We took the strauss (the city train) to the Hopbahnoff (train station) to catch the DaBahn (Ice Train). This train was fantastic! It went over 200 MPH and was clean and quiet! Clara did well on the train ride! It was great to catch a train right outside the post gate and end up in Paris.. no hassle with parking, paying for parking, etc! Very low stress! Clara loved looking out the windows on the train... until she fell asleep :)
We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Eiffel Kennedy. Many of the streets in Paris are named after US Presidents and the Eiffel Tower happens to be right off Kennedy Ave.! We were about an 8 minute walk to the Eiffel tower. The first day we checked out the Eiffel tower, Champes de Eylles (shopping), the Galleria Lafayette (more shopping) and the Arche de Triomphe! Window shopping was a lot of fun, however seeing the Arche de Triomphe was interesting because of all the history that took place there.
Nick and Clara at the Arche de Triomphe
Our walk to Eiffel Tower was along the Seine River the whole way! It was fantastic!
The next day we went to the Louvre Muesem, Saint Chappelle, Notre Dame, and a crypt right outside Notre Dame. The crypt was of ruins they found while excavating. They were intact and explained what we were looking at. It was interesting. The Louvre was CROWDED and tour groups were EVERYWHERE and Clara did not like it. We took the baby back pack as opposed to the stroller because we heard that strollers were the pits there. However none of the museums allow baby backpacks because of their size, so they offered a free stroller... Clara hates strollers... she wants to walk or ride in the backpack... of which neither was posible in the Louvre... so she spent an hour screaming while we took a glimpse of everything we wanted to see. The place was HUGE and we only did about 1/4 of it. We had a picnic (PBJ and apples) on the steps then walked towards Notre Dame... we probably got close to 20 miles in this weekend! Notre Dame is on a sort of island in the middle of the Seine River. Saint Chapelle is on the same island. This area was swarmed with Gypsies!
Notre Dame
Windows inside!
This was right outside the entrance to the Saint Chapelle! Clara loved "strolling the streets of Paris!"
The last day we hit the Orsay muesem (same stroller issue) and the Army Muesem. The Orsay Museum a bunch of "newer" paintings (Monet, Picasso) and the Army Muesem was very interesting, taking you on a tour of the French Army from way back in the day, to Napoleon, and ending at the end of WW II. It was very interesting and Clara actually did very well in this museum (she was sleeping...)
Each night we ended up in the Seine River by the Eiffel tower. Clara played in a park, rode on the merry-go-round (she loved it) and at nine the Eiffel tower would light up and lights would flicker for a few
minutes! If we hadn't been chasing after a toddler it could have been very romantic :)
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