Hello Paris - Day 1

I have been to Paris before and had no great desire to go again, but S-i-L and the kids hadn't been. So we made it a destination for four nights. Our apartment was a little out of the city centre, but with a bit of walking and a little help from Uber we managed to see all that we wanted to see.

On our first outing we walked to Notre Dame Cathedral and wandered around the outside. We had no interest in queueing to go inside with 2 kids in tow. After Notre Dame we went to the nearby Saint Chapelle church which I didn't go to last time, but everyone told me how spectacular it is after I got home... So I was glad to get the opportunity to do that. And it was amazing!

Notre Dame

Notre Dame 

Notre Dame

Saint Chapelle - downstairs

Saint Chapelle - upstairs. Spectacular!

I used the Paris Underground a bit last time I was here, but it is ridiculously hard to navigate with a pushchair, so after one attempt (and carrying the pushchair and Miss L up and down several flights of stairs) we decided that we were never going to try that again! Instead we took an Uber across the Seine to Monsieur Bleu, a restaurant that had great reviews and boasted of excellent views over the river to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the restaurant was hugely over-rated, very expensive, and the views were blocked by trees (although there was no view from our table, trees or not). But we ate and refreshed, and then wandered over to check out the Eiffel Tower.

By the time we had seen enough there, rain was threatening. We headed to the Louvre to check out the pyramids but again, weren't prepared to queue with the kids to go in. I have been in before and S-i-L hopes to come back when the kids are older and she can leave them behind!

Pyramids at the Louvre

Just as we finished our circumnavigation of the pyramids the rain came pelting down! Along with several hundred other people we headed for shelter in the nearby streets and ended up in a cafe enjoying Aperol Spritzers while we waited for the rain to pass. Then we took a quick walk up the street to sample the local macaroons before heading back to our apartment for the evening.