Day 1
Normally when we travel we wake before dawn and take an early flight. We are also normally on vacation from the word “go.” But this trip was different. This time, I smuggled my family with me on a work trip.
Every so often BCG holds global meetings for folks active in different specialties to learn the latest developments in the field, and get to know each other better. This year, my practice held its event in Paris, so I couldn’t help but bring my family for the ride. The day we traveled was a normal work day, so in the early evening I finished work, we grabbed our luggage and kids, and went to the airport.
The flight wasn’t too bad for the kids; they mostly slept through the redeye. Unfortunately, Sophia could only sleep if she was holding my hand. Doubly unfortunately, I sat in a seat across the aisle from the rest of the family, so holding Sophia’s hand meant stretching uncomfortably across the aisle and letting go every time someone walked through the aisle, which always woke her up. As a result, I got no sleep that night.
Once we landed in Paris and made it through customs, we got a ride with something like a cab driver. I was exhausted, so when a guy came up offering us a cab ride, I said yes. Later I realized that he was probably one of those folks who illegally offer rides without airport authorization. He offered to get our number and bring us back to the airport at the end of our trip, but he charged more than enough for me to politely decline.
Once we settled in the hotel, I had work to do. So I worked. Then, I had a reception for the first night of the conference and met with some friends and colleagues.
Janet was able to take the girls to the Jardin des Tuileries; we were lucky for our hotel to be very close. They were excited to see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, play on a playground, feed ducks, and get some macarons from Laduree.
After my reception I grabbed some savory crepes and brought them to everyone in the hotel. Then I went to the lobby for more work calls. At this point, I had been awake for 36+ hours. I’m not practiced in going past ~24 without sleep, so I was in a state of near delirium. I paced through the lobby to avoid passing out until my last call ended and I could go up and collapse in bed.
Day 2
My work conferences continued, as did periodic calls and work I had to do for my normal project. One of our events included a team building painting class. I painted the Sacré-Cœur (I traced the outlines then applied paint). I have very rarely in my life worked with actual paint and paint brushes. Partway through, the instructor mentioned that I was supposed to mix or dilute the paint to get the colors right. I think if I say confidently that I intended to provide a more vivid color experience that I’ll get away with it.
Also notable is that my group won a picture contest for the best team photo in some category, but I never received the prize they promised.
Janet and the kids continued to enjoy their time at the parks and chasing birds.
Day 3
Day 3 was Friday, which is when my vacation began. To kick it off, we switched hotels! It was fashion week, so I wasn’t able to book the same hotel BCG had reserved for our stay during the conference. We moved from a hotel near the Jardin Des Tuileries to one near Gare de Lyon (not far from the Bastille).
After a ride to the new hotel and getting settled in, we grabbed lunch and started our first adventure in the Paris “Tube”! You may know it as the Paris “Metro”, but ever since visiting London, the kids prefer to call subways “Tubes.” Gare de Lyon is a relatively large station so we had some difficulty finding our platform, but figured it out eventually.
We rode the Metro to the station near Sacré-Cœur, which drops you at the bottom of a few hundred steps to get to the Cathedral. They were painted with lots of hearts which the kids loved. I had to carry a double stroller up each step, which I “loved.”
The Basilica itself was gorgeous. The view from the top of its hill is almost worth it on its own. The interior includes an image of Jesus with outstretched arms on the interior concave of a dome, very similar to the Basilica in Washington D.C. It gives the effect of looking like you’re in the Lord’s embrace when you’re up close under the dome.
After leaving the Basilica, we stopped at a crepe restaurant nearby. It was one of the few places that opened before 6:30 or 7:00pm. We enjoyed a few enormous crepes before taking the Metro back to the hotel.
Every night when we got back to the hotel, we would watch some episodes of Madeline. If they had an episode with anything we saw that day, we were sure to watch it.
Day 4
Speaking of Madeline, today’s travel included a transfer at Madeleine station. We were sure to get a picture before continuing on to the Army Museum.
I really enjoyed the museum. I had recently finished listening to podcasts on the French revolution and several European wars the museum covered, which helps make seeing the artifacts more interesting. The girls found it tolerable; they were curious about a big old tank on display, and enjoyed running around in the courtyard. We had hot chocolate and snack break from Angelina’s to rejuvenate them after we wore them out with history.
