I see London, I see France

Bonjour! Thankfully we made it to Paris without any shenanigans OR lost luggage. Our flight was on time, our driver was there at the pick-up and not at a ridiculous hour.

I found Paris to be an interesting place- a huge, sprawling city with so many famous and well known pieces of art and landmarks. After getting in we had dinner at our hotel and went to bed to start exploring bright and early the next day.

Perks of our Parisian hotel- the breakfast was ah-mazing! Fresh orange juice, warm croissants, coffee to die for. Cons- the hotel room I was in with the kids was oh so itty-bitty. We barely fit a crib in it plus we had our 4 massive suitcases, 5 backpacks, 2 lunch boxes and the car seats. Needless to say we didn't spend much time in there, and as a heads-up when traveling with children it wouldn't hurt to find out how big the rooms actually are.

Day 1: The morning of our first day we hit up the most traditional landmark of all- the Eiffel Tower. Big J has been reading this Magic Tree House book about Paris and the Eiffel Tower for months- literally. He spouted out a good chunk of facts for us and was probably the most excited to see it. We did have to wait in line to buy elevator tickets to the top- but only about 20 mins. Not too bad. Unfortunately we picked a bit of a dreary day to visit the place, the weather was a bit overcast and slightly rainy. Nevertheless the view was wonderful and it was so nice to actually be there.

first view!

from the bottom

We took the elevator to the tippy top and got to experience our first look at the city in the daylight. It was a nice way to start the trip to get a better feel of the city's layout, famous landmarks and more!

our hotel was right behind this structure

at the top with Little J!

Overall Eiffel Tower was a win! Not sure why anyone would be disappointed with it but I guess there have been stranger things in life..

After we ate lunch nearby- I took a 20/30 min walk over to the Musee d'Orsay. The Orsay is a more recent addition to the Paris scene. The museum opened in 1986 and is a former train station. It holds mostly french art created and dated between 1845-1915. It also houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces. This means Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, Seurat, Cezanne and more.

view from the top- prob wasn't supposed to take this, whoops!

The whole building is gorgeous, the artwork is incredible and it is a great museum to be able to take in, in just a few hours. My sister and her husband visited Paris a few years ago and she had suggested downloading some of Rick Steve's audio tours/pod casts. I did, and am so glad for it. I listened to one podcast here at the Orsay where it touched on all of the main pieces but still gave you plenty of time to enjoy the space on its own.

It is an incredible feeling being in the presence of a piece of art that you have looked at in books, on tv , in movies , on the computer for your entire life. One of the pieces kept at the Orsay is Degas's The Dance Class. My sister had a poster of it in her room for years- I can't tell you how many times I saw it, and there it was right in front of me. Even more incredible than you can imagine.

The Dance Class by Edgar Degas

 We ate dinner in the Orsay that night- they stay open late on Thursdays (check before you visit- this might change). And I would recommend buying tickets online ahead of time.

Overall Day 1 was a win!