When we left for India in August, I would never have guessed that we would be doing a weekend in Paris but the opportunity presented itself, and we took it! Tyler had a work event to attend for 3 days and when he told me about it, he said, “Let’s do the weekend together in Paris.” We went back and forth on the decision knowing it was a bit pricey for just a weekend but let me say that not one of us regrets the decision to go. Words describing the weekend from the children were “awesome”, “dreamy”, and “great memories!”
We left around 2:00 a.m. on Friday morning and took a flight direct from Delhi to Paris. It was about 8 hours. It’s funny when you have traveled halfway around the world, 8 hours doesn’t seem long at all. When we told the children how long the flight was, they said, “That’s all?” We recall the days of our first trip from San Francisco to Hawaii and how we worried about the 5 hour flight and how our children would handle it — now they’re saying eight hours isn’t bad at all. It all comes from a change of perspective in their travels.
We arrived around 6am to some rain and a bit colder weather than Delhi. We stayed at the same hotel that Tyler’s event was located at the following Monday which was right in the heart of Paris. Since we were too early to check in, we dropped the bags and headed off to the Louvre, about a 10 minute walk from our hotel. We have taken our children to lots of museums and art museums have never been at the top of their list so, according to Thomas, “We just need to see the Mona Lisa and then we can go.” We got them to endure a little bit more than just the one painting and marveled at the talent that was displayed right in the museum with artists painting copies right next to the originals.
The weather cleared up perfectly for some great shots up at the top of the Arc d’ Triumphe that evening. We got the best views of the city with a beautiful setting sun.
Our visit to the Eiffel Tower was not as clear the next morning and a bit chillier making our stay up top pretty short. At one point, the boys separated from the girls and Hailey and I had tickets to the Broadway Musical, Beauty and the Beast and the boys had tickets to the PSG football match. We all returned from both events stating it may have been the most memorable part of the trip. The boys said the fans in Paris put the Chelsea fans (which they experienced last spring break in London) to shame as far as rowdy goes. They loved it and have their sights on trying to see a different match sometime next year in Europe. Hailey and I got to hear the French language spoken and sung for 2 1/2 hours in the musical and let me say that it was beautiful. Hailey is rethinking her decision next year to switch from French to Spanish.
Another big highlight of the trip was taking the train out to the Palace of Versailles. The difference between our boys and daughter really shined through on this trip. The boys didn’t find any use in pausing too long in any of the rooms — yet Hailey wanted to stop in everyone, take pictures of everything, and left dreaming of castles and palaces. The palace is amazing and impressive. To think it started out as a hunting lodge getaway.
So, Monday morning, reluctantly, the four of us left Tyler in Paris to do “work”, while we headed back to Delhi to arrive around midnight. None of us were quite ready to leave Paris. The boys were happy to eat real hamburgers and meatball subs at Subway and McDonalds (who goes to Paris to eat at these places…. well if you are a teenage boy without beef, these are the places you want to eat.) Hailey did not get enough street crepes and none of us got enough of the hotel breakfasts that were amazing. I am sorry, but the French truly know how to make a brioche and a croissant. One thing that I could not get over was just how orderly and calm it is there. Paris is a very large city but I believe having been living in the city of Delhi for a while now, that it didn’t seem large, crowded or very busy to me. It seemed so organized, clean and calm. It was truly an AMAZING weekend in Paris!
Brysons in India 