Around 5ish we arrived at Gare du Nord, loaded the buggy up with our stuff, and went to the apartment we were renting for the night. Not going to lie--I know which areas of London to stay in and which to avoid, but I didn't know anything about Paris. Let's just say we won't ever be staying there again. When we walked up, we saw dozens of people milling about, obviously of Middle Eastern descent. Which, normally, I wouldn't care, but with all the terrorist activities happening currently, I was a bit nervous. Turns out they were Pakistani--definitely not so bad. But still, between that and the hoards of National Police we saw patrolling that area, we'll find another neighborhood to stay in. But hey, the place was perfectly adequate for our needs for just one night in Paris.
After dropping our stuff off, we headed towards the Seine and the Eiffel Tower. We got dinner on our way, a Pret near the Opera (yes, a British restaurant. We were hungry, wanted something fast, and something we knew Henry would eat), then enjoyed the evening along the Seine. The lights were just turning on at the Palace de Concorde. Of course Henry was very excited about that--he kept pointing at the lights, "yights, yights!" he says.
When we reached the river, we turned towards the Eiffel Tower that was beginning to shimmer in the evening. I love looking at the Tower at night; especially on the hour when the hundreds of white lights shimmer and sparkle across the Seine. Henry was SO excited about that--"Oh wow!"--and wanted to get as close as possible.
We obliged, walking quickly until we were standing right underneath the Tower, waiting in line for tickets. We only went to the second level, as it was past bedtime and we had a busy/early morning the next day. But that was perfect for us, anyway. The views were spectacular. We could see Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe all lit up, as well as Sacre Coure in the distance. Paris truly deserves the name "City of Lights".
Henry was so tired by the time we got down from the Tower and was asleep before we'd even left the square. Sweet little guy slept the whole way home on the Metro and up into the apartment. He woke up to get his jammies on, but then went right to sleep. Which was good, since Daddy and I were totally exhausted.
The next day, we headed to Normandy. Which was a bit of an adventure, actually. There is a one hour time difference between Paris and London, and we thought Derek's phone had updated automatically--nope! Once we figured that out, we rushed to get out of the apartment, and sprinted across Paris to Gare St Lazare where we caught our train to Caen. Seriously--we walked over two miles in less than thirty minutes. With all our stuff. I was so proud.
After our fun in Normandy, we took the train back to Paris and arrived at lunchtime. We headed down the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc de Triomphe. Henry was SO tired and fell asleep quickly, so Derek and I grabbed some lunch then sat at a park so he could sleep. We read, rested, and enjoyed watching the people go by as Henry got some sleep in his buggy.
We had all our stuff loaded on the buggy, our "Noble Steed" while we were in Paris. Henry spent some time on Daddy's back, but mostly he was with me in the tummy pack. I don't know what we would have done without our buggy and tummy pack while we were in Europe. They're better than a car!
We did Paris in a much different way than we would have done without Henry. I imagine if it had just been the two of us, we would have hurried to a museum and Notre Dame, and maybe even Sacre Coure. But with Henry, we decided to just enjoy what we could.
So we went to the carousel by the Eiffel Tower. Henry adored that! He was so excited about the horses, the music, and going up and down. He was sad to get off, but luckily we headed to the playground that was just yards away.
Derek and I were discussing how, as parents, we look at cities in completely different ways. We scout out playgrounds, McDonald's, and toilets that have a baby change. Especially the playgrounds, though. That is seriously a godsend! Henry was so excited for the slides and the see-saw, and all the kids to play with. There were a couple his age there, that he followed around and that he taught how to climb up the stairs by the slide. He was so brave! He wanted to do everything himself, and he did a really great job. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.
Anyway, after we played for a while, we loaded back up and started down the Seine towards Notre Dame. It's not a quick walk, at least an hour and a half, but it was beautiful. Henry was perfectly content to sit and observe, especially when I handed him leaves and horse chestnuts to look at periodically. By the time we got to the Cathedral, though, he was ready to be out of his buggy and run around. Thankfully, Paris provided a hoard of pigeons for him to chase around.
We sat outside the Cathedral for almost an hour, enjoying the beautiful building, the lovely weather, and the sound of the bells. Henry enjoyed an apple and chasing as many pigeons as he possibly could.
But then it was time to go. We loaded the buggy back up, got Henry in the tummy pack, and went down into the Metro.
We took the Eurostar back to England, around a two hour trip. We arrived in London very late, ten o'clock, then took the tube to Paddington Station. From there, we had a ten minute walk to our hotel in a very nice neighborhood, with comfy beds. We all crashed, happy to be back in our city.
But hey--Paris was fun for a few hours, too.
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