Fastest trip to Paris in history

As mentioned in my previous entries.  We have been really getting up to Paris and almost thought about forgetting the whole thing, but the kids really wanted to see the Eiffel Tower and per Ava's request to go there for her birthday.   Our weekends to sight see are really going fast- I can't believe we almost done living here and will return to the US within a month.   So we  quit stalling and bought train tickets two days before we planned to leave for Paris.  There is a new train service here in France called Ouigo- it is kind a third class train and you need a french address and phone number to purchase tickets.  No, we don't have to sit on the floor or anything, but all the other long distance trains have a snack car and kind of like the airlines- have a beverage cart that makes the rounds every couple of hours or so.  Ouigo has none of this- just seats and outlets to plug in electronics.  It is kind of the Southwest airlines of trains- you have to line up on the platform and check in and than in a frenzy rush to find your car before the train takes off.   So you are thinking this sounds pretty good right??   I mean it is only 5 euros per child to take the train, which is a real bargain compared to most tickets.  The train ride itself is nice, but here is cruel joke- the train does not go directly into the Paris- it stops in the outskirts of Paris in DISNEYLAND!   So as we are departing off the train- the kids catch sight of something familiar- "mom is that Disneyland?"- I am trying to be really subtle about the thing and hope they don't notice and hope we can rush to catch the metro/train into the city, but unfortunately that was not the case.  Ava and Johnny were sent into a frenzy and could not believe that we were right in front of the entrance of Disneyland and had no intention of going in.  There were tears and for a  moment when I thought about pulling my hair out.   After what seemed like a forever line, we bought the metro tickets and headed our way to metro- but alas the tickets didn't work and I found you need two different tickets to get there- like I mentioned were attempting to get out of there as fast as possible- but instead it took us almost 45 minutes to leave.

When we stepped out the metro station this was our first view- remind you it was already 1:30pm in the afternoon on Saturday and we leaving the next evening- not much time to see a lot of stuff.

Since we have only been to Paris one other time and didn't see much that time as well- we pretty unfamiliar with the area.  We were all really hungry and noticed there really were not very many cafes around, after walking around for 30+ minutes we found a Thai cafe.  We were actually really excited because we haven't had any other food than french for almost four months and it was nice to have something different.   After lunch we headed for the one place that the kids only cared about coming to Paris for: The Eiffel Tower.

Our first glimpse of the tower

A little closer

 

We are there

The place was packed- Wes and I thought that the line to get tickets for the elevator was probably over an hour.  So to our children's horror we decided to climb the stairs!   Actually they zipped right up almost 700 steps!  Johnny was a little nervous of the heights, but the view was amazing.

Part of the line for the elevator sticks.  We were hard core and climbed the stairs.  I did get a work out.

View from the 2nd level- 3rd level was closed for some reason

After our climb we started looking for the metro to find our hotel.  It was pretty hot that day and muggy.  The wind at the top of the tower was nice.

Living wall

Unfortunately the weather was drastically different the next day and we were hit with about a 20 degree temperature difference and rain.   It was however a good day to visit a museum and of course we needed to go to the Louvre.

My little french girl

Yes- there are a lot of people trying to see this famous painting- this is as close as I got.  Ava really wanted to see the Mona Lisa and I think she was a bit disappointed.   She told me she thought it be much bigger.

Some of Ava's other favorite paintings

 

We spent most of the day there and only saw one wing of the museum.  It is defiantly a two day trip, but I think the kids really would not have tolerated another day- most of the day was pushing it.

We had a couple of hours to kill before our train left- I have to admit- the rest of evening was not very pleasant.  It was raining and cold, the kids were tired and we were a bit grumpy.  We kind of wandered the streets a bit and to our annoyance- the train was 45 minutes late and we didn't get home until 1:00am in the morning.  We really didn't allow ourselves enough time in Paris and didn't to see much.  But we went.

This seems to be common on the bridges in France

You didn't think we missed a playground did you??

So this is probably  was our last trip in France.  We have a little more than two weeks left here in France.   The kids are in school up until we leave and we are trying to figure out tonight what we are going to be with the last two weeks.   Our options so far are 1. rent a car and drive through Germany to the Netherlands and a take a ferry over the the UK- spend some time in London and end our trip in Dublin (that is where we fly out back the the US) - this was our original plan- but the price in car rental has really sky rocketed, so this option is not as popular as it once was.   2. Fly directly to London and spend time there and Dublin.   3. A new option that just opened up- tickets to Morocco have opened up and we now can do there for about 4 days fly to London and end our trip in Dublin- I am voting for option 3- You don't get many chances to go to Africa!