldn’t.
Overall, this day felt like we got less accomplished - that is the downside to moving between cities. You either take a brutally early train and then you are dragging, or you lose half the day in transit - no matter how "quick" it is. I now see why a day trip between London and Paris is not recommended, no matter how much you think you can make it work. After this experience, I'm now in the "too much hassle for a day" camp.
Next: Did you know that one statue atop Notre Dame is looking the opposite direction than the other statues?
Day 5 – Monday – we had reservations on the Eurostar for 9:30am (technically 9:22 I think?). We had debated taking an earlier train to get to Paris earlier, but decided that we didn’t feel like departing our hotel at the crack of dawn (when you plan for traffic, to be there early, etc.) As it turned out, we had plenty of time with leaving the hotel at 8ish. We were at St. Pancras with plenty of time to spare and in retrospect, I should have parked Mr. Surf with bags and taken the kids outside to see what a cool train station it is from the outside.
The entire trip was happily uneventful. I thought that we would be more cognizant of when we were under the English Channel, but with the other smaller tunnels as warm-ups, we really didn’t notice. In some ways, I felt like I missed something! I don’t know what I expected but big signs saying, “you are under the English Channel” would have been cool.
We pulled into Paris on time (12:47 I think?). When we got to the front of the taxi line, I told the taxi man that we were five and needed a taxi that could accommodate us. He just pulled us aside and asked us to wait until a larger vehicle came through. While we were waiting, a few men approached us and asked if we needed a van. When I asked them the price, and they quoted me over 100 E, I told them ‘no way’ – these are the ubiquitous gypsy cabs. While I don’t remember what we finally paid, even with the extra passenger and luggage, it was less than 40 E with about a 10-15 minute wait for a cab that could take 5 people.
We had chosen to stay at an apartment at Palais Royal. We stayed there 3 years ago and loved the area and found another, larger apartment that could accommodate all of us (since we were now 5 instead of 4). We loved this apartment as well as the agency and would stay there again! I called the contact from the train station and they were waiting for us in the apartment. We rang from outside and they met us at the elevator.
We were met with fresh croissants and flowers in the apartment and had a quick orientation how things worked. I was impressed that she had noticed a few lightbulbs that were burned out and wanted me to know that she asked their maintenance man to replace them. We were thrilled both with the location, the size, and the appointments in the apartment! After allowing the kids to explore and decided who was sleeping where, we decided to head out for a walk and find some lunch.
Since we didn’t want to take a lot of time, we just went to the Carrousel du Louvre (the indoor food court in the mall attached to the Louvre). While it was only pizza, we were happy that it was quick and solved the hunger problem.
Next, we walked through the Tuileries with the Orangerie as a destination. When we arrived, there was a line of about 30 people, so I went to the front and inquired about using the Museum Pass and we were directed to a different line with about 5 people (I had already purchased the Museum Pass). We skipped the downstairs paintings and headed straight to the Water Lilies. As always, I’m amazed at the beauty and we enjoyed the paintings as well as the building they are in. As we left, we stopped by the ice cream cart in the Tuileries for day 1 of the Paris ice cream tastings. (It was a bit chilly for me for ice cream, but when you are a kid, the outside temperature is immaterial when it comes to ice cream!)
Next part of the plan was a bit of a mistake with regard to timing. We headed to Monoprix on Avenue de l’Opera to get some provisions for the week. Mistake #1: time of day. By this time, it was the end of the work day and people were stopping to do their regular Monday shopping for the week. Mistake #2: Dragging everyone along. However, I needed Mr. Surf help to carry everything and he needed my help to translate for purchases and the kids weren’t old enough to be left alone, so we didn’t have many options. Mistake #3: I was a bit hungry by this time since I’d only had a taste of the ice cream above. We ended up buying a lot of food! (which did get eaten!) Mistake #4: Buying a watermelon. The cashier couldn’t figure out how to weigh it and while the sign downstairs had said 5 E/piece, she kept ringing it as 5E per pound. I finally went downstairs and brought the sign to her and she was able to figure it out. Unfortunately, the line behind me was not happy about this either.
