PARIS 3-8 May

What joie de vivre to be in Paris.  We asked the kids which place they were most excited about visiting and they all had said Paris.  We were staying in an apartment in the 2^nd arrondissement.  To enter the apartment you had to use a code to go through a little door within a large door and that took you into a courtyard.  At the end of the courtyard was the staircase that took us up to our apartment which was on the 5^th floor, unfortunately no lift but we got our daily warm-up each morning coming down and last work out for the day each evening.  The apartment wasn’t large but certainly adequate for us with windows looking out one side into the courtyard below and the other side down to the street.  Unfortunately being such an old building and being on the top floor, the water pressure was terrible, barely a trickle out of the bathroom tap but it wasn’t too bad.  There were 3 sleeping areas with access to upstairs through the main bedroom via a curvy staircase in which you had to duck half way up otherwise you would hit your head.  At night you could look out the window upstairs and see the bright ‘search’ light of the Eiffel Tower shining around Paris.  The shutters on the windows were old wooden ones with appropriately French peeling paint that you swung open in the morning to let the light in.  The only thing that stopped you falling out the window was an old antique style ornate railing, so, with 4 kids and being on the 5^th floor, we didn’t open the windows.

Our apartment

Our front door

Staircase leading to our apartment

Unfortunately after battling to grab a fabulous ‘payant’ carspot, during the day you could only park there for 2 hours at a time however from 7pm – 9am it was free to park there all night.  So, each morning we either had to be out to take the car at 9am or put money in the meter for up to 2 hours.  We knew each day would be a long day so we put money in the meter and took our time leaving in the morning.  Wherever we went, we had to take the car which suited us because then we had access to anywhere in Paris without having to battle public transport and also it was handy with the kids. Besides, Corky quite enjoyed driving the streets of Paris and believing he was a rally car driver.  I loved finding a radio station that played beautiful French music as we explored the arrondissements and sites of this beautiful city.

Our first morning we decided to head straight out to the Palace of Versailles.  As we left the city, we could see behind us the Eiffel Tower proudly displayed on the skyline, we still hadn’t been close to it yet so it was quite a novelty to sight it.  We found a park quite easily at Versailles which we were excited about because already we were quite weary about the difficulties of finding a park especially with the size of car we were driving.  Since we hadn’t had the chance to get breakfast, we wandered the streets first and found a lovely café to sit at for our breakfast/lunch, brunch I guess.  We just had to sit out on the sidewalk, that was all I wanted to do in Paris, sit on the sidewalk and watch the world go by.  Oh so Parisian!  We headed up to the Palace and we shocked at how long the queue was to get in.  It wound from the ticket office at the gates down the courtyard which was about 100m long and back up again … and down again and back up again.  It would take minimum an hour to get to the ticket box we estimated so we made do and took some photos out the front of the gate and set off back to Paris.  I would have been way too hot in the midday sun to stand for an hour with the kids.

We were going to save going up the Eiffel Tower for my birthday however we couldn’t wait another couple of days so today was going to be the day.  Once again, the parking gods were on our side and we got a great spot right near the tower.  If anyone has driven and parked in Paris, they would appreciate our excitement of getting a park in the city, especially with the size of car we had.  It really was a highlight of our day when we got a great park!  There was always a collective cheer.

After the obligatory photos next to, in front of, pretending to hold it in your hand, scenic, artistic shots of the Eiffel Tower, we joined the queue (another thing we would have to learn to tolerate in Paris) to get the lift to the top of the tower.  We didn’t mind this queue so much because everywhere we looked was this enormous structure to admire.  After about 45 minutes we boarded the first of the lifts to take us to the first level.  The view from this level was superb though we knew it would be even better further up so yet again we joined another queue to board the next lift to the top of the tower.  The ride up in this lift was a bit nerve racking especially since we could see out and how far we were going.  Once at the top though, the view was incredible, as far as the eye could see in every direction and also we could pinpoint all the landmarks that makes Paris so wonderful.   Once again, the few obligatory photos and then back into another queue to go down to the 2^nd level before getting the lift to the bottom.  All up we spent 90% of our time in queues but the time seemed to fly with such a wonderful vista surrounding us.  We went for a walk along the Seine up to Princess Diana’s memorial above the tunnel she died in.  There wasn’t much of a memorial for her but people had left flowers and notes due to Prince William’s wedding a few days prior.

We meandered back along the river enjoying the sites, sounds and ambience.  It certainly is a busy city, I can’t really remember much from the last couple of times I visited because I was in my 20’s when I was last here and so was Craig.  We did notice the abundance of security and police patrolling the area, in particular the French army with machines guns at the ready, patrolling in trios.  The kids enjoyed waving off the bridges at the many cruise boats going underneath and we saw a Masterchef boat going by with the film crew hard at work capturing the chefs.

