We are back from Paris, but still in French mode a little...I said "merci" at the grocery store the other day. Oops! Sorry for the delay in sharing about our trip, but I'll explain below.
We left Monday the 26th for Paris. We were in first class seating on the 4 hour train ride, which was great. Ben did really well on the train, but decided to skip the nap. Too excited I guess. We arrived in Paris around 2 p.m. and checked into our hotel. Nice hotel, great concierge who was very helpful and loved Ben's smile. Headed out for a small bite and then to visit Napolean's tomb in Hotel des Invalides. It started to rain, Ben fell asleep, so we ventured back to the hotel around 5 p.m. We found a great cafe for dinner on Rue Cler, topped off with cafe au lait and creme brulee!
Tuesday was rainy, but we persevered with our proposed agenda of Notre Dame and La Sainte-Chapelle. On the way, Ben got his first souvenir - a poncho. We arrived at Notre Dame and stood at Point Zero, the point from which all distances are measured in France. Then into Notre Dame, very beautiful. Ben had a "holy nap" while we waited for Greg to climb the tower. But, the line was way too long (he stood in line for over 30 minutes and didn't move but a few steps), so we left. The rain was really coming down now, so we found a nearby cafe for lunch and shelter. Then, we walked to La Sainte-Chapelle. Stood in line for quite a while, and Ben was entertainment for many tourists. We had to go through security since the church sits within a complex of buildings that includes the justice department. The security guard asked if I had a fork in my bag. I said yes (it was Ben's) and they asked me to give it to them...they would return it when we were done. I took it out of the bag, and they nearly laughed out loud at the rounded-tip fork. They said we were ok to move along. :) Back to our hotel for some drying off and crepes for dinner. Ben didn't enjoy his banana one as much as Dada's nutella one...he's no dummie!
Our visit to Versailles was on Wednesday. The chateau was amazing, cannot possibly imagine having lived there! We all liked the Hall of Mirrors, Ben's a big fan of looking at himself these days. I think I enjoyed the gardens even more than the palace, and the weather was perfect, just a little windy. Ben had a "royal nap" while we stopped for a sandwich and strolled through the gardens. We probably spent about 4 hours there, then took the train back to our hotel. With the weather being so nice, we decided to grab a "picnic" of pizza and couscous to the Champ de Mars park in front of the Eiffel Tower. What a fantastic view! Near the Tower is a boat company that gives tours on the Seine. We took a 7 p.m. cruise, and I think the boat ride was Ben's favorite part of the whole trip! He loved talking on the "phone" (the commentary translation device), and we got some great views of Notre Dame and her flying buttresses.
Thursday May 29th - Happy Birthday to me! Nothing rings in 30 like a chocolate croissant for breakfast and a visit to the Eiffel Tower. As we were standing in line, a woman came by to tell us that they would be opening about 10 minutes late as they were fixing some elevator problems. That's never something you want to hear when you are getting ready to go up 1,000 feet in the air! We went to the top first, so Greg could get it over and done with. He wasn't too thrilled with the height, but Ben must be our little daredevil as he couldn't get enough of being right by the edge. Everytime I started to walk away to get a new view, he would scream. :) We even sat for a bit and had a snack and a diaper change on the first floor just to take it all in. We walked to the Arc de Triomphe and then strolled down the Champs Elysees (think Chicago Mag Mile). Ben got his first-ever McDonald's happy meal, and I got some really amazing macaroons from Laduree. Ben was taking a "couture nap" and it started to drizzle a bit, so we took the metro back to the hotel. The rain stopped, and we walked down Rue Cler for dinner, with an apple tart to top off my sweets filled day!
We visited the Place de la Concorde and the Obelisk on Friday morning - the place where many royal beheadings took place. As we were taking photos of the monuments, some Asian tourists were taking photos of Ben. Funny to me that they have traveled all the way to Paris to photograph a smiling blond boy, but c'est la vie! We walked to the Louvre for some culture and a ridiculously expensive lunch. Saw all of the good stuff - Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, and of course, Mona Lisa. (In the Mona Lisa room, we again had some Asian folks that were busy snapping photos of Ben instead of one of the most famous paintings in the world!?) On this day, Ben took a "cultural nap" at the Louvre before we moved along for some strolling and shopping. Bought a beautiful water color painting from a local artist. We went to see crepe man for dinner again, and seafood man next door brought over a live crab to show Ben. This little guy has no fear right now - he was shaking the crab's "hand" and laughing. :)
Saturday we packed up and traveled home. We met some really great "grandparents" from Australia on the train that helped keep Ben occupied - what a blessing!! Especially since I got the flu almost the minute we walked in our door back home in Amsterdam (hence the delay in getting the blog updated, I am just now starting to feel normal again). Not the perfect way to end an amazing Paris adventure, but I'm so grateful that I didn't get sick there. The trip was perfect, and we are already making notes for what we want to do when we go back - and looking ahead to our Brussels/Bruges/Antwerp (Belgium) trip later this month!
I would hate to leave you without some Getting to Know Amsterdam fun, so here's a couple tidbits:
-As we turned onto Brouwersgracht coming home from our trip last Saturday, there was a man sitting down having a beer. We were home for about an hour, then headed out for groceries. As we turned onto our street at that same spot, the same man was now passed out having wet himself. Ewwwwww...
-We were walking home tonight from having dinner at a cafe. It started to pour, so we were waiting it out under an awning. A woman on a bike drove by and asked if she could bum a cigarette. So many things wrong with that picture...she's on a bike, it's raining, neither Greg or I have ever smoked a cigarette in our lives...
-On a lighter note, go Holland! The Euro 2008 soccer finals have begun, so everyone's got "football" fever. Game times are posted in cafe/bar windows, oranje flags are flying all over, and if you buy 3 bags of M&M peanuts, you get an orange peanut-shaped soccer ball (this is one of the only commercials in English right now, and we see it ALL the time!). :)
-Lastly, we unknowingly did an amazing job picking the location of our home - Brouwersgracht was named the Most Beautiful Street in all of Amsterdam for 2008! Hotel Zabikow is open anytime for those wanting to see what all the fuss is about. :)
Au revoir! (OK, now it's back to Dutch for me!)
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