We decided to mix things up a bit this year for Christmas. Rather than flying west like we did last year, we decided to head east. Considering that we live in SC, you might be wondering how far east we could actually go. We crossed the Atlantic coast and kept going. All the way to Europe!
Our Christmas adventure started with Parker’s birthday. Knowing that he would spend most of his special day on an airplane, we decided to kick things off early at the Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse in Greenville. It seemed like the perfect place to start the day that would end up with us flying to Paris.
After breakfast, we drove to Atlanta, boarded a plane and headed to Paris. We arrived at CDG airport about the same time that Mom Mom did. From there, we hopped on a train to Gare du Nord train station where we caught the Eurostar across the English Channel. Upon arriving in London at King’s Cross station, we walked a couple blocks to the Pullman Hotel. After checking in, we walked around the neighborhood before eating an early dinner of Indian food. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by the famous Platform 9 3/4 where Parker and Ansel practiced their magic and ran through the wall. When we returned to the hotel, we were greeted with a cookie platter for Parker’s birthday!
The next morning, we woke up and boarded a Golden Tours bus so that we could see the sights of London. Our first stop was Westminster Abbey. We enjoyed walking around and learning about the Abbey. One of the vergers took an interest in Ansel and Parker and explained some of the important items and history to them including exactly where Queen Elizabeth sat during William and Kate’s wedding. After the Abbey, we walked past Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster and crossed the Westminster Bridge. From there, we jumped back on the bus and headed back to the hotel. For dinner, we went to a pub around the corner for a traditional meal of fish and chips.
Saturday, we took the subway to the Tower of London. We entered the tower and immediately checked out the crown jewels. From there, we took the Yeoman Warder tour and learned about the history of the tower. Afterwards, we walked through all of the tower buildings. After lunch, we moved on to the Tower Bridge. We were proud of Mom Mom as she was awarded an “I Did It” sticker for her bravery stepping out on the glass portion of the crosswalk. Of course, Parker and Ansel needed no incentive. The girls and boys went their separate ways after that.
With Harry and Meghan’s wedding announcement, Mom Mom had royal fever. Reminders of how Caesar Rodney famously rode his horse to vote for America’s independence so that we didn’t have to idolize the monarchy did nothing to quell Mom Mom’s interest. With than in mind, the girls were off to see Kensington Palace and to walk around the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Parker and Jay took the time to go to the British Museum where they saw the Rosetta Stone and other historical artifacts. We reconvened later that night for dinner at Prezzo. After dinner, Parker, Kristie, and Jay decided to see the city lights and headed down to Harrod’s. Luckily, they didn’t buy anything, but enjoyed walking through and seeing everybody in a spending frenzy.
We had a lot packed in for Christmas Eve. We began the day bright and early by heading over to the famous London Bridge for the London Bridge Experience. We learned about the history of the bridge from the actors and tour. Mom Mom got accused of being a witch by one of the actors (or was she an actor?). The tour was followed by a descent into the bowels of the underground for a scary experience through the tombs. Parker found it exciting and loved every minute of it!
Once we ascended back to street level, we decided to keep climbing and toured the UK’s tallest building, the Shard. Luckily, the clouds disappeared for a few minutes, and we were able to get a bird’s eye view of some of the sights that we had visited over the past few days.
Our next stop was a boat cruise down the Thames. But first, we had to check out another boat. We stopped by the Golden Hinde and explored the replica of Sir Francis Drake’s famous galleon. While exploring the ship, we ran into Father Christmas. He was kind and gave Parker and Ansel presents. Once we had seen the Golden Hinde, we ventured off to board our cruise. It was a bit cold, but Ansel and Jay opted for the top of the boat where they could get a clear view of the riverbank.
After the boat cruise, we stopped by St. Martin in the Fields church to do brass rubbings. We walked through Trafalgar Square on our way to an excellent dinner at Fish Works. We had a fabulous meal! Parker was hungry so he ordered the lobster and really enjoyed it. Afterwards, we walked down Regent Street and looked at the lights. It was a great way to spend Christmas Eve.
