5 Abroad: August 2014

We booked tickets for a short stay in Paris on our way back to Jakarta from our yearly summer trip to Texas. We weren’t sure how the trip would work out, but luckily, everything went smoothly. Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was probably the worst I have seen in terms of getting through immigration. They had literally one booth open to process the hundreds of people coming through immigration. Once we were through immigration, we collected our ridiculous number of bags and proceeded towards the train station to a place that would store our excess bags for the few days we were in Paris. It was expensive but worth it not to drag 5 large suitcases around Paris.
We rented a cute apartment on airbnb.com. The price was very reasonable and we had a comfortable stay. We wanted to take the train to the apartment, but the line for the train tickets was really long so we just hopped in a taxi.
We arrived Sunday morning and had a fairly low-key day. Doss walked down the street and bought some pizza for lunch. Later we took the kids to a nearby park where we could get a view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We also walked around the neighborhood near the apartment and ate dinner at a Middle-Eastern restaurant. I had a kebab. The portions were quite generous and the food was good.
We were all up early the next morning. After being awake a few hours, we decided to go back to bed for just a little while. The next thing we knew, it was already 1:00pm! I was afraid we had squandered our only full day in Paris. Turns out, there was nothing to worry about. We had pizza for lunch and then headed out to see the sights around 3:00pm. We walked to the Belleville metro station and caught the metro to the Hotel de Ville. From there we walked to all the different sights…Notre Dame, the Louvre, and of course the Eiffel Tower. It rained off and on during our excursion so we got wet plus the kids were cold since the temperature in Paris this time of year was cool. Still, we had a great adventure walking along the Seine and taking in the sights. We made it to the Eiffel Tower just before dark. Doss bought us tickets for a boat ride on the Seine. Joseph and I took lots of pictures of Paris at night. We finally made it home around midnight so we really did make the most of our one full day in Paris.
The next day we slept in and then checked out of the apartment before noon. We went to a nearby park and then had some lunch at another Middle-Eastern restaurant. Then we caught a cab to the airport. We had a super short stay in Paris, but it was still a really great trip. I am glad we did it. I hope we can come back another time and actually go in some of the art museums. The Impressionists are my favorite artists so I would love to see the paintings/sculptures of the many French artists that I have always admired.
Here are a few black and white photos from our trip. When I get more time, I will post more pictures…in color.

View of a café from the balcony of the apartment we rented.