Disneyland Paris

Trav got us a smokin' deal to Disneyland Paris and we were able to go on two different days. It was Justus' first time (and Piper's, obviously!) and Trav and I hadn't been in years...so we were definitely excited!

Our first ride was Pirates of Caribbean, which we were sure Justus would love since he is all about water, boats and pirates, but we were wrong! I think he may be a little too young still to realize the difference between mechanical pirates shooting fake guns and real pirates shooting real guns. Woopsies! But he did love Star Tours and is now a huge Star Wars fan...
Teacups were also a fave. We figured out the 'baby switch' for all the rides, which meant one Trav would wait in line and ride with Justus while I waited with Piper, then when they got off I could go take Trav's place and ride again with Justus without having to wait in line. It's a good deal!
Disneyland Paris was small but still fun. Not quite the same as the ones in the U.S. - mainly because everything is in French! Ha ha!
It's a Small World was a highlight for Justus and Piper - they both loved it!
Justus wandering through the Alice in Wonderland Maze...
Riding the boat through Storybook Land...
Autopia - the ride Justus was looking forward to the most before we went. He was so excited to drive his own car!!
We only met a few characters...there weren't as many out and about. But Justus met Smee (from Peter Pan), he chased after Tigger as he was leaving, and he got some serious attention from Captain Jack Sparrow!
Another favorite for Justus, Buzz Lightyear.
We stayed until closing on both nights and this is the result...crashing hard on the train ride home!

Still More...

Still on Paris pictures, people...bear with me. We took Justus & Piper to the little zoo just on the outskirts of town. It was so old school. It is one of the oldest zoos in the world, and it felt like it too.

They didn't have a lot of exciting animals, but it was quaint and cute.

The zoo is also connected to Paris' botanical gardens. They are pretty but it was hot that day and hard to fully enjoy them. Piper looks over it... :)

Here is the area of town where we stayed - our street is just to the right. Trav found us an AMAZING place that we got for an even more amazing deal! We shared the house with another family of 5 and there was still plenty of room!!

Here are the huge doors leading into our courtyard...we all felt so fancy entering the code and pushing open these massive doors every time we came home! Ha ha!

Aahh...our street...Rue St. Andre des Artes...how I miss thee...

Justus playing with Chooch in her room building forts. The house had 5 bedrooms, and I'm pretty sure that is unheard of in Paris, especially right in the middle of the city.

There was plenty of room for all the kids to run around (only one lamp broken in the process!).
Justus & Piper's cute room.
Our room - view of the Eiffel out our window...not too shabby :)
We enjoyed many yummy meals around this table, which fit everyone comfortably! Even our guests!!
I would LOVE to go back and stay here again. Any takers???

At the Louvre

Here we are inside the Louvre. Justus is in the hall of statues, reading up on all the sculptures...

Piper in Napoleon's Apartments (the Louvre used to be a huge palace).Ahhh...the Monna Lisa. We came. We stood in the middle of a lot of pushy tourists. We saw. We went.Some of my personal faves - the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo.
Justus playing at the inverted pyramid :)
Walking with dad along the Seine River back to our place.
Too cute.
Also way too cute.

I knew it...

...I knew I would get overwhelmed with Paris pics... and it happened. Seriously, Paris is my favorite place I have ever been. It is amazing. And I took WAY too many pictures (as I predicted). So much for updating a little at a time. Now I am over a month behind. But I don't want to give up because I want to share everything we did! So even though we have been gone for a few weeks, and Justus turned 3 today (Happy Birthday, buddy! I should be blogging about that!), I am going to pick up where I left off with our month in Paris. And just keep posting until I'm done!! So without further adieu, I present to you the Eiffel Tower...

It's not as big as you imagine it should be, but it was the tallest tower in the world when it was built. But the real question is, why is Piper so cute??!

Justus wins for best pose ever in front of the Eiffel.

Every night for a few minutes the tower lights up with over 20,000 sparkling bulbs and it is surprising (at least the first time you see it) and really pretty.

This is the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (the Church of the Sacred Heart) at the top of Montmartre, the highest point in the city.

You have to climb quite a bit of stairs, but you do get great views of the city. Unfortunately, we brought Piper in our stroller (ha ha!) so I carried her and Trav carried the stroller. I would do it differently next time :)

Justus is showing me his commemorative coin that he got inside the church (I know, classy). This just shows my amazing photography skills...but he still looks so cute!

Eating a nutella crepe in Montmartre. YUM.

More to come...

Church. Park. Overstimulation.

We stopped in the church of Saint-Sulpice on our way to Luxembourg Gardens a few days ago. It was impressive (inside and out) and not very busy, which is always nice.
The inside of the church...Justus and Chooch standing on the "Rose Line" - the Paris Meridian (made famous by the book DaVinci Code).Outside in the square by Saint-Sulpice.Then back to Luxembourg Gardens... Justus loves watching the mini-sailboats on the little pond. You can rent them out and you push them around the pond with a big stick.
FREEDOM!! The boy loves to run :) Piper was taking a little snooze in her stroller - sleeping peacefully......that is until she was attacked by a family of 'friendly' Iranians who were seriously mesmerized by her. They were so touchy-feely and in her face for so long that she finally broke down crying, which still did not deter them!I guess that is the price to pay for being so dang cute!!

Still Loving It

So here's the latest... there is a big park by the Lourve (Jardin des Tuileries) and one of the first days we were here Justus noticed the Ferris Wheel. Every time we saw it he kept begging to do it, so despite the ridiculous price for a 7-minute ride, we did it (well, Jess & Justus).
All he kept saying the whole time was "It's not slippery. I want it to be slippery!" Ha ha! By 'slippery' he means the butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling. He is a bit of a thrill-seeker!
We did have some amazing views from up there though......at least I was impressed! When Trav asked him what he saw from up there, he said "a red Mini Cooper!"We finally made it inside the Notre Dame (no photos though). It was crowded and crazy (well, like pretty much everything here!) but we did it.Afterwards, we strolled around the little island (Paris has two 'river islands' - the one with the Notre Dame is the Ile de la Cite) and found this cute (but expensive) candy shop. Please notice the one thing we let Justus pick out! Ha!
We visited the Centre Pompidou, a modern art museum, and I must say that we enjoyed it more than we thought (for not really being all that into modern art). But they did have one Rothko (we like him), some Picasso (he is famous), and some pretty amazing views over the city. On Saturday, the rest of the family we are living with arrived! This means that our kids are getting some serious non-stop attention and they are loving it (and let's be honest...so are we!).
Eleni (a.k.a. "Chooch") was teaching Justus her yoga moves!Strolling the streets together, Chooch and Justus holding hands, and Everett holding Justus' tail (yes, it's a leash people and trust me, this kid needs it to stay alive!).
At the Musee de l'Orangerie - definitely one of my favorite museums ever - in a room full of huge Monet paintings.They were awesome.The kids: Everett, Justus, Owen and Chooch (not pictured: Piper). Love them.