My parents-in-laws, Richard and Leslie, decided to make their first trip to visit us in France, which we were all very excited about. The way everything worked out, the best time for us to go on a little exursion up to Paris required us to leave early the morning after they arrived. They were troopers, though, and said that they were willing to go, even if they were all jet lagged. I have to say, I was pretty impressed by their sense of adventure.
We hopped on the 7:30 train in Marseille and made the three hour trip up to Paris. That three hours gave me a good chunk of time to plan our itinerary. Our first stop was to head up to Montmartre which is a little ways out the the city, giving Richard and Leslie a good initiation to the Parisian Metro system.
This was the first time I had ever been to Montmartre. It is such a beautiful area of Paris, and it had lots of pigeons to chase and some big hills to roll down, so it was a hit with the kids.
Jaxon rolling down hills in front of the Sacré Cœur.
Watching the artists do their thing
A famous boulangerie
The Moulin Rouge
Next on the itinerary for day #1 was to pick up some dinner on Rue Cler followed by the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.
They had some weird fountaine thing that Jaxon appreciated when we hiked up the Eiffel Tower. I don't think he was really supposed to be running around up there, but oh well.
Jonas, can't you at least pretend you are enjoying yourself? Just for the picture?
Romantic moment
After we closed the Eiffel Tower down we went on a little trip up and down the Seine, and then up again...for two hours. It was a great way to relax after a full day of sight seeing.
But the day wasn't over yet. To save a couple of Euros we decided to make the walk back to our hotel via l'ile de la cité instead of taking the metro. It was a good choice, taking us right past Notre Dame de Paris and, perhaps even more exciting, by a group of street performers playing with fire. They were really good, and definitely earned the change we gave them.
Daniel and Jaxon camping in front of Notre Dame.
When we finally made it back to the hotel at midnight we were ready to enjoy a little midnight snack on our Parisian balcony. Unfortunately, Jonas didn't make it.
No time to be wasted, we got up early the next morning and took the RER out to Versailles. Jonas appreciated the art in the palace.
Apparently we didn't get out early enough to "beat the crowd," if there is any such thing at Versailles.
Enjoying the gardens-that-never-end.
We made it back from Versailles in time to spend a couple hours at the Musée d'Orsay, which wasn't quite long enough. We were hoping to visit the Orangerie, as well, but unfortunatey Rick Steves got the opening hours wrong. No problem, apparently everyone was ready to take a break and chill out for a little while in the reclining seats at the Jardin des Tuilleries. I think it was at this point that my father-in-law looked at me and said, laughing, "Leslie and I have decided that you are taking us on a death march through Paris." I could only take that as a compliment. I guess our little family has gotten pretty good at covering lots of ground when we travel.
We hopped on the 7:30 train in Marseille and made the three hour trip up to Paris. That three hours gave me a good chunk of time to plan our itinerary. Our first stop was to head up to Montmartre which is a little ways out the the city, giving Richard and Leslie a good initiation to the Parisian Metro system.
This was the first time I had ever been to Montmartre. It is such a beautiful area of Paris, and it had lots of pigeons to chase and some big hills to roll down, so it was a hit with the kids.
Jaxon rolling down hills in front of the Sacré Cœur.
Watching the artists do their thing
A famous boulangerie
The Moulin Rouge
Next on the itinerary for day #1 was to pick up some dinner on Rue Cler followed by the Champs de Mars and the Eiffel Tower.
They had some weird fountaine thing that Jaxon appreciated when we hiked up the Eiffel Tower. I don't think he was really supposed to be running around up there, but oh well.
Jonas, can't you at least pretend you are enjoying yourself? Just for the picture?
Romantic moment
After we closed the Eiffel Tower down we went on a little trip up and down the Seine, and then up again...for two hours. It was a great way to relax after a full day of sight seeing.
But the day wasn't over yet. To save a couple of Euros we decided to make the walk back to our hotel via l'ile de la cité instead of taking the metro. It was a good choice, taking us right past Notre Dame de Paris and, perhaps even more exciting, by a group of street performers playing with fire. They were really good, and definitely earned the change we gave them.
Daniel and Jaxon camping in front of Notre Dame.
When we finally made it back to the hotel at midnight we were ready to enjoy a little midnight snack on our Parisian balcony. Unfortunately, Jonas didn't make it.
