Ahhh.... Paris!

So, onto Paris. This was mine and Matt's 3rd trip to Paris, though all have been "quick" trips. We were fortunate enough to spend a full day with his family seeing the sights.

We started off with a bang. I won't go into a lot of details, but you know how all those little things that are no big deal add up to become a big thing? That's how we all felt by the time we made it to the Eiffel Tower. I have this cloud hanging over me that gives me the unique ability to make the WRONG choice on just about everything. Keep in mind this was after a few other mishaps before we made it into Paris. Let me give you an example... Matt asks me which station I think we should get off of the train on to reach our destination, as there are a few different choices. I chose the one I thought would give us the best view and picture taking area for the tower. Guess what? We got on the subway, and go a few stops.... then they make us ALL get off because the rail is down and having work done on it. They then transport us by bus, thankfully this nice man could tell we were lost and helped us. The bus was CROWDED, we were standing and my arm was about to break from holding Jordyn. We eventually got to the next subway station, bought new tickets and got on for the rest of the way. Ahhh.. finally, we made it. We hop off the subway and round the corner to the glorious Eiffel Tower. Low and behold there are these stands in the way and the stairs are blocked so we can't even do what we intended!!! Anyway, I could give you numerous examples of this, but I won't digress anymore. If Matt had made the decision it would all have been hunky doory ...

So, the Eiffel Tower. The lines were long, but Steve and the boys got to climb the million steps to the top. The wait actually went fairly quickly, and Jordyn was having fun chasing the birds while Norma was doing some souvenir shopping. After they got down, we headed to the boats. With so many of us, we thought this would be an excellent way to "see" Paris without being on foot. Guess again. Wrong decision! Whew... it was very HOT and took a long time at all the stops. The main disappointment was that you really could not see Paris the way we had hoped. The walls were just too high. The kids didn't care though, they entertained themselves with fun games and got to watch all the airplanes over head. We're not sure what they were practicing for, but it was like our own personal airshow above as the Paris sights rolled by us.

Off the boat we go, for a quick stroll through the Champs Elysees. Oh. Did I mention that all we had eaten were a French Crepe (some of us) and the kids had all shared a couple of "hot dogs" with a drink. So much for our vision of eating at a little bistro somewhere, ha! One day, I want to do that. Terri, maybe when you come. The bathrooms presented to be a problem as well, but we eventually found one along with a stand selling bananas and were on our way. We were all tired, but I tell you what... the kids were troopers! Everyone was still in a good mood, even though we were all pretty exhausted by this point. We stopped for a few souvenirs and a quick picture of the Arc De Triomphe then headed back to the hotel.

The kids were dying to swim and we were all starving. Still no real food to speak of. I had a few granola bars, crackers and pop tarts in my room and that was dinner for everyone. Again. We had to get downstairs before the pool closed! My kids don't get to swim here because of the weather, so they were pumped about getting to swim with their cousins. Ahh... swimming was fun and then everyone was off to sleep.

We had a relaxing morning the next morning. The kids swam again and then we headed to Downtown Disney for a REAL meal!! We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and everybody licked their plates clean. It was delicious! Then again, we were hungry by this point. Can you tell? We looked at the shops a little and were headed on our way back home.

I can't stress enough how good the kids were with all that traveling. It was incredible, and all in all it was a fun day in Paris. I know I concentrated on all the negatives, but I just wanted you to have a good dose of our obstacles. We made fantastic memories together that will last a lifetime. Thanks Nana, Pops and Uncle Steve for baring with our family of 5. I'm sure they wished they could leave us behind at times because it would have been much easier for them:)

I still have lots of pictures from our whereabouts around the house that I'll post as well. Check back again for more stories of our travels.