We were happy to be out of there and head back to our apartment! I’ll add a sidenote on eating here. I’m sure many of you will be horrified when you hear what our meals consisted of, but we are not ‘foodies’ (as you’ve probably figured out by now). For me, Paris isn’t about the meals… it is about the history, the architecture, the buildings, the art. The Things are asleep by 9pm at the latest, so eating out every night can become challenging. This is one of the things that we particularly enjoy about getting an apartment… we can just make a pot of noodles and fresh fruit and they are happy. So, after their dinner of noodles …. Oh, need another sidenote here. We thought we were buying elbows and instead we discovered that we had purchased cavatappi (or double elbows). Thing 1 especially like these and they became known as ‘silly noodles’! I meant to purchase a few boxes before we left and was dismayed to remember on the way home that I forgot. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find something similar at home, so I made a little Thing happy! (Oh, and that watermelon…. Wow! It was great!) end embedded sidenote. …. So, after their dinner of noodles (or whatever), I tended to go out and get big people food. There was a little sandwich shop around the corner that was easy and convenient, so we tried a few different panini’s.
I also like to take pictures and something else fun for me was to go out each night when the kids were in bed, take my camera and wander a little. I’m in love with the Louvre courtyard at sunset – as you can see by my profile picture. So I would spend some time each evening with my camera before I brought back dinner.
Our apartment. As mentioned, we wanted to stay at Palais Royal and were somewhat limited since we had 5 people. We were thrilled with our apartment and recommend it. One of the reasons that we wanted to stay here was that our kids loved jumping on the black and white columns (Buren’s columns). We stopped there at least on the way home each day, but also on the way out some days to run, jump, and burn some steam off. It was a fun way to feel like we were “home” to play there. One fun thing about this apartment was that there was a door that entered into the actual Palais Royal. While you couldn’t enter from that door, you could exit the apartment into Palais Royal.
http://www.parisvacationapartments.c...id=179&lang=en
I don’t know why the link is so long?
This is a 2 bedroom apartment that with couches that also fold out. Honestly, I can’t imagine using this for 8 people, but for our family, it was ideal. The kids moved around each night with who slept where, but the couches were big and deep enough that we just put the kid on the couch without unfolding it. It was also nice to have 2 bathrooms – certainly not needed, but a nice convenience. The kitchen was great with a table in the middle. The fresh flowers lasted almost the entire week! Another thing we particularly enjoyed about this apartment was that there was space to put “stuff”. When traveling, we have a backpack and I don’t like to unpack suitcases (I left things behind in a drawer once and never again!), so having ‘floor space’ to put stuff was great (without tripping over it). There is also a little entryway, so there was a place to put our shoes, daypack, etc. I also appreciated the little supplies that were left behind – the detergent (laundry and dish), etc. We would stay here again and would probably be disappointed if we couldn’t.
Overall, this day felt like we got less accomplished - that is the downside to moving between cities. You either take a brutally early train and then you are dragging, or you lose half the day in transit - no matter how "quick" it is. I now see why a day trip between London and Paris is not recommended, no matter how much you think you can make it work. After this experience, I'm now in the "too much hassle for a day" camp.
Next: Did you know that one statue atop Notre Dame is looking the opposite direction than the other statues?
Feb 20th, 2011, 06:43 PM
#31
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We stayed "upstairs" from you a couple of years ago. Loved the space, the views, and the private door out to the Palais Royal. We had the same experience where the person who came to meet us noticed one of the interior doors wasn't closing tightly and called one of their maintenance people to come over and fix it.
I remember one night when the light bulb burned out on my bedside lamp, checking one of the closets and there was a full supply of replacements. Very convenient and thoughtful.
You make a good point about losing a half day in transit. And you had an efficient transit. Moving between some cities would not be as easy.
I remember one night when the light bulb burned out on my bedside lamp, checking one of the closets and there was a full supply of replacements. Very convenient and thoughtful.
You make a good point about losing a half day in transit. And you had an efficient transit. Moving between some cities would not be as easy.
Mar 20th, 2011, 10:56 AM
#34
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cw, the upstairs apartment looked fabulous - we didn't need all that space, but if I had a large family, it certainly would be a top choice.
jonesie, enjoy! You will have a wonderful time!
grandmere, thanks for the push. Its been a crazy few weeks, so I'm going to push through and finish it.
jonesie, enjoy! You will have a wonderful time!
grandmere, thanks for the push. Its been a crazy few weeks, so I'm going to push through and finish it.
