Friday, March 15, 2024 - Last Day in the City of Love 😭

Of course, we started our day with French pastries, which were divine. Then we were off to the Arc De Triomphe. We decided to take public transportation, which wasn’t too hard to navigate using google maps, but they don’t take credit card only the app, so we basically got a free ride because the driver was really nice and didn’t speak english. 💡Pro Tip, if you think about taking public transportation in Paris, you should definitely get Bonjour RATP, the free public transportation app, set up on your phone beforehand.

Arc De Triomphe 🐎

The bus drops you off right in front of the Arc De Triomphe, where you can see the infamous roundabout in action. But to get to the Arc De Triomphe, in the middle is a bit harder to figure out. Pro-Tip: Don’t Jaywalk. We couldn’t figure out how to get to the middle, where the arc was. Then we asked a lady, who was definitely another tourist, and she was thinking the same thing: we were: “jaywalk?” So we did, David, and I with a bouncy baby in stroller in tow crossed one of the busiest roundabouts in the world, while getting honked at by what felt like hundreds of cars, only to find out that there was a tunnel that was right next to us that could’ve taken us across. I was told the view at the top of the Arc De Triomphe was better than the Eiffel Tower, less crowded, and more baby friendly, so David grabbed tickets, in said tunnel, while the baby and I took hundreds of photos under the Arc. Then we hopped in line, which was really short. Then we had to check the stroller. Then we got to take a special baby elevator up to the top, where the gift shop was and a small exhibit that had the history of the Arc, which we thought was really cool, because it also talked about famous exhibits that we had just seen in the Louvre the day before! Lastly, we made our way up a short, but narrow flight up stairs to get to the viewing area, which did not disappoint. The view from the Arc was beautiful, especially on a sunny day like we had. We felt like we could see the whole city, including the Eiffel Tower, the museums, the Seine, etc. Then there was plenty of space to take pictures, not many people so we could let Abby walk around, and really safe with these metal grates that were big enough that people couldn’t climb over, but low enough that you could still take clear pictures. We spent a while just walking around the top of the Arc. Abby was in-love with the mini-stairs and ramps they had at the top, and I was in love with the view. Then we headed back down to head to our next stop, Notre Dame, and on the way we even saw the Paris 2024 Olympic Building!

Notre Dame 👼

We decided to take the subway to get to Notre Dame. Fortunately, there was a really sweet French college student willing to help us navigate the subway, but looking back the subway wasn’t too hard to navigate. When we get to Notre Dame, Abby is asleep and it’s raining a bit outside. Unfortunately for us, Notre Dame was closed due to reconstruction. It was still a magnificent sight to see, but it was also kinda sad as well seeing how much of the church was ruined in the fire. Then we went to a really cute cafe outside Notre Dame, which was really good. They were known for these chocolate apple things that were delicious, but we were also one of their only customers, which was a little sad, because compared to the other tourist sites we visited let’s just say, we could tell all the tourist shops around Notre Dame were suffering because of the reconstruction so we were glad we visited.

Pantheon 🔱

After Notre Dame, we were off to the Pantheon. When we arrived the Pantheon, the building itself was beautiful and there seemed to be a lot to do inside, but after all the museums we’d seen lately, we were kinda museum overwhelmed, so we decided to save checking out the inside for a later time, and just took pictures on the outside of the Pantheon, which was pretty cool.

Luxembourg Gardens 🌺

Then we took a stroll through Luxembourg Garden, which isn’t exactly the most stroller friendly, but beautiful. Then Abby woke up at the perfect time, and she got to run around the gardens and we all snacked on leftover pastries from earlier. Then we headed back to the hotel to pick up our stuff, and then began our trek to the train station, but with one pit stop at The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre.

The Basilica of Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre ✝️

So the walk was about 40 minutes, which wasn’t too bad for us and the views were beautiful, and it would take us super close to the train station. The last 15 minutes were the hardest, it was stairs straight up to the top of a hill. After all the ubers we’d taken that day, we wish we took an uber up the hill. Each step we took up the stairs, we definitely felt closer and closer to God. It felt like we were serving penance carrying two stuffed back-packs, then David carrying a stroller, and I carrying Abby up 15 minutes of straight stairs. When we got to the top of the hill though, we needed a bathroom break and diaper change and of course there was a bathroom, but they charged to use it. We were desperate though, thankfully, the bathroom was really nice even with a fully stocked diaper changing station. Then when we do a few more stairs, we get to the church. There were soooo many people, but we could see why. The natural view of the city at the top of the hill was beautiful, especially with the sunset. Then when we explored the church, albeit quickly, because Abby wanted to sing! So Abby and I quickly went through the church, so we wouldn’t disturb anyone and sat outside on the steps and watched the sunset as we waited for David to follow. There was also a roof viewing thing, but we felt like the view we had was already incredible enough. Then we headed down the hill, which was way easier than going up, but this time Abby wanted to go down all by herself, so mommy just walked backwards and was there whenever she started walking too fast down the stairs as everyone cheered her on. When we got down the stairs, there were so many cute shops to explore, but it was also a busy street and many people were walking about, so we had to put Abby back in the stroller which she did not like. We decided to get chocolate at a chocolate shop before heading back to the train station.

On the way to the train station, we also saw a bunch of beautiful and much cheaper clothes stores and we would’ve definitely gone shopping if we had more arms to carry things. We got to the station an hour early, but it was perfect because we were so tired and ready to grab coffee and snacks from Starbucks then check into our Eurostar train ticket. We were not going to miss this train, too! When we got on the train, David and I were so tired, but Abby, of course, had so much energy. So she watched Mickey Mouse, and David and I tried to sleep. When we arrived in London, we figured we’d take the tube because our hotel is super close to the train station, but we regretted it. We totally forgot that our hotel stop is far away from Paddington Station. But when we finally got back to our hotel, we were ready to sleep and thankfully so was Abigail.

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