Three days in Paris with four kids! Our flight left at around 3:30 PM from SLC and so I came up with the idea to wake up the kids a few hours earlier than they normally do that morning so that they would fall asleep at around 6 pm and sleep through most of the 10 hour flight. We gave them a melatonin after eating dinner on the flight and crossed our fingers. They all fell asleep for about 3-4 hours and then were up the rest of the flight so I don’t think waking them up earlier than normal helped them to sleep anymore than they normally would have slept. We landed in Paris at 8 am and luckily, our Airbnb let us drop off our luggage at 10 am but we couldn’t get into it until 1 pm. So, we dropped things off and walked around for a while and stopped for baguettes. We then passed out at our airbnb for a few hours because powering through wasn’t an option because we felt so horrible. We all felt much better after our naps.
I’ll include everything I packed again here: *First and most importantly, these packing cubes are making it possible for me to pack everything into my carry-on suitcase for our 15-day trip. I also have a backpack (I love this backpack that Andrew gave me for travel), but that is mostly for my computer, makeup, and toiletries. Oh, and I got these packing cubes for the kids.
*TOPS: J Crew oversized red/white button-up, and navy striped, white target tee, this white tee, this red striped cardigan, ribbed crewneck, striped short sleeve, this amazon tank, this sweater, this black t-shirt, leather jacket from Hong Kong 25 years ago that I borrowed from my mom, this rain jacket, this sweater, and this sweater. *BOTTOMS: These green utility pants, black jeans, these jeans, cream 501s, these navy satin pants to go with this sweater. *Everything else: This purse, Albion jumper, this trench, this coat for Switzerland. This dress. I have a few running outfits, but I’m not planning on running a ton. These socks for daily wear. These shoes, these ones, and these ones for my dress! These sunglasses.
We stayed at this Airbnb. It was about a 30 minute walk to many of the main attractions. We loved the walks and that it was in a very quiet neighborhood. It had two bedrooms and a pull-out couch which fit us all very nicely. It also had a washer which let us wash our travel clothes and the first day of clothes and dry those things in time for us to leave.
We freshened up and left our airbnb.
Our first stop was to the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was breathtaking.
We were able to get our tickets three days in advance and the tickets were free. I loved the stained glass, gothic architecture, towers and gargoyles. The kids were all very excited to see this and we were all so grateful that it was able to be saved after the fire in 2019 thanks to so many heroes.
Our plan was to visit Saint Chappelle because it is just a few blocks away afterward. Tickets were sold out when we tried to get them online and so we tried to get in twice in the standby line and weren’t able to. I was very bummed about this because it is my mom’s favorite place in Paris. Get tickets in time and enjoy it for us if you are going to Paris, please!
We then went to Shakespeare and Company bookstore which is also very close to the Notre-Dame Cathedral. This bookstore was opened in 1951 (and named in 1964 on what would be Shakespeare’s 400th birthday). I could have stayed in here for hours but the kids gave me a solid 20 minutes.
One of the many beautiful things about going to Paris with children is that if you are in line with a stroller or littles, they will usually come grab you out of line and move you to the front. They love kids here and made them feel so special.
We then went across the street for Beck’s first of 12 Nutella crepes. He even did a little dance because he was so happy.
We then took an Uber over to the Eiffel Tower. I wasn’t sure how everyone would do on the elevator (or myself, let’s be honest), so we chose take the stairs to the second floor.
674 stairs up! Maybe if it was just me and Andrew, we would go to the top but this was plenty high enough with my anxiety with littles.
We then learned the very important lesson that we should have made reservations for most restaurants we wanted to try but that helped us to slow down and enjoy different areas without feeling rushed. Most of the attractions required a reservation and securing dinner spots might have been too much for everyone.
Thankfully, we could find amazing Italian food everywhere because that is a meal that everyone agrees on. We had an old man serving us and he pinched Skye’s cheeks (not hard at all) but we could not get over it and laughed about it the entire trip.
The girls slept in their running clothes because they wanted to go for a run the next morning. Yes, it was in fact one of my favorite mom moments ever. We ran two miles together along the Canal Saint-Martin. We quickly learned that watching for bikes was just as important as cars when crossing roads because there seemed to be even more bikers than cars. We went back, showered, and then headed out for the day. First stop, breakfast. I had my first Crookie and it was heavenly.
We continued walking to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. We did not make reservations for this and it was free. The line was not very long and moved quickly. The insides was stunning. We also sat inside for a bit and the kids started asking all sorts of deep questions (that I had the answers to about 2% of but loved hearing their thoughts on everything).
We bought a lock and wrote our names on it to add to one of the fences which the kids enjoyed putting on.
We also enjoyed the carousel and the little park at the base of the bascilica.
We then grabbed french fries across the street which was what we all needed… salt.
