Paris Day 2

December 10, 2009

Adventure #1: Versaille

A short train ride out of the city, Versaille is a phenomenal sight to behold. Versaille is one of the largest royal palaces in the world, originally designed as a hunting lodge for King Louis XIII, and later transformed and enlarged by his son Louis XIV, who installed his court and government there. I had no idea what to expect, and I was beyond shocked and impressed. Below are a few pictures of it's greatness.

This is the hall of mirrors. In this room, the treaty was signed to end WWI.

They have these monster fireplaces in almost every room.

A super nice person offered to take this family photo of us. We jumped at the opportunity!

We were SO lucky that Versaille was open on Thursday. It was closed the day before because of the strikes. To make a long story short, the national monuments and museums are losing part of their funding and so they are striking...big time! We joked that even the statues were on strike!

This is the gorgeous view from the Palace.

Adventure #2: Marie Antoinette's village

Marie Antoinette was the only queen who imposed her personal tastes on Versaille. She scoffed at Court traditions and wanted a haven of privacy and refuge that allowed her to escape from the rigours of Court Etiquette. Her husband, King Louis XVI, gifted her a small peasant village where she mingled with commoners (who were really actors). It was like her own little Disneyland! Walking through the village felt like we were walking in Belle's little town on Beauty and the Beast. It was possibly my favorite part of the whole Versaille experience!

Talmage was an angel through the whole trip. This was my very favorite nap he took because before he went to sleep he would look at me and smile and then his eyes would shut. He'd force them open again and smile at me, and they would fall again. This repeated many times until he peacefully fell asleep. It was so sweet!

Daddy and Talmage, snuggling on the train back to Paris!

Jim was SO excited about getting a baguette and cheese from a small bakery. This to him was what crepes were to me...so Paris! It was delicious, a cost-effective meal, and so much fun to eat. We felt like natives...almost!

Adventure #3: Eiffel Tower

We got the best of both worlds on our trip to the Eiffel Tower. We saw it in perfect daylight, were on the middle platform during a beautiful sunset, and were on the top in the dark to admire all the gorgeous city lights. It was a dream come true!

This picture was taken on a bridge in the city. The bridges are incredible in and of themselves. Above you see a few intricacies of the bridge...but mostly the two hunks in front and the Eiffel Tower in the back. Below you see me with this incredible bridge art!

The Eiffel Tower is tall, tall, tall. This is taken right under it. WOW!
Originally we were just planning on going to the second tier. The third tier (the top) was closed for our whole time in line and so we just decided we'd do the best we could do. MIRACLE TIME: When we were about 10 people from the front of the line they opened up the top of the tower. Yep, we got right on the elevator and rode to the top. We were so excited to have this experience together. The picture above is from the second tier, the pictures below are from the tip top!

Talmage ate dinner on top of the Eiffel Tower...who can say that?!?

The Eiffel Tower is beautiful at night. The tower glitters with Christmas lights on the hour and it seriously sparkles the whole city. I would stand there in awe and amazement for the whole sparkly masterpiece.

Unfortunately that was the last picture we got that night (we ran out of batteries). But we found an incredible international Christmas market and ate yummy traditional French Christmas treats, and looked at all the fun things to buy. As I walked down the street holding my handsome hubby's hand and pushing my sweet chubby baby's stroller with the other I felt like I was in the dream of a lifetime. What a perfect day!

Paris Day 1

December 9, 2009

Adventure #1: Eurostar

We arrived at the London train station more than an hour earlier than expected. We had two options: hang out in the terminal or request tickets for an earlier train. Luckily, Jim married a very persuasive wife and before we knew it we were on our way to Paris, one hour earlier than expected!

(Below is an ice sculpture we saw in the London terminal.)

Unfortunately, a train before ours broke down, leaving us stuck under the English channel for over an hour. The good news, Eurostar has an excellent PR team and because of the inconvenience they caused us is offering 1/2 off roundtrip tickets or free one way tickets on our next trip. So...we still got to Paris at 12:45 (our original time) and we came out with free tickets for our next trip. Sweet!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we not only were bumped to an earlier train, we also got a free upgrade to the nearly-empty business class. We loved the extra space, especially Talmage in his big boy seat!

Adventure #2: Grand Hotel Lafayette

I promise you, for the price we paid for this place it was a steal and a half. We weren't planning on relaxing in the hotel (we were in Paris for heaven sake) so we stayed in a super budget place. We were, once again, upgraded (this time for no apparent reason) and we liked our home base.

That last picture was taken on the last day of our adventure. The beds were made very nicely when we checked in!

The Grand Hotel's only downfall...their sad excuse for a hair dryer. It was seriously just a hose (really hot hose) coming out of the wall!

Adventure #3: Palais Garnier

As luck would have it we lived just minutes from one of the places I wanted to visit most, the Palais Garnier. This opera house is possibly most famous for one of my personal favorites, Phantom of the Opera. It is gorgeous inside. We stood on the steps where the cast performs Masquerade, and marveled at the intricate details of the walls and floor. There were people rehearsing on the stage, and I ooed and awed at the box seats. It was a great way to start our trip!

