After stressing about what to pack, how much to pack, what weather to pack for, and everything else that goes with leaving home for an extended period of time with young children, it was finally time to leave on our big summer adventure. Step one was getting to Paris. We decided to fly Emirates, because Jeff has a ton of points with them, so he's some kind of precious metal status at this point. Plus, it's just a really good airline, and if we keep accumulating points, we should be able to get some free tickets to Australia soon :-)
We started making use of Jeff's fancy metal status as soon as we got to the airport. We got in the special people line to check our bags, then went through security and passport control with our special passports, and finally ended up in the Emirates lounge. It makes traveling SO much easier, but I worry a little bit about how easily the girls accepted their fancy lounge and free food. We may have to have them clean the bathroom with toothbrushes tomorrow ;-)
Of course, we all enjoyed a nice breakfast.
Since it was super fancy, they didn't just have regular pancakes. They had lemon ricotta pancakes with blueberry sauce. Vivian and Elena had them for their main course. I saved mine for dessert.
We freshened up in the nice bathrooms, and then got on our first flight, Bangkok to Dubai.
Emirates definitely gets full marks as a quality airline. Before take off they came around and gave out presents to the kids. They had little stuffed animals with blankets inside, coloring books, and a cool panda that you could "write" on and then sweep away what you'd done to start again. Elena got a monkey on the first flight, which she promptly dubbed Monkey Baby, and a lion on the second flight, Lion Baby.
We had kind of a funny moment, because apparently their system alerted them to Jeff's fancy status, and a stewardess came to ask him if he would like to move to an empty exit row seat (instead of slumming it with the regular coach people). Jeff said thank you, but he preferred to stay with his family (right answer!). It's good to know for his future travel that they really do try to take care of their rewards club people.
We had about an hour and a half layover in Dubai, so we couldn't relax in the lounge quite as much. It was HUGE. It took up almost an entire floor, and I know they have others in the other terminals. We got some yummy food and then got on our next flight.
Both flights went pretty smoothly. The girls got pasta for their kids meals, which they ate. Elena actually ate more than Vivian. The adult meals were pretty edible too, and they came with lots of little snacks and dips, which we stored for later.
By the end of the second flight the girls had passed out.
Getting them off the plane was a little rough, but the other passengers were very nice and understanding. We had checked our stroller at the gate in Bangkok, and they routed it through to Paris. This wasn't a problem in Dubai because they had very nice complimentary Emirates strollers at the gate that we could use. In Paris, on the other hand, not only was there no stroller at the gate
and no complimentary strollers to use, but there was also no stroller on the baggage belt. After trying to get the attention of two different airport employees, one of whom walked right by me when I tried to talk to him, I finally planted myself in front of a person, so he couldn't ignore me and asked where the strollers were. It turns out they were wrapped in plastic in the oversize baggage area, which was off in an area you would never go to unless you knew to look for it.
Unfortunately, the stroller confusion was just our first issue with CDG airport, which is currently in my rankings as the worst airport in the world. The signage was USELESS, and when we went to an information booth to ask for help, it was closed. This is a sample sign from the airport.
It doesn't have floor numbers! We were supposed to be staying in the Novotel at the airport, but we couldn't find a single sign for it. All we could find were generic signs for airport hotels that led to shuttles. We actually ended up at the wrong Novotel to begin with. There are FOUR Novotels near the airport, because that's not confusing. Luckily, the people at Novotel were super nice and arranged for a special shuttle to get us to the right hotel. There was also a bar where Jeff could get a beer, so that kept him mellow until we sorted everything out and got to the right hotel. The silver lining of all the wandering around was that Jeff got a great picture of the sun setting at the airport.
I think it was almost ten at night by the time the sun set. I'm glad we got everything sorted out relatively painlessly, but if CDG is most people's first impression of France, it's no wonder that the French have a reputation for being inhospitable.
A couple weeks ago, I decided to splurge and upgrade us to a suite at the Novotel. It ended up being two connected rooms with one set up as a bedroom and the other set up as a living/dining area with a pull out sofa. Thank goodness I chose to do that, because I had originally had us in a family room which is a regular size room with a bed and a sofa, and I don't think our suitcases would have fit in a regular room with us and all that furniture. We've gotten so used to how big and nice hotels can be in Asia, that we've almost forgotten about how small and old most things in Europe are. The bathroom was a good size though, so we got everyone cleaned up and into bed.
The girls were up by about 4 the next morning. Thank goodness for iPads, otherwise I might have totally lost it.
Vivian's excitement was understandable though. We were finally in Paris and my parents and Judy were arriving on a flight at 7am. Our plan was to meet their flight and have breakfast together in the airport before going our separate ways for the next few days. The plan worked!
It was great to see them, even if it was only for a short time. Elena was so surprised to see them, because she hadn't understood what we meant when we told her we were going to see Safta, Grandpa, and Judy. She was beaming, which was so sweet. Vivian, of course, was spastastically excited.
After breakfast, we went back to the hotel to finish repacking and head into the city proper. Elena put a slight hold on those plans when she completely passed out in our bed.
She clearly needed the rest, and we didn't have any major plans for the day, so we let her be. When she woke up, we got the hotel to call us a taxi an we headed into Paris.
We got an apartment through Airbnb that was in more of a residential area outside of the main historic part of the city. It's in between two metro stops though, so getting to other places has been really easy. The apartment is lovely and a relatively good size. It's very long and narrow, and the hallway that runs the length of it has proven absolutely irresistible to Vivian and Elena, no matter how many times we tell them not to run down it. I feel so bad for the people who live underneath us.
There are lots of great things about the apartment. It has an elevator, which isn't big enough to fit all of us at once, but at least we don't have to use the stairs to get up and down from the 6th floor.
There's a small grocery just a little ways down the street, but the best part is that there's a boulangerie pattisserie right outside the door of our building. So far, we've gone there at least twice a day. They also have fresh squeezed orange juice which Vivian loves. I love going shopping and coming back with a baguette sticking out of my bag.
Probably our favorite part of the apartment is that it has a little balcony. Jeff and I got some inexpensive but delicious cheese, olives, and wine, and set ourselves up on the balcony to enjoy the evening while the girls played in the living room.
Vivian got to have some European fun of her own with a ride at the local square,
And while we were feasting on wine and cheese, we let her indulge in a Nutella snack she found at the store.
Elena doesn't really care about where she is, so long as she has her family and her My Little Pony show, which Jeff set up for her. It was a great, low key first day in Paris for everyone.
