Paris in a day!!

I had been wanting to get to France the whole time we've been here...I mean, it's SO close! Even with the relatively short distance, there was the whole business of getting there, not to mention dragging two small children around the city. Hmmmm... Well, a couple weeks ago I said "Why not?! Let's do it!" and Ryan made it happen. [What a fantastic husband I have!!]

We took the Eurostar train from London to Paris, which was a memorable experience in itself. We got the First Class tickets, and WOW was it worth it! Picture this: wide, comfortable seats, champagne (sodas in our case) being served before dinner, choice of dinner menu, hot towels - we just felt so...luxurious! The staff were so kind to change our seats to a 4-person facing section as well, which meant Lincoln could have his own seat.

Lincoln spreads out his stuff for the train ride


We were snapped back into reality when poopy diapers had to be changed (although there was a special private changing compartment), or when Lincoln got his hand squashed in the automatic sliding doors.

(it's a little hard to tell with his chubby hands :) but the left one was squished pretty badly. The band-aid is not part of the injury, Link is just really into band-aids right now)

We made it to Paris and took a cab to our hotel, which was quite a bit out of the city. It was wonderful to have a beautiful tour through "The City of Light". We saw all the major landmarks and took in the French ambiance.



The next day we bought some pastries and a baguette at a street market, went to the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Champs Elysees, ate some delicious ice cream at the Haagen Dazs restaurant, went to the Louvre, and took a river cruise on the Seine. Phew!! It was a perfect Fall day. Ellie was great the whole time and would just look around or sleep in the stroller. Lincoln did pretty well, especially since he was sick and also wanted to run around rather than sit. Ryan and I were champs with the stroller maneuvering and lifting up and down MANY stairs. (I never thought I could loathe subways or cobblestone streets so much)









We set off to come back home on Sunday, and 6 train/subway rides later we made it. Anyone who knows Lincoln knows how much he adores trains; he was in heaven. He would look out the window and point out all the interesting things and name all the colors of the other trains passing by. Usually a loud "Choo choo!" would be thrown in every few minutes. ;) Even after all the trains, when we got off the last train in Hove he was crying for more trains. Oh boy. Next time, maybe we'll just take a train somewhere and back just for Link. :)