Littles in Paris: 2 Many Trains Running
Family
“Each member of the family in his own cell of consciousness, each making his own patchwork quilt of reality - collecting fragments of experience here, pieces of information there.”
-Toni Morrison
When I decided for my 35th Birthday, I wanted to spend it in Paris, I was half joking initially. Then when I looked up the plane tickets and the hotel for that weekend, I decided to book the trip. Holy cow! I thought to myself, I am actually going to spend my birthday in Paris, France. I had to pinch myself many times leading up to the weekend and a few times while we were there. Living overseas makes dream destinations so much more accessible and doable. So, the Littles were set for Paris and on the day of departure (all the way to the arrival), we experienced so much unexpected turbulence (and we weren’t even on a plane yet). We signed up for a shuttle to take us to the airport from post, which was free of cost. However, when we arrived at the airport, we struggled to find our check in counter for our flight. After looking closely at the booking, we realized we were in the WRONG darn airport! Are you kidding me?! How in the world could we miss that? Well, as it turns out, there is more than one airport in Venice and Marco Polo was not our airport. So, we had to find a way to get to the actual airport. Thank God we opted to take the earliest shuttle, which at the time seemed a bit much considering there was a later shuttle that would get us there just before our flight with some time to check in and all the other pre-flight processes. However, we went went the earlier flight which would put us at the airport with 4 hours to hang out before our flight was scheduled to depart. Rather be safe than sorry, right?! Now, getting to the RIGHT airport… We checked the busses, seemed a bit expensive, since the correct airport was 45 minutes away. We checked the taxis and what do you know, just as expensive…so we opted for the taxi since the busses ran on schedules and we really wanted to get to the airport right away. When we arrived at the second and final airport, we wanted to check in and after standing in line for a while, we were told we couldn’t check in for our flight until 2 hours just before the flight was scheduled to depart. Ok, no problem. We sat and waited for just over an hour to check in, which was fine because we brought breakfast with us and the children had devices. When it was time to check in we got back in line. When we reached the counter we learned that we HAD to check in online through their app or pay 50 euros per person to check in at the counter. Wait, what?! Where they do that at? 😲 I’ve never had to PAY to check in at the CHECK IN COUNTER at the airport. So, we had to move off to the side to download an app and check in. Oh, and we had to do it in 30 minutes or we would HAVE TO PAY the 50 euros per person anyway. While doing that we run into a screen that asks us PAY for a seat selection😳. After asking for clarity we were made aware that the seats are secured for the mother and children with seats next to each other but that daddy had to select a random seat and that it shouldn’t cost if its random. Well, the app wouldn’t let us and insisted that we pay for a selected seat. Then when we gave in to following through with it, although we were told it shouldn’t ask us to pay😒 it wouldn’t accept any of our cards, kept getting declined. Addresses double checked, ample money in each account associated with the cards we tried. Oh and after all this, that 30 minutes had run out. We took the issue to the representative at the counter who had been helping us out. She called her superior and come to find out, there was something funky going on with the app and it wasn’t taking cards somehow. So they waived the fee and checked us in at the counter. Finally we get through security and to the gates. All gates were in the same area because it was a small airport and still with the plane taking off in less than an hour the gate was not posted so we had to sit and wait for that to be revealed. While waiting, I check the booking for the hotel and why is it CANCELED?! When did that happen?! So, now we don’t have anywhere to stay upon arriving. Decided to call the hotel we booked to investigate. After gaining a little insight I just wanted to get it rebooked ASAP before taking off and landing and not knowing where we would be staying. Turns out…the same hotel that I had booked through a booking platform was HALF the cost booking directly through the hotel! Only the hotel can grant us a discount for staying at their hotel with our children. Yes, they give you a handsome discount when you stay there and bring your KIDS! (Yep, I include more deets about where we stayed later in this article) :) Everything happens for a reason! Back on track. To top it off. there was two open seats on my row across from the three seats the girls sat in. Hubby sat in one! God is good! We arrived in Paris on a long bus ride from the airport separated from one another due to the bus being so packed. We got off of the bus and headed for the metro. Over the course of the weekend we rode on soooo many trains. Too many to count! And some we had to run to catch. We grabbed pizza from the shop down the block and walked around a bit.
Parents Night Out
A night in Paris with the Parents! :)
That night, the girls REALLY wanted to just hang out in the room but Daddy and Mommy had other plans. I mean, we were in PARIS! So, we brought my bday in by getting out and visiting the LOUVRE at night. So romantic! Then we walked over to the Love Lock Bridge, the famous bridge where lovers place locks and throw their key in the water. Fun fact, the one in Paris is actually not the original Love Lock Bridge. The original is actually in a small town in Italy and was duplicated in Paris. The one in Paris is made famous because of its appearance in film. The locks are no longer allowed and have been removed and are being removed from other bridges all over due to structural damage the numerous locks have caused over the years. The bridges were not built to hold all the extra weight of the locks that have been added over time. (Don’t worry, the girls were perfectly fine and safe. They FaceTimed us a few times and we were not out long. 😉)
Manifesting my ish!
