Last days in Paris

We said goodbye to Nancy and Jean-Claude on Friday morning and took the train from Bordeaux to Paris. The TGV makes everything ao accessible. 

We had a little snack by the Sorbonne before checking into our hotel. We were able to get a room in the same hotel where my mom and Nancy had lived together in the 60s. Our hotel room was two flights up and directly over their old room. What a treat!

We wanted to explore rue Cler so we took the metro over there, but were disappointed that most of the shops were closed for the august vacations. We ended up walking around Paris and had dinner in an adorable restaurant in a little passageway near the metro Odeon. 

We even visited Hannah’s favorite climbing wall and the deportation museum. 

Saturday morning, Hannah and I were up bright and early to meet her friend Ninon at the tuilleries garden. Alice came with Ninon’s dad and we had a fun time watching the girls have a blast together. They played in the park, sipped on hot cocoa and ate sugar packets, jumped on the trampolines, did the magic house ride at the carnival, and my mom joined us for lunch in the tuilleries. 

We hopped on a bus to Giverny and loved seeing Monet’s gardens and house. Everything was gorgeous and in bloom. 

We headed back to Paris and walked around the seine to show my mom and Hannah the Paris Plages. We ended up having dinner on île de la cité. 

Sunday we met Ninon and Alice at the cité de sciences in la vilette. The girls had fun racing down the dragon slide, exploring a submarine, and doing a bunch of hands on activities in the museum. 

Mom, Hannah and I, took the metro to St Germain and we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Les Deux Magots. We walked along boulevard St Germain and did some last souvenir shopping in the latin quarter. We took Hannah to the Luxembourg gardens for one last playtime at the playground. She found two English-speaking playmates and even got Tommy’s contact info in Ireland if we ever take a trip that way. 

While we were sitting on a bench in the Luxembourg gardens, Hannah said to me, “Why don’t we move to France for a year?  I would love that!” Well, that made up for all of the crankiness, struggles, fights... in just one question— Looks like my little girl loves France. 

and now we’re on the plane, flying back home for me to start work this week, and Hannah will go back to school next week. It’s been an adventure filled with highs and lows. but Hannah now has the travel bug and sure loves France. We’ll definitely have more adventures together to come.