Paris - Day 2

Saturday morning we were up bright and early again (thanks to Jack!) and had time to stroll through the local market

Then we made our way over to Notre Dame

Then we stopped by "the best" ice cream shop in Paris.

It was pretty good

After a couple hours in the stroller Jack had enough. So we decided to go to a park. On our walk we crossed the bridge where lovers "lock" their love with padlocks to the bridge

At the park Jack was able to take a pony ride

After a couple hours at the park we headed out again and on our walk to the metro, we stumbled upon the church of St. Suplice and the Fountain of the Four Bishops

Jack and Luke with the church in the background

A view of the fountain from the front of the church

Next we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe

From there we walked down the famous Champs-Elysees street

Seems like every where we looked held some famous monuments

We stopped by the Laduree bakery to try their famous macaroons. Very expensive, but very tasty

At the end of our very long walk we decided to find another park so we could relax while Jack played. But a nice storm blew in, and after 30 minutes of trying to stay dry under Jack's stroller rain cover we gave up. We let Jack run wild through the puddles

It was probably the most fun he had on the entire trip

Soaking wet and going back to the hotel to change

After everyone put dry clothes on we headed out to a wonderful Italian dinner at Swann et Vincent. By far my favorite meal of the trip.  

Paris - Day 1

Luke had Good Friday and Easter Monday off of work, so we took advantage of the 4 day weekend and headed to Paris. Originally we had planned to take the 3 hour bullet train from Neuchatel to Paris, but when I went to buy the tickets (2 weeks in advance) everything was booked. The only trains left had several connections, would take 5+ hours and cost us $500! So we decided to drive. We left Thursday after Luke got off work and made it to Paris in about 6 hours. By the time we all got to bed, it was 3am Friday morning. 

Jack is always the first one up, so at 8am he was bouncing off the walls. We dragged ourselves out of bed and headed straight for breakfast. 

 We were scheduled to go on a bike tour at 11am, but we had some time to kill so we stopped by the Eiffel tower for pictures

 At the bike shop, Jack was excited to try on his helmet

 And he loved riding in the trailer

The bike tour lasted just over 4 hours and took us all around Paris to see the major sights. At each sight our guide would stop, give a brief history and then we'd move on. It was an awesome way to see the city and I'd highly recommend it.

The Ecole Militaire

 

Our bike tour group

The "Wall for Peace" in front of the Eiffel tower

Napoleon's Tomb

One of the buildings around Napoleon's Tomb

If only I could have taken a video of Jack,
the whole ride he was yelling "whee, this is fun!"
"faster Daddy, faster!"

Luxor Obelisk

Still happy after 3 hours in the trailer

At lunch Jack was able to get out and run around

At lunch with our tour group

Back on the bike, Jack is getting cranky and keeps taking
off his helmet. Here we are in front of the Louvre

Last stop on our bike tour

 After the bike tour, we were exhausted. We headed over to the Luxembourg gardens to relax by the pond

 We met up with some friends and Jack was so happy to see his pal Daisy again

After letting the kids play for a couple hours, we headed to our first restaurant of the trip. I was a little anxious at first because this restaurant has no menu, you get what they give you.

 But what they served was wonderful! Our fist course was soup, this was the soup dish we were handed

 And then here is the soup to ladle over it

 Me and Luke

 Holly and Chris

 Our main dish was fish. I typically don't eat fish, but this was very tasty and I finished my whole plate

 Next we had bleu cheese with a prune

 And finally for dessert, we had a creamy custard type dish with pineapple.

And while the adults enjoyed the luxurious dining experience, Jack and Daisy were happily distracted with the iPhone and Mobigo video game systems.

By the time we got back to bed that night it was close to midnight. Such a long day but it was a great introduction to the city.