Aunt Amy visits: Part 1

At the end of November, my little sister, Amy, came all the way to Switzerland to visit.  We had so much fun.  She hadn't been to Europe since she was a little kid and even then didn't remember much.  So we were researching places to go just the two of us for a weekend.  It came down to Rome or Paris.  Either one would be amazing so it didn't matter.  But Amy is in the fashion industry and we just thought it had to be Paris.

We booked our tickets about a month before.  I was beyond excited and more than terrified.  I hadn't left the kids overnight.  Ever.  To be honest, I hadn't even left them for more than maybe 4 hours.  Carter was about 18 months old and I had weaned him specifically for this trip (not that he was getting much, more just comfort before nap and bedtime for probably less than 30 seconds).  Anyways, he was taking a milk bottle before sleeping.  Keep in mind he was still occasionally throwing up in protest if I wasn't the one putting him to sleep.  Did I ever talk about that?  Yeah, so I was nervous to leave Bryce from Friday afternoon til Sunday evening with the kids by himself.

Amy arrived on a Thursday and we left Friday afternoon for Paris.  Obviously, Maddie got straight to the important things: painting nails.

And then.........we were off!!!!



Important to note, our trip had been planned for a few weeks, non refundable tickets and hotel.  We arrived in Paris exactly one week after the Paris attacks.  We were a little nervous.  Bryce considered canceling the trip.  But then we agreed that, most likely, this was the safest time to go to Paris.

Our flight landed and we did our best to navigate our way to the hotel.  We hopped on a bus from the airport, about an hour away from the city center.  Our cell service was based on internet so I couldn't easily contact Bryce until we reached the hotel which had me fidgeting and uneasy wondering about bedtime.

Most things I read about visiting Paris had lists upon lists of things to do, see, and eat.  I was overwhelmed.  Then I read one snippet about visiting Paris with very limited time and I took her advice: mostly just walk around and enjoy being in Paris, don't try to see museums or wait in lines to check things out, sit and enjoy a pastry at a street cafe, just be there.  Our arms were so sore when we arrived at the hotel!  We got a good deal and chose a hotel with amazing reviews in close proximity of the quintessential Paris sight.

We're in Paris!!! And I'm so tired!  This is already an hour past my regular bedtime and we haven't had dinner yet!  Woo!  Haha

We unloaded, freshened up, and walked toward the Eiffel Tower.  We walked down Rue de Cler, then grabbed dinner at a cute little restaurant.  We couldn't understand anyone around us, it was 9:30pm, and we were just ordering dinner.  The tables were all so close and everyone was crammed in just enjoying some wine, bread, and delicious looking plates.  It was so good.  Around 11pm, we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  It was gorgeous all lit up.

We tried to "play it cool" and act like we weren't taking pictures of each other and our food....

And we couldn't pass up a profiterole.  The waiter came over and didn't speak English very well...he started pouring the hot chocolate ganache over the profiteroles and apparently we were supposed to say "stop" but we just stared at it.  He then sheepishly smiled and stopped when he deemed fit.  It was awkward.  We found this out watching people a few tables away.  But it didn't matter because...chocolate.

The next day, we took the subway and walked as much of the city as we could.  We even took a bike cab, which was overpriced, but a fun way to get somewhere faster.  We did a lot for just 1 full day and about half a day on Sunday.  We had our eyes focused on food and every chance we had, we ate a croissant, drank a cafe latte, or a macaroon.  We started near the hotel on Rue de Cler and had breakfast at Le Petit Cler.

We went straight to the Eiffel Tower again to go up.  We could only go up to the second level on the stairs (and we didn't want to pay extra to go to the very top since the views were amazing already).

We started walking towards the Louvre just to see the famous entrance, but it was far.  So we hopped on the bike cab to save some time.  It was so so cold.  We wore all the layers we brought and still were freezing.

Then we walked along the water to the Pont des Arts bridge famous for the love locks.  We got some good pictures then kept walking.

We stopped in a warm cafe for a sugar high of coffee, crepes, and a couple macaroons.

Before we went back to the hotel, we waited in line at Notre Dame to go inside.  It was cold, windy, and rainy.  

Then we went to a busy shopping close by Notre Dame and it was fun to check out the styles of the women around us.  People watching was probably more fun than anything else that we did.  We noticed a few major things: so many girls wore simple black leather flat ankle booties, hardly any makeup except for a vibrant lipstick, and their hair looked perfectly messy almost like they just woke up like that but slightly styled (hairstyles both up and down).

We walked around some more then got on the subway back to the hotel.  We got all dolled up to go out to a late dinner at another restaurant near the hotel.  It's owned by the same chef of the other restaurant we went to the previous night.  Again, so delicious.

Our feet hurt in the best way.  The next day, we ate breakfast at Rue de Cler again.  I had eggs benedict for the first time.  Plus more croissants.

We took the subway straight to the Arc de Triomphe and walked the stairs to the top.  I'd been to Paris before but never to the top of the Arc.  It was beautiful and definitely worth the stop.  We ran over to Rue Cambon where the Chanel atelier and other high fashion brands are located (Amy and I had just watched a documentary on Dior so it was just fun to walk around that area for a few minutes) and went to Laduree for macaroons.

 Strapped for time, we rushed to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, and headed for the airport.  With it being  a Sunday, the subway line to the airport was slightly different, and it was seriously a miracle that we made it in time.  We were on the subway going through areas that we didn't recognize and hardly anyone was in our car let alone with luggage signaling the airport.  We were told to get off at some random stop and then get on a bus to the airport.  Once we found the bus, we were relieved to be with a bus full of people with luggage.  We arrived at the airport with barely an hour before our flight.

As for Bryce and the kids, they survived.  He said that the first 24 hours, Carter cried for me almost every hour.  Then by Saturday afternoon, he was fine.  I'm convinced that it was so good for all of us.  Maddie and Carter learned that they're fine without Mommy for a bit, Bryce learned that he in fact could manage by himself with the kids, and I got an amazing break for a trip with Amy that I may never get to do again.