Mar 20th, 2011, 11:05 AM
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Day 6 – Tuesday – Did you know that one statue at Notre Dame is looking the opposite direction ?
We had scheduled a private walking tour with Paris Muse – this was the “If Buildings Could Talk” tour. We started off by meeting our tour guide at Place des Vosges at 9am. Since I didn’t know how long it would take, we were about 15-20 minutes early, so the kids got some time to play in the kids’ play area. Our guide was an American, who is doing her PhD in Art History. She had booklets and pencils for the kids as well as compasses for each. As she led us around, she told the kids interesting facts about some of the buildings. The facts we learned taught us about their occupants and the kids would fill in the puzzles and words in their booklets. Many interesting things were learned! (by both adults and kids). About part of the way through, everyone was cold (it was VERY windy!), so Mr. Surf, the Things, and the tour guide sat down in a café for a hot chocolate and tea break. During that time, I quickly hightailed it back to the apartment for another sweatshirt for everyone. (We had debated when we left in the morning and decided it would be warmer as the day went on – we were WRONG – it got colder and windier). I caught up with them as they were crossing from Ile St. Louis onto Ile de la Cite. (This is a benefit to an unlimited use metro pass – it only cost me time to get back to the apartment to do this. It is also a benefit of staying in a central location).
So l got to hear all the neat things about Notre Dame – including why one green statue is facing the wrong way. At the back – on the spire, there are various statues of religious figures and apostles. However, Viollet le duc, the architect in charge of the restoration in the 1800’s, decided to leave his legacy. Instead of facing out, like the rest of the statues, he left one statue facing in – looking at his own work. And, in fact, he is holding a yardstick, like an architect might hold. I thought this was a neat little fact!
We finished the tour by going into Notre Dame and finding a stained glass window. The guide explained to us how they tell stories and helped us decipher the clues of the window. All in all, it was a great tour, I would (and we did!) absolutely use them again – extremely family oriented and it made the morning interesting for the kids.
After we said goodbye to our tour guide, we decided it was time for lunch, so we crossed back to Ile St. Louis to Brasserie St. Louis. We had eaten here three years ago and they were very kind to the Things, so we decided to try our luck again. Again, we weren’t disappointed and had a good meal (sauerkraut, pork, hamburger, and omelet – not all by one person!). Since we were in the area (and worried about the weather later in the week), we decided to climb to the top of the towers of Notre Dame. This was one of the highlights of our trip 3 years ago and the kids were very much looking forward to it. The line stretched out into the courtyard in front of Notre Dame, but we decided to wait it out. Unfortunately, the wind continued to pick up, and it was cold and windy waiting, however, the kids were troopers and did well (a lollipop or Jolly Rancher can do wonders when needed!). After almost an hour, we got to the front and started the climb – while the kids got tired along the way, I think the adults were probably more tired. After appreciating the view and taking the extra steps to the last tower, we made the trek down and decided to sit down for something warm again.
While the cafes around Notre Dame are touristy, we went for the convenience factor and sat down for crepes, fries, and hot tea/hot chocolate. It was a great time since it was mid-afternoon and no one was in there, so we could spread out a little. The owner was very nice to us and was interested in the kids and it solved the problem of being cold.
We walked over the Sainte Chappelle and while the sun wasn’t streaming through, it was still very pretty. We were happy to use the museum pass to bypass the line to purchase tickets (the security line wasn’t TOO bad). I had to go through the entire explanation, again, of how the King and his friends worshipped on the top floor and how the commoners and staff were only allowed downstairs. After our lesson in Notre Dame, we had fun trying to figure out the meaning of the windows.
The Things were winding down, so we walked across the Seine and stopped at the double decker carousel in front of Hotel de Ville. This was also a highlight from the last trip and if we hadn’t found one, the littlest Thing would have been exremely disappointed. We took the metro back to the apartment and after the requisite trip to the Black and White columns, we had dinner in the apartment and called it a night.
Next: Another windy day, but no rain!
