Days 22-23: Last Day in Paris, and Coming Home

Sunday was our last day in Paris. We were sad to say goodbye to our apartment, which turned out to be in a great location just across the street from Place des Vosges (although it took us two days to figure that out). It was centrally located, and with three bedrooms -- and a working washer dryer -- was perfect for us. Plus, I lucked out and found a parking space where I could fit our (huge) van on the street two blocks away... parking on the street is free in Paris during the month of August so this was convenient!

Here are the kids from the window of the apartment before we closed it up for good:



We decided to go to the Sunday market at Bastille, which was huge... At least five or six blocks long. Luck was on our side again as we found a parking spot right next to the market. They had foods of all kinds, clothes, you name it. The kids decided to have crepes again for breakfast (Nutella being the favorite, followed by cinnamon sugar).







Dylan also decided to have paella for breakfast!





This guy was pretty amazing and worked the crowds hard. He could juggle and dance while balancing a vase full of water on his head... and, if you look closely, you'll see there are live goldfish in the vase!




We then drove up Champs Élysées just so we could drive around the Arc de Triomphe (which we did twice, for fun). Traffic isn't so bad in Paris in August, especially if you have a sense of where you're going. Then we drove down to the Eiffel Tower so Addy could get one more shot of it out the car window.


Next stop, the Louvre! We had a couple hours to kill, and Emma (our budding artist) really wanted to see the La Joconde (the Mona Lisa). So, we parked and went in.











Here's a little Michelangelo, too:



We then had lunch in the lark by the Louvre. It was pretty good, but I got tourist sticker shock when I got the bill -- €42 for eight sodas! That's about $60, and was the only time I felt royally screwed. Oh well... We can say we did our part to keep Europe out of recession!

We then tried to drive up to Montmartre, but couldn't get up to the top because the streets were blocked off for pedestrians and cyclists. That turned out to be a good thing, because traffic and confusion at the airport meant we actually didn't end up with much of a margin for error for our flight out.

We wound our way north out of Paris though the only bad traffic we encountered, only to find the entrance to the A1 shut down for repairs. After being lost for a little while, we finally got to Charles de Gaulle airport.

I tried to return the van at terminal 1, but found the van was too high for the garage (followed by some dicey reversing through CDG's on ramps), so had to bail at terminal 2 and shlep the whole family through the terminal and transfer train. Luckily, Wyatt was well-prepared to guard us during this process, albeit as a London Bobby versus a Parisian gendarme.



The line to check in at Aer Lingus was tortuously long, and then the baggage loading carousel broke down (naturally, right when we put our bags on it). You can see Sharon doing the "discount airline baggage shuffle" as she moved contents around so we wouldn't incur those ridiculous overage fees. "Like hell if they think I'm paying them," she said. She was a hero for the folks in line behind us...






We finally got on our plane to Dublin, whereupon Wyatt promptly collapsed before takeoff.


We stayed overnight at the Radisson Dublin Airport, which was actually pretty nice, and then had an awesome "full Irish breakfast" (sausage, ham egg, toast, black and white pudding, etc.). Dylan loved it. I'm glad we got one before we left Europe.

Why Dublin on the return? Simple -- the cost to fly from Raleigh to Dublin was half that of flying into London or Paris, and even when we factored in using Ryanair and Aer Lingus to get around Europe (and trains), it was dramatically cheaper when you account for having to get eight tickets.




Anyway, that's it. We had our layover in Atlanta, and landed in Raleigh at about 9pm. I had parked the car at work to avoid parking fees (would have been $300 for three weeks!), so I took a taxi to work to get the car, then picked up the kids and took 'em home. Kramer (the dog) was so happy to see the kids.

All in all, we managed to pull off a pretty flawless trip -- five countries, three weeks, six kids, six different hotels/apartments, two rental vans, one flat tire (ok, there was that flaw), one wedding... and one unforgettable trip of a lifetime!