Adventure #4: Crepes and McDonald's

When people asked me what I wanted to do in Paris, the answer was simple...eat crepes! What is more french than a crepe? I had at least one crepe everyday. I ate crepes with nutella, I ate crepes with cheese, I ate crepes with chocolate, I ate crepes with strawberry, I ate crepes with ham. I have one word for you. YUM. They are delicious my friends, and way worth the trip to Paris!

Of course we can never leave a city without testing their McDonald's. The boys obviously enjoyed their meal. I personally think it tasted different in France, maybe it's because they use dijon instead of French's mustard!

Adventure #5: Arche de Triomphe and Notre Dame at night

Pretty. Tall. Cool. Closed to the public because of a crazy strike (which unfortunately you'll be reading lots about in posts to come). Oh well.

Pretty. Tall. Cool. More info later when we visit Notre Dame in the day!

I wish the pictures did justice to the amazing things we saw, but alas, they don't. If you're not satisfied by our pictures above use google images...I was temted to include them in my post!

City of Lights

It has been

7 days since I last blogged because our
6 little Wiggy legs were walking

5 X 5 miles (+) for

4 days and

3 nights

2gether in

1 dazzling City of Lights

Merry Christmas to us!

A few of Santa's helpers gave us an incredible trip to PARIS.

Thank you to those special elves.

We had a blast and can't wait to spill our guts about all of the fabulous details.

Prepare yourself for too many Paris posts and a definite picture overload.

And PS, speaking of pictures:

1) Our amazing camera broke the day before we left for Paris. Rude! We borrowed a camera from a friend, but it just wasn't the same.

2) The picture above is one of only a few pictures we have together as a family...and obviously it is taken in a mirror of a department store. We have others in mirrors of museums, churches and castles. It was the best we could do...hope you still enjoy!

Family Pictures

Christa and Rob take incredible pictures (just check out their blog for proof!) and they agreed to take a little family shoot for us. Talmage was having a hard day, so unfortunately no smiles from him, but we think they turned out fabulous anyway! Here are a few of our favorites.

Another London Countdown

You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

True that Samuel, true that.

I promise London, I wasn't tired of you at the end of yesterday, neither were Jim and Talmage.

We weren't tired of you, but rather, because of you.

You have so much to offer, we can hardly resist.

We get up early to come visit you, run around for hours, and come home way too late.

Here are a few of our favorites from yesterday.

1. Tower of London

We arrived in London just as the sun was rising. It was beautiful. This is the Tower Bridge. I'm pleased to report that it, as well as it's friend the London Bridge, has not fallen down!

Me and T on our first adventure of the day...walking on the Tower Bridge.


This, my friends, is the Tower of London.

To make a long story short, it's a royal palace turned Alcatraz.

King Henry the 8th sent 3 of his wives here to be beheaded and they estimate about 1500 others were killed on Tower Hill.

It was so fun learning more about this place.

Two young princes were killed in this tower...we kept a close eye on our little prince!

This was our BEYOND awesome tour guide. His name is Ken.

After going on his hilarious and informative tour, we mosied over to another building where we saw THE CROWN JEWELS.

The real-life, totally authentic, super-blingin crown jewels.

They're gorgeous.

This pub is right down the street from the tower. Fitting, isn't it?!

We cracked up at this quote on the pub wall!

2. St. Paul's Cathedral

Such a gorgeous day and such a gorgeous cathedral.

Daddy and Talmage.

Me and T.

Jane and Michael Banks weren't allowed to feed the birds at St. Paul's. Luckily Talmage's daddy is nicer than theirs! (Mostly I just think Jim didn't want Talmage dancing on rooftops or anything!)

Talmage was SO excited about all the birds!

3. Research Meeting at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

This picture is actually at the Royal Courts of Justice (which Jim saw on our way to Trafalgar Square and wanted a picture with). BUT, I wanted to let you know the real reason we were in London yesterday was so my smarty husband could go to a snazzy meeting with some of England's big names. He had a great time, and was even asked to present in front of everyone. I love being married to a genius!

4. Winter Wonderland--Hyde Park

While Jim was in his meeting, T and I walked to the park so we could play at Winter Wonderland. It had a huge Christmas market, lots of food, rides, an ice skating rink and lots more. It was such a legit party!

Mr. T sitting in the big boy Christmas chair!

Talmage's first picture with Santa (who they call Father Christmas here). The boy wasn't really in the mood to be photographed...but it'll still be a good one for the baby book!

The Christmas tree at Trafalgar Square. In my own opinion, it was pretty lame. There was no star on top, there were no ornaments (which they call baubles) and it looked like it was going to die any second. Oh well, I guess that's why no one asked my opinion!
T didn't seem to mind...he wouldn't stop looking at it!

5. Westminster Abbey

No great (or even good) pictures from this place...but a good time was had nonetheless (well, mostly!) We met up with Jim for Evensong--a choral service they hold every night at 5 pm. After about 3 seconds of the first song Talmage decided he hated every second of it! I tried entertaining him with all of the ornate tombstones in the chapel (I know, a little morbid)! It didn't quite work, but I saw the tombstones of William Pitt, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and other really important people, which was pretty cool!


And so, my dear London, once again we must bid thee adieu.

With some chips (AKA fries) from the street, and a hopeful heart that our bus would eventually arrive (it was 30 minutes late) we recounted all of the fun moments we had shared.

Below you will find us exhausted.

Not of you London, but because of you!