The day that didn't work out.

Our plan for our last day in Paris was to stop by the train station to see if we could get our tickets refunded, do a quick visit to Notre Dame, take a Seine river cruise and stop into the Orsay Museum.

We started the day off well, heading into the city pretty early.  Mark and I had stopped by a bigger train station the night before to try to get a refund for our canceled train trip but the customer service area was already closed.   We got off the Metro at the train station, had Sue take Jared and Lydia to wait for us where the Metro line we needed was and then walked all over the station trying to find the right customer service room. We thought we had found it waited in line behind the slowest customer and were then told we were in the wrong room.  The annoying part was that a train agent asked us what we needed, we told him and he told us to stay in line.  When we got to the desk we found out we were in the wrong room.   The correct room was thankfully around the corner, not on a completely different level.  We waited in another line and when we got up to the agent and he found out we spoke English he had us wait to go to another agent who spoke more languages.   This woman was very helpful.  She joked that she was happy to help us because we are Americans not French so we were much happier.  She spoke French, English and Portuguese.  I know France is by Portugal so its not that uncommon for more people to speak Portuguese but it was funny how much Mark used his Portuguese on this trip. Sadly we could not get our refund right then because we bought our tickets through an online company separate from the official train company.  Luckily she could stamp and verify our tickets were not used because the train was canceled and therefore make it possible for us to get the refund.   We contacted the company and our refund should arrive this week.  So it was a headache but it had a good ending.  We met up with Sue and our kids and took the metro to Notre Dame.

When we got to Notre Dame the line looked really long so Sue, Mark and our kids went off to find some sandwiches and crepes to eat.  I stood in line and quickly realized that this line was the fastest moving line in Paris!  I was back really far yet I made it all the way to the front before they got back. It was less than 5 minutes.  I didn't even bother getting back in line until they were back from the shops because it moved so fast which was a refreshing change.  In our experience Paris has the longest slowest lines out of any European city we have visited. Once they were back I had a delicious warm cheese sandwich on fresh bread and we got back in line.  It again took barely 5 minutes and we were inside the building.  Notre Dame is massive.  It took 200 years to construct and is one of the most important examples of the Gothic styles in the world. It was one of the first buildings to use flying buttresses. Thank you Google.  We were unable to walk around the top of the cathedral but did hear the bells and witness part of a Catholic mass which was a bonus. I love hearing bells on churches.

Mark really wanted a picture of the four of us on a bench with the river behind us. 

He was very pleased with this one. 

The plan was to catch a boat around the corner from Notre Dame but we missed the boat and the next one would not come for an hour.  We looked up another stop on the map and headed over to it. Sadly and unbeknownst to us, the boat company was on a  different schedule that day and the boat was not stopping at all the stops it normally did. We waited around for the boat that never came.  A river cruise on the Seine was the top thing Sue wanted to to do in Paris so we were going to make it happen.  We came up with a new plan to have the 4 of us go do a quick highlights walk of the Orsay Museum while Sue bought her souvenirs and waited in the Tuileries Garden.  There was a boat stop near the museum that we would catch the boat at.

After a quick walk through the gardens we got to the museum to see a massive line.  We had bought the Paris Museum pass because it said it provided "priority access" to popular sites.  A whole skip the line idea.  Turns out that lots of other people buy the pass for the same reason so the "priority access" line was almost as long as the general admission line.  This was not only annoying but disappointing. I, myself was looking forward to this museum probably more than even the Louvre and we ended not being able to go.  We had told Sue we would meet her back at a certain time to catch the boat and now we had to try to find her to tell her the change in plans. We rarely had wireless service while in Paris itself. We all have iPhones so I thought we should have been able to communicate but it didn't happen.  Mark left Jared Lydia and I at the boat stop and went off to find Sue.  The three of us waited by the river (it was so cold) for about an hour.  I was cold and hungry but Jared and Lydia had a lovely time playing near the river.  They met some other kids and didn't fall in the river so I guess it wasn't a total loss.  There was one family in particular that had a little girl the same age as Lydia and they became bff's.  Her name was Nala.  Lydia still talks about her!  In real ways, like she fully expects to meet up with Nala again and hang out.  They are with the military and just moved to Brussels. We actually did meet up with them again a few hours later in a different part of town, it was crazy.  We walked together for a bit and then her family crossed the street ahead of us because we didn't exactly know where we were going and across a few lanes of traffic Lydia and Nala kept yelling goodbye to teach other. It was sweet.

Tuileries Gardens

Gloomy but pretty. 

These boots: I have wanted rain boots for a good while.  I just hadn't quite found the right pair. When I looked at the weather forecast for our trip it showed rain almost every day. I decided finding boots had to happen before we left.  I found these in the gardening section at Target just days before we left. I love them.  When we left NC it was 68 degrees and sunny but I wore my boots on that flight while everyone else wore sandals because they wouldn't  fit in my carry on. It was totally worth it.

Relaxing in the not very warm weather at the garden.  We didn't stay long. 

