Paris Day 1

Paris Day 1... December 14, 2013

We flew into Paris on Friday night and got a quick dinner at restaurant called Hippopatamus.  We stayed one night in the airport Hyatt.  The next morning We were all up at 3 am, but read and watched movies until we were ready to head downtown around 7:30. Right before we left Ryan asked me to take out his tooth that was dangling.  It was the front bottom tooth on the right, but the adult tooth was mostly grown up behind it, so there wasn't a big hole.  He was excited to have lost his second tooth in Paris!  

 It was still quite dark, and the city was barely moving yet, but after we checked into the Hyatt we started our long and adventurous journey across town. We were only about a ten minute walk from le arc de triumph, so we started out. We made our way around the large monument and walked down Champs d' Elyssez. Usually Aaron and I start our walk from the other side (by Notre Dame) and finish here, so it was different for us to do it backwards. We were searching for a bakery for breakfast, as we had been up since 3 am and we were starving, but we ended up at McDonalds. I was very embarrassed, but the egg mcmuffins were unusually good and the blueberry muffins were pretty moist! I actually just had a couple bites of the kids, as I was holding out for better. Just another block or so down the street was a chain bakery called Paul, which quickly became our new favorite. I got a large olive bread that was delicious. All of their breads and pastries were very good. So we had enough energy to keep up our walk.       

 

We then went to the Eiffel Tower. Aaron and I had never been all the way to the top before. The last two times we were in Paris we didn't want to take the time to stand in line. This time we waited the hour and made our way to the top in two different elevators. It was worth the wait!  The kids were great in line and the view from the top was amazing. It was a gorgeous, clear day and to see Paris from the top is quite breathtaking.  

After we descended we continued along the Seine River. The kids found a little playground that had a climbing wall obstacle course that they timed themselves from start to finish. Ryan was particularly swift, although he had a hard time accepting the fact that Katie beat him by 5 seconds!  He is so competitive!  

    

We then walked through the Christmas market in the Concorde area. We ate lunch there and got crepes!  We were disappointed to not find more German-like things, like Nutcrackers, to add to our collection, but it was still so fun to be in a Christmas market in Europe!  We walked to the Ferris Wheel, which the kids succored us into riding. It was nice, but kind of a rip off. But we were trying to find distractions and things to keep them happy about being out and about all day, and that did the trick for a while. 

We walked past the Louvre and were searching for our favorite bakery to buy chocolate eclairs. We knew it was on the street leading right to Notre Dame, but after walking up and down it a few times we had to admit it was gone. We were totally sad because we have such great memories from there dating back to our first trip to Europe shortly after we were married.   However, it is Paris, and good bakeries are not hard to come by. We found another close by and indulged on some eclairs and katie got a beautiful (and enormous) strawberry meringue. We were not disappointed!  
From there we walked through Notre Dame and were lucky enough to hear a beautiful choir singing while we were there. 
 We were tired enough to call it a day, so after getting a quick bite to eat for the little kids, we took the Metro back to the hotel and feel asleep way too early!

We walked through the park that led to the Louvre. It was such a beautiful day that the kids shed their coats and hats and people were out everywhere sitting by fountains and enjoying the sun.

We walked past the Louvre and were searching for our favorite bakery to buy chocolate eclairs. We knew it was on the street leading right to Notre Dame, but after walking up and down it a few times we had to admit it was gone. We were totally sad because we have such great memories from there dating back to our first trip to Europe shortly after we were married.   However, it is Paris, and good bakeries are not hard to come by. We found another close by and indulged on some eclairs and katie got a beautiful (and enormous) strawberry meringue. We were not disappointed!
From there we walked through Notre Dame and were lucky enough to hear a beautiful choir singing while we were there.