Next we saw Napoleon’s tomb. It was more impressive and fun to see than I had expected. The tomb itself is huge, made of red quartzite and surrounded by large marble statues. The wings and corners of the building house tombs for other notable military personnel and leaders. We also saw shrine-like alcoves with other statues. The girls enjoyed showing the statues their stuffed birds (a chick for Sophia and a full-sized rooster for Clara). Sophia was also willing to try to match the poses of a few statues for a picture, which turned out to be warm up for later…
After the tomb, we grabbed lunch. A nearby restaurant offered pizza as well as French cuisine, so we stopped there to ensure there would be something for everyone. As an extra, the service was excellent; the waiters loved to see kids. To the girls’ delight, a flock of pigeons came looking for a meal and Clara and Sophia shared bits of pizza for them to munch.
With full bellies we went to the Rodin Museum. You may not have heard of Rodin, but you’ve almost certainly heard of “The Thinker,” which is one of his more famous works. The Rodin’ museum largely consists of a sculpture garden of sorts, with his various pieces on display. We walked through and had a good time trying to match the poses together for pictures.
Rodin’s smaller statues were inside a building so we took brief walks through there to see other famous works like “The Kiss.” When we stepped out, Sophia realized that her chick was missing. We were certain she had her chick when we went into the museum, so I went and did a full sweep through the display areas. When nothing turned up I asked the front desk. Fortunately, someone had given them the chick after it had fallen out of the stroller. Happily, we avoided a repeat performance of losing a stuffed animal abroad.
We then went back to the hotel for Madeline, and probably Indian food (I can’t quite remember, but there was an Indian food restaurant nearby we really liked and had multiple times on this vacation. The girls love Indian food).
Day 5
Time for a day-trip to Normandy! After a long metro ride to the other side of Paris, we hopped on some tour buses (before the sun had risen) to start a several hour drive to Normandy. On the way, we stopped at a gas station where we let the kids choose a little candy, as well as a souvenir stuffed bird. Clara chose a flamingo and Sophia chose a penguin. Even a year later Sophia says she likes penguins most of all (aided by “Peso the Penguin” being her favorite character on Octonauts).
Normandy itself was beautiful and well organized. We started at Utah beach which includes a museum. I enjoyed the airplane inside, as well as a picture of Winston Churchill holding a bazooka. The girls also seemed to like the plane and had questions about some of the equipment and mock forts.
They next took us to Pointe du Hoc. Allied forces had to scale steep cliffs and knock out several defensive bunkers at a point on the coast that juts prominently into the channel. Many of the fortifications are still standing, so we were able to explore German bunkers, pathways, and other structures. Seeing this added depth to the stories of struggles the allies faced.
We ended the tour at the military cemetery. The grounds were beautiful and well worth seeing. Unfortunately, the kids had hit their limit on patience so they were a bit louder and more active than is appropriate at a military cemetery. We used some time to get them a bathroom break. Then we returned to the bus and drove back to Paris. After a trip on the Metro and a bit of Madeline, we went to sleep.
Day 6
We started the day going by Notre-Dame. It suffered a fire in 2019 and Paris hadn’t finished repairing it yet, so we couldn’t enter. We still enjoyed seeing it through the layers of scaffolding on the outside. The girls really enjoyed chasing the many pigeons in the area around. I didn’t think they paid much attention at all to the Cathedral, but when we returned home Clara started making Paris highlights out of magna-tiles, including one of the Notre-Dame on fire. Don’t underestimate how much even little kids can learn from travel.
For our next stop we visited the Conciergerie, famous for holding Marie-Antoinette. Disappointingly, they did not hand out free cake to visitors. However, they did have a pretty cool interactive exhibit using an iPad they give you at the entrance. It helps show what each room would have looked like. It included some games / things for kids to find as well, but Clara and Sophia weren’t quite ready for those.
The girls were fascinated by exhibits they were in the process of creating out of what appeared to be packed sand. They put big blocks of sand in the middle of the courtyard and artists were carving them to look like pillows mattresses, dogs, people, etc. The mattresses look soft enough to sleep on.
After stopping for a sandwich, we visited Sainte-Chapelle. The upper floor of this chapel hosts a surrounding display of tall, incredibly beautiful stained-glass windows. I’ve seen folks rate Sainte-Chapelle among the most beautiful churches in the world; certainly topping the charts for stained glass. The girls were starting to lose their patience, but they did manage to pose for some very cute pictures. The gift shop had some great re-creations of the stained glass, which in retrospect think I should have gotten. Since it was still early in the vacation, I chose to wait to see what else we came across for souvenirs, but although I love the duck we ended up getting (more on that later), I would have happily added the stained glass and maybe a reproduction of The Thinker from the Rodin museum.