Paris was a dream manifested for me. There was MUCH walking, but we were fortunate that the weather, while it rained a bit, was favorable for walking and being out and about. It was a little chilly and overcast, refreshing for a pregnant lady who gets hot quickly 😂. Before visiting Paris we gave cultural arts assignments to the kids. Each were assigned popular landmarks to research and a coloring page of the monuments. They had the Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, The Louvre, and the Mona Lisa. The kids watched episodes of Peppa Pig and Madeline to get some info on their monuments. Then, they were asked to present their findings. When we got there they were able to make connections between what they learned and what they saw for themselves. On the way back home, we took different routes and travel options that we had not known to take upon arriving and were better prepared. The kids were shocked when we had to wait in the train station and daddy whipped out a comfy chair from his backpack that he quickly assembled. They were like, “daddy, you brought a CHAIR that fits in your back pack?” To which he replied, “It’s only for your mama!” 😍 In another post, I’ll share the difference between a daddy pack and a mommy pack. Between the two of us we are prepared for everything! We ate some of the best pizza and gyros ever which was located not too far from Notre Dame, just outside of the subway that brings you right up to Notre Dame. We missed going into the Louvre (missed it by a few minutes because we were outside doing a photoshoot lol). We really wanted them to go into the Louvre to be able to see the Mona Lisa painting. Next time! We also had visiting the Catacombs on our list which was literally the only thing the kids were truly excited to do…an underground tour with skulls and bones…go figure! We were all really excited to tour the Catacombs though. Next time! So, needless to say we WILL be planning a trip back to Paris in the near future to see what we didn’t get to see and of course to visit Disney! If you are traveling to Paris soon, and you plan to visit certain places, make sure you get tickets for everything online in advance. Due to Covid, many places have a requirement to do things online and there’s lots of changes and limitations. On our flight back, daddy got separated from us again. He was assigned a seat up at the front while ours were together at the back. Just before take off I noticed a whole row, 6 seats separated by an aisle that was EMPTY (gasp). And this was a packed flight. Like, a whole group missed the flight or something. I hopped on the opportunity by asking the stewardess if no one else was coming could my family sit in the empty row to be together. To which he said, “absolutely.” It happened again! We managed to stay together on a flight that had us sitting separate. We prayed for that to be the case like it was on the flight there. Prayer Answered. The world will have many opportunities that will exist to separate you from your purpose, from your family, from your spouse, from your dreams, from God…but God will always provide. Trust the process. Have Faith and press forward!
Where we stayed!
“Where you lay your head is as important as everything else you plan to do".”
We absolutely LOVED our stay at the Meininger Hotel! We chose this hotel because of its modern appeal and its kid-friendly environment. The kids LOVED the bunkbeds in the room. What truly won them over is the built-in light fixtures with charging stations they have installed on each bed. My oldest actually requested to stay somewhere 5-star with really good wifi when she learned we would be visiting Paris. All three, even the 5 year old, asks for the wifi code immediately arriving ANYWHERE. Sheesh. So this hotel definitely ticked their boxes, albeit a short list. As for the parents, we have other concerns, like is the tv a smart tv that we can connect our devices to for the kids’ movie watching preferences or can we at least cast our devices to it. I know, I know, the trip is not about staying in the hotel and watching tv…HOWEVER we know our kids and when we retire to the room in the evening, none of them are too worn out no matter what we do. Also, mommy and daddy like to step out from time to time for parent’s night out or just a quick walk that we know the little ones will complain about. So, setting them up for success is always a priority. We are also looking for it to be Pristinely CLEAN and comfortable. Listen, when I lay down I want to be able to fall asleep comfortably. I WILL NOT be able to do that if the room is sketchy. It WILL ANTAGONIZE me to no end. It was a great stay and with the next few trips we’ve planned (Amsterdam, Switzerland, Germany, London and the ones here in Italy - Milan and Rome), we will be booking with them and rating our experiences. They have 30 hotels across 20 cities in the EU. That makes me happy. The staff was helpful and had such positive attitudes. I told them it was my birthday and asked if they did anything special…on our last day they came in to replace towels and left me such a sweet (pun intended) surprise. Balloons, a note, a two vouchers and a cute little jar of honey!
Birthday Love!
Thank you Meininger Hotel Paris Porte de Vincennes…so thoughtful!
Follow them on instagram: @meininger_hotels
Even if you don’t live in the EU or aren’t planning a trip over here, you can at least be inspired by their lovely content which offers so many destination and attraction ideas.
Check out the gallery to see our trip in pictures!