We had scheduled a private walking tour with Paris Muse – this was the “If Buildings Could Talk” tour. We started off by meeting our tour guide at Place des Vosges at 9am. Since I didn’t know how long it would take, we were about 15-20 minutes early, so the kids got some time to play in the kids’ play area. Our guide was an American, who is doing her PhD in Art History. She had booklets and pencils for the kids as well as compasses for each. As she led us around, she told the kids interesting facts about some of the buildings. The facts we learned taught us about their occupants and the kids would fill in the puzzles and words in their booklets. Many interesting things were learned! (by both adults and kids). About part of the way through, everyone was cold (it was VERY windy!), so Mr. Surf, the Things, and the tour guide sat down in a café for a hot chocolate and tea break. During that time, I quickly hightailed it back to the apartment for another sweatshirt for everyone. (We had debated when we left in the morning and decided it would be warmer as the day went on – we were WRONG – it got colder and windier). I caught up with them as they were crossing from Ile St. Louis onto Ile de la Cite. (This is a benefit to an unlimited use metro pass – it only cost me time to get back to the apartment to do this. It is also a benefit of staying in a central location).
So l got to hear all the neat things about Notre Dame – including why one green statue is facing the wrong way. At the back – on the spire, there are various statues of religious figures and apostles. However, Viollet le duc, the architect in charge of the restoration in the 1800’s, decided to leave his legacy. Instead of facing out, like the rest of the statues, he left one statue facing in – looking at his own work. And, in fact, he is holding a yardstick, like an architect might hold. I thought this was a neat little fact!
We finished the tour by going into Notre Dame and finding a stained glass window. The guide explained to us how they tell stories and helped us decipher the clues of the window. All in all, it was a great tour, I would (and we did!) absolutely use them again – extremely family oriented and it made the morning interesting for the kids.
After we said goodbye to our tour guide, we decided it was time for lunch, so we crossed back to Ile St. Louis to Brasserie St. Louis. We had eaten here three years ago and they were very kind to the Things, so we decided to try our luck again. Again, we weren’t disappointed and had a good meal (sauerkraut, pork, hamburger, and omelet – not all by one person!). Since we were in the area (and worried about the weather later in the week), we decided to climb to the top of the towers of Notre Dame. This was one of the highlights of our trip 3 years ago and the kids were very much looking forward to it. The line stretched out into the courtyard in front of Notre Dame, but we decided to wait it out. Unfortunately, the wind continued to pick up, and it was cold and windy waiting, however, the kids were troopers and did well (a lollipop or Jolly Rancher can do wonders when needed!). After almost an hour, we got to the front and started the climb – while the kids got tired along the way, I think the adults were probably more tired. After appreciating the view and taking the extra steps to the last tower, we made the trek down and decided to sit down for something warm again.
While the cafes around Notre Dame are touristy, we went for the convenience factor and sat down for crepes, fries, and hot tea/hot chocolate. It was a great time since it was mid-afternoon and no one was in there, so we could spread out a little. The owner was very nice to us and was interested in the kids and it solved the problem of being cold.
We walked over the Sainte Chappelle and while the sun wasn’t streaming through, it was still very pretty. We were happy to use the museum pass to bypass the line to purchase tickets (the security line wasn’t TOO bad). I had to go through the entire explanation, again, of how the King and his friends worshipped on the top floor and how the commoners and staff were only allowed downstairs. After our lesson in Notre Dame, we had fun trying to figure out the meaning of the windows.
The Things were winding down, so we walked across the Seine and stopped at the double decker carousel in front of Hotel de Ville. This was also a highlight from the last trip and if we hadn’t found one, the littlest Thing would have been exremely disappointed. We took the metro back to the apartment and after the requisite trip to the Black and White columns, we had dinner in the apartment and called it a night.
Next: Another windy day, but no rain!
Mar 23rd, 2011, 06:21 AM
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Day 7 – Wednesday – Another windy day, but no rain!!!
We had a bit of a lazy morning, but the kids got journal writing and homework done, so it was good. Late morning, we headed to Luxembourg Gardens. We had specifically planned to do this on Wednesday since we knew many schoolkids had Wednesdays off or half days and the kid-oriented things would be open.
