Paris Explorers: Part One

There is something so thrilling about seeing something in real life that you’ve only known from pictures, pop culture, or cartoons. We popped up from the Metro on Saturday morning, mid-google navigation to the Musee D’Orsay. At that moment, I was nose-down to my phone trying to figure out our next move, so I was surprised when Ben exclaimed with jubilation, “MOM! That is the Eiffel Tower.” Honestly, at that point, we could have turned around and gone home and the kids still would have called the weekend a success.

This was a bit of a relief because the night before, our train’s arrival to Paris was slowed by some track maintenance. This seemed to cause a chain reaction with several trains arriving all at the same time to the station, which, in turn, led to long lines and a taxi queue lacking in taxis.

Fortunately, being the well-worn road warriors that we are at this point, we pivoted to the metro and found our way to the hotel. But, it was well past 10:00 pm when we arrived and the kids were not so sure this was a good idea after all.

Ben’s face when I told him there were only 19 stops between us and a bed.

We started the day at the Musee D’Osray which held the kids’ attention for about thirty-two total minutes. As they rushed me through the Impressionists (Wait! That’s Monet! Wait! That’s Renoir! OMG…this is a whole room of Serat….Wait!), I realized that I was going to need a slightly different approach to the weekend.

Considering his options…

There was some interest in Van Gogh since he is Dutch and since the kids are already familiar with his work and his life story.

So, we bailed out of the museum in favor of having over-priced pomme frites at a sidewalk café. Here, I started to catch on to what I’d get to see moving through Paris at their pace, instead of mine: I got a polite smile from three extremely distinguished ladies in their late 60’s who sat down at the table next to us and ordered up a full-size bottle of champagne at 11:00 am. I got to have extensive conversations with Ben about the thousands of padlocks hanging from the bridges to which his little mind asked, “Why does everyone need to lock their love together in Paris?”

At the Pompidou, the kids declared “no more museums today” so instead we spent a long time playing in the fountain and exploring the really cool street art on the plaza.

We also walked past Notre Dame and ate healthy portions of madelines and macarons before lunch.

Another, small but favorite moment, was trying to order lunch at a sandwich shop for the notoriously picky Ben.

I asked at the counter, “Is it possible to just make a sandwich with chicken and bread? Poulet et pan?” I repeated in French. What ensued was a conversation between me and like 4-5 other staff that could be its own Dr. Seuss story about the needs of American travelers in Paris – It went like this and happened mostly in French (of which I understand little and speak less):

 “You only want the bread and the chicken?” “Yes, only bread and chicken.”

“He does not like the greens?” “No, he does not like the greens.”

“He does not like grilled vegetables?” “No, he does not like the vegetables.”

“He does not eat the sauce??? (There was extra incredulity on this one.) “No, sans saus si vous plais.”

 Then, more discussion. Then, exclusively among the staff: “Can we make a sandwich with bread and chicken?” “I suppose we can just make a sandwich with bread and chicken.”

Then, finally, agreement. “We will make the bread and chicken.”

So, they did. And, they came by twice while Ben was eating it just to make sure that he really could be satisfied by such a paltry sandwich offer. To be honest, I think it was his favorite sandwich in Paris.

Ben’s just gotta be Ben.

After lunch, we made our way back to the Eiffel tower to await our timed ticket to visit the top. This whole part of the day elicited mixed feeling from the group. On the one hand, the tower is spectacular. I’m not sure why, but it does draw you in. Its icon status is well deserved.

We enjoyed the visit to the top, exploring the look-out points, and making our way down the stairs.

What we did not enjoy was the nearly 2.5 hours we spent waiting in lines to get there. There were security lines – two sets – plus long lines to get on the elevator. Some of this, I learned later, was exacerbated by one of the elevators being out of service, but it was very hard to ask the kids to keep it together through so much waiting around.

Taking selfies to pass the time while waiting in line.

This was also my first visit to the Eiffel Tower in an era of terrorist threats. The whole space is closed off by an extensive glass perimeter and barricade system. This means that it is no longer possible to just wander through the park and experience the tower from different areas. It also has the effect of pushing all the visitors through a single entrance/exit point, which is overrun with aggressive street vendors. Norah and Ben didn’t seem to mind it, and I supposed didn’t know any different. But, I found it really sad, an example of what we’ve lost to terrorist acts and fear.

We wrapped up the afternoon taking a few spins on the carousels – there are two different ones and we tried both - at the base of the tower.

Our Paris hotel had a feature that our Amsterdam apartment is lacking – a bathtub. So, we bought a huge fizzy bath bomb, put on bathrobes, ordered room service and called it a night. It was a perfect way to wrap up the day.