Finally we all met up again and got on the boat.  At least 2 boats came and left while we were waiting so I was nervous they wouldn't get back in time. There was a boat that came every 20 minutes and one that came every hour and I really didn't want to wait another hour.  Sue was so happy which made us all really glad.  I am not a big boat person.  I almost always get sick, mostly from being right by the exhaust.  So I did not love the boat ride but it seems everyone else in my family enjoyed it. Maybe for some reason I just feel stuck on boats. Like I am trapped  I can see things going by and they look so close but I can't get to them.  Planes are different because I'm up in the air and there is no other option but boats, they just aren't my thing.  Mostly I just always feel sick and get bad headaches though. Looking back I wished I would have skipped the boat and waited to go in the museum but too bad.  It was so hard to communicate with each other that we didn't feel like separating again.

There are so many bridges in Paris!  I had told Lydia the story about the locks and she was fascinated by it.  She asked me to tell it again and again.

After the boat ride we were ready to leave the city.  Visiting the Paris temple was on our list of ideas to do if we had time and it was decided that we did want to make the time to drive over there and visit it.  Unfortunately it was not going to be an easy task to get there.  We hopped on the metro planning to pick up our car and head to the temple.  We got off the Metro and Mark and Jared went ahead of us to pick up the car.  They would drive to the station to pick us up.  As we were waiting and thinking it was taking much longer than it should it started raining.  Not lightly raining but a good steady rain.  No big deal though, we had umbrellas and raincoats and a place for Sue to sit and wait but then Lydia says "I see Daddy." I look where she is pointing and see a look of complete annoyance,  almost rage on Mark's face.  He walks over and briskly says, "they towed our car, I've got to go find the building and pay the fine."  When Mark is mad like that it is best to ask as few questions as possible.  He and Jared head off to find the building which he was told was about a Kilometer away.  Thank goodness for Mark's sense of Direction. We sit and wait in the rain.  I suggested we go wait inside the Metro tunnel but Sue did not want to do the stars again (understandably) so we waited outside. I think Mark was too mad to even think about getting a taxi to take him to the building which would have saved us some time in the pouring rain but such is life. This was really stressful as we had no idea if the place was still open, if they would be able to communicate, if we had enough money for the fine.  It was awful.  We just stood in the rain waiting for Mark and Jared to come back.  It was at least an hour and we were so grateful when they made it back to us.  200 Euros later we were on our way.

We were not very talkative on the way to the temple. The temple is located about 35 minutes way from where we were staying and turned out to be well worth the drive. The temple was dedicated last May and it was really special to be there and feel the spirit after our frustrating day in Paris. We enjoyed visiting with families and the missionaries in the small (but bigger than I thought it would be) visitors center.  I admittedly got a little tired of standing in there and kind of just wanted some time by myself so I went out into the courtyard. The rain had stopped but much like most of our days in Paris it was still really overcast and gloomy (and I like overcast days.)  After about 10 minutes of walking around and feeling the peacefulness of the temple the sun came out and a small rainbow appeared.  It was perfect. I couldn't help but feel Gods love for me.  My family and I live a really good life, we have our storm clouds and disappointments but we are blessed with lots of rainbows and sunshine as well.  Easily more rainbows and sunshine.  It was a lovely moment.  Shortly after that my family came out and we enjoyed the temple grounds together.

Before the sun came out

After

Date Night Paris Style

Once we ate dinner and got Jared and Lydia settled at the apartment with Sue we headed out for a night on the town.  Earlier in the day we had attempted to visit Sacre - Coeur but could not for the life of us find a way to drive there.  All the streets we needed to turn onto were blocked by police allowing only motorcycles through.  Mark successfully made 2 laps around the crazy busy Arc De Triomphe but we could just not get through to the church and our GPS was not helping.  We decided to make it our first stop on our date.  Often when we do go on trips somewhere we rarely see what the city looks like at night because we need to get Jared and Lydia to bed at a somewhat decent hour so I was really excited to have the chance to see Paris at night. It was so fun and special to have a night out with Mark there.

We took the Metro to the closest stop and then began the hike up to the church.  I am sure there is more than one way to get there and we did not find the easiest one.  The neighborhood we walked through had great architecture and cute cafes.  The streets were narrow and cobblestone, it seemed like a quintessential Paris neighborhood and then we found the staircase.  Each set of stairs had 21 steps and there were at least 7 sets.  We made our way up and were treated to a beautiful view at the top.

As we were walking around we heard a younger girl talking about the string men at the bottom and warning her friend about it. I had never heard about this before and then we ran into them right after.  I saw him approach us and then when he reached out and grabbed my wrist I was irritated and mad!  I know these things are common at tourist places but for real I in no way looked interested at all.  People need money, I get it but it is really off putting especially when they are super aggressive. So many Egypt flashbacks.  We quickly got out of there and headed towards the city.

We stopped on a street full of souvenir shops, ones we actually wanted and grabbed a few things.  It was a much pleasanter experience shopping for them without Jared and Lydia.  Then before taking the metro back to the city center we stopped for our second crepe of the day.  We took the metro over to the Place de la Concorde  and enjoyed a view of the Oblesik, ferris wheel and Eiffel Tower over the river.  While we were there the Eiffel Tower light show went off and it was great to get to see it.

