Exploring Paris

July 25, 2018

We woke up very refreshed from our nap at about 2:30 and it was time to go see the city.

Look out, Paris, here we come!

From our hotel, we took a shuttle back to the airport and then took the train from the airport into the heart of the city.  One thing I think most people don't realize about Paris (and Europe in general) is their public transportation is easier to use than ours.  In a lot of places you can easily explore without a car.

Our first stop was Notre Dame.  It was here that I realized children are universal.  When presented with arguably the most famous church in the world, they spend their time chasing pigeons.  

This moment, right here, was worth all the work.

Of course we had to have lunch at our favorite spot, Cafe Panis.  Rob and I each had a croque monsieur and the kids split ham and cheese eggs.   Oh, and of course they had to have Orangina.  And I had a coke, which I hadn't had since the last time I was in Paris.  

As we were sitting in the cafe eating, we noticed there was a hop on/hop off bus stop right outside the cafe.  We checked out the route online and decided to buy tickets.  We figured with just one day in the city it would be a good way to see a lot of the sights.  And it was! 

It was SUPER sunny on the top deck. But it's the best way to see the sights!

She squealed when she saw her Eiffel Tower.

We hopped off near the Eiffel Tower and it was time for a light dinner.  

Ice cream for dinner?!?! I love Paris!

This stuff was sooooo good.

Then I had one of those moments.  Do you ever have something happen and you are experiencing it but also somehow you are above, observing yourself in the moment?  I don't know how to explain it.  But this was one of those things I will never forget.  Anne and Ryan, riding a carousel in Paris, next to the Eiffel Tower.  It was the accumulation of years of hard work, teaching the kids, sacrificing with Rob being gone.  It all seemed to have lead up to this moment when the air was electric and full of the sound of giggling kids.  And this moment was full of the potential for many more adventures to come.

After the carousel ride, we went to the park and the kids played.  Sounds so mundane, right? Except it was a park in PARIS and the other kids were French.  We again saw the universality of kids.  They all play the same.  A few kids tried to speak to Anne or Ryan and then both parties realized they couldn't communicate with words, but the game didn't stop.  Childhood has no language barrier.  

At this point it was 8:30pm, Paris time, and we knew it was time to head back to the hotel.  Luckily, we had to walk by the Eiffel Tower to get there.

And this is when we had our only snag of the trip.  We walked to the nearest Metro station, but the station was closed for repairs.  So we got creative, ended up switching trains once, and our total travel time back to the hotel was about an hour and a half.  But the kids were total troopers.  I don't remember a single whine the whole trip!

Kids asleep? Let's drink some crappy French beer!

The next morning we woke up and headed to the airport.  Luckily we were only a short van ride away. We had to part ways with Rob at the airport, so I got the kids through security and Passport Control by myself, easy-peasy.   We were flying back to Cincinnati with Rob as our pilot, awesome!  

We were not originally given seats together.  The kids are aware that this might happen, and in fact we have done flights sitting apart before. But I think the jet lag got to Ryan when we boarded. I showed him his seat and went to sit in mine and he burst into tears.  The rule is, you cannot ask a paying customer to switch seats with you.  But, the non-rev gods smiled on us and a mom and her teen-aged daughter offered to switch so I could sit with Ryan.  It turns out the woman was a flight attendant and they were also non-revs. I was sitting next to Ryan and the seats just happened to be across the aisle from Anne!  So we were pretty much together and it was a smooth flight home.

Like a true Schneider, this kid can sleep anywhere.

And that, my friends, is how we spent 24 hours in Paris with twin five year olds.  We told the kids this was a test to see how they handled traveling abroad.  When we landed Anne said, "I want to live in Paris when I grow up."  Ryan said, "can we go to Amsterdam next?" Success!