The final day in France was non-eventful, as it consisted of packing up the room, taking an Uber back to the airport, clearing immigration and security, and waiting for our flight home.  While my trick of using my Sky Priority – Delta One boarding pass had gotten me into the Sky Club on previous trips, it didn’t work this time, as Laura and the youngest were listed in coach.  Next time.  While it was close, none of us got upgraded on the flight home, though it actually was comfortable enough in Economy Comfort.  Having a window seat and being next to a small 8 year old helps. Laura and the two younger girls were across the aisle, making it easy to pass things back and forth.  As usual, I finished everyone’s meals, which weren’t bad!  The beauty of getting on a plane in Paris, skipping a connection and landing right back in Indy wasn’t lost on any of us. Clearing customs only took a few minutes, and within 30 minutes of deplaning, we were back in the comfort of our own house after a successful 1^st international trip with all three kiddos!  They all talk about Paris to this day, and we all hope that the nonstop will return in the years to come post-pandemic.

This day began as every other day:  with pastries!  We strolled down to the closest bakery, Boulangerie Patisserie – La Bretange, a couple blocks from the hotel.  Today the girls all chose to have chocolate instead, though I got another croissant and Laura had pain de chocolat, her new favorite. 

A quick ride on the Metro took us over to Bastille, where we (mostly I) spent a while walking up and down Marche Bastille, a market held every Sunday and Thursday from 7-3, with a huge variety of vendors of goods and foods. 

The girls were less impressed, though found a playground to spend about an hour at while I spent a few minutes gawking at all of the food I wanted to eat, taking pictures of some.  One thing we’ve found is that a good playground is a great way to get the girls in a good mood and burn off some energy. 

I’d seen a show on Paris that featured a falafel joint that looked fantastic, so we gave it a whirl.  The name was L’as du Fallafel, and it was in the Marais part of town, and area with lots of shops and restaurants.  While there was a line and a short wait, we were seated in the very busy and small restaurant quickly.  My eyes were a bit larger than my stomach, so I had the thought of ordering a slew of dishes for everyone to share, including falafel (naturally), a gyro, and a warm mezze plate with a variety of dips and appetizers.  It was all delicious, though I left extremely full.

Wanting to spend some time in a park relaxing, we then took the Metro to the other side of the Seine once again and visited the Luxembourg Gardens (Jardin du Luxembourg), which has been around since 1612.  Within it is the Luxembourg Palace and lots of walking paths, though no restrooms that are open past 5:30, apparently.  While more difficult in Europe than the US, my usual MO of finding a nearby hotel and nonchalantly walking in and searching for one worked once again. It helps to have a small child with you who also needs to go! 

One goal we’d not yet accomplished was picking up some macarons, so we stopped in Boutique Pierre Herme, one of the more well-known purveyors of macarons. The shop conveniently had no pricing marked, so one doesn’t realize until rung up that it’s possible to spend over $60 USD on a dozen and a half.  I suppose that’s how they get ya.  Regardless, they were delicious, and we all split them while hanging out at Fontaine Saint-Sulpice, which the girls ran around countless times, again burning off energy. 

Back at the hotel, we finished off the remainder of the macarons, and while the girls were done for the day, I wanted to spend some time checking out the local beer scene.  I made a trip over to Hoppy Corner, a beer bar that had a wide variety of local taps, which while very busy, was a fun place to chill and talk to the locals for a bit.  I returned to the hotel to find the same two bartenders starting to close up the bar, so talked with them a bit before retiring.

Click here for day 7!

While the following day was the latest we left the hotel the whole trip, it was also probably the most enjoyable, as everyone was well rested and in a good mood.  I spent part of the morning going to a butcher, cheese shop, wine store, bakery and small grocery store within feet of each other to pick up items for our planned picnic that evening.  One thing that I love about Paris is that there are so many fantastic little places that have delicious food.

Once we made it out of the hotel, we took the Metro over to Trocadero Gardens, a famous park just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. 

We walked around the area for a bit before finding a park bench where we had a picnic of 4 cheeses, baguette, grapes, figs, tomatoes, terrine, duck and a bottle of red wine (the last three of which I basically had to myself).  The girls had a blast just running around near the tower.  We got some of our favorite photos from the trip there.

Once finished with dinner, we walked across the river toward the tower.  There are dozens and dozens of street vendors, almost all from West Africa, selling mostly cheap models of the tower and other souvenirs.  Several had hats, and while one vendor offered 2 for 10 Euro, knowing that they had a lot of competition, I was able to snag 3 for the same price.  I don’t know about you, but I think little kids in berets is one of the cutest things ever.  The girls were delighted to each have their own. 

After teasing the girls about the tower being closed, we went through security to go under the tower.  They were besides themselves to be under the tower and to look up at it.  One of them started a chant of “We’re under the Eiffel Tower,” which we very much regret not getting a video of, and still is heard at home occasionally to this day.  While I’d told them earlier that we wouldn’t be able to go up to the top because the weather wasn’t the best, I headed over to the line to see how much it would cost, and found out that not only was it open, it was open to the top and not just the mid-level.  So much to their delight, I bought us tickets, we headed through another round of security, and up an elevator to the mid-level.  From there we took a second elevator up to the top.  It was dark by this point, and cool and windy.  It was a cool experience for all of them, but after about 15 minutes we were ready to head down. 

Once back at the hotel, we hung out in the lobby bar and ordered some mini pizzas for the girls to eat, while I hung out and talked to the bartenders and enjoyed a couple beers.  The oldest was a bit tickled that social norms allowed her to sit with me at the bar without anyone batting an eyelash, and she looked much too grown up there!  Soon later we were snoozing.

