My parents did a little more touring of
London before joining Matthew and I for a little while. After they joined us,
Mom and I went and picked up a pizza for Matthew before we had to head over to
the train station.
Kim had a breakfast meeting with her
co-workers, so her crew woke up early and headed out to meet up with them. They
enjoyed some sights along the way and then we met them back at the train
station.
As I mentioned, Aunt Sandi and Carrie
decided not to go to Paris with the rest of us, so we parted ways for a few
days. They had some adventures in England and saw things on their bucket list.
Just before Kim arrived at the train
station, I realized that I didn’t know where my passport was. I freaked out because
the location that I thought it was in, the zipper was open, and there is a lot of
theft in the area… so I thought someone may have stolen it. We looked in all
the areas it could be and then I remembered I had put it in Matthew’s backpack when
we went out one night… and low-and-behold there it was, safe and sound. We
located it just in time to go through security and board the train.
After our couple hour ride to Paris,
we were able to locate two large taxis that was able to fit all of our luggage.
We crammed in and headed to our hotel. Of course, being in a new place, I
enjoyed all the views along the way and our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Right
next to our hotel was the Hôtel national des Invalides, the museum is to one of
the largest military history and art collections in the world, offering a
unique overview of the history France. Napolean’s Tomb is also in that
location. Matthew was able to get a history lesson of the area from the nighttime hotel staff member.
The hotel was quaint hotel, but elevator was very small and would only fit two people or one person with one bag, so it took quite a while to get the bags to the room. Matthew and I were on the 3rd floor and so he went up with a bag and then sent the elevator down and I sent him the other bags. Finally, we made it to the rooms… which were a lot smaller than other rooms, but we made it work. We also managed to find a way to keep Matthew’s meds cold (Kim had a fridge this time). After everyone had a chance to settle in and rest, we met back up to go out to dinner. Our original plan was to go to an Italian restaurant, but it was packed so we settled on one next to it that was very friendly when we passed by. Café La Tour Maubourg ended up becoming our favorite restaurant and we ate there often.
After dinner, most of us decided to
walk to the Eiffel Tower to see it at nighttime with all the lights on. Our waitress
informed us that on the hour, the lights would sparkle and even showed us where
we could see it from nearby in case we didn’t make it on the hour. It was a
nice walk, especially after traveling all day. Matthew opted to go back to the
hotel… he did get a little lost and for a moment thought we were all locked out
of the hotel. Thankfully, he was able to figure it out and find his way to the
correct hotel. I didn’t stay out too long since I wanted to get back to
Matthew.
Tuesday, July 29th, we had
a full day touring Paris schedule. We started off the day early going to Notre-Dame.
This was one of the things Matthew was the most excited for on the trip. He had
been to Notre-Dame previously but wanted to see it now that it had been
restored. It was all new to most of us and some of the crew had no clue that we
were going to a church… Thankfully they had some extra clothes to put over
their outfits that were not going to be allowed into the church. We spent about
an hour touring inside and out the church, taking pictures and marveling at the
beauty. Afterwards, we found a restaurant to get a snack, while waiting for a couple
that were late joining the crew and needed to be there to get the Hop-on, hop-off
tickets. After they had their tickets we were no longer going to wait for them
if they were late.
The Hop-on, Hop-off bus allowed us to
go to all the main attractions throughout the city. You could get on and off whenever
you wanted to. While on the bus, they gave a tour of Paris which was engaging
and told a lot of the history. We started out sitting up top but as the day
proceeded it was a lot busier and so we would just sit down below where there
was more room.
After our adventure at the Eifel
Tower, Matthew was done for the day. The only reason he lasted as long as he
did is because he knew how important it was to me that he did the Eifel Tower
with me. I told him that the rest of the tour I could do with out him… and so
he caught a taxi and headed back to the hotel. He was in so much pain. I love
that he is willing to keep living even with all the pain he is in, but it
breaks my heart that he has to endure so much pain to live. It is such a battle.
The next portion of our trip was a river
boat ride. We had already done one in London, but wanted to do one in Paris also.
The London tour was hilarious… unfortunately, this one did not live up to
London. In order to hear the tour, you needed to have a cell phone, and my
battery was dying so I wanted to save it for pictures (I had forgotten my
external charger at the hotel). So, I heard nothing about the history of Paris throughout
the tour. It was a relaxing boat ride and we saw some neat views, but I would have
enjoyed listening to the tour as well. Part-way through the tour a couple
people went right outside our window and stood there for half an hour or so
which ruined our ability to take pictures so that was also a bummer.
Wednesday, July 30th,
people went their separate ways for the day. Kim and Keb headed to Paris Disney
with Heather and her crew. This is the one thing that Elizabeth chose as part
of her graduation present. They had a blast going on all the rides and Kim said
she enjoyed it even more than our Disneyland.
Mom and Dad decided to book a tour to Normandy.
They walked a couple miles to catch the bus and spent the day driving to Normandy,
learned about the history, saw the sites, enjoyed the history and then drove
back to Paris, and walked back to the hotel. They were exhausted when they
returned but loved every minute of their experience.
Matthew and I took advantage of the
day and rested. Matthew needs rest days built into the schedule and so I
decided to spend the day resting with him too. I am so glad that I did. When I
am on the go too much, I get sick, so resting today prevented me from getting
sick (like some of the others did). We woke up and had breakfast then went back
to bed. We got up and had lunch, then went back to bed. Matthew did pick up his
necklace that he bought for his anniversary gift. We were not very hungry for
dinner since I had a crepe for desert at lunch... so we went out for ice cream… perfect way to
spend the day if you ask me. While resting in bed, we were able to watch the
video of Mason being honored as one of the leaders of his platoon. It is so
exciting to look for pictures of him and watch his progress.
On July 31st, we woke up
early to go to the Catacombs. Kim and I stayed up late one day to secure the
tickets since they sell out so quickly. Originally, we were going to go on a
different day, but they had sold out before we realized they were even for
sale. We learned though and were able to secure them for our last day in Paris before
heading back over to London.
Once again, a couple of people were
late, and so it was a bit stressful waiting for them to arrive. They barely
made it before we entered. I for one will be glad when we are no longer dependent
on others showing up on time. I am not one that gets places on time all the
time, but for things like this, I like to be early and not leave people
hanging.
We had just the right amount of time
to explore the Catacombs. It was a bit earie knowing that they were all bones
of people. We were told multiple times not to touch the bones, but they had
nothing to worry about… I had NO desire to do such a thing.
Of course, a few people decided not to
go… including Matthew since there were so many stairs and walking and he knew
it would be too much for him. Instead, he rested back at the hotel until we returned.
On the way back, Mom, Dad, and I walked to get some exercise. We returned to
the hotel, got our luggage, and headed to the train station to head back to
London. It was a fun side trip to Paris…
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