Are We There Yet?: Paris wit my Mudder (and kid)

Giggles all around...

Well, I haven't posted in a bit because we have been hosting lots o' folks at Casa Trier. And on the go. Whoosh. My parents got here and we showed them around Trier. My best friend Karen and her hubs Pat were headed our way on a military flight (Pat is a Marine. Hoo Rah!) sometime around Friday April 1st. So I had a few days with nothing scheduled. It was a Tuesday night. Oh, I know, hey Mom, want to go to Paris with me tomorrow? She has never been (first trip to Europe at all) Yes, you want to go, oh good. We can take Casey too. Mark and my Dad would take Maya and do some World War II sleuthing.

I stayed up late and got our the computer and got train tickets and a hotel for 2 nights. So we took the train on Wednesday morning and got into Paris 3 hours later. I had found a hotel in the 5th Arrondissiment. It's is know to be a fun area with casual food and cheaper hotels. Near Notre Dame. We took a taxi and found our way to the hotel. Nice enough digs for our needs.

I booked us the old red double decker bus that you can hop on and off. It was good for 48 hours. We didn't waste much time in the hotel and got out and rode the circuit.

I'm sure we had dinner. But it seems like the Paris trip was so long ago because I have packed so much in since then. But let's just assume we had dinner. Oh yeah, now I remember. We had crepes. Go figure. Then we headed back to the hotel to get up early for our adventures. We had one full day to play with. Look out Paris. Here come the ladies...

So we hit the ground running. Double decker bus. Our destination? The Eiffel Tower. Casey and I wanted to go to the top. This was my third trip to Paris and I had never gone to the top. Today was the day. It was drizzly and I hoped that the weather wouldn't turn worse for our adventures. We reached the Eiffel Tower and I loved seeing the looks on my Mom and Casey's face when they saw it for the first time. It really is something to behold. The same feeling I get from the Golden Gate Bridge and the Colosseum in Rome. Spectacular.

So Casey and I got some tickets and rode up to the first platform. Cool. We got out and looked around. Took some pictures. I was checking on her to see if she was scared. She wasn't. She's rad. I asked if her she wanted to go up to the tippy tippy top. "Um, yeah, let's do it." Gulp. Oh. I was kinda hoping she wouldn't want to. Hmmmm. We got in the elevator and were promptly shoved into the corner while 20 Brazilian teenagers spoke loudly in Portuguese and made out with each other. Ugh. Yuck. Up up up. Come on. My stomach started reminding me of my age. Oy.

We made it and got out and walked around for a few minutes. All the time keeping in mind that my Mom was waiting for us down at the bottom. We rode the elevator back all the way down and felt very accomplished for the day. We ended up getting on the Metro and heading back to our hotel after a day of sightseeing.

I wish I could remember all of the details. Where we ate (yes, there was a Starbuck's and a McDonald's in there). But the deal is that we had a good time and felt like we were so lucky to have three generations of ladies enjoying time together.

And I have to give it to Casey and my Mom. Ya see, my Mom isn't a big traveler. and she is still healing from a broken shoulder (yes, the one she broke tripping over the dishwasher in my house not 5 minutes before we left for this grand 3 month adventure) and she has had 7 hip replacements. So she is a major trooper. And I bossed her around. Boy did I. Because I was the guide. The tour director. And they were in my care. And they fell in line and followed me around Paris. We must have looked hilarious. It was a caravan. Me, then Casey, then my Mom. All in a row, trapsing around Paris. Eating, looking, laughing. Confused at times about which way to go and which train to catch.

But we did it. And we are glad we did. And we were glad to be home. Just in time for the next round of fun...