Days 27, 28, 29, 30 - Paris

Wow, what a whirlwind past few days we’ve had! Our European adventure ended with a big treat — to spend time in Paris with the Timocks! So it was super busy but the most fun ever! I’m making one post for a fun filled four days since I got so behind focusing on our time with them. 

On Saturday we drove fast and early to get to get there! We hastily checked in to our campsite, freshened up, and went about 20 minutes by Uber into the historic city center. We met the Timocks around 3:30 on Rue Cler, a picturesque street near the Eiffel Tower. We had a late lunch and ice cream and strolled the streets, ending up at the famous shopping street, the Champs-Élysées. We did some shopping, strolling, and sightseeing before eating dinner where almost everyone tried escargot! What a fun day!

Sunday we met them around 10:00 and enjoyed pastries after they had an adventurous ride through Paris on bike and scooter rentals. They have a fun story from that! We headed for the Orsay museum after that which had a long line that we thankfully were able to skip because kids get priority access. Relieved, we headed straight for what we thought was Van Gogh’s Starry Noght but was actually his other painting The Starry Night but equally as beautiful. Who knew there were two with very similar names?! Now we know. The entire impressionist collection including Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and a lot of others was stunning. We also admired Rodin sculpture and then made our way out of this beautiful building. We took a picnic lunch to the Seine river and enjoyed the downtime away from crowds. Navigating crowds with four children is not for the faint of heart! After lunch we decided to visit the Parc de Princes football (soccer) stadium outside of the touristy area. We shopped in the gift shop and walked around the outside. We think we saw some soccer players too but didn’t stalk them for their autographs. 

We ended this day with dinner at a really cute restaurant in that part of town and then took Ubers to our own places. We stayed these first two nights at Camping de Paris and the Timocks stayed in their own Airbnb. This was our last night in the van so we headed to the campsite to pack up and clean out the van. 

On Monday, July 4th, we woke up sad that we had to turn in the van. This month has been magical and we’ve really enjoyed van life. So we begrudgingly drove to drop it off and then took an Uber to our new Airbnb that we shared with the Timocks. After dropping off our luggage we did another picnic lunch by the river and then split from Adam and David. They went to the Banksy museum to see artwork by the famous streeet artist. Meanwhile Krystl and I took the kids to the Galleries Lafayette and Printemps department stores for some shopping. The Galleries Lafayette store has a must see ceiling that I had seen pictures of but really was breathtaking. We made our way through these giant stores enjoying the window shopping and, to be honest, that our children would either lose us or touch designer items with their grubby hands. It was quite the experience! But we managed to do some shopping and the children behaved thanks to bribes of ice cream and my phone to watch YouTube on. After shopping we walked back towards our Airbnb and found dinner on the way. Another wonderful restaurant with amazing pasta and pizzas! 

On Tuesday, Day 30, we tackled Versailles. We made our way to the right train after taking the not-right train at first… and count that as a fun traveling memory! Then we made our way through the opulent chateau, listening to a Rick Steve’s audio guide as we went. after lunch we meandered through the gardens, walked to Marie Antoinette’s hamlet and smaller palaces, and took the little train back to the palace. All in all we walked about 20,000 steps again, which has been our typical daily average in Paris. So worn out, we got Starbucks and headed back to Paris on the train. We ate delicious crepes and explored the Marais district of Paris after dinner. Exhausted from another busy day, we headed back to the Airbnb, thankful for our time getting to see so much of this beautiful city.