One other item we wanted to do in Paris but weren't sure how to do with Jared and Lydia was walk along the Champs-Elysees towards the Arc De Triomphe. Its a long stretch of road full of shops and great architecture, not exactly ideal for a 6 and 8 year old. As we walked along we both mentioned how it reminded us of Las Ramblas in Barcelona. I think most European cities have a similar famous road to stroll on and we are glad we made it happen.  It was lovely (and long) to walk along holding hands in the lightly falling rain just thinking about how we were out together in Paris.  It was nice to see the Arc De Triomphe in the daytime and the nighttime.

 

We are so glad Sue suggested us going out that night. We didn't get back to the apartment till almost midnight and with the time difference and lack of sleep we were super tired but we would do it again in a heartbeat.  Such an unexpected outing.

Sainte Chapelle, Grandma Sue and The Louvre

We were slow to get going Monday morning.  Eventually we managed to get up eat and head out the door closer to 10:00 then the 8:00 we had planned on.  Sue was set to arrive around 11:00 but based on our experience in passport control we figured she wouldn't be ready before 12:00.  Our original plan was to go to Notre Dame but after getting off the Metro Mark saw how close we were to Saint Chapelle and decided to go there instead.  We had bought the Paris Museum Pass the day before and hoped it would help us avoid all the crazy lines, it sadly didn't really. That pass turned out to really not help us much at all so that was annoying oh well.  We waited in one line outside the gates and then another inside the courtyard.  While we were in the 2nd line Mark got a text from Sue that she was ready to be picked up.  We were surprised she was ready so quickly and lucky that her text even came through. The "Gratuit" Wi-Fii at the large tourist sites was really spotty for us.  Mark told her we would be at least an hour and we felt really bad that our timing was so off and she would have to wait so long for us.  I was irritated that our pass hadn't helped us bypass this line as that was a main reason we bought it and decided to go check at the entrance if we could use it.  Turns out we could use it to bypass the ticket line so we quickly did that.  Luckily Saint Chapelle is a comparatively small church in Paris so we could see it quicker than others.

Saint-Chapelle was built in just 7 years.  It is one of my favorite churches I have ever visited.  We walked into the "lobby" and I thought why was Mark so excited about this?  Then we found the staircase up into the sanctuary and I got it.  It was breathtaking. Arranged across 15 windows, 15 meters or 49 feet high (according to a calculation website) there are 1,113 pictures in stained glass portraying stories from the Old and New Testaments covering the creation of the world through the relics arriving in Paris. Its basically wall to wall stained glass windows. Visiting this Church was one of my top 3 favorite things in Paris.  I loved it.

After enjoying the amazing windows we quickly got on the Metro, hopped off and picked up our rental car.  We hurried as fast as we could to the airport and found Sue surprisingly easily. Jared and Lydia were so happy that she came to hang out with us in Paris.  Its a really fun memory for them.  After getting Sue we headed into Paris to check out the Louvre.  Lydia was really excited to see the Mona Lisa.  Before leaving for Paris I had checked out quite a few Picture story books about Paris to read with Jared and Lydia and one of her favorites was "Who Stole the Mona Lisa?" Sue had already been to the Louvre and told me that she thought it was the most overrated painting in the world.  She is not the only one I have heard this from.  She opted to stay down a few floors while we went in search of the painting.  We made sure to enjoy a few others along our way and all commented on how impossible it would be to see everything in that museum.  Mark seemed to enjoy the mosaics we came across, Jared loved a painting of David and Goliath, I loved the kitchen/serving type ceramics/pottery and Lydia loved the Mona Lisa. She also wanted to stay and rest with Grandma Sue but we said no way!

I feel like I have seen this picture in so many textbooks or just art books.  He (Louis XIV) intended to give it as a gift to his nephew in Spain but loved it so much he kept it for himself to hang in Versailles.

After we exited the Louvre we stopped across the street from it and enjoyed some fresh street cart crepes.  Jared Lydia and I had been looking forward to eating crepes in Paris for weeks and they did not disappoint.  Mark got a ham and cheese one, Sue got lemon and sugar, Jared and I got Nutella and Lydia got Nutella and strawberry jam. Another favorite book was "Crepes by Suzette" and we felt like we were a page of the book.

This is my favorite picture from our trip. It makes me so happy. 

We bought a Paris photo frame and I already printed out a copy of it and set it on our bookshelf. 

We headed back to our Airbnb in Suresnes after that and had a lovely dinner of apples and oranges, fresh baked bread (we ate so many baguettes! I loved it) cheese and yogurt, we felt very French.  As we were riding the metro back Sue encouraged Mark and I to go out and have a date night in Paris.  At first we thought no we are too tired but then we realized how amazing it would be to go into Paris ourselves and see it lit up that we decided to go for it.  Sue, Jared, and Lydia were pretty much in bed by the time we left and we are so grateful she suggested it. It was awesome and a really fun unique experience for Mark and I.