Wow, this seat hasn’t been sat in in a while. Let me roll it back and forth a few times. Ah, this is the familiar chair I used to write these blog posts in. I can’t believe I’m back! I’ll thank Emma and mum for bringing up journaling on our trip. I didn’t have the means to write this while on the trip, so after being back for a week, I thought that I would journal about the family’s trip to Europe (and former EU-nations)! Unfortunately, “family” does not include my new husband as he had to work, but we still endeavored into the city of love with 3 full couples as tribute, and me, the 7th wheel.
Our story starts before even getting onto a plane. Emma and I had planned the trip and in order to maximize time, we scheduled a train right after we landed in London to Paris. At the time, this seemed like a good idea, but as the trip approached, I got increasingly nervous that something would happen and we’d miss the train and start our trip off to a poor start. I wasn’t able to sleep on the flight because of it, which is unlike me because I can fall asleep anywhere. My fears were unfounded and we booked it from the plane, through customs, where he had to collect our forced-checked bags, and then made it on the Tube to St. Pancras where we boarded the famous Eurostar to dive beneath the English Channel. I would say that it was super cool, but this is where I fell asleep. It was a smooth ride from London to Paris.
Now, our original plan, to maximize time, was to go from Gare du Nord station to a suitcase drop off location right next to the Louvre so we could see the museum on our first day since we got to Paris around 1pm. The poor start that I feared did not occur, but another fear that we should have been aware of did darken our door. In trying to get from Gare du Nord to the Louvre, we used Paris’ metro system as it is quick and affordable. What we didn’t anticipate was that a family of 7 with their suitcases, jet lagged hobbling around the station made us perfect marks for pickpocketers. Our train came and a rush of people boarded. My instincts from traveling and being a commuter is to push all the way in away from the doors, so that’s where I went with three of our group. The three that remained were my mom, dad, and sister, who stayed by the doors. The two groups were now separated by a group of people where we could see them but couldn’t talk to them. All of a sudden, I hear Emma yell, “I’ve got your suitcase!” Which alerted everyone with me that something was going on. We couldn’t get towards my family so we watched as onlookers, hearing my dad yell, then seeing him smile and shake a guy’s hand. At the next stop they got off, and we only had a few more stops to go. Once we got to the Louvre stop, we disembark and Emma turns to us, “Dad got his wallet stolen.”
Apparently, many distractions were aimed at my dad: they were playing with his suitcase, they spilled soda on him, they apologized and shook his hand, and then got off at the next station. In all of the commotion, my dad’s wallet was stolen. Thankfully, he had stored his phone and passport separately. All in all, they got 50 € and tried to put $7,000 of expenses on the credit cards, which were immediately flagged by the credit companies who froze the cards. A bumpy start to the trip, but it definitely could have been worse. Anyways, this is why, instead of heading to the Louvre on the first day, we went straight to the AirBNB.
Our first night included a delicious dinner at the AirBNB’s recommendation and a walk around the Eiffel Tower and the Christmas Market. We pulled names for Secret Santa and these Christmas Markets, as there were markets in each of the three cities, served as great places to get presents. We pulled names on day one and were going to give the gifts on the last day of our trip.
Day two was an aggressive day from the get go. We had to accomplish two major sites because they both would be closed the following day, Christmas. You think they would keep them open for all of the tourists, and there were so many of us, but alas, we had to fit them both in the same day. These two sites were Versailles, a 30 min train out of the city, and The Louvre, another reason we had hoped to include it in our first day. Nevertheless, we were determined. We woke up early and went west to Versailles, walking around the gardens before our ticketed time to enter the palace. Now, I had been to Versailles when I was in Paris 12 years prior, but it still amazed me at the grandiosity of the rooms and the art. The hall of mirrors lived up to my memory as well, but some of the best views were the ceilings. Each room had a Greek god looking down on you from above. I’m still in awe at the luxury of it and understand why the French rose up against the monarchs.
We didn’t give enough time for rest and took the train back but going past our stop and continued on towards the Louvre. Traveling pro tip: there are ticketed times slots for the Louvre. They sell out and can be inconvenient if you don’t know what time you’re going to get there after seeing Versailles. There’s also a line for those that just show up. This line is often shorter and you can get in with the ticketed holders. Although not guaranteed, I can say that our experience had us waiting about half an hour and then we were in! The Louvre was our oyster.
I had not visited the Louvre before, so I was eager to see all of the must-sees. We beelined for the Mona Lisa, knowing that we wouldn’t stand in line, but to see it from afar was good enough. Then we moseyed around the massive building. Some of the highlights included sarcophaguses (stolen), the Crown Jewels (not stolen), and Hammurabi's Code (stolen). The Code was interesting because it was something we’ve been taught since middle school as being the oldest evidence of written law. It even includes an early version of innocent until proven guilty. After walking both buildings, we were exhausted and headed back to the AirBNB to rest before dinner. All in all, we walked over 28,000 steps and saw two of the best monuments of Paris.
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| The painting that hangs opposite the Mona Lisa. Pretty impressive, right? |
Despite the amount of steps, we still decided to go out for a nice drink at a rooftop bar near the AirBNB. Our AirBNB was close to the Eiffel Tower and, because of the hotel’s location, the 11th floor overlooked the Eiffel Tower. Pretty cool! We took the elevator and entered the bar. On our way in, we saw a sign that had 230€, but didn’t take too much notice, that is, until we ordered. The drinks were slightly expensive, but we could see the Eiffel Tower, so it justified the price. That’s what started freaking us out, if the drink prices were reasonable, could that 230€ have been the cover or a minimum? Well, if that was the case, we were going to get our money’s worth. We went twice out on the balcony to get the photos of the Eiffel Tower that we had paid for. We also ordered a second drink, but because of the poor service, instead of the pour service, we didn’t end up getting it. Nervously, we asked for the check, and to our surprise, we paid only for the drinks we ordered, so a view of the Eiffel Tower for only 21€, not too shabby. It turns out that the 230€ was for VIP service, so we were spared of an expensive tab.
Honestly, that could be a 230€ view.
Just because it was Christmas Day didn’t mean that we had to sit at home with our family. I know that’s what it means normally, but we were in frickin’ Paris, so we did some site seeing. Using the public transportation, which had scarred us on our first day but had treated us well throughout, we went to the Arc de Triomphe and Sacre Coeur. I had never seen the Arc up close, and man, is it impressive with all of the detail and the sheer size of it. I was also impressed at the 12 way intersection, one of my worse nightmares. If they work like any of the rotaries in the US, there must be so many accidents with people not knowing what yield means. Sacre Coeur is also an impressive beast of its own. It sits atop a hill about 3.5 miles from the Eiffel Tower. What always strikes me is how white the building is. It is said that after rainy days, the church shines even brighter. We lucked out as it had been spitting that morning.
There was no going out on this night as we had to catch a train to Brussels early in the morning. The Ubers were ordered to pick us up at 6:30 AM, we were no longer risking the metro while carrying our suitcases. We’d learned from our mistakes.
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