Paris – Just Passing Through

Our next stop on the 18-day, three-country, five-city family friends adventure was a quick three-day pass through of Paris. Why so quick? Well, and here is an unpopular statement – Paris with kids isn’t that great. Okay, don’t come at me. I know that there are tons of great activities for kids if you are willing to scratch below the surface and explore the not-so-usual sites. But this was going to be the Clark family’s first trip to Paris, so of course we couldn’t skip the usual sites. We had to get in the Paris icons.  But after that, we decided to keep it moving.

First off, our little Parisian apartment ended up being pretty great. The location was awesome (hello Notre Dame directly around the corner!) Even though it was a little quirky, it ended up having enough space for everyone, which if you have stayed in Paris, you know that space for seven isn’t easy to come by!

A few highlights:

It. Never. Gets. Old.

But how are these the best pics I got of the twinkle and how did I not take another video??

The Eiffel –

Same lady. Different highlight. Visiting La Tour de Eiffel is still exciting. I don’t know exactly what it is about the Eiffel, but the closer up you get, the more awe inspiring it is.

*Spoiler alert – I still didn’t go up to the top, but I at least got close to going this time. The day we all went to the Eiffel Tower Paul stayed behind to work for the morning saying that he’d “been there, done that.” But, when I text him that the girls had requested to go all the way to the very top and that Chris had volunteered to take them, Paul dropped what he was doing and ran/trained over to meet us. I think he felt like if he’d been the one to take Nora halfway up, he wanted to be with her when she went all the way up. I say I got close because even though it feels like everything in Paris is just a quick train ride away, it actually took Paul more than half an hour to get to us and I was standing in line with Chris the whole while pep-talking myself to go to the top if he didn’t make it in time. Little did I know that even after he got there, they would still wait in line almost an hour. 

*PRO TIP: if you want to take the elevator to the very top, make sure to book your tickets in advance. If you wait until you get there, you will stand in line a very long line. And that’s in “off-season.” I would imagine it might be near impossible to do walk-up tickets for the elevator in July or August. If you would rather walk the stairs to the first floor (327 steps, as Nora counted on her way up), you are fine waiting until same day. I’ve seen the line for the stairs at varying lengths but never one that takes very long.

*DOUBLE PRO TIP: If you are scared of heights or just generally have no interest in taking in the views from the Eiffel (the views of the Eiffel really are close to enough), they serve wine (and sweet treats) at the café under the tower.

Another lady who never gets old. We’ve visited her on just about every trip we’ve made through Paris and she’s impressive every time (even blocked off and under repairs). I can’t wait to one day visit and see her complete again. 

I still can remember the day sitting in my office and watching Notre Dame on fire and tearing up. Even though I hadn’t seen her in person back then, I just knew it was a world wide tragedy. They say construction will be complete in 2024 for the summer Olympics and I look forward to one day actually walking inside her doors and appreciating Notre Dame up close.

You might be having deja vu reading this as it’s a lot of the same sites we’ve visited before in Paris. But, when your in Paris for the first time, like the Clarks were, there are just places you absolutely must see and honestly, even when you’ve been before, they are worth the return visit. This was our first time actually crossing the roundabout (well, no, not crossing, that would be crazy – going under is what we did) and going up close and under to see the Arc in person. A must do if you are interested in anything more than taking a selfie in front of it. The Arc de Triomphe is so much more impressive up close. The detail on the monument and honestly just the sheer size is so much better right up under it. Another thing I don’t think you can see from afar is the flame that is kept burning at the tomb of the unknown soldier under the Arc. The whole thing is just better up close.

This was a new one for us. We had never been even by the Pantheon before, but our apartment was super close and one morning while the Clark’s while visiting the Lourve, we decided to make the short walk over and explore. I had no idea what to expect but since we paid €23 for the visit, I was hoping it was something. And it definitely was! 

I think the star of the show of the Pantheon is the pendulum that hangs from the very tip top of the central dome swinging back and forth telling accurate time based on the earth’s rotation. It really is mesmerizing and every 15 minutes or so they play music and to watch the pendulum and the music fills the room is really an experience. Even Nora loved watching the time change as the pendulum swung.

Downstairs is the crypt where lots of a famous French people are laid to rest including Marie Curie and Josephine Baker. The crypt really goes on and on forever and is very impressive. I never thought I’d be singing the praises of a crypt, but here we are. The French really know how to make things beautiful.

As if it wasn’t enough that I was getting to spend 18 days with one of my very most favorite friends (and honestly, it was enough and more) we actually got to meet up for dinner with one of our girlfriends from high school. We were all cheerleaders together way back in the 90’s but hadn’t all spent time together since then. We ate at Banbini, a super cute Italian (y’all, there is seriously only so much French food a girl can take) restaurant in the Palais de Tokyo, a contemporary art museum near the Eiffel. We all spent hours catching up over pasta and a good amount of wine and having a great time. Apparently so great that I completely failed to take a picture!

On the way home, Rebecca and I grabbed some scooters and had an amazing time riding through the streets of Paris late night!

The only lowlight of the Paris leg of our trip? The aforementioned tummy bug struck! I was sick as dog all night and had to make myself pack up and get on a train from Paris to Florence, where I promptly put on Rebecca’s sleep mask and lay comatose the entire trip. That damn tummy bug! At least it waited until all the Paris fun was over .

A few honorable mentions:

St. Patrick’s Day – Okay so admittedly, this holiday is not as widely and enthusiastically celebrated in France as it is in the states. No, there is no dying the Seine green and I didn’t spot one drunken leprechaun stumbling through the streets, but that didn’t stop us from finding a local Irish pub and polishing off a few St. Patty’s beers. The pub even thought we were fun enough to give the kids these big floppy green hats.

Angelina’s –

Unpopular opinion alert: hot chocolate is not my jam. But, Angelina’s is a Parisian staple and if you or your travel buddies are fans of the sweet treat, it’s a must-do. We got to Angelina’s too late to be seated (*PRO TIP – get there early, the line is always long and once they stop serving, they don’t care if you’re seated or not. It’s a real, you ain’t gotta go home, but you gotta get the hell outta here situation), so we went through the to-go line and loaded up on their gorgeous sweets and hot chocolate.  Sidenote, their hot chocolate is THICK.  More like straight melted chocolate.  

Next stop, Italy!