Paris. Our final destination during our month-long train trip, and one of the spots most anticipated. The trains from Zurich to Paris (three of them, in fact) were very comfortable so, despite the long day, we arrived in good spirits. It was cooler than we’d hoped walking from one station to another and the main metro station was very busy with commuters. Once we figured out which line we needed, we bought single ride tickets for each of us. It was only one stop so we didn’t mind needing to stand. However, our luck turned once we tried to get out of the station: our single ride tickets didn’t let us out. We were one stop too far out of the city to be covered by our ticket type. Oops. A kind stranger was able to explain our issue and offered to let us exit on her transit card by squeezing together through the wheelchair gate. We must have looked silly squished like sardines into a small space and then spilling out the other side once the gate opened. But, now we know for the next ride to purchase different tickets.
It was a 15 min cold walk to the apartment we rented. Our host let us in and showed us the place. It was very cold inside and we asked if the heat was working. He said yes and showed us how to turn up the radiators. All of the radiators had wet towels hung over them. He said the maid must have done that to try and dry them. He made a quick departure and we were left looking for ways to stay warm. I broke down and crawled under a blanket on a bed and told everyone that I was not going to be available for any decisions for the rest of the night. I’m still not sure exactly why I felt the need to curl into a ball. Perhaps I hadn’t eaten enough or had enough water that day. Perhaps my hormones were off. Perhaps I was disappointed in how Paris was starting out – it was such a highly anticipated destination, one that I had first visited in 1998 for my 17th birthday and for which I had such fond memories. Perhaps I was so intent on recreating that same memorable visit and felt robbed of the opportunity to do so…in any case, I put myself in “out of order” mode for the rest of the evening. With ourselves layered in our clothes, we went to bed hoping for a better start tomorrow.
Most of us slept well in the cool, dark house. We tackled breakfast in our small kitchen and discovered there were only 3 forks and all the pans hated eggs. It wasn’t pretty, but we got some nutrition into our bellies and headed back to the metro station. This time, we asked the attendant for the best tickets to buy if we want to go into the city and then return to this station. She printed both inward tickets and also outbound tickets for us to use. Yay. We got what we needed (spoiler – they didn’t work on the way back).
Our first destination was the Notre-Dame Cathedral! It is still under restoration from the horrible fire in 2019. The front was mostly covered with scaffolding and much of the square in front was cordoned off with construction fencing. They had some informative signs, however, showing us how the cathedral looked after the fire, what they are attempting to do with the restoration, and how they intend on achieving it. I shared my memories of its grandeur with the kids and we moved along.
Walking through the neighbouring streets also felt nostalgic as I found myself noticing details I had noticed my first time; iron railings on tiny patios by every window, large stone work patterns and facades, curving buildings following curving roads, cobblestone walkways, tall, black street lights, and hanging laundry. We meandered toward the area with the Louvre but were all feeling chilled. We found a spot for lunch and warmed up with coffee, French onion soup, and other tasty lunch options. As we stepped out again to continue the walk, we spotted a building that seemed worth touring. It was a tall, six-storey place completely painted by artists inside. It was a studio space for artists to use and for people to freely roam. Every floor was filled with a variety of works and the central, spiral staircase was entirely painted in murals with each floor having a different theme. We spent a fair bit of time exploring and enjoying the work.
When we did finally reach the Louvre, we agreed not to go inside and instead to continue the walking tour towards the Eiffel Tower. Sadly, when we arrived, the top of the tower was hidden behind the fog of the day. Oh well, we still explored in and around the tower and took some moody photos. All we needed was a cute café serving hot chocolate and croissants to warm up and re-energize. They should be a dime-a-dozen, right? Nope. We did not find a single spot that was open or that had chairs and tables to sit at. There were a number of bakeries selling croissants but they did not have sitting space. Sigh. We gave up and took the metro home (but had to get different tickets first) and bought some pastries at a spot close to our apartment which we took home and ate with our own coffee. Not quite what we were hoping for, but tasty all the same.
