Day 4: Paris, France

Written by Carrie L.

"Hotel-Schooling" before exploring

I can’t tell you how happy I was to wake up alive, rested and in a hotel where we could order room service for breakfast.  We had an entire day in Paris ahead of us and yet all any of us wanted to do was sit in that hotel room and take it all in….the clean sheets, the fresh towels and the knowledge that our car was parked safely (albeit for a pretty penny) in the parking garage below us.  Even better, we had free internet on every device we brought with us (2 ipads, 2 iphones, 1 ipod touch and 2 MacBooks).  Even the girls, who only partially understood the events from the night before, knew it was stressful and were grateful for the time to do nothing.

Introducing Paris landmarks

After our very French continental breakfast was delivered to our room, we all showered, regrouped, “hotel-schooled” and were finally ready to take on Paris.  Only problem?  Paris was continuing to take us on.  We didn’t “heart” Paris last night because of the “incident” (as we like to call it) and today Paris gave us less then nice weather.  Cold and rainy, I felt as if I was home in Norway!  At least in Norway when it is dreary outside I have no pressure to sight see…with less than two full days in Paris, however, we had to get out there…rain, sleet or snow! 

The girls’ are in love with the Eiffel Tower ever since Barbie and her entourage went to Paris for a “Fashion Fairytale” in one of their favorite movies ever.  Enticing them with a visit to Barbie’s favorite location was the carrot to get them up and out by noon.  As the girls got their shoes on, Ellie put on her sneakers and Elise and Grace asked if they could wear the other pair of shoes we brought for each girl, their sparkly, ballet-like slipper shoes.  We explained that they had the ability to choose their shoe-wear but that they needed to recognize that the weather was chilly, dreary and it would likely rain.  There was no complaining allowed regarding the shoes, should they choose to go for fashion over form.  Elise was convinced we had a point and quickly acquiesced.  She put on sneakers.  For those of you who know Grace, take a guess as to what she opted for…..drum roll…..the ballet slipper shoes.  Of course.  She was in Paris after all.

We marched over to the Lourve which, if you recall, we would have immediately recognized because it was the building I almost crashed into the night before.  We got on the Hop On Hop Off bus there but because it was cold and rainy, we had to sit on the bottom level which didn’t make for great pictures nor much interest in the kids.  Once on the bus Ellie fell asleep almost immediately (one could argue that by Day 4 we have completely wiped our kids out but if you know Ellie, you know she is infamous for her ability to sleep anywhere, at anytime).  However, once the rain water started to leak onto our seats, that woke the Sleeping Beauty up and she was ready to get her Paris on along with the rest of us.

Once the bus reached the Eiffel Tower location, Ellie was awake and the girls were ready to get off and see what they came to Paris to see!  We got off the bus one stop before the Eiffel Tower, as we figured we could see it from the distance and walk towards it.  That was a great choice!  The girls were blown away when they rounded the corner and saw the massive monument spring up in front of them!

An emotional moment for us all

It was a moment for me, too.  I remember when I drove cross country with my college friends 15(!!) years ago.  California seemed so far away and yet it seemed surreal that I could drive to places I had seen on TV and in the movies.  I had the same feeling seeing the Eiffel Tower at that moment too.  In an instant I became incredibly aware and overwhelmed with the fact that I was in Paris, France.  I was with my daughters who I still can’t believe God gave me the pleasure and responsibility of raising.  I was looking at the most visited monument in the world that, for some reason, I never thought I would ever get to see.  I’ve been fortunate enough to be so many places over years yet this landmark signified for me a moment that I waited my whole life for.  I just can’t believe it took me this long to see it…but God’s timing is always perfect and to see it for the first time along with my children was magical.  In fact, I was grateful that I hadn’t made the trip to Paris before now because it was a moment the girls and I can always say we shared together.  The first time we saw the Eiffel Tower.  Viola.

We were cold.  We were wet.  We were tired.  We were still recovering from the traumas of the night before.  But we were in Paris.  We were at the Eiffel Tower.   We are blessed.

Buying our mini Eiffel Towers

After buying our signature Eiffel Towers in miniature (we bought 9, to be exact, and that is not including the 3 Eiffel Tower Erasers or the multiple mini Eiffels the street vendors randomly handed out to the girls over the next few days), the magic of the “Eiffel Tower Moment” began to diminish the colder and rainier it got.  We “hopped on” our bus and started the ride back to the Louvre stop to then walk back to the hotel we loved so much.  Our Novotel. 

Remember the “shoe debate” I mentioned earlier? Well, even those of us with smart footware struggled with the cold, wet and soreness.  Any guesses as to how Grace was feeling in her demure slipper shoes?  Yeah…it wasn’t pretty.  But, I must say, she did recall the conversation earlier and muscled through what was probably a painful and humbling walk home from the bus stop.  She decided that from now on, for the rest of the trip, she would probably be wearing her sneakers.  Good choice, Grace.  Need I remind her that I was right?  Nah, I'll let that one slide.

Room Service? Oui Oui!

We were back in the room by 4:00, cold, tired and hungry.  Room Service?  Yes, please!   We all put on our comfies on and cuddled up to our free internet until the food was delivered.  (By now you can only imagine the Euro we were racking up….not including our room service fetish, don’t forget we were still paying for that apartment we rented and never used).  We got lots of carb-filled foods with French fries and sodas.  Carrie and I had been supporting each other on a semi-intensive workout program for the last month which we both did really well on. Now we are supporting each other on who can eat more crap in one sitting.

Full, fat and fatigued, we were ready for bed!  The girls cuddled up together in Carrie B.’s bed for a movie while she worked on our blog posts and I posted FB pics and got some work done for my real job….a full time one that I seem to have forgotten about these last few days.  I was awake until 1:15 for that job….good thing I love it so much.

Memorable Quotes:

“France doesn’t have much color.”

-Elise

Carrie L:  “Grace, does Paris remind you of anywhere?”

Grace: “Yeah, Bali.”

Carrie L:  “Bali? How does Paris remind you of Bali?”

Grace:  “Oh no, I mean Thailand.”

“Those mean men are carrying guns!”

-Elise as French military men walked by

Ellie:  “There are NOT dinosaurs in Paris.”

Elise:  “Mom, write that down!  Write that down!”

“Can I do a French man?”

-Grace while asking to make a toilet paper French man like the German boy we made while in Germany