To give the kids a break, we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg to chase and feed ducks and pigeons after grabbing a rose-shaped gelato. The kids also enjoyed showing the real birds their new stuffy birds. I’m sure the real birds were quite impressed.
We weren’t done yet though, and we made our way to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was originally meant to be a church, but since they completed it during the French Revolution, the revolutionary leaders took it to use as a mausoleum for prominent citizens. It certainly has a “Temple of Man” vibe to it. A few names recognizable to Americans show up there, including Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Marie Curie. I really enjoyed the sculptures and displays; it is quite a homage to the thinking and reasoning powers of humankind.
We finished the day with dinner (I think some kind of pizza or crepe, but I only took pictures of the kids putting napkin hats I folded onto their birds and none of the food). Then we returned to the hotel.
Day 7
Day 7: the big day. The day we saw the essential Paris sights. We started at the Arc de Triomphe, arriving a little before it opened. I didn’t expect the kids to find it particularly interesting, but they loved running around the roof and seeing the view. Clara also seemed to like to say its name. The kids frequently built the Arc de Triomphe out of magna-tiles when we returned home.
Up next: the Eiffel Tower. We booked a tour for the tower, so we found our guide nearby at the Palais de Chaillot. He took us to the tower, sharing some facts along the way about how quickly it was built (~2 months and 2 days), how many people died building it (none), and the resistance to it being built in the first place. The kids also remembered well some of the different colors it has been painted over the years.
Our tour only included elevator access to the second level; not to the very top. The view is plenty impressive from there. However, Clara did ask a few times to go to the very top (which we couldn’t have done if we wanted to since tickets had long-before sold out). We tried to tell her that we were at the top (at least the top of where we’ll go). After getting her an Eiffel Tower shaped lollipop, Clara took the opportunity to ask to go to the top again. When we tried to tell her again that we were there, she pointed to the top of her lollipop and said “no, I want to go to this top!” 😀 . Maybe next time…
After leaving the Eiffel Tower, we headed toward a market for lunch, but stopped at a merry-go-round on the way. Sophia had fallen asleep in the stroller, but Clara and I took it for a spin.
After picking up some sandwiches, we had a picnic lunch on the Champ de Mars – a big green field next to the Eiffel Tower.
We finished the day with some fun running around the Place de la Concorde fountains. During the revolution, they held many executions in that square, but thankfully none while we were there. We then took a walk up and down the Champ-Elysses. It’s a street that goes from the Arc de Triomphe to Jardin des Tuileries. We hoped to find some ice cream, but there really wasn’t any. The street mostly had restaurants and fancy shopping, neither of which can satisfy one’s craving for cold, sweet dairy.
Day 8
Every day in Paris seems full of iconic experiences. Even at day 8 of the trip, we had a day stuffed full of new, prolific experiences.
We went to our tour bus pick-up to start a day trip to Giverny and Versailles. Giverny has Claude Monet’s house. Many of Monet’s most famous paintings consist of scenes around his house and garden. This allowed them to recreate lots of the painted scenes for us to take pictures in! I lined the kids up for many pictures with bridges, lily-pads, and flowers in the background. The girls really liked it too – they spoke about Monet quite a bit afterward. Their favorite part was seeing the chickens they had on the grounds. Clara was thrilled to show them her rooster. I’m sure these chickens were at least as impressed at the stuffed birds as the ducks at the Jardin du Luxembourg.
We bought both of the girls a Monet house shirt that they enjoyed wearing until they grew out of them. We also bought a couple placemats of Monet’s art. When we got home, Clara painstakingly copied a painting of the lillypads. She said that she wanted to paint it so that when Monet was resurrected he would know that babies are artists too. I suppose we’ll make it our first post-resurrection errand to make sure he knows!
We had lunch in Giverny, then the bus took us to Versailles. Versailles is impressive, but the kids had seen their fill of art and opulence for the year so we struggled a bit to keep them quiet for the tour. Sophia did love the French crown jewels, and snacks helped a bit. I liked the hall of mirrors the most, but every room was gorgeous and I enjoyed hearing about the history that occurred in each room.