Day two began with some drama over agreeing on our plans. What seems to often happen in our grouping of 5 is Claire and Molly agree on a choice and Simon disagrees. Putting things to a vote makes two happy and one disappointed with Simon almost always being the one disappointed. This is what happened, again, when we decided to go back to the Louve and tour inside, partly because it’s the Louvre, and partly because we were just so cold the day before that we really wanted a warm interior activity. To calm the discourse, it was also agreed that we would get up early the next day and go to Simon’s preferred place before catching our train home.
We didn’t have to stand in line at all – security was quick and easy, lockers were available, and only two people were ahead of us at the audio guide desk. The audio guides were play station consoles which made Simon quite happy! There were a number of pre-programmed guided tours to suit different goals and we chose the family “highlights” tour that was supposed to take 90 minutes to complete. As promised, we were shown a number of popular and interesting items on display starting with some Arabic art pieces. The console on the guide gave us detailed video information on the items we were seeing and also provided more than just verbal instructions for how to get to the next spot. It was automatically begin speaking when you were close to the item and could track your location and show you how to get to where you need to be next. We saw so many interesting things, it would be impossible to talk about them all. The Mona Lisa painting was a favourite because it is so famous. The kids felt like they were seeing a famous person – the anticipation, the excitement of finally seeing them. We saw many statues and grand pieces in foyers. We saw a LOT of French art from a number of different centuries, many paintings being the size of an entire dining room wall. True to its promise, our highlights tour was complete after 90 minutes. Lunch time!
We splurged on a fancier restaurant for lunch that served some traditional French cuisine that we had yet to try. I chose a roasted chicken with ratatouille. Simon ordered a croque monsieur, and Molly opted for the French onion soup. We shared a crème brulé for dessert (my apologies for the drool). As a final outing, we ducked into the Lafayette Gallery and made our way to the roof to see a view of Paris. The inner, circular courtyard of the building is incredibly pretty and worth seeing. The whole building is a department store with over 7 floors. We didn’t stay long as shopping malls aren’t our thing.
Our evening was spent playing family games together. Molly hosted a gameshow called “Make Mom Laugh” where the three contestants each had 30 sec to get a giggle out of me. Erik won both rounds, first with his harry potter dual impression using a banana, and second for his Aladdin impression on a bath towel.
Our final day of the trip was here and we were all excited to get home. But first, our promise to Simon had to be fulfilled. We packed up, left our bags in a luggage storage at the train station, and took a different metro line to Paris’ Science Museum. It is a huge building with some really awesome exhibits, but we were surprised to find out that they also had a 1950’s reconnaissance submarine on display. We bought tickets to go inside right away, before any crowds arrived, and were really impressed at how tight it is inside! There were apparently 40 crew members operating this vessel – how they could co-exist inside, we have no idea! The displays were informative and they also had some mocked-up areas showing how the space would have been used. It was really cool!
From the submarine, we learned about robots and ways in which robotics may support higher quality of life. We met a robot named Pepper who can look at your face and make a prediction about what emotions you are feeling. The exhibit was interactive and fun, even if we didn’t entirely understand what was being said. We also looked at an exhibit about biomimicry and how we can use nature to help solve problems.
Near the end of the time we had left, we popped into their Planetarium to attend a show about the solar system. There was a spaceship captain whose mission was to reach a satellite and get data from the wayward vessel. She accepted her mission and then realized we were all on the ship with her. She used the journey time to explain some interesting things about each planet we passed. The kids didn’t quite follow the conversations or the content, but the visuals on the ceiling were quite spectacular!
With the show over, we began our trip back to the train station to retrieve our bags and get in line for customs. Taking the Eurostar train back to London from Paris requires you to clear out of the EU and pre-clear into the UK. We then waited for our boarding call in an enclosed area. The trip was very smooth and super fast! It was a great way to end our month-long journey.