In a word or two, amazing, incroyable, fabulous........Isabelle flew with ease, as usual, and we were off from Montreal for a 6.5 hour flight. She slept for most of it, and, with the time difference was raring and ready to go when we arrived at 9:30am, Paris time. We arrived at the apartment to meet Meredith at around Noon and we were off - shopping, checking out the neighbourhood, and visiting Notre Dame. No point in wasting time :) By the time we returned in the early evening, we had already amassed many Parisian outfits for her, and she had decided she loved all of the people, and their croissants!Hanging out on the metro with Dad!
Enjoying some wine in Montmartre
Checking out the sights with Auntie Mer
I wasn't sure when we booked the trip if it could be as lovely as the last time, being that we were honeymooning, but I was wrong. Staying in the same area as we had the first time meant that it felt like going to our favourite Parisian home - the same little marches, cafes, restaurants.......the shop where they sell my "Allison" perfume, the narrow streets, and the throngs of people out enjoying the latin quarter......until all hours of the night! The apartment we chose this time was great. It was on Rue St. Andre des Arts, and as soon as you walked throught the big double doors off the street, you entered the courtyard area, which our apartment was right off. No stairs, which was unbelievable. It had two really nice size bedrooms, a family room, kitchen and a great big bathroom. No bathtub, but a huge shower, complete with full size mirror and sitting area (great for shaving legs)! It was a quiet little oasis off a really busy street, so we had the best of both worlds. We were able to make any long distance calls we wanted, and we had access to the internet. Great, but not that necessary, since the next six days, we spent very little time in the actual apartment, and walked about for up to 9 hours a day.
First ever Carousel ride..
Sitting pretty at Place des Vosges - THE place to hang about in Paris....
We saw so many things, and having Meredith there for the first time was really special. I was afraid that she might be bored with a married couple and their baby, being that it is so party oriented in the Latin Quarter, but she seemed to have an absolute blast anyway, and was the perfect travel companion. Isabelle loved having her there, and she was a huge help to us keeping her busy, and carrying her around, helping to change and feed her, and occupy her when we were shopping. She loved Paris as much as we do, and I was so happy we got to experience it together. Next time, the entire family comes.
We managed to see almost all that we wanted to - The Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, Versailles, Place des Vosges, The Champs, Notre Dame, Bon Marche, Avenue Montaigne, Boat Tour of the Seine, Tuileries, Pompidou Centre, shopping in Les Halles, the Louvre....there is probably more, but for now, some of the fav’s included the day we spent at Montmartre. It was the annual wine festival as they bring in the Harvest. Everywhere on the streets of this quaint little town, there was wine, and cheese, oysters, escargots, breads and tons of people selling paintings......Meredith was often double fisted, sampling the wares:) It was also the semi final game of the World Rugby Championships that evening, so the French were ready to take on the Brits and out in full force to let everyone know! British Roses were seen everywhere - we felt so cosmopolitan! Isabelle tried her first Merry go Round, and loved it; was also a big fan of her Dad’s pancetta and cheese sandwich.
We also did the tour of Versailles - were totally impressed with the Hall of Mirrors which had been under renovation when we first visited. We took another tour of the entire grounds via the golf cart. Having seen Marie Antoinette, Mer really appreciated seeing all of the palace first hand, and we even checked out Marie’s private abode away from the palace, called Le Petit Triannon...not so small though! Isabelle was not such a huge fan of the golf cart, unless we let her play with the sound system, which played lovely classical music interspersed with the details of what we were seeing. We were often blasting the classical music as we toured around, based on Isabelle’s love of the volume control buttons. I’m sure the other visitors were very happy to also take part in the tour based on the way it rang across whatever area we were visiting.
The boat tour of the Seine was great since it was more like taking the metro, but by water. You could take it a few stops, visit what you wanted and then hop back on the next one that came to continue your way through Paris. We visited the Eiffel Tower, which Isabelle loved, and then hopped on a boat to hit the Champs D’Elysses for some shopping. That was the great part about being out all day - we could see some real Paris history, and then still shop to our hearts content......and what shopping there is to do. AMAZING!!!!!! We all picked up some really French fashion, and spent a half of a day on the Avenue Montaigne, right off the Champs, which houses all the big fashion names. Checked out all of the big ones, and even all got to make purchases. Mine was a Prada purse, Gilles got a Louis Vuitton tie, and Mer bought some Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses. We loved the French Maid in the D & G store - completely in uniform, walking around dusting things! The actual purchase made, you are completely spoiled by the sales staff, taken to the door when you are ready and presented with your lovely bag full of the spoils.......Not to be missed! Mer and I took off and did some alone shopping while Gilles hung out with Isabelle and we were nearly attacked in some stores based on all of the bags we were carrying from our recent purchases. Was reminiscent of Pretty Woman on a small scale :)
Every night we would retire to the apartment and make sure Isabelle had a normal dinner (most everything else was on the run somewhere...), and relax while we decided what to do the next day. We would go out to collect dinner at any one of the many take out’s on the street, and enjoy it in the comfort of the pad. We would often dress Isabelle for bed and take her out in the later evening for our favourite late night snack, GELATO. Not to be believed and not to be missed, Amoretto was right around the corner and worth every nightly visit we took. This is when Isabelle started with the “mmmmmm’s”. Mer would give her a bite from her cup, and Isabelle would literally scream “mmmmmmmmmm” to Meredith, pointing at the wanted object (always food, and in this case the gelato) until she would give her more. She still does it now whenever something catches her eye, or is particularly appetizing. It’s hilarious and was so unexpected the first time that we were in hysterics in the middle of the street.
The trip was a complete success, and we all had so much fun together. None of us wanted to go home, but for Isabelle and I, at least the trip to Halifax for Olan’s birthday was going to extend the party a little longer...........She was a truly great child and on the day time flight home to Halifax, did not fuss once, which is incredible considering she spent 6.5 hours confined to a chair and only took short trips up and down the aisle on her hands and knees for some well deserved respite. I had nightmares about the flight beforehand since the last one had been overnight, but it went really well, and Auntie Mer was such a big help that it flew by and we were in Halifax before we knew it.
