Winter Break 2023

Paris, France here we come! We checked this off of Demi's list and mine!

As we drove towards France, we had to make a pit stop for some road snacks and let's be real, a toilet. I mean people - there were 4 girls in the car. We wondered through the grocery store and kept finding things familiar, but we couldn't place it. One of our favorite things while traveling was exploring the different grocery stores to see what they offered. I could not place which country this reminded me of. Well!!! We were accidentally in Belgium! The home of the best chocolate! Or maybe I should just say my FAVORITE out of the countries I have tasted thus far.

That was a lovely little extra just for me!

We arrived to our hotel just outside the city. Our hotel was close to a train station and had a green space for the kids to play. We did not want to deal with parking in the city since we heard it was very difficult. This spot had a coffee shop, grocery and restaurants within walking distance too.

The Must List while here:
*Eiffel Tower
*Wonder the city on foot
*A French Pastry Shop
*The Zoo
*The Louvre at Sunset
*Eat Croissants and Crepes

We went straight for the Eiffel Tower first thing the next day! After some research, we chose morning instead of evening to avoid crowds and sleepy children. Since we chose to train in, we were able to see their Statue of Liberty. It is much smaller than the one they gave us, but none-the-less still so cool. I will say the trains in Paris were a bit more finicky than Germany. At one point, Mabel was separated from us because of a ticket reader malfunction. They have gates at most checkpoints, which is different for us. I decided in my mom-panic-mode to pull her through the small crack of the gate, so she was not separated from us. Not the best idea. It hurt to be smashed through there as one being rational could imagine. I felt terrible!

As we strolled closer, the tower began to feel monstrous. The four feet were so wide and sturdy, which brought me comfort knowing that in a few minutes I was going up in this thing. I am not a fan of heights in case you did not know. I have been known to lose my balance or feel as though I cannot take a step, but NOT TODAY I was telling myself. You should see me on an airplane though! Not pretty!

As we approached the tower, we all went and paid our dues at the toilet - literally paying for our toilet break since that is the European way. In a grassy area along the way, we found Ratatouille (the rat chef from the Disney cartoon). Although instead of dining on fine French cuisine, he was chowing down of what looked like Takis. LOL! (P.S - So you know for your own visit some day. We later found the nice, clean bathrooms at the top of the Eiffel Tower you can use for free.)

Seth got the tickets and we were on our way! I was admiring the structure and how pristine the iron looked. It appeared to be brand new. I later heard that the Eiffel Tower was originally built to only last twenty years. The reason it has remained sturdy is because nearly everyday they perform maintenance on it and add more iron and bolts to keep it standing. This was actually part of a great sermon series on marriage by Skip Heitzig you should listen to!

Anywho... We climbed lots of stairs this day! We explored the first floor and saw the things. Then the girls giggled and we went up to the second floor which felt considerably higher than the first floor. For some reason I just figured the top of the Eiffel tower was for show or something, so I began to look for the elevator down. Then Seth corralled us into a small elevator with windows that seemed to be going up. I gulped! Seth snickered at me likely laughing at my irrational reaction. The girls jumped and giggled some more with excitement. If you have not seen Addy's adorable excited squeeze then you are missing out. She most definitely did that too. This elevator or rather this tiny box of windows just kept going up and up and up. I stopped looking out the window, so I did not lose it. 81 stories high - people!!!!

We reached the top and exited. I worked really hard to mind over matter this thing like an adult by going straight to the French Champagne vending machine. Haha! Unfortunately, I did not have coins for it, so I just made myself be rational. Sometimes this works for me and sometimes not. I wanted to make this memory with my family and enjoy it fully. I also want my children to be stronger humans than me and not walk in irrational fear, so I need to set the example or at least pretend. Thankfully God gave me the strength to just let go and enjoy it.

Such a privilege and special moment to have with these precious people I get to call my family.

The rest of the day was spent exploring on foot and eating! I think often our favorite travel days are slower paced, just spent uncovering the city on foot and seeing the unplanned. We hit a few random pastry shops. I heard much less English in France and had to rely on my pointing skills and Google Translate a bit more. French is my favorite language to hear though, so I enjoyed that for sure.

We ended up making it to the Louvre at dusk with our faces full of crepes. Of course, we tried multiple flavors. The savory one ended up being the favorite. The kids spent time running around the pyramid of glass as everything began to light up. We opted to not actually enter the Louvre this trip, because - well, to be real I am immature and do not fully appreciate art yet and our littles were tired. Near the end of the sunset, myself and Addy had an "uhh, I need a toilet now" moment. Fun fact about Europe is they seem to enjoy a good game of toilet hide & seek. Not really, but they do have less public toilets, which makes finding them in a new city very exciting. We finally found a toilet under the garden near the Louvre. Phew! We made it and it was artfully decorated with every color of toilet paper imaginable. Then we find out it ONLY cost us 3 Euro per person to use it! Wait a second Pepe Le Pew - I have to pay how much!??! Good thing I had my card on me! Typically you might pay 50 cents. These were the most expensive toilets I have ever encountered!

The next day we were off to find the ZOO! On the way, we found this amazing pastry shop. This was really my life goal while I was in Paris. I just needed to find a real Parisian pastry shop and try random things. I do not recommend trying to simply read the names of things with your janky French impressionist accent as I did. They did not seem amused in the least, so I went back to using my pointing skills. You must go get the "St. Honore!!! This pastry was a sweet marriage of flavors. The best Creme Brulee imaginable with the flakiest croissant possible covered in a delicate crunchy, caramelly coating. Just lovely! Seth and I did not want to share it with the girls, but we did!

We continued on to the zoo. I highly recommend this zoo! If you go in summer, there is also an option to paddle boat in a lovely lake nearby too. We were able to see lots of animals, some of which were new to us. They also had this huge mountain that reminded the girls of pride rock from The Lion King. Then we saw the baboons. More often than not when we encounter baboons at a zoo, they are either very vocal and entertaining or highly inappropriate. So ya, after visiting the French baboons we had the privilege of answering many questions about life. Thanks baboons!

As I reflect on each trip we have the privilege to take, I am overwhelmed by many things. We are beyond blessed! Blessed to be able to go. Blessed to have kids who enjoy traveling. Blessed by a husband who has the vision for these adventures. Blessed by God's creation we get to see! Blessed by the differences of what shapes each culture we encounter.Read more