Ever since we took our kids to France 6 years ago in the summer of 2019, we have planned to do another family trip to France. Calendars, finances, and plans aligned this year for a family France trip in February! Jeff had plenty of personal leave days saved up, and the kids all had good enough grades to miss 8 days of school. Two days after high school boys' swim season ended, the five of us flew to Paris for 10 days of pastries, history, art, views, trains, secondhand smoke, and walking. It was a whirlwind, and it will take far more than a single blog post to document satisfactorily. For now, I'll post some highlight pictures and the breakdown of what we did:
- Monday, February 10th: travel day!
- 4am: left home for the airport
- 6am: 90 minute flight from Pasco to Salt Lake City
- 2:30pm: 10 hour flight from Salt Lake City to Paris
- Tuesday, Feb 11th: travel day #2
- 8:30am-ish France time: our plane landed in Paris [WA-to-France time zone differential: 9 hours]
- 1:30pm: sleepy 3.5 hour high speed train ride from Paris airport south to Marseille
- 5pm: arrive in Marseille, metro and walk to our Airbnb
- Wednesday, Feb 12th: jet lag strikes!
- Morning solo run along the Mediterranean
- Family lunch and walk around Marseille's harbor, Vieux Port
- Naptime
- Family walk up, up, up to Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica
- Thursday, Feb 13th: Calanques hike!
- 10am: 50 minute Marseille city bus ride to the end of the line to the trailhead
- 11am: glorious family hike to the Mediterranean in the Parc National des Calanques!
- late lunch back in Marseille
- Sunset family walk & pastry purchase in Marseille's Vieux Port
- Friday, Feb 14th: Lettres Marseille run and travel-to-Paris day!
- 7:05am: Shaina's solo run adventure began! I rode the metro to the end of the line and ran to the Hollywood-style Marseille letters up on a hill.
- 9:12am: I arrived back at the Airbnb.
- 10am: We checked out of our Airbnb and took the metro to Marseille's Gare (train station).
- 11:54am: 3.5 hour high speed train ride to Paris.
- 3:30pm-ish: 2 mile walk through Paris to our Airbnb, since we had time to burn before check-in.
- 7:30pm: Valentine date walk around Les Halles, near our Airbnb.
- Saturday, Feb 15th: Paris day 1-- two faves!
- Sunrise run along the Seine!
- 12pm: Notre Dame Cathedral
- Musee d'Orsay
- Walk to Decathlon, our favorite European sporting goods store.
- Sunday, Feb 16th: Versailles
- 8am: 50 minute train ride from Paris to Versailles
- 9am: 1 mile walk from train station to church
- 9:30-11:30am: church in one of the two large Versailles wards!
- Lunch & 1.75 mile walk to the Chateau de Versailles
- 4pm: 50 minute train ride back to Paris
- Monday, Feb 17th: triple tourism day
- Morning run with Rose to the Eiffel Tower along the Seine!
- Family walk up to Sacre Coeur
- 2 hours in the Louvre
- Afternoon naptime/rest at our Airbnb
- Nighttime family outing to the Arc de Triomphe
- Tuesday, Feb 18th: Eiffel Tower!
- Morning family trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower!
- Walk and lunch
- Afternoon naptime at our Airbnb
- Early evening family stroll & souvenir shop around Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cite
- Wednesday, Feb 19th:
- Shaina solo morning run up to Sacre Coeur
- Musee des Egouts de Paris: the Paris Sewer Museum
- Long family walk along the Seine & lunch
- Centre de Georges Pompidou: modern art museum
- Thursday, Feb 20th: Last day in Paris/tired day
- One last run along the Seine
- Les Invalides: Musee de l'Armee (army museum) & Napoleon's tomb
- Lunch and walk the Champs-Elysees
- Friday, Feb 21st: travel home!
- 7am: left our Paris Airbnb; took the metro and a [crowded] train 55 minutes to the Paris airport.
- 10:20am: 10.5 hour flight from Paris to Seattle
- 3.5 hour layover in Seattle
- 2:30pm: 45 minute flight from Seattle to Pasco
- 3:30pm: Grampa Dan picked us up in Pasco at the Tri Cities Airport.
- 4:45pm: HOME SWEET HOME [time awake: 22 hours]
PICTURE HIGHLIGHTS: I took 977 pictures on this trip, so selecting a few highlights is NOT easy, especially since I've been awake since 3am Pacific Time. I plan to take my time sifting through the memories to formulate blog posts about our family adventure in France, so here are 30 highlight pictures for now:
Vieux Port in Marseille, with Notre Dame de la Garde on the hill in the background.
Amazing kebabs in Marseille: we had kebabs frequently throughout the whole trip. YUM.
Marseille: Notre Dame de la Garde.
Marseille behind us.
Mediterranean view in the Calanques National Park!
In a calanque by the blue blue Mediterranean.
In the wind up at Les Lettres Marseille!
Olympic rings in Paris!
Valentine date walk, with St. Eustache towering behind us.
Notre Dame at sunrise.
We got to go inside Notre Dame! It opened 2 months ago after nearly 6 years of restoration!
Hanging out with our buddy Vince at the Musee d'Orsay.
Decathlon!
The golden gates of Versailles.
The Hall of Mirrors in the Chateau de Versailles. We lost the ability to look normal in pictures early in the trip.
King Louis' backyard.
Running to the Eiffel Tower with Rose!
Sacre Coeur!
Inside the Louvre pyramid.
Mona!
The Arc de Triomphe!
Olympic Rings at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
Do you like our hat?
View from Sacre Coeur at sunrise.
Les Egouts! The sewer museum.
Walking through the hallway tubes at the Pompidou center to admire the city view.
View from the Pompidou tubes.
Jay loved the armor at Les Invalides. Also, he was taller than most of the knights there.
Paying our respects to Napoleon.
The Champs-Elysees: A fitting finale.
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