We woke up on Christmas Day to stuffed stockings. We kicked off Christmas day with breakfast at Plum and Spilt Milk. We spent most of the day catching up on our rest. Then we walked to Duck and Waffle for Christmas Dinner. Duck and Waffle was a fantastic experience where we dined on the 40th floor. We shared bacon wrapped dates, tuna, octopus, ravioli, sea bass, eel, and of course, duck and waffles. We decided to hail a hackney cab for the ride home due to rain (and so that we could all have another London experience).
Tuesday was our last day in London. Mom Mom had one more thing that she HAD to see. You guessed it, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the place where Princess Di married Charles. We enjoyed walking around the cathedral and listening to the audio tour. We climbed the steps to the dome and enjoyed playing with the Whispering Gallery. Parker, Ansel, Kristie, and Jay continued their climb to the top of the dome. It was great to get one more view of London before departing.
On the way back to the hotel, we all stopped by Buckingham Palace and then had one last pub meal before heading back to collect our things and head to Paris.
It was late when our Eurostar arrived in Paris. We gathered our things and began our walk to the Hotel Villa Lafayette. We weren’t sure where we were going when we left Gare du Nord and were relieved when we finally made it to the hotel. Exhausted, we checked in and then went out for Chinese food (we figured that Parker and Ansel could speak Chinese better than any of us could speak French).
Our hotel offered a really good breakfast. We prepared for our first day in Paris by filling up on croissants and cappuccinos. We needed it because the weather was cold and rainy. To get the lay of the land, we hopped on an Open Tour bus. Our first stop was the Sacred Heart Basilica. The view from the top of the hill was impressive and so was the church. The other tourists were not. We walked back to our hotel to regroup before heading back out to continue our tour of the city. Did I mention cold? We stopped for lunch (soupe à l’oignon and croque-monsiers) and then caught the subway to the Musee Picasso. Ansel and Parker had studied Picasso in school so they were excited to see some of the paintings.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and hopped on the subway to go to Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris. As we were walking up the stairs in the metro station, we had our first thrill of the day when a rat was coming down the steps! We made it to the surface and walked around Notre Dame. From there, we hopped on a bus to continue to see that side of Paris. We stopped at the Pantheon for a visit with some of its famous residents. First we walked around and marveled at the architecture and then descended down into the crypt. It was really neat to see the tombs of such legends as Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, and Alexandre Dumas. We continued our ride around Paris before hopping on a boat to see the sights from the Seine and then heading back to our hotel for what would be one of the highlights of our trip.
Parker had planned all along to treat us to dinner at the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at the Tower just as the sun was setting. We were amazed at what a zoo it was. Thanks to Parker’s VIP treatment, we didn’t have to stand in the extremely long lines that had formed. We took the elevator 57 meters up to the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant. We enjoyed the views, company, and food! It was a unique experience! Afterwards, we walked around the tower before descending to the bottom. The kids wanted to take the stairs down so we decided to comply.
There were still few more museums that we wanted to check out so we devoted the next two days to them. First on the agenda was the Musee d’Orsay. We enjoyed gazing at the Impressionist paintings throughout the gallery. The museum was hosting a special exhibit featuring Degas. It was exhilarating to see works such famous painters as Cassatt, Cezanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Seurat, and van Gogh.
Our next stop was the Musee de l’Armee. The museum was fascinating. Despite the warnings that we read, Jay made the mistake of getting bogged down in the exhibits of the early history of the French military. Like good soldiers, the troops trudged on through the French Revolution, Napoleon’s reign, and the World Wars. We finished up by seeing Napoleon’s tomb.
Saturday was our last day in Paris. If you have been keeping tabs, there is one glaring thing missing from a Paris itinerary. On our last day, we headed over to the Louvre. Parker was especially interested in the Egyptian art and hieroglyphics. We saw the Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa. We were fascinated with many of the other works of art and the building itself.
Following our visit to the Louvre and a wonderful lunch at a nearby cafe called Le Musset, we stopped by the Arc de Triomphe. Just like St. Paul’s, this was a great way to get one last look at the city before our return flight home. We capped off the evening at a cafe near our hotel. We realized that we hadn’t had escargot since we had been there so we ordered a round for the table. Everyone enjoyed them (except Mom Mom who abstained-more for us).
