Actually, we rented a house 30 minutes outside of Paris (near Disneyland Paris) in Saint-Germain-sur-Morin.
It was a great house in a cute little village with an excellent boulangerie (bakery) and creperie. Elise's goal was to eat as many crepes during the week as possible, and she ended the week at 15! Nathan and Will liked the crepes, but loved the ice cream (and Dave and I ate our fair share of crepes too).
It was a great trip, but busy - and we all came home very tired! We went into Paris 4 days, to Disneyland 1 day, and to some other castles and attractions outside of Paris the other 2 days. Here are the highlights:
Notre Dame was beautiful and fun to see again (Dave and I had each been to Paris separately before we were married, but this was our first trip there as a family). The funny thing was, we came out of the train station and saw a big church and assumed it was Notre Dame. We took a tour, took some pictures, and kept saying, "This isn't how I remember it". Then we realized that it wasn't Notre Dame! It was Saint Eustache. So, we toured one more church - but fitting since it was Sunday. As a quick note, we observed first hand the difference in cultures between France and Switzerland when we attended sacrament meeting earlier that morning. We were late because we couldn't find the LDS church on our navigation system. So, when we arrived 20 minutes late, they were just starting! It was a small branch, but very noisy...just a bit different from the punctual, very reverent sacrament meeting we attend in Zurich!
During the week we went to Musee D'Orsay (my favorite museum in Paris because of the impressionist paintings there) and Elise saw lots of paintings she recognized. We also went to the
Louvre - so big and beautiful. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, and the kids also found the Egyptian exhibits to be pretty interesting! We went to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is near the Louvre on the edge of the Tuileries Gardens. It has some of the massive water lily paintings by Monet. Again, it's amazing to see them in person. The other museum we went to was Musee de la Monnaie (money). I thought it would be like the mint in DC, but it really was a museum about the history 
of money in France and the preceding empires. There was an interesting display about the Euro and all the different countries that have it. 
We went on the Bateaux Mouches (mosquito boats) down the Seine 
and got a good view of the many buildings and monuments. We went up the Arc de Triomphe and saw great views of the city and the Eiffel Tower. We walked down the Champs-Elysees (and bought crepes on the way). And, of course, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. This was a highlight for Elise, as she had been wanting to go to the top. I must say, it is pretty high! Dave and I both thought, as we rode the little elevator to the top, "What are we doing here!".
and got a good view of the many buildings and monuments. We went up the Arc de Triomphe and saw great views of the city and the Eiffel Tower. We walked down the Champs-Elysees (and bought crepes on the way). And, of course, we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. This was a highlight for Elise, as she had been wanting to go to the top. I must say, it is pretty high! Dave and I both thought, as we rode the little elevator to the top, "What are we doing here!".
Of the days we didn't go into the city, we spent one day at Disneyland 
Paris. Some friends of ours from church in Zurich were also traveling through Paris that week, so they stayed with us for a few days and we went to Disneyland together. They have two kids, so our kids had friends to play with. It was fun to be together with friends, and we all had a great time!
Paris. Some friends of ours from church in Zurich were also traveling through Paris that week, so they stayed with us for a few days and we went to Disneyland together. They have two kids, so our kids had friends to play with. It was fun to be together with friends, and we all had a great time!We also went to the Sea Life aquarium and toured the chateaus at Fountainebleau and Versailles. The castles were so ornate and the gardens huge!
Then we went to the small town of Givery and saw Monet's house and garden. That was amazing! As we were recounting all of the things we saw and did, 
that was the favorite for both Dave and me. It was so inspiring to see the ponds and water lilies that Monet painted, his beautiful rows of flowers, and the simple house in which he lived for the last half of his life. We also ate dinner that night at the cutest little traditional French restaurant. That was the last night of our trip, and it was a perfect ending!
that was the favorite for both Dave and me. It was so inspiring to see the ponds and water lilies that Monet painted, his beautiful rows of flowers, and the simple house in which he lived for the last half of his life. We also ate dinner that night at the cutest little traditional French restaurant. That was the last night of our trip, and it was a perfect ending!The kids did a great job on the trip - riding the trains and walking a lot! Dave flew to Germany for two days for work, so I took the kids to some of the places on my own. It wasn't easy with 3 kids going through the train stations of Paris, but it was definitely worth it!
We drove there and back - about 6.5 hours each way. Pretty amazing that it's so close! And, on the way back, we went through Nancy, France.
One of our family goals in coming here was to visit a lot of places in Europe, and this was a great start! We're off to Germany later this month, and I'm going on a girls' weekend to London. Elise is thinking about a weekend trip for her birthday - maybe Liechtenstein, we'll see...
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