Joie de vivre!

We arrived in Paris (all six of us--including my sister) with a mixture of excitement, fatigue and an appetite for crepes. Once we made it to our teeny tiny hotel--we all stretched out (as much as we could) and finally let loose after a long plane ride.

Then Bella wanted crepes. And Mia wanted a grilled cheese. And Chance wanted another bottle. And Eugene wanted to explore and I wanted to somehow make the room stop spinning because for the third time in a row I have experienced vertigo after landing in Europe. What gives? According to my mom it's an inner ear thing. Anyway......we spared no time and packed up for a full day in Paris. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower because the girls WERE SO EXCITED to see it. I mean like crazy excited. They started screaming when it came into view scaring the crap out of the quiet and highly restrained Parisians walking by.

Come to think of it, that actually happened a lot, my kids scaring the crap out of the locals. But I digress.

Through them, I recalled what it was like to see the Eiffel for the first time. It takes your breath away. So recognizable and so massive. I must say, it's quite a sight.


We huddled up for the first photo session of our trip. It's handy to have a husband who digs photography.

Note to Bella and Mia, payback will be a bitch. You just wait, as soon as Chance can honorably defend himself you two better start running! Poor little Chance.

For the life of me I wish I remembered what they were singing in this moment. But if the rest of our trip was any indication my bet would be that they're singing either Skip to my Lou, a random Christmas carol or Stuck Like Glue.

Bella and Mia wanted to go up to the top---but the wait was so long and my vertigo was still pretty nasty so we held off. Total buzzkill.

For the past three months Eugene had prepped the girls for the "secret" double decker carousel behind the Eiffel--the one that most people don't know about. It totally kicks our mall carousel's butt!

After the carousel we all devoured some Nutella and banana crepes. If you haven't ever tried a banana and nutella crepe----what are you waiting for? They are so damn good! Look, here's a really good recipe.
Make one today!

So on average, we would spend 12 hours a day out exploring Paris.

Taking in the sights.

Eating the food. 

The best fondue EVER!

Slippery little suckers

Now that's some french onion soup ya'll

We visited several famous masterpieces

Really France?

Now that's a masterpiece. Although, ironically Snooki kinda looks like Mona Lisa,

 just much more orange and covered in make-up!

Mia was entranced by all the paintings

This was what she was staring at. Oh, ya know,  just a random ceiling 

in a random room of the Louvre. 

Amazing, huh?

Fun with Bella

To witness Paris through my children's eyes was so unforgettable! My favorite moments were hearing the girls speak French-or attempt to at least. By the second day Bella was a pro with her, "merci beaucoup" and "s'il vous plait" and "excusez-moi." It was like the two of them were living some sort of Dora episode--except in French! 

But believe me, it wasn't all unicorns and cotton candy. Oh-no. 

We walked until our feet hurt. It was rough. There were meltdowns. Like the one day when we forgot to pack the stroller blankets. The warm and comfy stroller blankets like the one seen here the day before snuggling my child into a blissful state of euphoria.

Yeah, forgot those. In the hotel room. WAY across town.

And it got cold. Really cold. And the only thing I could think of (rather than buying a $40 blanket-dammit, where were you Walmart?) was to turn their sweatshirts into leggings. 

The result?

My children looked like complete and total idiots!

Like, real big, honkin' idiots. I know, I got the stares. Believe me there was no fooling Paris, the fashion mecca of the world.  But you know what? I-didn't-give-a-shit-cuz-the crying-stopped!!! Oh sweet lord, the crying stopped. 

And because they were warm. We trekked on. 

We stood outside stores like Louis Vuitton, drooling like fools, cuz I didn't have the guts to allow my subway stained Saucony's step foot in the store. So from afar, I watched the extravagance--in every storefront, in every garden, in every painting. 

Auntie Gabey and Eugene

It was magnificent and the perfect place to start our travels. Check out this little video of our "2 Days in Paris"

We'll miss you Paris. Until next time. 

Au revoir!