We walked about 22k steps a day but also took Ubers for walks that were too long or when we could tell the kids were fading. They loved these vans where the seats faced each other.
Our next stop was the Catacombs of Paris. Andrew bought tickets beforehand and there was no line. The tour took about an hour. Me, Andrew and the big kids really loved it and I would say the little kids gave it a 5/10, ha.
You come out of the catacombs about 1k away from where you start and so we needed to go back to the start for our stroller. We stopped at a little chocolate shop (Comptoir du Chocolat) closeby and had two rounds becuase they were so good. We then grabbed sandwiches closeby before walking again for a while.
Brooke and I really loved stopping at any and every store we wanted on the way back to our Airbnb. I found during this walk that my favorite crepe involves Biscoff and bananas and that is what I had for the remainder of our stay. Biscoff > Nutella.
We picked up more layers from where we were staying and headed out for a cruise on the Seine. We chose not to do a dinner cruise because our kids would probably eat 10% of what we were paying for and were very happy with just a normal cruise. It started at 8:15 and put us in front of the Eiffel Tower at 9 for the lights to go off (they go off every hour until midnight and 1 am in the summer). While we were on the cruise, we saw hundreds of runners along the river. Was it a race? A run club? I don’t know, but it looked fun. We then grabbed crackers and cheeses at the grocery store to eat at where we stayed which was another favorite part of the day for me. PS my kids held their breath under each and every bridge they went under on the cruise. Anyone else’s kids do this?
The next morning we didn’t run but woke up and headed to the Louvre. We grabbed some breakfast and got there first thing.
We had tickets for 9:30 and only had to stand in about a 15 minute line to get in which seemed like nothing after hearing so many stories from people spending hours in line.
We went straight for the Mona Lisa and there wasn’t a wait for this either… maybe March is the time to be in Paris?! We thought this painting was bigger and better than what we expected when we heard from so many people that it was the opposite. It was stunning.
We strolled for a few hours through the exhibits and once the littles were over it, they were both in the stroller and Skye told Beck stories from everything she was seeing which was entertaining to hear for me, too.
My brother told me that Angelina’s HAD to happen on our trip. This line was about 15 minutes but very worth any wait. The hot chocolate tasted like the best melted chocolate bar you could ever have. It was so thick and so rich. We ordered 3 for the 6 of us and couldn’t even finish those because they were so thick. I had a Millefeuille (please get one if you go) and the best French Onion Soup we’ve ever had. My brother was very right about this place.
Musée d’Orsay was our next stop and everyone’s FAVORITE. The kids were so excited to see the real deal of a painting they have a copy of up in their school.
I couldn’t get over Monet’s Poppies. Starry Night Over the Rhône by Vincent van Gogh was also there and absolutely stunning. I now need to go to New York City to see The Starry Night at the Museum of Modern Art.
We were going to do a cooking class but decided against it in the end because of the price and we weren’t sure Beck would enjoy it very much. So, our next stop was the Lego Store for Skye because that was a dream of hers. Lego fans, it was pretty amazing:
Our final thing was the Arc de Triomphe. We bought tickets right before going to this one. The kids loved the tunnel under the road to be able to get to the Arc. We took the stairs to the top in time to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle again. It was even better from this view.
We then walked back most of the way to our place, and fell asleep the second our heads hit the pillows.
For our last morning there, the girls joined me for a run and then we all went to a bakery (I had the best almond croissant) before heading to the train station. We then jumped on a train that was 3 hours and 45 minutes to visit Marseille where Brooke’s grandparents are living.
A few more Paris thoughts:
*We meant to stop at the Jardin du Luxembourg after the Catacombs but completely forgot, do that for us!
*So many of the trees had beautiful blossoms. We were there 3/24-3/27. Spring had arrived!
*One thing my kids loved seeing in the museums were people sitting in front of sculptures and paintings drawing the art themselves.
*I’m grateful that so many areas had picture directions because I couldn’t understand one word in French.
*The hardest part about France for us with kids was the bathroom situations. We are not used to having to search for one or pay for them and everyone’s bladders were on quite different schedules.
*I lost my sunglasses in our first Uber from the airport. I didn’t carry anything with worth the entire trip because I don’t even need pickpocketers to take my possessions, I lose them myself. I never lose my kids but I lose anything and everything else.
*I love slowly figuring out a country. I love trying to understand how things work and trying to get from one place to another on our own.
*Knox said that 75% of the fun of traveling is the food so we did our best to keep him well fed.
*WE SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS FROM THE FLIGHT OVER TO PARIS. It felt like a dream.
*I stared at the women’s outfits in Paris an unhealthy amount of time. They were perfect.
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What % of the fun of travel is food for you?
Do you enjoy going to cities or not so much on trips?
Ever seen the Northern Lights?
Those of you that have been to Paris, did we go to any of your favorite spots?
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