Back to Reality

We spent a fantastic Spring Break in France.  We flew direct from Dallas into Paris and met Ashley and Derek at our hotel.   Our plan was to just power through the day and then get a good night sleep.  Ashley greeted us with some fresh croissants, we dropped our bags in their room and started walking towards the Eiffel Tower.

First views of the famous structure :)

We rode the carousel in front of the Eiffel Tower.....not a bad view

We walked back to the hotel to check in and rest for a few minutes.  Then we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and had tickets to climb up.

It was nice and sunny out when we started our climb up the stairs and when we emerged it was raining and we saw a beautiful rainbow!

Evan is really into editing photos.  Here are a couple of the rainbow and the Eiffel Tower

We made our way back down and strolled down the Champs-Elysees for a bit.  

We arrived on a Saturday, so everything was really busy.  We went off the beaten path for a bit to find a restaurant for dinner.  On the walk back to the hotel we got our first view of the Eiffel Tower all lit up.  So pretty.

It was a successful first day in Paris.

The next morning we walked to a bakery and had the best chocolate croissant.  It was right out of the oven and was still warm.  Hannah and I declared it the best chocolate croissant we have ever had!

Everything in this bakery looked delicious.  

When people ask me what I miss about Germany, I always say bakeries (after my family of course)!  I eat more bread in a week in Europe than I do in an entire year in the US :)

We walked around for a while, bought some macarons and supplies for a lunch picnic......fresh cheeses, meats and baguettes! 

Then we got ready for a boat tour on the Seine.

We booked a small boat for the 7 of us and it was the perfect way to see Paris from the water.  I always love to see a city from the water, it's such a unique perspective

Captain Alexis got some good group shots of us with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Time to open the bottle of Rose....

Another photo edit by Evan.....we have SO many pictures of the Eiffel Tower!

Captain Hannah

Captain Nora

Captain Evan

Then the sun came out....

Evan's goal was to get people to wave back at him on every bridge we went under.  He succeeded!

Then it was time for our lunch picnic on the boat.   This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.....being on a boat, the sun was out and eating fresh bread and cheese!

On the way back the wind picked up a little and the water was splashing us, so it was just a little bit chilly.  It felt like we experienced multiple seasons on one boat ride.....

After our boat ride we started walking towards the PSG soccer stadium.  This soccer game was the original reason/inspiration for us to book this trip.  Evan and Nora were super excited to see their favorite player MBappe and Messi play.

We made a pit stop on our walk to the stadium....we walked everywhere and the kids "almost never" complained.  Nora was the only kid wearing her Garmin watch and she had multiple days of 28,000 steps!

We had front row tickets to the game.

We brought one of the souvenir cups home with us!

It was not the most exciting game and PSG lost, but nevertheless it was a really cool experience to see Messi and MBappe play in person.  It was for sure a highlight for everybody.

What an exciting and fun day!

The next morning we ventured out for a walking bakery tour through the La Marais district.  I had done some research and mapped out a tour through the district with stops at 5 bakeries.  

We got a few things at each bakery for all of us to try.

The area is so pretty and not crowded.  

After filling our bellies with lots of baked goods we walked over to Notre Dame.  The church is still closed for repairs, but you can walk around it.

Later that day we said goodbye to Ashley and Derek and took a train to Bayeux.

We had an AirBnB for a few days to explore the Normandy region before heading back to Paris to meet my mom and brother and his family.