At the end of the tour, we had some time to look around at the grounds. I didn’t find the grounds quite as impressive as the interior, but the girls needed to run around a bit, so I still welcomed the chance to stretch.
After the bus dropped us back in Paris, we got a dinner with some French beef bourguignon and a big egg & bacon burger. Then we got some gelato from Berthillon. Or at least the kids did; judging by my pictures and loose memory of the experience, I think they got gelato while I held the cone :).
Day 9
We had run out of impressive, iconic experiences at this point, so we decided to mosey over to a little museum called the Louvre.
One pro-tip for traveling in Paris: have kids with you. Due to our kids and stroller situation, they had a separate special line just for us that got us through security and in the door quickly. This would have been great, except we had a rocky time getting to the exhibits from there. First something weird happened with our tickets and I had to go to a separate desk to get the real tickets to let us into the exhibit portion out of the lobby. Then, I realized that we no longer had our diaper bag with us. It hit me that after we had put it through security, I had failed to pick it back up.
By this time, the crowds getting in and out were packed, and the Louvre didn’t really have clean access back up to the stroller entrance. After asking a security guard the best way to go, he told me to go up a fenced-off spiral staircase in the middle. I sprinted up the whole thing, 2-3 steps at a time (and felt very special going on an otherwise no-access staircase). Thankfully the security personnel had kept the backpack safe, and didn’t even eat any of the snacks inside.
I retrieved the backpack then ran back to Janet and the kids. Then, we started our journey seeing some of the most famous paintings in the world. The Mona Lisa, the crowning of Napoleon, a Last Supper (not the one in Milan), and tons more.
At one point, we paused in front of a painting of Mary and toddler Jesus. This painting had little cherubs flying on the top of the picture holding up a curtain. The kids liked seeing babies in the painting, so I let them look at it for a bit. To keep the kids occupied, we had given Clara a little doodle-pad. As we paused there, I realized that Clara was trying to copy the painting on her draw pad (with special focus on the babies flying on top). I loved it, so we stayed extra long to let her finish her masterpiece. Clara did this with many other paintings, giving us opportunities for the cutest pictures of dual copies of many masterpieces. See if you can spot any differences between the originals and her copies!
After the Louvre, we went through a garden with a merry-go-round and took a few rides on it. The man operating the ride was nice enough to let us go a few extra times since the kids were having a blast and he didn’t have a line.
After that, we visited the Palais Garnier – an opera house with famous paintings and décor. The kids were getting antsy, but we managed to go through and see some of its famous ceilings and enjoy its views.
We followed that up with a Big Bus Tour – an open-top bus that drives through the city and provides an audio tour of the area. We didn’t get the headphones working for the audio portion, but enjoyed the ride through the city that had started to feel familiar. Plus, the kids just like busses, especially double-decker buses.
For dinner, we ate at an Indian restaurant near the hotel that we had come to love. Everywhere we go, Indian food delivers flavor.
Day 10
Our last day in Paris. We had seen much, but could have spent many more days exploring. We spent our last day at the Musée d’Orsay. This museum holds a collection of ~18th century art, as well as more modern pieces. This gave Clara more practice time to copy the pictures she saw. I thought she did a particularly good job copying a vase of flowers. Sophia took the opportunity to practice copying more statue poses. I think she nailed the Degas.
We took the opportunity to get a souvenir here. With the kid’s help, we got a model statue of a duck by François Pompon. We also bought a shaped-glass dome you put a candle in to light up. We chose one focused on the birth of Christ; it doubles as a beautiful Christmas ornament.
Finally, we wrapped up our time in Paris with a boat ride down the Seine river, more gelato, and then Sushi. All of it was delicious.
Day 11
We started our trip home with a final delicious French breakfast. Every day, we went to a French bakery across the street from our hotel before hopping on the Metro. Most days, the kids and I got a Mi Cuit pastry. It’s like a fancy lava cake, and it’s excellent. We had tried other pastries, croissants, etc. throughout our time there, but on this last day, we were all-in on the Mi Cuit.
Thankfully, our flight home was smooth. The kids do great on the plane, entertaining themselves by drawing, watching movies, or just sitting and thinking. Since it wasn’t a redeye, it also wasn’t a problem when I didn’t get any sleep on it.
Paris ended up being one of my favorite cities we’ve visited so far. It competes strongly with Florence, Kyoto, and London. Five stars, would recommend.
