a girls’ weekend in paris

First and most importantly I need to thank my BFF, Rachel, and her awesome husband for making this weekend totally happen without the stress. Patrick was going to hang with the boys this weekend so that Aydan and I could travel with my mom and one of her dear friends, Judy, and Judy’s daughter to Paris. We left on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning Patrick was called into work the Secretary Kerry visit. He had to head into work right away for a few hours, then would spend 8 hours on Sunday with the visit. Rachel, Mika and their FOUR boys stepped up and took in Drake and Jude for many, many hours this weekend. Here’s to a FS family and sweet friends who will not only babysit your kids but love them so much that you don’t stress while you are away. Also, thanks to my wonderful husband for setting everything up and taking all the rest of the time with the boys. : ) (Not an easy task considering the baby would not take a bottle almost the whole time…) ok on to the fun stuff…

Two weekends ago, after dropping the boys with Rachel, we jumped on the TGV to Paris. Train tickets are so expensive! It cost 216 CHF for a full adult ticket there and back. I can’t understand why train travel is so much. Anyway, it was a nice, 3 hour trip. We arrived to our hotel after managing the crazy metro with bags and a 6 year old on her scooter. Let’s just say I took a taxi back to the train station on Sunday. Once settled we walked to the Eiffel Tower, had a sweet dinner at a nice cafe then walked home in the rain. It was a perfect Parisian spring night!

The next morning was Museum Day and boy did we museum that day. Aydan has been really into art for about a year now. We have a few really good art books. Her favorite book is Degas and the Little Dancer. It’s a great book from a fantastic series. Anyway… first on on the list that morning was the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Napoleon’s apartments, and the Venus de Milo and all the amazingness in between. We had lunch at The Cafe Richelieu inside the Louvre. It was the perfect mix of fancy but kid friendly. Aydan handled it well and we all very much enjoyed our meal. After conquering like 1% of the Louvre we headed to the Musee d’Orsay. We found a ton of great art and Aydan’s favorite, the Little Dancer. She was so stoked to see that she had a real tutu on and a yellow ribbon. We found a meal close to the Orsay and then went back to put Aydan down at the hotel. Audra and I went back out and walked all the way to the Arc d’Triumph to see the sun set. Then we found a sweet bar where we sat outside with our drinks and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and headed home.

As soon as Aydan saw the Eiffel Tower she scooted so fast and so far trying to get right up next to it.

Almost 5 years to the day. First photo on her first birthday on our way down to Cameroon!

Aydan LOVED watching this man paint.

Aydan decided to sit and sketch the sculptures. It was really cute. She hung out there a lot.

Soon Judy joined her.

Despite her face, she was stoked.

Sunday we checked out the Bastille Market, which is everything a French market should be. Then we walked around did a bit of shopping before heading back to the hotel to grab our bags and make the train ride home. Mom, Judy and Audra stayed for a few more days to check out a ton of really cool things. Aydan and I had to get back to real life.