Paris

Oh what a fabulous two days we've had in Paris

:-)

Three mums, three kids, all four year olds and one very early flight out of East Midlands Airport (EMA) later (6.40am yawn) and we were on our way to Paris. Landing at 8.50am, a bit late due to French ATC delays, we were on our way into Paris. A quick negotiation of the terminal signs to the Gare, and a quick banter by another mum to a sour faced woman on information (the most miserable person in our whole time there) We were sorted out with two day transport passes and on our way via the RER B into central Paris. The train trip in confirmed that the place is far more civilised than England, one of the first things I saw, was a man, giving up his seat for a woman with a suitcase, which he did so out of common courtesy and genorousity, a practice sadly lost over here......

We emerged at Chatelet and after a false start at a cafe with no Pain au Chocolate (a must in our four year olds eyes) we re positioned ourselves at a Patissiere with the aforementioned breakfast bread and coffee and other delights. Once sated, we ambled through the streets towards the Pompidou Centre, where we sat outside admiring the architecture, phoning our respective otherhalves, telling them how wonderful and sunny it was, whilst they were being gutted back in the UK.

Our gloating ceased, we ambled down towards Notre Dame, pausing to wander around several shops. Photos outside the church over, we sauntered around the Latin Quarter, lunching at an extortonate pavement cafe, for the 1st and last time of the trip (random bread and cheese feasting took over, our wallets hammered) A walk through the Jardin du Luxembourg later, ice creams all round and a ride on the Carousel for the little ones, we mooched to our apartment (corporate, sorted out by another mum) by the Tour Montparnasse and put our feet up for an hour.

As we were ready to depart to discover more shops and items for tea, the heavens opened and a huge thunderstorm ensued, so we stayed in, with all the windows open, whilst the heavens rumbled, then it was time to grab food, whilst the kids ran around the store, marvelling at frozen snails filled with garlic butter, and choosing from a fantastic range of biscuits, cheese and meats for tea. The evening was spent persuading the kids to fall asleep in a room together, whilst us mums chatted, drank wine and hung out the windows savouring the atmosphere of Paris.

One of the mums braved it out for fresh coffee and pastries the next morning, and after our feast, we packed up and headed via the metro to the Eifel Tower, where we braved the 2nd floor, photos taken all round, we lunched underneath on our remenants from the night before.
Then Sacre Coeur called, so via RER C and the Metro we got there, the kids rode another Carousel and played for a bit, then we walked to Gare du Nord, decided it was an awful area, and metro'd it back to our original starting point, where dd1 and I legged it to a previous shop to get cards and presents, whilst our friends drank and snacked at a cafe. A last few photos by a fountain together and we legged it onto the RER for the airport, just making it through the security ques and into the waiting lounge in time for departure back to EMA. The kids yelling bye to Paris on the plane and hello to EMA amused our fellow passengers and I think dd1 summed it up, when she heard our friends planning to go back sometime soon, she asked to go too, the reply was 'what about your mummy'?, 'oh I don't need her, I can go with you,' she replied. She's been asking to go back since, including a 'can we go back after the weekend Mummy?' and 'can I go to school in France Mummy?' I think I've created a Francophile and I can't say as I blame her.