Fall Break...Paris

Maddie and Will had a two week break in October so we drove to Paris for six days. The drive was about seven hours...not bad. I wanted to take the back roads and drive through all the villages, but Bob wanted to take the highway. Lame. We stayed about a 40 minute train ride outside of Paris in a Marriott time share. And as a bonus, we were right next to a mall. No malls where we live - the malls here are a grocery store, pharmacy, office supply store, Claires (yuck), bank, coffee stop, shoe store, a couple of weird clothing stores. And all so unbelievably expensive. Seriously, very, very expensive!

So needless to say, we loved going to a mall. It even had a food court...WHAT???!!!

a little prelude to us leaving...I had known my dear friend Rochelle was going to be traveling in Europe in October with her husband. I didn't know where she would be, but I knew that Paris was one of their stops. The night before we left, I emailed her to let her know we were going to be arriving in Paris the next day and was wondering where they were. They were in Paris and leaving the day after we got there!  Providence!

So, we took the train into the city after we arrived and met them for dinner at a cafe where Rochelle and I had eaten many times on our trip to Paris over the summer. It was the best night ever. I cried happy tears when we saw them. I regret not taking a picture before we said good bye. I will remember that night forever. It was truly a miracle to be able to spend time with them. I miss my friend!

HIGHLIGHTS

• On/Off Bus Tour - higly recommend in Paris. It was cold, but we were bundled up
• Eiffel Tower - highlight of our trip. We went all. the. way. to. the. top! Best decision ever.
• Rue Montorgueil - can't wait to go back and spend the entire day
• BHV - Bazaar Hotel de Ville - great store- could have spent all day in here. Not a craft store but they have an amazing craft section. Bought some craft supplies for our dreary, boring days. No craft stores here in Switzerland...well there are some, but they are stuck in the 1970's - WEIRD!
• MonoPrix - French Target. enough said.
• Riding the Metro - Bob is a PRO!
• Crepes - I like sucre, Bob and Maddie like Nutella and Banana
• Pain au Chocolat - ate more than my fair share
• Pylones - great store for fun souveniers
• Strawberry Tarts for Maddie
• Cheap McDonalds for Will - for the four of us to eat at McDonalds here in Switzerland it costs about $65.00. I am not lying! We obviously don't eat there very often.
• Paris Disneyland - Space Mountain 8 times! Freezing Cold!!
• walking, walking, walking!
• shopping, shopping, shopping!
• New Parisian discoveries. I will be back!

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures and they were all with my iPhone.

Riding the train into Paris

On the train

Louvre

Notre Dame

Before heading to the top

At the tippy top!

Champs Elysses and Arc de Triomphe

Lunch on the Champs Elysses

Centre Pompidou

PARIS DISNEYLAND!

It was the coldest day ever! I don't think I got warm at all that day. The kids had a wonderful time. But Paris Disneyland is nothing like Disneyland at home. Everyone is smoking, so gross! It is not clean like at home. No Disneyland food. Much smaller! But it was great to be able to spend time together and to see the kids so happy!

Au Revoir,