We went to Paris two weekends ago. Sorry it's taken me this long to actually blog about it. We've had grandparents in town since June 11th and will have them here until July 3rd. My parents were here for two weeks (they went to Paris with us), then they left and Bryan's parents arrived and are still here until Friday. Wish we could have spread the help out over the summer a little more, but it's still nice to see some familiar faces!
Anyway, back to Paris... We had a fairly rough and bumpy start to things. We got to the train station OK and even made it to Paris (3 hours by train) OK, but then we had to go from one train station to another in Paris to catch our next train to Bayeux, France (i.e., Normandy). I had it all planned out. I had looked up instructions for how to get from one station to the other by the Paris Metro (subway). It was only supposed to take 15 minutes, and we had 2 hours. Problem #1: All of the escalaators and elevators were broken, so we had to get all of our luggage and two strollers with kids in them down into the subway station. Not fun. Then, I waited in line for a good 15 minutes to get our tickets. Then, we followed the signs in the direction we were supposed to go and then tried to use the ticket stalls for people with luggage, but my mom got stuck with Kaeli, Avery, and a stroller! Noone could help us get her out!! That took a good 15 minutes as well. Finally got her out and made it to subway train platform, only to find out that we were at the wrong one. I went and found the right one, unfortunately, it was another broken escalator away, so up more stairs and down some more and we were finally at the right platform, sort of. The next train was not scheduled for another 30 minutes, which was AFTER our next train to Normandy was supposed to leave. Well, actually, there was another platform right around the corner that had a train in 10 minutes, so we still might make it. Got to the next stop with 15 minutes to spare, but then couldn't figure out how to get from the subway station to the train station. Escalators worked, but didn't go where we needed them to (or so we thought), so back down and up a different set of escalators then more stairs until we finally got to the train station (just around the corner from the 1st set of escalators!). Bryan had run ahead of the rest of us to try to find the actual train... it had not left yet. So, now Bryan, me, Mom, Dad, two strollers with Kaeli & Avery, and our luggage are all running to catch this train. We get on with 30 seconds to spare!! Another 3 hours later, and we arrive at the Bayeux station where we have to practically jump off as the train pulled away because we couldn't get the door open! Of course, once there, the only way to get where we needed to go was by stairs!! Needless to say, we took a taxi to the hotel.
The rest of our trip was relatively uneventful (thank goodness!). Of course, the rocky start made everything else that much better. We took a 1/2 day D-Day tour where we got to visit Point de Hoc, Omaha Beach, and the American Cemetary. We also spent quite a bit of time exploring Bayeux itself. There is a beautiful cathedral there that was not touched during the war. It was an incredible place to visit and certainly made me proud to be an American. The French who live in Normandy are still appreciative of the soldiers who liberated them from the Nazis.
Paris was pretty neat as well. Bryan and I didn't get to see much of Paris. By this time, the girls were pretty exhausted and tired of being drug to adult things, so Bryan and I took them playground hopping near the eiffel tower (an overglorified radio tower, as Bryan called it). I think we met more Americans than French, which was fine with us because the Parisians aren't near as friendly as the folks we met in Bayeux. The eiffel tower is pretty amazing! Bryan and I got two very nice dinners out to ourselves while my parents watched the girls. Overall, it was a pretty amazing trip. Of course, Bryan and I are going to have to go back without the girls so that we can enjoy the romantic side of Paris, but until then, we'll just enjoy the memories we got on this trip.
