When I planned Paris, I envisioned lazy days strolling the beautiful architecture and admiring the general feel that Paris has. I knew we would be limited when it came to visiting Museums and sights because of Maddy but wanted to get the most out of our experience. We had visited Paris previously with a tour group and hit the highlights, so most of the must-do's were checked off our list anyway. Now it was time to actually appreciate the city. Plus it being our Christmas destination we wanted to make it ultra Christmas with markets, local cuisine, and of course, Pere Noel!
So far we are on track with what I envisioned, mostly. It was an amazing change of pace from Greece where we had plans all day, everyday. I didn't realize how exhausted we all were until we slowed down a bit.
We spent the first day taking care of all the important stuff. On the agenda: get Sim card, buy groceries, find Christmas tree and ornaments and get Metro passes. Seems like lofty goals for a good day let alone a day in a foreign city. But surprisingly after quite a bit of wondering and asking locals (it's a myth that all Parisians are unfriendly) we finally got it all accomplished! We had to travel 3 European blocks before we stumbled upon a flower shop that sold real Christmas trees. They wanted nearly 100euros for a 3ft tree, I couldn't do it. We only have a week until Christmas and I can't justify that cost. luckily right across the street I spot some fake trees, now I'll admit they weren't as nice but they were nearly 1/10th the cost! The also had some cute ornaments so two done! Groceries was an easy task once we re-found the store we were certain the city had swallowed whole. That is one of the nice things about staying in a neighborhood, you have access to things real people need. The metro passes were a little trickier, they only sell them at certain entrances to the subway but after some stairs and some French we got them! We had dinner reservations at the Eiffel Tower at 6:30 so we left the apartment at 5pm, a breeze right? So wrong. After getting on the completely wrong metro line in the wrong direction and having to take to transits to fix it we finally got to the Eiffel Tower at 7:45 epic fail. Luckily, they had space for us in the 9pm seating! Maddy really liked seeing the Eiffel tower up close and was very surprised about how big it is. Sadly due to construction on the first floor they had to cancel ice skating this year but we still enjoyed the view. The food was meh and the view isn't that grand from the restaurant itself but it's a once in a lifetime experience. So we enjoyed a mediocre meal in an amazing place. As we left the Eiffel tower we saw a bunch of bikers dressed as santa, maddy LOVED it. We talked to a couple of them and they were bringing presents to widowed firefighters families for Christmas, it's nice to see so many good people. With no metro snapfus we were home in about 30min
Day 2 in Paris started out wonderfully sleepy, we woke up and made breakfast together then spent the early afternoon putting up the tree and decorating. Our tree is very Charlie brown but every time I see it I smile. It reminds me that the holidays are really about making wonderful memories with your family and everything else just gets in the way. I think I've lost sight of that simple fact over time. Our second goal of the day was to see Santa and get some presents bought. Confession time, the me that I know should be freaking out that it is 5 days until Christmas and I haven't bought a single thing. Luckily I have been pretty successful about keeping my crazy locked up when it comes to the previously normal standards. We decided to venture to Galleries Lafayatee, because I heard they had an amazing tree, window displays and Santa. We all dressed in coordinating colors and I was intent on getting a cute Christmas picture, let me lower your expectations now it didn't happen. We got to the store and it was filled with people and hot, like I think I started sweating when we walked in. We went to the top floor where the children's section is. Maddy got to sit on Santa's lap and luckily he spoke English, she's been talking a lot about what she wants to tell santa she wants for Christmas and I could just imagine him only speaking French. She talked to him for about 5 min and we snuck a picture, the smallest size they had was a 15x20, I don't need a huge picture of a skinny santa. We ventured into the toy section and got all our shopping done. Another confession moment, it was so hard to buy that stuff at retail price! I just kept thinking I could get this stuff so much cheaper somewhere else. By this point I'm considering taking off my leggings because I am so hot so after a couple pictures of the Christmas tree and some poorly taken family shots we head outside, I have to get out of this store. We were exhausted from walking and shopping, I hate shopping. Decided to head home for a quiet dinner and movie night.
Day 3 I got up early and took a stroll around the neighborhood, this is my favorite time to see Paris, early in the morning when it seems almost abandoned. Ran into a couple stores to pick up odds and ends then headed to the bakery to pick up breakfast. Waiting in line I thought through my French lessons and when it was my turn I ordered entirely in French, much slower and with horrible pronunciation I'm sure, but I still think my high school French teacher would be proud! After breakfast we decided to head to a Christmas market. We picked the one at the foot of the Eiffel tower. It was picturesque and we got to enjoy our favorite thing to eat here, ham and cheese crepes! The Christmas market itself was more just local vendors trying to sell stuff then anything to do with Christmas but the atmosphere was nice. Maddy got to visit with santa again and we tackled ice skating together. We tried to head to another Christmas market near the Arc de tromphe but after multiple meltdowns we decided it wise to head for a nap instead. After maddy's nap and mommy/daddy's wine break we all headed out for our evening dinner cruise on the river seine. After the food on the Eiffel tower restaurant we were a little worried but it was wonderful. Great way to admire the city and a local cuisine all together.
With a new plan at hand of splitting the day to allow for more rest we have a lot more planned for our remaining time in Paris!
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