Through Abby's Lens, a travel blog

First up, I would like to share our photos from our shoot with L'Amour de Paris!These were the very best souvenir, and we've already started putting them up in our home! The photo shoot was so fun to do together, and the photos turned out better than I'd even hoped. (More about our last day at the end!)

One final update from the trip! On our last day in Europe (March 21), Zach and I woke up at 5 am to learn our flight had been delayed by several hours. I think it was due to Heathrow in London (where we flew in), being shut down that day due to a fire. We went back to bed for an hour, then got up, packed and prepped to leave.

We took an uber ride to the airport and the flight was delayed another hour for maintenance. But we made it! Thankful those were the only hangups.

Excited about the return flight home!

We had such a good experience on this trip overall. Wilder and Felicity handled everything so well—no complaints about all the walking or sightseeing. We had really good conversations with them and enjoyed our time together. Of course there were rough moments, but on the whole, we had such a good time traveling together. I look forward to being able to go to other countries with them in the future.

Traveling with the kids at this age is SO different than when they were 6 months and 2.5 years old. It’s even different than our last big trip together to California, when they were 5 and 7. They’re able to entertain themselves when we have downtime, they sleep well, they enjoy our meals, and take in the sights—all while happily walking 5-6 miles a day, and hopping into public transportation. It’s really been a gift to get to do this with them at this age. I feel so grateful for this time with our family.

Notre Dame!

Our last full day in Paris was March 20, and we took the metro to Notre Dame to get there at 9:30 am, right when the doors open to visitors not attending mass. I had been continuously trying to get a reserved time for a long time. They only open up three days at a time, I learned, and they’re instantly full. But I did a little digging on Reddit and decided to just try without a reservation. We got there at the right time, went to the line on the left, went through true endless barricades at a quick walk (I can only imagine how long it would take to get through when it filled up!

As the world knows, the cathedral burned down in 2019, and they are still rebuilding, but it reopened this past fall. The restoration is so well done. It looks brand new. Seeing this church made me emotional. I didn’t know if I would ever get to see it again, and we DID!

The towers were still closed to climbing, but we still enjoyed the church very much.

The stained glass is so beautiful

This exhibit is where the Crown of Thorns is displayed at certain times of year.

This was melted in the fire, but it survived.

With restoration it looks brand new.

Felicity drew the chandelier for her journal

Just to the rear of Notre Dame is the Memorial of Deportation, on the very tip of the isle de la cite. It was closed till 11 am this particular day, so we had about 30 minutes. We picked up coffee and pastries next to Notre Dame and sat in the Square de l'Ile de France that is adjacent to the Deportation memorial..

The day was glorious. Cool but not cold, and sunny. It was so beautiful to sit on a park bench overlooking the park and the Seine alongside many Parisians doing the same thing.

Duck family

Coffee, pastry and a park bench.

When the memorial opened, we went inside. It was free. It was sobering, and sad. (No photos were allowed). The memorial remembers 200,000 men, women and children who were deported from France by the Nazis. I wanted the kids to understand more facets of World War II, in addition to what we learned at the Churchill War Room and the French War Museum. This was a sparse memorial but included first-hand accounts from Jews who survived and a lot of folks who were part of the French Resistance. There were stories about the camps and treatment that were hard to take in, but important.

I do wish we had gone also to the Holocaust Museum nearby. I think there were key pieces of persecution of Jewish people in particular that I would like my kids to learn about that this museum did not touch on. But it was still worth the visit, very much.

Next, we walked to the Metro stop on our way to the apartment. We enjoyed the sights and listened to musicians playing on the bridge as we walked in the Marais neighborhood. On this day, we really felt like we finally got the hang of public transportation in Paris. It just took a learning curve!

We had a big lunch of leftovers because we were leaving the next morning and planned to eat dinner in Montmartre.

Then we packed up and took rhe metro to MONTMARTRE!

Yum

Coffee and a square of Dubai Chocolate

Montmartre is a northern neighborhood that was actually lateral to our location. It’s historically known to be where artists congregate, and is home to Sacre Coeur Basilica and Moulin Rouge (Which we did not see).

We took the metro to Pigalle, then the funicular up to the base of the Sacre Coeur, and took in the view at the base of the church, sitting on the steps alongside many other folks. Sacre Coeur is the highest point in Paris, on top of a hill overlooking the city.

Pigalle stop

in the funicular

Drawing a high heel ( I always think of Louboutin Pigalle heels when in this area and we were looking at them).

Sacre Coeur

We walked around inside the church—there was some kind of celebration going on. And THEN we went to the top of the dome. It was 362 steps. Quite the climb! But it is the tallest point in all of Paris, and a 360 degree view. Such a spectacular view.

The stair climber

The view from Sacre Coeur's dome was incredible.

It was beyond worth the climb!

Afterward, we walked around Place du Tertre, where artists set up and paint, and show off their artwork.

Wanting to avoid the touristy, $$$ and crowded restaurants on the square, I used Rick Steves’ guidebook to find a restaurant still in town, but below the funicular—down the stairs.

I know I’ve mentioned it, but the Rick Steves books are such a valuable resource, from planning trips to walking around finding last minute restaurants/sites/shopping. I chose a travel purse specifically big enough to make sure I had room to bring the book with me while walking around!

We went down the stairs to Rue des Abbesses to a restaurant called Le Relays Gascon. The food is from the southwest of France. We were delighted to be seated at two tine outdoor tables where we could watch people go by as the sun softly set behind clouds. Our meal was fantastic. From a glass of champagne and garlic bread loved by all, to pate, and my duck confit dish with fried potato chunks and haricot vert, and Zach’s duck cassoulet. Felicity had a hamburger patty with fries and Wilder had pasta. The kids got chocolate ice cream included with their meals and I got one more creme brûlée, and we had coffee. It was all so good.