Paris: 1 City in 2 days with a 3 year old

Bon Jour!

Paris is a beautiful city that can be visited over and over again for the countless things to see and experience. I’ve been to the city twice before, once on a solo trip during college and again as a couple. Both times combined many of the touristy sights as well as off the beaten path adventures were covered. This time was primarily designed for K to experience it. So no museums, no tours, only fun!

Our Hotel

On our last night in Norway (continued from previous blog post), we received an email saying our apartment booking for Paris was cancelled due to overbooking …ugh! Now we were looking for last minute accommodation, luckily we found a deal with better reviews, in the same area and around the same price point.

Onward to Paris

Good byes are never easy… such was this where our stay at Aurora Borealis Observatory was made so homely and comfortable. The journey to Paris began early in the morning on Norwegian air with a connecting flight in Oslo. For a meal at Oslo airport don’t miss Jamie Oliver’s. For the second flight we weren’t able to book our check in luggage online due to some website issue and ended up paying 4 times the price. This flight was also a milestone for us as K sat through the entire duration from take-off to landing in her own seat. We reached Paris by evening and were welcomed by rain. Our usual commute would have been the metro but with a sleeping baby, luggage and rain we chose the luxury of a cab that took us straight to our hotel – La Clef Tour Eiffel.

Airport shenanigans

The Eiffel Tower

K’s knowledge of Paris began with one of her favourite books – Madeline. Then more recently with the infamous Peppa pig goes to Paris. So a day dedicated to Eiffel tower it was. First thing in the morning we took a walk to the Eiffel Tower, which was just ten minutes from our hotel. We knew this would be a magical memory for her and wanted to plan a photo shoot of her first visit. With the help of my dear friend Rinki and her brand Snapmytrip we did exactly that – Our little Madeline’s first trip to the Eiffel tower, beautifully captured. At first it was quite cold but as the sun began to show itself the day was more comfortable. She spotted a park on the way and decided Madeline would like to play there. We spent the rest of the day doing our own food tour, crepes, breads, cheese, sweets etc. Lunch was at a small café at which point K described Paris to be a very big city with very small cafes! After a nice nap was our second walk to the Eiffel tower, this time it was for the Carrousel. We must have rode each of the options on it at least twice.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Little Madeline in Paris

When in Europe have you really seen enough unless you walk till you get a shoe bite? Well we did. The pharmacy and grocery stores were conveniently located and carried Compeed blister stickers which were a life saver. We even bought some extra for future travels. We re-visited one of our favourite restaurants for dinner – Café Trocadero, for their French onion soup. Finally it was time for the eagerly awaited twinkling lights and climb (who am I kidding…Elevator) up the Eiffel tower. We booked the 9:45PM slot to go up as it was a special celebration of 130 years and fortunately wasn’t too busy at that time. Although the temperature went down to 3 degrees C compared to 15 degrees C during the day we were dressed adequately and thoroughly enjoyed the changing colours and twinkling lights on the tower.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Paris by night

Disneyland

Some of my fondest memories as a kid were holidays at Disney World, Orlando. This was a first for both K and her dad. Safe to say both were equally amazed. The park tickets were pre-booked on their website for a one day visit. We caught the train from Trocadero to Disney and reached by 10am. We were joined by our friends and their kids from Belgium, also a short train ride away. Thus began the adventure of 7 girls and 1 boy, first stop Fantasy land. The lines for the rides ranged from 20minutes to 40minutes. But the excitement was always through the roof. Some of the favourites were – Dumbo, Mad hatters Tea cups and Mickey Mouse house. After a trip with almost zero screen time (except for the airlines) as our cabin in Norway had no TV. We thoroughly enjoyed the cinema screen of mickey toons and then of course the mickey hugs were worth the wait. While K dozed off for a nap in her stroller we took a break for ourselves in Adventure Land. One ride that we did with a sleeping baby was the Pirates of the Caribbean… yes you read that right.

The last on agenda was the Disney Parade. It was extremely crowded but K was over the moon to see Anna, Elsa and the gang especially because she couldn’t find them in Norway where she saw everything else in the story, the castle, the fjords and the northern lights. After which we caught the train back in time for dinner.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

A day at Disney

Homeward Bound

Our last morning in Paris called for breakfast at Laduree. K overheard us talking about the awesome flavours of macaroons they have so of course she ate only macaroons and nothing else.

Breakfast at Laduree

Their packaging is also easy to carry along for family back home. We then checked out of our hotel and headed to the airport after a sad parting from our Winnie the Pooh balloon from Disney, which by the way it still on its way via cargo plane…  the only explanation that seemed to work at the time to leave it behind. The journey back was much shorter, two flights with a few hours layover and we were home.

• 

• 

• 

Au revoir…

More of Krythya’s Adventures here:
Chasing the Northern Lights and the Toddler above the arctic circle!

Egypt: The case of Mummy Vs. Mommy

A trip to the Land of the Himalayas

MOROCCO: Tagines, Tantrums and everything in between

Read More…