No time to be wasted, we got up early the next morning and took the RER out to Versailles. Jonas appreciated the art in the palace.
Apparently we didn't get out early enough to "beat the crowd," if there is any such thing at Versailles.
Enjoying the gardens-that-never-end.
We made it back from Versailles in time to spend a couple hours at the Musée d'Orsay, which wasn't quite long enough. We were hoping to visit the Orangerie, as well, but unfortunatey Rick Steves got the opening hours wrong. No problem, apparently everyone was ready to take a break and chill out for a little while in the reclining seats at the Jardin des Tuilleries. I think it was at this point that my father-in-law looked at me and said, laughing, "Leslie and I have decided that you are taking us on a death march through Paris." I could only take that as a compliment. I guess our little family has gotten pretty good at covering lots of ground when we travel.When everyone was feeling up to it again, we hiked up the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomph, where we climbed to the top to wait for the Eiffel Tour light show to start.
Nobody was disappointed; it was a fun sight to behold, and definitely worth getting back to the hotel well after 11:00 again.
We started the next morning at the Pompidou Center, which I loved. Richard really appreciated the modern art sculptures. Luckily Jaxon has now had some experience with modern are and knows not to climb on it.
Next we visited Notre Dame by daylight, and went inside this time.
The rest of the afternoon before we had to head back to the train station was spent at Jardin du Luxembourg. Jaxon loves these boats that you can rent. Last time we came his cousin, Nate, got one and shared with Jaxon, but this time he was excited to have one all to himself. Well, he had to share with Jonas.
We are thinking that next time we should see if we can just rent two sticks instead of the stick and the boat. That was all that either of them wanted. Which turned out to be a good thing because Jaxon's boat got stuck to someone else's in the middle of the pool and didn't come back to shore for the last 15 minutes of his 30 minute session. But he had his stick, so everything was fine.
Grandma and Grandpa treated us all to a trip to the playground (yes, adults are required to pay, and I still don't think we were allowed to play on the equipment). The kids had a great time. They certainly deserved to be rewarded; they had been so great during the entire trip, even when we were doing "adult" things like going to art museums.
Jonas cracked me up. It was 4:00 in the afternoon when we finally made it to the playground and he had had no nap. But like any dedicated child would do, he sucked it up and played anyway. He looked pretty tired, but he didn't cry and he didn't stop.
Not crying, just rubbing eyes.
And with that we headed back to Marseille. We were all a little goofy and wired by that time and had a fun trip back. I think it was clear that we were driving the other passengers in the car crazy with our antics, but we had a good time. The whole trip was really fun.
Nobody was disappointed; it was a fun sight to behold, and definitely worth getting back to the hotel well after 11:00 again.
We started the next morning at the Pompidou Center, which I loved. Richard really appreciated the modern art sculptures. Luckily Jaxon has now had some experience with modern are and knows not to climb on it.
Next we visited Notre Dame by daylight, and went inside this time.
The rest of the afternoon before we had to head back to the train station was spent at Jardin du Luxembourg. Jaxon loves these boats that you can rent. Last time we came his cousin, Nate, got one and shared with Jaxon, but this time he was excited to have one all to himself. Well, he had to share with Jonas.
We are thinking that next time we should see if we can just rent two sticks instead of the stick and the boat. That was all that either of them wanted. Which turned out to be a good thing because Jaxon's boat got stuck to someone else's in the middle of the pool and didn't come back to shore for the last 15 minutes of his 30 minute session. But he had his stick, so everything was fine.
Grandma and Grandpa treated us all to a trip to the playground (yes, adults are required to pay, and I still don't think we were allowed to play on the equipment). The kids had a great time. They certainly deserved to be rewarded; they had been so great during the entire trip, even when we were doing "adult" things like going to art museums.
Jonas cracked me up. It was 4:00 in the afternoon when we finally made it to the playground and he had had no nap. But like any dedicated child would do, he sucked it up and played anyway. He looked pretty tired, but he didn't cry and he didn't stop.
Not crying, just rubbing eyes.
And with that we headed back to Marseille. We were all a little goofy and wired by that time and had a fun trip back. I think it was clear that we were driving the other passengers in the car crazy with our antics, but we had a good time. The whole trip was really fun.
