Family Vacation in Paris, Part 1

Bonjour!  As you know, we recently went on vacation to Paris and London.  We had an amazing time seeing the sights, eating local foods, and visiting friends.  The weather was gorgeous the entire trip, and Raleigh was such a trooper!

It was his first trip there, so we wanted to take him to major sights like the Tour Eiffel, Musée du Louvre, and Cathédrale Notre-Dame, but we also spent some time just wandering around our favorite areas.

Place Vendôme

We stayed at the The Westin Paris – Vendôme, which was lovely.  It’s in a great location, just a short distance from the Musée du Louvre, Le Palais Royal, and shopping on the Rue Saint-Honoré, just to name a few.  We were on the top floor and had a nice view of the surrounding area, along with the Tour Eiffel in the distance.

 

 

Tour Eiffel

On the first day, we met up with friends and then went to the Tour Eiffel.  I recommend buying tickets in advance, in order to skip the ticket line, though you still go through a security line.  This will save you a lot of time.

 

The views are top notch, and it was fun for us to show Raleigh the places that we would go the rest of the trip.

 

 

The next day was packed with sightseeing the stretch from Place de la Concorde to Musée du Louvre, which includes Musée de l’Orangerie, Jardin des Tuileries, and Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (Map: Day 2).  If you are planning on going to 5 or more museums and monuments, it’s worth getting a Paris Museum Pass, which gives access to more than fifty museums and monuments in Paris and surrounding areas.  It’s cost effective, allows you to skip the ticket lines, and you can get it delivered to your hotel.

Musée de l’Orangerie

The Musée de l’Orangerie is one of our favorite museums in Paris, though it is often overlooked.  It is an art gallery of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings and the permanent home of the Water Lilies murals by Claude Monet.  It also contains works by Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others.  Raleigh loved seeing works by Monet and Matisse that he learned about in art class, giving us a proud parent moment!

 

 

 

Jardin des Tuileries

Following Musée de l’Orangerie, we strolled through the Jardin des Tuileries, admiring the many different gardens, statues, and fountains.

At the East end of the Jardin des Tuileries is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, followed by the Musée du Louvre.

Musée du Louvre

The Musée du Louvre is the largest art museum in the world, housed in what was previously a royal palace.  You could spend days there, but we decided to tackle one wing to keep things interesting for Raleigh.  We showed him the map, which has photos of some of the works displayed throughout the museum, and he selected to see the Richelieu wing.  It was a good choice for us, as it’s less busy than the other two wings, and I always enjoy seeing the Courtyards and Napoleon Apartments.

 

 

Le Palais Royal

After dinner at Le Nemours, we went to Le Palais Royal for the golden hour.  Raleigh had fun hopping around, and we got one of my favorite family photos from the trip.

 

 

River Seine

During sunset, we strolled the River Seine towards the Cathédrale Notre-Dame.  It was absolutely beautiful, and I think that evening will be one of my favorites of any trip to Paris.

 

 

 

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

At Notre-Dame we indulged in some Nutella and Biscoff crepes and watched the street performers until dark.

Map: Day 1

Map: Day 2

 

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xx,

 

 

Family Vacation in Paris, Part 2