The first thing we did was rent sailboats and sail them in the fountain – the fun thing is that we were the first customers of the morning, so the kids got first selection of boats. Each boat has a different sail so you can identify which one is yours. The man gives you a big stick which you use to give the boat a good push across the fountain. You then run or walk – depending on the wind! – to the other side to send it back. Since there was a nice wind, the kids had fun running around the pond to get them and re-launch them back across the fountain. I don't think there were more than 4 or 5 other kids at the same time since it was still the morning and still a bit chilly. We were pleased how well Thing 3 was able to do it without assistance (so Mr. Surf and I could sit and watch rather than actively participate). We only did it for 30 minutes – I think Thing 3 would have stayed longer, but his sisters were ready to go.
Next, we walked to the playground area in the Luxembourg Garden - and this one required payment (although the kids ran in the exit before we caught up!), so Mr. Surf and I sat outside the fence. (Yes, I did pay for the kids when I got there). The part of it that was most fun was a zip line that you hung onto and it went down and around. Thing 3 took a few tries to get it pulled up to the platform where you launched from, but he figured it out, and I was happy that his sisters helped him. They were also good sports and helped a few other littler kids. They stayed there quite a while and probably went around 10 (or more) times each.
Of course, we all needed a little sustenance at this point, so we got fries (yum!) from the little stand near the playground. I’m a firm believer that food rules can be relaxed on vacation and happiness and family harmony is a better thing to strive for on vacation. So, fries as a late morning snack is absolutely a fun thing and probably keeps our attitudes better prepared for the unexpected hiccups!
We had seen beehives on the map and Thing 3 was interested in seeing them, so we walked over there. We had convinced Thing 2 (who was being a drama queen and acting scared) they would be in cages, but they weren't... there were about 20 little wooden houses with lots of bees flying around - you couldn't get in the area, but could see them pretty clearly! It actually is kind of neat, but probably not worth a destination.
At this point, we decided to head to Musee d’Orsay. We knew we were taking a bit of a risk since it was lunchtime by this point, but we decided to brave it. The kids had fruit (love the fruit stands all over Paris!) and we were on our way. Overall, we were extremely disappointed at Musee d'Orsay.
Of the five levels, only two were open (major renovations) and there was a big Crime and Punishment exhibit which you had to pay an extra fee for. On the two levels that were open, it was very crowded since the normal sized crowds were compressed from all the levels. We tried to head down to the café and get some lunch, but the line was at least 20 people long and didn’t seem to move, so we decided to make do with a snack from the backpack. We saw a few things the kids were interested in – again, we were disappointed here.
We wanted to see Degas’ Little Dancer – we have a book about her and the kids ‘connect’ with a person their size. She was in the Crime and Punishment exhibit !!! I had asked a guard in French and translated for the family and they thought I must have understood wrong (me too, at this point), so we went and asked another guard, who confirmed it. Both guards cautioned us to beware the exhibit with kids, because there were some graphic paintings that might be mildly disturbing to little people. We weren’t sure of the connection between a ballet dancer and Crime and Punishment – other than the fact that we felt like the museum was trying to extract as much money as possible and honestly, it really annoyed us.
Another element that bummed me out was the fact that the level where you can look through the clock and see the Seine was closed and no cameras were allowed. Three years ago, I had taken one of my favorite pictures – a silhouette of the girls holding hands looking through the clock. I wanted to re-create that picture with all three kids in high-resolution so I could blow it up for my wall. Not to be. Rats.
At this point, we decided to bail since everyone was hungry. (Even though, from this trip report, it seems like we just had fries in Luxembourg Garden, it was probably 2 hours later by this point.) We stopped in a café adjacent to Musee d’Orsay, and yes, the prices were reflective of that! Thing 1 and Thing 3 shared a hamburger, I had steak frites and Mr. Surf had some weird meat thing (or at least that’s how I remember it!). Thing 2 ate fries, since she is our born vegetarian! Even though the prices were high, it was worth it, because we sensed a melt-down coming. (I forget if the melt-down would have been an adult or a child, but we were all annoyed at Musee d’Orsay.) We decided that an extra sweatshirt since the wind seemed to be picking up, so we walked home from there, played awhile in the apartment and took a nice break.