Our 2^nd lot of 2 hour parking ticket was almost up, so we had to get back to the car and just as well because it was just expiring as we got there and several cars up were the parking police.  We headed back to our apartment to secure a park for the night (free from 7pm) and head out to dinner.  Once again excitement reigned when we snatched up a spot nearby in reasonably good time without having to circuit our area for too long.  We headed to the Hard Rock for dinner (that’s the thing with young kids, you really need to cater for them too so not all our dining experiences were lingering front row café style ones).  We found that since the sun didn’t set till between 9.30-10pm, we were eating quite late but that too is the French way of life and it just meant we could linger the next morning too.  We wandered home after dinner enjoying the evening crowd and bright lights …. Ahhh joie de vivre!

A lovely sleep in, a throw-open of the decrepit shutters and another day in Paris had dawned (well maybe several hours ago).  Today we lingered a bit longer and watched a movie while we took time out from what will be another busy, bustley day in Paris.  Off to the Louvre to see the most famous lady painted in history but first we needed breakfast.  Once we had secured our van in an underground carpark that was like gold to us despite our antenna scraping the whole way down, we headed to a nearby patisserie where I practiced my schoolgirl french and ordered some pastries and hot chocolates for us, the kids looked at me with wide bewildered eyes (and I think the lady behind the counter did too but we managed to get exactly what I had ordered thank goodness).   As I was taking a photo of the family eating their brekky in the shop, an old man wanted to get out but Harry was in his way so he just used his bagette to shove him aside.  I had always wondered if there was another use for a bagette since they were so popular.

Just as well as got breakfast in because it was time for another queue; backdrop the incredible glass pyramid of the Louvre (though it just reminded me of the Da Vinci Code movie).  Once inside, we made our way to the Mona Lisa, via the Venus De Milo statue.  Soon enough, we spotted the crowd and realised that we had come across the famous painting.  Yes, another queue but unfortunately this one was disorderly rather than orderly.  Unfortunately I was more focused on the kids not getting crushed and finding a small gap to squeeze us closer to the barrier than actually standing and appreciating the magnificence of what lay in front of me.  Once we had taken the necessary photos and made sure the kids had had a proper look, we squeezed ourselves out of the crowd, did a head count of 1 to 4 to make sure we had the kids and the right ones too, and went to explore other areas of this enormous museum.  We marvelled out the front for a while and let the kids wiggle their fingers in the fountains and then headed over to the park for a bagette in the sun with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop.  Couldn’t get much better.

A very lazy morning today, more so than other day, maybe also because I was another year older today (but where else would you want to be on your birthday?)  The funniest thing happened this morning though.  As per every other morning, Corky goes down to put money into the meter because after 9am you have to pay to park.  Today however our car had been moved forward.  There were some building works that were going on in the side street which we were parked in front of and clearly early this morning they needed more room so they, somehow, managed to move our car about a meter forward.  It was quite amusing and mysterious to us and we could imagine that several burly construction workers moved it out of the way. 

At lunchtime we headed out and up to Montmartre to see the Sacre De Coeur.  Once we had parked, we found a little place for some baguettes and then had a wander around the Sacre De Coeur and its view of Paris.  Back down into Paris and we spent too much time searching for a carpark over near the Notre Dame and Left Bank that we eventually gave up and went down to the Champs Elysee for a wander, drink in one of the sidewalk cafés, look around the shops and up at the Arc De Triomphe and then for dinner at a sidewalk restaurant.  It is great to people watch from here.  After dinner we drove over to get a perfect position at 10pm for the light show on the Eiffel Tower which lasted for 5 minutes.  It was spectacular.

Our last day in Paris today.  We managed to get a park over at the Left Bank where we then walked along and looked at all the stalls on the edge of the river.  This led us up to the Notre Dame and the kids had a play in a sandpit by the river.  The bridge we crossed over we aptly named ‘The Love Bridge’ because all along the railing on one side were thousands of padlocks locked onto the wire of the railing.  Each padlock had a couples names on it and often a date too.  It became obvious that couples came here and ‘locked’ their love onto the railing and then threw the keys into the river below.  This obviously created the ‘lock of love’ for life.  We saw one couple put theirs on, have a kiss and throw the keys into the river.  Their padlock had engraved on it their names and ‘Honeymoon Paris May 2011’.  Very romantic!  Back to our apartment and out for our last dinner.

Padlock Bridge

Off to Provence next .... x