Paris in the Fall!

 Oh la la!  Paris in the Fall, the leaves were changing, the weather was cool, and the rain didn't stop the whole time we were there.  No worries, we have (well most of us) been to Paris before and know all that goes with the 'City of Lights'.  We arrived and after finding our hotel we went to the Jardin du  Luxembourg.  This set of gardens also has the Palais du Luxembourg built for Maria de Medici, queen of France from 1600 to 1610.  Now houses the Senat, the upper house of the French parliament.  The kids weren't interested in that once we found an awesome park to play in.  Didn't matter that it was misting/raining on us, the playground was protected by huge trees and only a few drops would come down every now and then.  It was just what our kids wanted to do after being in the car for 3 hours, a plane for 2, a train for 1 and then the Metro for 30 minutes.  Yes, it took us over 6 hours from our house to the hotel!

The next day we took the Metro out to the main train station and out to Disneyland Paris where they are celebrating 20 years since they opened.  It was fun to be back at Disney, a little different since the announcements were in English and French, not English and Spanish.  The kids really enjoyed themselves and we never got rained on, it was just grey sky like the picture above.  We ALL went on Big Thunder Mountain, the first time for the younger two.  That is a memory I will have for ever, I got to sit by them and listen to them hoot and holler with excitement and then a little bit of fear set in.  Really hope I didn't do too much damage to them.  There was a classic Disney parade and the kids loved singing, dancing, and waving to all their favorite characters.

Saturday found us back in Paris and ready to see all of the city via the Hop On/Hop Off tour bus.  We walked from our hotel over to the Notre Dame, in a downpour, and went to the center of Paris!  The picture on the right is of Sticky Boys by the marker stating it's the center of the city.  There was no real line and everyone was jumping in front of each other to take their picture.  I totally channeled my inner Italian and just went in.  Quickly (and in front of some nice college girls), I took this picture and then 3 more of my 'other' children.  I don't think the girls knew what happened, as I was finished with my shots in a matter of 60 seconds.

Then it was off to see more of the city, via the bus.  We hopped off at the Champs Elysees and walked to the Arc de Triomphe.  As we were walking back down the Champs, we saw a car on fire.  It was amazing and the people around us thought it was something out of a movie, looking for the cameras.  Silly tourists!!!  We popped into Haagn Dazs for ice cream, it's now become a tradition to eat ice cream in each city we visit.  Then it was back on the bus headed to the most iconic tourist trap in all of Paris, the Eiffel Tower.    We walked up to the second floor, yes walked, looked around and headed back down the stairs.  It was a great day and despite the rain we all had a great time in Paris.  Adieu pour l'instant!