Confession: I’m writing Day 3 on Day 4 because day three ended at 1:30am on Day 4, which didn’t leave any room for late night writing. And with a post title that long, I feel justified in my exhaustion. I did manage to make a video before crashing.
Yesterday again lead to a late wakeup with a late start. We took the metro from Rue D’Amsterdam towards the island in the Seine. We arrived just before 11:30am only to find that our desired Seine boat ride was sold out, with the next available tickets at 2pm. We purchased six and shifted gears, in search of some “Take Away” lunch.
We always rely on the subway/tube/Metro whenever traveling in big cities, but this Metro has presented a challenge. The gates on the turnstile are super-quick, especially for kids. We are 2 for 3 of kids getting “eaten” by the closing turnstile gates. We’ve looked for the stroller lanes without luck. There might be a little metro PTSD working against us after this one.
We arrived back to Vedette Du Pont-Neuf with plenty of time to spare. We snagged seats up top and were quickly surrounded by a few elementary school field trips. Our kind of crowd.
The cruise was one hour long and traversed both sides of the island. We had great views of Notre Dame, the cathedral devastated by fire in 2019, now slated to reopen five years later in 2024.
After our boat ride, it was clearly time for cocktails and snacks. Amir has a knack for finding picturesque little spots off the beaten path. He spends months ahead of our trips watching YouTube videos, inspecting Google Maps and searching Instagram for inspo.
We stopped at Brasserie Des Pres for ice cream and drinks. The kitchen was closed (it was 3pm) but it offered everything we wanted. Fresh drinks, a selection of ice cream and sorbet, and decor to die for.
Amir and I were the rate limiters for our afternoon snack as we needed to get back to the apartment to get ready for my birthday dinner. When Amir told me we’d be traveling with three kids on my birthday, but it would save us a ton on flights, of course my gut reaction was “well then I want dinner at the top of the Eiffel Tower.”
I’d actually said it in jest… and it was 5 months ago… so I never expected anything to materialize. My husband listens when it counts. He learned that reservations open 90 days in advance, set a calendar reminder and snapped up a table for two.
With its two Michelin stars, Le Jules Verne is known worldwide for amazing views and unforgettable setting. You take a private elevator to the top – not only skipping the tourist line but avoiding it altogether. The restaurant is located on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, just above the Olympic Rings. The tippy top floor is an enviable private apartment of the late Mr. Eiffel. He was known for his posh and exclusive dinner parties. #aspirations
The front of the house staff outnumbered the guests by 2:1. Each table only had one seating per night. Our reservation at 7:15, lead us through a seven course culinary adventure that with wine and conversation, lasted well past midnight. At 11 and again at midnight, the tower lights up and flashes for just five minutes. We were lucky to catch both. Good job babe.
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France Day 4: The Louvre with Family Focus Tours
Embarrassingly, I only planned one thing on this trip – a kid-focused guided tour of The Louvre conducted by Alexandra, a child psychologist. Check out her list of family friendly tours for kids of all ages. She chose the Treasures Hunt tour for us – complete with clues to collect along the way and “treasure” to be unlocked at the end of our quest.
Alexandra is a professional. She came highly recommended in one of my favorite Facebook groups, Mama Docs Travel. They’ve delivered with great recommendations for past trips, so I knew we were in good hands.
I’ve taken a few art history courses back in my day, so it was satisfying to see so many familiar works of art. Ever since seeing La Guernica in Spain, I’ve understood that the in-person experience of a piece is just that – something to experience, not just look at.
Alexandra engages the kids at every step. She brought age appropriate booklets the kids could read, color and decorate with stickers. One favorite activity was creating our own fruit faces a la The Four Seasons by Arcimboldo.
Our tour lasted 3 hours, just in time for lunch. Alexandra was kind enough to recommend a kid-friendly crepería, Buckwheat. Offering both sweet and savory crepes, everyone in our crew found something they loved.
We had some trouble getting an Uber back to the apartment from the Louvre area – likely due to the thousands of people using up the bandwidth in the area. We walked a few blocks down and connected no problem. We’ve been using a combo of metro and Ubers this trip. The Uber Van is a perfect for with 6 seats and plenty of legroom for Amir. Our stroller folds up easily and tucks under a seat.
This afternoon we have to pack and prepare to leave Paris for Honfleur tomorrow. Somehow we’ve already come to the end of this first part of our French adventure. We’ve rented an AirBnB in Honfleur, in the Normandy region. As usual, we try to balance our busy city visits with a stop in the countryside to slow down and let the kids run around, and mom, dad and au pair relax.
Time to start packing if I wanted to catch any of the EuroCup match tonight…
~Steph
TeamLouka 