We then went to the Outdoor Sculpture Garden, which was supposed to be large climbable sculptures along the Seine. It was somewhat disappointing since much was under construction and there seemed to be a lot of graffiti. We walked along and looked at things, but it just felt ‘off’ to us, so we didn’t stay long. So we crossed the Seine to Ile St. Louis, sat down in Berthillon and had ice cream. (I’m just now realizing that it sounds like we had fries and ice cream all day… there was actually more sustenance than that!) We walked through the island, got on the metro to try and go to the Eiffel Tower. However, the line at the Eiffel Tower was too long and again, we felt that pushing it was not a good idea. We decided to bail and went home and had dinner and bed.
Going up in the Eiffel Tower was a priority - I had tried to get tickets online, but I was very hesitant since the weather makes a huge difference. Also, there were limited times and dates, so we had decided to work it into our schedule. In the past, we've tried to arrive when it opened to minimize the lines, so our plan would be to do that in the next few days.
As it turned out, I was able to go back to the apartment, and find Saturday evening times available online and we decided that the weather was a lesser factor than getting timed tickets. The only hiccup was printing out the tickets in advance - our apartment didn't have a printer. I tried to go to an internet cafe, but the one I found was closed when I stopped by. I stopped into a nearby hotel and asked the women where I could find a place to print something - she was kind enough to allow me to use her computer to do so. I was able to jump on my email, bring up the email confirmation of our booking, and print it right there. I won't post the name of the hotel, because I don't want to get her in trouble, but I was very grateful for her kindness! It saved me a bunch of time hunting down a place to print.
Overall, we felt like this was a day of “misses” – the crowds at Musee d’Orsay, the outdoor sculpture garden, the lines at the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes, you have those days on vacation – we were happy that Luxembourg Garden was so much fun and we had a good time there. Of course, ice cream always makes a day happier, too!
Next: a day of tours.
We had a bit of a lazy morning, but the kids got journal writing and homework done, so it was good. Late morning, we headed to Luxembourg Gardens. We had specifically planned to do this on Wednesday since we knew many schoolkids had Wednesdays off or half days and the kid-oriented things would be open.
The first thing we did was rent sailboats and sail them in the fountain – the fun thing is that we were the first customers of the morning, so the kids got first selection of boats. Each boat has a different sail so you can identify which one is yours. The man gives you a big stick which you use to give the boat a good push across the fountain. You then run or walk – depending on the wind! – to the other side to send it back. Since there was a nice wind, the kids had fun running around the pond to get them and re-launch them back across the fountain. I don't think there were more than 4 or 5 other kids at the same time since it was still the morning and still a bit chilly. We were pleased how well Thing 3 was able to do it without assistance (so Mr. Surf and I could sit and watch rather than actively participate). We only did it for 30 minutes – I think Thing 3 would have stayed longer, but his sisters were ready to go.
Next, we walked to the playground area in the Luxembourg Garden - and this one required payment (although the kids ran in the exit before we caught up!), so Mr. Surf and I sat outside the fence. (Yes, I did pay for the kids when I got there). The part of it that was most fun was a zip line that you hung onto and it went down and around. Thing 3 took a few tries to get it pulled up to the platform where you launched from, but he figured it out, and I was happy that his sisters helped him. They were also good sports and helped a few other littler kids. They stayed there quite a while and probably went around 10 (or more) times each.
Of course, we all needed a little sustenance at this point, so we got fries (yum!) from the little stand near the playground. I’m a firm believer that food rules can be relaxed on vacation and happiness and family harmony is a better thing to strive for on vacation. So, fries as a late morning snack is absolutely a fun thing and probably keeps our attitudes better prepared for the unexpected hiccups!
We had seen beehives on the map and Thing 3 was interested in seeing them, so we walked over there. We had convinced Thing 2 (who was being a drama queen and acting scared) they would be in cages, but they weren't... there were about 20 little wooden houses with lots of bees flying around - you couldn't get in the area, but could see them pretty clearly! It actually is kind of neat, but probably not worth a destination.
At this point, we decided to head to Musee d’Orsay. We knew we were taking a bit of a risk since it was lunchtime by this point, but we decided to brave it. The kids had fruit (love the fruit stands all over Paris!) and we were on our way. Overall, we were extremely disappointed at Musee d'Orsay.
Of the five levels, only two were open (major renovations) and there was a big Crime and Punishment exhibit which you had to pay an extra fee for. On the two levels that were open, it was very crowded since the normal sized crowds were compressed from all the levels. We tried to head down to the café and get some lunch, but the line was at least 20 people long and didn’t seem to move, so we decided to make do with a snack from the backpack. We saw a few things the kids were interested in – again, we were disappointed here.
