Our Paris Itinerary
Paris is amazing and full of more activities, foods, and sites than one could ever squeeze into a week and a half. Our list of what we want to do and see and where to go is much longer than what we did on this trip. So I suppose a return trip is in order. For those who are curious how we squeezed school and Paris into 9 days, here’s what we did.
Day 1
Today was full-on survival: find the apartment, unpack, get over jet lag. We packed everything we think we’ll need for the year into these bags - 5 checked and 2 carry-on.
What we did: First stop, lunch for our hungry crew - ham & cheese crepes for the grown ups and nutella & banana for the girls. We hopped on the metro and wandered the streets by the Notre Dame, then came home to settle in and try to get over jet lag.
Where we stayed: Neuilly - perfect location for taking the metro easily everywhere we wanted to go, one block from the neighborhood marché, and quiet-ish streets gave the girls a little more room to wander.
Homeschooling: no school, still on summer vacation
Day 2
Today was rainy, rainy, rainy so today was not the picnic at the Tulleries that I had envisioned for our first day in Paris. Instead we visited the Rodin Museum (a Dan request) and the Leandro Erlich exhibit at the Grand Palais (an Anne request). We were intrigued by the clever illusions that Leandro Erlich created with his art installations and loved the opportunity to wander through them ourselves. Great stops for our crew.
Lesson Learned: Sometimes the metro or a taxi is the way to go. Though the walk from the Grand Palais past the Arc de Triomphe and back to the apartment in Neuilly was beautiful, it was tooooooo long for little legs. Very tired legs meant someone couldn’t sleep, and that same someone does not suffer quietly. Perhaps we don’t need to walk all of Paris in one day…
Homeschooling: Happy first day of school, L & P! Girls started the day with morning studies, then learned about Rodin &
Day 3
Versailles: The girls have heard me talk about picnics after church at Versailles as a child. So today we took the train to Versailles to see the chateau and wander the gardens. How did they like the chateau? L would very happily move in.
For me, it was the gardens that blew me away! Listening to the baroque music play while the fountains were running was truly magical. We loved the way walking through the garden hedges would suddenly open up to a grand courtyards where Louis XIV once held concerts and balls.
Homeschooling: No formal homeschooling today, but we did learn a lot from our “field trip” to Versailles.
Day 4
Notre Dame: After school lessons in the morning, we headed out to visit The Notre Dame Cathedral and climb the bell tower. The cathedral was much more crowded than I remembered from previous visits, but still as beautiful. The views from the top of the bell tower were stunning and very, very, very high.
Homeschooling: Morning studies and learning about the history of the Notre Dame (Did you know that it was built on a site of a Roman temple?)
Day 5
Quick morning studies, because we had places to go and things to do. Reward for starting school was hot cocoa with chantilly cream and scrumptious raspberry croissants - yes, Carette lived up to the hype. Then a walk over to the Arc de Triomphe, where we climbed to the top for another beautiful view of the city.
Came back to the apartment for a little down time and squeezed in a bit more study time (tough to practice typing while riding the metro).
Before dinner, we visited the Tuilleries Gardens where P got surprising close to catching a pigeon. As we headed for the metro, we happened past the English Bookstore and that was what we needed - actual, physical books to get our girls back into the excitement for reading. And now they have one request: to take the books to the green grass to read. One teacher mom’s heart is happy.
Homeschooling: morning & mid-day studies & learning about Napoleon at the Arc de Triomphe
Day 6
Everyone was exhausted today. We’ve been up for late dinners almost every night. Some of us have only just managed to get over jet lag (windows open to noisy restaurants across the street don’t make sleeping easy). Some of us were complaining about tired legs from the moment she woke up. And we’ve all been out and about a ton each day.
So today, we took it easy - slow, morning studies at the apartments followed by an afternoon at the Louvre. Note to self: a crowded non-air conditioned museum on a 90+ degree day isn’t the way to do this again. But you know what makes it better….gelato after the museum :)
Homeschooling: morning lessons & art history and ancient civilizations at Louvre
Day 7
Today we did the #1 thing both L & P wanted to do. We saw Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower. And it was amazing! P’s favorite was dancing on the glass floor on the first floor of the tower (terrifying, if you ask me). And dinner was an absolute winner - sushi push-pops. I’ve never seen these before and it is brilliant. Think ice cream push-pop, but with sushi inside. Just push the sushi up and take a bite. Yum!
Homeschooling: morning studies
Day 8
No school today. Instead I took the girls to my old town, Chatou. We ate lunch by the Seine, walked to my old house, and showed them the park where I played.
Homeschooling: afternoon studies to finish up blog posts and news reports about Paris
Day 9
And our time in Paris comes to an end. Time to pack our bags and catch the airplane for Croatia.
Homeschooling: no school today, just praying we have no hiccups in our travel today.