Click here for day 6!

The next day started as any day in Paris should:  with more pastries (and quiche for myself)!  After visiting a local bakery and eating those with the family, everyone was still tired and wasn’t quite in the mood to venture out.  I however was hungry and ventured out to find a meal for myself.  I walked a few blocks from the hotel to a very busy area of town with lots of restaurants and shops.  I found a place that had good reviews on Yelp (La Tourelle), and while the language barrier was a bit difficult, managed to order a delicious meal with a glass of red wine.  While I was hoping to have Beef Bourguignon, they’d run out for the day, so I took the server’s recommendation.  While I can’t at all recall now what it was, it was delicious!  It was enjoyable to sit outside and watch the world go by. 

After another late start to the day, we got out of the hotel in the afternoon and headed to a place I’d seen on a travel show and read about on TripAdvisor.  ChocoStory is basically a museum about chocolate.  While much of it wasn’t too interesting to the girls, it helped that there was a scavenger hunt for them to participate in, and there were plenty of stations to sample chocolates.  Unfortunately, the middle girl was having a very tough time adjusting to the time change, and was very hangry, though finding a park to play at for a bit and then agreeing to eat at McDonalds finally turned things around.  The girls all had happy meals while Laura and I held out for real food.

We then took the Metro to the south bank of the Seine to have dinner at Les Deux Magots, one of Hemingway’s haunts during his time in the city.  Unfortunately it was packed, so we ended up nearby at a place called Le Petit Saint Benoit.  It was a bit frustrating however, as upon arriving we saw a note on the menu that each diner in a party must order a meal, and apparently, they make no exception for small children who’d already eaten.  They finally agreed to allow us to order one kids meal and an appetizer to go along with the meals that Laura and I ordered, so the oldest snacked on some pasta while I had sautéed mushrooms and Beef Bourguignon.

We headed back to the hotel from there, and while everyone else was ready for bed, I went out to explore the beer scene a bit.  After Ubering to what’s said to be one of the best breweries in town, I walked in to find a huge crowd, and was told by the bartender that a private event was going on and that I couldn’t order.  Disappointed, I took the Metro to another place I’d found that looked good and had a brew out at a table in front.  Once the inside cleared out a bit, I headed in to hang out at the bar, where I met with some locals and talked with them for a bit.  After a quick Metro ride back to the hotel, I was asleep quickly. 

Click here for day 5!

As usual, I started adjusting to the time change quickly.  I was up before 6am, and knowing it’d be a while until everyone else was up, I went out to explore a bit.  After taking the Metro southwest and  walking through the area by the Louve and by Notre Dame (which had a major fire months earlier and was mostly blocked off), I took a bus south of the Seine to Laurent Duchene, a bakery that is said to have some of the best croissants in Paris.  I’d heard a story on it on NPR not long ago.  After picking up treats for all of us, I took the Metro back to the hotel where everyone was slowly waking up.

Because of the time change, it took everyone a while to get going.  We didn’t leave the hotel several hours later (early afternoon), but that was fine with me because I wanted to have as relaxing as a time as we could, with no real agenda.  We walked over to the Porte de Vincennes Metro stop and took the yellow line over to Saint-Paul and walked south on to Ile Saint-Louis, a pedestrian island with hotels, shops, and restaurants.  We had lunch at Le Sarrasin et le Fromente, where I enjoyed a duck salad with a glass of rose and the girls had crepes. 

We meandered over to Notre Dame, where we got as close as we could with the construction taking place, snapping a few photos.  From there we strolled along the Seine, enjoying the beauty of the architecture and scenery.  While we didn’t go in, though plan to on another trip, we checked out the pyramid at the Louvre. 

Adjacent is Tuileries Garden, a large park just northwest of the Louvre.  We sat at a large fountain and played with the small sailboats for a while, and then strolled through the park where we found a playground for the girls to play on for a while.  They met another girl around their age whose parents were French, but they lived in England and were in town on vacation also.  They didn’t want to leave her!  The last highlight of the day was riding the carousel in the park with her.  While I can’t remember what we all had for dinner that night, there is a picture that shows that I picked up a delicious carrot salad and marinated clams for myself, along with a bottle of rose. 

Click here for day 4!

Upon landing, we made the long walk through the terminal at Charles de DeGulle and waited in the long line to clear customs.  Once through, I ordered an Uber van to take us to the hotel.  It was the first trip without car seats, though we’d just purchased inflatable boosters for all of them, and they were perfect!  About 30 minutes later, we were at our home for the week, Hotel Meininger.  It was still only late morning, so we were unable to check in.  However, the front desk stored our bags for us while we walked up and down Avenue de Saint-Mande for a bit, stopping to check out a few local shops, including one that had amazing displays of cheese that could be smelled from down the street…in a good way.  We made our first stop at a bakery for some pastries to snack on while we waited.  They were almost too pretty to eat.  The girls got sweets while I had my first croissant of the trip. 

After about two hours of hanging out in the lobby, we were able to check into our room.  It had a queen bed, and on the other side of a ¾ wall, two sets of bunk beds, which the girls loved. 

Everyone was quite tired, so we all decided to take a nap, which lasted into late afternoon.  It was already getting dark by that point, so we decided to have a “picnic” dinner.  I headed back down the street to the area we’d been before to search for the essentials for a Parisian picnic; baguette, cheese, meat, and wine.  Because it was a Sunday evening, the streets were mostly quiet, and finding everything we wanted took some time.  Luckily some shop owners helped me to find everything we wanted.  After that, we hung out in the hotel the rest of the evening and relaxed.

Click here for day 3!