We wanted to see Degas’ Little Dancer – we have a book about her and the kids ‘connect’ with a person their size. She was in the Crime and Punishment exhibit !!! I had asked a guard in French and translated for the family and they thought I must have understood wrong (me too, at this point), so we went and asked another guard, who confirmed it. Both guards cautioned us to beware the exhibit with kids, because there were some graphic paintings that might be mildly disturbing to little people. We weren’t sure of the connection between a ballet dancer and Crime and Punishment – other than the fact that we felt like the museum was trying to extract as much money as possible and honestly, it really annoyed us.
Another element that bummed me out was the fact that the level where you can look through the clock and see the Seine was closed and no cameras were allowed. Three years ago, I had taken one of my favorite pictures – a silhouette of the girls holding hands looking through the clock. I wanted to re-create that picture with all three kids in high-resolution so I could blow it up for my wall. Not to be. Rats.
At this point, we decided to bail since everyone was hungry. (Even though, from this trip report, it seems like we just had fries in Luxembourg Garden, it was probably 2 hours later by this point.) We stopped in a café adjacent to Musee d’Orsay, and yes, the prices were reflective of that! Thing 1 and Thing 3 shared a hamburger, I had steak frites and Mr. Surf had some weird meat thing (or at least that’s how I remember it!). Thing 2 ate fries, since she is our born vegetarian! Even though the prices were high, it was worth it, because we sensed a melt-down coming. (I forget if the melt-down would have been an adult or a child, but we were all annoyed at Musee d’Orsay.) We decided that an extra sweatshirt since the wind seemed to be picking up, so we walked home from there, played awhile in the apartment and took a nice break.
We then went to the Outdoor Sculpture Garden, which was supposed to be large climbable sculptures along the Seine. It was somewhat disappointing since much was under construction and there seemed to be a lot of graffiti. We walked along and looked at things, but it just felt ‘off’ to us, so we didn’t stay long. So we crossed the Seine to Ile St. Louis, sat down in Berthillon and had ice cream. (I’m just now realizing that it sounds like we had fries and ice cream all day… there was actually more sustenance than that!) We walked through the island, got on the metro to try and go to the Eiffel Tower. However, the line at the Eiffel Tower was too long and again, we felt that pushing it was not a good idea. We decided to bail and went home and had dinner and bed.
Going up in the Eiffel Tower was a priority - I had tried to get tickets online, but I was very hesitant since the weather makes a huge difference. Also, there were limited times and dates, so we had decided to work it into our schedule. In the past, we've tried to arrive when it opened to minimize the lines, so our plan would be to do that in the next few days.
As it turned out, I was able to go back to the apartment, and find Saturday evening times available online and we decided that the weather was a lesser factor than getting timed tickets. The only hiccup was printing out the tickets in advance - our apartment didn't have a printer. I tried to go to an internet cafe, but the one I found was closed when I stopped by. I stopped into a nearby hotel and asked the women where I could find a place to print something - she was kind enough to allow me to use her computer to do so. I was able to jump on my email, bring up the email confirmation of our booking, and print it right there. I won't post the name of the hotel, because I don't want to get her in trouble, but I was very grateful for her kindness! It saved me a bunch of time hunting down a place to print.
Overall, we felt like this was a day of “misses” – the crowds at Musee d’Orsay, the outdoor sculpture garden, the lines at the Eiffel Tower. Sometimes, you have those days on vacation – we were happy that Luxembourg Garden was so much fun and we had a good time there. Of course, ice cream always makes a day happier, too!
Next: a day of tours.
Mar 23rd, 2011, 07:16 AM
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Ada loved the zip line at Luxembourg gardens! The park was packed with kids when we got there; I loved watching all the Parisian children.
This is fun, that we're writing our trip reports at the same time.
This is fun, that we're writing our trip reports at the same time.
Mar 23rd, 2011, 07:28 AM
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Sorry you had an off-day (I think the thing about the Degas dancer may have been that, in his day, it would have been understood that the dancers probably had a [cough] secondary profession from time to time, so it's probably as well that you didn't see her in that context). But congratulations on taking it all on the chin, ice-cream and all.
