Thanksgiving in Paris



On the train to Paris

We have so much to be thankful for. We thank God everyday that we have plenty of food to eat, a warm place to sleep, a wonderful family, and many extra things to make life more comfortable.  I think Thanksgiving is a great American holiday to spend with family and close friends.  Unfortunately, since we live in Germany, it was just the three of us for Thanksgiving.

Snow view from the train

This year we decided to go to Paris for Thanksgiving.  If you are unable to spend the holidays with family you might as well go somewhere cool.  Although if we were able to spend the holidays with family we would choose that over traveling.  Tough decision but family does mean a lot to us.  On Thanksgiving morning we woke up to a nice snow fall. Thankfully our neighbor offered to drive us to the train station in what he called a "Blizzard." We took the ICE (high speed) train from Germany and it took around 3.5 hours to get to Paris.  We stayed in a kinder wagon, a special area reserved for parents with children and it was great.  It was a private room with only six seats and a table.  There was an area for them to walk around and play without being in the walkway or escaping.  Coming back from Paris there were technical problems with our ICE train so they put us on a SLOW French train with a transfer in Germany.  We ended up being two hours delayed and not getting home until 11pm.  Poor Caden was so tired as were we.  He didn't sleep on the train at all!  

On Thanksgiving we ate Beef Bourguignon and Coq Au Vin. For dessert we had Creme Brulee and Apple Pie.  I love eating and when I travel so much of my experience is the food I eat.  In France my favorite thing to do is sit in a cafe drinking coffee or hot chocolate and eating a nice dessert.  They have some of the best desserts in France.



We were really hoping to meet up with one of Collin's cousins but because of communication problems in Paris we were unable to do so. Thankfully we had a great time and are looking forward to hearing how her trip went once she's back in the States.  



Caden asleep on the Metro.



Traveling with a busy and adventurous toddler is a lot more challenging than traveling with a baby.  Thankfully Caden is a great traveler and is used to going places since we have traveled so much with him.  We still have to change up how we do things.  The metro in Paris is great when you don't have a stroller.  Collin got stuck trying to get the stroller through the tiny entrance a few times when the handicap gate was either unavailable or nonexistant.  We bought a new German stroller that is a full size American, but not the full size German with great shocks and adjusts nicely so your child can lay flat and you can adjust the feet as well.  We bundled Caden up nice when we went out and he was actually able to take a nap everyday in his stroller from 1 hour to 2 hours.  A few times he fell asleep while I was holding him whether we were on the Metro or walking around and I'd just lay him in his stroller and he slept like a baby. 

 


Collin & Caden on one of
the balconies at our hotel

We spent 4 nights in a 3 star hotel. We had a suite on the top floor (6th floor) with two balconies. We had three beds and a crib. They gave us that room because they didn't know how old our son was when we booked our room. It was a nice hotel except we didn't have a shower but a bathtub. That was interesting! The bath was nice for Caden but was not so nice for us. 



During our four nights, five days we went to Museum d'Orsay, the Louvre, Montparnasse Tower, Arc de Triomphe, walked along the Champs Elysees, night walk along the Seine River, sunset cruise along the Seine River, toured the Eiffel Tower, ate at Restaurant Tour Eiffel 58, located in the Eiffel Tower, and did some shopping. 

 

We were talking about our favorite things we did and funny enough it was eating - at the nice restaurant at the Eiffel Tower and a few of the other yummy restaurants, the Seine River Cruise, the Montparnasse Tower, and going to the various toy stores with Caden.  We liked the toy stores mainly because it gave Caden a chance to roam more "freely" and explore.  We found some wonderful gifts for him, one for Christmas this year and a few things for later down the road.  We had talked about going to Disneyland Paris but since it was snowing and raining almost everyday we decided to try and go in the spring when the weather is better.  We also enjoyed the museums although the Louvre was very challenging to get around with a stroller.  It's so huge that we felt like mice in a maze trying to find the very few elevators.  When you don't have a stroller it is still massive but a little easier to get around since you can use the stairs. 

 

Here are a few more pictures from our vacation.  I'll post more on Facebook.  I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! 

 Night walk along the Seine River

 Outside the Louvre

 Inside the mall part of the Louvre before going inside

 Enjoying hot chocolate and a yummy dessert at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant

 Top of Montparnasse Tower

 Eiffel Tower

 At the Restaurant Eiffel Tower 58