I am not even sure how to begin writing about our trip to France. I think the obvious way would be to start from the beginning and hopefully I can remember all the fun and interesting details that filled our 14 days in France.
We left LAX at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, July 13th and arrived in Paris, France at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 14th, which was Bastille Day in France and also my mother in-law Cindy's 60th birthday. What a day to celebrate your birthday in France. The rumor was there was going to be fireworks near the Eiffel Tower at 10:30 p.m., which is when it gets dark in France...WOW! We were in for a long day.
Our flight was a little over 10 hours, which wasn't too bad. We got a little bit of sleep, but not much. Trent didn't want anything to do with sleeping, but did get some sleep when we put him on the floor to stretch out. He wasn't thrilled with being on the floor, but he is no longer a little boy who can snuggle up in a seat. He needs to sprawl out when he sleeps and that just wasn't happening in the confining three seats we had. With him on the floor, Tim and I got a bit of shut eye.
We were picked up from the airport and arrived at the Hotel Concorde Lay Fayette in no time. Our rooms were not ready, so we decided to explore Paris a bit in hopes of finding a place to eat. We found a quaint place just a block from the hotel. We had the whole 2nd floor to ourselves, which was good because we can be kind of loud. The service was great and so was the food. We were all so tired, so I think we (even Trent) would have eaten anything at that point. We celebrated Cindy's birthday and the staff brought out a souffle with a lit sparkler, which was really cool.
Waiting in line to board the plane.
Our transportation to the hotel.
On our way out of the airport they have the retired Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde. This plane is a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner. It was a product of a Franco-British government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation. The plane was first flown in 1969, entered service in 1976 and continued commercial flights for 27 years.
The Concorde flew regular transatlantic flights from London and Paris to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, in less than half the time of other airliners.
Our hotel for 3 days.
Waiting in the hotel lobby before we left for lunch.
Tim trying to lead us in the right direction, thankfully he did.
Madison and Trent enjoying their own table and their lunch.
Zach sleeping and Scott enjoying his meal.
Happy 60th Birthday Cindy!
After lunch we decided to head back to the hotel for a shower and a little nap. Our rooms were ready and all of us were so ready for a nap. We took a two hour nap and it was so hard to get up and get moving again. We did eventually make our way out of the hotel and walked the streets of Paris. Our first stop was for some sweets...imagine that. Trent fell in love with the macaroons.
With sweets in hand we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the center of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The Arc de Triomphe honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic Wars. Also, there is the Tomb of the Unknown Solider from World War 1. Trent loved this monument and loves to say Arc de Triomphe.
Trent took this great picture of Scott and Fiona
Zach, Jeff, April and Madison
Eiffel Tower in the background.
Tomb of Unknown Solider
From there we walked the Champs-Élysées. The Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strips of real estate in the world. The street is a little over a mile long. It was a nice stroll down the the Champs-Élysées. There are some very expensive stores, like Louis Vuitton, which unfortunately (fortunate for Tim's wallet) was closed.
The Champs-Élysées
Louis Vuitton
We found a little park along the way.
Before we headed for the hotel we had a great evening view of the Eiffel Tower across the River Seine.
Just breathtaking!
Just breathtaking!
We had a great view of the Eiffel Tower from our hotel room.
Trent insisted that he had to have his dog in the picture...so I held doggy while he took a picture.
Night view.
We all gathered in Jeff and April's room for the best view of the fireworks show. It was a great show, but kind of long. We all headed back to our rooms before the show was even over.
What a great first day in Paris and what a great day to celebrate Cindy's 60th birthday. Day 1 was done and we were so excited for what adventures were to come.
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