Sunrise, just outside our hotel room.
The Statue of Liberty and The Eiffel Tower
The Statue of Liberty and The Eiffel Tower
Hi everyone,
Here is the next installment of our Europe trip. We made it to France (Mon 12/22--PM) via the underwater tunnel (Chunnel). It was not as exciting as we thought it might be—just like a regular train ride. We got to our hotel via taxi without any problem, thanks to my newly acquired French speaking skills! Our hotel was not the nicest, despite having gotten good recommendations. It was supposedly a “quadruple room”, but it was very small, and quite dark. It did have a view of the Eiffel Tower (if we went out our window onto a small terrace) though, so that was nice. The Eiffel Tower is really phenomenal at night when it is all lit up, but not so spectacular looking in the day. We did go to the top (12/23), and it was very crowded and very cold. It was a beautiful view, but it was just so cold that we really didn’t stay up there very long. This first hotel was within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower and we stayed in this hotel for 2 nights.
On Weds 12/24 we went to the Louvre museum—also very crowded. It’s surprising that everything was so crowded, as this is not a busy time of year for Paris. At the Louvre, we saw some incredible sculptures, including the Venus de Milo. We also saw the Mona Lisa, which is what the kids wanted to see more than anything else. It was not as impressive as I imagined it to be. After the Louvre, we shopped on the famous Champs-Elysses. We didn’t buy anything though. We also moved to a new hotel on this date, as it was supposed to be a really special hotel for Christmas. It was nice, and the kids got stockings from the hotel filled with goodies, as well as stuffed elephants dressed as Santa.
We got around Paris on a Hop on Hop off Bus Tour. It toured around Paris, and stopped at all the major monuments and museums. We were able to get on and off as often as we wanted. We got headphones and listened to information about the history of all these monuments and museums. It was a nice, quick way to see the city, and get around as well. During this tour, we saw Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides (where Napoleon is buried), and the Musee d’Orsay.
On Christmas Eve night, we walked along a street with little kiosk type shops. We bought roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate, chocolate crepes, and Santa hats for the whole family. It was cold, and everything was lit up for Christmas, but it still didn’t feel like Christmas. I tried to get in the mood, but had a hard time. This was a different Christmas than any we have ever had before. I think I really missed having a lot of family around. The kids were excited for Christmas morning to come though, so that was good. On Christmas morning, “Santa” hid all the gifts around the hotel room and left clues for the kids to find them. They had a ball, and although they only got a few gifts, they seemed happy with their Christmas.
On Christmas day, we took a cruise on the Seine River, on the Bateaux Parisiens. It was very nice, with an elegant lunch served, and beautiful, live violin music played for our entertainment. We again saw many of the famous monuments in France. Our favorite was the Statue of Liberty, which was given to the city of Paris in 1889, by the American community in Paris. It is a copy of the Statue of Liberty in New York, which was given to the US in 1886 to celebrate the friendship between the US and France. We got a great picture of the Statue of Liberty with the Eiffel Tower standing next to it.
We left Paris on Friday, 12/26, and took the Chunnel back to London. This was a miserable experience, as there had been a bomb threat in Paris that day, as well as a cancelled train, so we ended up getting on our train about an hour late. That would not have been so bad, except that we had to wait in the freezing cold for about 1.5 hours. I literally could not feel my feet, and Jensen just sat there and cried the whole time because she was so cold. We were bundled up with warm coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and boots, but it did not seem to help. We finally got on the train, and all was fine after that.
Well, that’s the end of our Paris trip. My recommendation for anyone wanting to visit Paris, is to do it in the summer, when it’s not so cold! I’ll write more about our London trip in the next couple of days.
Laurie
Here is the next installment of our Europe trip. We made it to France (Mon 12/22--PM) via the underwater tunnel (Chunnel). It was not as exciting as we thought it might be—just like a regular train ride. We got to our hotel via taxi without any problem, thanks to my newly acquired French speaking skills! Our hotel was not the nicest, despite having gotten good recommendations. It was supposedly a “quadruple room”, but it was very small, and quite dark. It did have a view of the Eiffel Tower (if we went out our window onto a small terrace) though, so that was nice. The Eiffel Tower is really phenomenal at night when it is all lit up, but not so spectacular looking in the day. We did go to the top (12/23), and it was very crowded and very cold. It was a beautiful view, but it was just so cold that we really didn’t stay up there very long. This first hotel was within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower and we stayed in this hotel for 2 nights.
On Weds 12/24 we went to the Louvre museum—also very crowded. It’s surprising that everything was so crowded, as this is not a busy time of year for Paris. At the Louvre, we saw some incredible sculptures, including the Venus de Milo. We also saw the Mona Lisa, which is what the kids wanted to see more than anything else. It was not as impressive as I imagined it to be. After the Louvre, we shopped on the famous Champs-Elysses. We didn’t buy anything though. We also moved to a new hotel on this date, as it was supposed to be a really special hotel for Christmas. It was nice, and the kids got stockings from the hotel filled with goodies, as well as stuffed elephants dressed as Santa.
We got around Paris on a Hop on Hop off Bus Tour. It toured around Paris, and stopped at all the major monuments and museums. We were able to get on and off as often as we wanted. We got headphones and listened to information about the history of all these monuments and museums. It was a nice, quick way to see the city, and get around as well. During this tour, we saw Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, Les Invalides (where Napoleon is buried), and the Musee d’Orsay.
On Christmas Eve night, we walked along a street with little kiosk type shops. We bought roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate, chocolate crepes, and Santa hats for the whole family. It was cold, and everything was lit up for Christmas, but it still didn’t feel like Christmas. I tried to get in the mood, but had a hard time. This was a different Christmas than any we have ever had before. I think I really missed having a lot of family around. The kids were excited for Christmas morning to come though, so that was good. On Christmas morning, “Santa” hid all the gifts around the hotel room and left clues for the kids to find them. They had a ball, and although they only got a few gifts, they seemed happy with their Christmas.
On Christmas day, we took a cruise on the Seine River, on the Bateaux Parisiens. It was very nice, with an elegant lunch served, and beautiful, live violin music played for our entertainment. We again saw many of the famous monuments in France. Our favorite was the Statue of Liberty, which was given to the city of Paris in 1889, by the American community in Paris. It is a copy of the Statue of Liberty in New York, which was given to the US in 1886 to celebrate the friendship between the US and France. We got a great picture of the Statue of Liberty with the Eiffel Tower standing next to it.
We left Paris on Friday, 12/26, and took the Chunnel back to London. This was a miserable experience, as there had been a bomb threat in Paris that day, as well as a cancelled train, so we ended up getting on our train about an hour late. That would not have been so bad, except that we had to wait in the freezing cold for about 1.5 hours. I literally could not feel my feet, and Jensen just sat there and cried the whole time because she was so cold. We were bundled up with warm coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and boots, but it did not seem to help. We finally got on the train, and all was fine after that.
Well, that’s the end of our Paris trip. My recommendation for anyone wanting to visit Paris, is to do it in the summer, when it’s not so cold! I’ll write more about our London trip in the next couple of days.
Laurie
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