the rest of our trip

Maddie the Traveler

Notre-Dame

Pretty window in Notre-Dame

Flower shops are everywhere here

The train we took to Paris

The Seine River in Paris

Cheesey tourist pix

Super nerdy tourist- hahaha- Arc de Triompe

looking up Eifell Tower

Sacre Coer in paris

Pretty Eiffel

Hiking up all the stairs

Grey day

Louvre Pyramid at night in the rain

Cute T

Maddie and Mommy having a hot chocolate at a cafe

Hmm where did I leave off...

A little Eskimo strapped to a bigger Eskimo, Mommy's little "chicken"

Thursday Maddie and I went shopping, found some fun souvenirs and gifts. I loved all the little nick-names the English people called Mad. She got called "chicken" a lot and "wee wee". One old lady cornered me in a shop and went on and on about how she was a greedy little baby because she was spitting up- ??? Friday we stayed in, it was cold and I was up till 3 or 4 with Maddie so we slept till noon and then took another 3 hour nap together. We packed and did laundry too. Saturday we took the train into London and then took the tube to another train station and boarded the train to Paris. It was about a three hour train ride and it wasn't very eventful. It took us across the English channel underwater in a famous tunnel called the Chunnel, which was about 20 min. It was a little "claustrophobic-ish" but I think I slept threw most of it. It was nice to see the French countryside on our way into the city. Lots of little cottages with churches around them. France had a whole different feel to it. The biggest thing being the language difference. It felt a little scary just showing up in this country not knowing anything and not being able to talk to a lot of people. We got off the train and we were in the middle of this super busy train/metro station and we had no idea where to go or what to do. We happened to see a sign that said "luggage lock-up" in English so we followed it and were able to lock our luggage in some lockers, this saved us from finding our way all the way to the hotel and back into the city. From there we found a really long line that said "Information" at the head so we decided to stand in it since we really had no clue where to go. Thankfully the info lady new English and we told her where we wanted to go and she gave us a couple tickets for the metro. Next was deciphering the metro maps on the walls and trying to figure out what we were reading. This underground wasn't quite as user-friendly as London's. Here is what we were looking at.

Who knows which line took us to the Louvre or the Eiffel tower- and it was all in French of course so it was a bit tricky. We miraculously found our way to Notre-Dame. It was so ornate and beautiful. They were having a special service inside, I felt a little intrusive walking around taking pictures. It was raining and dark when we came out, Maddie did not enjoy the wet cold walk around the city. It was so charming. The cutest little flower stands and fruit and vegetable markets, beautiful buildings with window boxes full of flowers. People singing and stopping to kiss in the rain- it really was very romantic- despite the cold rain. We found the Louvre- it was HUMONGOUS. So much bigger than I ever pictured or realized. It would have taken a week just to visit one floor. The famous glass pyramid looked minuscule compared to the building itself and I wasn't very impressed. From there we went back to the train station picked up our luggage and found our way to our hotel which was by the airport. We didn't have quite enough Marriott points to afford the $5oo dollar a night Marriott in the city so we had to stay out at the airport Marriott. I was a little worried about getting on the metro with all our luggage. I'm pretty sure I saw a group of pickpocketers make hand signals to each other and slowly surround us. The subway came and it was beyond packed- there was no way we were going to get on there and be able to breathe. We decided to find a different way. Which could have gone bad- since the subway we got on next didn't stop at all the stops we thought it would and we could have gotten way out of our way in the wrong direction. Well we made it to the airport and from there took a shuttle to the Marriott. I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt to walk in those doors. It was really beautiful and the beds were incredibly soft. We were wet and cold to the bone so we all took long hot baths and zonked out. Maddie had a great night so we were able to get to the city by 11:30 or so the next morning. How nice of our hotel to provide a free shuttle to take us back to the airport- where the train station was :). We found the Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triompe - took lots of nerdy tourist pictures. I felt especially nerdy. We didn't take the stroller today since the subways are so crowded here it is easier just to be able to hop on and off with nothing on you. So I had Maddie strapped to me in the Moby wrap with my big puffy coat on over her and then a blue plastic poncho on over all that- very nerdy. I am sure I got some very funny looks from all the uber-fashionable Parisians. The Eiffel tower was huge- so much bigger than I thought and the gardens and fountains that surrounded it were so pretty and are probably breath-taking in the spring- I probably would have cried :). We ran into a group of women in our hotel lobby that morning who happened to be from Utah ( small world!) and they told us to find the Sacre-Coer. It was a beautiful old church at the top of the hill. We hiked up a ton of stairs and saw the whole city from the top. We sat down for a couple minutes of the Sunday mass that was going on. Outside the church there was the cutest little shops and courtyard where all these local artists had their easels set up and were painting- so pretty! We ate at a little street side cafe- and had yummy hot chocolate and hot sandwiches and soup, and chocolate crepes- yum. Monday we flew home, we were able to get three seats in a row and get a bassinet that bolts into the bulkhead wall for Maddie to sleep- what a lifesaver. If you ever fly with an infant- ask for this! We were anxious to get home to the cubs but sad to leave. I promised little Mad-pie we would explore the streets of London again together- even if she has to be the one pushing me around in a chair. I really enjoyed spending time with her and T. I feel so much more relaxed and rested- I really needed a trip away! Thank you Kim and Ash and Angela and Ty and Brooke and Crystal and everyone who watched our cubbies back home. I think Crystal and Ang get the neighbors of the year award to wrestle a kicking and screaming Owen to the doctor when he came down with an ear infection. Thank you all- I know I owe you all so much so please don't hesitate to ask!