We’ve been here for so long and I finally went somewhere! My daughter, my friend Jessie (and her boys), and another friend Leigh all had a long weekend in Paris. It was SO fun. You never know how much you need other adult conversation until you have it, until you get to have it.

How we got there: flights within Paris are cheap! Okay, the train would have been SO much cheaper. But it was very last minute for my daughter to join the trip, and I already bought an airline ticket for myself. And when I say the train is cheap, it would be maybe 50 euros, if you pay attention to the times you are traveling. We were at the tail end of the train strike, but it wasn’t over yet, so I didn’t want to risk anything and thus the plane ticket.

Where we stayed: AirBNB apartment! It was tiny. There was a couch that turned into a bed, and a bunk bed with a trundle. The bathroom was very tiny. The kitchen had enough space for us to stand around and visit, or sit at the small table and visit. But really, probably almost all places in Paris are tiny. It was fine for us, but I couldn’t stay there with my family simply because of the bathroom.

What we did: stayed up all hours visiting. Okay, we also walked a lot, walked up a million steps to the Sacre Coeur, sat on the top of a big bus tour and saw many tourist sites, had dinner by the river, and of course enjoyed the wine. We started out late both days, the first day the latest, but I think overall it was a fun time.

I loved that we were able to get away for a few days. It did take a couple of days of napping for me to feel rested again, and I take that as a sign of a great visit.

Walking along the River Seine

The Louvre, as seen from our tour bus

The steps of the Sacre Coeur

I have SO much respect for travel agents! We can do so much online, we can make all the reservations for ourselves, we can compare prices, and check availability. But when it comes to arranging a lot of travel, whew, it can be exhausting. Europeans take their holidays serious, the month of August has just about everyone on vacation. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like because I’m sure grocery stores will be open, but will some of the smaller stores close?

Photo by Heidi and Matt

 We have been talking about our holiday plans for a few months, but only just started the serious planning. Everything is expensive. We are a large family, three kids doesn’t seem like a lot but try booking a hotel room and you will find that it’s difficult. I did find one hotel that has a family policy (the Hilton) which stated that a second room for kids would be 50% of the first room. But the problem with that is the hotel only allows two people in each room. I get that there are concerns over fires and safety, but sheesh, it’s a hassle. As a result, we are staying in airbnb rentals or city apartments. I am glad we have this option otherwise travel might be out of reach for us because of the difficulties.

And so we have a busy summer ahead! I’m excited! We are going camping (more on this later because it is not the way we think of camping in the US), and also going to Ireland and the UK. We have more plans for the fall and next year, but one step at a time. The hours I’ve spent planning this has been tiring. We plan on using a travel agent for a trip we are planning for next year and I can’t wait! The time I spent comparing taking a flight from our home to our destination vs a train to a larger city and then a flight from that city to our destination was ridiculous. Ridiculous in the sense of “isn’t there a better way to figure this out.” I still haven’t figured that particular issue out, but I still have some time. As it stands, next week I am meeting friends in Paris and so I am off to double check the carry on luggage rules.